When asked if I’m religious, I struggle to answer. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. Growing up, I was constantly involved with my religious community. I attended religious classes, prayed with my community every Friday and celebrated every holiday. It wasn’t just about religion; this community was and still is a part of my identity.
I identify as a Shia Ismaili Muslim and I believe in several aspects of Islam, yet there are parts of Islam I question or simply don’t connect with. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe in those teachings — I do, but not everything I believe comes from my religion.
I still have a strong faith in God, but over time, I’ve also found myself drawn to ideas from other religions and even some beliefs that aren’t religious at all. It’s as if I’ve picked up fragments from different belief systems that simply resonate with me based on my worldview. I’ve come to understand that there is a line between religion and faith, and that one’s identity is often shaped by both.
Religion and faith may sound similar, but they feel different. These two terms are used interchangeably but don’t always mean the same thing. DePaul religious instructor and member of the Congregation of the Mission Christopher Robinson explained it like this:
“Religions are cultural constructs that can be proved. For example, religions have produced literature, structures, rituals, etc. Faith is believing in something that might be logical and reasonable and is also unprovable,” Robinson said. “There is no one definition of what is beautiful or what is love but we know it when we experience it. Faith is similar.”
Faith is defined by being personal, unprovable, unstructured, illogical. Yet, despite their differences, can religion exist without faith? I’d argue it’s no longer religion in its truest form. To me, religion without faith resembles performative behavior. It’s just going through the motions. Religion is about more than just rituals and traditions; it’s about connecting to something greater. Whether it’s about God, the universe or the community, it’s incomplete without faith.
At the same time, religion can be personal for some individuals and cultural for others. People may participate in religious rituals because it’s a part of their upbringing, something they’ve grown up with. But it’s not necessary that they will relate to every belief behind them. Religion comes with rituals, rules and expectations. For some, that structure is comforting and gives them a sense of direction. For others, it can feel overwhelming, like there’s a pressure to follow a certain path, even if your heart’s not really in it.
When that happens, religion can start to feel like a script. When people follow practices just because they feel they have to, rather than because they truly believe, it loses purpose. Faith is what breathes life into those rituals.
Mehvish Naqvi, a junior majoring in criminology, put it this way: “You don’t need to be religious to have faith, faith is more about hope and believing things are going to work out, even if you don’t have all the answers. Some people follow a religion but still lose that sense of trust when life gets hard, so religion and faith aren’t always the same thing.”
Making faith personal to you can be as simple as listening to a line in a song that you needed to hear or seeing a cloud formation in the sky that replicates your most recent thought. Faith isn’t tied to rules or rituals, it’s tied to you — to your intuition, your experiences, the way you choose to see the world. Faith is something you find, not something you’re handed, and that’s what sets religion apart.
“Finding your faith has a lot to do with your own personal life and what you do with your time,” said James Endter, a DePaul freshman majoring in film and television. “I personally found spirituality through things like theatre, but other people might find it through sports, writing, etc. Being taught religion is more like a catch-all for people, but finding your faith is very specific to you.”
Identifying with a religion is claiming a part of your identity.It can provide a sense of belonging and purpose, helping you align with a community that shares similar values and beliefs. It’s about knowing who you are and where you fit in the world.
However, labels can be daunting because they often come with a set of assumptions about who you are, what you stand for and how you should behave. The moment you label yourself as part of a specific religion, others start to form their own ideas of what that label means, and those ideas don’t always align with your personal experiences or interpretations of that faith.
While labels can create clarity and help others understand where you’re coming from, they can also confine you to a box of stereotypes. But what happens when you feel like the label doesn’t define who you are? This is where faith comes in. The beauty of faith is that it allows you to believe in something greater without the constraints of a label. It’s about believing in something that resonates with you, without being boxed into one category or definition.
This is how Audrey Hamilton, a freshman journalism major, describes the way she chooses to practice faith:
“I would tell people I don’t have a religion, and they’d be like, ‘Oh, so you’re atheist or agnostic,’ and I’d say, ‘No, I do have my beliefs, I just don’t identify under a certain religion.’”
Hamilton’s experience reflects how labels can be limiting, especially when it comes to something as personal as religion. It’s tough to navigate faith when you’re constantly measured against how it’s “supposed” to look. When you’re unsure about where you stand with religion or faith, it’s natural to start questioning. But is doubt a sign of weakness, or does it actually strengthen belief?
Humans are naturally curious, and without proof, we tend to doubt. It’s in our nature to question.
“A healthy faith demands that religions be questioned … doubt is not the opposite of faith. The opposite of faith is certitude,” Robinson, the C.M., said.
In other words, doubt doesn’t weaken faith, it strengthens it. If we’re questioning, it means we care enough to challenge, explore and understand these concepts. We’re actively participating in our faith, making it more meaningful and personal to our lives.
Faith is easy when things are going well. It’s always easier to believe in something when life is stable and unfolding in a way that’s working out. But when a crisis hits, and things fall apart, that’s when faith stops being just a concept and becomes something you have to hold onto.
It’s the act of assigning meaning to a moment, believing that something is guiding you or that there’s purpose in what you’re experiencing: that’s faith. It’s not always organized or explainable, but it’s real, or at least it feels real. And in times of crisis, that feeling is enough to keep you standing when everything else is falling apart.
Related Stories:
- Religion falters as more Americans reject traditional institutions
- Religious organizations reflect current use of interfaith spaces, hope for future engagement
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