This blog-post is very generalization* heavy, so I am open to confrontation, opinions, and criticism.
* All generalizations are compiled from my experience with people of privilege, i.e. people who attend(ed) University, attend(ed) private high school, and live(d) in safe areas of the world.*
A conversation I had with my coworker this week sparked my blog post today.
We discussed [and laughed] at the fact that we are fine with who we are and expressing that to the world. However, when we are around progressive people we hide our Christianity or retreat into our turtlenecks when we have to explain that we work for religious organizations. Having faith and being part of a Christian denomination in 2017 feels wrong (almost sinful) amongst certain groups of my peers and the general age group (young adult-adult millennials). I hide my faith behind phrases like, “I’m spiritual” or “I have always been fascinated by hinduism though.” There are some people that definitely have no idea about my deep interest in theology and the divine. They could read this blog post, but, considering “religion” is in the title, I doubt it. I feel like religion has acquired a very negative connotation lately.
I know I am not the only person of faith who feels this way about the majority of the young generation. In this technological, social-media oriented world, religious persons are often immediately denounced or labeled as being “bible-thumpers” and other negative terms. Organized religion has been demoralized through associations and labels like “republican,” “right-wing,” “conservative.” It is very common to find liberal people shaming political views because they have Christian undertones or overtones. I find this judgement incredibly misguided because the moral foundations of Christianity [to me] include giving to the less fortunate, taking care of each and every person, and keeping yourself humble and thankful. How is this any different from Islamophobia?
I have nothing against non-believers, atheism or agnosticism; I think it is crucial for people to have freedom of faith, ideas, and religion. However, I think people need to realize that faith and politics are not always negative, not always related, and definitely not always conservative.
For example, today on Marsh Plaza there was a beautiful display of tables to remind others of the fear that undocumented person are feeling under the current administration. There was a booth for meditation, booth for bubble blowing, booth for lighting incense, a booth to write down prayers, a large display of information about what has been happening for the past few months, and a booth with directions for taking legislative action with a number to call and a sample script of what to say in support of the DREAM act and undocumented persons. There were more displays than I can remember. The event was not specifically Christian and was organized by the Spiritual Life office.
Religion can be progressive and religion can be liberal. We could make more progress in the world if people learn to understand that and work together, especially when we are rooting for the same side.
On a side note, but still related:
I have been trying to “culture” myself musically and force myself to listen to pop, rap, hip-hop and the like. So I turned on a random playlist and Kanye West came on. I have never listened to a Kanye West song, so I thought, “Hey, great! This will put me up to date in the world.” The song was “Ultralight Beam,” which after 20 seconds, I immediately added to my music library. The first lyrics include, “(Yes, God) We don’t want no devils in the house, God (Yes, Lord). We want the Lord (Yes, Jesus)…” I was shocked because the people I know who like Kanye West are obsessed with materialistic pop-media culture, like the Kardashians, over-priced sneakers, an excessive amount of apple products and are usually millennials who denounce organized religion and think church is for old, white men. The song could be described as a prayer or used as an anthem for the eucharistic church service. In the song, Kanye praises God, struggles with his faith in the face of oppression, and turns to prayer to get himself (and his listeners) through tough times. I think the song is truly a beautiful piece of art. How many people actually listen to his words, I wonder…? And by listen, I mean internalize.