Religion has always been a sensitive subject. Feelings have been hurt, blood has been spilled and lives have been taken because of it. Personally, I am not religious. But that is my choice. I'm spiritual. It is a great part of my life, just as many of your religions are a part of yours. But for me, religion is different from spirituality. I can't get behind the religious aspect. To me, religion is what causes violence and hate. Spirituality is about peace and love. And that is what I am about.

I am not about preaching or shoving my beliefs down your throats. I don't like when others do that to me. I am about facts. And the fact is: things are very wrong.

I've seen many posts on Facebook about how we need to bring God back, the Christian one. But I've taken history courses as a college student and here I must disagree with you. The United States of America was founded on the freedom of religion. Immigrants—our ancestors—came here to escape the persecution they received from their home countries. Now we are several centuries later and we are doing what they were trying to escape. We judge each other. We allow our differences to separate us. We hate more—a lot more.

Did you know most of our founding fathers were Deists? This means they rejected some aspects of religion—such as the Bible and miracles. They believed in a God that created the universe but was not a part of it anymore. And they are the same people that thought religion should remain separate from the government.

So what does this tell you? I know what it is telling me. It tells me we need to change our minds. We need to make our ancestors proud. We need to protect the rights they gave us.

Let's stop our disagreements and respect each other. We are all a part of this earth. We all feel the same emotions and have similar passions and interests. Why can't we celebrate our individuality and diversity? It is what makes us who we are. Life isn't about who is right and who is wrong. It isn't about proving who is the better person. It is about love and happiness.

Let's celebrate our differences—make our ancestors proud and give our younger generations something worth looking up to. I have faith in us. I have faith we can do this.