Dear Interfaith Colleagues,

Hello. My name is Noah. I am a 24 year-old grad student, residing in the greater Seattle area. I come to this forum as a young person who has felt a spiritual/religious void in their life for quite some time. I was raised in an irreligious environment, generally ascribing to the idea that religion creates unnecessary, irreconcilable ideological barriers between groups of people. These barriers, as my family would assert, have lead to some of the most atrocious, tragic and heinous acts of violence in recent and not-so-recent history.

Sharing the views of my family was easy until I started to really think about the meaning of my existence. Over the past year or so, I have experienced an existential crisis of sorts. The impetus of my crisis was that I found myself no longer satisfied with creating my own God. This doesn't mean that I am opposed to the theory that we, as human beings, have the capacity to alter our reality and to influence our daily mood by embracing a positive outlook on our life; rather, I am merely unsatisfied with creating the creator. Thus, I started to research several religious options. Or, as Rodney Stark would have it, I became a consumer in the religious marketplace.

Having grown up in the U.S., the most prevalent religious option is Christianity. Admittedly, Christian notions of God have shaped some of my ideas about God. It is practically impossible to grow up in Kansas (yeah, I grew up in Kansas) and not be somewhat influenced by your social surroundings. However, in my personal opinion, Christian theology does not make sense. I have never been able to understand the trinity. (most Christian scholars and theologians are even perplexed by the trinity... Their answer, essentially, is almost always: "You just have to have faith") The fact that a group of Christians (human beings) had to pass a vote about the divinity of Jesus is also troublesome. Furthermore, the concept of the "original sin" that I inherited, without choice, is irreconcilable with any idea that I am free to make moral choices and be judged justly and fairly for the choices that I have made.

Having said that, I want to express that I have many Christian friends who see no problem with the issues I have just raised. They are happy with the faith that they have. And I am happy to be their friends. These are merely personal problems that I have and should not be taken as an attack on Christianity. So, since the most popular (or affordable) option in the U.S. religious market is out of the question for me, I have had to look elsewhere for a religious experience… My current journey has brought me to two primary choices: Sikhism and Islam.

I first learned about Sikhism in a sociology of religion class at the University of Washington. While I was initially very attracted to Sikhism, I have a problem knowing that the source of the Sikh Holy Book is not divine in the traditional sense of it being a prophetic revelation from God. I still believe that there are many great Moral lessons in Sikhism that are shared by all or most of the monotheistic/polytheistic traditions. My current view towards Sikhism is that it is a great resource for an open discourse on religious pluralism and universal moralism, but the source is still fallible because the authors of the text were merely Gurus - enlightened, yes; infallible, no.

This leads to Islam. While Islam is probably the most attacked (both verbally and physically) religion today, it is - if one studies it properly - also one of the most beautiful monotheistic traditions in the world. The premise of believing in One God is so simple, and, in that simplicity I have found a great deal of solace.
Acclaimed Muslim scholar, Farid Esack, has outlined 6 categorical relationships towards approaching the Qur'an and Islam in his book, The Qur'an: A User's Guide. I would currently put myself into the category of "Friend of the Lover." In other words, I am a participant observer of the Islamic faith. I haven't completely embraced the religion yet, but I am on the brink of doing so. I have performed Salat (5 daily prayers) on several occasions and have recited the Shahadah out loud. If that makes me a Muslim, then so be it.

One last note: I do not profess to be an authority on religious issues. I do not have a degree in comparative religion nor do I have a vast amount of knowledge about religious history. My academic background is as a musician and sociologist. I have read several sociological works about religion and have written a 20-page paper about Sikhism. I attend a Lutheran church once a week, as a musician, and have read bits and pieces of the Bible. In regard to Islam, I have read the following books:
The Qur'an - English Translation
The Qur'an: A User's Guide by Farid Esack
Qur'an and Woman by Amina Wadud
Losing My Religion by Jeffrey Lang
Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism edited by Omid Safi
On Being A Muslim by Farid Esack
(I think I'm forgetting one or two)

My previous roommate was interested in Buddhism and Hinduism, so I have also had several discussions about those religions.
My favorite author is Herman Hesse and my favorite poet is Rumi. Yep.

I hope that the conversations on this board will prove to me and my family that religious ideological barriers do not have to lead to hateful words, polemic attacks, or worse... I look forward to reading your thoughts and opinions soon.

Peace be unto you,
-Noah
P.S. The title of this post and my user name are both in reference to Steely Dan lyrics. I LOVE STEELY DAN!

Hi Noah,

Thank you for the great introduction. I am also from the Seattle area and took some classes and the U of W. Go dawgs!

Anyway, I'm impressed with the studying you have done. I also love Rumi and have used some Rumi quotes here.

We have a lot of good discussions and debates here and we're all still alive to tell about it. I wish you a happy journey. Looking forward to getting to know you better on the forum.

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InterfaithForums.com-Where your ideas and beliefs count.

Welcome Noah! I am very impressed by your age and you wisdom. I look forward to reading your perspectives on this forum : )

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May your awareness be perfection

They've one of my favorites, too! (Infact, I was about your age when I listened to them all the time - I think I was a sophomore in college when Can't Buy a Thrill Came Out, and of course we had LP records then....... whoa......) I have a 24 year old son who is now listening to all the stuff I used to. It's pretty crazy!

Anyway, it's great to have you here and I look forward to reading future posts. What is your field of study in grad school?

p.s. your real name is also a great name for someone on a spiritual quest!!

Hi, Noah. Welcome to the forum. I look forward to getting to know you and understanding your perspective on life. Glad that you are here.

Thanks for the warm welcome. I will be happy to share my thoughts whenever I get the time to do so. Nice to meet all of you!
Peace be unto you,
Noah

Hi, Noah! Welcome to the forums.

Your user name caught my attention because I'm a Steely Dan fan and love the guitar solo from that song.