animist

Raised Baptist, did a lot on 'window shopping' in college, and now...  I don't know.  Still have Christian background, but don't believe in any church teachings.  Seen too many preachers, priests, reverends, fathers, and whatever else screw things up that makes it seem like organized religion is quick a way to slowly cheat honest people who need hope, guidance and belief out of their hard earned money.

"I pray to Joe Pesci because he seems like a guy who can get things done"   

I think that the biggest problem that exists within religious circles is the desire to mold government to the will of the people in a certain church. While their philosophies may be molded in order to protect us from ourselves, it completely ignores the principles of our government. We want to protect the individual's rights. This includes the individuals right to harm themselves. We cannot do that if we are adopting legislation that is based on some particular theology. The Republican party is paying for their reliance of the "religious right" in order to carry them. Since the politicians are incapable of holding true to the ideals of these populations they cannot depend on these groups for their vote.

I don't think we should dismiss those with strong religious beliefs from our ranks. The prejudice shown by some towards anyone with religious beliefs is discouraging to me. I really don't care what you believe in. That is your choice. As long as a group is not trying to force me to live a certain way through legislation I will equally leave them to their lifestyle. Many in this country seem to think that because they feel something is wrong for them that their ideals should be forced upon others by regulating anything from the sale of alcohol to whether or not we should be allowed to buy a car on Sunday.

I have found myself in conflict many times. I have strong beliefs about a great many social issues in this country. Frankly, I find many things about some people's lifestyles to be abhorrent. Fortunately, I have also stopped looking at things as my responsibility to control. Placing everything in perspective I find it is much better to allow others to live their lives in whatever manner they deem proper, so long as it does not impact the rights of another.

Religious groups are not the only groups that have this problem. There are many "special interest" groups out there that are just as destructive to our political system as any religious group. Perhaps they have sprung up in retaliation to some other group. I am not sure what exactly was the underlying cause for us to spin out of control. However, any group that is out there trying to actively gain support for only a certain population of the nation is causing harm to all of us. We cannot outright state that these groups should not exist. They have every right to demand whatever they want to demand. The true issue is that our politicians have no right to show them preference because of their organization. Policies must be made in accordance to the rights of the individual and not showing special favor to those who scream the loudest or have the biggest pockets.

I don't think that religion in and of itself is a bad thing. The people involved with it make it what it is. In the end it is a personal choice in this country to believe in what you want. I have met some that are religious that are the nicest, most helpful, and most non-judgemental people out there. I have also seen the other side that is constantly sizing you up to see how much of a threat you are to their position. And there are also the ones that expect you to live a certain way when their own house is not in order. I try to take each person on an individual basis and not classify them with a group because of the church they belong to, or don't belong to.

Sure!  Add to that politically correct advocacy groups who want to do things like make it a "hate crime" to open your mouth and have an opinion they don't like, etc.

It seems from the poll that most folks have some type of religious belief. This is a good thing. As long as everyone keeps in mind that the purpose of government is to secure the rights of the individual, we will all be fine.

Mik Robertson

"I pray to Joe Pesci because he seems like a guy that can get things done..."   




~George Carlin