To all of my readers who actually bother to spend the time reading all of the drivel that comes spewing out of my head, many of you may not approve of this weeks topic. This week I am going to write about religion. Now they say that you should never talk with friends about religion and politics. As many of you know I have covered politics many times with my special slant on the matters, and now I am going to cover my grievances with organized religion. I will apologize now if this offends you and your righteous sensibilities, but as long as I have the freedom of speech, I will express my thoughts and beliefs. Now with all of that said, let's begin.

First thing's first, I was raised to be Catholic. I went to a Catholic school for most of my upbringing complete with nuns and mass (church service) every Friday morning. Then again on Sunday my family would go to our local Catholic church and attend another mass. I got to see the beauty of religion, the community building, the shared morals that united people and the camaraderie of shared faith. I look back fondly at those times, but today I don't go to church and haven't been in probably seven years.

Do I still have faith?

Maybe, but this article isn't about my own faith, it's about the problem I have with organized religion.

Even this heathen agrees with me.

Throughout history people have used religion as a banner to fall behind in order to wage a holy war on others. Now your first thought might be to think of the Jihad that is being carried out by radical sects of Islam, and while this may be true, I would like to casually remind you all of the Crusades, of the stalemate currently being held between India and Pakistan, or the wars that Israel has waged against the Palestinians for decades.

All of these have been waged on the basis of religion because "God wills it." That phrase has been used to cause so much suffering in the world that if it is true, then God is one sadistic bastard.

That's right. I said it.

He's a sadistic bastard.

When we look back to the Crusades, there are stories of the Pope saying that those who fought on the side of Christianity would be welcome into the Kingdom of Heaven for slaying infidels. Thousands of people were displaced and slaughtered while armies either carrying a cross or a crescent moon and star cut each other down with swords and pikes.

In the fourth crusade a group of Christians sacked the city of Constantinople, a city of Christians. This was partly because of the fact that those in Constantinople were not the right kind of Christian (they were Eastern Orthodox Christians). The other part of this was due to the leaders of Venice politically manuvering in a way to take control of the shipping lanes that Constantinople dominated in order to make themselves richer. They did this by manipulating the Church into diverting their original plans and claiming that it was a way to purge the world of the wrong kind of Christians.

The real sin here is the lack of a perspective.

Now we see religion at the forefront of many social problems that are inherent in the United States. Marriage equality, abortion, even transgender bathroom laws have their roots in the so called "religious right" of this country. Now I have talked before about the effects of religion on and politics, but I want to reiterate a tenant by which our government was founded on, the separation of church and state.

This land is supposed to be based on the belief that the government will stay out of religion, but what we need to realize is that at the same time religion needs to stay away from the government. Our government is meant to represent the will of the people, all people in the United States. I know that not everyone in the country is a Christian, and they are most certainly not all evangelical men.

So why is it that we allow the religious right to control the Republican party?

If we live in the land of liberty, why is it that we can marginalized groups of people because one interpretation of the Bible says so? People are being treated as second class citizens because their beliefs are different, and I cannot agree to follow a religion that tells people how to live and treat others. I can even take this to my example of Israel and Palestine.

Many Palestinians who live within the borders of Israel have Israeli citizenship, but are not allowed to enjoy the same rights as the Jewish Israeli nationals. As many enemies as this might make for me I will go ahead and say it, the Jewish people should be among the first to realize what happens when you marginalize and oppress people because of their religious background. It astounds me that people can take up the banner of religion and instead of using it to help people, it is a way to control the public.

I'm just gonna leave this here.

The last point I want to make is the problem I have with mission work.

I study anthropology and one important part of that is ethnology- the study of the characteristics of various peoples and the differences and relationships between them. I happen to find all cultures beautiful in their own unique ways. There are different faiths and traditions at every corner of the map, and they each deserve the right to continue thriving.

The problem with mission work comes from the fact that missionaries will go into a place that has its own religious traditions and will convert the native population to the new religion that the missionaries bring. Look back to the early days of Spanish colonialism in the Americas. Native Americans were forced to work on Spanish plantations and at Spanish missions in order to receive the protection of the Spanish crown. These natives were forced to convert to Christianity, were treated brutally, and died in droves. Their cultures were washed away from history.

This still happens today, but under the guise of good will. Missionaries can now go into a place and claim that they are trying to uplift the native people and give them a better and easier life. What about the religions of those places? Do they not have the right to continue on because they have not seen the light of your God?

Who has claim? None have claim. All have claim
Balian of Ibelin- Kingdom of Heaven

Again I have no problem with whatever you believe.

My problem comes from using religion for purposes that harm others. I'm sorry if I have offended you, but I believe that everyone has the right to be treated equally. I won't be going back to religion anytime soon, and I'm not telling you that God doesn't exist or that you are wrong for believing in Him or Her (which probably upset some of you).

My purpose for this is to tell you that religion isn't as bright and shiny as some of you might believe. Maybe you can take this knowledge and learn to be more tolerant of people who don't follow the same religion as you.

Maybe instead of trying to convert people so they can go to your heaven or killing them because they are going to a different afterlife, we can start working to make this world a bit more like paradise that all people can enjoy.