I think religion is a blessing and a curse. It can give people clarity and hope in their lives when things get too rough, but it can also cause people to be so closed-minded and intolerable about different things. Especially when those said people try to shove their religion down your throat. For me personally, I don't consider myself religious but more spiritual. I don't believe in church/going to church. I feel like church is very cliquey. I've been to a couple of different churches throughout my life. Christian, Catholic, Baptist, Non Denominational and Mormon and I always get this sense of people looking down on you. It could be that those churches aren't for me but I don't like how it feels to be at a new church and have the people look and stare at you. I remember going to my great-aunt's church as a child, I cannot recall if there was a certain event that happened but ever since then I have just felt uncomfortable in church.

I believe in Jesus and God. I feel you don't have to go to church to believe in them and follow along with your beliefs. I know that religion is deeply rooted in my culture (the black community) due to slavery. Slaves really held onto the thought of God, but I do question the bible and what has been preached. Slave masters for one did not teach slaves how to read and two they preached God wants slaves and a bunch of extra that simply isn't true. I find myself questioning the validity of the bible. It has been translated a bunch of times and there are different types of versions. It makes me wonder if people added what they wanted to add over the years and it was simply taken as God's "word." I think the "sins" of homouality and like tattoos and such were made up to fit the societal standards at those times. Just how owning slaves was made up and such. So I don't particularly read the bible/study it closely. 

I don't label myself as religious/Christian/catholic or whatever because it feels like a herd mentality. It also feels very judgemental if you choose to question or not follow certain things in the bible. I am okay with people following religion and labeling themselves. I'm not okay with people shoving their religion down people's throats or rubbing it into people's faces. I especially dislike when people say "so and so is going to hell" or "they're not a child of the Lord", I don't think its anyone's place to determine that. If you want to think that, that is fine but to actively share it and spread it is another thing. I just don't like how hypocritical it can be. 

You're probably wondering what spiritual means. For me, it means that I believe in God and Jesus. I pray to God and seek out guidance, I do read some scriptures but overall, I just personally believe in him on my own. I have felt and seen signs of him being real but like I said, it basically is my own individual belief in God vs a group belief. Overall, I believe if you intentionally plan to just do good in life and be good to the people around you, then you'll go to heaven. I think if you live with wicked intent and malice then you will be destined for hell or whatever. I am still trying to figure out my stance on heaven and hell, if I truly believe in it or if theres reincarnation. I won't dive too deep into that since its way off topic.

To summarize, I don't really believe in church/labeling myself to a religion. I believe in the existence in God & Jesus, I just have my own personal relationship with them (in the terms of praying and such). I think people who tell others they are going to hell or living their life wrongly are foul. I think if you live life with good intentions then you will go somewhere good after death and if you live with wicked intent then you'll go somewhere bad after death. I don't really bother people with my spirituality and I appreciate the religious people that don't shove their beliefs down people's throats. I hope that this has made some sort of sense and that you can see where I'm coming from. I wouldn't mind a polite debate about this or conversation. 

Day 4 out of 30 complete. Tomorrow's topic I am a bit anxious to talk about. It will most likely have a TW on it since it is a very sensitive topic and I might delve deep into it. Depends on how I'm feeling since today is my treatment. I will work hard on not skipping tomorrow heh.