Believe it or Not…
Currently, in my KSU 1101 class, I am collaborating with two classmates for a project that intends to relate a local issue to a global one. It is a bit challenging to find a topic or problem that is impactful and invokes enough passion for researching and committing to. In brainstorming for this project I’ve realized that once you can broaden your perspective, doors open and connections are made. There are things you realize when you sit down and just think for a moment. In thinking about your current knowledge, and expanding upon it, a plethora of ideas and relationships tied to the new knowledge form.
The topic we selected as a group pertains to how religion tends to impact society and governance. At first, I was unsure of where to take this subject. I know that religion affects individual opinions, practices, and beliefs. I also know that some groups of people frequently conflict, partially because of religious affiliation. But, these observations felt shallow, and as if they were surface level. I was not able to see how I could contribute and build a proposal, and later on, a project about it. But then I thought about my everyday life. Most people practice one religion where I’m from. Christianity is the “main” religion that I’m surrounded by. While I wasn’t raised in the church, my parents were more than I, and therefore have certain beliefs and opinions as a result. My relatives are Christian. Most of my friends are Christian. I’ve had maybe two or three friends in my life that were Muslim, and a few here and there that were atheist, or had other beliefs. I feel like this created a bubble of limited experiences and education of other people’s beliefs. I’ve heard first hand, outright indignation, and prejudice towards people who are not Christian, or even towards Christians who are certain denominations. The part that is weird to witness is the lack of consideration or willingness to relate or accept anything other than the status quo. I feel that children are taught to love, accept, don’t bully, rinse and repeat. We’re taught about our rights and freedoms, and how pilgrims came to America to escape religious persecution. But the things I hear make me question how well these rights and freedoms align with the mindsets and actions of the citizens these rights protect.
On the surface, it seems that regular everyday people occasionally treat those with other beliefs badly. But some of these “everyday people” become leaders in their community. Some work in law enforcement. Some become politicians and depending on how far they go, they have a great influence on more and more people, laws, and society as a whole. This sounds great if you practice the same religious beliefs as these people, or come from the same background. But that’s not the reality. Not everybody believes the same things. So when laws are based purely on religion and are upheld because of what a religion’s followers believe, the laws no longer serve and protect everybody. While this isn’t always controversial, sometimes it is. When laws relating to topics like marriage, abortion, and even alcohol sales are debated upon, there is an aspect of the arguments about the topic that are solely religious. How should this be approached? Being religious is not a bad thing. Morality can be tied to people’s beliefs. But, morality is not equivalent to being religious. How do we go about “the majority” in terms of religion influencing and making laws that often end up being discriminatory towards other people?
Now as I work on this project, there is a massive amount of information and perspectives I can consider. There is a driving force behind what I am working towards now.
