Throw Them To The Lions!

A common misconception from some of you who read my articles is that I am a Christian basher.

Because I speak out to promote freedom, this somehow translates into a non-Christian stance.

Freedom for people does not mean anti-religion of any kind. Let me get very clear as to what my stance is on religion, freedom, and the role I think these things should play in our society.

Simply put, this country was founded on the ideals of freedom for all. I am not going to try and rehash issues from some of my many previous articles on freedom, and what I think it means to all of us. I’m certain all of you will agree that freedom is our single most important right, especially when it comes to religion.

Freedom permits you to follow whatever religion and belief you choose.

Freedom prevents the government from mandating everyone in the country must follow a certain religion.

Freedom allows you to meet in whatever venue you prefer and discuss your religious beliefs among others.

Freedom paves the way for you to publish whatever documents and articles you want to discuss and promote your religion.

Freedom does all of this for us and more. Before I go any further, do you agree with these statements about our freedom? I hope its yes. If it’s no, write about your views in our forum area.

I would love to see Christianity thrive, and be the dominant religion in the world, but only if the people are willingly converted to the religion.

If you go back and read these articles where people have accused me of bashing religion, you should hopefully see that the part of organized religion I don’t particularly care for is the zealots of the various religions.

A zealot is someone who is a bit fanatic. They are normally so wrapped up in whatever they are obsessing over that everything else is irrelevant.

Religious zealots seem so immersed in their religion that they not only try to thrust their new found purpose for life on everyone else, they are literally scared to death that other people think differently then they do.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a religious person. Many people throughout are great country come from a large variety of religious backgrounds. Many of these are various forms of Christianity, but there are also many other religious affiliations in our country as well.

The problem I have is when one type of religion professes to be superior over all others, and then proceeds to attempt to change this country into their own religious flavor.

Trying to get prayer into all avenues of our society, establishing religious monuments in courtrooms, adding religious phrases to money or any other attempt to weasel a certain religion into something that is for the people of this country, is wrong.

Our freedoms guarantee the rights for all of us, you and me, to believe whatever we want. They do not allow for any one of us, you or me, to force our beliefs on the rest of our society. You would not like that, just as much as we don’t.

It’s great if you are Christian. Rejoice in your belief and teach your children to follow your belief so that they can grow up to become good moral members of this country. In addition, teach your children to also respect the views of others. Do not brainwash them into thinking that if other people do not believe as you do, they are evil.

You do your children a disservice by not teaching them to be respectful and tolerant of the beliefs of other cultures.

From what I have observed, many people are so frightened that their children may not follow the belief of a family that they tell their kids all sorts of things to make them afraid of thinking any other way.

Religion is a fragile thing.

From my perspective, many religious folks run scared most of the time. They’re afraid that they are not as loyal to their own religion as they should be. They’re afraid that their kids may have minds of their own and want to search out their own spiritual path. They’re afraid that if the other people around them do not belief as they do, then their whole belief system is in jeopardy.

I have my own beliefs, and those of you who read this site regularly know that my beliefs are not common. Am I scared that others will not believe as I do? Certainly not, because I think that everyone has the right to believe in whatever they feel compelled to believe.

Does believing in the right for you to worship whatever spiritual path you choose make me a Christian basher? Then you may want to take a good long look inward, and ask yourself what you are afraid of.

If you’re a Christian, then be a good Christian, and teach your children well. I would ask you to please also teach them to be tolerant of those who do not believe as you do. Other people are not evil, and not your enemy. You will not be thrown to the lions. At least not as long as I am still here to defend your freedom!