I think Jen Winberry's column, "Religion not justification for acts of violence, hate," March 24, was right on. The problem is that too many people conflate religion with God. This is how it is supposed to work: Religion is a path an individual can follow to reach a deeper personal relationship with the creator. Somehow "religion" is being used in a colloquial way to equate to a manifestation of rituals that represent "God's will" for how people should behave.

Too many people demonstrate too often their pride in ignorance these days. Harmony cannot exist with so many conflicting memes vying for attention. I think that the hardest thing to accept for most people is the fact that if you exist, God loves you. Unconditionally, unequivocally, period. But if you can accept that, then you have to treat yourself (and by extension, everyone else) as someone God loves. Someone who is personally, completely, totally loved by the creator of all existence. And since that is a very daunting task, too many people take the easy way out, and choose dismissal and hatred instead. At least that's what I see.