For the last several classes we’ve been doing the Jigsaw readings and Thursday’s was the first one where they didn’t really tie in together. The rest of them had, had an underlying theme that were all tied together from reading to reading and fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, but I couldn’t really figure out what tied them together thus time. I read the “Fluffy Bunny Syndrome” article and just reading the title at first, I was very confused. I genuinely had no idea what religion it would talk about or what bunnies had to do with it. As I read I quickly learned that it was talking about the Pagan religion. “Fluffy Bunny” is a derogatory term for some Pagans who just kind of practice the mainstream stuff and don’t really get the deeper sense of paganism. It was interesting to see it this way because to me the pagan religion seemed to be smaller and community oriented, like a tight knit group of people. But even then, they still have their own problems within each other and don’t always see eye to eye on how to practice.

When reading the article I found the Pagan Fairs to be most interesting because there were multiple sides to the people. There were some who wanted to stick to authentic Pagan ways, some who were just “fluffy bunnies”, and then there were the ones who “pretended” to be a fluffy bunny in order to make Pagans more attractive to others. This is interesting because most people in society  want to be accepted by others and may change their image in such ways, but I never really looked at it from the perspective of religion. In order to attract people to a certain religion or to make it more appealing, people do give somewhat of a “false” representation. It’s not just Pagans, it’s many religions we’ve looked at. We’ve seen it in the congregations we’ve visited, with the signs and encouragement to join and welcoming new people, most religions are seeking to grow and will figure out how best to do that. Religion can be very personal or community oriented, but each religious structure is going to display themselves in a way that will most strongly connect to people because the goal tends to be to continue the religion.

Throughout the past couple of weeks, as we have been reading different articles to present to the class; I have found the article “Apocalypse at Waco” by Tabor to be one of the most interesting. I find the idea of the ‘end of the world’ very interesting and it was intriguing to see the perspective of the Armageddon to be seen in a more realist and modern day light. As I was growing up, the apocalypse was a very big topic within most church services as people see “signs” of when God is coming back constantly and as it was written in the book of Revelation, so it is being seen in our modern times. The older I get, there seems to be so many more political and social issues that are associated with the end and I had never heard of this story of the Branch Davidians until reading this article. It is wild that people take the issues and ideas that come along with the apocalypse into their own hands because in the Bible it is pretty clear that the apocalypse will all be to Gods doing. However, it was pretty freaky reading about how we are in a time where people assure themselves that we are living in the end times and now it’s the time to take things into “our own hands” and prove that the end is near. This man Cyrus had so many strong beliefs and was able to gather so many people to listen to those beliefs which is so interesting to read about considering so many thought he was a type of holy man but others saw him as crazy.

This past Sunday, I, along with Lucy Snow, visited Faith Chapel. Faith Chapel is a pentecostal church, belonging to the Assemblies of God branch of pentecostalism. The sermon was given on the theme of worship. The lead Pastor, Keith Short, explained how there was, “no correct method or form to worship,” however he continued to mock the methods that members of other faiths practiced. I was struck by the hypocrisy of his sermon. I began to wonder if this is the shape that modern sectarian churches are taking. I believe that many sectarian churches realize how they are unappealing to outsiders and are taking steps to become more denominational. This was evident at Faith Chapel, where Miller’s Reinventing American Protestantism  came to life.

Although Faith Chapel was nowhere near the Evangelical Megachurch aesthetic that Miller describes, they were in the beginning stages of incorporating these elements into their service. When I entered the building, I was immediately welcomed and given a newcomers  packet. The very first piece of information listed on this packet was the church’s social media accounts. This, accompanied with the worship service illustrated to me Faith Chapel’s move to denominationalize. During the worship service, televisions were used to project the lyrics for the audience. The pieces that were chosen were contemporary Evangelical songs that I grew up singing at Sandals Church, an Evangelical Megachurch. Faith Chapel has been making big strides towards technological savviness and modernization. However, will that be enough to overpower the theologically sectarian congregation? I do not believe so.

During my visit, Pastor Short just so happened to dig at all three religions I have been affiliated with in my lifetime. He mocked Catholics by saying that their services are so ritualistic, that their members are “cold-hearted and lifeless.” He mocked Evangelical Megachurches when he explained their use of lights and sound engineering. He said to his congregation, “I am not asking you to be judgemental, but wonder with me, is this worship in the flesh or worship in the spirit?” He then poked at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by claiming that Modern day Temples were simply flashy structures meant to distract. He doubted the serious faithfulness and worship of every religion except his own, and I do not believe Faith Chapel with ever be a denominational congregation until that changes.

This past weekend I stumbled on an article on the topic of new archaeologist findings and religion. There were several valued belongings of the people of Lake Titicaca, today it is known as Bolivia. In the excavation there were two gold medallions, metal plaques , incense burners, animal remains  and stones located near the Khao reef. Since it was all found by the reef there is some assumption that this was a ritual site for the people.  It is too early; however to put a name or know the significance of the meanings of these pieces that were found in regards to their religion. Not only this but the value that was held between the relationship of trading and religion. For example some of the animal remains and other remains found were items that are specific to the Pacific Ocean and would not be found in Lake Titicaca. Which leads to the belief that some of the remains that had religions ties were held at a higher standard than others.

