A House of Skepticism

Judah Newman
Sep 3, 2018 · 11 min read
Source: http://georgiastatesignal.com/power-mindful-meditation-midst-back-school-stress/

Judah:

“What if there was something that was essentially church, but, you know, secular?”

Last summer on two separate occasions I attended church with one of my friends. Having only been to church once before, growing up in a culturally Jewish household, I was not sure what to expect. I was mostly nervous about feeling out of place. Both times I left the service remarkably affected. I was impressed and interested in how much the service centered on reflecting about how we live our lives. As an individual at the service, I was forced to reflect about the things I care about and whether I was living my life in line with them. It is easy for me to just live day-to-day focusing on the tasks in front of me, rather than thinking about the big picturet. I left both services thinking that it would be really nice to have this opportunity for reflection and evaluation on a regular basis.



Jen:

My immediate family and I account for 5 of the 1.1 billion Catholics in the world. Even writing that sentence, I hesitated to label myself as an explicit Christian — but my family and I are by definition all officially adult members of the Church. Organized religion is ancient and enormous and institutional and complex, and its effect on individuals can be deeply personal and formative. For many, the determinant of faith is a function with a single input: family background. We see that kids tend to derive their faith (or lack thereof) from their parents, alongside other values, political views, habits, and cultural practices (There’s at least one whole book that attempts to quantify this). My family is no exception. My mom was raised Catholic — and so were both her parents — and my dad converted shortly after marrying her. As a result, my siblings and I grew up going to church every Sunday, with mandatory bouts of Sunday school and illustrated Bibles aplenty at home. All of us have been baptized, reconciled, and confirmed. All of us have gone to Catholic school decked out in logo’d socks and colorless plaid uniforms. All of us are nominally and at-least-loosely practicing Catholics.


The Fox and The Hedgehog

We're both the fox - we don't know any big things, only many small things.

Judah Newman

Written by

Uchicago 18' , Bad Data Scientist, Bad Economist, Bad Writer, Bad Meditator, Mediocre Frisbee Player.

The Fox and The Hedgehog

We're both the fox - we don't know any big things, only many small things.

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