The Word of Amy...

*Advanced warning; the opinions contained in this blog post are those of AMY and are not intended to be pushed (you are choosing to read this) and are not expressed to be the views of anyone else.

The last two days at lunch the subject of religion has come up, I am happy to work and share lunch with people who respect the views of other people and who are happy to share their views in an open mature forum. Since this is been a recent topic I decided I would post my feelings on the subject in my pretty blog. I am not sure how many people know this about me, many probably have a sense, but here it is laid out for all to read.

I am Agnostic (check this out if its new to you, lots of good information here http://arts.cuhk.edu.hk/humftp/E-text/Russell/agnostic.htm). When I was growing up I did the church thing, and actually tasted many different religions along the way to find one that fit me. I picked Pentecostal as the one that fit me best, and for most of my teen years I was a devote Sunday church go-er. I even have a bible on one side of my high school class ring.

Along the way, I decided to form my own opinions about the subject and decide what seems responsible to me and what I wanted to believe and how I wanted to live, rather then have a book which was supposedly written as the word of "God" tell me all of these things.

Interesting that one of the questions raised during the lunch talks was; If you don't believe in God then who do you answer to? The link above states this well, I answer to me. I am responsible for my actions and I don't require someone or thing to hold in my head as my moral compass. I may hit bumps along the road of life, but how I handle them is my responsibility and my choices effect directly the life I live. If it happens that I do have kids in this life I will allow my children to explore the different avenues of religion if they choose, however I will not force it upon them and I will not judge them if they choose to have a different belief system then I do.

One of the topics today at lunch was about a recent news article about a gay couple who sought out a photographer for their wedding, however the photographer said it would be against their beliefs to take pictures of a gay wedding. This to me proves more of ignorance then tolerance and religion conviction. If someone claims to be religious then who are they to judge a gay couple? Isn't that "Gods" job? Everyone should be treated equal regardless of who they sleep with or what they look like or what language they speak. I get very irritated when people who claim to follow the Bible in one sentence then in the other are judging people or acting in non moral ways.

I firmly believe that life is about choices, and the roads you take are the ones that lead you to where you are now. Granted, there are a things along the way which are unexpected and not a choice, however how you handle these things is again a choice you make.

We all have the responsibility to live to the fullest and to be able to lay our head down and night and rest peacefully knowing that we did our best today to live in a way we think is moral and respectful. If you require a God to do this, then I am happy for you that you have found something that brings comfort to you. I respect the choices of others and I am happy to discuss the many different opinions we have regarding the subject.

Stepping off now....