When my ex and I had kids, I insisted that we all attend church together. I had been raised Catholic and Fred had been raised Methodist, so we compromised and went Presbyterian. I did not insist this out of any strong religious fervor; I just felt that organized religion (as much as I loathed it) would be the best way to instill a moral compass in our kids.
Well, my kids are now full-blown Adults and officially The Two Most Awesome People on the Planet, and their moral compass is steady on, thankyouverymuch, but I don't think going to church had shit to do with that. Charlie, in fact, hated going to church, like I did when I was a kid. Makes a momma proud. No, I just think Fred and I were good parents. And our kids are good kids.
I have actually always envied people who were religious. I feel like they have a gene I didn't get, like being able to roll your tongue (which I cannot do). If I could believe that strongly in a set of arbitrary rules made up by a group of people who think they know God better than I do, my life might be easier. But I have issues with so many religious teachings that to give lip service to any church would be, for me, Uber Hypocrisy. And I just ain't down with that.
I have strong beliefs, which I will not bore you with here (this blog is boring you enough, I imagine), and they developed not out of the teachings of any one church, but out of life experiences, and self-reflections and soul-searching. What I believe feels right to me and I would never try to foist it on anyone else. You are entitled to believe what you want to believe, too, of course; but unless I ask you about your beliefs, keep that shit to yourself, s'il vous plait.
I feel the same way about prejudices. Everybody has them, but you don't need to broadcast them or try to try to ram them down other people's throats. I'm as paranoid as the next guy (hey! Why is that next guy looking at me??), but I can't imagine believing that the world will fall apart if two people of the same sex want to get married. Can't people find a better hobby than to bitch about other people's personal lives? Talk about a fucked-up moral compass.
Okay, enough ranting for today. As the Immortal CSN once sang, "Everybody I love you", even if you're stupid and don't believe what I believe.
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