One of my favorite things about America is that things are constantly changing. Different ideas and fashions are constantly flowing in and out of the mainstream. In some instances, the forever-changing mindset of America is a good thing. For example, I am very glad that slavery and blatant displays of discrimination are no longer socially acceptable. In other cases, the shift in mindset can leave behind key ideas that have been essential to the well-being of the American family. I am going to talk about one change that is clear to see in today's youth, and that is our declining faith in religion.
In my own community and all over social media, youth are clearly stating that they either do not believe in a higher power or that they do believe in "God," but do not agree with the religions that follow said "God." Even as a woman of faith, I can think of plenty of reasons why today's youth may be choosing not to associate themselves with a religion and even why they might not believe in a higher power at all.
One of those reasons is how harsh some religious people are when it comes to following certain rules. Many religious people are against mainstream issues such as abortion and homosexuality. With abortion and homosexuality becoming more open and common issues, religious extremists show very strong feelings (often negative) towards members of communities such as Pro-Choice and the LGBT community. Not only does this push away people who are a part of these communities, but it creates tension and essentially builds a wall in between the two parties.
Members of these communities are not the only ones shying away from religion. Their friends and family members also shy away from religion because they just cannot see themselves praising the same god as such hateful people. People who are in no way related to targeted groups shy away from religion because they may be a genuinely good person who does not want to be associated with hateful extremists. The problem is not the god himself, it is the way we, the followers, approach others. When I asked a friend why they did not believe in God, they said that they did believe in a higher power, they just did not agree with the hypocrisy and hate of religion followers. We are the problem.
The point of religion is to bring people who believe in the same things together. In the majority of religions — such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, once these believers have gathered, their mission is to peaceably share their religion with non-believers. Religion, to me, is something that keeps people going and on the right path. I do believe that we as people of faith have gone astray from our main goal. Many radically religious people go about bringing people into their faith the wrong way, and that scares away a lot of potential believers. Calling each other names, throwing punches and any other display of hatred are not going to solve anything. We as people are supposed to love each other, despite our differences. That means religious and non-religious people alike are supposed to support each other. Through sharing love and being compassionate we can gradually break down the wall between the religious and non-religious and rebuild the trust that we are meant to have in one another.
