"What do you mean? Why don't you believe in the Truth?" a student asked a colleague of mine when she said she wasn't a Muslim. You get that a lot here-- people confused by others not believing in what to them is clearly the Truth. It's not specific to Islam. Many Christians I've met feel the same way. It's not hard to imagine those devoted to other faiths believing in the absolute truth of their religions either. I think a lot of people though, myself included, have a hard time with this. We find ourselves somewhat skeptical of "organized religions" and people who claim to know, without question, that the edicts passed down to them through holy scripture and religious leaders speak the infallible word of God or whatever higher power they happen to believe in. I guess you'd call us agnostic, at least to some degree. Many of us might consider ourselves to be spiritual. We might even attend church services regularly, but I think that for the most part we kind of pick and choose the truths that we are most able to relate to. We find our own truths in sermons and the allegory of religious texts, sometimes in more than one religion, and it might even be the areas where religions overlap and that enforce what we believe to define being a good person that we assign truth to. We don't take every word passed down to us as being the unquestionable truth. That's how I feel at least. I have no problem with faith, or religion, or with houses of worship. All can be beautiful ways to find peace and build community. It's the absoluteness of religion and doctrine that I have a hard time with. So let's try supposing I don't.
Without getting into the specifics of Islam, or any organized religion or ethos for that matter, it seems that most world religions are based on the teachings of one or a handful of enlightened individuals-- prophets let's say. While there have been many, quite seemingly contradicting prophets, to suppose that there have been some folks that happened to be more tuned in than the rest of us isn't all too difficult. The major monotheistic religions even share some of the same prophets like Moses and Jesus, and while assigning them different levels of importance, they still recognize the fact that these guys knew what was up. So the idea that the teachings of individuals who were more in touch with the truth of our world, the human experience, and maybe even much beyond both into the realm of the metaphysical isn't too much of a stretch for me. In the same vein, if we were inclined to believe in a singular God, a higher power, or an absolute truth, to suppose that that truth is accessible to us on Earth, or that that higher power has facilitated that access isn't too hard either. That He/She/It could have spoken through individuals, and even later through subsequent individuals it seems, then, very well could have happened as well. And if your willing to make even the smallest leap of faith, why not?
Then there are the acts that people take in the name of their religion fueled by the fact they consider it to be the absolute truth. I'm gonna leave out the actions of countries and armies as it is my belief that religion is often used as justification for the very earthly aim of conquering lands and peoples, but the actions of individuals can definitely be attributed to absolutist ideals. Converting others is something many people have undertaken in the name of the truth of their beliefs. Again, supposing that what they believe just so happens to be the truth, it's not hard to understand wanting to share that with others, especially if the recipient's eternal soul is on the line. I mean, geez, we should only be so lucky to be converted if that's the case.* The acts of murder and suicide on the part of true believers though, are just too hard for this particular blogger to try to understand, no matter how much of a leap I try to make. But suffice it to say that if they can be justified by some higher truth, maybe I don't want to be privy to it.
The hardest thing for me to suppose might be true is the idea that the messages of enlightened ones and prophets haven't been distorted and have been passed on, ruled upon, and interpreted correctly and in line with that same absolute truth by so many people down the line in the course of human history. At least part of human nature it seems is to wield power to one's own ends, and the power that would come with deciding how the reported teachings of probably the most influential people in history will be interpreted and passed on seems to be too tempting a possibility for the wickedly inclined to pass up. It's very possible that the reason the world's major religions are such powerful things is because they express some absolute truth, but the idea that people at some point with the influence to do so haven't distorted that power in their own interest remains to be my biggest objection to the absolutism of religion. The fact that there have been so many disagreements that so often have resulted in sectarianism and violence only furthers this reservation.
