Author Ann Rice has apparently given up religion. She made the pronouncement via Facebook. The mainstream media is all over the story. But to me it's old news. I've given up on religion long ago.
In my humble opinion one's relationship with God ought to be the simplest relationship one has. So why muck it up with a bunch of books, preachers, ceremonies, collection plates and hate.
God and religion are two very different things.
Religion has a very sordid history, to say the least. It's been used as a excuse to abuse women, to treat women as property, to enslave millions of people, to murder, and to terrorize.
So why would I want to be apart of such a thing?
The way I see it, unless one is a psychopath, one is able to learn at a very early age the difference between right and wrong. So why do I need someone reading from a religious text to tell me the difference?
I don't.
And the religion one belongs to has more to do with geography than anything else. If you are born in India then chances are pretty good you are Hindu. If you are born in Mexico then you are probably Roman Catholic. If you are born in Saudi Arabia you are probably Muslim. The United States, a Protestant Christian sect. And the effects of geography on religion is even more pronounced in Ireland.
So what religion you adhere to is really a geographical crap-shoot.
I can pray to the God that I believe in, try to walk with the God that I believe in and serve the God I believe in without all that religion brings with it. Without religion my relationship with the God that I believe in seems so simple and pure.
No politics. No fighting against others having rights that I have. No finger pointing. Just me and the God that I believe in. What more does a person need?
