“Religious freedom is the ability to worship how you choose on your own time. It is not a free pass to control others via your religion.” - Anonymous

It’s important for people to have a conscientious choice of religion. So often, especially in today's society we categorize people into a wholesome group and expect everyone associated with that group to answer for one another's actions. Religion is no exception to this rule. Whether we care to admit it or not, people are put into religious categorical units that give us preconceived notions about who someone is. This often causes hatred so severe that wars among religion occur, this is wrong for obvious reasons. The expectation should be that we must respect one another until there is a reason to believe we should do otherwise.

In my own personal experience, I have been on both sides of the spectrum in regards to religious belief and practice. I grew up in a household where religion was a very heavily practiced and common activity. I grew up living the lifestyle of a Christian and I distinctly remember my mother getting me Christian books for children and we would sit down every so often and practice the word of god. Being young, I wasn’t even sure what “religion” was, all I knew is that I was to believe in god and what I did was through him. I grew up understanding that religion was important, having faith in a being in which we can use to circumvent our every activity was a normal practice.

For years on end, I went through my life believing in a god - the god in which is taught within the realm of Christianity. I accepted it, and to a certain extent, I still do. Moreover, because it is something that I grew up learning and believing in, and there is a part of me that still does believe.

I still to this day, am not entirely certain what changed for me, why I - someone who practiced Christian faith on a regular basis - no longer believed in what I was taught to believe in. I guess part of it was suffering from mental illness. Initially, I had turned to God to ask for guidance in finding peace and allowing me to return to my normal self. The transition from childhood into a teenager almost immediately began with my mental illness. I didn’t have any differentiated sense of reality between mental illness and being a teenager. I just figured it was who I was as a person, and it wasn’t normal, thus, I wanted to be a child again. That’s ultimately what I was praying for every day. To be normal again. As time went on, I felt like I was alone. I had an already difficult time believing in a being in which there is no sound proof in its existence. But I believed, I placed faith into God for the early years of my life. As time progressed and I continued living with my illness, something became abundantly clear; I was alone. I didn’t get better and I in fact, was getting worse. I didn’t let anyone know either. I think part of the secrecy of my illness was that it wasn’t what other teenagers were visibly going through. Therefore I was wrong. At first it was quite noticeable because I didn’t know how to conceal it. I provided excuse after excuse. I was tired. I wasn’t feeling well. I was just stressed out. But in reality, I didn’t feel like I was enough. I wasn’t right. I was myself, and that’s what made it so difficult, I had accepted that this is what being a teen was for me - depression overwhelmed and occupied my existence. This experience is what ultimately led to my disbelief in a god. It’s not something I talk about to this day, I have a Christian family and I guess my religion (or lack of religion) is my own personal experience.

So, no I am not religious. I view myself as a spiritual person but I live my life through the perception of the reality around me; and a God isn’t part of that reality. That’s okay because I am entitled to that right in due part to the religious freedom within the culture that I exist. The few people who know about my lack of religious faith, have made attempts to persuade me into becoming a follower of the Christian faith. If there is one reality I want to ensure within this letter, it is this; I will respect your religious beliefs and values, but you should reciprocate that respect when I choose to live my life without religion.

Finally, a massive focal point for any religion, is the ability to spread that religion onto others; if a religion fails to do so, it simply doesn’t exist. Often times this results in religious beliefs being pushed onto others. I think that the important differentiation that should be made is that one should spread knowledge and beliefs to those

seeking the knowledge. Truthfully, religion is a process that expands and alters throughout a lifetime; at the end of the day it’s okay not to believe, it’s okay to believe in something different than that of your parents beliefs, it’s okay to practice religion if you want, it’s okay to change religions, it's your choice and no one should take away that right from you.