Separating Religion from Views

Before writing this blog, I have to be honest and preface that for the past few years, I have been slowly “losing my religion.” I was raised Catholic-Christian, but not very strictly. As a child, my parents took to Mass and Protestant services every week or so. For them, it wasn’t so much that they took me to a Catholic church or a Protestant church, but rather just to any type of church in general. I never understood at the time, but I now think that they did this because they didn’t want to shove religion down my throat and make me blindly believe in something without actually putting any thought behind it.

Coming from a very cultural Latin American family, I have always felt almost obligated to be Catholic, cause that’s just what “we do.” Now that I’ve grown older, I believe that the reason that religion on Earth varies as much as it does is because nobody truly knows what happens after we die and people fear that. And from fear arises opinion and from opinion arises faith.

Just like in the case of Okonkwo and his clansmen of Umuofia, religion is so deeply rooted in a society that people can’t separate it from reality or even comprehend what life would be like without it. Unfortunately, all societies in this world are like this; they can’t separate things that they grown up with from their beliefs and look at new situations objectively.

When I was reading Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, I subconsciously scoffed at the idea of there being Earth gods, rain gods, yam gods, etc. And even though I’m in the midst of questioning Christianity as a whole, I still saw this from a Christian monotheistic perspective. And why wouldn’t I? I have been exposed to it my whole life and everyone around me believes in it. In reality, the concept of multiple gods that control nature is quite logical. And if you don’t think so, then ask yourself if it is logical for men to arise from the dead, part oceans, or spawn a woman from a rib bone.

One of my favorite parts of Achebe’s novel and perfect example of this in the Ibo culture appears on page 146. A convert asks the missionary how he can protect himself from the neglected gods once he begins worshipping Jesus. It clearly shows two things: the blind faith that people will have in things due to fear, and the inability to separate their lives from long-held customs.

So in conclusion, I don’t want to bash on any religion or put anyone’s religion down. I just want to say that I believe that everyone has the right to believe whatever they want because nobody truly knows why we are here, who or what created us, and where, or, if we are going somewhere after we die.