Talking About It

I talked to David Omestead. I chose to talk to him because he doesn't follow a certain religion, and I do. We both have very different backgrounds, and Ilooked at this as a opportunity to step out of my comfort zone, and consider the views and opinions of others. I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn about his views on religion.

Some interesting points that he made was that because he was not binded to a religion, he didn't feel that he would had a bias view towards any certain religion, or the world of religion in general.

It was worthwhile because I learned about another individual's insight on religion, someone who did not have certain views based on his religious view.

- I talked to Veronica Thao. I did so to find more about what religion, and why, she practices it.
- I found it interesting that Veronica practices both, Christianity and Shamanism. Shamanism is more of her primary religion, which has been passed down to her from her ancestors. The religion focuses on the spirit world and believes that their leaders can speak to deceased individuals. These leaders are known as shamans and because of their ability to be in contact with the spirit world, they are highly revered. Obviously, I am more knowledgeable of Christian beliefs, but what I found interesting was how Veronica came to practice the religion. Being born in the U.S., her parents decided it would be helpful to learn about this religion, in order to conform. As a result Veronica was baptized and then attended a catholic school from kindergarten to fifth grade.
- From this experience I learned about Shamanism and how religion has played a role in Veronica’s life. It was worthwhile because I got to learn about a religion that I had no previous knowledge of.

I talked to Bryan Markhart about Unitarian Universalism. Having a Protestant background, the idea of a religion where you can truly believe whatever you want and are accepting of other people's beliefs is very different for me.

During their services, they start out with church announcements (they strongly value community) then the minister speaks about a specific topic. The topics vary greatly and take parts from other religions and poets. Bryan also told me about a program called OWL (Our Whole Lives) which is essentially a sex-ed class. Teens are taught about sex and sexuality. This was especially bizarre for me, coming from a church where sex before marriage is frowned upon.

This experience was definitely worthwhile, Bryan has always talked to me about being Unitarian, but I had never before really understood what that meant.

I talked to Souriya Thao. I chose to talk to Souriya in order to learn more about Hmong culture and Shamanism to be more specific. Souriya told me that a shaman is a man or woman who takes a journey into the spirit world to cleanse a person's spirit. Many Hmong people believe that sickness and disease is caused by the presence of demons in the spirit. These people believe that disease and sickness can be cured by the cleansing of the spirit by a shaman. I learned that Shaman traditionally make their journey to the spirit world on horseback. I found this conversation with Souriya to be very educational and very interesting. It was cool to learn about something I had no prior experience with. I will not forget what i learned about Shamanism from Souriya. I found this subject more interesting because it is something i originally knew nothing about.

I talked to Ben Yang. Ben is Hmong and generally Hmong people practice shamanism and or "calling the spirit". Though, I found it interesting that Ben doesn't practice shamanism or calling the spirit. In fact, his family is methodist. He said that according to his father, the "spirit world" and "calling the spirit" is too corrupted to be practiced. There are too many rules that need to be followed and too many procedures that need to be done correctly in order to be a devoted shamanist. Ben and his family goes to church very sunday and they are very committed to their church.
What I took away from this conversation with Ben was his reasoning for not practicing shamanism. It was interesting talking to him because i assumed that many or most hmong families are either extremely shamanistic or they don't have any religious preference at all. Talking to Ben gave me more perspective.

I talked with Katherine Andrews about what she believes and she views her religion.

Katherine is a Lutheran, but she was raised Methodist. When her family moved to Minnesota from Georgia they found the Methodist churches in Minnesota to very different from those in Georgia. They discovered that the Lutheran churches are pretty much the same. I found this interesting that even though they are supposedly two different religions people can go from one to the other with out noticing a difference. Katherine, though technically Lutheran, has had somewhat a different religious upbringing. Her dad is interested in religious history from an educational perspective. For this reason Katherine has learned about many different religions.

Katherine considers herself a fairly liberal christian. By this I mean she more believes in and follows the principals of Christianity than the idea of the religious right.

I chose to talk to Alison Suzukamo about being Jewish. I have never learned about Judaism, and I wanted to know more about the religion and its practices. I chose her because I knew that I could get an accurate, truthful response on what it’s like to be Jewish in such a Christian-dominated society. I mean that one always sees Easter decorations and Christmas decorations in stores, and commercials on television for Christmas and Easter, but I never really see any other commercials or emphasis on any other holiday. It made me want to dive into another faith and see what it’s like and how it’s celebrated, or how different it is from my own faith. I found it most useful to talk about how different our holidays are from each other, and what our services were like in the Synogogue verses Church. When we were talking about the Jewish holidays, there were some interesting aspects that have never really entered my faith. For instance, Hannauka is really not as important as other Jewish holidays, it is only highlighted because of Christmas. Yom Kippur is actually one of the most important Jewish holidays of the year. There is usually a lot of fasting and intense prayer, and it is a time of repentance. Another interesting fact about the Jewish faith is that their days start at sunset instead of sunrise.
Away from the holidays, I learned that Shabbat, or their Holy day of the week, is Friday at sundown until Saturday evening. It is their day of rest. They also have Synagogue, and bless bread and wine, but do not have communion. I also thought it was interesting that they even have a language, Hebrew, and Christianity does not. They also have Bar Mitzvahs for boys and Baht Mitzvahs for a girl, which happens around 13 years of age. It is the celebration of growing up and becoming an adult.
It was worth it to talk about because I have always wanted to learn more about my friends’ religion. I learned about how different our religions really are, but also how they are not so different after all.

