It was interesting that during the last class we were able to dip our toes into pagan traditions through the jigsaw assignment. In the research I did for my capstone project I explored goddess traditions to make a case for women being at the center of medicine through these healing deities. It was fascinating to see the modern traditions associated with goddesses and again I saw the same pattern of empowerment as is the case with Wicca/witchcraft. I also appreciated that the article I read (Dragonfest) not only detailed the way that women were empowered through the religion but also the ways that patriarchy and gender roles were being combated to aid in the empowerment of women. It also made me consider how much of this is was idealized. How many practitioners weren’t just having fun with the “magic” of it all. It seems like a tradition that is involved in that level of social justice would be larger or gather more attention especially given our modern circumstances. But, instead, it is a relatively small group which leads me to believe that there is another level to this that I cannot see. I would assume either 1. Much of the concepts and beliefs are idealized and at a ground level things are different 2. The connotation of witchcraft is so counterculture to our American Christianity that groups like these are and will continue to be marginalized.

This week I completed my second congregation visit. It was unlike any experience I have had before and vastly different from my first congregation visit. It was welcoming and lively. Singing, dancing and playing musical instruments was a common thread throughout the whole service. The experience began much like my first congregation visit, with a song. It then led into a synopsis of what has been completed throughout the week and a description of the events to come followed by an explanation of the safe shelter for women and ways to help out. It was explained that the shelter was previously going to close on Sunday the 31^st but the board of the church had decided to keep the shelter open for the women. Once the calendar was completed more songs were sung and then the visiting minister gave his sermon.

This day the power had gone out on the entire street, so they adapted and projected their voices and the visiting minister stood on the same level as the congregation and gave his sermon without the assistance of the projector or videos. The sermon was structured to make the members of the congregation feel as though they have a strong inner power and gave suggestions on how to build on that inner strength. All in all, the sermon was uplifting and centered around the personal self and the power we have to shape our own lives.

This morning I went to my usual Sunday service at my local church back at my hometown.  The senior pastor Dave Fukuyama spoke and gave yet another powerful message. He emphasized his sermon on what the word “peacemaker” means and how those who do consider themselves Christian should be one.  He explained how a peacemaker is one who doesn’t start fights, doesn’t gossip, doesn’t start rumors, etc. In order to be a peacemaker, one shows faithfulness to God no matter what the circumstances are. Pastor Dave gave us an example of how him and his friend got into a huge fight.  The argument kept going on for days which then turned into weeks and he just got tired of the constant fighting. He then decided to become, in this situation, the peacemaker and took one step to reconcile himself with the friend. The friend and pastor Dave finally made their amends and are friends till this day.  He believes that being a peacemaker allowed him to save a very important friendship of his. Pastor Dave also touched on the subject that being a peacemaker indicates that you are a child of God. A quote was given on the screen and it explained how if one finds joy in scandals, if one is unwilling to make peace, if one is mean, etc. then you are not a true Christian.  He explained more on this quote how being involved with the church doesn’t mean you are a true Christian. What it means to be a true Christian is that you are obedient to God and live in the life of Jesus Christ.

I don’t have a great relationship with a person in my life and we have been fighting lately.  Today’s message made me realize that I need to be the peacemaker and ultimately make amends with them.  I really enjoyed this sermon. It really made me look at my own actions in my life from a different point of view and reminded me what it means to be a true Christian.  

The jigsaw assignments prove to be very thorough in the way they bring us individually together to learn about if conservative, traditional religions are indeed becoming more militant and what that does to their future.  I thought crafting a non-verbal display would be difficult—and it is; however, it makes it a little better in a group.  On Tuesday, my group and I discussed one of Professor Spickard’s own text; and it was a doozy.  The main idea followed religious change in response to the social and theological change happening all the time in America.  Nowadays, people shut out religion because it is deemed too “conservative”, or “militaristic”.  Professor Spickard states that this thought takes away the weight of religion and its stance in moral/ethical discussions.  In other words, it undercuts people to let religion be a part of the public conversation.  Nobody is talking about religion due to the way the media has displayed it as being too radical rather than something that can be seen as an ethical part of one’s life.

