For my well informed post this week, I wanted to explore whether or not our First Amendment right to freedom of religion is being threatened. I am not discussing a single religion or the one I affiliate with rather all religion as a whole (and those who choose not to participate in religion). Before I begin this post, I personally don't feel like our freedom of religion is being threatened. If anyone truly believes it is needs to try living in most of the Middle East or North Korea. In the United States we are absolutely free to practice what we choose (as long as you aren't killing people or breaking the law). That being said, I think the better question to ask is how is tolerance changing when it comes to religion? It's clear for the most part that the government couldn't care less what you do or don't believe in, but what about the general culture or society? It seems on both sides it's getting more intolerant; religious people want everyone else to be religious and less or non-religious people want everyone to stop judging them and stop being.. what's the word? a bigot. Why can't both sides actually "do what they preach?"
I found this interesting website where you can have a clear and organized debate with others so I looked up this topic to see what people were saying. I really liked what this person said, "But the message from many places in the United States is that religions and religious people are to be silent. Religions and religious people deserve the right to be able to voice their beliefs in the public sphere without fear that they will lose their employment, home, or emotional well-being. The government has a duty to protect religious thought and not favor any religion or lack of religion. A secular state forces religious beliefs to be hidden, which goes against many religious beliefs which require its practitioners to be vocal and public about their beliefs..." Another more generalized statement I relate to was this, "Believe that marriage is between a man and a woman and you're intolerant. If you believe life begins at conception, you hate women. The people who are supposedly the most tolerant are actually the least." Being a religious (although not extreme or devout) person myself, I find these statements to be very true. If I speak out the tiniest statement on social media about a belief I have or why I support/don't support something, I am usually torn apart and personally attacked. Which is why I don't say anything anymore which I think is troubling that so many religious people feel like they can't speak up for fear of retaliation rather than a civil discussion or debate that would perhaps end with "let's agree to disagree but still be kind to one another."
On the other side of the debate we have those who feel they are suffocating under religion whether it's pressure put on by their parents or the community or church leaders. They feel like they are being watched until they make a mistake and then be scolded for it. I found this quote that sheds light on the other side of this, "Religion hasn't simply been fair to everybody. When you've been treated unfairly it's natural to feel anger or hate towards that institution. For an average white christian male he might see the unfairness in religion but he hasn't been treated unfairly. When he might criticize religion for this unfairness a homosexual person may feel angry for being called a sinner. Similarly in Islam there's a lot of reason why women and homosexuals could feel hatred towards religion. In Hindu religion there exists still untouchability based on caste in many parts of India. They've been treated unfairly for centuries. I don't endorse anger or hatred towards religion. But unfair treatment almost always begets anger and hatred. They're hatred is justified." I can completely understand this viewpoint and see why some individuals do develop a mistrust and possibly hatred towards religious institutions or even religious people. I too have experienced feelings of judgement, rebellion, and non acceptance in some levels in my religion however I have also felt these things many more times outside of my religion as well. I'm starting to wonder that it's not people becoming more unsupportive and critical of whether you are religious or not, rather it's people becoming more unsupportive and critical of each other. "But American society is more focused on individual freedom, and less focused on social rules than it used to be." (psychologytoday)
Generally speaking, society especially the millennial generation (which I realize I'm a part of) is very much an "I and me" generation. What do I want to do? What will make me happy? Why should I care? I deserve this.. I want that. This way of thinking leaks toxin into our conversations turning a simple difference of thought into "You don't agree with me so I hate you." This realization makes Human Communication majors like myself very troubled and depressed. I feel like I am getting a degree in a lost cause because we seem to no longer be communicating with each other as humans but rather fighting with each other like neanderthals. I slightly digress, this applies to religion in the sense that we continually put people into categories and little boxes of what we assume they are or what we think fits them best. We then can easily make conclusions in our heads that "all Christians are judgmental bigots." "All Atheists are satanists." "All Muslims are terrorists." I think most would agree these categories are wrong and totally uncalled for and uneducated. Yet why do some think this way? Why is it so easy to get a negative reaction when you hear certain affiliations? Why is it when someone has a bad experience (or several) with a religion or a religious person that they denote the whole religion as terrible and in turn it's affiliates? Let's be realistic, every religion is going to have a handful of radicals, a ton of hypocrites, and even more unfriendly "judgmental" members. And because of those few (in the grand scheme) are that way, every other member doesn't get a chance?
