Sunday, like last year and every year before, churches were crawling with “Chreasters,” people who make it a point to attend church for Christmas and Easter but do not seem to have the time to attend the other 363 days a year.

As my family learned this year during our first Chicago Christmas, the line for mass at Holy Name Cathedral lasts for blocks around the holidays and tickets are even necessary for admittance.

The excuse for not attending is typically busy schedules and devotion to holiday attendance seems to excuse not only former absences, but restore consciences and clear “bad behavior” from the record.

Unlike the numerous hypocritical worship letters The Daily Eastern News has recently begun to receive, I will not claim to be someone I am not. For the past couple years (okay, more than a couple), I have been somewhat of a “Chreaster,” only attending church with my family when I am home.

However, I do not deny that fact any more than I use religion as a defense for my actions.

I fully acknowledge and respect every region and culture’s beliefs and customs, but I do not respect using those practices as a defense for bad behavior. Faith is not the source of irresponsibility, the person is.

Parents justifying subjecting their small children to the “scenes of graphic violence” of “The Passion of the Christ” for the sake of “religious education” is not a reasonable defense.

Is there no one better to look to for a spiritual awakening than Mel Gibson?

If you believe your child is mature and ready enough to view a film of such graphically violent content, though I and others may disagree with it, that is a logical explanation of permitting a child’s viewing. But to defend reasoning for a child to see it as a crucial part of Christian education is just ridiculous.

As a former Catholic school girl, I can honestly say the most daring or risque programming the class ever viewed as an educational tool was Davey and Goliath, a stop-motion animated children’s show with doll-like figures which focuses on uplifting moral lessons experienced by a boy and his talking dog.

There are other ways to educate; reading the Bible could be an alternative to “The Passion.” But that is too hard, right? After all, who has time, let alone the attention span, to read the Bible? By that same logic, television is an easier educational tool, therefore must be the best, and we can blame laziness on it being a necessity to our faith.

Another recent incident in the news where faith was claimed to be the blame of bad behavior took place just last week. A Texas woman claimed she beat her two children to death and third child badly with rocks because God told her to do so as a testament of faith.

She was found not guilty by reason of insanity and instead of facing a sentence of life in prison, will instead be sent to a state mental institution until the judge decides she is well enough to be released. Her blame on faith made an insanity case, which excused her from a death sentence, excused her from life in prison and provides her with a second chance to be free.

From the minute to the extreme cases, religion is making its way from our 14th Amendment protected freedom to not only a chore, but this thing often used to place blame on in the same respect the “get out of jail free” card is used in a game of Monopoly.

Religion is not always viewed as it may have been intended: a as guiding belief system which encourages humanitarianism.

It’s been marketed for awhile now from Jesus fish on automobiles to the movies now. Why spread the good word or message through actions, such as community service or simply by demonstrating respect toward others, when you can practice faith through the collection plate, a hood ornament or at the box office?

Society seems to be developing this preconceived notion we have to attend mass on a holiday, see a movie and if we do wrong, blame the belief system, not the believer. After all, a trip to church on Easter will cleanse the soul.