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Religion is among the most intensely personal choices one can make in life. As such, I believe it should
also remain among the most private. It should not appear on bumper stickers, billboards, t-shirt
slogans, or any other media where others are forced to see it, and thereby be influenced by it. Many
religions embrace austerity, modesty if you will. Advertising one's faith is intensely immodest. I believe in virtue, intensely. I don't share this with anyone who doesn't ask, I just try to live virtuously every day, and be a little more virtuous today than I was yesterday. The source of my belief is that everyone on this planet is human, and all deserve to be treated virtuously, that all deserve personal dignity, and that there is no basic reason for hatred. In the long run, individuals might prove themselves unworthy of being treated with virtue. This is my reason for living by what many could call a moral code. I developed my moral code over years of trial and error, treating some people well and others poorly, being prejudiced, bigoted, and hateful, and not liking how I felt inside when I acted unvirtuously and loving how I felt when I treated my fellowman with dignity and respect. Others find their moral code in the Bible, the Koran, the Torah and Talmud, Zen Koans, and many other such sources. Each of these is equally valid, and NONE is superior to any other. The US Constitution doesn't guarantee a seperation of Church and State, it prohibits the establishment of a State Religion. Religion has no place in government, no place in legislation, no place in courthouses, no place in how our nation is viewed by outsiders, no official place at all. By definition America is NOT a Christian Nation. Nor is it a Buddhist Nation, nor a Jewish Nation, nor any other denomination. America's religion is Americanism Religion has been used over the centuries as a rallying cry for hatred. Jihad. Crusade. Holy War by any name. Murder in the name of some diety or another is still murder. How can that be right? How can that be "holy"? Set your moral compass by whatever star you feel is right. You (yes, I mean you!) have the freedom, the right, the privilege, to do so. So does EVERYONE ELSE. Don't let them try to change you, convert you, tell you're wrong, or that you'll be cursed in the afterlife if you don't become just like them and believe just how they do. AND DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE DO THAT TO ANYONE ELSE. Only when you respect the rights of others can you expect to have your rights respected. Is there anything difficult with that concept?
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