Why Your Religion Shouldn’t Be My Problem
The freedom to worship isn’t the freedom to rule
My cousin Arlene was a devout Catholic, so deeply involved with her church the priest at her funeral service told us he was nervous that he wouldn’t do right by her last wishes, worried that she would be wagging her finger at him from somewhere up there, showing her disappointment if he somehow messed up. She planned her last rites down to her choice of music, of scripture, and even of altar cloths. It was a tribute to her service to her church that they worked so hard to honor her.
She was a good person who died too soon, having so much more to give. Her devotion to her God was a prominent part of her life, but she did not and would not demand that someone like me should have to follow her lead.
I, a non-religious, don’t demand that anyone follow my choices about religion. The fact that I don’t believe in a god or feel the need to belong to a religion doesn’t mean I want to diminish anyone else’s devotion or beliefs.
Forms of religion have been with us for thousands of years, the idea of a supreme being and an afterlife so firmly entrenched I’m considered the odd one for not going along.
I’m okay with that, as long as everyone else is. But there’s the problem. I try to be a good person — I…
