“My horse is bigger than your horse,” we all experience this awful bragging at least once in our lifetimes. The people who are making this statement usually have a closed mind and do not take into consideration the obstacles the other person had to overcome. As humans, we like to think of ourselves as better than others, meaning we like to win. We can make this statement in many ways, for instance “If you do not believe in my religion, your religion is wrong.”
If you are like every other person in this world you have a certain practice that is considered a religion. Religion is the beliefs and opinions concerning a certain existence and usually consists of a deity. These are usually peaceful and give morals to humans on right and wrong. Look at the world today though; we see people fighting, killing, and discriminating people for their beliefs. These actions are far from peaceful.
I have witnessed too many people telling others that they are wrong or people being accused of being terrible because they are not of the same faith. I have witnessed a person, who I have the highest respect for, discriminate an entire nation because of what they saw on TV. This was about the time of the Syrian refugee movement in late October/ early November 2015. This person, of Christian faith who practiced every day, told me that "We should nuke all of the Muslims." What type of Christian would say such a horrific statement? Do you not remember what happened to the Jews in Germany? They went on to say that Islam is a religion of violence and all who practiced is a terrorist. Their mind was closed to the fact that they knew little of the faith and that in reality it preaches kindness. If you absolutely think about it, religions are all the same; they stem from the same story line.
Don’t get me wrong; I believe in God, I believe that Jesus died to take away my sins. However, I do not believe that it is my place to tell you that you are wrong to believe differently than me, I do not believe you are going to hell, and I do not consider myself any religion except a believer in God. I do not want a title; a title signifies that I have a sense of entitlement. I will not hide what I believe, I will also not push it down your throat.
Religions are a form of a social identity. The most common religions (Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism) preach of peace and love. Yet we see people fighting and tearing others down for what they believe in. In today’s world we see people using religion as an excuse to kill in the name of “their” god. We associate these individuals with the entire group of people who practice this same religion. We fail to look at the mistakes that our own religions have caused. Yes there are good Christians, Martin Luther King, Jr., and bad Christians, Adolf Hilter. There are also good Muslims, Malcom X, and bad Muslims. Society tends to look at faults of other religion if it is not their own; they judge people because they do not want to understand. Currently in the media we see Islamic extremists committing horrendous acts upon people. We start to judge the entire religion based on these actions, but let’s not forget what Christians did too. Hitler was a Christian and he committed the most inhumane act in history, genocide on the Jewish population, the special needs, and the non-German occupants of Germany.
To say one religion is more evil than another is absurd. All religions practice peace and love, the only difference is what “god” you serve. To group members of a religion with the people who commit acts of horror is unfair. The judgment of a few individuals should not make the judgment of the entire group who practice the same religion. This is why I hate the word religion. People are too quick to judge others because their religion is different than what they are used to. If you did not know the name of the deity or the name of the religion, all of them would sound the same.
