It is funny to watch the debates when religion crops up. It seems that those who are the angriest are on both sides of the issue.

While we watch this anger we can lose sight of why there is so much of it today.

Here are just a few observations on why I think the anger today has risen and gotten uglier.

First, we see a small group of people who use their faith as a political tool. The politicians see this and use it to attract voters to their causes. These politicians and their adherants don't care as much about faith as they do about winning an election at all costs. I really don't care why you vote for a certain poltician but you must realize that the rest of us are not going to sit back and let any small group of religious people change our country for the sake of their personal faith and belief system. We are not going to let some Muslims do this and we are not going to let some Christians do this either. And we are not going to go back in time to make a few folks happy.

Secondly, anyone who has read a lot of history can seen how religion and the fanaticism of faith has created so much ugliness in our world. The argument that it is not the religion but the people who cause the problems is of course true. But this is at best a weak argument. Religion cannot be seperated from humanity. To deny that religion and the push to make others adhere to a certain brand of faith is not a problem is to support the fanatics. It does not matter what religion it is, fanatics do not deserve support from inside the faith.

And last, if someone does not believe in your brand of faith, that does not mean their faith is wrong or weaker, it means they were either brought up in a different church or have decided to walk down a different path of faith than you are on. Would you deny their faith is real because they do not practice or preach as you do? If you must deny others their faith then I think your faith is weak. If someone does not believe in religion at all it does no real harm to you. You may not like that they have no belief but that's your problem and not theirs. Trying to force your belief on others is not freedom, it is force! Each of us has a spirit inside us, it is our personal property, it is not your plaything.

Today we can speak with more freedom to say we do not support any faith with out as much animosity or specific ramifications hindering our lives. In our early history it was not as easy to speak your mind about this issue but now we can. This has upset many in the Christian community and their argument is that this freedom is somehow destroying our country and morality. I find this to be another weak argument that is based on little real evidence but is continually brought up with much anecdotal evidence. Humanity has not changed much, modernity is not the bad boy here. What is the bad boy is the ideal that some hold that life was so much better back then. What is different than in the past is the quickness that one sees the ugly stories of humanity. Also, the growth of the population and of society grows the ugliness, more people means more violence, more crime and more strife.

Your faith is yours, a lack of religious belief is someone elses choice to make.  You may say "I just want to tel them the good news and save them", that sounds so nice doesn't it. The problem with that message is that others will see it as a form of force and will fight you to stop being forced to see everything your way.

You do more by being a good person than being a proper Christian who uses scripture to show how great you are compared to others. Stop putting yourself and your faith on a false pedestal of pride. After all, you are just as human as everybody else. Your fiath does not make you better than anyone else, it just makes you different. Respect another persons difference and you most likely will receive respect right back.