Religion, or why I don't vote Republican

Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against the idea of Religion, per se. Everyone has a construct of their own making that they need to make the world around them make sense. Some people have science and logic. Others need some faith in a higher power, whether it is Christianity, Wicca, Islam, Hinduism, Taoism, or even people who want to be Jedi.

What I have a problem with are the "religious" people who feel the need to force their religion down everyone around them's throat. Crazy guy spouting off in a college campus's free speech area, this means you. People who walk up to me and ask me if I've been saved, this means you too. Religious nutjobs who want to make laws based on what God wants them to do, this DEFINITELY means you!

The Republican party has been held hostage for years by the religious wing of their party, people who want to turn their religious views into legislation affecting all Americans. There are two problems with that. First, you lose any kind of moral high ground when you get caught doing the SAME DAMN THINGS YOU SAY YOU'RE AGAINST! I don't have to name names. You all know who's been naughty these last few years.

Second, not everyone in the country shares your view of the world. By legislating your faith, you're inflicting your faith on them, which is NOT what any religion wants you to do. The idea of forcing someone to practice your faith is the exact opposite of what Jesus would have wanted, and if you're saying otherwise, you're a fool.

Now there are some Republican ideals I can get behind. Fiscal discipline being highest on the list. But here's the thing. You can have a debate with a fiscal conservative, and keep things civil, while still trying to change their minds. But with a social conservative, if you try to change their mind, you're questioning their faith, and you get the bitterness you see in Congress today.

Give me a Republican party without the social conservatives, and I would likely vote for them. Because there are plenty of things about the Democrats that piss me off too. But I won't vote for a party that believes in making laws based on what their interpretation of God's will