According to World Christian Encyclopedia, there are 19 major religions in the world, today. Those 19 religions split into 270 large religious groups, which in turn divide into thousands and thousands of smaller religious groups. So with all of these religious groups, how can people have a hard time fitting into one?
I was raised Methodist, baptized Methodist, and went to Methodist church until I was a teenager. Most people in my town -- along with about 75% of Americans and Canadians -- are Christian. For a very long time, I never questioned the church or my faith. But then as I got older, I started having questions, and wasn’t always pleased with the answers I received.
It wasn’t until I was around 18 that I decided that I wasn’t going to label myself as a Christian anymore. It felt fraudulent to claim to a title that I didn’t fully understand or believe in. The first time I didn’t declare myself as Christian was on the SAT, when it asks you about you about your religious affiliation to match you with colleges that have similar views. It was somewhat freeing, somewhat terrifying to check unaffiliated.
It’s been a year since I stopped referring to myself as a Christian. When people ask about my faith, I normally tell people that I’m agnostic, or spiritual, or simply that I’m unsure. My beliefs don’t seem to exactly fit into one category. I believe in a higher power, but I’m not entirely convinced which religion has it right, if any do at all. I would like to believe in an afterlife, but the idea of eternal life after death is hard for me to conceptualize.
Let me make something clear: I don’t have anything against religious people. In fact, I admire people who are strong in their faiths. It’s nice to see people with strong convictions and trust in something that has never been definitively proven. I admire it, but I struggle with it myself. Where exactly does this leave me? Am I just a religious misfit?
I don’t think so. I think that from here, I want to learn as much as I can about other religions. Maybe I can find one that I fit into better. Or maybe as I get older, I’ll find my way back to Christianity -- who knows? What I do know is that my religious beliefs or lack thereof are just that. Mine.
So if you don’t fit into a category like me, fret not, there are others out there like you. You’re not a heathen, and it’s okay to have questions. And if you are strong in your faith, don’t judge others who aren’t. Religion doesn’t equate to morality. There are horrible people of religion, and wonderful people who don’t have a religion.
