Break the Cycle

Trigger: Prejudice

I know I haven't had many things severely piss me off for a while, but unfortunately, tonight reacquainted me with a latent and rare trigger: prejudice.

I've made it clear before that I'm prejudiced. We all are, to some extent. However, there are some types of prejudice I refuse to accept. One of them is religious prejudice. It may seem odd that an atheist has no tolerance or patience for people who bash other religions. However, one thing I have learned throughout my schooling is religion is intended to bring people peace. I have learned bits and pieces of a variety of religions through the study of their literature. This is particularly true of the eastern religions and philosophies (Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.). I may not like some religions for whatever reason (especially Christianity), but I have learned to respect a person's right to believe what he/she wants to believe. After having an Islamic roommate (who converted from Catholicism) and a best friend who's Wiccan, I have found that as long as a religion is not used to intimidate or propagandize, it is perfectly fine if you practice it in front of me.

However, I absolutely will not tolerate people who bash other religions to make their own superior. This is why I feel the Christians are particularly guilty in this area. Sure, Islamic fundamentalists do it as well, but if you do any goddamn research on the subject, you'll find that politics play a heavy role in their jihad. With a good amount of Christians, though, it is distilled religion they are using as a weapon. Granted, my readings of the Bible have exposed me to a good amount of weapon and war imagery, but even then I knew it was not meant to be interpreted literally. The Bible, like poetry, uses metaphor to deliver its message. This is particularly noticeable in Revelations. Nonetheless, those who have seen it as justification to wage bloody war have helped to seal Christianity's fate as one of the most violent major religions. What doesn't help matters is so many people are still willing to take that text and interpret it in such a manner as to call it a veritable instruction book. It's only useful as an instruction book if you understand its peaceful context. In modern America, the more vocal Christians wish to nullify those contexts.

To me, that's a fucking shame, and I can't believe more people aren't questioning their faith. I was raised a Christian, but I strayed from the faith a long time ago because even as a child I knew something wasn't right. With all the intolerance I see being spewed by the faithful, I now know what I felt in my early years. By straying from the faith and becoming an atheist, I have allowed myself to learn about different faiths and their core values. As long as they are peaceful, they are fine. When they use their faith and religious texts to justify the demonization of other religions, it's about as bad as Hitler's genocide plans. Only difference is his was based on race. If the intolerant Christians turned to such a plan, I know I'd be dead for my dissent. At this rate, I'm willing to take the risk, as it will free me from this trigger.

Since it's not likely that I'm going to die anytime soon, though, the question is what can I do about this trigger? Seeing that ignoring it would mean ignoring a key issue facing America, I refuse to use this option. My most proactive option is to ask these bigots why they feel the need to verbally destroy those who practice religions differing from their own. Granted, their responses could piss me off even more, but at least my conscience wouldn't keep me awake at night because I turned my back. I guess if I can't make them at least see how disrespectful they're being I'll have to walk away from it. That will gall the hell out of me, but for my health, safety and sanity, it might be my only option.