Your Religion Is Not Better

Your religion is not better than mine ... or anyone else's.

It may be the best religion for you. But that doesn't make it the best religion for everyone else. For many people, following no religion is best for them. And your religion does not give you the right to impose your religious beliefs on others.

Maybe you come from a long line of Mormons, or Roman Catholics, or Baptists, or Muslims or Hindus or Jews. That's wonderful. If that makes you happy, great. But that doesn't make you better than anyone else on the planet. And it doesn't make your religion of choice better than anyone else's. 

It does not give you the right to try to exterminate followers of other religions. It does not give you the right to attempt to impose your personal religious beliefs on others and prevent them from following their own set of beliefs. Your religion doesn't give you the right to impose your beliefs on others through coercion or legislation. Our Constitution's First Amendment permits freedom of religion, as well as freedom from religion.

If you want your children to attend a private, religion-sponsored school, you have that right. But you do not have the right to expect taxpayers to fund your child's private school education and indoctrination.

You wouldn't be happy if tax dollars were spent to pay for tuition at an Islamic school that taught sharia law. So you shouldn't expect people to pay for your children to attend a Christian school.

Too many wars have been fought over religious differences: the Crusades, the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East between Muslims and Jews, even battles between the two major factions of Islam. The Roman Empire murdered early Christians who refused to worship the Romans' panoply of gods.

The major monotheistic religions have one thing in common: worship of a single god. The ancient Greeks and Romans worshipped many gods. They had a god of the sea, household gods, a goddess of love, a god of war, and so on. 

I would guess that followers of each of the major religions feel that their religion is the best. And that's fine. 

Just stop trying to force your religion, and your non-religious beliefs, on others.