Let me start off by saying that I completely respect an individual's right to religious belief and expression. In fact, it's exactly why I believe religion doesn't belong in government in the first place. But the issue isn't with religious freedom and expression; the issue arises when you take the right to that very freedom of expression and try to force others to act according to what you believe.

There are so many things that are wrong with this, the first being that it is egocentric to maintain that your religion is ultimate and that it should determine how everyone else in a country lives. This type of thinking is close-minded and completely stifles and acts against any advancements towards cultural differentiation. If this sounds familiar at all, it's because it's exactly how a dictator rules. A dictator is a person who rules a country with complete power, expressly forcing their citizens to bend to their own personal beliefs. To say that your religion should be law is just like a dictator saying that an entire country should do something just because that's what he believes.

Now let's talk about the irony of this kind of belief system, because it's exactly what's happening right now in our country. The fact of the matter is that the majority of political figures who are advocating on behalf of religiously-based laws in our country are doing so with hate. How can someone who claims faith to a religion that supports love, forgiveness and acceptance speak publicly condemning anyone who doesn't share that person's beliefs? The answer is, they can't. You can't claim to be advocating for religion when you violate the very principles of that religion, because then you aren't advocating for religion; you're just using it as a platform to spread your agenda.

Religion has no place in government because it is not our right as individuals to determine how another person should live solely on the basis that we grew up with a different set of religious values. News flash, this country has tons of people with tons of different religious beliefs; yours is not the only one.