Who owns God?

Religion is a very personal experience, yet at the same time it is the foundation upon which the United States was established. The forefathers of present day Americans, after suffering from religious persecution in their countries of origin, created a governmental structure where there would be a separation of church and state, thus assuring the right of every citizen to worship their God (or lack thereof) as freely as possible.

Buddha, Siddhartha, Yahweh, Jehovah, Mohammed, God, Christ, The Holy Spirit - or None; call it what you want, but who owns "God"?

The results of the 2004 presidential election have been used to make a claim that Mr. Bush is the right choice for defending our morals. According to exit polls, 22% of respondents thought morality was the most important issue on this election (over the war in Iraq, health care, and the economy) and 72% of those voted to re-elect the President.

Does the religious right, the Catholic Church, or any other religion for that matter, "own" God? Should we discriminate against homosexuals (or any other group of citizens) because they don't own God? Should we deny them basic civil liberties because the Church perceives them as an abomination? Is that why in the 11 states that gay marriage was placed for a ballot it was overwhelmingly defeated? Is this country’s morality so important that we should deny the rights of marriage to a very large segment of our population - Gay and Lesbian law-abiding citizens?"

In God we trust" - but who owns God?

Who has the right religion? Can a politician own a god - like the current American president thinks he does?

How could a just God expect his creatures to pick the one true religion out of a multitude of false ones? By faith alone? It strikes me as a sloppy way to run an organization, whether a universal or a smaller one. All of us are prisoners of our early indoctrination, for it is hard, nearly impossible to shake off one's earliest training. As a devout agnostic, as I tend to cynically feel these days, I consciously evaluated all religions. From my days at the university where I was fascinated in my comparative religion studies, I am as taken by the early worship of the sun by the Egyptians or the Incas, to the most sober and intellectualized of the major western faiths. Having had a brush with death, I am forced to take them all as equal. I really want to cover my ass (I am more afraid of coming back as a housewife with bad taste than I am of hell). It does not help me that I dislike some religions more than others.If God exists (a belief that I have always leaned toward), and if He desires to be worshipped (something that I find improbable, but conceivably true, explaining why we have so many options to choose from), then stipulating one form of worship over another seems unlikely to be relevant. I always have thought that God omnipotent, which could shape galaxies and create or end life, would not be swayed by this stupid bigotry of the Vatican or the religious right performed in the name of "worship." And what if there are no spirits whatsoever, only fate? When death comes, it would be over - like the weapons of mass destruction that will never be found in Iraq.

Religion is a solace to many people. It has been called the "opium of the masses". It is conceivable that some religion, somewhere, really is the Ultimate Truth. In most cases it is nothing more than a form of conceit and havoc. In parts of Ireland and the Middle East, it is more trouble than it is worth. The Christianization of the native Americans throughout the Americas, The Inquisition, the Crusades, Catholics vs. Protestants, Jews vs. Muslims; deeds done in the name of their faith with which no God would want to be identified. I could never become a prophet, I would settle for the right to be a critic.

It just seems to me that owning the last Cher CD, being able to recite all the words to every show tune Monday night at Sidetrack here in Chicago, being able to dress in style, and having disposable income to splash on yourself is more to God's liking than what these people are doing in their God's name. That is not religion - it is a madhouse.

So lets stay with the principles of our founding fathers: lets separate the state and its politics from the religions and their prophets.

To quote that wonderful prophet, Jesus Christ: "Render unto Cesar the things which are Cesar's and unto God those that are God's."

As much as I feel this country would be prettier, cleaner, and definitively happier if I were able to impose my morals on the rest of the country, I fully understand our constitution forbids me to do it.