Talking the talk.

In preparation for taking on my second FRG, I've signed up for a one-day refresher course on the in's and out's of the position. And by signed up, I mean that I was signed up by the battalion Commander's wife as a favor and now have to pretend to be grateful. Yippee!

I'm sure that some of the material will be helpful. And Lord knows, the Army is sort of learning as they go with the whole FRG thing so I'm sure there will be a whole new list of things not to do that I should know about. It won't be a total waste of my time and it will give me the opportunity to meet some ladies and get to know the environment.

But I digress.

In preparation, the instructor of the course, the wife of a pretty up there Officer, sent out an email to provide an agenda for the day.

But in that email, after the salutations and niceties, instead of getting down to business, she says this:

The most important thing you should know about me is that I am a Christian.

She then expounds for a few more sentences on having the light of Jesus in her life before moving on to actual pertinent matters.

What the hell? This is an FRG refresher. Not a chapel meeting.

It seems that more and more, especially around the military, people think it is appropriate in a professional setting to start off by stating their strong religious beliefs. It is not. In no other organization or industry (barring, of course, a specifically stated religious one) is it ever apropos to do so. And you would think, in the military, an organization attracts so many people of different backgrounds, ethnicities and religions, people might stop and wonder if they could potentially put off someone by stating their religious fervor right upfront like that. But they don't. And it's becoming more and more commonplace.

I read a recent quote by Hillary Clinton where she said that she had been raised to be somewhat wary of people who wear their faith on their sleeve. I have to agree. It's a New England thing, I think, but it was always considered polite to keep matters of faith and business separate. And again, given the diversity of the world, I can't say it's a bad thing.

Now, I've met a lot of really devout Christians who are wonderful, caring people. But NONE of them told me their religious beliefs as an introduction. It's something that came out naturally through the course of other conversation. People who just slap you with it first thing make me uncomfortable. And I'm not afraid it's to say that it's because, too often, the ones who are so busy talking the talk aren't bothering to walk the walk. I feel sometimes that they believe if they say they are Christian often and loud enough, then they are exempt from having to actually act like one.

I don't know what this meeting will hold. I'm trying to withhold judgment until I get there. But if it was the instructor's intention to make everyone feel more comfortable by sharing her devotion, she missed the mark a bit.