O Ye Hypocrites

Thanks for everybody who commented on the last Terrence episode. There were quite a few good responses, and it'll be hard to pick the best one out of them.

I bought the newest "Death Cab" album off of iTunes. I say this because I don't really think it's that great, not like "Plans". There are a few pretty good songs, but no completely awesome ones. Save your money on this one.

Today's post is purely to get a few things off my chest. I will mention 3 points and then tie it all in at the end, hoping that it makes sense.

1. In today's world, everybody loves to celebrate diversity. I have no beef with diversity. Diversity is great. However, today's definition of diversity is focused almost exclusively on race. The business world spends all sorts of time and recruiting to make sure that their office isn't filled with white bread. They don't spend any time embracing diverse personalities, in fact, it seems that the subservient, put-your-head-down-and-white-knuckle-through-this-project employee is pretty much the model that Corporate America is looking for, and if you'd rather do it another way, well, you'd better get a new job.

2. The Religious Right is frequently targeted as an intolerant group. The rest of the world has come to accept homosexuality, living together out of wedlock, casual sex, drinking and partying, etc. They say that they accept everybody no matter what and scoff at the religious nuts who believe that such behavior will ultimately lead to unhappiness.

3. At work, almost all of the "constructive" feedback I've ever received has been about my style of communication using these adjectives most frequently: blunt, abrasive, curt, know-it-all, arrogant. I should first say that I am indeed trying to change my communication style to appropriately fit my audience. It seems that no matter how much I think I've changed, I still get the same feedback: Kent's communication style is too forthright and blunt.

The reason why I bring this up is because I have recently received a calling into the Young Men's Presidency in my ward. There are only about 5 to 10 active boys ages 12 to 18 in our ward, and only a couple of them have strong parents in the church. They are pretty rowdy (as I was at that age), and their testimonies are still in the infant stage. Since I have received the calling, multiple members and missionaries have come up to me saying how excited they were to have me in the Young Men's. When I asked why, almost all of them said it's because I'm a very no-nonsense person who tells it like it is and I am very confident and secure in who I am. The things people have said to me in the last week has been some of the nicest things I have heard about myself in a long time.

Here's the final tie-in to my 3 points above: I realized that even though my diverse way of communicating isn't appreciated by my immediate managers (it should be said that the audit managers love my style), the church does. There is a place and a calling for people of all skills in the church, and I know that the Lord gives us different gifts that we can use to make the world a better place. The people that are so-called intolerant accept and celebrate my personality, while the people that are supposedly tolerant don't accept the fact that I communicate differently than they, and they continually frown on my behavior.

So there it is, off my chest. The California post should be coming soon, and then we can get back to the nonsense of the Terrence Show.