Is religion really the answer?
I've been muslim all my life but recently i've started to question my religion. I was raised in an islamic school with muslim friends and ngl i had a wonderful experience but all we were taught was about history and rules rules rules... buncha rules.
Sometimes i would see a lot of islamophobes trying to make islam look bad online and as wrong as they are i realised i dont even know what to say in response, i dont know how to defend against their accusations. Their questions make me wonder why does islam allow certain things to happen. And when i try to look for answers to trivial questions i dont feel satisfied with what i find which makes me doubt myself a little.
I just feel super out of touch with islam rn and having a family that traumatizes you for not being religious doesn't make it easier.
So yeah if there's any muslims that wanna reach out to me or just anyone who have similar experiences do let me know <3
@ipoopcats
Hello. I feel it must be not easy for you to look for your new, more mature identity, constantly trying to distinguish between people and ideas that are "no longer yours", those which are "still yours", and discovering some new parts of yourself.
Through all my childhood and young years my environment tried to force me to be Catholic, but I chose another way, being not assigned to any religion, as far as I can trying neither to be uncritical to, nor to fight any of them, and respecting other people's beliefs.
I believe all major religions have something in common: they all praise love, family, stable relationships, doing good things, doing no harm, being a part of community. If something is wrong, it might be because of the fact some people are too concerned about the rules or prejudices and may not fully grasp the spiritual idea.
@ipoopcats I find that living ethically makes me more happy than I am when I do not consider my actions before acting. All religions have aspect of ethical behavior in them so if you cannot change your family, you might consider finding and embracing the ethical parts of your childhood religion.
Kindness and compassion for others can be found in most religions.
@ipoopcats
It must be difficult feeling conflicted with the religion you were raised with. I wouldn't call myself very religious, but I can help answer some questions you might have and we can share our experiences if that would help you.
If interested, feel free to reach out to me directly.
@ipoopcats Religion may not be "the answer", but it is an answer. What that means is religions serve a few purposes:
- They give their members a reason to get out of bed & do what they have to do every day. "Man does not live by bread alone" & all that.
- They help maintain social order & cohesion among their members. (This is especially true of Islam & Judaism, with their emphasis on rules & proper conduct)
- They provide explanations for what anyone who's lived long enough--or has been through enough s***--will ask. All the questions boil down to one issue: bad things happening to good people. (It's been said that is the only religious question that really matters) These explanations are called theodicy. IME these answers are never conclusive or flawless, but for believers they're good enough. (Christianity is especially heavy on theodicies; Judaism & Islam have a few of their own)
Read the above list, then give it some thought. Note that nothing in it says anything about the existence of god. Most of humanity has lived & died believing in something beyond this world...looking at it objectively, it is impossible to prove or disprove it. For all anyone knows, when we die we may end up meeting the gods of ancient Mesopotamia instead!
Spend some time thinking about what makes sense to you. Be honest with yourself. Remember: it's your life & your mind, no one else's. If Islam is not for you, walk away from it & never mind what your family says. If after that you feel you still need to be in touch with God, look into other faiths. If you're a monotheist at heart you can always check out Judaism...after all, it's the original version. 😃 If you feel like you need Jesus then at that point, you'll have to figure out what kind of church suits you best. If you just don't have faith & have no idea what, if anything, is beyond this world, that is called "agnosticism" & is a perfectly valid position to adopt. (I consider it the most logical one, but that's just my opinion) There are other options as well.
