God. The Lord. The Holy Spirit. Jesus.
Religion is so important to a lot of people. Maybe it is the basis for the way someone lives, or the way someone thinks, or who they are friends with, or who they vote for...
A common thought about religious people is that they are good. You know, those goody goody church going people... Some one who goes to church and believes in God must have good morals and values because they believe in the good Lord and that means they are going to Heaven.
I am a non-believer. And I get SO irritated when people find this out about me and their reaction is "Oh, that's sad." And religious people seem to judge me for it. And sometimes I just want to snap at them and say, "I may not be a Christian, but my behaviors are more 'Christian-like' than yours." So many people go around proclaiming the "word of the Lord" one minute and then closing their hearts and minds and behaving in hateful, hateful ways. From the every day judgmental person... to the racist next door... they practice hateful behavior and cover it up with Religion.
Bottom line: You do not need to be Christian or religious at all to be a good person.
Why does not having religion have to be so negative? It is so absolutely freeing to believe that there is no Hell, there is no Devil, there is no all powerful God who will punish me if I say his name in vain. I believe in being a good and honest and loving human being. But not because there is this ancient book that tells me I should love my neighbor, but because it is human nature and that is who I am. I behave this way not because I want to make sure I go to Heaven... but because I want to and it is my decision to.
People say God is good. But you know what? Good is Good... no matter what you believe or what you don't believe... good is good.
