Shadelka Almonte “My Religion”
I believe that there is no such thing as religion. Growing up I was raised in a Christian family. I think most children who grow up in a religious household are forced into believing in a specific religion, without being given an alternative. This changed my outlook on life because growing up, I remember praying to God. Most of the time my prayers consisted of not asking God for materialistic things rather asking for courage and patience to live a better life. I never really questioned if he was real or not. The way I lived didn’t feel right because it was stopping me from being who I wanted to be. I was always afraid of disappointing the so­called God I thought was real.
It wasn’t necessarily because God didn’t answer my prayers or because of the so many hypocrites I came across with in church. It was simply because I felt there shouldn’t be a God to judge a person just based on their obedience to certain rules or traditions. If there is such a thing as God, it should not be about following a set of rules. Contrarily, it should be about being one’s own person and doing what one thinks is right. From personal experience, growing up I always thought I was attracted to females and the fact that my family was Christian, made me feel uncomfortable. I couldn’t bear the thought of actually wanting to marry a female and my parents not accepting me. All because they would think it was a sin.
How terrible is that, a parent disowning their own child just because is an abomination to their religion? If God so loved me