Ahh yes, that word… Once seen as a wonderful definition of hope. Websters Dictionary defines Religion as:
a : the state of a religious religion>
: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
archaic : scrupulous conformity : conscientiousness
4
: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith
Now as I look at this definition I find myself thinking how synthetic and generic it all sounds. Even I, a firm believer gets a little turned off by words such as "supernatural", "institutionalized system", "religious attitudes" and "conformity". From a non-believers perspective, joining the "cult-ish" group of people who stand outside the library at my school with signs that say "be saved or go to hell", "Repent now!" are not with whom I want to be associated. With no prior knowledge of faith and God, this first impression of "all religion" is something that makes people nervous, uncomfortable and in some cases maybe even afraid.
Religion has become a derogatory term, a great way to make people want to turn away from you (which is exactly the last thing we want to do). How society describes religion can very directly affect ones views of it. Our minds tend to always try and connect things relate them to one-another. We use words to bescribe things and often directly associate things with them.
-Supernatural is a good term to describe religion – attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or laws of nature.
Unfortunately, that word is often used to describe mediums, superman, and extraterrestrials so our minds go there when it is being used.
-An "institutionalized system", "conformity"- again what does one think when one hears this? Insane asylum, cult, a place from programmed robots?!
– "Religious attitudes" – I think of this as something we DO in terms of religion. If I don't kneel now, or if I don't donate enough I won't go to heaven?
Okay, some of these examples may be a little extreme but my point is that the way religion is described and physically represented sets a bad tone to society. I guess I can really only speak for collage age people since we seem to be the most vocal on the topic.
It just breaks my heart to hear people talk about religion as though it is all the same. All religions just want to make you like them, as though its some brainwashing. Religions within themselves are all very different and those who don't believe do not always think that. To them we are all whatever their first impression of it is. Our job is to break that connection!
My journey in my faith has taught me (first to be an acting example) that being open, vulnerable, genuine and being truly interested in the other person and their story is a very good way to start. They see that we know we are not perfect and that we don't feel like we are better than them because of our faith. This alone helps set us apart, and helps open a well of wonderful conversations and questions that a lot of times I myself have never wondered (God is so great how when I am trying to help others know him he finds ways to get me to see things differently and want to search out answers to new questions).
Afterall of this, I would like to bring it back to my main point which is that I still avoid using the term "religion". I might be wrong in giving up on it, maybe I should be using it more to change peoples views. As of now I use Spiritual, Faith, and Christian (Believe in Christ) and hope to be clear in how I convey it. I'm not totally sure if I was trying to make a point or just trying to vent about something or maybe a little of both. What I do want to so is ask for your opinions, views and thoughts on this whole topic. I can't be the first to feel personally hurt by how "Religion" is viewed, am I?
