Practice What You Preach

This was not originally what I intended on writing about for my next post, but what with the BLM movement, everything happening with the Supreme Court hearings, and so many lives and basic human rights on the line with the upcoming election, I felt that this was more culturally relevant than another post talking about my feelings or coming up with fun new ideas for self-care routines. I want to set my point out straight right away: your religion, whatever it may be, should not dictate anybody else's life besides your own. Your faith does not give you an automatic pass to tell someone else what they can or cannot do with their body, and it certainly does not give you any right to decide that someone's love and sexual orientation is "wrong".

Like many, I have a somewhat complicated relationship with religion. Although I've never belonged to a specific church or worshipped in a standard way, I have often found the basis of it fascinating. I have close friends who are more religious than I, and it's always interesting to hear their opinion on something because we offer different viewpoints. My grandparents are religious, and they are some of the most loving people I have ever known.

I do not take issue with religion itself. What I take issue with is people using religion to try and force their own beliefs into other people's lives. I take issue with the separation of church and state -the line that keeps them apart from each other- seems to be getting more and more blurry as time goes on. What I take issue with is people in power using religion as an excuse to abuse their power to take legal rights away from the people.

Spouting off bible quotes and fancy vocabulary does not hide the fact that your true beliefs don't seem to abide by the rules you claim to so strictly live by. Claiming that you are not focused on political parties, but then immediately calling out just one party for something, automatically contradicts your so called "non-political" stance. You ask that people make decisions out of love through Jesus rather than out of a politically charged desire. But your words do not portray love. They are hurtful words, towards the very groups of people

-minorities, immigrants, people who are your neighbors on this earth- Jesus asks you to show love for. Cherrypicking aspects of the bible to believe and preach, only to discard the ideas and lessons that you simply do not wish to live by, contradicts your entire argument about coming together and loving one another.

In regards to arguing that the rich should feel obligated through the lord to help the poor and the needy, I agree. However, the unfortunate truth is that so many of them simply don't feel such an obligation. Raising the taxes on those who can very much afford a tax increase will not leave them feeling less motivated to work hard, and it most certainly will not have this profound, adverse effect on the poor as you claim it will. Poverty in this country does not exist because there are a "lack of jobs", it exists because there are certain systems set in place that increase the probability of falling below the poverty line for certain demographics, including race, gender, and social status. It would be wonderful if this were not true, and it would be even more wonderful if the people with money in this country chose to help instead of harm. But unfortunately that is not the case for the majority of the wealthy.

Science and religion can coexist. I'm not referring to the controversial opinions on things like the Big Bang, or evolution, or anything else that people from the science and religious communities butt heads over. I'm simply referring to the fact that through science, we are better able to understand the inner-workings of the beautiful planet that we are blessed to live on. Isaac Newton was extremely religious, but he also wanted to understand the world his creator had made for him through science. In turn, scientists have done some thorough research and have presented the public with evidence that there is, in fact, a climate crisis that is heavily affecting our planet. We should be taking better care of our home, and yes, it's fine to have faith in god and believe that some things that happen are beyond our control. However, there is a slippery slope that is the argument of free will. If we simply choose to believe that the current climate crisis we find ourselves in is just something that we have no control over, then what's next? What do we have control over and what do we just have to accept "as is"? Humans have a responsibility to somehow reverse what we have done to contribute to climate change, and we should recognize that is not a rejection of god's plan or a dismissal of faith, it's just taking responsibility for a problem that humans as a whole have caused, and deciding to take action rather than sitting on the sidelines waiting for the world to end.

Last, I would like to address the hateful and harmful message being sent to the members of the LGBTQ+ community. It is not anyone's place to decide who god does or does not love, in fact I believe that's something that is only god's business. You claim that you are speaking through god's will to let everyone in this community know that it's okay, this is only a sinning phase, you still have time to change your mind, you still have a chance to stop rejecting him. You say that you are coming from a place of love but your words are laced with malice. Telling someone that their love is not only a sin, but a direct rejection of god, is the true dismissal of morality that you so often speak of. You can't claim to love and accept someone as a fellow child of god while simultaneously telling them that their entire existence is a rejection of god. Real love should be unconditional, and yours seems to thrive on the conditions.

If you believe that you're being called to teach the word of god, that's awesome. It's great that you feel that you've been called by a higher power to help people. But if your calling leads you to question and deny the legitimacy of someone's value based solely on who they love, then maybe you should start to, instead, question the legitimacy of your calling.