Walking Softly

July 30, 2008

I am in the process of writing a long essay on religion for this blog. The topic is a tricky one for me. I am passionate in my opinions, and religion does inspire some strong opinions in me.

My mother is a Christian, and her religion means a lot to her. I've also got good friends who are devout Christians, and while I disagree with them on many issues, they are fun and kind and loving people I've grown to love.

I don't want to hurt them. I don't desire to do harm to anyone.

(Okay...I do admit that if I had a working wand, like the ones from the Harry Potter stories, there are a lot of people who'd be doing a good 48-72 hours as toads just to adjust their attitudes. I'd like to see how being able to say only "ribet" for a good two to three days might make them see some reason when they're back in human form.)

There is a balance to be struck between having my say when it comes to religion or whatever else is on my mind when I write, whether for this blog or something else, and refraining from saying hurtful things that might be read by these folks I respect and enjoy and don't want to offend.

On the other side, Christians certainly don't seem to mind offending anyone else. There are many examples, but the most recent was a documentary I saw on HBO, created sometime in 2007, which showed over and over again the disregard that organized Christianity has for anyone who disagrees with their fundamental religious doctrine.

It frustrates me.

Yes, they have a right to believe what they wish. I stand for that right even while I strongly oppose the core philosophies of the Christian faith. They have the right to worship, to believe that homosexuality is an abomination, to believe that the Universe was created by their god, to believe that anyone who disagrees with them is going to languish in eternal torment because god loves them.

But no, they do not have a right to force those beliefs into our government, into our laws, into our rights, into our daily lives. The rest of us have the right to believe what we wish, too.

There are times when I'm writing about these issues, and I find myself filling up with anger and annoyance. I find the word fuck spilling out into otherwise eloquent sentences. I sometimes feel like lashing out with the outrage I feel toward people insisting they get to decide what I think.

We all know what happens when the government legislates thinking. Either these Christians have forgotten it, or it's exactly what they want: to rule the world, to make people obey their particular interpretation of god, to force their morality--and in the case of someone like Ted Haggard, what the fuck?--on everyone who draws breath.

It's becoming more and more difficult for me to be quiet. I mentioned this in a previous post, so forgive the repetition, but I have a friend who was nearly beside herself about "In God We Trust" being on the side of a coin, rather than on its face. She ranted for a good while about this in her car one evening. What did I do? I sat still in my seat, inwardly shaking my head, keeping my mouth shut.

I've been giving myself grief over it ever since. I keep telling myself "I should've said..." Still, I'm caught between wanting to be more assertive in correcting the wildly ridiculous statements people make--like my current favorite: "This Nation was founded by Christians," which a simple Google search can easily disprove--and wanting to be careful not to offend.

And we come back to the point about Christians not caring who they offend, whose rights they trample. I want to find a way to say what I need to say without sounding like...well...them. No matter how I contradict them, the Christians won't like it. They cling hard to their beliefs and don't take kindly to anyone pointing out how utterly unsupported by evidence they are.

Of course, if their beliefs weren't being forced down my throat in a variety of ways, I'd feel perfectly content to keep my opinion to myself. I don't have any interest in converting people to my way of thinking, though it would be awesome to see people, all people, doing some thinking of their own, rather than accepting whatever drivel is being fed to them, whether from the pulpit or the pundit.

I don't have any interest in storming through people's lives, upsetting them. It isn't my style. I used to be Christian, so I understand what it is to believe. But I'm no longer content keeping my mouth shut when human rights are being violated in the name of religion.