This past Wednesday the class attended a symposium in which our professor spoke about the spiritual narratives of the LA Catholic Workers. His talk was really fascinating to me. It was so inspiring to hear about what these Catholics are doing for their community. They were grounded in their identities as Catholics but were living out a mission that many Catholics do not, and that is to serve thy neighbor. My Catholic high school really focused on social justice as a central theme in our religion classes. During my senior year, I took a class called Peace Studies and learned the importance of social justice in my religion. Lately however, I have been surrounded by Catholics who are more focused on the rituals and beliefs. It was so interesting to hear the words of some of these Catholic Workers, who believed that serving others was a crucial, if not the most important, part of being a Catholic. Their religion was centered around taking care of others and I think this is the direction the Catholic Church should be heading. The LA Catholic Workers are living their religion in a very bold way and hearing their stories of working for justice made me very proud to be a Catholic.
Cohesive Elements
This week, going to the Wellness Symposium: Spirituality, Social Justice and Disability was a very interesting experience. Going into the conference, I was glad that we had read the assigned articles because I felt that I already knew the background and was familiar with the study on Catholic Workers in Los Angeles. It was very interesting to see how it was presented and the other aspects that Jim drew from his research.
Although the three presenters that we saw all worked in somewhat different fields, there was still a sense of overlap between all of them. Between the presentation on mental health awareness and the creation of the Vibe festival, Jim’s work on social justice and the Catholic Workers, and the last presentation on social justice and aspects that contribute to it, they all played very well into one another, despite what I initially thought. What I took away from the panel we attended at the conference was that there must be active thought that goes into actions or activities in the pursuit of social justice. It is not the size of the actions, but the dedication on the part of those who are giving.
If one were to take elements from all three presentations; the thought and effort that was put into such an event like Vibe that acknowledges issues of mental health awareness, the selflessness and dedication of the Los Angeles Catholic Workers, and the four elements of social justice and spiritual freedom from the third presentation, then they can form a cohesive whole.
Perspective
I very much enjoyed our class this week and the sociology conference that the class attended to on Wednesday was perhaps the highlight of my week. In the informational session I was able to learn about the many people in congregations that go outside their belief in God and stick up for those who have no voice. Protesting the Catholic Cathedral that was built instead of giving the money to charity, and providing soup to anyone on Skid Row are one some of the many acts that are done to better the name of the church. Interestingly enough when reading the quotes of the activists, they believe in doing good in God’s name and feel as though the churches and congregation they belong don’t do enough which is why they feel the responsibility to do more. I relate to this as I feel like my Catholic church does not emphasize how important it is to give back and pay it forward.
After visiting with my religious expert Pastor Don, it is evident that Redlands Christian Center believes in helping themselves before helping the community. They were very one minded on the path to salvation and he expressed several times that if not followed properly a person would not have eternal salvation. The beauty of this class is that as a student I am given the opportunity to see a wide breath of perspectives without asserting my bias on to their choices.
Symposium Connection
Last week, we attended the Wellness Symposium in the Orton Center. During the time we were there, we were able to see 3 different presentations: one about a new wellness festival, one about Catholics fighting for social justice, and lastly, social justice and the difference between just and unjust . I specifically found Dr. Spickard’s presentation most interesting because I feel that it related a lot to the topics in the course that we have covered and also some of the articles I have read on my own. The topic coincides with the idea of modern religion. Personally, I have older family members who are very devoted to their Catholic beliefs. They would never think to stray from the Bible and its teachings, but I think that as generations have progressed, we are taking the Bible less literally and fitting it to our own lives. While my grandparents are still devout Catholics, my mother considers herself Catholic but does not attend church, and my brothers do not consider themselves to be religious. This is not the case for all families, but it shows that religion with an individualized interpretation is growing. The Catholics that were represented in the presentation represented people in the faith who are willing to go further than most I know. They stepped out of their comfort zones to do something that they truly believed and thought was right and godly. While they do not practice traditionally, they fulfill the duties that they believe belong to them. An individual’s level of religiosity cannot be measured by an outsider because the way everyone follows a tradition is different.
Reflecting on the Sociology Conference
Last class period, we got the chance to sit in on a sociology conference session in which we heard three speakers. I was very impressed by the content that we were given that day, all three speeches were able to give me new knowledge. My favorite speaker was definitely you though, Professor Spickard. The topic you talked on of homelessness was something that intrigued me. I think that the idea that religious groups play a big role in the lives of the homeless is interesting. The interconnection between those that feel it is their God given duty to do something and those who are in desperate need. When I was in high school I was very actively involved in teaching my area about being aware that the statistics prove that there are homeless people everywhere and we need to step up and do something about it. I was inspired by some of the different active players in your speech. Those who made the effort to create the shelter and pass out carts. I think that the issue of what religious folks ought to be doing in this situation is something we need to continue to reflect on. Is peacefully getting put in jail a smart move? Will being in jail benefit these people who truly need active help? I think in the grand scheme of things you have a wonderful topic that you can continue to grow. We live near one of the best cities to study this movement so it makes sense that this is a perfect project for you.
Reflection 4/2/17
Last week in class we presented on our sectarian congregation visits, and attended a talk in Orton about mental health and religious activism. On Monday, everyone presented on their sectarian visits, and talked about their experience while attending the service. I expected my sectarian visit to be similar to my denominational visit, but they were very different. The sectarian church I went to was called Redlands Church of Christ, and they are an evangelical Protestant group. Their beliefs are very conservative and traditional, which was very interesting to me as I have never attended an evangelical service prior to this. This group takes the Bible literally and believes that it is inerrant. I could feel some tension within this group, as they believe that the rest of the world will be damned when Christ comes again. I got a sense of an “us vs. them” mindset, and I really felt like an outsider, although they did their best to welcome me. I think the other people who attended an evangelical service also felt the “us vs. them” mindset during the service.
