The National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur is only open to tourists at certain hours, and I waited patiently in the blazing sun for quite a while before donning a purple robe that covered me from head to toe and walking up the cold stone stairs that led to the mosque. It was not at all what I expected, even though I did not know what to expect. The mosque welcomed its guests with a wide open space filled by a shallow pool. The Muslim only worshipping hall was in the middle, with no pews or images, just a wide open space for people to sit and pray. Tourists lingered outside the hall where there were nothing but columns, and the walls were decorated with geometric shapes that let the light shine through. There’s serenity in its simplicity, and the empty space seems to be filled with an air of reverence.
A Muslim girl saw me looking through the brochures, smiled and handed me one titled “Who Is Jesus Christ?” I took it and thanked her, then sat on the marble floor and leaned against a column. I enjoyed the peacefulness for a while before beginning to read the brochures. It’s easy to tell when something’s written by the faithful thinking as the faithful, for the words will come out as “this is the truth because it’s true.” True faith requires no reason and that’s the way it should be, but to the mind that requires convincing, the words can sound a bit arrogant. If people would only agree to disagree, I thought.
There was an interesting argument post by an atheist on Quora in response to a question I’ve already forgotten. The atheist said, everyone is an atheist in someone’s eyes. That was an interesting argument. There are so many monotheistic religions in the world today, there is no way to believe in something without having your beliefs challenged by someone else. Perhaps not today, perhaps not with the people you know right now, but somewhere someone is making an argument to refute whatever you believe in. To those of us who spend our hours lurking on sites like Quora, not a day goes by without having long-held views challenged or affirmed.
Personally I think it’s great. I love a good argument, and if I can’t readily defend my beliefs, perhaps they are not worth believing. Of course, there’s a difference between losing an argument because you are just not very good at arguing versus losing a debate because you have false premises/faulty logic. Most of the world’s problems have no right solutions and many of the things we argue about have no right answers. We simply don’t know enough. But it’s precisely the argument itself, the fact that we are constantly being challenged, that excites our minds, encourages the formation of new ideas, promotes the search for new evidence, and drives the advancement of civilization.
So who is Jesus Christ? I will have a different answer than the Muslim girl who volunteers at the national mosque, my Christian roommates who grew up in American suburbs, my immigrant parents who were taught the evils of religion in a closed society, and all the people from random countries that I’ve met in other random countries. I am grateful that for the most part, I’ve been able to humbly ask them the question “who is Jesus Christ” and give my own answer, then sip some sangria and cheer to the fact that we have the freedom to agree to disagree.
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