I’m not a perfect person and I most certainly have never hinted at nor implied that I ever was. I guess that’s why it bothers me so much that other people do it. I’ve seen so much judgement and criticism in every aspect of socialization. I can’t understand why anyone would have the audacity to judge or shun people because of what they choose to do with his or her life. There are certain things that I blatantly detest or dislike, but if that’s what someone wants to partake in, it’s their choice. Who am I to tell someone that what they’re doing is wrong or goes against the “rules of God?” There’s a difference between personally disliking something because it’s not something you’d ever do and disliking something because of things you’ve been sponged to believe is incorrect over time. I personally enjoy using the brain God has given me to make my own decisions and to distinguish what’s right and what’s wrong for me, not what’s right or wrong for someone else. I believe that you should do anything you want to do that doesn’t harm any other person.
What sparked this for me is all of the political news reports, articles and debates people are having regarding the personal beliefs of politicians. Some Republicans are not pro choice. I’m pretty sure there were others who felt the same but didn’t act on it because they feel better knowing it’s something they wouldn’t personally do and anything a woman chooses doesn’t directly affect them, in any way. Everyone should have the right to make their own decisions. We do everyday. What really peeves me, are the religious debates. How is it that when people aren’t in agreeance with some issue, they immediately throw the Bible into their debates? How is it that they claim that God set these rules, yet, they pick and choose which ones they are to follow and when they do, compare their faults to that of others, as if their faulty choices are the lesser of two evils? How can a person choose to follow GOD GIVEN RULES of their choice, but put down other people for the decisions they make for their own lives? Surely, no one is perfect and I don’t ever expect anyone to be. But if religion is so important, there can never be a debate as to which “evil” is greater or more repulsive than other, especially knowing that each and every single one is just as bad as the other.
People have mistakenly made the assumption that I’m an atheist because I don’t identify with any religion. That’s just not truly because I absolutely believe in God. I just simply despise organized religion. I despise how quick religious people are to put down other people who don’t believe in the same things they do, or do things the same way they do. I’ve had people ask me how I can believe in God without a religion. That is the most insane question I’ve ever heard. Why do I need a religion to maintain a belief in God? Weird.
What I don’t understand if that these nuts get so crazy over things like abortion and gay marriage. There are so many things wrong in the world and that’s what they’re focusing their energy on? Really? God forbid a women doesn’t have a baby she doesn’t want. God forbid two people who love each other get married.
I guess I’m an agnostic theist, though people don’t call me an atheist. I guess more often than not people say I’m catholic since that’s how i was raised. I really rather not be associated with those nuts.
You’re so right. I don’t understand why these things are even the center of focus when there are so many other things people could/should worry about.
my url changed, forgot to update the link
This is so true! Fewer things make me more angry than people trying to use the Bible and God to justify their judgments of other people. These same people pick and choose which passages of the Bible they want to personally follow and then they conveniently use other passages to justify their own biases. It’s sad, and I can understand that things like this deter some people from subscribing to a particular religion.
Ugh. I told one of my Christian friends that I’m not Christian (it came up in conversation) and her response wasn’t bad, but when I mentioned praying about something she asked kind of snarkily “Who would you be praying to?”
Um. God?
I wish people would bother to learn about other forms of spirituality and religions then maybe they would be more accepting. Maybe.
I agree with everything said above. I am a Christian. I grew up with parents who were taught to push that one any and every one that they came in contact with, but that isn’t me. I respect the fact that people have their own beliefs, and that the things I believe in may not be in line with what they believe in. My parents don’t believe in abortions for any reason. I believe that everyone has to give account for their own actions. Whatever you choose to do in your life, you have to answer to God for that.
You make a lot of great points, and really, I agree everything about this post. I always wonder how some people can call themselves a Christian when they’re doing something that’s obviously against their beliefs.
There’s a quote that I really love from Ghandi and it’s “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
I was raised in a Christian home, but I don’t judge people for who they are or what they are doing. It’s all about minding your own business and having respect for others. It’s sad the world lacks that.
I have this “I don’t care!” attitude since I was little. What other people do don’t affect me personally. I do think that other people should stop trying to dictate and judge other peoples’ lives. They are mostly the ones that have personal issues that needs resolving their damn selves. I don’t know how I feel about gay marriage. I’m not Gay! I don’t care! I don’t know how I feel about abortion. You never know until you have to deal with an issue like that. You never know about life until you experience it for yourself. That’s what I always say.
Hey Shannon,
I just wanted to take the time to stop by and tell you how much I appreciate your comments! I know I’ve kind of fallen off the commenting bandwagon in the past year or so. =[ I really appreciate that you still keep in touch!
