Know your place?

I got talking about religion with a co-worker today, because I wear a Saint Christopher's cross around my neck, which I have not taken off in almost a year. According to the Catholic religion he is the "Patron Saint of Travelling". I was given the cross before I left last year to go travelling, and have since given one to my best friend (she was raised Catholic and is currently travelling Asia). Probably not the best idea in a town dubbed the "Little Vatican". I am not Catholic, nor will I ever be. Nothing against the religion or those who are a part of it, it's just not my cup of tea. I was raised in a family that is made up mainly of devout Hindus. My mother on the other hand raised me as a Pentecostal. Confused yet? Sometime after my family began immigrating to Canada and the U.S., members of my extended family decided that they would just pick and choose what they wanted to be. Many remained devoted to Hinduism, others strayed. My mother was one of the latter.

We didn't go to church often, but when we did I had evry mixed feelings about it. For the longest time I felt like an imposter in the church. I felt like everyone could tell that I didn't know the words to all of the songs, or that I felt uneasy in the prescense of such powerful believers. For awhile we stopped going, and when we started back again, something had changed. The new pastor at our church was funny, made everyone feel at ease... and I had grown up a bit. I saw the church differently and was less worried about how I was being perceived. I was a lot more focused on the reasons that I was there, and what I wanted to get out of it.

I realized that my beliefs were loosely based on a number of different religions, and that I didn't have to identify with one specific church in order to believe in something. When asked, I still say that I am Pentecostal, its what I'm familiar with, but I have my own beliefs and accept the fact that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs.

The problem that I am faced with, is that my own beliefs are a melting pot of different religions, and many people do not accept that someone can believe in "part" of their religion and "parts" of others. Most think that you pick one and you stick with it. The thing is, that thats not what I believe. I wear my Saint Christopher's Cross and truly believe that I am safer in my travels with it around my neck. I also believe in Jesus and pray to him. I also believe in reincarnation and that everyone gets a second chance. I also believe that there is a higher power that created us, who or what it is, I'm unsure. Does that make me a bad person? If I am not Catholic, but someone who is gives me a gift from their church and I wear it, does that make me a bad person? Does it make them a traitor to their own religion?

Who decides these things?