We All Have Faith

We all have faith. We can’t help but have faith. There is just too much that we do not know. Into the gap of what we do not know we pour faith. The best we can do is observe the world around us, in all of its wonder and glory, evil and catastrophe, love and comfort, and come to our best conclusions of how we think it all works, why we are here, who or what started it or if it ever had a beginning and whether it will ever end and, if so, how and by whom. This is faith.

The scientist has faith. The priest has faith. The atheist has faith. The Buddhist, the Christian and the Jew has faith. So does the youngest child and the most elderly among us.

I have faith.

I do not want to be marginalized or punished or abused because of my faith.

I want the right to live my life according to my faith limited only in that the practice of my faith should not harm anyone else or deprive them of their right to their faith.

It is my wish that I could pledge my loyalty to the principles of my country, that I could use the currency of my country, that I could promise to be truthful in court and on legal documents without having to disavow my faith and promote another’s.