It’s sad to think the one thing that can save someone can also be the death of them. Religion has brought power and restored faith to many in desperation and need but has also been the catalyst to persecution, judgments and intolerance to those who don’t conform.

Just this past week, I had local candidates stress a message of God and country before Election Day. I was plagued with a fear of traveling via airplane from Washington, D.C., due to explosives hitching a ride in route to Jewish synagogues. I was also confronted in the free speech zone in McCullough Plaza by an evangelist group to open my eyes and strive for a more righteous path to reserve my seat in heaven.

I am cradle Catholic, meaning I was born into the Roman Catholic faith and stamped as a member shortly after birth. Holy water and oil was sprinkled over my forehead, and I was in.

I also had the legacy card because both my parents were Catholics. For 12 years, I received a Catholic education of reading Biblical stories and writing about how they applied to life.

After 12 years, I cannot recite a single verse of the Bible. What I took with me was my interpretation of the Bible. My interpretation resulted from a foundation of metaphors coupled with messages, such as love thy neighbor. For me, this meant strive for equality, which is ranked pretty high in “Leah’s Book of Morals.”

Compassion, sympathy and empathy for me meant staying objective and listening to others and understanding everyone has their own voice, and hate is a product of the close-minded.

I think interpretations are vital to understanding religion.

For the fundamentalist interpretation, for instance, the evangelist group that was on campus on Nov. 4, recited Biblical passages while pointing at a homosexual couple that was exchanging affection on the bench in McCullough Plaza and said, “You’re going to hell.”

For the moderate and fashionable Sunday-worshipper interpretation, they might value attending Sunday service as part of a group. They might feel writing checks to the church and dropping a coin in the poor box on Sunday will book them a first-class ticket to heaven with their constituents while styling their Sunday best.

I used to work at a local gas station as a second job on the weekends. I always dreaded Sundays and not just because of my shifts from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. The gas station was sandwiched between two churches, and, on Sunday mornings, people would come in with their suits and dresses and tap their feet, check their watch and sigh while in line. I even had someone throw change at me one time while rushing out the door.

Shouldn’t religious curriculum extend beyond the chapel?

For the atheist interpretation, they might fear the shepherd, or they might fear the sheep, but, for many atheists the belief is in humankind and equality and treating others with respect can stem from people and not the supernatural.

My best friend would be a great example of this. She is not a member of a church, and she does not wake up early on Sunday to attend a religious mass.

She finds peace and love from her husband and family and is the first one to lend an ear and grab a beer when needed.

I think having faith is extremely important, whether it comes from each other or a deity. It provides an outlet for hope when times are tough, but religion has managed to yield a very powerful role within the government and drive a wedge between humanity and equality.

By LEAH TATE

Profiles Editor

lmtate@umail.edu