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Friday, 19 June 2009

Our apartment is flooded

Today I got off work early because I had to collect a parcel from the post office.

It was two LEGO Classic Space sets I had bought from eBay. They were in very good condition and all was well, as I did all the housework (laundry, rubbish, watering the plant) I had on my mind. I took a shower and checked my e-mails.

Later on, my wife came home. She usually comes home after me because the hospital she works at is busy. When I went to the living room to greet her, we saw that the kitchen floor was covered in water. She actually saw it before I did. At first I thought it was the dishwasher, but felt it was unlikely since we do not use it. Upon further investigation I discovered the water to be seeping from the laundry area and it was warm. I realised that the hot water tank was leaking.

I tried to turn off the main water supply to the tank but couldn't budge the handle. I rang my dad who advised me to do the same thing. When I told him it couldn't be turned off, he said that it's not possible to turn the handle with my bare hands, I must use a tool to give me more strength (e.g. pliers). So I got the pliers and even then I had to use my right hand (haven't been going to the gym recently).

I then rang the hot water tank tradespeople and they said the earliest they could come in was 4pm tomorrow (Saturday). And it was going to cost me $695, because they have to install a new tank. I don't know why, but it seems every time we make some headway into saving money, something beyond our control happens and we have to spend the money.

My wife didn't take this turn of events well at all, as she had a very tiring day at work and just wanted to relax during the weekend.

After we booked the appointment with the tradesman, my wife cut a piece of plastic (the type they use in bathrooms) and blocked the laundry door. I closed the door and then we placed some towels (by now very wet as we had to use them to mop up all the water on the kitchen floor) on top to hopefully stem the water from seeping out too much.

We then drove to McDonald's (since it was already 9.30pm) to grab a quick dinner. After that we drove to the local supermarket (thankfully open until midnight) and bought four more towels. When we got back to our apartment the water had flooded to the kitchen floor again.

It was a very draining turn of events. We placed two towels just within the kitchen doorway (our last line of defense against the water, we had to the sofa, electrical items, and piano in the living room to protect). Then I got all the junk mail I had kept in our scrap paper basket (we had heaps of junk mail kept there) and proceeded to cover the kitchen floor with paper wherever there was water, in an attempt to get them to absorb all the water coming towards the doorway.

As I type this, I just checked the kitchen floor again and it seems for now they have stemmed the wave of devastation (but already I can see that the papers are all wet and soggy, they won't hold for long).

4pm Saturday seems like such a long time coming...

I suppose we are particularly unhappy with this unexpected event because during the past several Saturdays and weeknights of the last few weeks, we had been practising for a drama at our church and so had little free time for ourselves. This weekend was finally the one when there was no practice, and we wanted to have some quality time and maybe take a drive downtown for lunch.

But now that this has happened, we cannot do so and must continue to do what we can to stop the flooding (since the hot water tank has a hole in it somewhere and is continually leaking).

I ask myself what lesson of faith (if any) is there to learn in all this. Perhaps it's to learn to accept that these unpleasant things in life happen. I know we are a lot better off already, since we have our health, and have jobs. But still, it does not change the fact that what occurred was disappointing.

I would say I am more frustrated and angry than sad. I just wanted to have an easy weekend, and wanted to be able to save some money. But now that's not to be. I would ask "Why?" but there is no answer.

Sunday, 12 April 2009

Pastor K is betrayed

I have a story to tell.

There was a certain church. In this church, the senior pastor was K. He was much loved by the congregation. Though he is a bit absent minded and does not have very good organisational skills, he possesses a very strong theology and is good at delivering sermons that uplift the audience and help them to apply Biblical principles to their everyday lives. His strongest trait is his humility. Not only does he deliver good sermons, he is also proficient at writing hymns, lyrics, and can play the piano and guitar. But not once has he boasted about how good he is at what he does, nor has he sought for people's praises.

Thus it came as a sudden shock to the church when he announced his resignation to his congregation, effective immediately after the Easter Sunday service was over. He said his mother had a stroke, and his oldest brother was recovering from cancer, so only he and the second oldest brother were able to take care of their mother, who is in the process of rehabilitation. To do this, K said he would have to travel overseas to where his mother lived, and being unable to perform his pastoral duties, he decided it was best to retire early.

But, there is often more to a story than meets the eye. In order to discover the truth behind this particular story, we must go back to the beginning...

