Column 2 Final Draft

Faith: Losing its grasp on society

And the Lord said unto thee, “Keep holy the Sabbath Day.”

Ok, so really it was just something that a guy carve into stone after he consumed too much wine and talked to a plant on fire, but regardless of what I believe to be true, here we sit thousands of years later, and millions of people are still pouring out their hearts and breaking their piggy banks in hopes of being saved on a Sunday.

Since further back than I care to remember, Sunday mornings to me always meant staring at an old man's ever-expanding bald spot or being repeatedly elbowed in the ribs by my mother in a desperate attempt to keep me awake, because God-forbid I fall asleep in our Lord's house whilst being regaled by stories of his greatness.

I grew up a child of conservative, god-fearing parents who never missed mass. I was put through the private and somewhat elitist catholic school system from kindergarten until graduation, and all throughout my childhood and into my teenage years, my mother would warn me about the dangers of lying, cheating, swearing and sex.

“Jesus is always watching,” she’d say…scare tactics.

I went through the motions that every child goes through when they are put through catholic school for the entirety of their lives to the point of high school graduation, which was basically church, prayers, recess, confession, food, prayers, sleep and repeat.

About the time I walked onto the hardwood basketball court of the Kearney Catholic gym amidst a sea of camera flashes and up on stage to receive my high school diploma, I was seriously questioning the possibility of God, I mean, really, did one man just snap his fingers and here we are?

According to a new report by the respected Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, I am not alone in my agnostisized lifestyle. The report, entitled “Study: Young adults less affiliated with religion”, stated that more than 25 percent of Americans age 18 to 29 have no religious preference or affiliation, and fewer than one in five regularly attend services.

This makes my generation the least religious generation among Americans alive today. The report went on to state that only 53 percent of young adults were certain God exists, compared to 71 percent of the oldest group questioned.

With startling numbers like these, it should have come as no surprise to my parents the day I denounced my faith, citing that God was simply an idea put into our heads by a mass collective of pimps who whore out his name, speaking it louder than ever just about the time the collection plates come around for donations.

To me it has always been a cost game. I look at finding a religion the same way I would look at joining a gym. They are all pushing the same product, but it all comes down to who makes the best pitch, and which membership is the cheapest to acquire.

Nowadays, when it comes to the question of my religion, I like to quote Albert Einstein, for I think he said it better than anyone else ever could when he stated, “True religion is real living; living with all one's soul, with all one's goodness and righteousness.”

Now those are some words I can have some definite faith in and follow with the whole of my heart.