Defending Faith

My faith is under attack.

When I express my faith in God, I am accused of shoving religion down someone’s throat. I believe the doctrine of my church, and I am accused of not thinking for myself. I follow strict religious guidelines, and my church is called cult-like. Religion has sometimes been called terrorism, sometimes the opiate of the masses, sometimes mass hysteria.

Please, allow me to defend my faith.

I know something that makes me happy, and I want the people I know and love to be happy with me, so I share my faith. God gave me a brain with the expectation that I will use it; I use my own intellect to decide that I trust my church leaders. Any religion that fails to require the sacrifice of all things will fail in changing human hearts; I am willing to sacrifice all the small, petty things that draw me away from God, so I try to follow the commandments. I am not a terrorist, I do not use religion to cover up the evils of life, I am not crazy.

I love my God, I love my church, I love my prophet. I am not ashamed of my faith.

I make an effort to be respectful of other belief systems and other values. I try to recognize good wherever I find it. I give to charity, I love my neighbors, I vote. I apologize and repent frequently, because I usually recognize my own faults. I am learning to think compassionately of others. I understand that I do not know the whole story of any situation, and am rarely in a position to judge another’s behavior or motives.

I am far from perfect. I am selfish and lazy, offensive, abrasive, judgmental, and mean-spirited. I am slow to learn, unwilling to be taught, stubborn and prideful. I know what I should be, but I fail every day.

I ask only that you not judge my church based on my human failings. My God is omnipotent and omnibenevolent. He is perfect. It is me, His child, that falls short, not my God.