For some reason this didn’t post when it was supposed to. So here it is now.
Day 19: What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics?
Well, since both of these are touchy subjects, I’d like to start by saying these are just my own opinions. You are all entitled to yours and they’re probably different than mine, and that’s great. I’m not here to offend anyone or single anyone out, or tell anyone they’re wrong. This is just how I feel.
When it comes to religion, I consider myself agnostic at best. I don’t believe in God, but I don’t necessarily think my beliefs are absolutely right. I could be wrong, who knows? I don’t, however, think any one religion is right. I think they all have good and bad parts. I don’t care if people want to believe something different than I do. How they want to live their life is entirely up to them. I do, however, mind when their beliefs start infringing on basic civil rights, like I wrote about yesterday. I mind when they tell me that there’s something wrong with me or my life because I don’t believe the same thing they do. I very much take offense to that.
For some people, I think religion is a crutch. A way to make excuses for their actions, or for things that happened to them. You did not get fired because “God had another plan” for you. You got fired because you didn’t show up for work. That kind of logic drives me insane. It’s so easy to put the blame on anything else but yourself, rather than taking responsibility for your actions. But I know that there are very wonderful people out there who are very much involved in their church and very religious, and I adore them completely. When I was renting a room from a married couple (the sister of my old boyfriend and her husband) I tried going to church with them a few times. But I just never felt comfortable with it. That didn’t mean that I didn’t adore both of them, or that I didn’t have anything in common with them. We just had different beliefs. They never tried to push it on me, or make me feel badly because I didn’t believe in the same thing. Same thing with the parents of that same old boyfriend. They’re very active in their church, and yet never ever made me feel uncomfortable because I believed differently. They are the very type of people I have immense respect for. They believe what they feel is right, and still respect the rights of others to believe differently.
Politics are different. I try to avoid political discussion as much as possible because A) I am not knowledgeable enough to speak about it intelligently, and B) it doesn’t interest me in the least. I know it should. I know I should be up to date on all the issues because they affect me or will affect me someday. But unless they cause a change to my everyday life right now, I have a hard time caring. I know that’s ignorant. I know it’s the wrong view to have. But I can’t make myself be involved in something that I have absolutely no interest in. Like religion, I think political beliefs (and parties) have good and bad parts. Some parties are more religion driven, which annoys me because political decisions are supposed to be separate from religion. (But since our Pledge of Allegiance has “under God” in it, I guess there’s no reasonable expectation of that, is there?)
I believe everyone should have the right to vote. I also believe that if you don’t vote, you shouldn’t complain. I vote in every election, though I only vote for issues or candidates that I feel adequately educated about. But I don’t complain about the things I didn’t take the time to vote on. That would be wrong.