Religion: Forced Religion In The United States

Forced Religion
In the United States, there are so many people who follow several different religious beliefs. They pray to different gods and even eat different foods depending on the religion that they follow. Everyone is entitled to believe anything one wants to believe, and this is a right that everyone has in our country. The problem that surfaces with religion is when one thinks his or her religion is better than another’s and should be followed by everyone. It is great to think that everyone can follow whatever religion he or she wants, but in reality, who is given the choice to really choose? Whether it is by parents, friends, or even the missionaries who travel around neighborhoods, there is always someone trying to project his or
her religious views on others. This is why no one should try to force his or her religion on someone else. It is senseless to try to force someone to believe something without choosing for himself or herself; religious people should not morally force their beliefs on others.
One way that others try to force their religion on to people that is particularly annoying is by stopping them in public.
Just like a salesperson at a kiosk in the mall, these people will disrupt a conversation, or even just one’s path to state their religious views. This can upset people in many ways. Whether it be that a person just does not want to be bothered, or that they believe in another religion, it can be equally offensive in both situations. In my personal experience when someone does this to one of my friends or me, he or she is often greeted by rudeness. If they are going to be rude enough to interrupt me with something I have heard before and do not care to hear again, then I am going to be rude back. An example of one of these spiels these people use would be, “Excuse me. Have you been introduced to Jesus, and let god into your life?” This is an extremely offensive way to approach someone in public. I feel uncomfortable when this happens and often get aggravated at the lack of respect that is shown towards me. It is offensive that someone is trying to tell me that my religious views are wrong and I need to follow what they follow. My religious path is the right way for me, and no one should try to tell me
different.
Another way that one can force their religion on you is family.
I am fortunate enough to have parents who did not project any religion on to me and let me believe what I wanted to; however, ever since I was little my grandmother would buy me cross necklaces, and tell me short stories from the bible. Many people have family members that will do this subconsciously, but that does not make it right. As a little kid I believed in what I was taught by my grandmother, I did not have the ability to choose my own path until I was much older and away from her more. If someone is young they will follow what they are taught, and some follow this teaching blindly without ever really putting in effort to actually learn about what they are following. I believe if no one were forced to believe a religion, there would be a lot of people who would find out that they are not true believers of what they follow. In Salvation, by Langston Hughes, he is troubled by the fact that he cannot see Jesus at church when he is supposed to. His aunt cries and the whole church wait tentatively for Langston to be saved by sin. Finally, he rises and the church erupts with cheer. He then goes home to find he does not know what he did. “She woke up and told my uncle I was crying because the Holy Ghost had come into my life, and because I had seen Jesus. But I was really crying because I couldn’t bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everybody in the church, and I hadn’t seen Jesus, and that now
I didn’t believe there was a Jesus any more, since he didn’t come to help me”(181). This very quote shows the reason that most follow the religion that they do; because of the fear of disappointing others who believe that they should follow this religion. Langston Hughes really does not believe that he was “saved from sin”, but he still arose and went through the ceremony to satisfy those around him. Religion should not be like this, it should be something one can choose freely whether to follow or not without the criticism of anyone. One cannot choose what they believe, but rather are born with it, and it is an atrocity to make them think differently.
The opposition can state that by projecting their religious views on others they in turn save these people from traveling the wrong path. They believe that it is there job to correct others of their wrongs, so that they may seek salvation through the “right” religion. This could not be any worse of a decision. While here in America in might just be time taken out of our day, or disappointing our parents that result in choosing a different path, in other places the results are much worse. Religious wars have gone on for as long as religion has been around, and this is all because two different groups of people believe in a different religion. The holocaust happened because a group of people decided to be Jewish, and in result millions of them were killed. This is not right. No one should be able to tell another that their religious views are wrong, whether it be as extreme as killing them, or stopping them on the street to tell them, it is all wrong. Everyone deserves the freedom to believe whatever he or she want to believe and this is where the opposition runs dry. There is no other purpose they have other than trying to “save” others from going the wrong way, when in reality no one knows the right way for another person, only for themselves.
Morally, no religious person should force his or her beliefs on others. This does not mean that they too need to follow a religion to understand it, but only that they must allow others to do what they want, and have the freedom of choosing their own spiritual path. This would lead to less religious violence, and allow people to have more of an understanding of who they truly are, not just who they are told to be.

Works Cited
Hughes, Langston. “Salvation” 50 Essays, Ed. Samuel Cohen, 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2011. 2344-235. Print.