Give me that old time religion…

Why is it somehow okay for large groups of people to practice hatred and bigotry through the guise of religion? I honestly don’t understand.

I know many good people who are Catholic. Yet I also know that they would never go so far as to condemn gay marriage as Evil. Nevermind endorsing the rest of the propoganda coming out of the Vatican. So wherein lies the disconnect? Why is there such a separation between Pope and People? You who are practicing Catholics out there, do you truly believe what the Vatican is saying is the Truth? How do you hold onto your faith in the face of such pulpit-pounding?

And this isn’t isolated within just the Catholic church by any means. Religions all over the planet use their podiums to preach hatred of the “others.” People who aren’t “saved” are told they are doomed to burn in Hell lest they see the Light. (When I was nine I went to a friend’s house where her mother asked me if I was Christian or Catholic. At the time I was Catholic. Wrong answer. She never invited me back.) I just can’t fathom how people justify the use of a religion to breed intolerance.

Will there ever be a point in the evolution of humanity when we cease to divide ourselves on the basis of which God we believe in? This is not to say that all who believe are deluded or evil, but that using God and religion to sow distrust of people who are not of the same faith is just plain wrong. And yes, even as an atheist I know the difference quite clearly between right and wrong, and I’m even familiar with the misty grey areas in between.

And what about those of us who don’t believe? I am a good person who doesn’t go to church. I don’t pray, and I am not raising my children to look forward to Heaven or fear Hell. This doesn’t mean I am without morals and values. I try to live my life without doing harm to anyone else, human or otherwise. I expect the same of my children. Does this make me wrong? Less trustworthy? Less moral? Less capable of instilling kindness and humanity in my own children?

Being honest about my faith means being honest about not believing. I don’t expect anyone to dump a lifetime of belief to humor me, just as I don’t want anyone else to expect me to pretend to believe in God (or anything else all powerful and mighty for that matter) just to make them more comfortable. Becoming an atheist, for me, means saying out loud something I’ve known for a very long time. It was coming home to my own Truth. My Truth isn’t anyone else’s to judge or demean, just as other people’s very personal decision to remain faith-based and loyal to the religion of their upbringing (or the one they’ve been “born-again” into) is none of my own damn business either.

In my church, the one I carry with me everywhere, people are judged on their kindnesses towards others and themselves. They are expected to ask questions, and challenge the answers. They are expected to dream, and play, and laugh. They are expected to love.

Seems simple enough. And I am a far harsher judge of myself than any God could be.

Yes, I am ranting. And yes, it’s been building up for a little while now. No, this was not set off by anything today (my good friend in Colorado, I had already started drafting this one before you emailed me today… and you know I love you more than my luggage, so please don’t take this as a slight upon you or your own faith my dear).

Frankly, I haven’t been honest about my lack of belief for years because it always seemed easier to err on the side of caution and let people believe I was just uncertain, agnostic. In the current societal climate, particlarly in America, this is the easy way out. But I’m tired of pretending. I’m tired of the facade. Yes, my atheism is going to make some people uncomfortable. And I’m absolutely certain I have more than one friend who will toss my name into their prayers in hopes I will come around again someday. Nothing wrong with that. No harm done.

Mind you, I still have a mother who talks to angels. Then there’s my dad and the aliens… So it’s entirely possible that this whole atheism thing with me is just my way of asserting my own normality in a family full of nut-jobs. Won’t know for sure until I die. And I’m not planning on doing that for some time yet.