Author: Chloe Jenkins-Sleczkowski
Religion is a scary thing. No, really. It’s one of the few things that genuinely terrifies me. The existence of a set of values with which any leading power can justify its every action – this is the kind of thing I worry about. I’m scared that any power-hungry monster can do some terrible deed, and justify it with the words of a god. History is riddled with examples of this: the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the September 11th attacks, ad infinitum.
The human race has a habit of doing bad things and calling them good deeds by the words of their god. I’m scared of having a set of values that dictate what everyone must think – that someone has the right to displace my ideas with allegedly superior ones That worries me. But what I’m most scared about is the cruel intolerance of anyone who follows a different creed. This of course causes various world religions to attack each other, each with the claim that their own denomination is superior. Naturally, interpretations of holy words justify the intolerance. Being the critic of religion that I am, I would never have expected to find a new dimension of it at Oxy.
Last week, I happened upon the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (ORSL) Open House (perhaps it was divine fate?). To be quite honest, I only stayed for the free food. I didn’t have any particular interest in any of the religious groups at Oxy.
While I appreciate that there are many different religions in the world, I tend to keep my distance from them whenever possible. I’m always too worried about offending someone with my harsh criticism of religion that will invariably come forth when I discuss it. Therefore, I try to censor anything I have to say about it, often avoiding discussion of religion in general. And in some friendships, putting an indefinite moratorium on the topic of religion will keep you closer and friendlier.
At the ORSL Open House, I was therefore struck by the new and positive image of religion opening in front of me. It wasn’t necessarily the diversity of student representation. It was the unrestricted openness towards people of other views. I’m not used to the idea of religions opening their arms to each other. In my limited experience, Catholics and Jews, Presbyterians and Buddhists, can all be friends, sure, but probably would not sit down to discuss the different forms their spirituality takes.
But Oxy allows, even encourages, this dialogue of differences. I think the college campus setting in general is a powerful place for this kind of dialogue. Young adults come together at the most important developmental points in their lives – thinking together, talking together, boozing together. It’s hard to stick to your old beliefs when you see such strong cases for new ones surrounding you. Among my group of friends I’ve seen very religious people seriously question their opinions. And I’ve seen non-religious people become curious about new beliefs.
I started asking my friends what they think about religion – what it means to them, what it means to be religious, what makes a religious person. It was interesting to find that so many answers boiled down to the same thing. For many people, religion is a pathway to find order, spirituality and meaning. It may take the form of a strict prescription that your daily life must follow. Or it may be a loose set of guidelines for living your life well.
It doesn’t matter what form your spirituality takes – in the end, all religions are just divergent manifestations of the same thing, the same need to believe in order and faith. All the different religions, in their own particular ways, address the needs of their followers. Perhaps this state of mélange is what it’s all about – accepting differences, appreciating them and reconsidering your own point of view. Regardless of the different forms they take, they all provide people with their own individual spiritual outlet. It’s as simple as this: we just want to find happiness and validation in life.
I’m finding that at Oxy, students try to approach their differences with an open mind and mutual understanding. If we at Oxy can come to terms with our differences, perhaps there is hope for an end to the religious wars and intolerance in the rest of the world.
Chloe Jenkins-Sleczkowski is a senior ECLS major. She can be reached at cjenkins@oxy.edu.
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