I really want to see this movie.
Be prepared, because I’m going to go on for a bit here. 
I have a strange relationship with religion these days. I’m just not sure about it. I grew up until the age of like… 13… going to church every Sunday and Wednesday. My closest friends were my church friends, I read my Bible, I prayed, and I fully believed everything Christianity taught me.
Never would I say that I regret my religious upbrining. If anything, I’m glad for it. Because I can say that I think organized religion is a major problem in society without someone accusing me of having no idea what I’m talking about. I know the lessons of Christianity and the Bible… I know the Ten Commandments… I know what God says is right and wrong and how we are to live our lives and how to “get into Heaven.” Also, there is nothing wrong with the fundamentals of religious teachings… basically, the Golden Rule. Treat others how you would like to be treated. Obviously I’m grateful for that lesson that religion taught me.
However, that lesson can be taught without religion.
I’m starting to basically just believe that as long as you follow that Golden Rule… you’ll live a good life. You’ll obviously never murder someone… unless you crazily yearn to be murdered yourself… you’ll be a respectful individual… you won’t judge people for their actions or beliefs… you won’t steal… all of those kinds of things.
When guidelines/rules and outlined beliefs get introduced to the whole scenario, things get hairy. I’ve said it before that really… at the most basic level… most religions around the world are trying to get people to follow the Golden Rule… to be good people. But then they start setting up the lines of difference and people can easily take things to extremes… then they start feeling like anyone who doesn’t believe what they believe is “wrong” and is somehow less-than or even EVIL.
And guess what? It’s not just extremist Muslims like the media tends to make it out to be… I’ve witnessed first-hand multiple Christian groups at my old campus preaching their beliefs… and going much further than simply preaching. They scream at passers-by… they shout about the “evil temptress” who is wearing a tank top or low-cut shirt… they point at the “filthy homosexual” wearing the designer sunglasses and pink polo… they make people effing CRY even though those people were just walking by minding their own business.
How is that not hateful? I’m fairly certain that whatever god you believe in would not approve of that kind of hatred. If you are a Christian and you don’t “believe in” homosexuality… that’s fine. I have family members who feel that it is “wrong” because of the teachings of the Bible. But they don’t go around HATING someone for being homosexual. If you believe it’s wrong, then just don’t be a homosexual and I guess you’re good, right?!
There are plenty of people who would tell me I’m a sinner or an evil non-believer and yell at me about how I’m going straight to Hell… just for this post. And I just have to laugh at them. Because they are part of a fairly large number of religious people who take things way too far and misonstrue their beliefs HORRIBLY. And they are going to cause so many problems in the world before the end of it all.
I just don’t even want to mess with that. It has all gotten so complicated and messy and often times RIDICULOUS. People are literally killing others because they have different beliefs… and it’s so insane that they don’t realize the irony of that… and how terribly wrong they are in their actions.
Now obviously I know that there are Christians, Jews, Muslims, etc. who do NOT take it to extremes… and who truly are decent people who don’t judge others for having different beliefs. My family is part of that group. I’m certain they would prefer that I was a devout, church-going Christian still… because they love me and their beliefs are that I will only get to Heaven by having those same beliefs… but they would never shun me or yell at me or call me names for thinking the way that I do. (And I love love love them for that.)
Some day when I have children of my own I’ll probably teach them about various religions… research them with them… so that they have an understanding of all of that at least (it is interesting to learn about different cultures & that often requires learning about different religions) and so that if they do ever want to be a part of an organized religion, they can make an educated decision about which belief system they want to follow. And I’ll support them if they do want to go to church and all of that.
For me though, not being part of any organized religion seems to be the way to go. I feel like I’m a genuinely good person with a lovely heart regardless of whether or not I go to church on Sunday and since I’m shaky on what I believe as far as God goes… I don’t want to participate in it simply because I “should” or am “afraid” not to. You know? That’s a lame reason to believe in something. I don’t want to be a poser! So for now I’ll just keep living my life… treating those around me how I would like to be treated… and trying my best to do good in the world.
