I was born and raised as a Roman Catholic but when I turned the age of 15 I decided that I no longer wanted to attend my local church. I felt that I was being forced into going but more importantly I felt that I was being told what to believe rather than being taught about the religion.

That is why I no longer go to church or care much hear about the spiritual side of it. I’ve had discussions with many people about their beliefs and have decided that I can no longer have these because most are people who believe in their religion to the point they can’t discuss it without getting mad.

I am very interested in religions, for a strictly educational and historical purpose, but it’s so hard to find people to discuss this with. Too many people believe in their religion without knowing what it’s about and where it started. The words of the Christian Bible cannot be interpreted literally because they were written in a language that was not English and so much of the meaning was lost in the many translations over the years . You must also realize that every language has slang and phrases that cannot be interpreted directly into any other language thus one saying may not have actually meant what it appears to mean.

This is very frustrating for me because people are unwilling to believe this. People think that because a priest (or whatever your religious person is called) says something is one way that it must be that way and it cannot be argued. This is such as horrible way of thinking.

It is OK to believe what you want to believe and to live this way in the privacy of your own home is fine and dandy but please to impose it on others. Just because you believe that Jesus saved us does not mean that everyone does. Don’t forget there are many other religions out there that believe in other things and you are in no position to tell them they are wrong.

It really annoys me when I see a Jehovah’s witness walk up to the door and ring the bell. I want to open the door and scream at them because they are trying to impose their beliefs on me. When I do tell them to leave they try and rebuttal they just make themselves look stupid.

I also don’t agree with anyone saying they have to do things a certain way because of their religion. One example is people who want to wear turbans while on the police force. All of the major police forces have their own uniforms that are religion independent and if you can’t respect that then go find another profession. I have no problem with diversity in any workplace, I even feel it’s a good thing, but people who belong to this diverse group should respect the organization they work for.

Again, I want to make it clear that I am not a racist nor am I against choice of religion I just think that it should be done in the comfort of your home or place of worship. Don’t force it upon other people.

As most of you know, one of the big stories of the 2008 stock market crash is the trouble that the big three automakers have gotten themselves into and what the Canadian and America governments are going to do about it.

In my opinion they should let them sink or swim. I’ve never been a fan of government supported industries that suck up tax dollars just because the government can’t let go. What is the point in subsidizing or supporting a part of an industry that is failing anyway?

The auto industry is far from dead but this day and age people aren’t buying the gas guzzling creations of these automakers anymore. The more environmentally conscious generation of today is looking for efficient vehicles that are easy on gas. We now see the popularity of the Tesla electric cars and the gas-electric hybrids overtaking the once dominant four door luxury cars (i.e. Lincoln Town Car) and the 4×4 extended cab trucks.

I understand that the government wants to help preserve the jobs of these thousands of people but wouldn’t the money be better spent on a retraining package for these people? It seems to me that the money should be placed into a fund that helps former workers of this manufacturing industry find education that will take them into an area where there is more stability.

There are automakers that flourish in this day and age. Take a look and Honda and Toyota, for example. You never hear anything about their problems and, in fact, Honda has recently expanded operations in North America because of the void created by the “BIG 3” being unable to accommodate what their customers are asking for.

I am a big fan of letting the market determine what it wants and what will survive. It’s not the government’s responsibility to make sure that products keep being produced even if there is no demand. The only reason they are interested in helping this particular industry is because the unions are hollering. I’m not sure that the unions should dictate what the government does either.

Maybe some of these soon to be layed-off workers could be easily retrained to work in plants of competing companies such as the previously mentioned Honda and Toyota.

I’m afraid, even if our governments spend tons of money bailing out these companies, they will try to continue business as usual without the necessary changes to become self sufficient. We don’t need these companies mooching of the government for the next 20 years because they aren’t capable of making it on their own. That’s where a free market system is good, it weeds out the weak and rewards the strong.

In case you don’t know, the “BIG 3” are considered to be GM, Ford, and Chrysler. They are the three biggest and most powerful automakers in North American, not to mention they employ hundreds of thousands of people.