Why Can't We Be Friends?

A girl I know told this story the other day:

There was a guy who had been following me around for days. I tried to gently let him know that I was not interested in him, but he didn't seem to get the message. (NOTE: How often has this happened to you? I never know whether to admire the guy for his persistence or curse him for his density.) Finally, I got tired of trying to avoid him, so I told him, "Look, I can't go out with you. I'm a hermaphrodite." I thought for sure that would solve the problem, either because he'd be so disgusted by this (false) piece of information, or because he would realize that I was inventing something as a brush-off. But instead, he came right back with, "So? I'm a Catholic. What's religion got to do with it?"

While I laugh at this story, I have to agree with his question: What's religion got to do with it? Why do people have to argue so much about something that, when you get right down to it, is just a personal choice? You might as well wage war over whether someone wears skinny jeans or wears their hair long. There is no way to know, definitively, whether one religion is "right" or not, and when you think about it, most of the world's major religions have more commonalities than differences.

I realize that some people think they're doing a service by wanting to see a friend or loved one after death, or cleansing the world of "unbelievers," but really, is that your business? I don't know anyone who is so together that they have room to be fixing other people's lives (and if you do, don't tell me. It will only depress me). So how about this? Let's find some common ground with people - sit down over a cup of coffee, an ice cream cone, a chess game, an excellent haiku, a beautiful sunset...whatever. And agree to disagree on the rest. I'm not really interested in some "Resistance is futile" Borgian world where everyone thinks exactly alike, and I'd appreciate it if people could stop attacking (physically, verbally, etc.) those who don't believe exactly the same thing they do. So go forth, and love. Or at least don't hate.