Born Already

The older I get, the more religious everyone else gets. Or maybe it's just a post-terrorist society. Or it's simply more apparent now that I have kids.

Or maybe, just maybe, it's a newfound fundamentalist propaganda campaign that is pummeling me from every square corner of the earth.

Whatever its origin, it's starting to bug me. I've officially pulled the kiddos out of their Nazarene preschool so I can send them to another nonsecular, apple pie version down the road---which, it turns out, boasts that it offers a "good Christian environment" in its ads.

Because Christian is better than say, not Christian.

And, lord help me if they get one more invitation to vacation bible school.

It's probably too late for them anyway, as one of their favorite sing-a-longs in the car is Jesus Loves Me.

But outside of the "get 'em while they're young" circuit, it's still creeping up on me. Every other blog I breeze through has a religious slant of some kind, and I feel totally ripped off. I was hoping for more cerebral stuff to entertain me. Sex, drugs and rock-n-roll, for instance.

My friends have even started going to church and synagogue more often (this could in fact be related to their previous degenerate lifestyles), and some of my favorite TV shows and movies are expending perfectly good energy on the topic.

My bottom line? Sorry, world. I don't need to be born again. It worked just fine the first time. And I don't need religion to be spiritual. I can appreciate the miracle of life by looking at my family or watching the clouds roll by just as well. Live says it perfectly:

I don't need no one to tell me about heaven
I look at my daughter and I believe
I don't need no proof when it comes to God and truth
I can see the sun set and I perceive

So enjoy and embrace your own thoughts on God. Count your blue cars and all. Just keep those private thoughts on the subject as just that. Private.