First thing's first. Here's my disclaimer of bias: While I've never considered myself a "hardcore" liberal, I certainly lean toward that direction, especially when it comes to civil rights issues.

Now that we have that out of the way, my concern is not the people who are on the other end of the political spectrum and have more conservative beliefs than I do.

But some recent conversations with people I know have made me think about what really confuses and scares me: those who use their religions to justify their politics.

I think it's time for the second disclaimer: I was not raised religious. I've gone to church for funerals and weddings, and that's about it.

If I had to categorize myself, I'd use the term "agnostic," which Merriam-Webster Online defines as "a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and probably unknowable; broadly: one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god."

Once again, I have no problem with people who are religious. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, whatever. There have even been times in my life when I've wished I did have that kind of faith in something.

I just do not, and probably never will, understand how one can link his or her faith to political issues and laws that apply to everyone.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads in part: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." Our country was created based on the right for citizens to follow any religion.

You can believe what you want religiously, but if the government then bases laws on your beliefs, it is essentially legislating a religion. How is that fair, when so many people believe so many different religions, or no religion at all?

Religion is a tricky thing. I think a lot of people believe that their own religion is the so-called "right" or "true" one. I understand that if you have faith in one, you inherently reject all the others. But no one has proof either way that their religion is the right one.

Since I don't have the faith, it makes it very hard for me to understand how anyone could tell me that he or she is right and I'm wrong. You don't know. And neither do I.

The point is that not everyone should be forced to follow one person's or one religion's idea of "right," especially when there are so many gray areas.

For instance, one religion may teach that protecting the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman is right, while I think giving everyone an equal opportunity to love and marry, regardless of gender, is right.

Or, you may believe God creating the world, starting with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, is the right story of the origins of the world.

I, on the other hand, believe the right story is the one of humans and the world evolving over millions of years.

Religion as a basis for political views also makes it hard even to have a normal discussion about these issues. Even though I may disagree with your views, I'd still like to hear what you have to say and why you believe what you do.

But I've had conversations of this nature with friends who combine their religious and political beliefs, and the only explanation I really have gotten for why they harbor such views is that "it's in the Bible."

Well, I don't believe the Bible. What else you got? I need more to work with than that before I can even begin to try to see where you're coming from.

Like I said, I understand people believe different things. I even understand that what I think may not be "right," either. I just cannot for the life of me understand how laws can be based on religious beliefs and still be constitutional or fair.

Religion is a very personal thing for many people. For me, my non-religion is very personal. Regardless, we should keep it that way -- personal -- instead of imposing our own beliefs on others.