“I am a Muslim,” our guide
announced over the loudspeaker
as our tour through Istanbul began.
“I am a Muslim because
I was born in Istanbul.
If I had been born in Rome
I would be a Catholic.
If I had been born in New Delhi
I would be a Hindu.
If I had been born Katmandu
I would be a Buddhist.
If I had been born in Jerusalem
I would be a Jew.
But I was born in Istanbul
so I am a Muslim.”
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Geworfenheit = G. ‘throwness’
This German word is used by the existentialist philosopher Martin Heidegger in Being and Time to name the reality that we arrive in our world without choice as if we were thrown into being.
Few people thoughtfully choose their religion out of careful study of all religious options. Our religion comes with the cultural context in which we are born. We may choose to opt out of the religion, but even so it remains an influence on our lives. Our inherited birth religion is the religion we have chosen not to be. Like language, religion is included in the gift basket when we arrive in the party of life.