Religion

I am a Christian, and I am a believer, but why must Christianity view everything we do as a sin?

I was taught to love

I was always told to love my neighbor

I lived by the rule

"Do onto others as you would have them do onto you"

And it was engraved into my mind

to love the people around me

the way God loves his children

I believed that God loved everyone

That He was a caring, devoted being

who created us as equals

and loved us in that way

Oh, how naïve I was

How foolish of me to believe that we are equals

How stupid of me to even think that God loves us all

Truly He only smiles upon those who love the other sex

And He adores only those who attend weekly mass

He favors His children who preach His word

Onto ears that don't wish to hear it

His grace is only bestowed upon you if you are pure

He accepts you only if you believe in Him

He denies affection to those who want to express themselves

To the people who wish not to have children

Or cannot even have any of their own

If you're gay

or un-pure

If you aren't a churchgoer 

Or you have conceived out of wedlock

You obviously aren't worthy to be looked upon by the Lord

These are the lessons taught to me in school

That are written in the Bible

And influence the decisions

And the hatred

Of many around the globe

This is not the God I know

This is not the God I love

This is the God portrayed in a book written 3000 years ago

The God that is spiteful and unforgiving

Why is this the portrait we view and worship?

Why do we regard Him as Hatred?

Why is He seen as Unloving?

We should see Him as Goodness

As Grace

As Faith

And as Love

Author's Note

I wasn't too sure about the actual writing in this one, but I really wanted to get this message across.

Reviews

[Trevor Barnett]

Religion has brought many bad things like the crusades, or the Salem witch trials. But, it has also given people hope when they need it. The Bible was wrote by man and has been translated many times in history. So, it is bound to be full of misleading advice, but also some great advice. A very good write indeed Rosie! The question is man the imperfection that causes pain, or is religion?

[Rose Diamond]

For me, I find it very hard to see the positivity of religions when is schools these days, they're basically shoving the Bible down our throats. But you are right, every religion has brought hope to an entire population, and I should really keep that it mind.

Anyways, thanks so much for reading, and I'm really glad you enjoyed!

[Brandon Langley]

Despite my atheism, I must say that I found this to be quite satisfying, it touched upon some of the reasons many people become atheists, while still providing a defense for GOOD Christianity. But, I must say that I don't believe that GOOD Christianity will ever exist, as there are very few GOOD Christians out there. I believe that religions were created to fulfill the agendas of the nationalists. Its been shown in ACTUAL history all the time, for instance, Hitler wanted to exterminate the Jews not because of their religion, their Judaism was just an easy way to group them, he wanted to rid the world of the Jewish population because they were an easy scapegoat for the loss of WWI. Nationalism was on the rise, and antisemitism was already rampant throughout Germany. Despite nationalism not being "a thing" in the days that the bible was written, it was an idea, a state of mind, that of the purist. People needed a reason for everything, so instead of the current approach of science, or the Hitchhiker's approach of building a big computer, and asking it the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything(the answer to which is 42, btw), they wrote a big science fiction novel. In this novel, they sprinkled their agenda(homophobia, nationalism, etc.), and effectively put said agenda into the minds of modern man. So, in short, I like the poem, and I like that you're one of the few GOOD Christians out there.

[Nire]

First off, I'm a believer so of course I found the lyrics obnoxious. It's annoying when people choose to trash my God without properly learning about Him first.

But this poem was obviously not for written for people like me, so with that out of the way...
It lacks a sense of rhythm and grace. I think a little Iambic Pentameter might be helpful. Try not to force the words out, but let them flow. In other words, push your agenda aside, bring your emotions to the forefront.
It needs to be more about what you "feel", not what you "think".

Also, pretty much every writing book I've read suggest that you not be "preachy". This comes off very "preachy".

That just my two cents, take it or leave it.

[Rose Diamond]

I appreciate your input, it is good to receive some criticism. I do think I gave you the wrong message, because I, too, am a believer, and what I'm trying to get at is that many people in our religion try to force their beliefs and rules down other people's throats. I'm also voicing my opinions on Catholic/Christian rules and restraints, and how I think they're far too overbearing.
I am not at all attempting to trash God, for I believe that He is a loving, caring, and kind being that us humans often misjudge.

The writing in this poem was a new style for me, and I was experimenting with something new, so I am aware that it may not flow /as/ nicely as I wanted it to, but I'm still relatively happy with it. If the words seem to forced to you, then you may be seeing something that I cannot. Also, I don't believe you know exactly how I feel abut this topic due to the fact that the subject wasn't to your liking. I felt (and still feel) very strongly about religion, and I focused more about expressing my emotions than the 'agenda'.

Lastly, almost this entire poem was written using sarcasm, so it was intended that it sound a little preachy, because that is how I view my religion: overly preachy and not accepting of the opinions of others.

Thanks for your review, though. I do appreciate it.

[Rose Diamond]

(Please ignore any spelling errors, my keyboard is broken)

[Nire]

Hmm, this was the line I think that threw me off:

This is the God portrayed in a book written 3000 years ago
The God that is spiteful and unforgiving

Do you not believe in the God of Abraham?

The sarcasm is not obvious. So you may want to do something about that.
It still comes off to me as a snarky athiest's poem even after your explanation. Maybe I've just seen too many of those.
The words do seem very forced. I would try rewriting it, just to see where it goes. Try taking it slower. Meditate on one line at a time until they just flow. Taking a walk or just laying in bed with nothing but silence usually works for me.

I'm not meaning to come off harsh, just honest. You need a lot more practice, so keep trying.

[Rose Diamond]

I do appreciate your honesty, I'd rather have someone be honest to me than to lie and give me false hope.

I know sarcasm can be hard to detect for some people, and very easy to see for others, so it's a tricky thing to write with, but I am still satisfied with how it turned out none the less.

I don't want to have you leave with a negative look on my writing, though, because as I mentioned, this format and style was kind of an experiment for me. I know this is not my best work, but I wrote this mainly so I could express myself. I am not a snarky atheist, I am just a young Christian who is sick and tired of the way religion is taught and portrayed in modern day society. I apologize if I've offended you, that was not the intention, though I knew that writing this would be a bit of a risk.

Anyways, I don't think I'm going to edit it, because this represents my raw feelings on the subject, and I'd rather leave it that way.

[Travis Gibson (poetic h..]

First, I commend the bravery of your pen. This is a very sensitive subject for so many. Nonetheless, you were able to get your message cross in a clear, respectful manner. Excellent write!