Then, for my next reading on Thursday, I learned all about the British organization called Quest; which is an organization dedicated to gay and lesbian Catholics as they are free to express both their religious and sexual identity.  What is fascinating is most of the respondents’ positions on the current issues.  For example; many Catholics are accepting of same-sex relations; as long as it is in a committed relationship—like marriage.  Another majority are completely against the idea of same-sex relations—and many of the Quest community do not believe that the institutionalized church will change its mind.

The term “Fluffy Bunny” is used as a derogatory term within the contemporary Pagan religion to refer to practitioners whose adherence to the faith is perceived as being superficial and dominated by consumerist values. As the lines between authentic pagan adherence and commercialism blur, it is hard to identify who genuinely appreciates the religion and who falls under the category of the fluffy bunny. This may not seem very troubling, but what Woodward’s article, “Fluffy Bunny Syndrome,” says is the contrary. Modern media representations of the craft is a complete misrepresentation of it; it fosters surface meanings by trivializing and fetishizing the craft into entertainment which devalues the actual spiritual practice. Many of the representations of the Pagan religion are wrong and overly induced in the magical aspect of it, but this turns people to believe falsities. Craft tools sold as commodities— wands, for example, popularized by the Harry Potter series— promotes a “dabbling” in the craft and not a serious engagement with its principles and philosophies. These practices and tools need to be conducted in an appropriate context and with right intent, but the commodification and consumerism imbued in these religious symbols eliminates the deeper meanings of craft symbolism. However, there are Pagans who say turning their practice into commodity may attract people to the craft, so it is seen as a way to advertise the religion. Pagans themselves who are serious in their practice can also fall for secretly liking the fluffy bunny stuff, like television shows that may not accurately represent the religion, but that still bring representation of such a group in the media.

My jigsaw reading for this week was Understanding Fundamentalism by Antoun. I really enjoyed this reading and it indeed helped me to not only understand fundamentalism, but it helped me understand fundamentalists. I attempt to see things from the point of view of others, but I sometimes simply just don’t understand why people think or feel a certain way. It seems that Antoun went further into explaining the secularization our society is currently undergoing in order for the reader to better understand why some people fear and/or oppose it. Essentially, what he was saying is that our focus has shifted from relationships, religion, and human morality to production/work/technology, big government and corporations, and money. These modern aspects of society are viewed as most important in ensuring the success of our country and overall well-being, and going along with it is a measure of national loyalty. Antoun has termed this “secualar nationalism”.

Obviously, some see this move away from tradition as an indication that people are losing their morals and will sacrifice what is right for personal gain. I see both sides of the debate. While it’s no secret or surprise that our society is rapidly changing, especially technologically, have we indeed become increasingly selfish? Perhaps in some respects. However, although fundamentalists reject the concept of pluralism and globalization, they are very real consequences of the increase in technology. That being said, I think the move away from tradition and the need for increased acceptance of other viewpoints isn’t all that bad. In fact, I think it may be used as a defense mechanism. Since we can now connect with people all over the world, if we were always worried about worldviews which don’t align with our own and what that may mean for the individual, we would probably all have incredibly high anxiety. I can understand the fear that we are living too much for material possession and personal gain and what that may be doing to our psyche. However, it does seem that to a degree, we may be forced to “go with the flow” or “move with the times”. Maybe the increased privatization of religion in our society is simply the way in which we’ve attempted to balance this need for tradition and the need for modernization.