This is one of the reasons why I can’t get into politics. Politics always boils down to religion in one way or another because religion is almost always so heavily embedded into the creation of a society. It’s irritating because whenever people bring up religion, it’s like they automatically close their minds to other opinions. It stops the conversation – so what’s really the use of debating any further if you are going to do that? I wasn’t raised to be religious but I do believe that there is some higher being, whatever it may be. But honestly, it’s so “high up” that none of it really matters in the “right here, right now” moments. That’s all you, you know? Love the discussion you’ve brought up with this post.
Ben,God is not sadistic. Why do we bring crdeihln into the world if we know they are going to screw things up? For one thing, we hope they will turn out good, not for selfish reasons, but because we love them. God is the same way. He knows we are going to mess up, but he will forgive those that abandon the selfishness and trust in him. Seeing this through the eyes of parenthood makes it a whole lot easier. Perhaps you will see what I mean someday.The sacrifice of Jesus is the atonement for all sin, but each person must turn away from sin and trust in Jesus’ redemptive grace. Its a gift on your doorstep, but you have to open the door, bring it in, open it and accept it. If you leave it there its not doing you any good.Of course I don’t believe there are fairies in gardens. God has created a very self sustained universe, but he keeps it running like clockwork. He created the laws that govern it, but at any moment he could change all of that. The wonder is in its intricate detail, its schedule, its regularity, its similarity, etc.The origin of life is well documented? Makes it sound like someone was there to see it. Its all guesswork. Its like determining what the weather was like on Nov. 2nd 6000 years ago. You can take a good stab at it, but you really have no idea. I don not know if there is life on other planets, that does not disprove a creator either, but we do not know how many planets there are. Our estimates could be way off. There may not be that many planets within the habitable zone, they may not have water, they may not have a large moon. Just because there is life here, does not mean it has a higher probability of being elsewhere. All we know is that life is possible – for some reason. You say that religion remains static and I would agree. Religion is not here to explain the universe in every detail. Christianity’s sole purpose is to reveal the creator and glorify him. By the way, the Bible does not say the Earth is flat. I think most thinking people can see the meaning behind passages that mention the 4 corners of the earth, etc. This explains it well enough without me writing a sermon about it: .As far as rock strata goes, I am no biologist or geologist. I cannot argue about something I know little about so I will send you another . I learned of rock strata in school, but unused memories tend to be discarded.About the horse, I remember this in science class. It went from really small to today’s size. I always thought it a little far fetched. .Just because Judaism started when the law was given to Moses does not mean that my particular God came into existence then. He refers to himself as the God of Moses’ fathers (Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham). He was the God of Noah, and of the first man, Adam. Jesus existed. There is way too much evidence to dispute it. Several secular historians mentioned him, including Josephus and Tacitus. Why would so many people make up a story about the guy just to get killed for a lie?All belief requires faith. I have faith that these things happened. I base faith on those eye witness accounts in the Bible, prophecy, the nature of things, etc. There are hundreds of thousands of men and women who are scientists and historians who are more intelligent than that believe the same as I do. That’s one of the things that atheists don’t acknowledge. A consensus does not make truth.Christianity is not a Jewish sect, so much as a new covenant between God and his people. His original people were the Jews and the new covenant came to them first and was given to the world through the Jews. This is not something that one can understand without reading and studying, so I don’t expect you to understand it.There is no command or anything in the Bible to tell us to celebrate Christmas or Easter. No day is more sacred than the next. There are those that like to cling to special days and rituals, but by no means are they required or prescribed by God for salvation.We could go on and on about these things, but about homosexuality I would say that it is harmful. Even if you think its not hurting anyone but maybe yourself, that is just lying to yourself. No man is an island unto himself. The things we do can and will influence and have an affect on everyone around us.Matthew 4:8:If you go up to a high mountain you really do think you can see the whole world from up there. To say the whole world is symbolic, not literal. You should be able to see this.Mark 10:6You know that for a fact do you? I’m just sayin’…Matthew and Luke contradiction?:Hebrews 1:10He put the Earth where it is. He set these things in motion and maintains them. Just because the word foundation is used it does not mean the Earth is completely stationary.Rev. 12:4Revelation is a very symbolic book. This is probably a reference to 1/3 of the angels rebelling against God and following Satan (the dragon).Genesis 1:1If we can assume a being with the power to create the universe, then he could also create the universe fully in its present form. We have no written records prior to about 6000 years ago. We rely on dating methods that could very well be inaccurate. There are many christians that interpret the bible in such a way that does not