A Religious Experience

Last Sunday, I was invited to the Dedication of the beautiful daughter of a very good friend of mine. It was to take place in a Pentecostal Church in East London, with a full service and food afterwards. Naturally, I said I would attend - I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see an important milestone of this child's life. And, the chance to see friends I hadn't seen in a long time was something I couldn't miss. I thought nothing of it and then, as the time approached, it dawned on me. This would be the first time I had been to a religious service in around ten years - the first since I had officially 'come out' - and not only that, I was going to a church that was specifically, and vehemently, anti equal marriage (if not anti-gay). However, I was interested to see how the service would work and, prepared to be offended, I went along.

I arrived, with a friend, and entered the unassuming church building. As I walked through into the main hall, I was greeted by smiling faces, warm 'Good Morning's and handshakes. We were ushered into a row and took our seats as the live band and singers were warming up. The service began with a welcome to new people (we were asked to stand up and applauded by the congregation, and hugged by those closest to us), and then we moved into the music. Such inspiring music. The singing in the church was warm and without embarrassment, and I couldn't help but find myself dancing and singing along with the band, congregation and singers on the stage. Men, women, old, young were united in praise of love, friendship and God. Whilst I am not a believer, I could get on board with the love, friendship and unity that is celebrated; and I could see why people came to this church. The messages from the Moderator and the singers were inspiring and all encompassing - showing love and friendship for all men and women in the congregation. I felt completely welcome and supported.

And then, the preacher stood up. And this love and friendship fell apart. His sermon - family values. My heart sunk. I knew full well what family values meant - an opportunity to rage against the breakdown of the family caused by sex outside marriage, careerism, a lack of spirituality in life, an inability to evangelise at the workplace and, that sin straight from the devil himself, same-sex marriage. Hidden in a humorous, cheerful and parental style sermon that grew in its intensity and excitement, all thought of inclusivity, love and friendship were dropped in the place of outdated Biblical teaching on wives submitting to husbands, children brought up to fear their parents and feel ashamed of their natural urges, and where any deviation from straight, child producing marriages is sinful. 

The preacher ended with the rabble-rousing 'male and female, not female and female or male and male'. Were it not for the fact that the actual dedication hadn't happened yet, I would have walked out of the church and not returned. I was disgusted that a preacher could use a happy and momentous occasion in a child's life to spout hate. I was more appalled at the cheers received in the church as his final statement was made. These were the people who had hugged and welcomed me. These were the people who, at the end of the service, hugged me tighter - thanking me so warmly for attending and telling me how I should come again.

I believe that, used correctly, religion and faith can absolutely be a force for good in the world. It unites societies and cultures, it provides for real philanthropy and for protection of the vulnerable, it gives people comfort in times of emotional need. However, used as it was in this sermon, it alienates huge sections of society and acts as a despotic and outrageous attempt at control of people. Until the love that I witnessed upon entering the church is replicated to all people, regardless of sexuality, marital status and anything else the church holds against us, religion will have no place in our society.

Coping with Rejection

Here I am again; suffering the feelings of rejection as I open yet another email thanking me for applying but, this time, there were just too many people with more experience to even offer me an interview. I suppose its better than not getting a response and being left to wonder whether my application was even received. I guess by now I've responded to around thirty job applications, each of which I know I have the skills, experience and mentality to do well in. So far, not one has even offered me an interview.

Luckily, I'm not in as bad a situation as many. I do currently have a part-time job, working for an organisation that runs a charity graduate scheme. I'm doing a little campaigning/marketing which is giving me even more experience. I haven't had to delve into the degrading world of Job Seeker's Allowance (for the second time in my life), and I live close enough to London to live at home with parents for free whilst commuting in to do some work. However, this job finished at the end of this month and, besides, its not what I want to be doing long term.

I'm not applying for jobs that are above what I should be getting. I definitely have a wide ranging, varied CV which shows my versatility and depth of experience. I am an engaging, passionate and dedicated person - which is something that I hope comes across in my application forms which I take a long time over writing and which are, in the opinions of everyone who has read them, pretty damn good. I have proven success in all jobs, and I have very few work gaps considering I graduated from university in the middle of the worst recession in modern times. And yet, still, I can't get past the first stage. I can't even get people to think I'm interesting enough to interview.

I came from a year of a graduate scheme that promised me I'd be set up to go straight into first-level management positions. Unfortunately, the direct experience of this graduate scheme isn't exactly what I want to be doing (I did service delivery, I want to do campaigning) but the skills I learnt throughout were the skills being asked for time and again. Perhaps its my own fault, perhaps instead of going to the US to do something life changing and wonderful I should have gone straight into another job and stuck myself there for two or three years. But then, I wanted varied and exciting experiences in my life - because its my life, because it needs to be exciting, because opening my mind with a variety of experiences is something I will always strive for.

The ultimate question here is how can I get experience when no-one will employ me to give me the experience?! This is a question faced by so many graduates who finished university with the promise that all the debt would be worth it in the end. Should people who have a degree really be expected to work for free for at least a year? Even in the charity sector this is a disgraceful notion that takes advantage of young people who have no other choice. This sector particularly needs to invest in bringing more young and talented people in; by shutting those looking for experience out it is doing itself a real disservice.

So I'll keep plugging along. And hope that, one day, an organisation will see that I'm worth taking a chance on. I may not be the finished article, I may not have the 'traditional' career progression, but I will work damn hard for any job that I can do. I will dedicated my time to learning the things I don't already know. I will work with passion and an enthusiasm unrivalled by many.

Until then, my application to be the new presenter of Blue Peter is looking more and more acceptable.