What is the Role of Religion in My Life?

 Now that this class is coming to a close, I have been considering how religion affects my life. Religion is a weird concept. The way I see religion is that it is a way of thinking or a belief that helps people deal with the fear of death. Religion simply gives people hope that there is an afterlife. I like the positive aspects of religion. I like that it gives people hope and an understanding of afterlife. However, my problem with religion is that it causes many fights and disputes. After learning about history and now learning about different religions, I see how it affects the world and how people act towards others. I have a strong feeling that humans are meant to be free and open beings that have free thought. Religion and how it is presented to people often causes dogmatic thinking since most religions tell people how they should act and what they should do. For me, it doesn’t make sense the way people use their religion to belittle others. We always say that religion and politics should not mix, but they do. They mix all the time and, yet, it continues. It does not change, which is partly why America is so separated currently. Religion, especially Catholicism and Christianity, makes Americans have certain morals and understandings, which typically cause them to judge others when they have different beliefs and a different lifestyle.

Because of the strict manner of religion, I have become more spiritual than religious. I deal with my understanding of afterlife off of feelings. I deal with my sense of God from feelings. I do not deal with it based on a bible or holy text or what others tell me to do. I do believe in afterlife. I do believe in God, but I do not believe in God in the way I have been taught as a Christian Protestant. Although I practice Christianity (occasionally), partake in Christian holidays, and call myself a Christian, it is not something that is in my every day life. My spirituality is something that I deal with in my every day life. I feel that if there is a God, then he/she is a caring and open God that will not judge anyone for anything. I do not believe in Hell and don’t necessarily believe in heaven…just afterlife. However, I still am questioning what I believe. The only thing I know for sure is that I believe God is an accepting God and that every religions God is the same God.

Where Do I Want to put a Stake in the Ground and Invest in my Life?

 This is a more difficult question, especially since I am graduating in about a month. Graduating from college is probably one of the scariest things I will have to do in my life. The unknown is horrifying. And I am completely unsure of what I want to do after college since I currently have no job set up and have a desire to travel and move away from home.

After taking a graduate course this semester that focuses on education and globalization, I know I want to further my life in the study of education. Eventually I want to go to grad school for education policy, but, for now, I want to explore America and other cultures of the world. I question every day where I want to invest in my life. Sometimes I think about how I want to move into a large city. Other times, I consider moving close to a Native American reservation and seeing how they live. I have a huge passion for education, the environment, and other political and social movements, but I am wondering what direction I should go in and if I can even go in all of those directions.

I know for sure I want to become invested in learning who I am and what I live for. I want to become more spiritual because of my extreme fear of death. I want to become more physically active because I have been missing that since I am playing soccer less and less. I want to really invest in my education, whether that means traveling the world or going back to school. All I know for sure is that I want to invest in making myself a better person every day and actively question my social, political, and environmental standing.

How am I Complicit in Patterns of Injustice?

This week’s question is kind of a complicated one: How am I complicit in patterns of injustice?

There are probably thousands of ways I am complicit in patterns of injustice and I am only going to talk about a few that I see within myself just about every day. 

I can relate this question to a class that I took a few semesters ago. As a former education major, I had to take a class called Democracy and Education where we focused on how to create effective, meaningful, and autonomous education within our current education system. While we centered our discussions on education, my teacher also made us examine systems of injustice that cause certain norms and social patterns, which, in the end, affects education. We read a book called Wheels in the Head by Joel Spring where he argued that we all have certain wheels of thought forced in our mind, some from the minute we are born, that we need to start being aware of in order to create a more just society. For example, a wheel that is typically enforced by our culture is that pink is for girls and blue is for boys. From the minute we are born, boys are wrapped in blue blankets and girls in pink. If you were to see a woman holding a child that was wrapped in a blue blanket, you would most likely automatically assume it is boy. This is a wheel that is created through gender norms and standards.

There are multiple wheels in our minds that compel us to think in certain ways that will not change unless we start becoming aware of these wheels. I often find myself thinking certain things that I know have been forced upon me by our society. I don’t always actively stop my thinking, but I try my best to be conscious of it and always question why I think the way I do. For instance, the whole idea of slut shaming that is all over the internet nowadays. Calling someone else a “slut” is something I actively try to stop doing. Women often call other women sluts when they feel threatened. However, I don’t agree with the word slut because I feel it holds a lot of political and social baggage. And it is often that these women are not sluts, rather they are choosing to do something that their body is naturally meant to do.

There are also problems with race that I deal with that I find have been created inside my head. I have recognized what racism is from an early age. I have never agreed with or condoned acts of racism. Racism actually makes me very angry when I think about it. However, for a long time, I thought about racism as simply black and white. Now, I see racism as something between cultures and through different types of religion. Whenever I am traveling, I feel nervous or worried when I see someone in a long turban and Middle Eastern garb. I always always always ask myself where that fear comes from. I am aware that it stems from the way Middle Eastern people have been portrayed in our media ever since 9/11, but it can be very hard to change a feeling that has been so deeply engrained within my thought.

