You Say Jesus is the Answer…When did I Ask a Question?

I was walking through a parking lot earlier this afternoon when I came across a minivan with several bumper stickers pasted on its bumper. Now sometimes reading these stickers can be rather entertaining when they say different things, but I found myself bored and a little aggravated that I wasted 15 seconds of my life reading them. They said things such as “Jesus is the answer” and “Jesus changed my life” and “insert slogan about Jesus being awesome here” and so forth.

In spite of the fact that I’m Atheist and I represent basically everything sinful in the Bible (boy do I ever enjoy shrimp), I really don’t have anything against religion…until it gets shoved down my throat. The majority of the world has some form of religion, be it Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Catholicism or Star Trek (please see Futurama for many ‘lulz’); many of these people who practise their religion peacefully have their reputations constantly smeared by irrational zealots who insist upon converting the world to their Book of choice. I think everyone knows exactly which people I’m talking about, the ones that take the words of their religion and twist them to the tune of their own sick beliefs (Westboro Baptist Church, need I say more?).

Religion exists for the many who practise it so they can seek comfort and love when they need it most. When a loved one dies, sometimes writing about it in your diary or telling a therapist just doesn’t cut it. When one falls on hard times, they need somebody to look to that they know is wiser than themselves; their God(s). Unfortunately, religion has been used for centuries in order to achieve personal objectives; wars have been started, people have been ostracized and murdered in cold blood and entire continents have been poisoned by twisted religions.

Now here’s my big issue with these loud-mouthed zealots. They yell and scream about how everybody but them is going to Hell and that we all must “repent” and whatnot, but the second somebody stands up to them they cry about how their right to free speech is being quashed. Excuse me, but how does that work? You tell me that because I don’t follow your beliefs I’m a lesser person than you, but I’m not allowed to refute it? Why do I have to sit in the closet quietly when you can express your beliefs freely? Our governments financially support the churches all across the world; they are exempted from taxes and they scrounge for donations. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me but I don’t think God needs money. Didn’t he/she create the world? Couldn’t he/she zap a couple million dollars into their wallet whenever they need to go shopping on Cloud Nine? Furthermore, I’m pretty sure God would rather society give their money to those who need it; animal shelters, homeless shelters, third world countries, me...yeah, pretty sure there are better places for us to invest our cash.

I’m all for freedom of expression just as much as the next teenager with authority issues, but there is always a line and these sorry excuses for religious followers have not only crossed it; they pulled down their pants and relieved themselves all over it. Everybody has their own beliefs, but there is a place for them all and that is your own personal bubble; they don’t belong in my face or anyone else’s. So remember, the next time you want to tell me that Jesus is the “answer”, let me ask a damn question first.