As a freshman in High School, I was very anti-religion. For a long time, I fought against my parents attempt to get me to live as this cookie cutter religious person that went to church every Sunday, prayed every night and so on. In fact, for a while, I viewed church as something that I did simply because I was being forced to, not something I wanted to do.

Eventually, I was began to find my relationship with God through a teenage leadership group my church had. The two most important things I came to understand and I hope others begin to realize is, there's no one single way to believe in God and you can't use your religion as an excuse.

Now before I jump into the main point of the article, please do not think that I am trying to persuade you to becoming a member of my religion, or tell you that you're living your life all wrong. Everyone's experience with religion is unique and how they choose to practice it, is completely up to that individual. This is simply my way of clearing up some of the misconceptions that I have faced.

I am religious, but I am not hateful.

Unfortunately, there's been an abuse of how the Bible is interpreted and used in our lives. Far too often, people use the Bible in an inappropriate manner. In my humble opinion, the Bible is not a weapon. It is not a sword that should be used to tear others down, or be used to remind others of how sinful they are. It is not a bag of trail mix that people should use only to quote against those who live their lives differently. In fact, it is a resource for us to find guidance when we are feeling alone. It is a reminder that we are all part of something much greater than ourselves. It serves as a way for us to learn more about what Jesus did for us and understand how we can try to incorporate those actions into our own lives.

I am religious, but I am not sexist.

I do not believe that men are superior than women. I don't believe women are weak or need to be taken care of. I don't believe that gender has anything to do with how people should be treated. You know what I believe in? Equality. Love. Respect.

I am religious, but I am not homophobic.

I am absolutely heartbroken when a new friend who identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community and instantly feels threatened or judged when they discover I'm religious. My faith has nothing to do with the lifestyle others decide to partake in. I believe in equality for all people, regardless of their race, sexual orientation and any other irrelevant factor. My father explained it in the best way possible: "A good person doesn't stop being a good person simply because of who they choose to love. It is not our role to tell others how to live their lives, but simply to accept their faults and love them anyways."

I am religious, but I am not anti-science.

Being a person who's enrolled in college and constantly surrounded by new information, I'm frustrated by how many people assume I hate science or the pursuit of knowledge simply because of another factor of my life. My identification as a Catholic doesn't stop me from pursuing academic knowledge or furthering my understanding of how things work. My faith doesn't prevent me from understanding logic, or reason. In fact, I welcome knowing how things came to be and work.

I am religious, but I am not my church's history.

Often times, I find myself defending my church for it's dark, early history. I have to constantly remind people that like people, no church is perfect. I will not excuse or overlook the Roman Catholic church's history, but I will also refuse to be labeled under an unfair umbrella. I am not my church’s past, but I will definitely be a leader in shaping my church’s future.

At some point, I realized that the biggest reason I refused to be apart of organized religion was how others choose to live their faith and how others used that to label them. The manner that others chose to practice and use their religious title scared me, and I did not want to be associated with them. I saw how people used that title as an excuse for absolutely horrible things and acted like they were the ideal citizen everyone had to be like.

Ultimately, I discovered the beauty of redefining what it means to be a member of the church.

At the end of the day, my faith is my own. It is not something that I will use to preach against others, but simply as a way for me to challenge myself to become a more humble and loyal child of God.

My point here is, as proud as I am of my relationship with God, my religion doesn’t make me a bad person, likewise, it doesn’t make me automatically better than those around me. In fact, I'd be lying if I told anyone I didn't have my fair share of poor life choices and mistakes I'm not super proud of.

Regardless of which identify you have, whether it's religious, agnostic, or atheist, what’s most important is not the cross you choose to bear, but an individual’s effort to be a genuinely good person.