If the only thing I feel even remotely sure of is that the Sacred exists, should I be limiting myself to Christianity? What about other major (and minor) world religions?
My first instinct is to be basically opposed to that kind of “looking outside the box.” One big problem I have with religion in general is how bound up t is with culture. The result is that when someone converts to an exotic religion, they are put into a position of cultural dissonance. However, when someone embraces the religion of their own nation, their connection to their own culture is enhanced and made deeper. This is a sticky wicket for me, especially for religions that claim to be universal (like Christianity and Islam). Christianity is bound up with European culture (well, most Christianity is). Regardless of the religion’s Middle Eastern origins, we receive modern Christianity through the hands of the Roman Empire, Medieval Europe, the Reformation, and on down through the saga of Western Civilization down to the present. For 2,000 years, Europeans have been affecting Christianity at the same time as they have been affected by it, until Christainity is now part and parcel of being European (and I use the term European in a broadly ancestral sense to include people of European descenn, so the Americas and Australia/New Zealand). So becoming Christian really also means becoming at least a little bit European.
For a European, that means enhancing one’s own culture. For a non-European, it means becoming a kind of a crazy two-headed cultural aberration who really belongs nowhere, victim to cultural dissonance of the worst kind. That doesn’t seem universal to me. Does God prefer Europe and Europeans? According to Christianity’s teachings, the answer should be no. But the reality is that it seems like He does.
And the same goes for Islam. Becoming a Muslim means partly becoming Arabic. If you’re already an Arab, great. If not, then you’re going to be culturally adrift. Why? Goes Allah prefer Arabs? That doesn’t sound right if we’re talking about a religion and a god that are supposedly universal.
And if we’re talking about a religion that isn’t supposed to be universal (Judaism, for example, which pertains primarily to one nation; or Hinduism, which adopts a sort of many-paths approach), an outsider has absolutely no reason to adopt it, other than a passing infatuation with the exotic. Or maybe as a purely practical matter (you marry a Jew, for instance). But barring that, there’s really no reason to change teams.
Conversion to a culturaly exotic religion has little to commend itself anyway, but if the religion in question holds that you don’t need to convert to it, there’s even less. Unless it offers something unique and absolutely fantastic (I don’t know what would qualify; super-powers, maybe?), there’s simply no motivation to pursue it.
What about new religions, faiths that are equally foreign to all cultures, like Scientology or Baha’i? Or even Mormonism?
First, new religions aren’t equally foreign to all cultures. All of them have a time and place and cultural ethos out of which they were born, and thus they all carry cultural biases that make them less foreign to some people than to others. On top of that, I think that many of these new religions depend on claims that are fairly dubious. Major world religions generally have the advantage of origins obscured by history. You don;t want to see how sausages are made, and you probably don’t want to see how religions are made, either.
Are there other options? Philosophical systems that replace religion, like Deism and Pantheism? The problem with those is that usually they depend jsut as heavily on their time and place of inception, and the way people thought then and there. If they somehow rose to prominence and stoof the test of time it’d be one thing, but most of them are manifestations of a constantly evolving field of philosophy, and thus have a level of obsolescence built in.
What about atheism? I believe enough in the divine to not be comfortable with dogmatic atheism (and i also think that dogmatic atheists can be big arrogant jerks, though in all fairness so can religious people of every stripe), and I’m not content to remain an agnostic in the long-term.
The occult? Too creepy. Also, I’d need to see some evidence that Magick actually accomplished something. If I can’t actually summon Things from Beyond or cast fireballs, it doesn’t seem to be worth the time, effort, and possible risk to my immortal soul.
Reconstructed religions? I don’t believe that Wicca is actually reconstructed at all, and so it has both the problems of New Religions and the problems of the Occult, so that’sdouble trouble. Various forms of Neo-paganism? Dubious reliability is one proble. Also, centuries of nobody believing in them seems to take away from their validity. Plus, most of them carry the same cultural problems as exotic world religions do. Asfar as Neo-paganism that draws on my own ancestry, well, I already taked about Asatru a couple weeks ago.
Do I just construct my own belief system? That seems unreliable, and possibly fraught with peril. So what do I do?
If you’re talking about cultural relevance in a church though, or whether or not people should feel ‘comfortable’ there… I’d say that Christianity is supposed to make you feel UNcomfortable.
Jesus brought Christianity… and that wasn’t a comfortable idea for the Jews. Becoming a Christian means making yourself uncomfortable. Maybe some people (from other cultures for example) wind up feeling more uncomfortable than others, but then, maybe they find exactly what they were looking for and didn’t fit in before… just because you live in a culture doesn’t mean that that culture fits you.