conflict with the scientific time scales. I wasn’t around so I don’t know. Also, there are many parables in the bible. Perhaps the creation story is one of them? I tend to believe it is literal (maybe the serpent is symbolic).Noah:A pair of every species…Maybe God sent them to Noah? It doesn’t go into detail.The olive branch…I really don’t know. I’m sure I could find an answer, but we seem to be just going back and fourth here.Genesis 11:1If there was a small group of people at one time then they would have spoken one language.Leviticus 14:2-52This is referring to how the individual who no longer suffers from a skin disease (such as leprosy) can be come ceremonially clean and thus return to normal life. This is not a cure.Deut. 2:10-11:I consider someone 6’6″ or taller to be a giant. Seriously, some people get quite big compared to the average. The jolly-green-giant these people were not.Judges 5:31:”So may all your enemies perish, O LORD! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had peace forty years.Samuel 24:9:This was a census taken by David which could very well have been inaccurate. It doesn’t say that God counted them. But, there were around 600,000 when they left Egypt 400 years prior. I think that’s more than enough of a base to produce a large population in 400 years.Chronicles 16:30:Same as I mentioned above. You’re smart, you can figure this out. Seems to me that you got this list from a website. Maybe you should study the Bible yourself.2 Chronicles 14:8-14:”a thousand thousand”thousand symbolizes a large number, and is usually not literal. This probably just means a very large or vast army. Besides, it doesn’t say they were all killed.Job 38:22-23:More symbolism showing that God controls these things.I would say the Didier quote is fantastically misguided, but you can believe what you like.The Bible offers believable hope, where atheism offers nothing. I prefer to choose hope.
I am Catholic but I am not what anyone would describe as “devout.” I agree with what you said about respecting other people’s choices. I think religion is supposed to be all about thanking God and being good people but sadly, most of those who claim they are religious are the ones who should be doing a double take in their reflections. “Practice what you preach” right? I believe in God and I love God and I also believe that as long as we try to be kind and treat those around us with respect and contribute to making this world less hurtful, then there is really no need to bicker over certain things.
I like what Terin said: “I respect the fact that people have their own beliefs, and that the things I believe in may not be in line with what they believe in.”
Spot on, girl. I completely agree with you. I don’t like organised religion either. I think it also comes down the fact that some people are simply closed-minded. Religion aside though, I don’t like anyone bringing religion into the conversation in order to justify anything or to prove a point. As you said in your terrific opener, who are you to tell someone something is against the rules of God?
People should see religion as, really, what it ought to be – something to believe in, or a way of life, without letting it have that kind of impact in society. That said, too – just in general, people should be respectful of what other people believe in.
Hi Shannon,
I completely agree in everything you’ve posted on this blog post! I could not have said it better myself. Anyway, I think people are wanting you to choose a religion to be with God whether it’s Judaism, Catholicism, Christianity or what have you. If you have accepted our Lord and Savior into your heart and mind that’s all that should matter. My friend and I have discussed as well.
It really bothers me that some people believe they are perfect in every way, and try to make others perfect too. We all have flaws, no one is perfect. If we were, we’d all be the same size in clothing, as well; as boob size, and penis size (sorry that was disgusting I know but had to say it). And we’d all be the same color. Not everyone is the same color, we, however, bleed the same color and that is what I believe in. Whether you’re, Asian, Hispanic, Black or what have you, we all bleed the same color so what difference does race have altogether in Society now a days? Ya know?
Religion is a very serious topic to discuss. Not many people understand that there is a God out there. However, I am baffled that some people do NOT believe there is a God out there. How do they think that the planets are made, and how we got here? It just makes sense that God the almighty God is a powerful one and he can do anything. That’s why Heaven does NOT exist here on Earth, this is considered to be Hell, not anything else. At least that’s what I’ve heard. We are in hell and purgatory is down below. Heaven is up there and no one is enemies to another, and no one will be fighting up there. Everything is peaceful.
I am so glad you’ve brought this up. My new land lady and I have discussed as well. How can people NOT believe? It all goes to that question “The Chicken Or The Egg?” What came first. Ya know? You do not have to partake in any religion if you do not desire or have the need to do so, as long as you believe in God (which seems like you do to me), you’re set you’re already in Heaven. As am I, and my friend. Those that accept whether or not they are affiliated with any religion, are already in the gate. Myself, I was not able to choose what religion to be associated with. I am having a good opportunity to convert to Catholicism as that is what my friend is. I would love to learn more about it, and see how different it is from being a Christian and leading a Christian life. But anyway, I am getting tired so I will hope to hear more about this subject later on :). Good job and I’m sorry everything seems so jumbled. Extremely tired, and drained of energy. I’m not sure how I’m still functioning lol.