If you ask most
people my age if they would consider themselves to be religious the most likely
responses would either be ‘no way’ or
‘yeah a bit.’ It has been said that by the year 2041 religious people will be
in the minority but does that mean that our society is doomed or that nowadays
being religious has nothing to do with
being a good person or even believing in God?
Despite many of my friends coming from a family that has
some kind of religious association not one follows a specific religion devoutly.
In my experience most young people find that the disconnect from their
religious background comes from the condemning nature of most religions. Many
of the world’s major religions criticise things such as homosexuality and marrying
outside the same faith. Yet, in such an increasingly liberal society where gay
marriage is widely supported, and where inter-racial/inter-religious couples
are a common sight these views seem ridiculous. However it seems these days these are the beliefs that so-called
religious people fiercely hold on to in order to prove their commitment. Today
it seems that people’s skewed reading of some religious views has left religion
to become associated with hate more than love.
Also, for most of us we have grown up in a world where
nothing means anything unless it can be proven. Science has always been one of the most valued
subjects at school (much to my disappointment) and from a young age each of us
have been taught numerous things that come into conflict with religious
teachings. When I asked one of friends
from a Christian background why they found it hard to connect with religion,
they said the overwhelming amount of hours spent in Science lessons diminishing
any truth in religious teachings, like the creation story, didn’t seem to help.
And it doesn’t stop there! Many people I know come from a
Sikh family and a lot of young people find it hard to even understand the
teachings, as it’s written in Gurmukhi, a language most people my age are unfamiliar
with. Thus in the Gurdwara, the Sikh
place of worship, you can usually find the odd teenager slyly on their phone or
chatting to their friend.
Yet despite many young people feeling quite dispassionate
about following a religion, well, religiously that doesn’t mean to say we
should necessarily be worried about the recent trend in declining religion. By a certain stage in your life most people
manage to decipher for themselves what they consider right and wrong, and while
this might not align with what certain religions class as right and wrong, they
are probably more accurate for the time. Nowadays even believing in God is not
exclusive to being religious and it’s good to realise that trying to have your
own morality can make you a much better person than holding onto specific rules
that were written centuries ago. While for many the details of religion may not feel right to follow to the letter, the fundamentals
of what they all try and preach usually tend to match up with what feels morally right.
