Reading Reflection 1/21/19

Reflection

Meaning systems. We all have them; we all interpret situations and events in our own way, but what formed them? Why do I see a certain situation differently than the person next to me?  Reading McGuire’s chapter two made me think about my own meaning system and how it was formed. McGuire discusses how each individual’s meaning system is learned from socialization, especially through religion. It is important to have a meaning system in order to define or find answers to things we don’t comprehend. Meaning systems help us define things such as death, poverty, illness, and other misfortunes. McGuire goes on to describe groups that all have one meaning system, or people who, for their whole lives, only surround themselves with those who share similar views. She describes these groups as “plausibility structures” and gives examples of religion in parts of Latin America where, “Most people spend their daily lives solely in the company of people who share major elements of their worldview” (38). This baffles me. I believe that we would all grow if we surround ourselves with people who think, see, and believe differently than us. I find it more beneficial for people to surround themselves with others who think differently in order to learn different views than to just stick with what they know and not expand outside of that.

I grew up in a devoted Catholic home and attended a Catholic high school where students did not need to be religious nor be specifically Catholic to attend. One might think that going to a religious school with the beliefs and meaning system that I already agreed with would cause my points of view to remain limited, but this is the opposite of what happened. Because my school accepted all religious backgrounds, I learned from many others with different meaning systems than those that I knew. This allowed me to grow as a person both in my religious views and in my evolving meaning system. Now in my life, I like to surround myself and talk with those who think differently than I do. I will admit that I am closest with those who have similar values as me, but when it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter if someone has different political or religious views, because as long as they respect mine, I will respect theirs too. These are the people from whom we learn most. We cannot learn from those who already know what we know and see life as we do. We must expand, go outside of what we know, and go outside of our comfort zones so we may grow. Once this is achieved,  I believe we will prosper.

Religion vs Spirituality

Reflection

In Chapter one of McGuire’s book “Religion: The Social Context”, they discuss how different definitions of religion shapes one’s explanation of its role in society. Religion is difficult to put in a box of words when there is a large and varying understanding as to what religion is. Some definitions can be misleading and construe the view of religion in society with a negative connotation when used carelessly. Furthermore, religion is commonly paired with spirituality, in which many argue that they are different or the same.

This point from McGuire reminded me of a discussion I had in my African American Religion and Spirituality class regarding the difference,  and if there is one, between religion and spirituality. In my discussion we attempted to come up with key words under each category that would help define and create an understanding of that category. For instance, under “Religion” we came up with words such as: God/Creator, Common belief system, Set of Rules, Formal, and Traditions/Rituals. On the other hand, under “Spirituality” we wrote words such as: Individualized understanding, Less strict, different approach, Choice, and Higher power. We went back and forth on whether these two words have different meanings, how much their meanings overlap, or whether one was a subcategory of the other. In my opinion and understanding  of the words, the two overlap more than they are separate. I believe that there is a sense of spirituality in religion, but not necessarily a sense of religion in spirituality. Meaning that someone can subscribe to a certain religion and be spiritual but someone being spiritual does not necessarily mean they subscribe to a certain religion.

I think looking at these definitions through a sociological lenses creates an interesting conversation due to the different interpretations that can be presented while doing so.

The Danger of Social Media

Denominations, Reflection

While baffled trying to come up with a topic idea, I like most people, found myself scrolling through social media trying to stumble upon an interesting discovery. Unsurprisingly, I found Religious groups or “Denominations” posting on these sites to recruit or bring in new members. Admittedly I was doing this to procrastinate on another assigned reading for another class. I was supposed to be reading William LaFleur’s Buddhism: a cultural perspective, in which LaFleur introduces the idea of Buddhism spreading via the Silk Road. One could imagine how this was an effective way to sell goods and even ideologies, cultures, and religion. From this the West developed “Hip Zen” a misguided and stereotyped form of Ch’an better known as Zen Buddhism. All this to show that even before the internet and social media religious groups were able to spread their culture and beliefs in a similar effectiveness. Wanting to understand the groups ideals and community I dug deeper into their social media page. Just like most of us they were trying to force an image of who they were. They also talked about what collective representations they took part of and talked about multiple individuals experiences. While trying to sell what they believe to be good, I couldn’t help but to see the egotism and closed mindedness that many religions enable in their followers. This also reminded me of the ISIS recruiting tactics and made clear that small ambitious “Denominations” walk a very fine line between an ambitious church and radical group. This is another example of The Neo-Nazi group McGuire talks about in chapter 2 section Two Opposing Principles: Good and Evil. The line between what we consider to be good and evil is skewed and many religions get stuck in a cycle of assuming they’re morally right, when they aren’t actually doing any good.

