Lately I have been thinking about God.

Hopefully this will not offend too many readers when I say I don’t believe in organized religion in any way. It is too often used to Other people. To say, “This is what I believe, and people who don’t believe that are Simply Wrong.” To feel the need to exterminate other points of view, other ideas about how the world works, other ways of worshipping, just because your own faith is too fragile to stand up to questioning, too dogmatic to allow for change.

I went to church as a child (the United Church, which is a Canadian Protestant church that is about as liberal and open minded as you can get), but I stopped going as a teenager. As a woman of science, I sometimes marvel at the magical way the world works, the almost incredible synergy of life on this planet. But I haven’t believed in one all-powerful being controlling my fate or having all the answers to the past, present, and future, in a long time.

Here is what I believe.

I believe we’re all in this together. I believe every person is doing the best they can with what they have and what they know. I believe most people will choose good over evil if it is at all possible. I believe in being as generous as possible with people’s motivations, to try to understand other points of view, to be kind when people are, as humans often are, tense or sad or hungry or afraid or mistaken.

I believe in sharing what we have so that every person can have a basic standard of living. I pay my taxes and I would pay more if asked. I would give up luxuries I am able to enjoy like vacations and The Really Good Cheese and my massive BTS DVD collection if it meant others could have food or clean water or shelter. I believe there will always be some people who try to “work the system” to get more than what they deserve, and I think the majority of people who do this are on the rich end of the system, not the poor end. I think the risk of being exploited sometimes, by some people, in order to help the majority, is worth it.

I believe maximum access to education, books, reading, and history is critical to make sure this world keeps turning and improving. I have (wavering) faith that somehow, the younger generations who grew up with the internet will find a way to separate truth from lies, and act in a way that embraces, rather than shuts out. I believe that elevating women to positions of power is a benchmark for how peaceful and enlightened a society is.

I believe that people who are struggling with drug addiction and homelessness do not choose this as a lifestyle. I believe they deserve whatever support we can offer while they figure out their lives, whether that is injection sites or shelters or access to mental health support when the police intervene. I believe in gun control. I believe that if I hear just one more goddamn time about a school shooting in the United States, where it is easier to deal with your anger and hatred and despair by buying a gun than it is to get access to mental health care, I might start screaming and never stop.

This should go without saying, but I believe that any two people (or three, or four, if it comes to that) can love each other, and be each other’s Person, and trust each other to share the difficult and beautiful journey that is parenthood, and it doesn’t have anything to do with their body’s physical parts. I believe that labels can come in handy for learning who you are and finding people who are like you, but that they can often be restrictive. I believe that even if we take the binary boxes of “man,” “woman,” “straight” and “gay”, and add a hundred more boxes in between, it’s still separating us into segments, and people don’t work that way. Humanity is a rainbow, is what I’m saying, and it would be good to embrace that not just in society, but in ourselves as well.

I believe true love and unquestionable trust are one and the same. I believe I have found that with a surprisingly high number of people in my life. I believe I am lucky to live in this wonderful, flawed, delightful world and I hope to be here for as long as I possibly can.