A Deeply Personal and Somewhat Awkward Venting

    There is something I need to vent about, my friends. I have quite a few friends on facebook. Not hundreds and hundreds, but enough that I am content. I have reconnected with some friends from high school, and friends from jobs, old and new.


    There was one particular friend from high school, that I would catch glimpses of, in comments of mutual high school friends. I went to his/her page, and found lots of religious stuff there. That really turned me off, I have to say. So I didn't send him/her a friend request.


    Time went on, I still saw his/her comments on other friends posts, etc. I decided to check his/her page out again. This time, there was no religious stuff at all. I thought maybe he/she had seen the light, to borrow a phrase. So I sent him/her a friend request. He/She quickly accepted. We even had a brief conversation about what we had been up to since high school.


    Now, I have friends on facebook of all religions and persuasions. Many of them post awesome  photos and sayings that I frequently share. I even have some friends who are Uber Christians. As long as you don't preach at me, we can be friends. Post all the "God is good" and Jesus loves you" stuff you want. I won't share it. I believe you have the right to believe what you want, but you know what? So do I.


    Some of you may have gathered that I am leaning towards the Pagan side of things, religion wise. Truly, this is such a personal thing, I have trouble sharing. But I know it leaks out for some to see, especially those whose eyes are truly open.


   Now comes the vent part. This "friend" on facebook, who was such a "good", religious person, has de-friended me. I recently looked at my friends list, and he/she is no longer on it. This comes after I shared a few Wiccan themed photo things. Apparently he/she decided that I was evil or something.


    All of my adult life, I have avoided talking about religion with people. If it comes up, I don't contribute to the conversation. It is such deeply a personal thing to me, I prefer to get to know someone, usually pretty well, before my religious leanings get revealed. That way, I am not pre-judged. (There's that ugly word - prejudice)


    After all, isn't the main tenet of Christianity "God is love"? Doesn't that mean that everyone is worthy of love, regardless of their beliefs? And that is the main beef I have with some of the followers of that religion. Apparently they believe you are free to embrace a religion, as long as it's theirs. If you choose another? You are damned and going to hell.


    Many years ago, I saw a comment somewhere, I can't remember where, but for years it was posted on my refrigerator. "I don't have a problem with Jesus Christ, it's what people do in his name that offends me."


    This was a particularly difficult post to write. I wonder if I'll get flooded with hate comments. How very un-Christian that would be....