“Religion has the capability to generate unselfish love in some people, and vicious, raw hatred in others. The goal of every caring person should be to somehow change religions so that they maximize the former and minimize the latter. This is not a simple task, because most faith groups are extremely resistant to change.” -Religious Tolerance.Org

I am an active member in my church and I am all in on my faith at all levels. My excitement is boundless and I am thrilled to share my journey and extend my influence to any that are interested, but this is my boundary. If an individual of another belief system has no interest in what I have to say about my faith, I will not force my views upon him or her. This is my one point of contention with the pastors of my church. They feel that it is my duty as a Christian to impart my religious beliefs on other ‘non-believers.’ My issue is with the premise of what constitutes a ‘non-believer.’ Is it someone that does not believe in G-d at all, or is it someone that does not believe and follow G-d the way that they (my pastors) do? It is one thing to have these discussions with someone who for whatever reason has had little or no spiritual considerations – I would have these discussions all day long. It is the person that has developed their own belief systems that are different than mine and in many cases, are as passionate about their views as I am about mine – this is where my dilemma comes in.

If all religious leaders took the same position as my pastors have with regard to aggressively spreading their belief systems, where does it all end? Badly, I’m afraid. We’ve all seen the bumper sticker, ‘My lawyer’s bigger than your lawyer!’, but ‘My G-d’s bigger than your G’d?’ - I don’t think so.

The way I see it is that I have a commitment to spread the gospel first and foremost to my children. It is a core part of their early childhood learning experience. But in doing so, much to the dismay of my pastors, I have embraced the ideology of Canadian based Religious Tolerance.Org as cited at the start of this essay. I am passionate about my faith and will uncompromisingly follow it and defend it when it is under attack, but I refuse to ever be viewed as one who is attacking another’s views. The irony of all this is that if a person of another belief system were to approach my pastor with the same level of exuberance that he is asking of his own congregation, he most certainly would go on the defensive. So again I ask, where does it all end? In my house, this ends with the words Respect, Compassion and Understanding for people of other belief systems.