Religion
So I will be the first to admit here the religion is often far from right. And often they do terrible things for the world.I grew up in a fairly religious family. I've since lost most of that religion because I believe that if God really does look down on us and waves a magic wand to answer prayers then he obviously is missing alot and is a terrible being who doesn't deserve my worship. I believe instead that there is quite possibly a being in some dimension that set our world in motion in a way that follows a set of natural laws some of which we think we know and others that we will never comprehend. The only point of all that is to say I grew up religious and now I'm something else.
Now here's my rant. Truly good religious people don't do things out of hate. They do them out of love. Do take notice I say truly good religious people- this excludes much of the church population. When someone consistently tries to convert you its not out of any great need for themselves. When people tell you that living with your boyfriend is a sin they are not trying to be judgmental. When people say that males and females are the only acceptable union they aren't being bigots. Every bit of this regardless of how you feel/believe is done out of love.
To try and make my meaning clear- what if you knew that every person who owned a dog would in twenty years get a terrible virus and become extremely sick and in tremendous pain. I don't know about you but for the next 20 years I would spend every spare moment convincing people that owning a dog was bad. I'd try to pass laws banning dogs. I might even try to steal dogs and get rid of them. Meanwhile everyone would call me a dog hater and protest on my lawn and pretty much hate me. However I would do what I had to to keep every person I could from the severe pain that the virus would cause. Its the exact same way with any of the evangelical religions. They are positive that other peoples beliefs will cast them into a fiery pit of hell for all eternity. Whether the belief is right or wrong is a moot point. What matters is they believe it. Quite honestly I'd be offended if someone who truly believed in fire and brimstone didn't try to convert me and didn't tell people that "they are wrong". Obviously that would mean they hate me so much they are willing to condemn me to a fiery pit of hell. Which would make me sad. So whether you agree with the religious people or not at least see that they come from a place of love not hate and bigotry.
Now here's my rant. Truly good religious people don't do things out of hate. They do them out of love. Do take notice I say truly good religious people- this excludes much of the church population. When someone consistently tries to convert you its not out of any great need for themselves. When people tell you that living with your boyfriend is a sin they are not trying to be judgmental. When people say that males and females are the only acceptable union they aren't being bigots. Every bit of this regardless of how you feel/believe is done out of love.
To try and make my meaning clear- what if you knew that every person who owned a dog would in twenty years get a terrible virus and become extremely sick and in tremendous pain. I don't know about you but for the next 20 years I would spend every spare moment convincing people that owning a dog was bad. I'd try to pass laws banning dogs. I might even try to steal dogs and get rid of them. Meanwhile everyone would call me a dog hater and protest on my lawn and pretty much hate me. However I would do what I had to to keep every person I could from the severe pain that the virus would cause. Its the exact same way with any of the evangelical religions. They are positive that other peoples beliefs will cast them into a fiery pit of hell for all eternity. Whether the belief is right or wrong is a moot point. What matters is they believe it. Quite honestly I'd be offended if someone who truly believed in fire and brimstone didn't try to convert me and didn't tell people that "they are wrong". Obviously that would mean they hate me so much they are willing to condemn me to a fiery pit of hell. Which would make me sad. So whether you agree with the religious people or not at least see that they come from a place of love not hate and bigotry.