Aamir Hussain (Georgetown) on Reevaluating Religious Divides in America

Stereotyping based on religious identity can often preclude us from having open and honest conversations about issues influenced by religion. For example, the Catholic Church has recently become the target of criticism for its stances on social issues such as same-sex marriage and contraceptive rights. When someone self-identifies as a Catholic, many people’s first instinct is to immediately associate that person’s beliefs with all of the Church’s stances. However, I realize from my own experience that this is not always the case; among my own group of Catholic friends, a person’s belief system can run the gamut from agreeing completely with Church teachings to disagreeing on almost every issue. This phenomenon is not restricted to the Catholic Church; indeed, it seems to be common in virtually every religious tradition, especially in our Millennial Generation.

Therefore, I believe that any conversation involving religion should focus primarily on a person’s own experience. At Georgetown, our interfaith dialogue program known as Faith in Conversation explicitly supports this idea, and discourages any person from attempting to be a “spokesperson” for all members of his or her faith. By emphasizing personal religious experience, any person can contribute to a conversation about ethics or values, regardless of whether his/her beliefs fit into a defined religious category.

The growing trend towards identifying as “religiously unaffiliated” or “other” also poses a challenge in the sense that existing religious categories are increasingly insufficient to describe the Millennial Generation. Although Christianity remains the predominant religion in the United States, significant minorities of Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Baha’i, and others exist as well. The recent tragedy at a Sikh gurudwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, as well as the increasing number of hate crimes against Muslims indicate that the presence of these so-called “minority religions” also have a profound effect on American life. Grouping all members of these (often dissimilar) communities into the single category of “other” is unhelpful because it does nothing to understand each faith’s unique attitudes or beliefs.

If we want to fix our democracy, one of our main challenges is to re-evaluate our categorization of religion in the United States, and also emphasize the importance of personal religious experience. Only then can we help each member of our nation—whether they fit into a defined religious category or not—feel comfortable in voicing their own values.