For the past month I've been left on my own a lot more than usual. My roommate was gone for a couple weeks, with Ramadan I didn't visit as many of my friends, and my lessons were cancelled. So, I've found myself with plenty of time to process and think. And after scanning some posts on Facebook, I suddenly found myself thinking how interesting it is to live in a country that does not deny God exists.
I really had to stop and consider that for awhile.
I think it came from reading a post online where someone was mockingly questioning the existence of God. It was intelligently written, but the words just struck hollow to me-- as if the person was incredibly proud of their witty turn of phrase, pleased with having made jabs at the stupidity of faith -- and the replies came defensive and passionate taking the general bitterness of the first commenter as a personal affront. Faith became a sparring ground to be argued over, analyzed, judged, prosecuted, and defended. And I wonder in these kinds of conversations how much listening actually takes place. It seems more of a forum to shove ideas at one another without taking the time to consider, to ponder. Is that really the way to treat the core beliefs of a person on either side?
Whereas here, faith is ingrained into the way of life and important enough to die for. My friend was astonished when I told her that there are many people in America who don't have a religion. (This is partially from the mistaken idea found here that America is Christian... and I wonder: can any one nation really make that audacious claim?) The spiritual element of life is not denied and taken very seriously. Faith is so tied up in identity. It was revealing the day I discovered that because of my strong faith, though different from my friends, I was respected more and not less.
Ironic, isn't it? Especially considering what many people think of the region where I live, particularly on the issue of religion. There are dangers to both ways of treating faith of course, but that's impossible to avoid whenever considering something human originated. However, it does make interesting processing... To use a favorite word from my high school English teacher: I feel like letting these thoughts percolate for a little longer.
It's interesting the way that secularism not only flies in the face of any faith but will try to slap that face as well when it goes by. But maybe that is just a human reacting out of emotion or some sort of pain and not necessarily from the idea of secularism itself.
ReplyDeleteI imagine it could be and sometimes is a lot easier to relate to people there because of their inherent faith, despite it being different.
Well, secularism is an idea originated from people and no matter how objective we try to be, everyone's opinions are influenced by experience and emotions. And yes, it can be easier and sometimes a relief, to relate with a common ground of belief in God.
DeleteHowever, I guess the difference I was more reacting to was the attitude with which we treat faith. In America we take for granted our right to believe what we wish and we tend to push that right at others, getting defensive or bitter when someone disagrees or tries to "infringe" upon that right. Whereas here, the tendency is to take for granted that there is faith and strong faith is good. When differences or arguments arise, it comes down more to a question of whether what you believe is right or wrong, rather than an exercise in establishing an impossible right to a belief without criticism. It's not necessarily better, just a different approach.