I am not a Christian but Jesus Christ changed my life. I am not a Buddhist but Siddhartha Gautama altered the way I understand reality. I am not a Muslim but have yearned to be a part of the holy month of Ramadan and its incredible blend of faith and community. I am not Jewish but deeply respect the essence of the Torah and its emphasis on the well-being of humanity. I am not Animist but I, too, feel the Spirit in nature. I claim no faith tradition as my own but have experienced the Divine through others’ and it has always been transformative.
For those who say ‘religion spoils everything’, I disagree. Religion is as beautiful as it is ugly. It all depends on the individual.
When I was 19/20, I struggled to come to terms with a possible mortal illness, the 60/40 chance my mother had been paralyzed by a spinal injury and my grandmother dying from a more fatal version of what I had just been, repeatedly, hospitalized for. The faith tradition I was raised in didn’t make things any easier to come to terms with but the Buddha – and more specifically, his teachings – saved me. After reading and thinking and reading and dissecting and reading and ruminating, awakening dawned in what felt like a flash of light. The flash occurred while I was driving and was so real and so bright that I had to pull off the road to let what I had come to understand sink in. It was life-altering and has been with me ever since.
A decade later, while never thinking of myself as a Christian, I spent a year consciously walking with Christ. I experimented with different churches and took an Alpha course but, more importantly, before making any decision, I asked myself “What do I think would Jesus do in this situation?”. Too often, the answer countered my own, more selfish, impulse. Already bought the Big Issue? Buy another one. Only have five bucks left in my wallet? Give it with an open heart. Walk past someone begging for food? Go back and make it right. See a child in need? Meet the need.
I ended up being the primary care giver/single parent to five children and my heart couldn’t have been more full. In seeing them thrive, I got back far more than I ever gave. My experience walking with Christ was transformative and redefined my life.
In the aftermath of 9/11, the first people to reach out and love me (I was overseas in a place with very few Americans) were Muslims. The Christians, Agnostics and Atheists I came across let me know that, while tragic, it was really all America’s fault. It was implicit that as an American, it was also my fault. These paragons of holier than thou righteousness also demanded that Muslims stand up to denounce the atrocity bin Laden had launched. For a while, I joined them and then I realized that every Muslim I knew had already done so, definitively.
While some only see the most heinous side of faith, I see beauty, humility and strength. From household names like Mahatma Gandhi, Desmond Tutu and Martin Luther King, Jr. to lessor known social justice warriors including Oscar Romero, Christopher Hartley, Malala Yousafzai and Dr. Maher Hathout – I am awed by how those of faith are prepared to risk real pain and put their lives on the line for social progress and justice. These people, people emboldened by faith, do not deserve to be discounted and maligned by the ‘religion uniformly sucks and spoils everything’ trope.
The world is made rich by different world views and it is telling that every culture has a predominant faith. If faith is what many need to get through this life, I can understand because I have also sought to know more and have been elevated by the pursuit.
Sure. Some use religion as an excuse to hurt. But many more use it to bolster resolve to make the world a better place. And I have no doubt that if there was no such thing as religion, the world would still be plagued by the same human issues.
I have no qualms with religion in and of itself. It can be beautiful. It can elevate people beyond themselves to move mountains and make the world a better place.
I claim no faith tradition as my own but, sometimes, I wish I did.