Jets & Sharks…

I was actually born into a Christian family, probably around the time that religion actually started to become less fashionable…

Despite being baptised by my parents, spending time as a choirboy (no jokes please) and seeing my father attend church every Sunday; I’ve never really held much truck with religion. That’s not to say I have a problem with ‘religion’ per se, it’s just I don’t see ‘belief’ or ‘faith’ as a group thing.

The (often) inherent drive to shove your belief into someone else’s face is abhorrent and has always appeared a little childish or immature to me? In many ways I can equate it to the other human trait where; people think religion necessitates membership of a ‘gang’. Where like-minded (often similarly dressed) people gather together in cloistered social groups and become hypocrites with a badge for their sleeve. Some even go so far as to actually believing they are superior to the followers of any other religion.

It’s a kind of gang culture. Something that most of middle England (the church goers) would spend all their time protesting and complaining about. This gang mentality is a human trait that was so aptly portrayed some years ago in Westside Story.

Dangerous stuff… That sort of trait or thought process and Raison d’être (when taken to extremes) formed the backbone of the Crusades, the Thirty Years War, the Nazi Party and The Holocaust. Many would say it was also the route cause of the Northern Ireland Troubles and today often promotes violence in the name of Jihad.

You don’t actually need to be in a gang and life doesn’t require you to own any particular brand of faith or belief. Just take the sound guidance about love, kindness, honesty, charity etc from most religions and try to apply them to your life.

Join my gang… What’s wrong with being content in knowing the fact you belong to the Decent Human Being gang? There’s no badge, no uniform and you don’t have to tell any one you’re a member… They will just know!