Religion and identity

When you were a child, you were someone’s son or daughter, or maybe someone’s sibling. This affected how you perceived yourself, and the world around you. Later maybe you became a friend to ‘the best friends in the world’. And when eventually you become an adult, you might have children. Of course you will perceive different things as important then.

Changing jobs, or getting a serious disease, or a disability will also change your view of yourself, and the part you play in the world - your identity. Identity is how you experience yourself, who you are - or are not. Your identity changes during your lifetime, and how it changes depends on quite a few things. For instance gender, age, sexual preference, family. And the family might have traditions, opinions, and customs from earlier generations: what we call culture.

Your upbringing, and your parents’ education and work also affect how you see yourself. So ones family, friends, and surroundings are important for one’s identity as are one’s interests, and education and the ideology, faith, or religion one holds. During childhood most things have to do with our home or family. But these change during our teenage years. This is a time when we are preparing to become adults, and we are trying to find our own way in life, not just to do what parents tell us.

Now it feels important to feel at home in a group, and to be able to be yourself there. In a group of friends, it might feel easier to try out new beliefs, and ways of expressing yourself than it feels in your family’s home. To many people, religion is an important part of their identity. Through this they feel a part of a greater community. In a time when one is searching for answers about who we are and how to live, it can feel reassuring to find answers in the rules set by religions.

Just because two people share the same religion doesn’t mean they live, or look upon the world in the same way. For instance some Christians, and some Muslims, interpret everything written in their holy books as literally true. Others interpret these texts more symbolically. Because these interpretations influence their outlook on life, they also influence their identity. In societies where religion isn’t that important - secular societies - it can be difficult standing up for one’s religious faith, and some might be bullied.

And in societies that are more religious than secular, it’s the other way around. There it might be difficult not belonging to the religious community that most people belong to. You might even be bullied about this - or even worse: have your life threatened. But regardless of whether you are religious or not, it might feel tempting to break away from the common way of being. Many don’t mind standing out; on the contrary, they feel braver and stronger if they go against what the majority believes, or doesn’t believe.

Maybe you have also had to do this, sometime. You might also have wondered what you will be like, and how you will think when you get old. The only thing you can be certain of is that by then, you will view life and yourself differently.