Going back to the human aspect, no one can hope to be all accepting, pure loving, and positive every moment of every day. What we can do is stop stereotyping, categorizing, and being critical of everyone all the time. If someone is religious and wants to share their love of God with you, don't see it as them "forcing it down your throat" say no thanks and move on and hopefully *most* religious people will move on as well. And if you're religious friend doesn't believe in drinking alcohol, don't try to tell her that's a stupid and dated belief and try to get her to break it; support her by not making her feel bad about it. If someone believes marriage is between a man and a woman, instead of personally attacking them and saying their religion is evil and must change, try saying "I don't understand that belief and I don't agree but let's move on." Of course, on the other side if someone doesn't want to come to church after you've asked them every Sunday for the past 6 months, please move on and simply pray for them if it worries you so much. Also, if someone has tattoos and/or a baby with his girlfriend and comes to church, don't stare them down and avoid them at all cost, maybe say hello what's your name? I'm so glad you are here and actually mean it. If you're son decides not to go on a mission or become a priest and if your daughter makes a mistake or choice to have premarital sex; don't make them feel worthless, don't kick them out, don't give them the silent treatment. LOVE THEM. It's your child and you are the one person they should be able to count on to pick them up when they have fallen down. Sorry I went a little far with that because I am a parent and it hurts me to see how parents react when their children choose differently than they were "supposed" to.
I've stressed my point enough I think so I'll briefly conclude. Our freedom of religion is still safe and sound as far as I'm concerned however the pressure from an individualistic society is making it harder to believe what you want and be able to voice that without scrutiny. In the same respect, Institutional pressure is making it harder to make your own choices and set your own path without punishment. Everyone wants to be right and no one wants to be wrong.
Holly,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post and a couple things inside your post got me thinking. The first thing was towards the end when you mention "the pressure from an individualistic society is making it harder to believe what you want and be able to voice that without scrutiny." Through my observations I feel as if this is almost exclusively related to social media. In fact BBC Newsbeat reports "The results of several survey's suggests 18-30 year olds are increasingly 'individualistic' compared to previous generations of young people." It also verified your point that these individuals have mentioned that they feel more freedom to scrutinize others through social media. Its as if the ability to sit in the safety of their own home gives them this sense of security to hate on others and their opinions without having to have a completely open dialogue.
The second thing that struck my mind was your last sentence, "Everyone wants to be right and no one wants to be wrong." I almost think its more of everyone wants to speak out when society tells them they are right and everyone wants to hide when society tells them they are wrong. When it comes to religion I feel as if I have to keep my opinion private on social media because society has led me to believe that I am wrong for being in the minority with my beliefs.
Reggie,
ReplyDeleteI apologize I thought I had responded to your comment when I first read it but apparently I forgot. Thank you for your comment! I totally agree with you that people turn so mean and selfish when they are behind that "safety" of their screen. It is very rare that I see people engaging in thoughtful debate rather than quickly turning it personal and assuming the worst of everyone. It's that reason I stay away from FB posts that are even remotely about opinions. Even if it seems like an innocent topic such as "what's the best place to eat in town?" I swear even that, someone somehow will turn it into a negative debate that ends in hurtful comments. I like what you said at the end that society entitles some to speak out and proclaim they are right and forces others to hide when they feel threatened. It's sad and annoying that it's come to this especially when religion is involved. As I said in my post, I wish everyone would practice what they preach or just don't preach it and let everyone else live their life the way they choose, religious or not!
Holly ,
ReplyDeleteYour post made me think of the required communication class, voice civility. When first starting this class we were asked what civility is and I had no idea and I feel like the majority of our generation doesn't. It is almost a lost art in our now individualistic society. We don't compromise anymore to hold onto our own beliefs and still regard other opposing views as human, and the person who holds those opposing views as a good person. But I think in a way religion has done this to us, they teach us not to seek out opposing views, not to put yourself in places of temptations, to doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. But it is also easy in the secular world to only justify our beliefs and values even outside of religion and not seek opposites views as well. There seems to be a dilemma where religion has made it our individual duty to save others and the secular world wants religious people to experience the world for how it really is. I think we are very uneducated in our views and rarely go past the first google search to seek an answer to our questions.
Everybody knows it's Cafe Rio.
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