I come from a family that has a strict religious background. As a child, I enjoyed going to church and attending Sunday school. Looking back on it now, I've come to the realization that I only enjoyed going because I perceived it as a family activity. Never once did I think there was an ultimate motive as to why my parents wanted us to go to church. At that time, I don't think I truly understood what being religious meant. What stood out to me the most was how methodical religious procedures were. My family is Catholic and there is a specific routine that is done during mass that never varies; it's constantly repetitive. After discussing Plato's Cave in class the other day, I began to correlate his analogy with how I felt as a kid going to church.
I'm not implying that religion enslaves people. In fact there are several types of religion that enlighten, motivate and emotionally heal people. However, I viewed myself enslaved by my emotions when it came to church. I didn't fully understand what it mean to be Catholic nor was I perturbed by it. The reason behind it was because I, like the prisoners shackled in Plato's cave, didn't really seem to mind what was going on around me because going to church was a habit. In essence, it was more like a "shadow". Going to church was a part of my family's routine and therefore I wanted to follow that.
It wasn't until I got older that my mind became more liberal. There are certain practices, beliefs, and limitations that the religion my family practices has. Most of which I don't agree with. I've seen families break apart because there was something done within that family that is taboo against religion. I've known people who lose themselves in their religion that sometimes they lose touch with others. When I tell people that I'm not religious, they think that I don't believe in God. It isn't that I have lost my faith, but more in the fact that I've become enlightened as to where my faith should go. Instead of going to church because of habit, I would choose to go in order to seek answers. One of my favorite quotes is by Nietzsche which states: "I cannot believe in a God who wants to be praised all the time". Whenever I think of this quote, I reflect back to when I was a child singing hymns and reading biblical passages. I do recall wondering if God knew how much we praised him and if it all truly did matter. I always thought that he would be accepting no matter what our flaws were. I still believe that, but after my experiences of coming across people who were strictly religious and easily condemn others, it makes me wonder if they think God is more accepting of people then they are. I reiterate, it isn't religion that enslaves people, but it may be the overwhelming emotion, expectations, and passion that do.
I can completely understand your views of religion. I too went to church and Sunday school every week as a child. I could repeat what I had learned in Sunday school to my parents but I did not really know what any of it meant. I feel that many people practice religion in that same manner and just go through the motions without ever really taking it to heart.
ReplyDeleteMany people spend a lot of time judging others’ religious practices. In Christianity there is a constant battle between Catholics and Protestants and even battles among the Protestant denominations. People tend to focus on the small differences between the sects instead of focusing on the similarities. I feel like this kind of judgment should be left up to a higher power.
I believe that in general, parents have good intentions when they raise their children by their own system of beliefs and their own senses of truth. Just as in The Allegory of the Cave, the motives of the puppeteers, which in this case would be your parents, are not known to be ill willed.
It seems as if your “shackles” came off as your perspective broadened. As children, our sense of truth is the same as our parents because we are only exposed to their beliefs and have not developed independent thought. As we grow up we are exposed to many different perspectives and they can either reaffirm our truths or change them.
I too grew up in a conservative household and became more liberal with age. I found that sometimes my religious views conflicted with my political views. I believe that our God is pretty indiscriminate and will not punish us if we don’t agree with the church 100 percent of the time. Will I go to hell because I think gay people should be able to marry? Will I go to hell because I am a scientist who may do stem cell research one day? I don’t think so.
Like I said in class, I find it productive sometimes to re-frame questions. This goes double for questions we have negative judgments of but which still affect us significantly. So if someone disapproves of, or more simply doesn't find worship in that form productive, yet still has an idea of god, faith, or even more simply higher ideals, I wonder if there are other ways to worship.
ReplyDeleteWorshiping is celebration, veneration, and observation of higher beliefs. Can we do that in other forms, in a way that upholds our principles and those beliefs? For myself, I feel like I am doing all three when I am experiencing a moving place in nature, listening carefully to music or viewing art, and (most significantly) working to relate authentically to my girlfriend, family, community, and my students.
On top of that, once established, these all begin to take defined forms and repeated shapes--- actually, kind of like routines also do. They are sort of routines actually. But there is a significant difference between habitually acting them out them in an unconscious or mechanical way, and practicing them as a deliberate and responsible way of life. The word "Religion" in this argument is a moot point in my opinion and experience---- what matters is what gives meaning and how we purposively make meaning in our lives. This also seems to characterize your own self-reflections and how you've worked to develop your character and world view.
There are a couple movies that explore these and the themes Karen discussed in her response above. Though not necessarily religious, the movie "Stragner than Fiction" compellingly explores this distinction between conscious and unconscious behavior, and between methodical vs deliberate practice/worship of life. From the standpoint of religious practice, "The Mission" is pretty powerful too. Or, for a deep and powerful cinematic achievement, "The Passion of Joan of Arc" is powerful in how it contrasts these two views. Make sure you check out the silent film version, not the modern Mila Jovovich one. Thanks for your thoughts here, I share many of them and appreciated reading them from another perspective.