Following the Passionate Journeys presentation I began to really wonder what drew people to different religious organizations and cults. It made me question how an individual in charge of a cult could gain power and how they made the decision to start one. I found this specific group interesting because it seemed like the individuals had everything materialistic they could have needed. Because most did not have to worry about basic necessities, I would have assumed that following a more common religion would have been easier because many focus on the specific ways to live your life to create a happy present life and future. Most of these members were unhappy with their lives and found sanctuary in the cult whether it was through a book or running into other members unintentionally. I am confused on how a religious/spiritual group who saves people could harm and kill strangers in the public. I also wonder what the probability of a cult becoming a more popular religion is. Would the increase of smaller religions decrease the amount of people who followed religions such as Christianity and Catholicism? Would it be more common for older or younger people to follow the smaller organizations? Although I did not read the book for my case study, I thought it brought a different perspective to more modern religions. Before this, I had never heard real accounts of cults and this specific one was as out of the box as I had imagined and stereotyped it to be.

In the movie “Born Again”, the lives of those who are engulfed in fundamental and conservative Christianity is shown. To them, their religion is not only the guide to navigate their lives, but it is also makes up the world that surrounds them. In “A Moment That Changed Me: Quitting the Jehovah’s Witnesses”, published in The Guardian, an anonymous writer recounts what it was like to leave her faith. Like the movie, the writer describes her religion and the boundaries that were set for everyone who was a part of it. They had their own schools that taught their own curriculum and were not encouraged to learn more than the bare minimum. They are all taught that, “once you leave you will become corrupted by the outside world and inevitably descend into selfishness, meanness and false happiness” (The Guardian). However, because her parents allowed her to make friends outside of the church and continue her studies at a public university, giving her a peep hole to the outside world, she realized that she simply did not believe in the religion anymore. Her mother was very hurt and she lost her closest friends, but she is happy with her decision because she, “began a life where [she] could decide what to believe for [herself], and [she] wasn’t afraid of someone telling [her] [she] couldn’t” (The Guardian).

This week we learned about how political views can coincide with religious beliefs. In recent debates, the separation between church and state has become something of question. With the proposed cancellation of funding for planned parenthood, the nation has divided into pro-life or pro-choice. Already on my own, I was able to recognize that it was more common for religious conservatives to support pro-life and non-religious liberals to support pro-choice. After reading, chapter eight of, “American Religion”, I learned that this assumption was true. Chaves writes, “Actively religious Americans are more politically and socially conservative than less religious Americans” (Chaves 94). I find this interesting because it makes me question what “actively religious” could be defined as. In most cases, I would it to consider to mean that they personally follow what their religion guides them to do, but religion can be taken literal or it can be interpreted. This also makes me question how much separation there is between the church and state and how much there really can be. It is more common for people with conservative beliefs to be in the Republican party (Chaves 95), so when the presidential seat changes parties, I think the gap between church and state would shift. However, because a person’s opinions and beliefs are influenced by religion (or absence of it) it is very difficult to keep the church completely separated from state. Whether we intend to or not, religion has impact on who we choose to be and how we make decisions.

In last week’s class we discussed the differences between official and non-official religions. New ways to practice religion are constantly popping in the world around us and an example of this is “Jediism”. Jeddism is based off of the Star Wars movie and franchise and, “draws on the writings of Joseph Campbell, a scholar who examined the underlying structure of myths in religions and whose ideas inspired the filmmaker, George Lucas” (The New York Times, 23 January 2017). In order to join you must register an account online and follow the 8 step process, ending with the assignment of a one on one mentor. Like all other world religions, Jediism focuses to create greater life now and an ideal afterlife. It’s main energy is similar to Qi in Taoism, but here it is the “force”. While Christopher D. Shea’s article in The New York Times did not mention if Jediism is considered an official religion, I consider it to be on the verge of becoming one. The only aspect it is missing are official rituals and an official form of scripture. While some view it as a joke, others take this rising religion as seriously as any other, more common, forms of belief.

The focus of this week was on the differences between official and non-official religions. In order to be an official religion you must have an official location, official leaders, official doctrines, and official rituals. Non-official religions happen wherever, by whomever, doing whatever, however. In chapter two of Chaves’, “American Religion: Contemporary Trends”, he discusses the society’s, “ self-described religious identity” (Chaves 18). Through studies of self-reported religious affiliations, Chaves was able to gain perspective on fluctuating religious affiliation trends. Of the options given for this study (Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, None, and Other), I found the data for the response “None” most interesting because of its steady increase. From 1974-1993 the percentage of “None” responses was under 10% (Chaves 17). After 1993, there has been a consistent gradual increase. This does not mean that all religions suffer a decrease in followers, but it makes me question why people have chosen to not believe or affiliate themselves with a religion. I also want to know how spirituality fits into the study. Would people feel spirituality so deeply that the would consider to be an “Other” response? Chaves mentions that this study could not measure religiosity or whether or not they attend church services, but I want to know how these measures could be taken into account. How many people who do not attend church consider themselves religious? How do churches and religious leaders define being religious? If you practice non-official religion, are you considered religious in this study?

Due to the inauguration of our new President, the already rising concerns regarding the discontinuation of federal funding for Planned Parenthood has boiled over. In response to the restriction of women’s access to health care, the worldwide Women’s March demonstrated the disapproval of a variety of potential acts.It is common to find that those believe in a religion lean towards the pro-life side of the controversy, however, in, “Yes, People Of Faith Can Absolutely Support Planned Parenthood”, Carol Kuruvilla interview people in religious leadership positions who are pro-choice. Amnita Kilawan, the co-founder of Sadhana: Coalition of progressive Hindus argues that by refusing women the right of choosing whether to have an abortion or not, “‘denies the equality the Bhagavad Gita call upon [them] to carry out’” (Kuruvilla). Ani Zonneveld the president of Muslim for Progressive Views describes that the first 120 days of a pregnancy (before God gives soul to the baby) is open to abortion, but afterwards it is not favored unless the baby is harming the mother, the pillar of family structure. The article also interviews Pagans, Jews, and Christians all describing how when viewed in a different light, they could believe in their religion and still remain pro-choice.

This article showed me that while religion can reflect itself within every aspect of who someone is and the decisions they make, it is possible to find an individuality. Not all religious people are pro-life and not all non-believers are pro-choice. Some people view this controversy as a result of a diminishing separation between the church and state, but every correlation has an outlier.

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.