I believe religion dictates what morality is and it is up to the individual to decide which religion is the truth. But I feel that because there are so many religions there is a power struggle that causes immorality.
Every Sunday until I was 16, I woke up to go to the mosque for Sunday school. I didn’t want to get up, I wanted to sleep in, but I got up anyways. For four hours, I learned about Islam. I learned what was right and wrong according to Islam. After ten years of Sunday school, I started volunteering there. Ironic that I hated getting up to go there and now I was volunteering there. Born as a Muslim, and taught Islamic ways, I see Islam as the true religion. With that being said, I also know that there are many other religions and I know that there are people who have prejudices against Islam and the many other religions.
I think that what some people tend to do, not all, is in their minds they eliminate any other religion that they see is not true. In their minds the only religion that exists is their own. I feel that the violence and the hatred, the immorality, are being caused because of this, because of religions.
I understand that that the religions are different and people in general, me included, don’t react that well to something that does not go along with the norm. But what makes no sense is that every religion teaches peace and love in some sort of way and yet we hate one another because they don’t believe what we think is right.
I don’t see much of the violence where I live or even in America, but it is prevalent throughout the world. The difference is that in America there are so many different religions interacting with one another that we have to get along and we learn to get along. And because we’re in such close quarters we learn more about other religions and I and many other people come to accept them.
I have grown up with the idea that truth can be found in religion, in my case truth can be found in Islam. I’ve lived with this idea and even though I’m not a devout Muslim, I do believe this is true. However, I will not hate someone because they have found truth in a different religion or in no religion at all.