WHAT FAITH MEANS TO US

Faith is the conduit that connects us to the outside world, it is seldom an individualistic endeavor. The act of having faith, and further yet, practicing it, leans heavily on the behavior of our peers. For a faith that lacks believers wavers, its rituals, without the thrill of the collective injected into it, are often ill-observed. Faith can also do the opposite and isolate us completely from our immediate context. Not only does this occur in practice, contemplation, meditation or prayer but also in conflict. The same factors that create community from shared faith, like-mindedness and adherence to specific tenets, can also create conflict and estrangement for those who are incapable of submitting sufficiently to the beliefs held by the group.

All this can be felt on a personal level for each of us. For those raised with organized religion, the idea of community is squarely built on the foundation of shared religion, a phenomenon that anchors and defines societies of the majority (colonized) world. For those raised outside the all-encompassing doctrine of organized religion, community may come through different means.

Whether you believe in God, the algorithm or your fitness routine we have all struggled to solidify our faith. We buttress it with practice and ritual, drawing strength from the constant repetition, seeking refuge in the monotony of action, hoping it would drown our doubts. A soft prayer uttered under one's breath or a sign made reflexively remain as expressions of faith that have become programmed into how we express ourselves daily. In all these examples we seek certainty of outcome. For gym rats and coders this is achievable in the short term. Yet as our bodies age or the data sets evolve that certainty becomes less…certain. God on the other hand provides little in the form of short-term certainty, what is provided is a form of deductive certainty, “If all these people are here to worship this God, He probably exists…right?”

The struggle to affirm one’s individuality whilst adhering to our faith manifests in how we approach everyday challenges. This constant threshold between the person and the collective is where growth occurs. The tension/threshold/chasm is constantly expanding and contracting. You simultaneously or periodically grow closer or further away from the community with whom you share so much, most of which stems from a common religion/faith. These differences/chasms/contractions are not final, neither do they end with your lifetime. 
This age-old tension, between self and other, played out on the medium of faith has traveled into our current times. As pieces of our being are splintered and bastardized to fit into digital spaces, our faiths have struggled to follow. Faith, in its many forms, remains a deeply personal aspect of our mental makeup and heavily influences how we see the world. You express your faith in the only ways you know how, be it violence and threats or preaching and proselytizing. This is both a repudiation of the challenges the world has thrown at your fragile beliefs and also a cry for help, as you fiercely guard pillars of your identity from relentless persecution. Oscillating between perpetually offensive extremes, internet culture spares little room for an exchange and recognition of beliefs.

“WHAT DOES FAITH LOOK LIKE NOW - WHAT DOES IT DO FOR US”

To be oneself is to always test the boundaries of your beliefs to push back on the limitations imposed by the community. Where, then, is common ground to be found between a modern existence and faith? How does one balance the compromise of existence with the need to have faith, to practice it and to express it. Faith is not an afterthought, or a post rationalization of our actions, it is the impetus that guides our actions upon this world. While we work to curb its influence on everyday decisions we might possibly benefit instead from examining its source, finding better ways to bring expressions of faith to our context. Perhaps a path can be found through a collective compassion, one that parses the nuances of individual faiths and allows space for the flourishing of different beliefs. Perhaps the path can include atheism as a strain of faith? Perhaps understanding of the importance of faith in/as the composition of one's being is both, intersectional and transgressive.