Is our true identity defined by our belief system?

 My take on the issue of “christianity versus atheism” especially in the West is that the kind of christianity propagated by the instititional church systems tends to be the legalistic kind that heaps guilt and fear upon people. It is no wonder many people are shunning the christian religion and embracing atheism, thinking that atheism is the epitome of life, or the panacea to all the problems that are perceived to have been caused by the fundamentalist christian beliefs. Yet atheism in the West tends to take another extreme form, in that it is seen as a platform to actively oppose christianity. So this becomes an “us” versus “them” mentality for both the fundamentalist christian camps and the atheist camps.

I do think there can be a balance, which can be achieved by not subscribing to any form of label or outward identity to ourselves or others based on what we believe. After all, “atheism” and “christianity” are only different schools of thought, just like hinduism, taoism, buddhism and so on.

To be attached to a label can cause us to be tossed to and fro because our belief systems change every now and then – we are all constantly evolving over time as and when new revelations or circumstances pop up, and we keep revising our belief systems. So I think it is probably best to see ourselves and others as human beings, regardless of belief system.

When I look at a newborn baby for example, I don’t find myself trying to find out whether the baby is an atheist or a christian or a buddhist. We all want to hug and care for the baby simply because a baby is a baby who needs love and care. A baby doesn’t know whether he/she is an atheist or christian too, because a baby only knows how to just be a baby. Similarly, when we grow up, even though we may develop some schools of thought along the way, we remain a “baby”, so to speak – or more accurately, we remain a “human being”. I think this identity as a human being is something that does not change over time, even as our thinking changes and evolves.

This is something that the poem “Awake” touches on too. It helps people awaken and remember who we really are – we are not defined by our beliefs (or lack of beliefs) – we are simply who we are by birth and by our original design.