There are many ways I am complicit in injustice. However, I am always trying to be aware of everything I do, say, and think and question why I am like that. I often realize it stems from societal views and pressures, and I find it hard to break free from my thinking, especially when the majority of society is still thinking in ways that perpetuate injustice. My main question for myself is how can I begin to eradicate certain thoughts and feelings I get when I see someone that has been forced into an unfair stereotype? I am trying to be aware, but is that enough?

What Do I Really Want to Learn?

For this week, I need to answer the question "what do I really want to learn?" 

Well, I can answer this question in a few different ways. I can talk about what I want to learn overall in life, but I am assuming this question should be more specific to the study of religion, which is fine because religious studies relates to my overall life goal. In regards to religion, I really want to learn about Buddhism as well as Middle Eastern religions. 

The reason I want to learn about Buddhism is mainly selfish. As a Christian Protestant who is questioning her beliefs, I feel that Buddhism might line up with a lot of what I believe today. I want to learn more about this popular belief of Karma and how it has a religious background. I also love to meditate. I would love to learn more about meditation and how it can change your spiritual being as well as affect overall health and being. 

In terms of Middle Eastern religions, I want to learn a lot more about the main principles and start to understand the differences between Middle Eastern religions and mainstream American religions. I want to be able to compare the two cultures because I feel that a lot of wars (especially the current war in Iran and Iraq) are caused by a difference in religion. Not only a difference in religion, but a misunderstanding of religion as well as culture and language. 

I truly believe that many religions enforce dogmatic thinking among young people especially. One of my goals in life is to be an educator. As an educator, I want to be able to create a free environment among my class. I want my students to be able to think for themselves and question everything. Education in America is very stiff and I believe this stems historically from a tradition of having Christian ideals saturated throughout the way we learn. While religion can build a sense of hope, I feel it causes people to live a way of life without even thinking about what they're doing. It can cause people to lose a sense of their humanity because, historically, many hate crimes have stemmed from strict religious beliefs. 

Of course not all religions cause dogmatic thinking and foster cycles of hate. Therefore, I want to learn more about other religions that allow for free thinking. I want to learn about the religions that offer a sense of balance in life and celebrate humanity. Because we are all humans here on earth learning how to get through life, which is why I think we need to focus on being kind and respectful to one another. This comes from learning about a difference in beliefs, whether it be religion, culture, language, or sexuality.

 At the end of the day, I hope to learn as much as possible about everything and anything and I am excited to see what the semester holds. 

When Do I Feel Most Alive?

For the next few weeks, I will have to answer some very general open ended questions, although some will be related to religion. For my first question, I have to answer "when do I feel most alive?"

The idea of feeling alive is something that is very important to me. I am a very spontaneous, rebellious, impulsive person, which may stem from my absolute fear of death. I have decided from a young age that I want to live my life to the fullest (to be cliche) and not let anything stand in my way. 

I feel most alive when it's summertime. When I'm driving down a short beach road, in a small beach town, with all my windows open, Calvin Harris' Summer blasting, and the salty air tearing through my hair. I feel most alive when I'm in the middle of a bar or club, dancing with my best friends, and singing along to the lyrics of the most recent pop song. I feel most alive when I'm driving down the highway going 90 or above while I keep my eyes peeled for cops and the adrenaline is pumping through my veins. I feel most alive when I'm running down a soccer field with a ball at my feet, with a thirst to score. I feel most alive when I'm with people. When I'm with my people. When I'm with my best friend and she's making me laugh and I'm holding my sides because they hurt, but the pain is so worth it. I feel alive when I'm snuggling with my boyfriend and we're talking about the future. I feel most alive when I'm hanging out in NYC, walking around Central Park, sneaking around the Plaza, and searching for the greatest views, the most incredible art, and the most divine food. I feel alive in a lot of instances, but it's typically when I'm doing things that make me feel happy or comfortable. However, I also feel alive when I push past my comfort zone and try new things, like when I took an 8 hour plane ride to France when I'm terrified of flying. I love feeling alive. And when the day comes for me to die, I know I will feel absolutely lost. 

As far as religion goes, I actually feel the least alive when I am sitting in a church listening to my pastor speak about a dead white guy (no offense Jesus). I love my pastor. I love my church. I love the community and the people, but it's not something that makes me feel crazy alive. I feel alive when I feel spiritual. Sometimes in church I do get spiritual feelings, but when I'm doing yoga I get a much stronger feeling of spirituality that makes me feel happy, calm, and peaceful. 

-Alicia Franklin  

My Experiences with Religion

Hello!

And welcome to my blog! I have been asked to create a blog for my Philosophy class where we will be focusing on religious studies. 

I do not know very much about different religions and would like to learn more. I grew up as a Christian Protestant, which I feel is very similar to Catholicism. However, when I have attended Catholic funerals, I have noticed slight differences especially in ceremonies. 

Lately, I have been questioning my own religion, which is why I want to learn more about other religions. I want to see if my beliefs line up with another religion. I also feel that religion drives a lot of conflict and war. Therefore, I want to start to understand other cultures through their religion in order to comprehend why war begins and what people are fighting about. 

I hope you enjoy!

-Alicia Franklin