Rodriguez 1

Andres Rodriguez
English 115A
John Kubler
September 21, 2012
RELIGION=CONFLICT
We have come a long way from racism, sexism, religious affairs, discrimination against
sexual orientation, etc., yet we still come across people who resist change and have horrible
opinions on human relations. It is the 21st century and we have yet to change our opinions on
cultural differences. One of the biggest human relation conflicts that still goes on today is
religion. If one gets sucked into religion all that is really being done, in a way, is brainwashed.
Imagine how much more appreciative and peaceful we would be if religion was never a part of
this planet. I know for a fact that a good amount of wars would never have happened if religion
did not exist and I also know that if religion wasnt such a huge impact in this world we would
have definitely advanced much more in terms of technology. I strangely believe that John
Lennon, in the song Imagine, is being profound, optimistic, and realistic when he sings, And
no religion toLiving life in peace because religion has caused one too many atrocities.
Humans must learn to accept each other for who they are and set these differences aside. People
are influenced by religion and it leads them to think that they are the chosen ones.
Many people get caught up in religion and forget who they really are and become
ignorant in different situations, for example, in the Elane Photography Lawsuit Court Case (The
Elane Photography Lawsuit Court), in which a photographer arbitrarily refused to take pictures
. This is one of the many situations where religion should have been set aside. Although in the
case it said, Elane Photography argues that it would have taken portrait photographs and
performed other services for same-sex customers, so long as they did not request photographs
that involved or endorsed same-sex weddings. However, Elane Photographs owners testified

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that they would also have refused to take photos of same-sex couples in other contexts, including
photos of a couple holding hands or showing affection for each other(6) it still doesnt depict
how rude and disrespectful to the beliefs of the couple. As human beings we should always treat
each other with respect.
In some cases the government also gets involved in religion, which in a way conflicts
with each other. Back in the day when the British settled to the United States, they thought that it
was their God given right to take over the country or also known as the Manifest Destiny. I
honestly do not think God gave any of those guys to right to terrorize this country and
disgracefully abuse the Native American population. This is very similar to the book Persepolis
(Satrapi) when the British decided to have a soldier by the name of Reza, reign Persia. In both
cases religion was the bad guy.
Although there might be some cases in which some people use religion for good there is
always a downside to it. The only good side to religion is when someone does a holy action to
save someone else, but sometimes use religion to degrade someone. It irritates me when someone
or something is trying really hard to impose the religion on you. I would know because my mom
always tried to have me practice Catholicism and she succeeded. Im not completely against
religion, but if some of the beliefs were polished up, then maybe I would reconsider being
catholic. Many things led me away from being religious, but one of the main reasons was
because of proposition 8. Prop 8 was created by opponents of same sex marriage who wanted to
prevent that from being legal in the state of California. At that time I saw the church I used to
attend hang up posters and signs saying Yes on Prop 8 which meant that they wanted to ban
gay marriage in California. I never saw a religion so dedicated in having someone denied from

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their happiness and their freedom of expression. That was the day I started contemplating my
faith and religion. Since then, same sex marriage has been legalized in 18 other states and I am
more than happy for the people who are homosexual, but we still have some people who are
homophobic because their religion doesnt agree that it was Gods decision for them to be gay.
In another case very similar to the Elane Photography Case (The Elane Photography Lawsuit
Court), the Baronelle Stutzman Floral Shop Lawsuit (Walters) was sued because Stutzman did
not want to arrange flowers for a gay couple who had been a long time customer of hers.
In conclusion religion is just another factor of misconception. A lot of people look up to a
divine savior and abide by the churches laws, but in most cases these laws contradict themselves.
There is much more room for improvement in this world but we should set aside all
discrimination and religion. It is good to have religious freedom, but to impose on someone
should be forbidden. We all have different beliefs and we should respect that.

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Works Cited
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York: Patheon Books, 2003.
The Elane Photography Lawsuit Court. No. 33,687. THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW
MEXICO. 22 August 2013.
Walters, Bill. http://www.charismanews.com/us/41541-florist-sued-for-refusing-to-decorate-gaywedding-demands-end-to-attacks. 29 October 2013.