Why do we exist? What is death like? Is there something beyond death for us? How was the world constructed? What does it mean to “live?” Such questions have puzzled us humans for centuries. And we have developed a series of disciplines to try and address them.
Physics looks to model the world we see, how we move through space and time. The humanities seek to model the world we feel and what it means to “be” human. Then there is philosophy, perhaps the birthplace of all these disciplines, the study of questioning and understanding.
But you know what sticks out like a sore thumb, and not in a good way, from these disciplines? Religion, perhaps the greatest trope for human arrogance. To be clear, I am not talking about the general cosmology of belief systems — whether it be Islam, Buddhism, or Christianity. No, no, no. I am speaking about believers of a religion that assert this idiotic idea of “God chose me instead of you. God blessed me over you.”
We need to start thinking of religions as a way to explain, not justify. The faith we believe in, or don’t believe in, should be trying to address the relevant questions we have, not forcing us into a false dichotomy between believers and non-believers. It is the common pursuit of understanding the universe, the environment surrounding us, each other, and ourselves that should motivate our faith.
Our faith in something should not be instigated by a need to feel better, to feel “saved” over others, or to preach a code of ethics we cherry-pick from doctrine we claim to follow. From this lens, religion binds us to each other, not distances us. It supports our propensity to understand. And better yet, it encourages us to act in the service of others, not just ourselves.
I say to those who think they have the moral high ground because of their belief, if God created you, then He, She, It, or They also created everyone else; does God love some human creations over others? Why haven’t we all been “blessed” with you? This false sense of superiority that you feel because you’ve been “blessed” with the “truth” is not only demeaning of others’ intelligence, it’s revealing of a deeper insecurity: you need a “believer” tag and reassurance by the supernatural to feel important. Newsflash, to all who think this, you’re not special.
Frankly, all you’re doing is conflating your need for validation and superiority with the doctrine of religions. Then, you go out there and say these two things are one. This incredibly messed-up form of cult-like thinking, yes, cult in the exploitative “you shouldn’t exist” sense, does nothing but damage the image of the religions you claim to practice. The result is that the same desire to explain, not justify, that motivates the humanities and natural sciences is stifled in religions.
We’re better than these games of “dominance” and group politics. Christianity is not about the so-called supremacy of the white race; maybe God will send Amy Wax a postcard to let her know. Islam does not suggest that non-Muslims are inherently inferior to Muslims, and that’s why God chose some to be Muslim. If that were the case, if non-Muslims were inferior from the outset, why would converting be an option to begin with?
Believing in something is not just about defending it, but questioning it. We, as students and scholars, have a responsibility not to use religion as another way to claim superiority. We, as believers in free thinking, are obligated to question what is left unanswered by what we believe, and condemn any suggestion that someone is better than someone else because of how each sees the world.
This superiority nonsense is unbecoming of a human being, let alone a scholar. It is a disgrace to the values we hold as a community. And, above all, it is nothing less than degrading the curiosity to understand, rather than judge, that we as university students are educated to encourage and uphold.
ZAID ALSUBAIEI is a College sophomore studying mathematical economics from Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. His email address is zaidsub@sas.upenn.edu.