“The result is that when someone converts to an exotic religion, they are put into a position of cultural dissonance. “
That’s exactly what kept me in Christianity for so long and is also what’s keeping me from converting to Hinduism – Culture. I’m an American white chick, raised as a Christian. I know what my heart wants, but can’t get my feet to follow.
Great blog. Found you via technorati searching on tag posts that contained “Hinduism.”
I also want to say that I’ve been enjoying your “new” blog and your honesty about your own religious search.
But I did feel it was necessary to clarify one point you mention, about how you feel a bit separated from Islam because you’re not Arab, because “Becoming a Muslim means partly becoming Arabic.”
I quote from Wikipedia (which then links to a US State Dept report of Muslim populations by country):
“Only 18% of Muslims live in the Arab world; 20% are found in Sub-Saharan Africa, about 30% in the South Asian region of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, and the world’s largest single Muslim community (within the bounds of one nation) is in Indonesia. There are also significant Muslim populations in China, Europe, Central Asia, and Russia.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam
Peace.
“And the same goes for Islam. Becoming a Muslim means partly becoming Arabic. If you’re already an Arab, great. If not, then you’re going to be culturally adrift. Why? Goes Allah prefer Arabs? ” – no luv, becoming Muslim doesnt meant that you’re partly becoming arabic, only about 20 percent of Muslims originate from Arab countries. nor does Islam teach us that Allah prefers Arabs. ps: its often hard for Muslims to separate Islam with culture, buts its not impossible.
“So becoming Christian really also means becoming at least a little bit European.”
i’ve been having trouble with this idea, as well. i’ve been starting to look into non-european christianity. the strongest christianity may’ve grown into europe, but there’s also been a long lineage of christian belief with syriac, ethiopean, persian, and indian influences… they’re quite different from european christianity, and if you’re feeling stuck with being a christian, you’re not stuck with european christianity…
Personally, I think you’re using your head too much, and allowing your fears to get in the way of what your heart — or Spirit itself — is trying to tell you.
All of your points are valid, but none of them will actually prevent you from using a religion that really speaks to you. If you decide that Christianity really is your bag, then you will resonate with its universal message and its “Europeanness” won’t bother you. Same (mutatis mutandis) goes for Islam. If you find that Wicca excites you, the fact that it’s not really reconstructed will not have any bearing on whether the Goddess speaks to you in your dreams. If you find, as I did, that the ancient religion of your ancestors is what you dig, their incomplete reconstruction will be an annoyance, but certainly not a crippling one.
All of these religions have flaws or challenges, but they all allow people to connect with the Eternal. You have to choose one you like, learn it, and give it time to work. Once the Eternal starts using it to connect with you, everything else fades to insignificance.
By the way, I’ve written a big series of blog posts about “How to Choose a Religion”, and I’d be delighted to hear what you think! 🙂
Re: Islam.
I realize that there are Muslims all over the world and that the vast majority of them are not of Arabic ethnicity.
However, like Christianity and Europe, Islam’s history is deeply rooted in Arabic culture, and the two have influenced each other over the centuries. I’m not saying that an Indonesian Muslim ceases to be Indonesian, and I’m not arguing that Indonesian Muslims don’t probably put a pretty heavy Indonesian spin on their faith. What I am saying is that religion is an aspect of culture, and as such is never fully separable from culture. As much as Islam has partially defined Arab culture, Arab cultire has also partially defined Islam. So when a person adopts Islam as their religion, they simply cannot do it without also adopting bits and pieces and shades and flavors of Arabic-ness.
Where have all the prominent Islamic scholars come from over the centuries? I don’t actually know. I would expect that there have been plenty of non-Arabs in the mix (Turks and Persians especially- but even then those are two cultures that have been massively influenced by Arabic culture), but I also wouldn;t be surprised to find that the balance of them have been Arabic.
At a bare minimum, becoming a Muslim means learning Arabic to properly read the Qu’ran. That’s a big deal- language is perhaps the most vivid transmitter of culture. If all Muslims are learning Arabic and are approaching God in Arabic, then in a sense a part of their culture is now Arabic. When Muslims learn classical Arabic to read the Qu’ran, that’s culture. It’s Arabic culture, and these Muslims, wherever they live, are thus becoming a little bit Arabic.
When Muslims have Arabic names, that’s culture, and it’s Arabic culture.