I chose to talk to Bryan Markhart. Bryan Unitarian Universalist.
Q: What does that mean?
A: Unitarians used to be some form of Protestantism originally, so vaguely connected to Christianity, and then they added "Universalist" and then not so much (Christian). The only really Christian aspects we have kept are that we meet on Sundays and in a church.

Q: What is the format for a service?
A: So we get in there, and a random volunteer/board member (he doesn't know) will lead the service. So then they welcome everyone, light the chalice (anyone who signs up can do it, they have to prepare a dedication while they light it), they say the opening words (which might differ from Church to Church, then announcements, then the service differs from week to week. The last section though is always a speaker who gives a sermon. Then we say the closing words. Oh, there are also hymns throughout the service... we have a really good choir too.
Sometimes there will be music, bands or somethng - really it differs week to week. But we always light the chalice, we always have opening words, announcements, the sermon and closing words and some sort of music.

Q: What draws you most to Unitarianism: the people, the freedom of religion or the social justice emphasis?
A: Definitely all three, I really like all the people because their really nice, freedom of religion is good, and I really think social justice is important.

Q; Is Unitarianism a religion?
A: Yes!

It was worth learning about because understanding someone's religion can allow you to get to know them better too. I don't have an extremely good knowledge of, Unitarian Universalism so this was helpful in clearing up their ideals and practices.

I talked to Hodan Saeed about being Muslim. I wanted to talk to her because she is on the dance team. When we went to pick out the uniform for dance team, Hodan asked us to keep in mind she could not wear a sleeve that was less than 4-5 inches past her shoulder. I did not even know Hodan was Muslim, or even think about her religion, until she told me about her dress regulations. I had a lot of questions for her such as why can you replace the traditional hijab for long sleeves and pants? And why don't the sleeves have to be full length, why is 5 inches the decided length?
As I talked with Hodan, it became apparent her family practiced their religion at a more relaxed degree. When I asked about Ramadan, she said she did not participate. Because she is not yet 15, she is not required to, although she likes to "practice." I asked if you could eat if the sun was covered by clouds, she said laughed and said no. I wondered if people ate a lot at night because they were so hungry from not eating all day. She said in the beginning people eat more, but after a while they get used to it. She said her parents usually break the fast with one date, therefore not to overeat.
Something I took away from this experience was seeing how Hodan was able to balance her religion and her secular life. I found it interesting the compromises made for her dress requirements in order to fit into American culture. Like I said before, it did not even occur to me that Hodan was Muslim before she told me. It's not like I purposefully try to label people with their religion, but usually with Muslim women their dress gives them away. Although many people with a more traditional Islamic point of view may despise the dress moderations, I think it is a great way for Muslim women to practice their religion while participating as equal members in a society where, unfortunately, they may be judged by their religion.

I talked to my Scoutmaster Mr. Schuster because as I work through the final steps toward Eagle I have needed to talk about my faith. A scout is reverent is the twelfth point of the scout law and I have needed to explain how I have lived each part of the law. I am not a very religious person, lucky even to go to church on Easter or Christmas. Plus I chose to quit confirmation in 9th grade. I have always found that while religion in general has good intentions and good morals that it is the nature of people to try and gain power or wealth over people. Religion is no better if not worse medium in which to accomplish those ends. Religion is merely a set of routines people as a culture decided. But all the major religions have the same basic tenets. What I found interesting from my conversation was that while he agreed with much of what I said he still found comfort in the going to the church. The church itself did nothing for his faith it was only a place to meet with family and friends. What I took away from the experience was that religion might not be all that it is hyped up to be. Many of us just do it because it feels like the right thing to do. It also reinforced that accusing other religions as wrong or inferior makes no sense at all. I would say my conversation was worthwhile because I found out that even very "religious" people may find religion a bit exaggerated.

