Religion is a very dangerous weapon when used to control civilization rather than inspire it.

True spirituality cannot be an ultimatum. It must be a choice in order to represent anything meaningful.

While religion has often dabbled in politics in the name of justice, it will never attain true power since control of this world has never been God’s aim. Theocracies falter because of corruption, brutality, greed and narcissism. Human frailties take over and the powerful create religion to fit their politics and line their pockets. God does not want that and neither should we.

We cannot decry our loss of freedom as long as we’re trying to take away another’s. It is an absolute necessity to have freedom without a slave class, scapegoat or whipping boy, otherwise it’s not freedom at all. How can the church justify such immortality? Politics!

Religious political donations are the worst kind of blood money, because once they buy power and influence, they lose sight of a loving God. The scales blind their eyes and they become anchored to worldly influence. They can no longer see how the world sees them and only their sphere of influence matters. That breeds intolerance.

Occasionally we see a politician with a sincere faith, but that’s knocked out of them rather quickly since political party compliance constantly trumps religious faith in governmental agencies.

Freedom should never be a perk for the rich and powerful, it should rightfully belong to every person.

People that hurt another physically or financially should pay the consequences but making up restrictive laws just to criminalize behaviors that some may find religiously offensive is beyond immoral. Key words…People that don’t hurt other people ALL deserve freedom. That’s it. In a fair criminal justice system, even criminals will likely see freedom because we are motivated by rehabilitation and reintegration. That’s what people with integrity do.

No one can be oppressed in a free society, otherwise it is not free. Women shouldn’t be forced to bear children. Conception or first breath arguments are aimed at subjugation, not life.

The extreme effort over the past century to re-translate the bible to demonizes Gay and Transgender people is an absolute affront to the loving God who created them to be exactly who they are. LGBTQ people should be able to fully live and love in society. Fact: The word homosexual didn’t even exist in the American bible until 1948. It was inserted based on decades and centuries of confusion, lies and manipulation. Those are seeds from very bad fruit.

Absolutely NO culture or skin color is better than another.

If you don’t like someone, don’t associate with them. If you find someone repulsive, don’t engage them. If you don’t like the products they sell, don’t buy them. What you don’t have the right to do is discriminate. Discrimination has no place in a free society. NO, we’re not discriminating against churches by denying them the right to discriminate. First, churches are not people. Second, discrimination is just a dick move.

Look for the biblical translations. The argument that the bible is “God Breathed” makes zero sense when you understand that the bible has been translated hundreds of times from languages that we no longer speak (at least in modern terms). I’m begging people of faith to do their own research. While many pastors are encouraging their congregations not to associate with people outside their homogenized churches, I’m begging you to do the opposite. Learn to love all your neighbors. Just because they don’t have your faith system, it doesn’t make them bad people. Just because they don’t look like you, doesn’t make them bad people. Just because they don’t love who you love, doesn’t make them bad people. Don’t hurt them, love them. Accept them. Learn from them.

Throughout my life the church has represented many good and bad things, but even at it’s worst I believed that a majority of churches stood for goodness, love and inclusion. I no longer believe that and that pill has been a tough swallow.

What happened to sheltering the homeless? What happened to feeding the underprivileged? What happened to praising God through service?

This is what I see coming out of religion now. Not as an atheist, but as a person of faith. Angry, yelling voices. Threats of banishment. Unattainable ideals. Ostracization (even their own children). Racist ideology. Misogyny. Gun worship.

Anger, Anger, ANGER. So many have been led to believe that “someone” is taking away their rights and threatening their churches. This is not true of course. Churchgoers have the same struggles as anyone else that they need to work through. WITHOUT TAKING AWAY THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS.

Until churches return to worshipping God and the love He provides, the real question… is religion a tool or A Tool?

You can outlaw all the “someones” until you’re the only person left. That seems to be the only way for some not to feel threatened, but just so you know, that is the end of humans on this planet. There is nobody in this world that will ever be perfect enough for you. Thankfully we’re all valuable to God.