"belief is a beautiful armor"

boy, i know i'm going to hear some shit about this one, but here it goes anyway...

i hate religion. i hate it because it makes people believe that they are better than you. i hate it because it can lead thousands to die in a war fought between two groups... two groups who both believe they are fighting in the name of God. i hate religion because, in my opinion, it breeds hate.

yesterday, a federal jury awarded the family of a dead marine 10.9 million dollars. his was one of the hundreds of funerals protested by "God-fearing" people who carried signs with multitudes of hateful messages: "Thank God for dead soldiers". "God hates Fags". i am sick. SICK. i am so angry that there are tears in my eyes. listen, i know that this is a small group compared to the billions of humans that practice organized religion. i know this. but the majority of my contact with religion has involved some form of "better-than-thou" attitude. according to some, my life is so empty without God. because i have not been saved, i am going to hell. also, my daughter will go to hell. i am a firm believer of live and let live as long as noone gets hurt... and i'm sure that you think i will go to hell for that, too. let me point out one thing: you believe that. you do not know that. and i disagree with you.

it's no secret that this country is based on Christianity. it is the predominant belief system and anyone running for political office who believes differently dare not say it. i'll say it because nobody's voting for me anyway(Kara for President!!!). the idea of "family values" is a pillar of our society... even if it doesn't include homosexuals, poor folk, sick folk, or intentionally single-parent households. i guess they just don't fit into the "correct way" of living in America. i've seen a close family member turn his back on his own brother, his own blood, because he is what i like to call a "super-christian" and his brother is gay. what warrants that? belief. for the record, i am extremely liberal and probably a little extreme in my way of thinking. that, however, does not mean that i would include people like rapists, muderers, or abusers into the "don't-fit-in-but-should" category. my definition of the difference is that their way of living hurts others.

i also believe myself to be an extremely open-minded person. often, i do not agree with others' beliefs about God and the likes, but i never impose that upon them. that is their own business and if that's what fills their lives with joy, then so be it, as long as they're not hateful toward others. i think that faith is a powerful thing... in fact, "faith" is permanently written on my body because i feel that it's the most important thing that a person can possess. my faith just happens to lie in myself. nobody is responsible for me but me. not even God. so why is it, then, that faith generally leads a person to believe that they are right versus someone else's wrong? who's to say what's right? i already know what most people reading this will answer to that question (God is to say), and i don't buy it. you don't know what God believes, you believe that you know through interpretation. because at some point in your life, some human being, whether it was your mother or father or a preacher, whatever, told you what to believe. it's as simple as belief - in all cases. honestly, it disgusts me that people can be so self-righteous and then use God as their defense. all i'm saying is that if you're going to preach love, acceptance, forgiveness, and/or tolerance... then practice it! God is NOT your excuse.

"Based on his interpretation of what the words were saying, trying to get to God but ends up doing the work of Satan... So it all sounds the same to me. That's why when they say one is right and the other's wrong, it just sounds like game to me. It's like God skipped past the church and came to me. No, that ain't vein to me. It's just a particular way that I came to see - the difference between those who claim to be religious and those that say they're spiritual..." - Give 'em Hell, Kweli

"When are you people going to learn? It's not about who's right or wrong. No denomination's nailed it yet, and they never will because they're all too self-righteous to realize that it doesn't matter what you have faith in, just that you have faith. Your hearts are in the right place, but your brains need to wake up." - Serendipity, Dogma

"Belief is a beautiful armor. But makes for the heaviest sword. Like punching underwater. You never can hit who you trying for. Some need the exhibition. Some have to know their trying. It’s the chemical weapon for the war that’s raging on the inside." - Belief, John Mayer