For me, religion has always been an awkward topic to discuss.

As the child of a Jewish father and a Catholic mother, I had conflicting theologies thrust upon me by both family members and religious leaders.

To illustrate this point, I had both a bris and a baptism within a week of each other (much to the chagrin of my Jewish family). My parents eventually decided that our family was of the Jewish faith, pushing Catholicism into the backseat of our proverbial family station wagon.

I never really questioned it, but there was always those lingering thoughts in the back of mind that I had to keep hidden away, lest I offend my beloved family. I felt myself doubting the validity of these theologies, seeing the holes in the sacred texts that all the religious world revered.

Then, it hit me:

I don't feel like I've ever really been spiritual in the first place.

Whenever I do bring this sentiment up to my family, a look of discontent washes over them.

"You won't feel that way once you're older," they say, patting my hand as if to reassure me when, in reality, they were reassuring themselves that I would soon be lead back to the flock.

I just can't see myself living a religious lifestyle, and that's perfectly okay.

A lot of people lead perfectly normal lives without religion, it really isn't the "alternative lifestyle" that some people make it out to be.

I don't see religion as apart of my identity. Sure, it's what I was raised on, but it isn't what makes me, me. It doesn't guide my moral compass nor does it affect how I live my life, I set those rules for myself.

Now, I'm not saying that those who are devout are wrong.

If they get their comfort and salvation from religion then that's perfectly okay with me. It's a free country, after all, and we are given the freedom to worship however we want.

However, I do have an issue with it when people use their religion to justify violence, hatred, or general intolerance.

I'll always enjoy the culture and traditions which make up religion. Later this week I'll have the pleasure of being able to experience the Met's exhibit "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination" which is something I've been excited to see since it was announced.

I'll always love a good kosher deli and use Yiddish words and phrases when speaking with my family. I just don't want to be dominated by the religious part of it. I'd rather live my life by my own rules rather than by the rules set before me by a higher power.

Maybe someday I'll come back to religion, but for right now I'd rather live my life the way I want to.