Sublime

There are no real absolutes when it comes to religion. Commonly accepted cultural beliefs about religion need reexamining.

< Note: This is 3/x in a series of essays > 

< Note, this is 1/x in a series of essays > 

To imagine a different future, a more complicated view of religion can be a powerful tool.

Challenging essentialist claims is not meant to absolve religion—rather, it helps us understand how religion is embedded within societal power structures.

Religion—whether we like it or not, whether we envision ourselves as secular or not—informs how most of us view the complicated issues of our time, including race, gender, sexuality, and so forth. In acknowledging its complexity, we should also begin to understand that essentialist statements about religion will always fall short of accuracy.

When we throw our hands up at religion and flatten its role in our lives, societies, and institutions, we allow hegemonic power to go unchecked.

I previously understood faith only as a powerfully destructive force in the world, but I never took stock of all the ways it helped galvanize others or provided insight into our interconnected struggles.