December 2008 - Pastor K is involved in many ministries. He had set up a three year Bible reading plan, started adult cell groups, and the incarnate evangelism program (evangelism through first building good relationships with people). Because of this, he often has contacts with many other brothers and sisters. It so happens that one such sister, sister W, has something of a crush on pastor K. One time, sister W writes to pastor K over e-mail regarding her crush on him. By mistake, she sends the e-mail to all the members of the evening congregation instead. She then sends another e-mail asking them to delete this e-mail.

Pastor K discovers sister W's crush on him, and together with his wife, they meet sister W and the three discuss the matter. After the discussion, sister W volunteers to attend another church to remove herself from the situation because she realises her infatuation will lead nowhere, since pastor K is married to his wife. The Diaconate is informed of this situation and they investigate the matter. After consideration, they conclude that pastor K did not seek to start any extra-marital relationship with sister W, since the infatuation was one-sided, and as pastor K's wife also felt the situation was resolved, the Diaconate decides that pastor K can continue in his pastoral duties as before.

The key points to note here are that pastor K did not start this relationship (if you knew him, he is simply the type of absent minded person that has no interest in extra-marital affairs and is generally not what people would consider a "romantic" person - but this is not to say that he does not love his wife), that his wife was made aware of the situation from start to finish, that she had considered the situation resolved (if you knew her, she is simply the type of person that would not tolerate any kind of martial infidelity), and that the Diaconate had investigated the matter and concluded it was a non-issue.

Early 2009 (around February sometime) - Pastor K and his wife goes overseas to see the pastor's mother as she has had a stroke and is recovering in hospital. To do so, the couple takes long service leave as the visit will mean pastor K will be away from his pastoral duties for some weeks.

Back at the church, certain people, including pastor L (the church has several pastors), and Chocolate (not his real name) stir things up by demanding to see a copy of the e-mail which sister W wrote to pastor K but accidentally sent to the evening congregation members. As most of the evening congregation members had already deleted the e-mail, they could not find a copy of it. However, one sister in the congregation did not delete it, and they intimidated her into giving them a copy of the e-mail (since she was new to the church and was afraid of their authority). Once pastor L received a copy of the e-mail, he proceeds to forward the e-mail to other people within the church. As he was already aware that the Diaconate had investigated the matter, and that the infatuation upon pastor K was one-sided, it is very difficult to believe that he is doing this with the best interests of the church or pastor K.

Moreover, the Bible teaches that if one observes a brother or sister committing a sin, then the one who is witness to the sin should first talk to the brother or sister in private. If he or she refuses to repent, then the witness is to take two or three others, and then finally the church. In this instance, pastor L did not play by these rules. The thing to note here is that even IF pastor K was wrong, he deserved the opportunity to have a private conversation first with the other pastors and the Diaconate first, and not to have the event made known to so many church members by having the e-mail forwarded to people. When you consider that pastor K's wife had already considered the matter settled, it is hard to see pastor L and Chocolate's efforts as anything other than an attempt to destroy pastor K's reputation and remove him from a position of authority.

Pastor L also proceeds to ask church members to "dig up dirt" on pastor K, by telling them to recall all instances where pastor K was seen in the company of sister W, even instances which occurred several years ago, and on top of this, regardless of context (e.g. pastor K may have been having dinner with sister W - but in the presence of other brothers and sisters who also shared in the meal, since they were having a meeting or general get-together).

Late March / early April 2009 - After pastor K and his wife return from their visit to the pastor's mother, pastor K is grilled by committee members of the C congregation (the church is large and made up of three congregations), who subject him to humiliating and ridiculous questions such as "What was your car doing parked so close to sister W's place in 2006?" (which could have simply been he had to drive some other brothers and sisters to sister W's place for cell group) to which pastor K responded "I honestly don't remember.". They continue this interrogation for a total of thirty hours.

The Diaconate protest that this matter had already been investigated and settled. The C congregation committee respond by stating that the leaders of the Diaconate are young and inexperienced in dealing with these sorts of matters, and that because they were brought up in a Western culture, they do not understand how the "truly Chinese" deal with these matters. The problem is that this type of argument is simply fallacious, the church applies one set of ethical values, neither Western or Eastern, but simply Biblical. For the C congregation committee to say this smacks of pride and arrogance.

