The Importance of Faith
Since Friday I've been trying to figure out how I feel, how to synthesize those feelings into a brief and coherent series of thoughts, and whether or not I should even share those thoughts... I may not have accomplished the brief part, but here's the rest: It can be difficult to see the promise of the future through the fog of the present. And, as we know, hindsight is 20/20. The 13 colonies that became these United State of America were originally settled by Europeans seeking refuge from religious persecution. They came here to erect their "city on a hill," create their "holy experiment," and -- generally -- to worship God in the way that was most comfortable and made the most sense to them. They came here to escape violent sects of Christianity that tried to impose a unified religion upon all people -- much like Daesh (ISIS) is doing currently with it's violent distortion of Islam. But while this country may have served as a bastion of "religious freedom" and a beacon of hope for Mayflower pilgrims and founding fathers alike, it was also those things for a lot more people much more recently: our immigrant ancestors. Most of us are not the descendants of pilgrims. We are not Jeffersons, Franklins, or Washingtons. We are Polish, German, Irish, and -- yes -- Syrian. Our ancestors came here for better work, better representation, better conditions. In some cases, they came for nearly identical reasons as the refugees in Syria hope to. Because America-- the collection of ideologies that make up our special, starry-eyed brand of red, white, and blue-- is the land of the free, the home of the brave, and the place where everyone has the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But that's all rhetoric. And one could argue that it has always been just that, nothing more. Because, since its founding, this country has used religion to justify all manner of terrible things-- the decimation of Native Americans, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the subjugation of gay and lesbian Americans, the list goes on... But I also ask this: what religion out there doesn't have some blood on its hands? The Crusades were a bloody 200 year struggle sanctioned by the Catholic church. Even Buddhist monks are currently guilty of violent religious persecution against Muslims. So don’t give in to this fear and hysteria-- it’s only meant to turn us against one another. This isn’t about religion. This is about us. You may read this and wonder if I believe in God. And, though it's none of your business, I'll share that I do. But my religion is humanity. And I pray that we can overcome the worst in ourselves. In the wake of war brought to their doorsteps, the French people didn't cower-- they opened their doors (#PorteOuverte), their arms, and their hearts. In the hours following the attack, they showed the world how to respond to hate with love. Because we should have faith in more than just God. We should have faith in each other.
