Sincere spirituality defies being labelled

Proud member of the spiritual left. Yep, that's me. I realized that I had to come up with some sort of short, slogany tagline in order to know my place in this fast-paced, pre-packaged, polarized world. If it isn't attention-grabbing and easy to grasp, it is hard to rally behind. Worse than that, you don't fit into any of their categories:

Married to a guy in the Navy, currently a stay-at-home mom, isn't afraid of guns â€" must be Republican. But wait, she supports abortion rights and can't stop talking about gay marriage, must be a Democrat. Then again, she is from the South and loves barbecue . . . she could be one of them Dixiecrats! I can just see the political profilers now, trying their best to put me in a slot, failing, and ceding me to the other side. That is how it is in winner-takes-all politics, right?

And speaking of the right, I have to say they certainly have done a good job of appropriating all things religious in nature. God is on "our" side, says Pat Robertson. Supporters of President Bush claimed a "moral victory" in last year's election. And Texas Gov. Rick Perry uses churches for backdrops of his bill signings, and why shouldn't he? According to him, God doesn't care for same-sex marriage or equal rights for women. Does all this mean that God is really a Republican?

I think not. For many reasons in general and one in particular. The first being that God doesn't pick sides. He doesn't just bless the U.S.A. he blesses the whole world.

I have a family that comes first in my life, even though I do have career aspirations. I am trying to teach my son the ways of Christ (even though, at 15 months old, the virtue of sharing is hardly taking hold). We go to church and we recycle. But the fact that I support a woman's right to terminate an unintended, unwanted or unhealthy pregnancy relegates me to hell? I don't see it.

See, I think it is more important about how we treat people when they are alive. Meaning, it doesn't get you any closer to heaven to be stridently anti-abortion if you haven't done anything to help the millions of abandoned children who are already here. If you are pro-life then help the living â€" adopt, donate, foster a child, teach sex education.

People who have those yellow ribbons on their cars are no more righteous than those who don't support the war (the war, not the troops everyone supports the troops), especially if they bought those bumper stickers in Walgreen's and haven't done anything else to support our military personnel.

To me, supporting the troops has more to do with sending care packages to them and making sure they have the equipment they need to complete the mission than slapping a bumper sticker on your car. If it were up to me, those yellow ribbons would cost $10 each and the money would go into a fund for the families of deployed military personnel. That is my interpretation of being a moral person, helping the next guy.

A couple of days ago the mail lady asked me to call her supervisor and tell her she was running late. She said she had asked the man down the street, but he said he could not because he was on his way to church. That logic astounds me, but it is exactly the thinking that rules the so-called moral majority right now. They cannot see the forest for the trees. Wouldn't it be better to actually help someone than be at choir practice on time? Did the man think the Almighty would punish him for being late for helping someone? Would Jesus have ignored the lame man to get to the next hut on time?

I think my mom put it best when she told me it was much more important to become a spiritual being rather than a religious person. Spirituality is not dictated by political rhetoric or the church structure. It comes from a personal relationship with a higher power that makes you feel joyful inside and happy to be alive to do what you can to help other people. It isn't Republican (or Democrat) and it certainly isn't served by swathing yourself in religious symbols and being self-righteous.

Contributed by:~Vivian Greentree

First published in The Atlanta Journal and Constititution

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