It should be noted that a significant minority within the C congregation committee believes pastor K has been wronged and one of them, Burn (not his real name), had written a letter to pastor K and his wife while they were still overseas visiting their mother, stating that many members at church had missed them both and would love them to return as soon as possible where they have their support. Burn had intended that the letter by signed by members who wanted to show their support for pastor K and his wife. However, the letter is somehow intercepted by pastor L, who angrily stormed into one of the church offices, where brother M was counting the day's offerings. Pastor L demanded to know who wrote the letter, which brother M has no idea about. Then pastor L goes on to say things such as "You should be aware when you are around pastor K, and not associate with him too closely, because even your wife might be in danger!" to brother M. Brother M feels disturbed and upset by these words, and the two argue.

Pastor L also states that even if the C congregation committee find no fault with pastor K in the end, he is prepared to called a members' General Meeting to vote on this (as if truth was simply a matter of opinion), never mind the fact that the Diaconate's decisions trump all the decisions of the congregation committees (since the Diaconate represents the whole church). Certain members of the C congregation committee disagree with pastor L's views, but he slams his hands on the table and shouts them down, with Burn stating that pastor L used certain words that he would not repeat in his own wife's presence.

Later on, during one evening service, the members of the congregation find an extra slip of paper in the service bulletin. The paper states that pastor K will no longer serve in the evening service. The piece of paper is allegedly written with the permission of the Diaconate. Pastor L meanwhile tells the Diaconate that the evening congregation members do not want pastor K as their pastor anymore. Upon investigation, the Diaconate discovers that pastor L himself had written the piece of paper and slipped it into the evening service bulletins, and the the majority of the evening congregation still wanted pastor K to be their pastor. It seems that pastor L himself had orchestrated the whole thing. In response, the Diaconate punishes pastor L by suspending his pastoral duties from the Good Friday service, the Sunday service, and are considering what to do with him.

However, the damage to pastor K's reputation had already been done. Even if the majority of the congregation wanted pastor K to return, the truth is he and his wife have been deeply hurt by these events. They have been serving in the church for twenty years, and it broke their hearts to know people that they thought were dear brothers and sisters, people such as Chocolate and his wife, sister A and her husband (who even said they might hire private investigators to dig up dirt on pastor K), and pastor L and his wife. Pastor K could have sued pastor L for defamation, but he decided to abide by the Biblical principle of not taking fellow brothers and sisters to court. This would seem to speak for pastor K's character as a Christian, who suffered wrong but did not retaliate.

The uncertainty now lies with how things will fold out. It is uncertain whether pastor L will be restored as a pastor. Currently, pastor W is the most senior pastor after pastor K, so he is the acting senior pastor for now. Pastor W says he does not want to take sides and wishes to remain neutral in the matter, but people are pushing him to make a stance. The situation is difficult for the church's junior pastor W (no relation to pastor W himself), who had only joined the church for less than a year and is faced with these trying circumstances.

Sources - Supposedly, only the Diaconate and a few are supposed to know about this. But I guess because of the injustice suffered by pastor K and his wife, and also because of pastor L's not-so-subtle grab for power and the way he conducted himself in front of brothers and sisters who disagreed with him, pastor K's supporters are trying to get members to rally to what they believe to be the right course of action - removing pastor L from the church.

The sources come from those who have sat in the C congregation committee meetings, as well as those close to pastor K's wife.

Personally, I don't know what the "right" course of action is, I don't know if removing pastor L from the church is the "right" answer (though I think it would be difficult to trust someone like him with so much authority). But, I believe pastor K should be exonerated, and it should be acknowledged that he was innocent of the things with which he was accused of. May justice be done.

Monday, 23 March 2009

Currently
The Silmarillion
By J.R.R. Tolkien
see related
My Love-Hate Relationship with the Church

I am not really sure why I decided to write this. It's been something eating at my mind for a long time now, and much of the anger I originally felt when thinking on this issue has subsided. I suppose I am writing this as a sanity check. I certainly am not writing this to demean the experience of any other Christian in anyway. It is more my own personal reflection, because I feel it is something I greatly need.

I need to first start off by giving some clarifications. I consider my relationship to God and my relationship to the Church (i.e. not a particular church) as two different things. Therefore please understand I am not saying I have a love-hate relationship with God. I also recognise that these problems I have with the Church have no bearing on the truth claims of Christianity (Christ is not somehow a lesser Son of God because of these experiences, nor has the message of salvation somehow lost its clarify and power). I am also writing with the knowledge that some of my issue with the Church stems from my own flaws and weaknesses. I realise I am biased, but at the same time I am trying to be as even-handed and fair as possible in the critique which follows.

