Hello readers,
Religion has been extremely prevalent throughout human history and has re-surged in a large way as a tool to separate and discriminate against certain people. In the graphic narrative Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi that we are discussing in ASTU class, it is seen that the main character Marji gives up on religion at a young age and embraces modernity. This caused me to question whether religion and modernity are compatible, and if religion is losing its authority in today’s society.
In Persepolis, Marji looked to God as a source of comfort and security, but when he was no longer able to provide those things for her, Marji looked elsewhere. I believe that religion was established as a way for us to get answers to fundamental questions that now it is seen science is better equipped to answer. I am not in any way implying that this is the only function of religion, or that this is the only perspective, this is my opinion generated from personal experience. I was raised in a catholic household and for a short period of time went to an all-girls catholic primary school. When I was younger, I considered myself catholic simply because that what was I was told I was, but as I grew older, in an effort to become more independent, I started looking at other options and questioned my beliefs. I realized that I trusted science and ‘modern’ ways of thinking more than I trusted the teachings of Catholicism. For a long time, I believed that the two were incompatible, however more recently I have seen moments where religion and modernity can coincide. In ASTU class, we were given articles based on Persepolis to analyze, and my groups assigned article, My Hijab Doesn’t Oppress Me, It Empowers Me, by Amber Rehman, took an interesting approach combining Feminism, a relatively modern idea, with Islam. In the article Rehman explains that deciding to cover her own body is a feminist statement, as she gives herself the power to take control of her self-image, and ultimately challenges the limited understanding a lot of us have of feminism. Here, I believe Rehman used religion to advance modern thought.
According to an article on the Daily Mail by Colin Fernandez, lower numbers of youth believe in a God, but surprisingly, more believe in the afterlife. Fernandez brings up that although the younger generation are less likely to participate in organized religion, there is an increase in what he deems “private spirituality” (Fernandez 2016). I found this interesting as it showed me that even though my generation may be moving away from what previous generations defined religion to be, this could simply be how we interpret religion. Although this is only one article with a heavy western focus, I do believe that as the world becomes more globalized, more and more places are experiencing the same phenomena. All of this makes me wonder if religion is really dying, or if it is simply just changing its form.
Helpful links:
Hijab and Feminism Article from Class: www.huffingtonpost.ca/amber-rehman/feminism-hijab-canada_b_2808850.html.
Daily Mail Article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3504254/Is-religion-dying-Fewer-people-believe-God-30-years-ago-millenials-likely-faith-afterlife.html
Bibliography:
Fernandez, Colin. “Is religion dying out? Fewer people believe in God than 30 years ago – but millennials are more likely to have faith in an afterlife.” Daily Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 22 Mar. 2016.
Rehman, Amber. “My Hijab Doesn’t Oppress Me, It Empowers Me.” HuffPost Canada, HuffPost, 5 May 2013.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. Pantheon, 2003.