I say this with utmost respect to religion and god. And I do respect the teachings of religion and god, but the people in it? That’s a whole different story. I am speaking from my experience being in a muslim community and I believe that no matter where you are in the world, and you happen to speak up about your right to wear what you want or do what you want to do to another muslim, they will shut you down in the name of religion. Free thinking, cognitive function and using brain cells is a lost art to these individuals. Any and all sentiments spoken are met with the god’s word- which is highly misinterpreted btw, and are used against you for wanting to express yourself. That is, to wear what you want, do what you want (or not do) and be who you want to be at your core: original.
But why is being original so bad? Just because I don’t adhere to the preachings of religion because Idk, it doesn’t make sense to me and that’s a whole different conversation, doesn’t mean I am not there for my very fanatic family in the time of need. But to use that as an opportunity to judge me and hide behind religion- is just cheap.
I am just saying, that being a free thinker- someone who is not swayed by religion, politics, hate and other cool stuff, is rare. To live and let live is a saying which people throw around a lot, but don’t know how to practice it. And it didn’t help when I was the only one wearing black to a funeral where everyone wore white; puts the black in black sheep if you will.
My whole problem is I am surrounded by fanatics where they use religion to guide you back to the ‘true path’ from a misguided path. And they think that judging your lifestyle and your habits is godly. But my question is, isn’t being ‘lost’ and misguided really the point? Think about it. You’d rather someone lay out the map for you or you’d rather you arrive at the destination yourself, proud of your trials and tribulations and the lessons you learned?
And the destination is death to put it plainly. Yes, reincarnation exists, yes it may not be something you believe it exists. But what you want to believe or not doesn’t change the fact that death is imminent. And I’d rather die knowing I lived a full life for myself than for someone else or something else. I am not sure on the whole afterlife situation speaking from the religion perspective. I know as souls, we don’t die, we ascend or descend. And I don’t know what my soul’s path is after my death. But what I do believe in, is the right to be myself.
And call that a rebellion if you will. If you live in a society which judges you for existing ‘wrongly’, of course, everything you say or do is an act of rebellion. And maybe they’re not that bad. Maybe they don’t have the balls to say to my face what they think in their minds anymore. Maybe they have chalked me up as a lost cause. But that doesn’t change the fact that being around them made me feel wrong. And sad. It’s sad that there is a divide in your blood family and your chosen family. And I guess I haven’t found my people yet, so it feels even more lonely from where I am at.
Think for yourself, the gift of knowledge and wisdom is passed down to us to make discerning decisions on who to let in, how to speak to someone and on what basis to judge someone. As humans it’s impossible not to judge or be judged but having the wisdom to know that everyone is in their own journey is what makes us better and kinder human beings.