In the years I have struggled with this issue, I have come to see a few things concerning myself. I have come to the following conclusions about my character:

- I am quick to anger, and somewhat impulsive. The Book of Proverbs say this is foolishness.
- I lack dedication, often unable to finish what I started.
- I am selfish with my time and resources. I would consider myself immature in this context.
- I am often wary of authority figures and feel they must earn my respect but I am willing to give it.
- I dislike responsibilities in general, but am usually willing to shoulder my part as long as I am convinced it is necessary.
- I believe dealing with people in a fair manner is the key to building and maintaining trust. By the same token I expect other people to behave fairly towards myself and others. Once my trust has been betrayed by someone, it takes a long time for me to trust that person again.
- I feel it is easy for me to forgive someone on most things, but if the matter is concerning one of trust or personal remarks, it is much easier for me to hold a grudge instead.
- I am more cynical regarding my fellow Christians than non-Christians. I tend to be able to see the good in non-Christians more easily than my fellow Christians. Therefore I believe I am lacking in mercy.
- I dislike people attempting to persuade me to change my mind once it is set. I am stubborn.
- I dislike asking others for assistance because I feel it robs them of time and energy.
- I enjoy working by myself and organising matters according to the designs of my own mind. It is not because I think other people's ideas are inferior, but because I dislike meetings in general and they are often what is required in order to reach a consensus.
- I have a strong dislike of double standards, duplicity, unjustified narrow-mindedness, and injustice.

From the list above you can see that I have a lot of character flaws. Thus a significant factor regarding why I dislike the Church is due to these flaws of mine. This is to say that part of the problem is my own fault.

For example, in the past I had a number of commitments in church-based ministry. Many Christians would (rightly) see it as a privilege to serve God. But I came close to burning out, and my experience left me reluctant to serve zealously again. It made me more withdrawn, and more guarded and selfish with my time and energy (perhaps I was already selfish, and the experience only served to bring out what was inside?). I started to feel and see differently to many other Christians, and now that I think about it, I believe it is fair to say that I was not entirely correct, nor was I entirely wrong. One thing I still have not been able to comprehend is how some Christians can find "spiritual" rest. I believe they must possess a level of maturity I do not have, because many a Sunday I would come home feeling tired, cheated, and angry at the world in general, but angry at my own lifestyle in particular.

You see, I do not feel rested when I spend half of the Sunday (e.g. 10am to 4.30pm) at church. The problem seems to be that because I already spend most of the week "doing" things (work in the office, followed by housework every night - which I do not consider a burden because it is obligation and duty), I feel spending half of Sunday at church is taking away from my time to rest and relax. On Saturdays I do sometimes find rest, but sometimes I have to buy groceries and/or see family. So then, does this mean I am putting family before God? In a sense I think it does, and perhaps I have my priorities in the wrong order (but for those whose parents are non-Christians, maybe spending more time with them IS the right thing to be doing).

But even though I may be wrong, it does not change the fact that after coming home from church on Sundays, I don't really feel ready for work on the following Monday. When I go to work, my colleagues would sometimes tell me what a relaxing time they had on the weekend, how they went someplace nice and enjoyed the beauty of nature. At this point I usually would say "Oh, that's nice." but won't proceed to expand on my weekend, because it's not like I would be giving them a good impression of Christianity if I said something like "I went to church, spent a long time there, felt really unhappy about that, and man, I wish I didn't have to spend so much time there because I feel I got robbed of my weekend. It's not like I can still go out to someplace at 4.30pm." They would not really understand, and I am not sure I do either. However, because I still know and believe that the Christian faith itself is true and good, I try not to say anything that would jeopardize their view of the gospel message. And yet not being able to say what I truly feel only adds to the sense of anger and frustration seated within.

The next question these feelings lead to is, if the Christian faith is so good, why do I often feel anger and frustration? Aside from the obvious, such as not drawing closer to God in prayer and through Bible reading, I believe it is because I lack maturity as a person (both spiritually and emotionally) and also because I've had and am still having a number of bad experiences when dealing with other Christians, either generally or through church-based ministry. One problem is that I allow past experiences to colour my judgment of current experiences, and this is something I am trying to correct. However, it seems that wherever I go, I attract bad experiences like a magnet. At this point some of you may suggest that this proves that I am the problem, and I don't disagree with that entirely. However, I also do not agree with it entirely, and this is because I think other people have character flaws too (a reasonable observation, no?).

