War of the Gods

For quite a while now I have seen some very personal attacks in our forums in the Religion topic and it truly saddens me to read many of the posts there. It seems like everyone is so determined to force their beliefs on everyone else that it gets "overheated" and turns into personal attacks.

What I have really been wondering is if anyone is really stopping to think about all the different religions and all the varying definitions of what God can mean to others. Looking at different dictionaries, I have seen several different definitions of the term God. These vary from religion to religion and some religions have many different Gods.

What it all boils down to in my opinion is that God means different things to different people and does not necessarily mean a religious object or entity. God can be anything that you put as #1 in your life. This can range from anything from a supreme being to a statue to worldly goods such as money or objects. Therefore, I can't seem to understand why so many arguments seem to go on forever about what does or does not exist, what is or is not moral and who is right or wrong on the subject.

First of all, at the risk of some who may want to personally attack me, I will say that I am a Christian and I am very proud of that fact. I am not a Christian due to any specific religion. I am a Christian through salvation and my relationship with my Lord and Savior.

I do not and should not ever need to defend myself for my beliefs. I do not feel the need to have a scientist prove to me that my God exists. I should not be called names because of what I believe or be subjected to disrespect simply because of my beliefs, nor should I be stereotyped because some who claim to be a Christian are hypocrites.

I do not try to convert others to my beliefs. If they feel the need to ask, I will gladly share. It is not up to me to judge nor condemn anyone. I also do not feel the need to argue with anyone about who is right and who is wrong about my God, their God or anyone else's God. I trust my God in faith as I am sure that everyone else does and I am not here on earth to destroy anyone's faith nor question their reason for their beliefs. In the same sense, others should not try to destroy my faith nor question my reason for my beliefs.

When we begin to attack others for what they believe, this is where all religions divide and resentment steps in. If you will look into most religions, you will find that the basics of good and evil are pretty much the same. While each religion may have totally different worshipping practices or different Gods, the basics are the same.

In many of the arguments I have read, it all seems to come down to who is right and who is wrong in the discussion. In all actuality, the entire argument is pretty much useless because you can not sway someone away from their beliefs when they are that strong. I, for one, could never be convinced that my beliefs are wrong and all that I have ever had faith in is a myth so trying to drill my head full of negative comments about Christianity is just your time wasted. The same is true for other religions and beliefs.

If I woke up tomorrow and God said to me, "Bonnie, I am retiring and you can no longer base your life and your morals on my word. You are on your own", I would probably be devastated and a bit lost for a while. But at the end of the day, I would still love others simply because it is the humane thing to do. I would still respect others because it is the humane thing to do. I would still be kind to others because, again, it is the humane thing to do. And I will forgive others because it is the humane thing to do.

I dream of the day that we can simply agree to disagree on the religion topic since it seems to me that enough enemies have been made and enough lives have been lost in the name of religion. So many times people tend to blame this religion and that for wars and murders when, in fact, it isn't the religion at all. Every religion has its fanatics in one way or another.

Some religious fanatics think that it is their duty to "convert" everyone to their beliefs. Some believe that those who do not believe what they believe should be wiped from the face of the earth. Some even believe that religion itself should be wiped off the earth. These are the type of people who cause the hatred among religions, not the religion itself. In fact, if they truly followed their religion, we wouldn't have the hatred and wars that we have in the name of these religions because their basics are all the same, which is peace, love and harmony. It is when the fanatics decide to take the "conversion of others" to their way of thinking into their own hands and use their religion (or lack of) to justify it that we have those types of problems.

I am not against any religion or belief and I believe that our personal beliefs are sacred to us all. Therefore, we should respect the belief of others no matter what the religion or even if there is no religion or belief in God at all. Myself, I believe that everyone has a God, whether it be a supreme being or an object, simply because everyone has something that is #1 in their life.

With that, I will state my personal opinion on something that I am sure will have the rockets aimed straight for my head from some readers. I can't understand for the life of me how the country (meaning governmental agencies and a few citizens) have turned so much against having God (as in the supreme being) in our society. After all, this country was built on His principles and He is steadily being banned from any and all public places. It seems in today's society, it is acceptable for anyone to take away a plaque of the ten commandments because someone is offended by it. Yet, as a Christian, I am subjected to all sorts of offensive materials and told if I don't like it, don't look or listen. This just seems like the pot calling the kettle black to me. Just one of the things that I personally disagree with.

Religion, like hairstyles, attire, tattoos and piercing is a personal choice, not something that should be debated. Nobody has to answer for this choice except the person doing the choosing. Some people believe in Gods, some believe in proven science. That is their choice. Personally, I had rather live my life as if there IS a God only to find out that there isn't than to live as if there isn't only to find out (too late) that there is. That is MY choice!

If you do not like religious material, the following video may be offensive. View at your own risk. That is YOUR choice!