Elliot Hilden, managing editor

When it comes to religion, I can’t be bothered to care. Sure, I was raised Lutheran, but due to a complicated series of events that I don’t have enough word count to get into, I’m not anymore. It’s not that I don’t believe there is a higher power, it’s that I don’t care. This isn’t to say I hate all religion and think it shouldn’t exist. Hell, I chose to come to a religiously-affiliated university. If you find comfort and peace in it, that is wonderful. In fact, in another life I was probably the most religious person you know. I just can’t stand religious people who feel the need to make it everyone’s problem. 

I think that for me, the problem comes mainly from unprompted religious comments. In compliance with Augsburg’s graduation requirements, I’m in a religion course right now. Throughout the course, I have never felt that the curriculum or professor were making any attempts to push one religion over another. Unfortunately for me, there are loudly religious people in my religion course. Just yesterday, during a completely normal conversation, I heard one student tell another that God was “looking out for them,” because he had not received a parking ticket. It became uniquely ironic to me when this occurred just after another student had to leave class because their car was being towed. Was God not looking out for the other student? Was He just having an off day? Either way, no one asked you to be the messenger of who gets God’s blessings every day. 

I’m also so tired of the “holier than thou” attitudes I have to deal with. You are not morally superior for believing in a higher power. In some cases, religious people use being religious as an excuse to be LESS moral than non-believers. In my humble opinion, anyone who uses religion to be a piece of shit is the worst kind of person. I cannot speak on other religions, but having grown up Christian, my understanding of the Bible was one of love and caring for others, so to see people twist it into a bigoted vessel of hatred is deeply disheartening. 

All this to say, you don’t need to disavow religion to be a good person. There are plenty of teachings within religion that are lovely, and you are allowed to believe in something bigger than yourself. I just think it is important to recognize your audience.

Not everyone finds comfort in being told that they are blessed or that God is looking out for them. A good rule of thumb is that if you don’t know that someone would react positively to it, just don’t say it. I don’t need you telling me that God is looking out for me. I’ll look out for myself, thanks.