Am I supposed to believe this is for God?

Many people think that religion should intrude into every aspect of one's public and private life.

I disagree.

I think a person's faith is intensely personal and should be shared with, at most, a small community of people; even this should be done quietly and humbly. (This is where W, Dobson, and Oprah rub me the wrong way) It should be enough in your public life to be known as a good person; there's no need to walk around with your religion pinned to your sleeve, in a manner of speaking.

It seems to me, the more people try to foist their religion on the surrounding community, the more they come off as pretentious poseurs, turning off any who are unsure about their own faith.

Also, the quest to prove that one is holier than everyone else forces believers to go to outrageous lengths to prove their own excessive devotion, whether its through self-flagellation, mass murder, or even bathing in the shit of one's equally over-zealous brethren.

So I guess the moral is keep your false piety to yourself and be reasonable, otherwise, you'll be insufferable for the rest of your short-ass life.

If you know me, you likely know where I stand on matters of faith. If you don't, its really none of your business, is it? The fact is, people acting as if they know what God (or whatever) wants and parading that feigned holiness in front of others cause inquisitions and crusades . . . if the tapeworms don't get them first.

I guess I should say that if you really believe you know what God wants, by all means, go live in the desert and do what the Essenes did, just leave me out of it. In 40 years, I'll be glad to bulldoze over what's left of your settlement; especially where the soil "look[s] different."