Bam! Pow! Shock!

Thanks to KOCO News 5 for this image.

I don't know if anyone knows about this but there is a bit of a controversy here in the great state of Oklahoma. The image above is the current renderings of the Satanic statue that is to be built. Why? Because when people think of freedom of religion in Oklahoma, they really just mean their religion. 

So how do I feel about it? 

Well, I'm 27 years old and I've spent a good portion of that 27 years being led by other people on what to believe. I wasn't scared by the proposition that Santa was watching. No, Christmas was Jesus's birthday (except it's not) and I should be terrified that God is watching. It's taken me the better portion of my life to finally stop caring about whether or not I disappoint my parents and direct myself in what I believe in and why.

I think there is a very good chance that there is, in fact, a higher power. But I refuse to believe that he is the hate-breeding, soul-crushing entity that so many modern Christians believe in. Why would a divine being create such a diverse population of people, faiths, etc. and not actually "accept" all of them? Many Christians believe that God knows the day of your birth, your death and the road you take in between all of it. If that is true, then why would this thing create something that didn't "belong" within a certain guideline of behavior? The Bible is flawed. It was written by man and if that story up the page a bit is to tell us anything it is that man is absolutely flawed.

Now down to the nitty gritty of the whole thing. You can't say that you want "freedom of religion" and not actually bestow that freedom of religion to all practicing faiths. So when the government decided that putting up the Ten Commandments on the capitol lawn was acceptable, they invited everyone else to recognize their faith on the same damn lawn. 

Bottom line: If you don't want to "tolerate" the other religions and people that surround you then you damn sure don't want to give yourself preferential treatment. I've seen many an open-minded Christian (hell, I used to be one until I decided that I don't want to live my life with the fear that I'm going to be tortured upon death) but they've got a long ways to go.