Monday, February 27, 2012

A Fact of Life

Guess what?

You follow morals of many different religions every day. It doesn't matter if you're not part of that faith, there are parts of it that are part of your moral compass.

So do I.

I may be Wiccan, but that doesn't mean I only follow the rules that it teaches me. "Love thy neighbor," and "treat others as you want to be treated," are both followed by Wiccans, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, and many other religious people. Do they know they're not alone in this? Sometimes.

"So ever mind the law of three," and "An it harm none, do what ye will," may be familiar if you have any friends or enemies who are Wiccan. The law of three refers to karma. Now, even if you don't believe in karma, do you believe in consequence? They pretty much go hand-in-hand.

The second line above, "An it harm none, do what ye will," shows that we have free will, but we shouldn't abuse that right. True, many abuse it every day, like terrorists, religious extremists, bullies, even authorities.

My uncle Wesley believes that no one should be condemned to a life of torment because they chose to follow a separate faith. There's a first amendment for a reason. He also said, "everyone, by following the laws set forth by congress, abide by at least four of the ten commandments."

You don't have to be part of a particular faith to be a good person. I know plenty of people who would say that I'm a good person, and they're not part of my religion. I'm certainly not going to assume you're a bad person because you're Christian, Satanist, Jewish, or Buddhist. That's not my right. I don't get to say that you're bad because of what you believe in.

What makes you a good or bad person depends on how you treat others based on what they believe, what they like, what their opinions are, their orientation, their height, their weight, if they have braces, if they can't play a sport as well as you, or don't get straight A's like you do.

If you can treat a person like they're worth something, even if they're worth nothing to you,  and not stab them in the back in the end, I'd consider you a good person.

If you tell someone they're wrong for believing something, or act like you're better than them just because you're Christian and straight, and they're atheist, agnostic, Jewish, or Buddhist and/or bisexual/homosexual, I would consider you a horrible person. Not just a bad person, but horrible, for believing you're any better than anyone else.