Sometimes being human means giving in to human nature, in that in each and every way, we are completely and utterly imperfect. We can shoot for the stars, earn our PhD., preach from The Bible or put our noses up the air and look down on everyone around us. Fact of the matter is, it still doesn’t make you better. Knowing the definition of “myocardial infarction” doesnt make you smarter than a 5th grader. Being able to recite Revelations 1:5-10 doesn’t make you holier than thou. In fact, a majority of the world’s problems stem from the very fact that these so-called “experts” think they know the difference between right and wrong for not only themselves but for everyone else as well.
I’d like to keep this post on a more religious base, so let me just start by saying you’re all wrong. And by “you”, I mean all the religious and non-religious people out there who think it’s ok to point the finger and decide who’s going to hell, and who gets a one way ticket to the promised land. Who gave you that right? No where in the bible does it give detailed instructions on how to weed out the hell bound, aside from about 600 rules and regulations that nobody follows to a tee.
Religion has gone from a simple lifestyle to living a life of hypocrisy. I see it on a daily basis. Preach one thing and do another. Don’t judge, don’t lust, don’t do this or that. While all the while I watch people go about their days doing the very things they preach against with conviction. It angers me most because many times these hypocritical actions have been against me, not moments after having heard them with my own ears from that same person. I watch people hide behind their religion, afraid to step over line. Lying in some cases and hiding things because the things they do are sins. They are afraid to be themselves, because they’re taught that who they’ve become is viewed as bad, evil…a sinner! Religion should be freeing and comforting, not damning and oppressive.
What really gets me is the way some people can judge someone based solely on their religious background. Its like they don’t even have to get to know you anymore. “Oh, he/she’s a christian/jew/catholic” and that’s all they need to know. It’s arrogant. A persons worth is not based on how they worship God, it is based on how they treat people. If you deny yourself a friendship because that person is not of your faith, or believes differently than you, you could be missing out on one of the best people in the world.
Let’s touch base again on the “I’m right, you’re wrong” aspect of this whole religion thing. You ask someone, how do you know you’re right? Often times they answer with a quote from The Bible and an explanation as to how that translates into what they believe. If I take that very same quote, and I bring it to 100 different people, I could get 100 different opinions on what that verse means. Did anyone ever think that maybe…just maybe, The Bible was meant to be a GUIDE to each individual person, to help them along the way and lead them on a moral path to God? A way to help us form a personal relationship with Him in whatever way we choose? Maybe it wasn’t necessarily meant to be a one-size fits all, blanket answer for all of life’s problems. Maybe there isn’t just one meaning, one definition for every part of it. Because I just can’t wrap my head around why this book could have been intended to cause all the problems, war, hatred and controversy that it has caused.
Maybe we are all wrong, or maybe no one is. But whatever the end result it is not for us to decide. We don’t get to choose which translation is correct or which rules each person should follow. We don’t get to judge another for the religious choices they have made. People should learn to live and let live. Stop shoving religion down other peoples throats, do your own thing and let everyone else do theirs. Above all else live by the age old rule…if you can’t say anything nice, just keep your mouth shut and don’t say anything at all. I have always believed that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I also believe that you lose the right to voice yours when you use it to hurt someone. But if you can’t hold your tongue, then you deserve whatever is coming to you. People should support eachother, not knock eachother down and tell eachother they’re wrong. It is our natural born right to love and worship God in our own way, in our own time. Nobody was born with a crown of thorns, so nobody should be acting like they have the power to decide anyone’s fate.
This Is My Confession 