Religious vs. Irreligious

Disclaimer: I am an agnostic. I am not forcing my beliefs down your throat in this post. I have no problem with humanity and the various gods they worship. You believe what you believe, I believe what I believe. I am simply talking about a situation in which I was offended by someone and their religious beliefs because they do not accept the fact that I have the same beliefs that they do.

My boyfriend and him roommate, Tiny, rent a townhouse. They have allowed Tiny's brother, Zach, to live with them temporarily. I have no clue how long temporary is because he's been here since November. Zach is religious. I'm not sure what religion, but he has a lot of the basic beliefs, and some that I believe are extremes to the basic, but I could always be wrong. He believes in no sex before marriage. He also believes masturbation is wrong, he won't look at porn, he won't go to a strip club; nothing sexual. He refers to himself as the "Son of God". He believes in the Armageddon (he is, as we speak, watching a documentary about it and how people who believe they will survive it are stupid, and for that reason will not survive; however, because he doesn't believe he will survive, this will allow him to survive). He thinks cats are the devils pet (Cory and I have two).

He has a couple other things that make him a little different. He's easily 6' 9" and awkwardly proportioned. He listens to Irish classical music. And, my personal favorite even though it annoys the shit out of me when he does it to me, is he will talk like Dobby from "Harry Potter" for hours on end in normal, everyday conversation.

Now, I accept all of this. When he does something that's more religious than not, I simply turn the other cheek and not let it bother me. Until today. Today, I was called a whore by this "Son of God".

The way I see it is, if God/god is really going to send me to hell/purgatory/any other hell-like place, then he's going to send me. If I want to participate in whatever sacrilegious movement, then I can and I will face the consequences at judgment day. What gives you (in this case, Zach) the right to judge me because I can care less that I have sex before marriage? I understand that he doesn't agree with it, but you know what, I don't shove it in his face. It's not like we had sex on his bed, or the stairs, or the living room, or any other public place where he has to walk, sit, live in, etc. We had it in Cory's bedroom. We were not loud about it. There wasn't screaming and sex toys and the whole dominatrix thing going on. It was making love, which my parents have always told me is a very beautiful thing and it is even more beautiful when you really REALLY are in love.

Now he didn't say it flat out to my face, which actually kind of annoys me more. If you think I'm a whore or anything else, I'd really rather you tell me to my face because when you say it behind my back, nothing is accomplished. He said it under his breath while I was leaving. He asked me if Cory was here and I told him he was already at work, which was when he mumbled under his breath, "Then why are you here, whore?" The same could be asked of him, minus the whore. He has a job, he can get his own apartment. Or even, his dad lives here, and his dad is more religious than anyone in this house and his beliefs would probably be more respected there. But simply put, he is here for the same reason I am. Tiny said Zach could stay here; Cory said I could stay here. Zach doesn't pay rent here, neither do I. I at least make food for the household.

I counterbalanced Zach's remark that he thought was silent with, "Because I have a key," and left to do my grocery shopping. Simply put, I understand people out there have different beliefs than I do. There are even people that have the same beliefs but are slightly altered. I don't care. I'm not going to base my opinion of you off of that, and I'm not going to change you to make another me. But do not try and make me another you.