Blog Reflection 1/21

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Currently in class we are sharing our different backgrounds and experiences with religion. One thing I found in common was many students experience with the Catholic Church and my Dad’s experience at the church were both a like. Similar to many kids that grew up in the Catholic church, he also left when he was a teenager and never went back. Growing up, I can recall going to church during the holidays, but then slowly going less and less until we never went at all. My family was never extremely religious and was always open to believing whatever you wanted to about religion. While growing up in San Jose, I never felt that religion was a huge deal or topic in our everyday society. I had friends that would go to church on the holidays or every Sunday, but when greeting someone nobody ever asked, “What church do you go to” like in San Antonio, Texas. We are currently reading McGuire’s text: “Religion: The Social Context” where she brings up certain cities such as San Antonio that has a plethora of religions that are very important to each person. I found it interesting that San Antonio had so many religions present and that so many people were so heavily involved with their churches. When comparing San Antonio to my hometown I wonder why so much religious activity is at the forefront of their culture, and not in San Jose. After being in Redlands for two years now, I can see how religion plays a large role in society here as well. There are a lot of churches just around the campus and when talking to fellow classmates I have found that a lot of them grew up going to church every week and still continue to go while in college. It is interesting to me that different cities and states can have such different perceptions on religion, but yet people in our class can have such similar relationships with religion such as in the Catholic Church.

Church vs. Practice

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In Chapter 2 of Religion: The Social Context, McGuire explores the difference between religious belonging and religious belief in a pluralistic society. She writes that “declining community attachment” has contributed more to the decline of church participation than the decay of “traditional belief”. Later in the chapter, she writes that urbanization, greater geographical mobility, mass media, and education have weakened “ties to local community”, and thus commitment to religious institutions in modern societies.

In my life, these theories go hand in hand. After leaving my small Maine town to study in southern California, I have found myself surrounded by not only a more ethnically and politically diverse population, but a population with very different worldviews–as in comprehensive meaning systems–than I have grown up around. This physical separation from the community that shaped my religious credence has not served to strengthen my commitment to religion. Despite and perhaps because of this detachment from the community, I have learned how to practice as an individual, which is a much more introspective and personally meaningful approach to religion. I have found myself studying religious texts and concepts that I didn’t study before because my religious fulfillment came from simply existing in the community. I now have a much deeper understanding of and connection with my religion because I have taken the time I might have otherwise spent in services analyzing which parts of the religion I agree with, and which parts I find outdated or closed-minded. With this understanding I have been able to make my own choices about which commandments and traditions to actively implement in my life.

In short, distance from my religious community awakened dissociation between church and practice, which served to strengthen my relationship with religion.

Am I Really Not Religious? Or Do I Not Fit The Popular American Definition of “Religious”?

Evangelicals, Reflection, Religion and ..., Types of Religion

Throughout chapter 1, McGuire discusses how sociologists may define religion and explores the challenges in doing so. A part of the chapter that really stuck out to me was the “Official Religion” paragraph on page 14. This reminded me of what I stated in my religious autobiography and provided me with a potential reason for my thoughts. I had stated that I “now consider myself spiritual rather than religious for fear of judgment…”. I have throughout my life felt like “not a proper Christian” for various reasons and would rather not even claim to be one anymore.

I grew up in a very conservative state and it’s a bit of an unspoken rule that Christianity (especially Protestant) gives the basis for human experience and understanding in the small community. On page 14, McGuire describes the changes in definition which further separated acts which were considered “religious” versus “nonreligious” and created rigid boundaries between the two. She states that these definitions created by the Christian churches are culturally accepted in the United States. I suspect that this may be even more true in small, tight-knit communities which are conservative and view religion and belief as highly important aspects of life.

Although I have not changed too much from when I was a child going to the Methodist church every week, I have fallen victim to the “accepted definition” of what it means to be a religious person. I feel that because I no longer attend church services and because I am interested in religion as a topic and study multiple religious texts, I would no longer be considered “religious” in the cultural definition of the word. I feel that gaining a higher education may have added to this feeling of uncertainty regarding my own experience and rather it would be considered “religious” or not.  I have gained a wider understanding of the world and now recognize how much gray area there really is. Placing a definition on anything can be quite difficult, and once you understand that, the world becomes much more abstract.

Reflection 1/21

Reflection

This week in class we have discussed the definition of religion and the sociology of it. While peeling back the layers on the sociology of religion we have turned to texts to hear from the experts on the topic. As I delved into the readings many facts making up the religion and the sociology surrounding it have stuck out. According to Meredith B. McGuire in, Religion: The Social Context, “… sociologists have observed that upper-class persons are likely to belong to different Christian denominations than lower-class persons. In 1990, the median reported household income for Baptists and for Nazarenes was less than two-thirds that of Episcopalians and Unitarians” (7).

This is a factor of religion that I had never considered. This development creates curiosity as to why it is so.  It can foreseeably be debated that this is due to the types of churches in each community. One place of worship being easily available by those in the community who share commonalities in socioeconomic status, creating these divides in the statistics. Though this can be argued, from my personal experience, working-class families often live a street away from upper-class families. This being said, it would debunk the notion that the religions are easily accessed by those of a similar socioeconomic status. I am curious that this is due to the comfortability of being surrounded by people similar to you or if this is due to being raised in the religion and economic status and continuing the pattern. Hopefully, during the semester these shocking facts will be addressed and attempted to be explained.

