“The Way We Live Out Religion is Divisive”

I am an outsider, not because of my ethnicity, my gender, or my race, but because of my faith. I believe in Jainism. My nontheistic religion deeply centered around nonviolence represents less than 0.0006 percent of people in the United States. Being a small religious minority allows me to have a unique perspective on the complexities of religion in the modern world. After 17 years of sitting on the sidelines watching major religions at play, I observed that the way we live out religion is divisive, resulting in discrimination and violence, and that actions must be taken to make peaceful religious coexistence feasible. 

Just look at centuries of war and religious persecution to see the effects of religion on society. With disputes between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East and Hindus and Muslims in South Asia, conflicts over religion still occur today. The United States, filled with increasing acts of antisemitism and islamophobia, is not free from such religious disputes and prejudices either. This interminable bloodshed and intolerance stem from the fact that religion hinders pluralism, the notion that two or more sets of principles can coexist. For example, if Jesus is the Son of God in Christianity, how can he solely be the messenger of God in Islam? The existence of contradictory beliefs can invalidate another religion, which spreads animosity and divides people. 

Some may argue that religion can act as a unifying force, offering people a community and helping them be a part of something larger than themselves. I agree; numerous places of worship can unite people across lines of race, gender, and socioeconomic status. However, religion can also unify these diverse individuals against people with different faiths. For example, President Trump’s Executive Order 13769, the Muslim ban of 2017, and anti-Muslim campaigns unite people of differing identifiers against Muslim people. 

This religion-based division is particularly dangerous because of religion’s powerful influence on people. For some individuals, their faith defines their purpose, values, and culture. This personal attachment is admirable until people become willing to do anything for their religion, including imposing one’s faith on others or mistreating individuals who believe differently than them. People make religion even more divisive when they connect their religion to morality, meaning often individuals are perceived as ethical for following their faith and acting for what they think is benefitting their religion. Many religions provide moral frameworks, which can encourage people to act righteously and compassionately. But in the name of a god, people of various religions have started wars and justified genocide and discrimination. In fact, this correlation between morality and religion has even made some people establish themselves as morally superior, making it seem as if individuals who do not believe in that religion are morally inferior and are deserving of maltreatment. For example, when the United States was expanding west, American colonizers justified their exploitation of Native Americans and encroachment on their land through Manifest Destiny, the idea that Americans were the chosen people who had the God-given right to claim more territory and wealth. On a less extreme level, individuals often want to believe that their religions are correct and following them makes them better people.

By arguing that the way we practice religion is divisive, I am not saying that people should stop practicing their faith but that all religious people need to take action to prevent religion from acting as a dividing force. Peaceful religious coexistence requires dialogue with people with different religions to establish an understanding and find points of commonality. It needs religious people to challenge their internal biases and actively acknowledge the power religion has to exclude and harm others who do not share the same beliefs. Part of this acknowledgment is accepting the idea that being a moral person means treating people with different religions with respect, not just following one’s faith. Through these steps, we can use religion to unite rather than divide, and maybe religious minorities can emerge from the sidelines and join the larger conversation about world religions.