Since both of my parents had Christian upbringings (Catholic and Presbyterian), I had a Christian based home, but not a religious home, since neither of my parents had strong religious beliefs. I remember going to church when I was very small, but after the age of 5 or so I did not go to church regularly. I did not go to Sunday school and learn about all of the biblical characters and that God is my savior or any of that. My parents did teach me morals.
We did, however, as I said, go through the motions of the major Christian traditions. I was baptized with godparents; I celebrate Christmas and Easter, all of the major Christian traditions. Yet none of these traditions had religious undertones to them that remotely hinted the religious significance to any of these practices. I don’t think I could have told you very much about the significance to any of those events. More so than Christian religions, I celebrated the typical Holidays of the U.S., including Thanksgiving and Halloween. All of these Holidays meant the same to me, no school and good times. I know I could never have told you about the significance of holidays such as Easter and Halloween, I just new them as days when I get a ton of candy. I still am not entirely sure about their roots.
The perfect example of my religious unawareness was that I classified myself as a Christian, because I celebrated Christmas. I was not aware that Christianity is not one religion, but several different religions.
I remember believing in God as a child, because I had it so ingrained in my head that I was supposed to. I think the media is a major component to this. God is everywhere. The culture of the United States is disgracefully Christian. Whether one notices it or not there is a definite Christian undertone to the U. S. An example is I use the term God, and almost always am referring to Jesus Christ, rather than the idea of a higher power. This conditioning would prove to be a challenge to me later in life.
By middle school I thought very little about God. I think there was a period spanning 2 or three years with no thought into my personal take on religion and spirituality. It was not something that occurred to me to wonder about.
I think early in my high school career I began to think about God in the most basic of ways. I couldn’t then, nor can’t I still tell you whether or not a greater force exists. Also, as I mentioned before, the cultural conditioning from childhood lead me only to consider God as the Christian figures of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus Christ. I really didn’t know how else to consider a greater force. I had never heard of other forms, such as inner light. I had studied the classical deities in 6th grade ancient history class, but again, since it was presented as mythology, and those people lived so long ago, it hadn’t clicked that polytheism was a form of religion just like Christianity. At this point, in realizing that I couldn’t confidently believe in God that I started to classify myself as agnostic.
High school also marked the battle of science and the sacred. Do I believe in science, or do I believe in greater, more sacred force controlling the universe? I have come to the following conclusion: Math I can trust to always make sense, whether I personally understand it or not. Likewise, much of science makes perfect sense to me as well. What has always tripped me in science is the more abstract areas of science that address things at the molecular level; yet those sciences, such as chemistry and microbiology, are number-involved. Therefore, it must make sense whether I understand it or not. I have also observed that science is based on studies and the search for what we can prove to be true. In contrast, I have observed that religions tend not to be as irrefutable and consistent. I suppose, to answer some big question debates, I agree with scientific explanations for life like the Big Bang, and evolution.
I guess my spirituality is based on a moral foundation. I believe in right and wrong, and treating others as you want them to treat you. I am against violence and capitol punishment, I’m against cruelties such as animal testing and cloning. As far as an afterlife, I have no idea, I guess since I’m not inclined to believe in spirits or ghosts I see nothing as the most logical afterlife. Your brain is an organ, and everyone dies ultimately from the same thing: oxygen stops reaching your brain. Then all of your organs stop working. If your brain stops working, how can one think or feel? That is why I think that the most plausible afterlife is no life at all.
A week ago I would have called myself atheist. I say that to be able to classify myself, but I don’t deny the possibility of a higher force or being. One thing I hate about religions is how many believe that their own interpretation is the only correct explanation. I think of religions as hypotheses for unanswerable questions. The change in my attitude has come with exploring the beliefs of other religions, with the video, and the beleifnet quizzes. The discussions in class and the quizzes on beliefnet have taught me a lot about my religious beliefs. I share beliefs with many religions but can’t place myself in any one of them.
Watching the video in class about the teenager’s take on religions has made me realize that I was really celebrating pagan beliefs. I celebrate Halloween, and Christmas. Christmas in my house is definitely more pagan than Christian in tradition. We have a tree with presents, and I believe in a sense of a special time of family and generosity, rather than the birth of Jesus Christ. Like the girl in the video, I value nature and the circle of life in a natural balance. I don’t worship nature and animals, but I do think they are very important and I don’t believe that we are any better than other species. I believe, in fact, that the world was better without humans who brought with them nuclear war, pollution, and unnecessary violence. In the belief-o-matic quiz, my most compatible religion was Universal Unitarian. I guess it makes sense because it has a very ambiguous description: Diverse beliefs but some believe in a higher being. I am ambiguous about whether or not there is a higher force. I haven’t seen reason to believe that there is, nor that there is not.