Structured Unity

After watching the film on Monday, I began to question the benefits of belonging to a religious community. Some people use religious organizations as a way to find familiarity in new places and others use them to find their new identities. Personally, my biggest obstacle with religion is trying to figure out whether or not I want to attend church and belong to a set community. While I think I would enjoy the support and feeling of togetherness that comes with attending weekly church services, I also like to keep my relationship with God on a personal level. In chapter 3 of “Religion: The Social Context”, McGuire writes that the meaning of being religious, “changes in different periods of life, and the place of religion in the individual’s life also changes” (McGuire 53). This has remained true in my own progressing religious journey. As a child I went to a Catholic church and being religious was just a part of my Wednesday night and Sunday morning routine, but today, I do not have a physical location and my connection with God is more genuine than it has ever been before. I fully support people who need or prefer to to have a structured religion, but I am in the process of trying to figure out what I believe, so I need room to move around and grow. I believe that churches benefit those who seek the unity, but I think they could also hold us back from uniting with the other religions that surround them.