Some examples come to mind:

- Some years ago I saw a Bible teaching program being advertised after Sunday service. A short "teaser" trailer video was played, in which the speaker said that non-Christian music was wrong and leads people away from God. And he meant this in the absolute sense for non-Christian music in general. What he said was really odd and narrow-minded, because non-Christian music that I have listened to often makes me think of themes such as forgiveness, love, mercy, peace, joy, love for God's creation, making a stand for truth and justice, certain parables Jesus spoke about (e.g. the Prodigal Son), etc. Does he not understand that Christ is capable of using anything and everything for His purposes?

- There was one time when I was involved with a group that was going to do a joint function with another group. It was supposed to be a pooling of resources because the two groups had a similar idea. But after a meeting, it was "decided" that only the group I was involved in would plan the function, because the other group was already "busy". What irked me was that generally speaking, all groups serving in church-based ministry are busy in one sense or another, so what gave the other group the right to say they were busy and to foist the whole thing off onto us? It is because we were supposed to be more energetic? It also didn't help that "senior management" agreed to this "sharing" of duties. This only served to further reinforce my wariness of those in authority.

- You may remember that in recent history there was a massive earthquake in China which killed many people. It was tragic and it was right to pray and raise funds for the victims. However, a short while later there was persecution of Indian Christians in the Indian state of Orissa, and there was no mention of this matter or corporate prayer at church (as far as I could see) for these fellow Christians, despite the fact that I made the pastor aware of this. I am not angry because something I said (twice) got ignored. I am angry because the Indian Christians deserve our prayers and support as much as those Chinese people caught in the earthquake did and yet were apparently sidelined. Are we not to pray for our fellow Christians, especially those that are persecuted? I feel it was almost a case of Chinese people being more important than other races because we belong to a Chinese church (that we only seem to focus on evangelising to ethnic Chinese people doesn't really help correct this view). The fact that some news does not make the headlines does not make it any less important from the Christian's perspective. If we only consider headline news important, then we have thrown away the Church's ability and obligation to discern world matters.

Other experiences in the past I will not mention, since I believe these examples are representative of them all. While I am aware of my own problems and lack of maturity, at the same time I can't help feeling that I've been shortchanged. I know it's not like I've been personally attacked, but these experiences and encounters have left me feeling disappointed, frustrated, and angry. At the moment, I am not sure where I stand regarding serving in church-based ministry. I know I used to be really extreme after the first couple of bad experiences and never wanted to serve at church again. But as the years went by I began to learn that view was wrong. I suppose I'd still like to serve, and one thing I have learnt from the past is to accept our duties and obligations and to serve in some capacity, but at the same time to be firm and say "no" so that we don't over extend ourselves, because this often leads to resentment and burn-outs. This is also the reason why I dislike people attempting to persuade me to change my mind once it is set ("No" actually means "no" ... surprise, surprise). I have had the "I know you said 'no', but could you pray about it?" line used on me. I know that some people are sincere and really do want me to pray and not make rash, unwise decisions. I respect that they take ministry work so seriously (perhaps this is what I should learn from them also). But sometimes I get the distinct feeling that a few are using that line as a bargaining chip. This also shows my cynical view of fellow Christians, something I am not proud of (if it makes things any fairer, I am also at times cynical of myself).

In the end, I believe to serve in ministry is still the right course of action. But I believe serving God and serving at church are not always the one and same thing. People who never step inside a church also need to see God's light. Sometimes people respond better to a Christian serving diligently in the local community amongst interest / specialty groups instead of a Christian going into the community for the explicit and exclusive purpose of preaching the gospel. The Christian who works quietly and implicitly, while being unable to directly preach the gospel message, will, when the timing is right, be able to gain the trust and respect of all those he/she has worked with, and the gospel message will be heard from one that has walked the talk instead of talked the talk.

Many programs, functions, and events can on the surface seem necessary. And they may well truly be good things that one could be doing. But I would often think "Many things are good and worthy of doing. But which one of these should I be doing?". I have prayed and waited for a number of years. I believe I know what it is that God wants me to do. The obstacles I face are a lack of sufficient knowledge, a lack of sufficient time, and a lack of sufficient dedication. But, if I do not make a start, these obstacles will always remain as obstacles...

