I don’t believe in religion whatsoever. I was going to start this column by apologizing for this, and then realized I really don’t have anything to be sorry for. Religion does.
Every single time there is a national debate about something in this country the religious are brought into the fold to decide the fate of different things. Stem cell research was pushed back because the church deemed it offensive to their doctrine. We battle over what a women can do to her own body, with a whole sect of people who believe their lord was the bastard son of the Almighty who knocked up a engaged woman.
Education policy is decided by law makers who believe a snake spoke to people in a garden a thousand years ago, never mind the scientific evidence that snakes can’t talk or that our planet is older than that. Our foreign policy for eight years came from the mind of a former drug addict and self confessed alcoholic whose sins were magically washed way when he became “born again.” Policy that has us hated by once former allies, and created more strife with our enemies.
I can’t take it anymore America, I have to say this out loud. Have we all lost our minds? During the election there was a choice between two competent people. One was a war hero with years of senate experience, the other was president of the Harvard Law Review. What did we ask? What religious system did they believe in and how it’s going to help them govern.
Let it be known now, I don’t care what religion someone is, as long as they can get things done. I want the most competent minds in government thinking about how they can improve our lives through legislation, not through bible study. I want world leaders who care about the food that goes into people’s stomach, not the religious symbols they pray to.
To those who believe this nation is a Christian one, take this into consideration:
“Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise.” - James Madison letter to Wm. Bradford, April 1, 1774
“The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find a precept for Creeds, Confessions, Oaths, Doctrines, and whole cartloads of other foolish trumpery that we find in Christianity.” - John Adams
“In the affairs of the world, men are saved, not by faith, but by the lack of it.”- Ben Franklin
“What is it the New Testament teaches us? To believe that the Almighty committed debauchery with a woman engaged to be married; and the belief of this debauchery is called faith.” - Thomas Paine
If we are going to progress as Americans we need to stop thinking in religious terms. It no longer matters what God you believe in, what matters is job creation. I’m reasonably sure Jesus Christ would agree with me if he indeed exists.
Ooook… Justin this may be YOUR opinion. 1st off, I have to say that you are right about 1 thing. There should be a separation in Church and State. However, simply because you do not believe in something does not give you the right to bad mouth it and criticize others who do. For those who believe in organized religion, or even spirituality, it brings meaning and a purpose to life. You can not simply take religion out of day to day functions.. it is ingrained in the very essence of the human species. From day 1 people have been searching for the answer to what created us… what is the purpose of my life… and is there something more. If you believe in science is it not the same as believing in the bible? Is it not believing in something that makes sense to where it all began? As for the scientific evidence to prove religion wrong, there is none. The theory of evolution, or the endo-symbiotic theory, is riddled with holes and continually morphing as we learn and until the day when that theory is considered a “scientific LAW” that is when I will begin to possibly believe it. But until then people are still going to have morals that are staples of their religion and there is simply nothing we can do about it but learn from each other, tolerate each other, and TRY and do our very best to mesh the values together.
For those of you who don’t know me and are reading this … a little side note. I have a BA in Comparative Religion and Politics and Justin and I have argued this point before.
TO EACH THEIR OWN!
Jessie of course it’s my opinion……hence why it’s an editorial. I didn’t write this as fact…and nor did I claim it anywhere as such.
And for all you readers out there, I love Jessie to pieces and she’s the greatest assistant editor there ever was…so don’t take this as us screaming at each other via the internet…hehehe I’m a non-believer and Jessie is one…so it’s always a point of contention.
One of the arguments I find disingenuous by those seeking to get religion out of the public sphere is that there secular humanistic views are no religious. Of course they are religious. The belief in the absence or irrelevence of God is as much a religious view as a belief in God or a view that says my opinons are still valid even though I believe in God.
Lisa the validity of your argument depends on faith. I don’t have faith. I don’t believe in God being relevant in our government. I believe strongly in religious morality not being factored into the discussion of policy decisions. We saw what happened after eight years of Jesus playing key role in the decision making of our government.
Truth be told, I have no problem with the religious. It’s when they impede on the progress of society that I take issue. That’s the problem with the world today, the progress of society has taken precedent over what the religious right has to say.
hey listen up. Christianity is not a religion, its a relationship between you and God. And yes i am a full time Christian. i am 14 and already preaching sermons. and your telling me Gods not real. Well Newman your full of it. there is proof and i am proof