I found this article very important and when archaeologists discover these items I believe it should be spoken about more. It is important to look at our past of religion and different areas of how communities operated in their religious communities because in someway it all connects back to where certain religions are today.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/04/evidence-ancient-religion-discovered-lake-titicaca/

This past Sunday I visited the Redlands United Church of Christ as my second congregation visit. I am always nervous before entering religious settings, but I immediately felt comfortable and welcome at this church. The service was led by a female pastor- which in my admittedly limited religious experience I have never encountered before. She talked about the Transgender Day of Visibility as well as about toxic masculinity versus divine masculinity.  After the scripture reading, she referenced the story by having different songs played that she said would have been the theme songs for different characters. Also accompanying the talk about the Scripture, a painting by Rembrandt was projected onto the walls and there was some time spent analyzing. Media was again incorporated with the playing of Gillette’s commercial on toxic masculinity. I thought that all of the media/ technological incorporations in the service were well suited and helpful supplements. They were engaging and entertaining. What was striking to me was that I was only there to observe for a class, yet the service made me emotional and entertained me. Although I’m not religious, I feel I was able to get something out of attending and would not be opposed to returning. My own experience at this church made me think about how personal the experience of attending church is for every person. How many other people in the pews that day were not sure of their belief in God but attended anyways because they could get something else out of it? This goes to support the idea that the number of people in the pews does not tell you much about American religiosity.

This past week, I read the piece entitled “Making Religion Irrelevant” which discussed religious change in response to social and theological changes. The author argues that religious decline is a result of the common belief that religious conservatism is becoming a stronger force in the modern world, but yet religion has not disappeared instead certain types of religion have risen in popularity. Specifically traditional, conservative and reactionary religions have increased in popularity. This is not an attempted revival of a traditional way of life, but a response to dissatisfaction with modern morals and attitudes. Which brings the question is the rise of traditionalist religions directly related to modernity? Is this increase a critique of neoliberalism? The author also discusses how media portrayal of religion, including church scandals and the like, has reduced the influence of religious social voice. Its interesting to think about how the social impact of religion has declined over the years and what the resulting impact of this may be.

For class this week we finished up our jigsaw readings and my final one was by Ebaugh named “Reproducing Ethnicity”. The article discussed ways that immigrants can still find homes in America through their congregations, even though they are no longer in their homeland. Many ethnic congregations fuse important cultural events with their religion. For example, they wear outfits to church from their homeland, or design congregations similar to the ones found back at home. I thought it was very intriguing that people tried to copy places of worship so closely and replicate it back in the United States. It is a great way to help people feel more at home and find people with similar values in a place that is so unfamiliar to them. It also effects religion by creating different sub types of large religions such as Buddhism and Catholicism. This expands and creates different versions of religion for many types of people. By immigrant congregations accepting their ethnically diverse holidays, it helps promote and support different ethnicity’s cultures and reaffirms their place in the United States. Ethnic congregations also allow people to feel attached to their homeland by talking about things that are currently happening there and throwing events where they can meet new people who are of the same ethnicity. I think this article reaffirms McGuire’s chapter in “Religion of the Modern World”. Although these people might say they are Catholic or Buddhist on a survey, one cannot automatically assume they know all of their beliefs or worship practices. This is because so many people have varying ways of reaffirming their beliefs and different ways of practicing their religion.

This week, I read the jigsaw article From Community to Heart by Caitlin Killian. She conducted interviews with first- and second-generation French Muslims from North Africa. She observed the differences in attitudes regarding the secularization in France. Not only is religion expected to be private, but religious symbols, including the wearing of the headscarf, were banned from public institutions in 2003. A majority of those interviewed accommodated to expected private practice in France, even if they did not agree with the ban. They have adapted their religion in order to make it more compatible with their secular society.

Killian mentions the terms “positive” versus “negative secularism”. She suggests these terms as a way of explaining the difference between secularization, or separation of church and state, in the United States and France. While the United States government, according to the Constitution, cannot favor any specific religion and must allow freedom of religious expression, the French government has banned public religious expression altogether. In this way, French society has adopted positive secularism, while American society has adopted negative secularism.

Despite the ban on religious symbolism in the public sphere, the French culture is still centered around Catholicism, and the Christian calendar is observed. Younger, second-generation Muslims have taken notice of this and view it as a sign of discrimination against their culture and religious expression. While the covering of the head is an important aspect of Muslim faith, wearing the cross is not essential to Christian belief. Therefor, not adorning a cross won’t make someone look any less of a Christian, while not wearing a headscarf may leave a Muslim woman vulnerable to accusations of not being a good Muslim. This has posed a dilemma for some French Muslims- should they be a good French citizen at the expense of their religious identity, or should they be a good Muslim with the risk of being shunned by the larger society?

In the article, “Rejecting Asylum Claim, U.K. Quotes Bible to Say Christianity Is Not ‘Peaceful.” by Anna Schaverien from the New York Times, it is described how the U.K.’s Home Office rejected and asylum seeker by an Irania national who said he converted to Christianity because it was a “peaceful” religion.

Home Office responded to the asylum seeker’s claim by arguing that Christianity was hardly “peaceful” and used verse from the books of Leviticus, Exodus, and Revelation to prove it. An asylum seeker is someone who left their home country as a political refugee and is seeking protection under another. Immigration advocates were appalled and enraged by Home Office’s harsh methods which does not seem to be the first instance in which something like this has occurred.

Furthermore, the article describes how it wasn’t clear whether the man made his conversion to Christianity a basis for his claim or if the Home Office scrutinized this part of his life. The Home Office did not deny that this statement was an official document but have tried to distance themselves from the decision because of the backlash they received.

This case is a stunning example of the opposing side of secularization where the government has actually used religion as means of justification for their decision. It is interesting to recognize how other countries are still using religion integrally in their government system and how society is reacting to those decisions.

Here is the link to the article to read more!

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/21/world/europe/britain-asylum-seeker-christianity.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FReligion%20and%20Belief&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=collection