Thursday, 19 March 2009

Freedom

Twenty-two years ago, when my family left Hong Kong for Australia, we considered ourselves fortunate in going to a freer, more democratic country. Although Hong Kong was a British colony, it was going to be reclaimed by China in 1997, and my parents, having experienced the harshness of the communist regime in China during the Cultural Revolution, decided they did not want their children to live through similar circumstances if they could help it.

I feel blessed to be living in Australia, there are many reasons for this, but the primary one would be the freedom that I have in this country. Thus I could have not imagined that things would turn out this way. I could not believe that some day this country would implement a nation-wide censorship campaign that would block a list of websites (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/03/19/1237054961100.html)

I have no doubt that the original intention was probably good, borne out of a desire to protect children from the dangers of the Internet, and at this stage the trial of the filter is still voluntary. However, if we have learnt anything from history, it is that there have been oppressive systems which started out with the best of intentions. It is in our nature to oppress, to dominate, to enslave - if not physically, then at least psychologically, politically, and philosophically.

I am all for the protection of children - arguably amongst the most vulnerable of our society's members. But in preserving their freedom and ensuring their protection I think it is most unwise to somehow think this can be accomplished by removing the freedom of others. It is not simply a question or right and wrong, but whether the measures work from a technological perspective, whether the campaign breaches one of the fundamental ideas behind a democratic society, and ultimately, whether the ends justifies the means.

Once we are convinced that the ends justifies the means, we open the gateway to compromise, and start down the path of the slippery slope. It is so easy to gradually argue for greater restrictions on freedom, greater power to control - all in the name of doing what's right and for the protection of society at large.

Freedom is something given to humankind by God. Of course we understand we are not to use our freedom to do evil, but to say that because some will do evil and therefore we are justified in taking pre-emptive measures that does affect everyone, in actuality deciding the web sites that we can and cannot go to, then that in itself is an evil.

The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) supports this campaign, stating that it does protect children, and critics of the filter who say it will slow down the Internet for all Australians are misguided and wrong (http://www.acl.org.au/national/browse.stw?article_id=26019).

The thing is, suppose that the filter does work without slowing down the Internet (speed is not my primary concern anyway). The significance of this is that it may set a precedent - justifying even more restrictions on our freedoms. That, is my primary concern, and the concern of many other Australians. And just so it is clear, Christians are divided over this issue, so I believe the issue is worth further consideration and thought. Here is a letter from a Christian mother who is against the Internet filter: http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com/a-letter-against-filtering-from-a-concerned-christian-mother/ .

She goes on to quote Thomas Hobbs, who said: "The freedoms that we relinquish in order to have a civil society ought to be the minimum freedoms required in order to maintain a reasonable peace and tranquillity."

I couldn't agree more. But I realise others may hold the opposite view, and I would like to hear your reasons.

Saturday, 07 March 2009

Recent Updates - Part III

Work
Even before the recent financial crisis, work had not always been easy for many of my friends. After the crisis, work is even more difficult due to budget cuts, layoffs, etc.

Many of my friends work as accountants and they often have to stay till 7pm or 8pm. It's even worse for my friends that work in Asian countries, because the companies over there have absolutely no idea of the "work-life balance" concept. One of my friends who works in Hong Kong told me that she was eating takeaway dinner in the office because of the workload, and even when she was eating dinner, her boss came up to her and said "Could you please do this for me now?" I think I would go crazy in that kind of work environment. The trouble is many Asian countries do not have laws which protect employees from this kind of exploitation.

I consider myself fortunate that I have flexible working hours, and that I am not expected to go back to the office on weekends. Even so, there will soon be a department-wide restructure and I think it will go fairly badly for my boss. Essentially his annual salary is getting downgraded by almost $10,000. He will be doing the same amount of work, if not more. I think it is ridiculous because all of us in the team are already getting underpaid. And yet the employees that know how to "suck up" to management will be protected and treated better.

Democracy is only true when it comes to voting time. At all other times, nations and companies are run like monarchies, because the higher up you are in the hierarchy, the more your opinion matters, even if you are talking on a subject that you have no knowledge of. This has happened many times in the place I work, as well as the places where my friends work. Basically you have management telling you to do certain IT related tasks, and yet they do not even understand how the technology works, or whether it's capable of what they want to do.

However, it does not automatically mean that it's better to move elsewhere. It is hard to say whether another place is really better than the current place, unless you have worked there for another few years. Therefore I think it is unwise to simply seek work elsewhere because the current situation is not the best. Because I do not know what I should do, I have told God that I am assuming He wants me to stay unless I get some kind of clear signal from him. Time will reveal more...