This I believe

I believe that religion should make you a better person.

I grew up in a religious home. I wasn't in the same room with a bottle of alcohol until I attended a non-religious wedding in my early teens. I assumed that rules were a big part of our religion. My mother would read our Holy Scriptures each morning while oatmeal cooked on the stovetop. Our kitchen was always very cold, and I remember sitting wrapped in a warm blanket, eating hot oatmeal, and listening to my mother's beautiful voice read words from the Psalms. I assumed that comfort was a big part of our religion.

In the first sermon I remember, our pastor told the story of the only Jewish family in a town. They put a Menorah in their window and someone punished them for this by throwing a brick through their window. The next day, every Christian home on the block had lit a Menorah in their window. I loved this story. I knew deep down in my little heart that my family would have put up a Menorah if we lived on that street.

As my little heart grew, I accepted the religion of my family as my own. For a long time I lived a religious life in order to be religious. I told a girl that she was going to hell, once. I regret those words more than any other I have ever spoken.

My understanding of religion was making me a worse person. I assumed that religion was about rules and my own comfort. As I began to read the words of Jesus more closely I realized that I had misunderstood almost everything. The Christian religion wasn't about rules and it wasn't about my comfort.

Religion has made me a better person. It has taught me to love people - even people who don't look, act, or think like me. Even people who don't make as much money as me. Even people who believe a different religion than me. I'm no longer worried about my own comfort - I would be happier if the homeless kids I work with were to find comfort than if I had it myself.

Religion continues to make me a better person. I still have a lot of room for improvement! In this world of terrorism and Quaran burnings and hate-speeches coming from the mouths of the religious elite; I am reminded every day of my strongest held belief. I am reminded that religion should make you a better person.