Job Discussion Forums

[TheLongWayHome]

[john_n_carolina]

[Guy Courchesne]

[dixie]

[MELEE]

Oh I talk about politics.
Religion, that's what I try to stay away from.
Also note I said that with "Mexicans I barely know". But I also avoid the conversation with the extended family. I need to live harmoniously with them. And while yes, they are

[Guy Courchesne]

[TheLongWayHome]

[jfurgers]

I didn't think there were people left who REALLY believe that ANY government represents its people or that a vote REALLY counts. ALL politicians in every country, once in office listen to the money. Big corporations make the decisions. This is common knowledge to anyone who's over 19 yrs old and has any kind of real life experience.

Even if the American people had put Bush in office, once he was in he, like all the others listen and do what the real leaders tell them to. Real leaders I mean BIG BUSINESS. Pharmacutical companies and the leaders of huge corporations. THEY make the decisions. They're called lobbyists.

Probably the same with the Mexican government also. Regarding religion, everytime I'm in DF talking with my wifes brothers, they always bring up religion and how much they think the catholic church is a joke. Probably why they like me because I'm no fan of the catholic church but I have no problem with people who are catholic.

I have always let Mexicans know what I think about religion IF THEY ASK me. In DF they really do seem to be independent thinkers which is why I like it there. They don't follow a religion or other socially constructed ideas just because someone tries to program them to.

My wifes brothers always tell me that they question everything and that they don't blindly follow any ideology.

[cangringo]

I haven't had a chance to read all of this but I wanted to throw something in about Canada. Not everyone even takes French in school and for the most part in BC we only take French for a few years. I don't know French to save my life...I hated it in school and stopped as soon as I could and now I remember a few words but nothing much really.

And technically soy milk is juice...I know what we call it but technically you can't milk soybeans...

[john_n_carolina]

[cangringo]

[GueroPaz]

The human rights observers in the Conflict Zone talked politics a lot, and the many religions of Chiapas. We worked with priests, missionariesm and sectarian, including victims and perpetrators. My neighbor at the beach, who'd lived in southernmost Chiapas for sixty years and had a son who'd worked in Comitan, asked me to explain the conflict to him!

Here in Thailand, when American politics comes up, I say I do not agree with my president, and I oppose all war everywhere by everybody. No arguments with the locals on that one. Perhaps I already shared here what I answered when the students at the DF airport asked me a political question.

[M@tt]

i haven't had many serious conversations with people about politics. when the whole amlo thing was going on, people in DF made passing comments about him all the time, but it wasn't anything meaty enough to constitute a real discussion of politics.

the best conversations i've had have been about religious faith. i think that if you're serious about your convictions, people notice eventually. if you spend enough time with them, they're likely to start asking questions. then you end up in a conversation because they're just plain curious. my impression is that there's a real lack of religious dialogue that is important to people. i mean that they may be surrounded by the trappings of religious institutions, but nobody who takes it/them seriously enough to get into a conversation about their beliefs. i think the catholic church has many strengths but dialogue is not one of them; bible study is not either.