Religion

I'll say right now that religion is one of my least favorite subjects to talk about with people.  So many people are so small minded that when they find out that I'm not Christian they get offended.  Why should they get offended by my choice of religion?  And still others decide that it's their personal duty to save me and convert me to the ways of the Christian god.  Thus I avoid religious conversations often as possible.  What I'm doing here is sharing my beliefs and experiences with the world without the problems of being persecuted because of them.

    During much of the reign of the Roman Empire the civil authorities enforced religious tolerance and freedom.  Many religions flourished in different areas including Christianity, Paganism, Judaism, ect.  During the late fourth century Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire and religious tolerance ended.  Pagan temples were confiscated and their priests and priestesses were exiled or murdered.  Jews were also persecuted, originally because people in the Jewish faith were regarded as being responsible for the execution of Jesus Christ.  The crucifixion was actually a routine execution by the Roman occupying forces.  Yet the descendants of the first century Romans were never blamed for Jesus' unjust execution.  Only the Jews.
    During the middle ages, Jews became the scapegoat during the plagues.  Often at the instigation of the Christian Church, Jewish communities were invaded and many individuals massacred.  The end result of centuries of anti Judaism occurred during the holocaust when the Nazis exterminated about 6 million Jews.  Also During this time Christians who didn't believe in all of the doctrine of the Roman Catholics were viciously exterminated, these include Cathars, Knights Templar and Huguenots.  During the Christian Crusades hundreds of thousands of Muslims, Christians and Jews were slaughtered.
    Followers of the Old Religion were hunted down by the church.  Millions of witches, heretics and innocent people were hunted, tortured and burned at the stake.  Entire villages were destroyed and the occupants burned.  The cries  "Kill them all, God will know his own." was heard all over Europe.  After the reformation of the church between 1450 and 1792 the church preferred to hang witches.  After the reformation Catholic and Protestant countries would war endlessly trying to destroy the other both doing it in the name of Christ.
    Then the Europeans discovered the New World.  Tens of millions of natives died from conquest and disease.  Forced conversion of the survivors destroyed many beautiful and enlightening cultures that will never be seen again.
    The writers of the US Constitution saw the problems of religious hatred and feared what it could do to the newly formed United States.  Thus they separated church and state so that they could not affect each other.

Much of the text above was borrowed from a very enlightening web page on religious tolerance.  I highly suggest reading it.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/

Much of the reason I choose not to follow Christianity is above.  I can't follow a god that would allow it's people to slaughter millions upon millions of people in his name.  I choose instead to study many religions and take from them what I feel is worthy.  In the end it all boils down to what you feel is right for yourself.  Everyone is different and everyone has different views.  Many people just need to learn to accept that.  Just because I'm not Christian does not mean that I don't have morals or ethics.  I am still a person, I bleed, I cry, I laugh and I die, just like everyone else.  Let me live my life my way and you live yours your way.

Blessed Be