I've held out as long as I could.

Now it's time to talk about religion. I'm not at all talking here about doctrine or what I believe really. I'm just talking about the topic in general.

Doesn't it seem like it has just become another social exercise in our society? Do you really meet lots of people who are actively moved by what they believe? I'd say it's a rarity in my experience. Why do we care more about our Easter Sunday dresses than the worship itself?

Does everything we do have to be so superficial? Why do we care so much about what others think? The irony about letting others' opinions stifle our religious beliefs is that it really goes against everything true religion teaches us.

True religion is passionate and denies self. It frees us by allowing us to serve something higher than ourselves. It shows us that in the scheme of things, what people think is really unimportant in relation to doing right. Suffer persecution now and reign victorious later.

If all these things are true, why do so few people have the passion they need to do the right thing, regardless of what the guy next to them thinks?

I really don't know the answer. But I can speak for myself and say that in the times I've cowered it has been mainly for one of two reasons. (1) I didn't believe strongly enough to follow through, regardless of consequences. (2) I didn't want to do the right thing. I analyzed my choices and purposefully chose to do wrong.

Admitting that makes me uncomfortable but I think it's true of most of us at one time or another. How can we fix it? My only answer is to surround yourself in what matters most and it will become your greatest motivator.