James Andrews

I try real hard not to discuss religion. Religion is one of those topics that once you open the door it is near impossible to shut it again without the force of 10 locomotives. I have too many people I know around me that are too invested in religion that it never ends well. Though every now and then though someone says something and I just have to say something.

Growing up I was surrounded by religion. My mother, many of her friends, and my grandmother are devout Catholics. When I was in High School we had minister for a Baptist Church who my mother associated with, and who I would often see walking between his house and the church, and who would approach me and try to discuss religion with me. I was a musician in high school. I played guitar, and liked to sing, and I remember one night he tried to criticize my music just because it was rock music. Yet he had never heard it, never listed to any of my lyrics. When I was writing music it was all about finding love. Nothing demoralizing, nothing satanic. Yet he had the nerve to criticize it. I remember about the same time my mother had signed me up for CCD, which I skipped on a regular basis. When my mother found out about it, and I was forced to go back, the teacher was surprised that I knew more about the subject matter than many of the students who had gone to class. I remember it clear as day actually. We were talking about passover, and the plagues that the God of Moses had sent down upon the Israelites. I remember the teacher asking everyone why they had to put lambs blood on the doors and the God would pas them over when killing the first born son of every family. Just an example of how much I was surrounded by religion as a child. When it comes to the stories, the ones that were iterated over and over in church, me with my insane memory, remembered all of them.

There was even a time afterwards where I found myself actually drawn to wanting to go to church, and I then a time in my early adulthood where I experimented with non-traditional religions trying to find something that felt right. Never feeling satisfied with any of it. The stories too unbelievable, the chanting, prayers/spells whatever you want to call them just felt too unrealistic.

With Christianity what drives gets at me the most is how blindly certain sects follow every word of a book that was written by men some 2000 plus years ago in a time when corruption was at it’s peak in the world. When kings and emperors would do anything to keep control of their domains. Not only do they follow it blindly, but they interpret it in unintelligent ways. It drives me absolutely batty. Did God really want you all to not use the intelligence he gave you to question things and to think for yourselves? I mean really, 6 days? Do you really think that the earth and all it’s creation was created in a 144 hour period? I just don’t understand how anyone could think that with all the scientific evidence showing that the earth has been around for billions of years before man. Did God just put it there to fake us out?

Now to the point of my post. Religion itself. How many wars have been fought over how many centuries because someone didn’t believe what someone else believed? How many times do I have to answer the door and tell the “Jehovah Witnesses” or the “Mormon” to leave me alone. What I like to call “Conversionism”. Their religious rightous duty to harass as many people as humanly possible to get them to become part of their cult. People shunning you because you are not of the same faith as you? Kicking you out after years of dedication because you child chooses a pagan faith over the one you raised them on. That’s right, they’ll kick you out if you screw up in their eyes. Is that the way of God? That’s no way I want to be. Trying to force religion into politics, school life, because they feel it is the righteous thing to do, without any respect for anyone else’s beliefs? Did God not teach you to respect others? Then show some respect even if you don’t agree with them. If you want to thank God before your lunch time meal please do, but don’t go dragging everybody else into it.

What do I believe? I believe there is something greater than all of us. What it is, I don’t know. I do know that I am not going to follow blindly something that may have happened some thousands of years ago written in a book by a man who is just as fallible as myself. I try to do what’s right. I try to show respect towards others and their beliefs. Please do the same, and try to understand that not doing so, and not respecting others beliefs is wrong, as much as you think it is not.