I spoke with my good friend Kathryn Andersen about her religion, Anglican Catholicism. I had never heard of this denomination of Catholicism and was very interested to learn about it. I was interested to learn that Anglican Catholics are very similar to Catholics, but they differ in the belief that the Pope as the leader of the church. Gays and women are not allowed to join the priesthood in the church and women are not allowed on the altar unless they are members of the altar guild (Kathryn said all they do is clean the altar). Like Catholicism, Anglican Catholics recognize the seven sacraments of Baptism, Conformation, Confession, Communion, Marriage, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick. Kathryn told me that there were not many congregants in the church, around 100, but they were growing. I was very interested in the fact that Anglican Catholicism is not considered a Catholic denomination, but protestant. Kathryn told me that fifty years ago her church sent a letter to the Vatican asking for recognition as members of the Catholic Church. She then said that the letter was just opened now, after half of a century. Now, the church is waiting for a response. I thought that my conversation with Kathryn was very worthwhile. Learning about the religion was very interesting.

I talked to my friend Hannah Irvine about not following a particular religion. I asked her if she felt somehow disconnected from the world and she replied that she did not because she still celebrates some religious holidays, like Christmas and easter, just without the religious message of it all. I found it very interesting when she said that she felt lucky to not be tied down by a religion and that she then has more freedom to follow her own morals and beliefs. Hannah does not mind being a mutt of sorts in terms of religion, because she enjoys the freedom she has to explore all parts of what makes up the world without biases or reservation. She is happy with her no particular religion way of life and she convinced me that it has just as much to offer that belonging to a religion, just in different ways.

I talked to Avalon Zara about some traditions that take place over the Hanukkah season. She told me that Hanukkah was not only a celebration of light (the story of the oil lasting for eight days) but that Hanukkah was set into place to celebrate the defeat of the Greeks that had taken place (back in the day) earlier that fall. She said however, that here in the U.S. it is a way bigger deal than it is anywhere else in the world. We also talked about the game dradle, and what the symbols on each of the sides mean. It was very interesting to learn all of these things that i had no known before!

I chose to talk to Aisha Galaydh about her practicing Islam. I thought talking to Aisha would help me take a closer look at the religion we currently are studying. I also was hoping to have some of the questions I have always wondered about this religion answered.

One of the most interesting parts about our conversation came when we were talking about whether or not she followed the prayer schedule. I truly had no idea that she prayed at school, and when hearing about it, I found what she was explaining incredibly interesting. She told me how she normally will pray only one time during the day, which is around lunch time. When I asked what would happen if she accidentally missed when she was supposed to pray, she explained that in order to make up for it, you would say the prayer twice the next time around. As we continued to talk, I found it very interesting that Muslim women are not allowed to pray when they have their period. Aisha told me that the reason for this is simply just because that they are considered to be "dirty" during this part of the month. I had never known this before, and therefore was very intrigued by it. I asked Aisha if she was at all offended by this and she simply replied no, and that that was just the way it was.

I really enjoyed being able to talk with Aisha. I surprisingly learned more than I thought I would, and was able to grasp a deeper understanding of the Islamic faith. I also thought it was exciting to talk with Aisha because everyone who was around us (our basketball team) was also very intrigued. Everyone started asking questions and it was nice to see that everyone was genuinely excited to be learning about something we knew very little about!

I talked to my mom's boyfriend Jim. He practices the Zen form of Buddhism. Zen follows the Four Noble Truths and The Eightfold Path of Buddhism. To him, Zen means "living in the present moment." He considers it more of a way of life than a religion, since it worships no gods or talks of any afterlife. People who follow Zen try to forget the labels that life puts on things, and to always be aware of yourself. As he says, "in Zen, the more you try to define something, the more it slips away." Zen is perfect balance.
He likes Zen because, unlike Western religions and philosophy which rely on logic and rationality, Zen stops the thought process and allows the follower to live in the moment. The most important part of Zen is that you need nothing to become enlightened - everything you need is right in front of you. He likes Zen because of the lack of religious connotations. The reliance is on the self, instead of a higher power. He told me his favorite koan is: "Working in my bowl, mountains and rivers, wheeling through my breast, a sun, a moon." -Shih-Shu

Even though we had learned quite a bit about Zen Buddhism in class, it was very interesting to talk to someone who actually practices it, since it is not very common in the US. It was inspiring to hear him talk about Zen because I have not heard anyone talk about it in person before, and learned a lot more about it from a more personal perspective.

Over the break I talked to a member of my temple who is a Messianic Jew. My initial question was how can you be both a Jew and believe in Jesus as Christ. He was open to answering my questions and told me that he acts as anyone who was born a Jew but believes that the messiah has already come, he observes all of the cultural traditions of Judaism and prays to god at temple but also occasionally goes to church to pray to Jesus. I asked him how he is different from a Jew for Jesus and he said that he is essentially the same thing, but avoids associating with them because of their aggressive evangelical tendencies. The discussion then shifted to how he is raising his two children and their faith. He explained that they currently haven't quite developed their own beliefs, but each had a bar/t mitzvah with the traditional Torah reading as well as a new testament reading. The discussion then winded down, we briefly talked about discrimination within the Jewish community and his experiences at church. Our discussion was well worthwhile and I gained a new understanding of "Jews for Jesus" and their beliefs.