Enough is enough with the religious zeal and telling how people to live or not to live. It's not hard to understand why people from most foreign nations have an inherent disdain for the average American. We feel entitled to just about everything.

It's odd that we feel we are living in such economic down times right now because this moment, right now, is still about the opposite end of the spectrum from how many other people are living in other countries. We take things for granted every single day.

For instance, when I wake up every morning, I typically go through the same routine of getting out of my bed with freshly washed and crisp-feeling sheets, make my way out of my personal bedroom into my personal bathroom and turn on my personal shower to bathe. I then walk upstairs to find my cupboards full of food and a refrigerator stocked with sodas, deli meats and, of course, whipped cream.

We completely forget how lucky we are on a daily basis to just have these simple amenities. And even though some people may have it better than others living in America, countless others don't. Most people in nonindustrialized nations don't have power, running water, beds or, in many cases, a safe place to live. But yet we continue seizing more power over each other and exerting our religious beliefs in a manner that honestly is just unpinning to the true American.

A little history lesson so that we can set the record straight: Our country was not founded solely for religious freedoms like many religious fanatics would argue. The majority of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were not even religious types; they were agnostic, meaning they did not really believe in any specific deity or religion. However, they all had a mutual respect for one another and for each others beliefs, unlike us today.

So while it is nice to have the right to practice your beliefs without reprisal from the government itself, it is unfair to the innumerable others whose beliefs do not coincide with your own, and much less than that, do not accept bullying of the religious degree.

If law-abiding citizens want to buy alcohol on Sundays then so be it. I am about sick of hearing so much fuss that it will cause some sort of apocalypse. The world didn't end on May 21 as some religious nuts said it would. It probably won't end on Dec. 21, 2012, and I highly doubt it will end if such referendums were accepted by the majority of our citizens.

Peoples morals and principles should help guide this country into prosperity; not religious zealotry.

Steven Ellis
Gainesville