One Nation Under God...

God is not what makes me a decent human being.

Yes, I believe in God. And Jesus. Yes, when asked what my religion is, I answer "Christian". It's what I grew up with. I rode the Sunday school bus when I was a kid. I belonged to Awanas. Shoot, I even went to a Christian private school from Kinder to 4th grade (when it became too expensive for my mechanic dad and lunch lady mom).

In light of our nation (and world) being in the toilet, I've seen the above meme pop up on social media more and more. I have never, nor will I ever, share it because quite honestly, I don't believe it is the answer to our problems.

I'll say it again, God is not what makes me a decent human being. Being a Christian is not a requirement of being a good person. You do not have to be a Christian to choose to do the right thing. It does not make you kind or forgiving. You may be a kind and forgiving person who happens to be a Christian, but there are plenty of Christians out there who are not kind or forgiving. As a matter of fact, I have a couple of atheist friends who are top-notch, good people.

"It's the Christian thing to do" is a bunch of hooey, a cop-out. Being a decent person is not the Christian thing to do. It's the right thing to do, whether you're Christian, Mormon, Muslim, Jewish, Atheist, whatever.

We need to become one nation under God again.

Um, no we don't. We need to become one nation who teaches their children how to be decent human beings. We need to heal the disconnect that we have with one another. We need to get our noses out of our smart phones and cultivate real relationships. We need to support parents disciplining their children. We need to not hand everyone a trophy just for showing up. We need to give out F's again so that kids understand that they're failing and need to try harder instead of worrying about hurting their feelings. We need to quit handing our children every damn thing they desire and teach them the importance of a work ethic. We need to teach respect for life, all life. We need to teach that it's ok to feel down sometimes, that we can ask for help or cry every once in a while. We need to defeat the stigma of mental illness. Because it DOES exist. We need to make it ok to be disappointed every once in a while.

We need to become one nation under God again.

Um, no we don't. This country was founded by people who were tired of being persecuted for their religious beliefs. They wanted to be free to worship how they see fit. To me, that also covers the right to NOT worship.

And while I wholly support the Pledge of Allegiance in schools, I also support your child quietly, and respectfully, standing there while others recite it. Did you know that while the Pledge of Allegiance was composed in 1892, the words "under God" weren't added until 1954? And honestly, I wouldn't be opposed to them being removed (gasp). Being a Christian isn't a requirement of being patriotic any more than it's a requirement of being a decent person.

There, I've been thinking it for a while now but was just too worried about upsetting friends, etc. to share my opinion. But I'm trying not to worry about that anymore, because if you're truly my friend, you'll still be my friend when we have a difference of opinion.