Religion

This is a very tender subject to me. First of all, my religious beliefs are very personal to me, just like they are to everyone else who believes in a higher power. The key word is respect.

There are so many different interpretations of the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible, not to mention the additional books written by men who believe they were inspired/ordained/chosen/authorized by God. We were presumably given a book of instructions to live by, and it seems nobody can agree on the exact wording, description, or definition of any part of it. If we did, there would not be so many different religions..

Within the last year, I had decided to redirect my faith through the teachings of Christ. However, I am not one who will be going out to "preach the Word." I believe that living by example will send a stronger message than anything I could say verbally. Besides, I still have a lot to learn, so who am I to be telling anyone what or how to believe?

I have a bumper sticker that displays, "There is no freedom of religion without freedom from religion." I feel very strongly about that statement. Some people do not realize just how pushy they can be with their religious views. It has been proven time and time again that when you try to push your views (religious or other) onto other people, those people tend to resist those views even more; and I am certainly no exception to that tendency. It angers me when some well-meaning person with an agenda to "save my soul" will not take "no" for an answer, just because I don't think or act the way he/she does. I call these people religious bullies, and I refuse to deal with them.

This also goes for the e-mails that I receive with stories and poems of a religious nature. The stories and poems in and of themselves speak volumes and are worthy reading, but the message is almost overshadowed by the e-mailer's added message of, "If you believe in God, you will forward this to ten people..." or "if you're not ashamed to show your love for God, because Jesus died ..." or other guilt-provoking statements. Why not let the story or poem speak for itself? No, because someone had to tack on that "If you believe in God ...." or a similar statement and not leave well enough alone. The tacked-on comment implies that you do not love God if you do not forward the message on to people on your e-mail list. Gee, sounds like another chain letter to me. Oh dear, I guess I lost the message I was supposed to be getting from that e-mail. Seriously, if the story or poem is worthy of reading, just send it! If the recipient thinks it's good enough, it will get forwarded on its own merits.

The bottom line is: educate yourself, follow your own faith, and stop pushing your religious agenda on people who are not interested in your viewpoint. You are responsible for yourself, not other people.

One more thing: the word, "God," when referring to the Almighty, is supposed to be capitalized, folks. Give Him that aspect of respect, please.