I am agnostic.

I'm not religious. But I'm not an atheist either. I'm a person who does her best to respect all religions, philosophies, and atheism.

But that doesn't mean that I am not frustrated with how we perceive things involving religion in America.

Much of America is based on a religious, specifically Christian, ideal. It is clear when you see "In God We Trust" written on our bills, "Under God" being in our pledge, and presidents swearing on God's words when accepting their duties as the leader of our country.

But my issue is, what about Americans who do not believe in a God?

Many Americans are like me, without a religion. We do not worship a certain entity, or participate in ceremonies. My family, consisting of two other agnostics and an atheist, do celebrate holidays with religious origins, like Christmas and Easter. However, we do not participate in the religious aspects of said holidays, but the cultural ones, such as finding a basket or putting presents underneath the tree. These have no religious tones. And nonetheless, the rest of my extended family is Catholic, so we celebrate with them as is.

But holidays are not my main issue here. My problem is with politics in America.

I feel as though religion makes up so much of politics in America. Granted, the separation of church and state is not actually written in the constitution, but is more so a guiding line. Yet laws are continually passed based on how things are perceived based on religious guidelines, such as abortion and marriage equality. Some religions are more persecuted than others. Let's not even begin to mention crimes committed for the sake of religion.

Another issue is on the opposite side of the spectrum. Too often have I seen religions being completely blamed as corrupt and horrible, and that all they do is cause problems. This is not the case. Religions themselves are never the problem, but how people perceive them. Plenty of religious people keep their religions to themselves, and do not let these issues arise. It is the most radical interpretations that are talked about in the press.

There is a continual divide between religious people and atheists in America, with agnostics smack dab in the middle. But religion is supposed to be a private issue. It is something that guides us along the path of life, yet the government and the media choose to put it out in the open, constantly.

Radical religious people and radical atheists have had their fight drag out for such a long period of time. So much damage has been done, and the divide grows even stronger between the two groups.

My only hope is that we can truly someday practice religious tolerance, and that the separation of church and state can peacefully be done, with no bodily harm.