Ok guys...I'm gonna try to make this clear enough so that there will be no room for misunderstanding.
I do not, repeat, DO NOT have a problem with anyone believing in God, a God, Jesus or whatever else you believe in.
I myself am not sure, repeat, AM NOT SURE, what is out there. I consider myself agnostic opposed to atheist. So I do not reject an idea of a supreme being nor am I 100% convinced in the existence of one.
What I DO reject is a group (however small or large) of overly religious people using their religion to butcher the positive message religion tries to send out in order to fulfill their agenda.
These people would NOT EXIST IF IT WERE NOT FOR ORGANIZED RELIGION AS A WHOLE. You cannot deny that certain people become fanatical over their religion. NOT ALL BUT ENOUGH TO GIVE IT A BAD NAME TO SOME!!!
You can believe in a God and not follow an organized religion. To me, there is a distinct difference between the two. I guess the cliche "to each their own" is appropriate here. Yes, I am not a fan of organized religion and for that I make no apologies. Why should apologize for my beliefs? Do you?
I do not, repeat, DO NOT have a problem with anyone believing in God, a God, Jesus or whatever else you believe in.
I myself am not sure, repeat, AM NOT SURE, what is out there. I consider myself agnostic opposed to atheist. So I do not reject an idea of a supreme being nor am I 100% convinced in the existence of one.
What I DO reject is a group (however small or large) of overly religious people using their religion to butcher the positive message religion tries to send out in order to fulfill their agenda.
These people would NOT EXIST IF IT WERE NOT FOR ORGANIZED RELIGION AS A WHOLE. You cannot deny that certain people become fanatical over their religion. NOT ALL BUT ENOUGH TO GIVE IT A BAD NAME TO SOME!!!
You can believe in a God and not follow an organized religion. To me, there is a distinct difference between the two. I guess the cliche "to each their own" is appropriate here. Yes, I am not a fan of organized religion and for that I make no apologies. Why should apologize for my beliefs? Do you?
What I will apologize for is offending some of you. That was not my intention. I am not bullying religious people or being hateful. I am merely stating my beliefs in a blogging format tied into a Lady Gaga story. If I were sitting with you one on one over coffee and religion came up as a discussion and I told you I have some problems with it, would it be less offensive?
If my belief is offensive to you, or the belief of an atheist, do you ever consider that your beliefs are offensive to us? It goes both ways. I chose to place value in something that has evidence to back it up opposed to simply relying on faith in something not proven, and there is nothing wrong with that. Just as there is nothing wrong with someone choosing faith over fact.
Above all else, I respect you all for your opinions on what you believe in. I was not trying to disrespect any of you. When I hear or see something that I feel is an injustice and the people causing that injustice are fighting in the name of their religion, it really bugs me and gets me started.
If I lived back in the middle ages, witnessing women being burned at the stake by the Catholic Church, which they did in the name of God, it wouldn't piss me off any less.
So, my heartfelt apologies to the ones I offended. That's all I will ever say on religion from this point on.
FYI - I read your comments so that's the reason for this post.
