Religion can be a central part of one’s identity. The word religion comes from a Latin word that means “to tie or bind together.” Modern dictionaries define religion as “an organized system of beliefs and rituals centering on a supernatural being or beings.” To belong to a religion often means more than sharing its beliefs and participating in its rituals; it also means being part of a community and, sometimes, a culture. The world’s religions are similar in many ways; scholar Stephen Prothero refers to these similarities as “family resemblances.” All religions include rituals, scriptures, and sacred days and gathering places. Each religion gives its followers instructions for how human beings should act toward one another. 1 In addition, three of the world’s religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—share a common origin: all three trace their beginnings to the biblical figure of Abraham. There is incredible diversity within each religion in terms of how members define their connections to it. For some, a religion’s theological beliefs and rituals of worship are central to their lives. Others are more drawn to a religion’s community and culture than to its beliefs and rituals. Many even feel part of a religion’s culture but choose not to participate in its rituals at all. Some people feel free to choose a religion for themselves, or to reject religion entirely as a part of their identity. Others feel that they have been born and raised in a particular religion and are unwilling or unable to change it. Some governments grant privileges to one religion and not to others, while other governments protect citizens’ freedom to follow any religion without privilege or penalty.
Different people have different experiences with their religion. In the following reflections, teenagers share parts of their religious experiences. While each belongs to a particular religion, each one’s experience does not fully represent that religion as a whole. Rebecca, then age 17, explains the influence that her religion, Judaism, has on her life:
Often, the way individuals relate to and practice a religion changes over the course of their lives. Maham, age 19, explains how her Muslim faith and practice has changed as she has grown older:
Sara, age 18, feels differently about the rituals and worship practices of her religion than Rebecca and Maham do:
Hesed, age 14, a member of the United Methodist Church, explains how he knows the Christian religion in which he was raised is right for him:
Page 2Sometimes, feelings of embarrassment and humiliation about parts of our identities can influence the way we think about and act toward others. In a reflection titled “Fear,” writer Gary Soto writes about how such feelings affected the way a boy he knew growing up treated others.
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Our desire to belong and feel connected to other people can shape the way we think about and act toward others and ourselves. Here, Eve Shalen, a high-school student, reflects on how her desire to belong once affected the way she treated one of her classmates.
Page 4En el siguiente fragmento, Cameron Tuttle explica de qué manera su necesidad de aceptación moldeó su experiencia cuando cursaba la secundaria y terminó por comprender que era homosexual.
Page 5Amin Maalouf, a writer who was born in Lebanon and immigrated to France, resists other people’s attempts to oversimplify his identity. He explains:
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