To the prosecutors of forced faith

Religion should be a choice made of free will, never compulsory

Photo by Ian Sands

Arshita Sunnam, Opinions Editor

Dear Prosecutors,

Religion is a concept. Religion is universal and very open to interpretation, as evidenced by the multitude of religions around the globe. Within religion, there are many distinctions, such as the Catholic and Orthodox religions. Faith, however, is a separate concept. Faith can be defined as the way each individual practices religion. It is completely unique to each person and cannot be dictated by another. Even if someone is non-religious, they have their own faith. They have their own morals and rules that they live by; they have something that they believe in. It is solely up to an individual to decide what they believe in and what moral code they follow – no one else. 

Louisiana created a law declaring that the 10 commandments are required to be in all public school classrooms . A religiously influenced worldview should not be introduced to children, especially in schools. Pushing teachings rooted in faith tells them who they are supposed to be before they even have the chance to find out. It is not a matter of teaching them principles; it is a matter of letting the new generation grow as the world changes around them. The principles that were relevant to our grandparents are not relevant today. We cannot hold our future back by teaching them something rooted in the past. 

Basing education on religious principles creates grounds for a disconnected and prejudiced society. We cannot allow this to happen – it will only become more fractured and dysfunctional. What will happen if we all turn on each other? If friends start to hate friends? No religion ever says to discriminate against people outright. Not a single faith encourages hate towards any group of people. However, as is human nature, with any text passed down through generations, comes interpretation. With interpretation comes a distortion of the truth. 

Officials rewrote the 2023-2024 NCERT textbooks in India to focus on the religious events pertaining to Hinduism in historical time periods, with little to no emphasis on the mainly Islamic sultans or sultanates during the same time period. Though this is not outright discriminating against believers of Islam, it is portraying an era of Islamic achievement in a diminished light, reflecting the country’s view of the religion as a whole. Downplaying a group whose ideals are not the same as your own is never right. Rather than presenting it in a positive light, it only serves to shine light on the hypocrisy and bigotry. Subtle or not, discrimination has an impact.

It is simply not possible to follow exactly what the authors intended when they created the holy texts or principles. Therefore, the only logical conclusion to make is that everyone has their own interpretation of the exact same text. That it is not right to hold someone else to your principles. It is the beauty of human nature to be so unique and diverse, so why are we trying to erase that? Why are we trying to make everyone conform to the same principles? What a boring world it would be if everyone believed in the same things and behaved the exact same way. 

The first thing created in the U.S. Constitution was a separation of church and state. What does it mean for our democracy if we are starting to implement religion back into the government? How does a head of faith in the white house help the American people? Simply put, it doesn’t. No founder of any government ever intended for religion to be implemented with it. In Indonesia (where Islam is the majority religion), people, particularly of the LGBTQ+ community, have been persecuted under Sharia law, or the moral principles of Islam. Though it is something the majority follows, it is not right to convict someone of a crime under the pretext of religious principles. This applies to every single religion: no one should face consequences for violating the Bible or the Quran or Torah or any other holy scripture. Consequences for people who broke the rules of their own religion are one thing, but those consequences should never become a legal matter.They absolutely should not be something enforced on everyone. 

There was an earthquake in Afghanistan – a Taliban controlled country – very recently, and they have reached out multiple times, desperately seeking aid. However, other countries are not offering them the support they are capable of, simply to avoid the Taliban’s religion-centered prosecution policies. In principle, this is not completely wrong. They are not supporting a country with a tyrannical religious regime. However, sometimes, principles need to be cast aside in the name of saving a human life. It is also incredibly hypocritical to avoid helping a country in the name of separation of church and state, while pushing for a non-secular government in your own. 

Religion should, at its core, provide comfort. As soon as it stops doing that and instead, incites fear, even if it is a group of non-followers who are fearful of it, there is no point to religion. It came from a place of finding comfort in adversity. People all over the world, facing different kinds of struggles, created their own forms of comfort: incredibly unique religions. It is important to stress this: religion is not universal for a reason. Each person has their own path to comfort and peace. It is incorrect to say that there is only one true way of attaining happiness, and even more so to claim that your religion is the right path towards it. 

People created religion, though each one claims to come from teachings of a higher or divine power. Prophet or not, sacred visions or not, it can be argued that all religious teachings were originally recorded by a human. Is it not then logical to deduce that as all humans are inevitably subject to fallacy, all religions are similarly susceptible to those fallacies? Religion is something that should never be forced upon people. How can comfort be comforting if it is not a choice? 

Stop forcing other people into your beliefs. Stop forcing other people to find comfort in your comfort. Stop forcing people to confine their morals and way of life to a black and white world. Let people believe what they want. Let people find comfort however they wish. Let people live their lives of color. Let people breathe. Let people be free, so that they may believe in what they think is right and have faith in what speaks to them. Let people dictate their own lives. 

Sincerely,

Arshita