Questions

Jesus, Muhammad, and Buddha sit at a table. They talk casually and sip water between comments. The world is churning and its people are at war. Muhammad sarcastically mentions a childhood memory. Jesus laughs and asks Buddha about his childhood. Millions of priests declare war on foreign infidels and a shaman in eastern Tibet lies dying. He prays for the last time to a deity he never knew. Buddha reminisces about old friends and brighter days. Man struggles onward, through an eternal cycle, praying to whoever will listen; pleading to any open ears, striving for redemption and salvation. Jesus, Muhammad, and Buddha leave the table and with a flick of the switch, the world goes dark. I fear that my generation like every generation before will fall victim to the internal struggle between power and coexistence. The balance between acknowledging anothers opinion without sacrificing the strength of ones own has led to conflict since ancient times. Religion, naturally, creates compromising situations between those of different doctrine, however, should society allow resolvable conflict to envelop itself? My friends and I often laugh about the narrow-minded politicians that believe they still live in a purely white protestant America. But this despicable trend isnt exclusive to previous generations. My own peers have followed suit, demoralizing themselves for the sake of morality. Religion and the power it holds intoxicates the human mind and reveals itself through war and struggle. I once asked my Youth Pastor if he thinks religion is worth declaring war over. He replied that in the face of religious oppression, yes. Even if its the oppression of Islam or Judaism? I countered. A silence rose between us. A friend and I worked on a philosophy paper together; being Jewish, he questioned me about my faith asking, Do you think Im wrong for being Jewish? I had never faced this dilemma: to flagrantly assert my religious belief, or to compromise my own personal faith. I explained my belief that only God has the power to decide that, after all, I could just as easily be the wrong one. I worry that my generation, despite the revolutionary technology that has helped unify the world unlike any other time in history, will plunge into the archaic sea of ignorance that has for so long been home to humanity. My generation finds itself in a trap. We see no sensible alternative to passion and blind faith but apathy. Disillusionment is not reserved for the war-torn. Like a defense mechanism, our indifference shields us from the constant struggle between being strong in belief and being a boisterous radical. Believing in nothing, it seems, gives life more peace than practicing a disagreeable religion. In my life, war has remained, in some way, constant since I was six. My generation has adapted to constant conflict, yet the human desire within us to resolve war has not died. We cannot yet vote or run in elections, but we do what we can to ensure an optimistic future, despite the personal sacrifice.