Religion Shouldn’t Define You
AnonymousCarnegie Mellon University – Qatar
Modern Languages – Understanding Cultural Complexities
As a social identity, religion is unique. It is unique because it contains a spectrum of choice that allows one to identify one’s self by. The various existing methods of religious identifications influence beliefs about the essentialist nature of religious identity. That is when religious identity makes an appearance. Essentialism is the view that a set description along with a set of attributes makes for a certain entity. The idea that beliefs drive action is certainly accurate when it comes to religion; however, it is a ruthless theory. In reality, what is actually going on is beyond “beliefs.” It is unwise when the initiative of generalizing an impression is originally taken at face value.
People have the tendency of generalizing their initial opinion and it becomes a popular theory. It is disheartening to know that people are not willing to explore the fact that there might be other existing truths besides what is stored in their heads. When it comes to “Religion,” every person has own definition of what religion means. On that note, when they meet someone, they immediately apply the definition that is stored in their head to the other person. However, it is not necessarily the case that their version of religion matches the classification that one would want to be defined by. Therefore, each person is their own representative of their perspective religion. In other words, each individual is responsible for giving an overall description of what they believe they want to be viewed as.
Each religion has multiple people that exist under the same label. However, that does not imply that they are identically disregarding what they have or do not have in common. In other words, an apple tree has a lot of apples lying under the same tree; however, one bad apple does not influence the rest of the apples. This can also be related to the religious view issue. If a small minority of a certain religion performs a wrongdoing, this does not imply that the rest of the people from that religion are also bad. The majority are often blamed for single acts of terror that they did not take a part in. Unfortunately, collective blame occurs with ugly consequences.
I have experienced the stigmatized behaviors that take place in my own personal life. This is more vivid when I travel abroad to a Western country alongside my family. Taking into consideration that my mother wears a headscarf, the moment we reach the foreign country’s airport, I start to notice all the strange looks she keeps on receiving. The airport security makes it their life mission to find any demonstration of danger that my mother would pose to their society. The fact they we experience these sort of loathing actions before we even enter the country is truly demoralizing. I, on the other hand, do not wear a headscarf. However, that does not mean I went on having a peaceful life without my religious label becoming an issue for me. The moment someone becomes aware of my religion, the constant judgement begins. I am often compared to the other “typical” Muslims that wear a headscarf and cover all their body parts. This mentality drove me to noticing how Islamophobia and media stigma are having real effects on how Muslims are being viewed.
To conclude, an individual’s religion is a choice. The way the individual decides to practice their chosen religion, is also their choice. As an individual, I would appreciate living my life knowing that I won’t be straightforwardly judged without the other person having the chance to get to know me for who I am.