How True Was My Freedom To Choose?

Of course one of the first things I chose to question was my freedom of religion. I was taught that the reason the first people came over from england was for freedom of religion. Now when I think of freedom of religion, true freedom of religion, I imagine someone actually educating me on religion first. Someone teaches me about all the different forms of Christianity, someone teaching me about Judaism, someone educating me about the Muslim faith, teaching me Buddhism, and Hinduism, and atheism and every other religion. Then letting me go about to choose the religion that I felt was right for me. That is True Freedom of Religion. But that is not what really goes on in this country! It seems that some form of Christianity is pushed on us from the beginning. For me it started with Christmas!
As a child first becoming aware of the world, of course I wanted to know everything about the magical day when I was given gift after gift from Santa Claus for being on the nice list. As I inquired more and more about Christmas, it eventually led to the stories of Jesus, yet it seemed that his true words were downplayed, and his “miracles” were gloriously overstated. The next thing you know, I’m sitting in church and it’s being drilled into my head that it’s a mortal sin, a breaking of one of the holy commandments, to believe in another god or religion, for god is a jealous god. By the time I went out and learned that there are other religions, they didn’t stand a chance, because to show interest in one or all of them is a sin! My choice was chosen for me before I had a chance to view my options. If a child growing up in the hills of China is raised as a Buddhist all his life and never hears of Christianity (Yes It’s Possible, the world does not revolve around Christianity), is this child condemned to hell through no fault of his own? What kind of religion would consider this child a sinner? I thought the basis for all religion was Love!
Now ask yourself, did you really have True Freedom of Religion, or did you just follow along with what your parents taught you? If you have children, are you offering them True Freedom of Religion, or are you making the same mistakes passed down from generation to generation? If you think I’m attacking your religion, I’m not, I’m attacking mine! If you have strong confidence in your faith, no attack will ever make you waver from it, and no education or enlightenment can make you falter. Only those who feel insecure with religion, those who have reasonable doubts with what they have been taught, who have had faith pushed on them instead of finding it naturally; these people are easily offended because there is no backbone to their belief, so differing beliefs and opinions seem to challenge them.
I feel that the religion I was taught did me more harm than good, so I let it go! I let go of organized religion completely, and it wasn’t until I did that I felt completely free! I’m able to educate myself about religion and see where they are alike and where they are different. I’m able to take enlightenment and not feel threatened by a different way. I can choose to leave the bad and take only what applies to me, in my life. I’m a little bit Christian, a little bit Buddhist, a little bit Muslim, a little bit of a heathen, and a whole lot human! Regardless of what religion you practice, it’s that last thing, being human, which connects us all. Before we’re Christian, before we’re Buddhist, before we’re Muslim, before we’re Hindu, before we learn anything, We Are Human Beings First, and we are all as one!