It’s been a few days since my last blog post. The Muslim travel ban has me shook. I’ve been wanting to tackle the subject of religion, but I had to make sure that I was ready and willing to say what’s on my mind, hopefully without alienating the religious people in my life.
I have a complicated relationship with religion. I grew up in a semi-religious family. We spent a lot of Sundays in church, although I don’t remember a whole lot of Sunday morning service stretching out into other areas of my week. When I got to high school, I attended church services with friends. I think I was even in AWANA for a season or two. The point is, I was exposed to it fairly extensively. For the most part, I never questioned what I was taught.
Late in my high school years, that started to change. I became more observant of the people around me. I met several people who were really only “Christ-like” on Sunday mornings. I lost loved-ones in ugly, gut-wrenching ways and was told that it was “all part of God’s plan” and that I needed to trust that “He had a better place for them”. I heard people say “Love thy neighbor as thyself” on Sunday and then call my gay friend an abomination. When I became an adult and lived on my own, I was able to choose for myself what part, if any, organized religion would play in my life and the lives of my children. I made the conscious decision that it wasn’t for me.
I honestly don’t know if I believe in God. Most days, I am pretty sure that I don’t. However, I do believe in the afterlife. I’ve experienced too many things that I have no explanation for. And I sit here at 37 years old and I don’t know how to reconcile those 2 polar opposite feelings. See what I meant when I mentioned it being “complicated”?
Here is what I do know…what I feel in my heart. Organized religion is a benefit to those who practice. It provides guidance to those who are lost, family to those who are alone, lifelong friendships, benefits to the communities they worship in, fellowship with like-minded individuals and families, and boundless hope during the darkest times. I believe, as a religious person, that you can believe in whomever you choose, and abide by the guiding principles of whichever Book you choose. YOU.
What I also believe with all of my heart is that your religious beliefs end where the next person begins. You cannot use your religion to dictate to anyone else how they can live their own lives. And you cannot use your religion to exert power over someone who believes differently. If you are a Christian who believes that gay marriage is against God’s will, then you refrain from participating in a gay relationship. If you are a Catholic who believes that taking birth control is a sin, then you shouldn’t take birth control. If getting an abortion is against your religion, then don’t get one.
People of other religious faiths or non-believers are not the enemy. They are not people to be looked down upon. They are not people that deserve disrespect because they have a different value system than your own. They should not be looked upon with disgust. They shouldn’t be denied service because you disagree with them. And your beliefs shouldn’t be the basis for any laws in a country where everyone is FREE to practice whichever religion they choose…even if they worship Henry Winkler or the Flying Spaghetti Monster. We have a judiciary system in place to decide what is and isn’t a crime and to punish those who break our laws; church separate from state.
According to recent study, there are 2.2 billion Christians on this planet. There are 1.6 billion practicing Islam. There are 1 billion agnostics/atheists, a billion Hindus, and 396 million Buddhists. That is a lot of people with a lot of ideas. Think of all of the amazing and wonderful things we could learn from each other if we just stopped thinking we were better than one another.
People of Muslim faith are being discriminated against, attacked, denied entry into our country, and even killed for their differences. 1.6 billion human beings are hated because a few of their numbers have come to America and killed under the guise of serving their God. They are called radical Islamic terrorists. The term is thrown around a lot these days in the news and on social media. They are spectres of evil who can just walk right into the country through the “gaping holes” in our border to terrorize our country in the name of Allah.
But what about the radical terrorists born and raised on American soil? Would it be fair to judge all Christians based on our interaction with The Westboro Baptist Church, Frank Silva Roque, John C. Salvi, Paul Jennings Hill, Adam Lanza, or Timothy McVeigh?
According to recent news, 100,000 foreign-born legal residents who spent almost 2 years and countless dollars being vetted by our government and granted visas to live and work in our country, have had those visas destroyed in one fell swoop. They face separation from their families, loss of jobs and income, loss of homes and businesses…all because of baseless fear on the parts of intolerant, mostly “Christian” Americans. Tens of thousands of innocent Syrian refugees, including thousands of children, will die attempting to escape the horrors of war in their own country because apparently our God is right and their God is wrong.
I’m heartbroken for each of the people affected by this ban. And I’m mad as Hell that there are millions of people supporting it. I will NEVER presume to lump all Christians together. I know that there are millions of practicing Christians who are fighting the good fight every day to defend against hate and fear, who love and embrace humans from all walks of life, lifestyle, and religion. But, at the same time I’m disgusted by those who would use their personally held system of beliefs to shout from their supposed moral high ground in an attempt to hinder the progress of their fellow humans, sow seeds of hate and fear throughout this free land, and refuse to live peacefully among people of all faiths.
For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. – Nelson Mandela
Now We Stand 