Still, at the end of the day there is a reason they call it 'faith' and not 'knowledge'. The leap of faith may come in believing that God or whom or whatever is facilitating the dissemination of truth has done so through so many people and generations, and that that truth has remained intact and pure ever since the prophets bestowed it upon the world. It may also come in believing enough to pass it on to others or to take the very biggest leap by putting yours or someone else's life on the line. But it's not a leap that's easy to make, for me, all things considered, especially when people are hurt or subjugated as a result. I'll take comfort in the fact though, that I can't blame people, not for the desire for truth, not for believing it's been given to them, and not for wanting to give it to others. I'll, however, continue to find it on my own, and hope that the truth that others find can be more along the lines of peace and togetherness as opposed to conflict and separation.
* An idea I've heard a lot here is that of "Reverting" as opposed to "Converting". It supposes that everyone is in fact born a Muslim, so if you go from being a non-Muslim to being one, you are actually coming back to your true religion.
Without getting into the specifics of Islam, or any organized religion or ethos for that matter, it seems that most world religions are based on the teachings of one or a handful of enlightened individuals-- prophets let's say. While there have been many, quite seemingly contradicting prophets, to suppose that there have been some folks that happened to be more tuned in than the rest of us isn't all too difficult. The major monotheistic religions even share some of the same prophets like Moses and Jesus, and while assigning them different levels of importance, they still recognize the fact that these guys knew what was up. So the idea that the teachings of individuals who were more in touch with the truth of our world, the human experience, and maybe even much beyond both into the realm of the metaphysical isn't too much of a stretch for me. In the same vein, if we were inclined to believe in a singular God, a higher power, or an absolute truth, to suppose that that truth is accessible to us on Earth, or that that higher power has facilitated that access isn't too hard either. That He/She/It could have spoken through individuals, and even later through subsequent individuals it seems, then, very well could have happened as well. And if your willing to make even the smallest leap of faith, why not?
Then there are the acts that people take in the name of their religion fueled by the fact they consider it to be the absolute truth. I'm gonna leave out the actions of countries and armies as it is my belief that religion is often used as justification for the very earthly aim of conquering lands and peoples, but the actions of individuals can definitely be attributed to absolutist ideals. Converting others is something many people have undertaken in the name of the truth of their beliefs. Again, supposing that what they believe just so happens to be the truth, it's not hard to understand wanting to share that with others, especially if the recipient's eternal soul is on the line. I mean, geez, we should only be so lucky to be converted if that's the case.* The acts of murder and suicide on the part of true believers though, are just too hard for this particular blogger to try to understand, no matter how much of a leap I try to make. But suffice it to say that if they can be justified by some higher truth, maybe I don't want to be privy to it.
The hardest thing for me to suppose might be true is the idea that the messages of enlightened ones and prophets haven't been distorted and have been passed on, ruled upon, and interpreted correctly and in line with that same absolute truth by so many people down the line in the course of human history. At least part of human nature it seems is to wield power to one's own ends, and the power that would come with deciding how the reported teachings of probably the most influential people in history will be interpreted and passed on seems to be too tempting a possibility for the wickedly inclined to pass up. It's very possible that the reason the world's major religions are such powerful things is because they express some absolute truth, but the idea that people at some point with the influence to do so haven't distorted that power in their own interest remains to be my biggest objection to the absolutism of religion. The fact that there have been so many disagreements that so often have resulted in sectarianism and violence only furthers this reservation.
Still, at the end of the day there is a reason they call it 'faith' and not 'knowledge'. The leap of faith may come in believing that God or whom or whatever is facilitating the dissemination of truth has done so through so many people and generations, and that that truth has remained intact and pure ever since the prophets bestowed it upon the world. It may also come in believing enough to pass it on to others or to take the very biggest leap by putting yours or someone else's life on the line. But it's not a leap that's easy to make, for me, all things considered, especially when people are hurt or subjugated as a result. I'll take comfort in the fact though, that I can't blame people, not for the desire for truth, not for believing it's been given to them, and not for wanting to give it to others. I'll, however, continue to find it on my own, and hope that the truth that others find can be more along the lines of peace and togetherness as opposed to conflict and separation.
* An idea I've heard a lot here is that of "Reverting" as opposed to "Converting". It supposes that everyone is in fact born a Muslim, so if you go from being a non-Muslim to being one, you are actually coming back to your true religion.
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