My friends who live in Virginia-Snyder represent several different religions, and devote themselves faithfully to each of their own faiths.
Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity and Judaism are all represented and I would like to think that one student might even be a Pagan.
Some say this is odd. I get excited just thinking about it.
Surprisingly, SMU is a highly diverse campus when it comes to religion. Sure, we affiliate with the United Methodist tradition, but our administration celebrates the diversity that each student brings. I thought this was great until I realized that sometimes, it doesn’t go much further than the administration.
The other day I heard an SMU student talking about Islam and the “terror that it brings to the world.” The student continued to comment on how he felt threatened by Muslim students and thought that Christianity was the only religion that should be allowed in the United States.
Now, if you know my writing, you know that I do not normally speak out against anomalies like this. Most students on this campus, and I would even go as far to say that most students on any college campus, do not feel this way. But I have a message for those who do not support religious diversity, especially the Christians who think we are (I identify as a Christian) so high and mighty.
We have all been there.
Do not forget that almost every religion goes through a rough patch where it thinks that its goal should be to convert or kill. Luckily, it is normally an extremely small minority in the religious sect that believes this.
According to the Pew Forum, only 1 percent of American Muslims feel that a suicide bombing can be fully justified. I can assure you that during the Crusades, many more Christians felt that killing a non-Christian could be fully justified.
It just amazes me how we can blanket a term “terrorist” or “heathen” over a group of people just because they do not follow our own religious beliefs. I think many people forget that the Muslim god is the same as the Christian god.
Muhammad fully recognized Jesus as a person, just not the prophet of the world.
Many people don’t know that in many Asian countries, if you ask a person, “What is your religion,” they would stare at you with a confused look. They rely on Hinduism, the Dao tradition, and Buddhism as well, to cover different aspects of their daily lives.
Furthermore, religious followers in Asian communities are some of the most faithful in the world. Tens of millions of people travel to the Ganges river every 12 years to celebrate the Kumb Mela, in one place. You don’t see many other religious followers doing the same.
I don’t want to pick on Christians, nor do I want to single out other religions. I don’t want to say that we’re all religiously intolerant, but it is a problem that needs to be addressed, and one that I fully believe can be solved by education. If you are unsure what a religion stands for, ask a friend who affiliates with them. Look to see if they have a national website.
Our campus diversity should be celebrated, and when we alleviate ignorance, we exterminate fear and prejudice. We must remember that religion is man-made, and therefore, flawed. But we all work for mostly the same thing, to rid ourselves from the strifes of this life, and make the world a slightly better place before we traverse into the next life, whatever that may be.
Michael Graves is a first year religious studies and communications studies double major. He can be reached for comments or questions at [email protected].
