When the topic of Christianity came up in class I had thought I knew everything I wanted to know about the subject, which was not much at all, I stand corrected. When the topic started I had no idea where the religion originated from, much less that it had a similar developmental frame as Buddhism, a religion that is regarded today as so different from Christianity. The term salvation religion had been foreign to me, and seems like something lost in the past when looking at how religion is today and the amount of money that goes through churches. Churches in my hometown seem to compete to have the nicest buildings and the largest congregations. I can relate this now to the time when Constantine announced that he had converted to Christianity and money from the empire went into building great structures devoted to Christianity and spreading the word and the belief of the religion.
I feel that for some, in our times and in the time of Constantine and the formation of Christianity and other Universal religions, the true sense was somewhat lost. People felt more inclined to be part of a group then they felt a spiritual connection to the religion. I have noticed this in some, I am not saying all, people in Michigan who go to church and are motivated by an outside source. I feel that in the beginning they had it right, fighting for what they want and for what they believe in, no matter what beliefs. The closest I feel that we have come to the type of religious persecution in individuals in my generation would be political differences involving voting. Religious uprisings are present everyday in countries all over the world, causing wars and death, however it is sad to look at the US and see how this goes relatively unnoticed. I feel that people of my generation, the 20 something’s of the world in the US need to start believing in something if we ever hope to understand where the foundations of our society, religion, and culture come from.
This is a pretty interesting post. Being from the east side of Michigan, where religion isn't as prevalent, I can easily see the subtle hints of needing to push people to being a follower of a certain religion. I usually work at the local Meijer store Sunday mornings and it never fails that I'll get one customer who asks me why I'm not in church. The idea of something being closed on a Sunday is pretty strange to me. It's also especially strange to have places close by 7 or so on a Sunday night. This is just comparing the cultures of both sides of the state of Michigan, too! The differences are amazing, but they are subtle enough that unless you've lived on the other side of the state, they won't be so noticeable.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same as you about not knowing as much about how christianity began as I thought I did. I have found it very interesting to learn more about the historical context of the religion that I believe.
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