Tolerance of Religion Always Respected?

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Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, in the heart of the Silicon Valley, religion was often downplayed in daily interactions, at least in my own experience. I attended public school, so of course religion would not likely arise in discussion at least in the classroom, but even outside of school, among people I knew or interacted with, religion was not only overlooked, but mocked. While most of the people at my high school did not grow up atheist, most of them ended up becoming so during high school, and even those who were not atheist or agnostic did not do much outside of the mass commercialized Christian holidays like Easter or Christmas, so it was not as deeply embedded in many people’s lives as it could be. There were churches in our city, however, they were frequented mostly by older people or those families with kids specifically attending private religious schools. Those who did practice their faith deeply at school, by being members of “Christian Club” or posting on social media about their work in the church, were often unfairly mocked and ostracized. San Francisco’s liberal politics bled heavily into high schools, both mine and those within my school district, and religions, specifically Christian ones, came to be associated (again, unwarranted and wrongfully so) and targeted for being conservative, specifically after Donald Trump’s election in November of 2016. Just as the few Republicans at my school were bullied and mocked at my school by the student body and several teachers, so were practicing Christians, which is, in my opinion, slightly ironic, since the student body of my high school celebrates diversity and tolerance. The large LGBT community within my school, an overwhelming majority of liberal students, (roughly 95% a survey one year found) and the powerful GSA club, all combined with the lack of open Christians, somehow stereotyped certain religions into being a hateful concept, while other ones, such as Islam, were respected and discussed responsibly. 

In this Sociology class, we are learning what types of people choose to practice a certain religion, what characteristics are favored by certain people, and the backgrounds of people, who grow up with certain religious communities or experiences, and grow disenchanted with it, by either quitting religion or converting. Highly religious cities, such as Redlands or San Antonio, do not operate the same as the one that I grew up in, and that means something to the people who live there. Personally, I find religion to be beautiful, and I wish I had grown up around people with more of an appreciation for it than a mentality of “attack.” Chapter 2 of McGuire discusses the meaning of religion, and how it can bring meaning and value into our lives. Obviously more people around the world than I have personally been exposed to can agree with this statement, but I wonder how in my hometown it was more difficult for people to see the value or importance in Christianity in some people’s lives, while at the same time respecting other religions, like Islam, Buddhism, Daoism, or Judaism. The predominance (or lack thereof) of religion, coupled with obvious political influence, is something that hopefully will be addressed more in this semester. 

The Good Place

Reflection

There is currently a TV show titled “The Good Place” that airs on NBC.  The premise of this comedy is four humans die and are sent to the supposed “Good Place”, as opposed to the “Bad Place”.  Twist after twist leads them to question their respective lives on earth and what are the moral and ethical quandaries to what makes a good person.  Their demon-turned friend, Michael, discovers that the point system to determine where people go in the afterlife is so complex and complicated that it’s impossible for someone to get into the Good Place due to unintended consequences, we each make every second of every day.  I find this to be an excellent example of what we have learned so far in class.  Additionally, McGuire has mentioned something like the show in chapter two relating to an individual’s meaning system.  Although the main characters are dead, they each have defining traits that contribute to their actions in the past, present, and unpredictable future.  Eventually, they each build and assist one another in ways they never could have anticipated.

This week, while being the first week, we learned some fascinating details about sociology and not only its relationship to this class, but its intended purpose to better understand the religious landscape.  The four things that make up religion: experience, image, story and community, and how they relay back to each other was a set of logical steps that never really stood out to me before.  Finding out what a sociologist of religion does and how to utilize the data you’ve gathered is going to be a very useful skill set.  Social and personal relationships have changed so much, it’s hard to have it all connect and make sense.  Why has our world and culture become so complicated?

Reflection 1/21

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This past week we were introduced to the question of “what is religion?”  We have learned that religion plays a significant aspect of many people’s lives and although there are many different types of religions that people believe in, there are four key elements that all religions have in common: experience, image, story, and community.  During class we used these four points and implemented them while sharing our religious background. There were people who had unique backgrounds and who still believed in their religion till this day. There were also others who didn’t believe in any type of religion but a some kind of spirit.  However, the majority of the class had one common thread; they were no longer associated with their religion.

The reading this week was the first chapter of McGuire’s book.  She introduces us to what religion is and explains some of the important aspects to religion.  For example, she explained how every religion has different religious beliefs, rituals, experiences, and last but not least community.  Now that I am aware of the sociological perspective of religion, I am curious to learn about what religion means to others. What made people still stick with their religion?  What made others drift away from it? What makes others believe that there is a spirit in their world? I also wondered what if religion didn’t exist? Would people still have the same outlook on life?  These are just a few questions that I have always wondered about religion that I hope to find answers to in the next few chapters.