Religion: To appreciate and to accept

I don't usually write about religion as some of you frequent readers may realise. Religion is a sensitive subject and it is not in my expertise. However I feel as if it is time for me to write something about faith and where it's heading to in modern life. I recall an assignment I did for my degree before Christmas which required me to develop an original news story. I wrote a piece about Church in Wales as I was intrigued by what the experts thought about the state of churches. Those I interviewed gave me similar answers. They acknowledged there is a problem with attracting people particularly the youth into Sunday morning services but at the same time, they are hopeful of the future. The overall outcome to this story didn't surprise me.

When I was younger, I went to church on occasion with friends and at the same time rather enjoyed it, but today, I don't go to church and those who surround me have turned their back on faith and religion. This assumption is proven with statistics showing an increase in atheism (those who do not believe in God) and secularism (those against religion). I consider myself to be theist, meaning I believe in God and have a religious faith but because I don't attend church, on job applications, I feel I have to click on the option of "No Religion". One must be honest I disagree with this question or any other question in applications about ethnicity or sexuality. To me, it's stereotyping, but I could leave that discussion to a future blog post.

Furthermore, on a recent poll, The Independent reports almost 60 percent of British people do not read the Bible despite the 2001 Census, suggesting 71 percent consider themselves to be Christian. The National Secular Society website said in 2008 "over recent years, 16 percent of the GB population attended a religious service at Christmas". This shows alarming signs in Britain and the rise in secularism has concerned me.

It is never my intention to offend people in my blogs and I felt I have done before however, I can confidently say I am against secularism. Yes, I do not attend church but considering our previous generations religiously (excuse the pun) go to church, mosque, synagogue and so on, I feel it is in my blood to follow our ancestors astute and in a sense relate to them. I can never be in a situation where I can be against religion. All faiths must be accepted in society, hence why I believe in multicultural Britain. Being half Welsh, half Iranian helps. However, I also feel that churches, mosques and synagogues etc must do more in a society today which demands more. There must be ways to get them involved with communities in both the outside and digital world. Here is what I believe.

1. Do not force religion upon people. Of course, having faith is not compulsory and bringing up debate in community centres or town halls are superb ways of getting people involved in knowing how different religions work. However there are some religions uses different approaches which may appear uncomfortable for some. Mormons for example come in the middle of streets, stop people and talk about their faith. It's all well and truly acceptable but when they ask for your name and phone number, which is when it is going a step too far. It is discouraging. I recall one day when I bumped into two Mormons when approaching a fish and chip shop and they said going there is rather "un-Godly". To me, I can see why they are judged but it is something they believe in and so without creating World War Three, I walked on. I am in support of them posting leaflets through doors, advertising on billboards, putting up "likes" on Facebook. They are good ways of getting people listening or reading. Yes, people can instantly ignore and throw pamphlets away but advertising in modern terms has never been so important. We read window-cleaner adverts so why not Mormons leaflets?
2. Do not judge people for what they believe. We like our celebrities, don't we? Did you know tennis star sisters Serena and Venus Williams, singer George Benson and Prince are well-known active Jehovah's Witnesses? Did you know actor Jon Heder is a Mormon? Do you dislike them now knowing Benson's faith consists of not believing in birthdays or Christmas? You can certainly feel sorry for them not believing in big celebrations but it is what they believe and we cannot stop them from believing that.
3. Do not believe everything you hear in the news. I'm going to put this simply - those who did 9/11 and 7/7 and so on does not constitute every Muslim. There is a bold difference between extremists (who are the minority) and those who follow Islam for all the peaceful reasons. "May Peace be upon Him" is such a powerful phrase and non-Muslims must appreciate what Islam stands for as their faith is just as important as any others to society.
4. Do not scare the children. I remember going to Sunday School when I was younger and at one session, we were shown a rotten apple and whoever volunteered at the start of this occasion was forced to eat it suggesting situations like eating a rotten apple is a sacrifice Jesus faced when he died for us. On another situation, one 11-year-old volunteer eat Chinese food and was not given anything to drink. I know very well that Chinese food, despite its amazing taste, can get people very thirsty. Again, the person who asked the child to eat the food in front of other children said eating Chinese food Jesus dying for us. It's not like that at all. It's humiliating for the child involved, and it is off-putting for the rest. It is also worth important to mention that we mustn't scare children with the concept of "heaven" and "hell". Children will believe what they want to believe and shouldn't be told they will be worshipping the devil if they do not believe in God.
5. Religions should join together. It has been in the news a couple of weeks ago that Baroness Warsi (a Muslim) travelled to the Vatican and made a speech about religion. I feel this news is huge and Warsi's action by going to a Catholic place shows a positive message to everyone. We all believe in the same God and one of the differences between Islam and Christianity is that Muslims have Prophet Muhammad while Christians have Jesus. I feel it would be a great idea if all religions united and see less of those violent protests "in the name of God".
6. Do not link religion with politics. This point is directed towards politicians and extremists. We've seen Iran in the headlines and despite having a President the main focus is on its supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. I'm not a great fan of this process and God/Allah should not be involved in politics in the way leaders want them too. This point also goes to George Bush who said he invaded Afghanistan because "it was a mission from God". For a war which was condemned by so many people, saying something like this is bound to make people go against God. Not just Bush but those extremist groups such as Al-Qaida say it's in the name of Allah to do something as horrific as attacking your own people. There is no wonder why people turn their back on religion.
7. Give "gay marriages" the nod. If churches or mosque numbers are reducing due to people not showing up, it's best to allow everyone into holy places. Homosexuals are religious too but with leaders saying they cannot marry is cruel and discourages them to follow their faith in holy places. Time to open up to the world and accept people for who they are. People have all of a sudden forgotten the concept of "equal rights". It's not communism, it is common sense.

As I said before, discussing religion is sensitive and if I managed to harm a nerve, I apologise but it is best if people appreciated one another regardless of what they believe in. For the love of God.

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