'I've never shared pizza with a stranger before'-the Religious Entry
I'm on my third of five flights today. It originated in Panama, where tall buildings on the coast in the dusky mist looked like an alien landscape.
It's weird that I can be in a country I've never visited before for just 40 minutes. I got off a plane, looked at document organisers in duty free shops as I waited for a pizza, and got on this flight. The box the pizza came in will be disposed in another country I've never visited before, but one that I'll be calling home for the next couple of months. My bizarre lifestyle can be stressful, but amusement with oddities like this is part of why I like it.
The pizza was more than I could eat alone, so I shared it with the two women sitting alongside me on the plane. I don't know much about nearest one, except that she's elderly, is missing the majority of her teeth, knows less English than I know Spanish, and she seems to really like pizza.
The other woman, who I quote in the title of this entry, is an American living in Lima. Her husband is an evangelical something-or-other doing outreach in Peru, so the way I see it, he's getting paid enough for proselytising to support himself and his wife and kids. I honestly think good for them, but I can't help thinking of all the better causes that money could be spent on, especially in a country with so much poverty.
I grew up seeing religion as inane and oppressive, but in the 2000s, my attitude mellowed a lot. I met a lot of really good people, with religious beliefs that varied in origin and resoluteness, and I began to see that religion can bring order to some people's lives in a positive way. I've also become a pretty strong supporter of religious freedom, as long as it doesn't infringe on other people's rights, and as long as any religious belief, or lack thereof, isn't forced on anyone.
But I'm still well aware of the negative aspects of most religious organisations: the oppressiveness, and the way it encourages people to take action (or lack of action) that is bad for their health, especially their mental health, and for the planet. This has become even more apparent to me in the last year or so, as I've become close to people who have been hurt by family on religious grounds, and exposed to more woo-woo than I care to be around. I'm no atheist, either, but it's clear to me that the world's suffering an awful lot for what ultimately boils down to superstition and prejudice.
So I can't help being pissed off about religious organisations getting tax breaks that other lobby groups do not. It's good that money raised for charitable causes is free from taxation, whether it's for a religious organisation or not. But proselytising is no more likely to benefit an individual than, say, soliciting them to join the Green Party. It's actually far less likely, yet donations to the latter aren't tax-deductible.
But I like talking to people who I think I might disagree with. I like finding out how they think; it's so easy to assume that stereotypes are true, and I'd rather make my own judgement. That's hard to do in a plane when there's an old lady sitting between you, though, and it would be hard not to out myself to all within earshot, in a part of the world whose customs I'm unfamiliar with.
The in-flight film is Harry Potter. One of my partner's religious peers says that's blasphemous or evil or something... I'm not sure which comic book word it was. I'm not even sure which religion-escapee sweetie it was; perhaps both. Anyhow, the woman on the plane isn't watching.
Update
Two things. First: there turned out to be a vegetarian meal set aside for me. I didn't eat much of it, since I'm full of pizza. So the old lady asked if she could have it, so she could offer it to beggars in Lima. I'm amazed and ashamed that hadn't occurred to me. So now I know one more thing about her: she rocks.
Second: The proselytiser's wife gave me her contact details and invited me to get in touch with her when I'm back in Lima. Maybe we'll get to talk after all. I'll have to think about what to ask her. I wonder if she'd have given me her number, or even shared my pizza, if she knew I'm dating the shunned daughter in a Mormon family and a Southern Baptist minister.