On Wednesday, we attended a talk in Orton that subsituted for our class. We saw two speakers, one of which was our professor. The first speaker talked about mental health and how important it is to remove the stigma surrounding it. I really enjoyed her presentation because mental health does not get the attention it deserves, and when it does it is in a negative light. Many people suffer from mental health issues, and removing the stigma that surrounds mental health would be an important step for our society. Jim was the next person to talk, and he talked about religious activism, especially among Catholic groups. This was very interesting because I was raised Catholic myself, and a lot of time people have misconceptions that all Catholics are traditional in their beliefs and very conservative, which is not the case. It was nice to see someone highlight a group of devout Catholics who were fighting for human rights, even if it went against what the Catholic church believes in.
Reflection 4/2/17
This week we were able to share our experience on attending a sectarian church as well as listen to Dr. Spickard give a presentation, amongst his colleagues, focusing on the central question of “how do people sustain life?” Our first class of the week seemed to have a certain pattern to the congregation visits. Many of the congregations that were visited seemed they were desperate for new attendees. The message many churches portrayed seemed to take a more conservative view of society and took the text from the bible literally. Many churches integrated the idea that their belief is the only right belief within their sermon, comments, or songs. These churches also believed and preached that if you don’t follow their beliefs (the right belief) you’re going straight to hell. This seemed to make many people uncomfortable including myself. It was definitely an interesting experience and seems to be hindering their religion within the younger community.
On Wednesday, professor Spickard gave a presentation at a symposium about the way in which people sustain their lives. He focused on Catholics and their social justice actions. There were four main points of interest–rituals, symbols, experience, and results. It was interesting to hear him describe the difference between ritual and experience. He gave the example of women who describe themselves as Catholics but don’t like how masses are ran or the clergy running it. Their rituals are different from the people attending Sunday morning services and but may have similar experiences as these people. They may volunteer at the same soup kitchen or believe in similar beliefs but they don’t have the same rituals. Overall, it was interesting to see how Catholics affect society in a positive way and that there are people out there that truly care about the well-being of others; it made me want to be apart of something greater.
Response to Wellness Symposium
On Wednesday, the class listened to three speakers at the Spirituality, Social Justice, and Disability Symposium at the University of Redlands. Dr. Spickard’s presentation was called “How Do We Sustain This Life?: Spiritual Narratives of Social Justice Catholics”. This presentation introduced the audience to religious-based activism specifically by Los Angeles Catholic workers. The issue at hand, which is suggested by the title, is figuring out how the life lived out by the Catholic workers is sustained, and what keeps the workers (helpers?) going every day in order to continue their service. A question asked by Dr. Spickard was: why this this life being sustained? How is it being sustained? The idea that the Catholic workers have in mind is that “Jesus wanted it [change] to be done peacefully”. This is why they do service the way that they do it: they provide shopping carts for the homeless, they cook for the homeless, and they even bless the food that they cook and give to the homeless.
Doing community service and helping the homeless must definitely give meaning to the lives of the Catholic workers. According to the interviews Dr. Spickard conducted with 60 of the members, their religion matters to them, and activism “helps them on the edge”. The members are focused on the community, and they will give back to it in order to live a life that Jesus would love them for. They undergo rituals which help them maintain a religious lifestyle, and they understand that their religion is one of the most important things to them.
How do we sustain this life?
On Wednesday the class attended a talk given by Jim Spickard in which his central question was: How do we sustain this life? The talk presented spiritual narratives of social justice Catholics. I found the topic to be fascinating since I had been raised Catholic but then strayed away from in high school. However, my upbringing in Catholicism is a major reason why I became passionate about social justice issues. It was inspiring to hear the stories of these Catholics and how they have used activism as a way to practice their beliefs. It was also interesting to see how some of them didn’t stick to traditional Catholic ways, but instead adopted modern ways of believing and worship. I have thought about trying to get in touch with my Catholic past, however I didn’t know how to without having to believe in some of the fundamentalist views. However, this group shows how religion works through them through activism. There was a quote that stuck out to me that someone who Jim interviewed said, “If I stop working for justice, I stop being human.” That was powerful for me because I resonated with those words. This talk allowed me to see how I can connect my Catholic past to my passions about social justice today.
Reflection 4/2
This week, we first learned about the variety of students’ experiences at sectarian churches. In some respects, the our experiences in sectarian churches were similar to our experiences in denominational churches. For example, both kinds of churches often seemed desperate for newcomers and vigorously welcomed young adults into their community. On the other hand, the theology of the sectarian churches differed sharply from the that of their denominational counterparts. Generally, these churches espoused a Biblically literalistic point of view that spawned conservative social and political values. Some of them also embraced an eschatological worldview that focused on right belief leading to heaven or hell. While the denominational churches usually hosted 50-300 people, the sectarian churches fell on either side of this spectrum, hosting anywhere from a dozen to thousands.
On Wednesday, Dr. Spickard presented on social justice Catholics. These Catholic workers tended to focus heavily on actions over belief or adherence to hierarchical standards. Their justice work took two forms: work with the homeless on Skid Row and larger political acts of civil disobedience. Wednesday night Eucharist helped fuel their seemingly endless energy for activism. The ritual centered around a narrative that took participants from despair to jubilance over the course of the hour, which they then funneled into their Wednesday night soup line. This progression from Eucharist to soup line underscores the fundamental connection for these Workers between faith and justice; many interviewees commented that one could not exist without the other. In all, Dr. Spickard’s presentation captured the unique position the LA Catholic Workers occupy, in the heart of the Catholic faith but on the fringes of the institution.