I am not writing this as a theology expert or a sociologist;
instead I am just a person who is trying to question the reasons of existence.
I would love to make a research on religions and their purposes. Perhaps, that
would be a more reasonable reason for me to write an essay like this. Still, I
am convinced that I can still have ideas about faith and would like to argue
with people about the consequences.
First of all, we all know that there is not eternity in this
world. Any living creature “including human being” dies one day. Some people
believe that there is an eternal life after death; others do not accept the
life after death and takes life as the living period from birth to death. The
conflict starts from here. People who do not accept the life after death also
denies existence of God and takes religions as a way of putting people in a
pattern where they will not disturb others or will not come out of the lines
that religions determine.
The idea of religion might have come out of an individual to
make people believe in a faith so that people would develop a way of life where
they would respect each other because of the fear of God. It may be taken some
kind of law that is prepared by an unseen, unknown, but powerful creator. So,
that people would believe in something they actually do not see, but accept as
a power. Even if this is the situation, it is a good idea to make create a
system for the time when religions actually originate.
It actually sounds more reasonable not to accept a religion
when you take it as a way of creating a ruling system as explained in previous
paragraph. On the other side, it is really hard not to accept existence of a
super power that controls the whole universe we live in. We, as human being are
such a tiny part of the universe really. We do not even know if there is an end
in the space or, where else it might go up to.
Also, for me it is hard not to believe life after death. I
have many reasons for that. People in different parts of the world have so
different lives. There is nothing such as equality what so ever in this world.
Some people are dying on some part of the world because of not being able to
find food, while some others are living in luxury and spending so much for
their sole happiness. If there is no equality in this world, I take the life
after death one way of giving people chances for what they did not have while
they were alive. Another thing might be the way we live our lives. Not everyone
lives with a good moral of life. For some people crime is a lifestyle. If there
is not a life after death, how these people are going to be equalized with
people who did their best making sure they are fair, and trying to take care of
other people’s rights or even helping those who are having worse life
conditions. A person who kills animals just for money, or for fun cruelly,
should not be in the same place after death with the one who was concerned
about the lives of other beings; even if that place is simply disappearing
underground.
Now that I have explained my own belief about believing or
not believing life after death or existence of God, I can get to my actual
point argument, religions and beliefs. I am not arguing existence of God with
atheists in this essay. My argument is with religions that actually say the
same thing but all stay separate from each other. There are religions that are
believed to be sent by God such as Christianity, Judaism or Islam; and there
are religions that were created by people somehow for the good of human being
in the world such as Buddhism, Confucianism, Shamanism or such. All celestial
religions have their own divine books that actually draw the red lines for
their followers. And actually, they all aim to make people have a good faith in
this world, follow ethical values and be a good person. They all call for a
good life after death as long as people follow the rules of the religion and
have a good faith. However, none of them gives any chance to the followers of
another religion or those who doesn't follow anything but do their best to become
a good person. My point is why? All religions believe in same God in term of
definition of it. They all try to make us have a good morale. What is the point
of sending people to hell only because they are not within the same religion
with you? They believe in God, they share very similar values; they try to be a
good person when it comes to being fair. So what is the point? Even the books
have very similar information despite their sharp differences. To me all
religious beliefs come for being aware of existence of God.
I was born and grown as Muslim; I have tried to follow as
much as I could. I met so many people from different parts of the world with
different beliefs of non-beliefs. Many many of the people I have met are such nice
and considerate people that I cannot stop thinking “Wait a minute; this person
cannot go to hell in his/her afterlife because s/he is not Muslim.” Literally,
I would prefer to be in the same place with them after I die, if we are going
to have an eternal life. Same thing happens vice versa; according to their
belief I might be going to hell forever because I do not believe the way they
do. So, personally, I have a disagreement with religions on this aspect.
Because I feel so restricted about making decision in the
name of the God, I simply prefer to believe interreligious. I promised myself,
I will not bother myself going to a Mosque, Church, Synagogue, or any other
place to find God. God is everywhere and I do not like discriminating against
people because they believe in a different way or follow different faith. I
respect every religion’s belief and I do not prefer to take it someone will go
to hell because they do not believe like I do, or I will go to hell as I do not
believe as someone else does.
Born, grown, being a Muslim, I announce that I am an
inter-religious person, and I accept and respect any other belief within the
concept of believing God. I prefer to be a human lover with whatever they
believe, instead of being a hater simply because of their way of believing.
Elvan Katmer
April 4, 2013
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