This past week the focus of class discussions was on the various ideas about secularization presented through several Jigsaw readings. Each piece discussed a different theory about secularization and what it meant for the future of religion and society. I read the Demerath reading, “Secularization and Sacralization” which essentially discussed how secularization was a complicated topic and no single theory necessarily captured the complexity of it. I really agreed with this view after listening to the other groups present the ideas from their articles, while individual theories may be valid and explain the issue well, none of them seemed to cover the whole span of secularization. Demerath theorized that religion could be both on the decline and on the rise at the same time, which is very different from the one-or-the-other standpoints of the other readings. I think it was interesting to hear from each individual theorists view, and understand their reasoning behind that view and then encompassing all those ideas with the Demerath reading. At the same time each theorist was discussing secularization from their unique field of study so its possible that each article did not capture their whole idea about secularization. The discussion of secularization in class is super interesting to me because I have always viewed religion as something in decline, and it interests me to hear the debate on what the true state of religion is in regards to secularization and the future.

For the first jigsaw assignment I read Unsecular America by Roger Finke. Finke examines the different claims of the secularization theory and offers counter evidence. He states that church adherence rates have remained stable throughout the 20th century. In America, adherence rates are higher in urban areas and are influenced positively by diversity. The fastest growing denominations believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible and are strict with their members. Finke highlights that while the modernization equals secularization model may apply to some European countries, it does not hold true in America . He suggests that this may be because America has traditionally separated church and state while many European countries have long intertwined the two. In countries such as the UK, religion is more heavily regulated and it would be harder for smaller religious groups to start up. It’s much easier to start a religious group in America which leads to greater diversity in religion, which as Finke believes, positively impacts adherence rates.

When reading a scholarly article, especially on a topic I don’t know a lot about, I often believe what the author says without much question. Hearing all of the other groups present their articles in class, and realizing many conflicted with what Finke says in Unsecular America, made me question what to believe. I think the last group’s presentation on their article, which pushed for there not being one right answer and that many things were at play, helped tie the conflicting views together.

This week our jigsaw readings and presentations were centered around different secularization theories, and Thursday’s class made me start thinking about whether secularization or religiosity is better for society as a whole. My first thought was that religion is probably beneficial to society, since so much volunteering and charity work is done through religious organizations. A religious society would theoretically be very happy, too, since religion is meant to provide a sense of purpose. It also crossed my mind that a large religious presence could result in lower crime rates, not only because good morals often come with piety, but because programing outside of weekend services can help keep idle hands busy. However, a quick Google search revealed that Vatican City had the highest crime rate in the world in 2017.

While religion is beneficial to society, and America remains a relatively religious player on the worldstage, it is my experience that my generation as a whole is moving further from organized religion. Most people I know hardly go to church if at all, and a lot of those people are atheists. I think this might have to do with how socially and intellectually progressive my generation is. Most people my age believe in gender equality and accept the LGBT community, which both go against the beliefs of some mainstream religions, and these fallacies bring into question the logic of other religious stories, such as those surrounding the creation of the universe.

This week’s jigsaw activity, where we each read different stories to be taught to each other was a really interesting class activity. My reading, Religious America, Secular Europe, was particularly intriguing because, while it definitely charted the differences in religiosity found in America vs Europe currently, it also highlighted the causes. I thought it was interesting how Berger noted that Europe had been largely unaffected by Evangelical Protestantism, which has played a major role in the rise of conservative religion across America. Furthermore, the fact that the UK has remained relatively unaffected by Pentecostalism is also very interesting, leading to the question of why Europe is unaffected by these conservative religious movements?

It is interesting to consider how Evangelical Protestantism has largely shaped the rise of religiosity in America. When we think of conservative and highly religious groups in America, it easy to immediately think of Evangelicalism. In many ways, Evangelicalism is often thought of in its extreme examples, but it is important not to overlook the fact that Evangelicalism has appealed to a large portion of people in the country. When I think of the stereotype of Evangelicalism, I tend to think of the movie Jesus Camp (2006), which detailed the goings on of a Evangelical Christian summer camp called Kids on Fire. This movie focused on profiling highly religious individuals and how it has affected the raising of their children. In the Berger readings this week, it became apparent that this experience is uniquely American in many ways, as our relationship with religion pervades politics, media, and education in ways completely different from Europe.