In the divine tapestry of creation, color is not merely pigment—it is poetry. Each human hue whispers of the Creation’s ingenuity, each skin tone a stanza in the sacred hymn of life. And yet, humanity has tarnished this gift, not only misinterpreting color, but misusing it to justify exclusion, superiority, and division.

The Betrayal of Divine Intention

If Creation painted us in earth’s full spectrum, who gave us the brush to redraw it in shades of exclusion? The problem lies not in our diversity, but in how we weaponize it. Color has too often been turned into caste; belief into boundary. And when skin and scripture become gatekeepers to love, something sacred is lost.

Region, Religion, and Restricted Love

Across communities—Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, and Christian alike—interfaith relationships often face resistance. A person may be cherished, yet denied partnership simply because of religious difference. This isn’t a condemnation of any one faith—it’s a call to all of them.

Consider the story of John, a man who brought Mariama, the woman he loved, from West Africa to the United States. They envisioned a shared life. Yet Mariama’s mother traveled all the way from Guinea to forcibly separate them—because John would not convert to Islam. The heartbreak wasn’t just theirs. It was the consequence of a system where love must pass through theological gatekeeping to be deemed acceptable.

Spirituality Versus Religious Dogma

John identifies as spiritual—not religious—a seeker of truth and compassion beyond rigid doctrine. But when love must conform to dogma, we must ask: Are we preserving faith, or strangling it? Must devotion be validated by religious identity to be sanctified? Should our spiritual traditions demand uniformity at the expense of unity?

Toward a Theology of Human Dignity

Let us reimagine our religions not as gates, but as gardens. Let faith serve love—not restrain it. Let skin be sacred. Let belief be fluid. Let marriage be a union of souls, not just scriptures.

We must honor Creation not through exclusion, but through empathy.

Love should not be conditional. It should be courageous.

The Final Cry

In an increasingly divided world, this article speaks to the urgent need for interfaith compassion and the reclaiming of love from the grip of exclusion. It is a call to soften the edges of doctrine, to widen the gates of empathy, and to remember that love, in its truest form, transcends creed.

The post When Love Is locked first appeared on Dissident Voice.

This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Sammy Attoh.

This post was originally published on Radio Free.