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This post was originally posted at FRS FreeState on WordPress

It’s not so much that I don’t believe in God, I’m Agnostic officially, which is the reason I’m not very religious, but I tend to not only look at politics as a Liberal, but also at life as a Liberal. And it’s not that you can’t be a Liberal and be religious. America is a liberal democracy and by far the most religious country in the Western world outside of South America at least. And we have a lot of Liberals in this country including in the Democratic Party who are very religious.

The reason why I’m not very religious, is because I tend to look at my politics though a liberal lens and believe in things like individual freedom and a high degree of tolerance as far as how we judge and treat people. That individuals should have a high degree of freedom in how they live their lives as long as they aren’t hurting innocent people with what they are doing. And what you get from a lot of these Christian as well as Islamic faiths is a high level of intolerance and that there’s only a certain way for people of faith to live their lives and that freedom should be limited.

If there was a religion and maybe there is and I haven’t found it yet that believed in things like individual freedom and not looking down on people just because they drink or smoke or dance, live with their girl or boyfriends before they get married, pre-marital sex, having kids together before they are married, didn’t look down on gays for being gay, watched adult entertainment, gambled their money. All of these things that at least the Religious-Right in America views as immoral and if anything should be outlawed. If there was a Religious-Left that was truly about tolerance and freedom, then maybe I could be part of that.

If there was a religious-left that was truly liberal and not Socialist, the Religious-Left in America tends to be more socialist than liberal ,but if there was a real religious liberal movement in America, that was truly about treating people the way you want to be treated and was really about individual respect and so forth, do on to others what you want done to you, then I would have more respect for religion in America.

It’s not that I can’t be religious as a Liberal, but that I can’t be part of a religion that puts down people just because of how they live their personal lives. Even if they aren’t hurting any innocent people with what they are doing. Where there isn’t any real level of privacy and where we are all supposed to be collectivists and members of a larger group. Instead of being allowed to just be ourselves and live our own personal lives.