Being affiliated to a particular religious faction in the current day and age is no longer a simple matter of choice and preference. Bipartisanship and prejudice have abounded in religion. In particular, religions have in the recent decades become factions somewhat similar to those gangs where being affiliated to one means the other is an enemy. A straightforward example and illustration of this assertion is the animosity and religious war between Islam and Christianity, which have inadvertently resulted in the rise of terrorism and worst of all Jihadism through which some radical individuals commit acts of terror in the name of their religion (Islam). Nonetheless, consultation with the Islamic religious teachers and scholars evidences one simple fact that jihadism is not the way of Islam. Islam teaches peace, harmony, and forgiveness as an example set forth by the prophet Mohammed. No scripture in Quran evidences or supports terrorism in the name of Allah (God). As such, the paper aims to discuss and articulate why I do not affiliate with any religion and further what my beliefs are.
Indeed, the sentiments by scholars as mentioned above bear substantial weight and absolute truth to them. All religions, according to McSwain (2011), are primarily supposed to have the same objective; to know God or believe and have faith in a higher power than their own. In essence, the purpose of all religions is to reunite the soul with God. Raised in a Christian background, I understand these sentiments perfectly, and they all culminate in one overall Christian belief, salvation. While Christians refer to this uniting of the soul to God and achieving peace and wholeness salvation, Hindus call it Samadhi and Buddhists refer to it as nirvana. What this proves is that all religions at their core are supposed and meant to have the same purpose despite giving the goals different names and attached to different beliefs. Even individuals with atheistic beliefs long for awakening, wholeness, and self-fulfillment, which still have strong ties to religious purposes and objectives.
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Notably, love is at the center of all religions and non-theistic faiths. As such, it is hard to believe that while they converge in their beliefs and objectives, there exist a plethora of religious factions invariably at war. Perhaps this stray and divergence from the main purposes, objectives, and fundamental beliefs of religion are the reason why so many individuals are turning away from religious affiliations. Nonetheless, at the same time, while the turnover is high, the number of new affiliates thwarts that of individuals turning away from religious affiliation. Consequently, the conversion and new affiliations have been one of the central reasons for bolstered competitiveness and clash between religions. Again, I will go back to the earlier example of the rift between Islam and Christianity to elaborate on the above assertion.
Essentially, Christianity is the religion with the most affiliation. However, other religions, and in particular Islam have evidenced substantial growth over the years, and if the trend continues, it is set to surpass Christian following. This phenomenon has been one of the central and deep-seated reasons for the religious war between the two faiths. Seeing that their following is under threat, a faction of Christians has waged war against Islam to prevent it from amassing a more significant following. The sad truth as demonstrated by McSwain is that the political and social environment has provided a fertile ground for the war. This explains why America still maintains a military presence in the Middle East particularly spearheaded by ardent fundamentalist Christians from the American community. As McSwain explains, the mere rationale that military presence in the Middle East is to end terrorism is only a ploy to mask the real reason, to impede, defeat, or end Islam.
As such, the Church, Christianity, and religion as a theological concept have been dragged through the mud and in the process lost its focus. How then is one supposed to follow or affiliate himself to a religion if it has lost its moral compass and direction? The answer is simple if one is a religious fanatic who is adamant and fixed in his reasoning. I believe that is not who I am and explains the hesitation in affiliating myself with any religion. Despite my Christian background, throughout my learning and studies, I have followed and acquired my own beliefs from personal and social experiences. One of the most fundamental beliefs I have gleaned is the fact that one does not need to be affiliated to a particular religion, its practices, or faiths to do good or to be ethically upright. Buddhism is non-theistic, and they believe in love, peace, and acceptance; atheistic individuals, on the other hand, long for fulfillment and wholeness through personal beliefs that transcend their own.
Besides, I have learned that a simple act of caring does not make one a lesser person and treating everybody equally without discrimination does not require religious teaching. Fundamentally, equality and fairness were the main reasons why the forefathers fought for independence and drafted the constitution that emphasized the rights and equality of all individuals yet it is doubtful if they were religious individuals. In the current society, individuals’ rights and freedoms, which speak against discrimination by gender, religion, or ethnicity as provided by the Bill of Rights all evidence and advance caring and love yet there is no evidence of the drafters being affiliated to a particular religion. Moreover, I believe in a higher power than myself because I understand and concede that I am not self-sufficient spiritually and that all the intricacies of humanity and nature have to be attributed to a supreme being. In my case, the supreme power is God, a belief that I adopted from my Christian background. God remains a constant phenomenon across most religions and faiths where he is referred to by different names or as a different concept such as a “Force.”
Additionally, the reason why I do not affiliate to any religion is the fact that it has become an impediment to God and a burden to the follower. Instead of uniting people, religion has become the main reason for factions and disunity in the world with the differential endearing beliefs and dogmas where egos and bigotry flourish resulting in arguments and ultimately divergence. Rather than knowing God, religions are currently engrossed in knowing about God, which is not the same thing. Sadly, most churches within Christianity, for instance, are competing to see which among them achieves the status of the biggest and most famous church with many followers. In addition, some of the ministers, despite their studies in theology, do not have a true passion and calling in serving God and people but rather take ministering as a profession and religion as an industry with business profits. Perversion has compromised religions, and cases of Priests having personal and intimate relations with their followers are no longer news. Is it not alarming and baffling that within Christianity there are factions with diverging beliefs and dogmas? So now, rather than having one agenda of unity under the Christian banner, the people are divided, yet they preach from the same Bible and pray to the same God.
Conclusion
Amidst all the confusion within religion, there is hope; the hope of dissociating from all religions and following one’s true beliefs and ethics garnered through individual experience and background knowledge regarding religion. I hope that a time will come when an individual will not have to be castigated and discriminated for affiliating to a certain religion. I hope that one day individuals and religious leaders will awaken from this nightmare and respect all differences and learn to rejoice and celebrate the similarities as they endeavor in the shared purpose of religion. Only then will peace and unity prevail.
References
McSwain, S. (2011). The supreme purpose in all religions (and their shared failure), part 1. HuffPost . Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-mcswain/the-supreme-purpose-in-al_b_788920.html
