Recently, the topic of religion has been circling my
head. In discussion with a friend
surrounded by horse whinnies, a conversation with my husband as campfire smoke
swirled around us, and even in dreams where I’m among friends attempting
(mostly) in vain at explaining where I stand as an agnostic. I don’t go to church and worship, I don’t
pray, I believe if there is some kind of deity out there everyone can find
their own way to reach that person (if it even is a person), and I don’t
believe in requirements to live by a certain set of ridiculous life rules. Of course, these are just my own opinions.
It wasn’t as if I was raised in a really religious household
where we did not work whatsoever on Sunday or prayed to God every night
although I did have to attend Sunday school and sometimes go to church after. I was raised Lutheran and tried my hand at
Methodist for a few years before deciding none of it was really for me. Truth is, I abhor the very idea of organized
religion. It’s become so commercial,
selfish, and expectant of how we should live our lives to the point it’s left a
very bad taste in my mouth. In any
event, I’ve been done with church, religion, and all that jazz for a long
time. Years even.
What I’m not done with is the idea that there may be
something out there, I just don’t have the answers nor do I really feel a
strong need to know. I honestly just
want to live my life to the best of my ability without someone peering down
their nose at me through black-shade glasses coming from a world where gay is a
state of mind, you are born the gender you are meant to be and you better stay
that way, and marriage should only be between the opposite sex. With all the recent media surrounding
Christianity beliefs and gay people, same-sex marriage discouragers,
transgender issues, and molestation and rape among the God-fearing Christians,
it’s no wonder so many people have begun to question why the hell they’re
praying to a deity that thinks it’s okay to treat other people that are different
like shit or to pick and choose whose sins are forgiven and which of us are
going to hell.
It’s both funny and interesting that most of the negative
and hateful shit comes from those that claim to be religious. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of an
atheist or an agnostic spew the same garbage we hear from staunch
believers/worshippers of Thee Great Almighty.
Okay, I will admit that not all religions are on my shit list. I recently saw a billboard that hit home for
me, which read something like this: A
loving atheist is better than a hateful Christian. Believe it or not, this actually came from a
church. Now I ask you, why can’t all
religions have that same outlook?