In places where there have been a lot of Muslims for a long time, like Indonesia, there has been Arabic influence over so many centuries that the entire civilization, the local culture, is all partially Arabic (the same way I guess that Latin America has been heavily European-ized through conquest and through Christanity).
Islam is a religion that is based on a one particular culture’s way of thought and way of being. It’s full of assumptions and preconceptions that are essentially Arabic. This is the same way that modern Christianity, having grown up in Europe and reciprocally influenced and been influenced by every other part of European culture, is loaded with European ways of thought and being, with essentially European assumptions and preconceptions. Becoming a Christian typically means changing one’s mindset at least a little bit to line up with basically European thinking, and that means becoming a little bit European.
In both cases, we have basic human ethnocentrism (the story of humanity, really) where a person doesn’t realize that most of what he thinks of as “just the way people are” is really just particular to his own culture (or family of cultures), and thus he feels free to pronounce his religion universal, even though it’s really bound up inextricably with his own cultural assuptions.
Agreed. It goes without argument that every religion defines itself in universal terms, and resents being associated with “mere” culture. But in practice, no faith is free of the regions where it was born or fostered.
Case in point: the LDS church. It proudly boasts of a majority of members living outside the U.S. No it’s not an “American” church, right? Wrong. American pioneer sensibilities are ground into everything the church leaders say. I remember being an LDS missionary in Japan, and cringing when I heard the culturally insensitive things leaders said, usually totally unaware that the core of the problem was not in hard doctrine but in the “common sense” approach to said doctrine. Foreigners who get deep into the church usually undergo a transformation of sorts as well, obsequiously taking on the “mormon lens”– really a Utah lens– to fully transform themselves into a working part of the church.
Of all the religions on the table, I assert that they are basically 100% culturally contaminated. No exceptions. Of course you’re going to think your own is pure and unsullied, but I’m not insinuating that this “cultural contamination” makes anything untrue. The core teachings can be true, even if they are dealt with in Arabic terms, or European terms etc. Needless to say, if you have a qualitatively “true” faith, then culture is a hurdle worth jumping. But I think Kullervo’s question is this: if there are “untrue” faiths, then should we expect their core beliefs to also be exalted manifestations of regional thought? And if there is no distinction between “true” and “untrue”, then what incentive can we have to adopt a foreign faith, other than the flair of the exotic?
Racticas, I agree. I would just note that, in general, polytheistic and shamanistic religions do not claim or aspire to have universal application. Instead, they are uniquely and proudly associated with certain cultures. This isn’t “cultural contamination”, of course; it is openly built into the foundations of the religion.
They’re not the only ones, either. Judaism is extrmely and dogmatically nation-specific. Zoroastrianism doesn’t accept converts (and thus is at least de facto nation-specific).
Kullervo,
I just came to your blog from a link on Kay’s blog, and I have to say I’m finding it very interesting – as a seeker myself I appreciate the depth of honesty you’re putting into both your search and your posts.
And if we’re talking about a religion that isn’t supposed to be universal…an outsider has absolutely no reason to adopt it, other than a passing infatuation with the exotic.
A bit harsh, surely? Is it not possible that a person converting to, say, Judaism, does so because there, and there alone, is where they truly experience the presence of the Divine?
Next… Wicca is pretty definitely *not* a reconstructed religion, but it’s worth bearing in mind that age alone does not confer spiritual validity – all religions were new, once.
Since you have mentioned a passing interest in (more or less) pre-Christian religions from a cultural-heritage perspective, are you aware that there are modern worshippers of the Gods of the Greeks as well (and also of the Romans)? For a European-descended person it doesn’t get much more culturally appropriate than that… 🙂 I am not trying to proselytize you by any stretch, but in reading this blog I have seen a lot of the same thoughts and questions that have run throughout my own journey, many of which have now been answered there.
…centuries of nobody believing in them seems to take away from their validity. I don’t find it so, personally… if Christian worship lapsed for a thousand years, would that make the Christian truth-claims any less true? The Gods don’t cease to exist just because we turn our backs on them…
That said, I would encourage you to keep seeking within Christianity for your spiritual home, until you are absolutely certain it is not where you belong. There is a lot of goodness in Christianity, and a lot of truth (and even some Truth), and it’s certainly easier in our culture to be Christian than not.
Best of luck with your journey – I am looking forward to following along and seeing where you go!
Blessings,
Erik
A Baha’i voice chiming in here 🙂
The 1st principle that is taught in the Baha’i Faith is the Independent Investigation of Truth. While this sounds really nice in principle, you will find many rarely practice it in their own lives.
If you would like an excellent resource for your investigation of all the Holy Scriptures you can go to http://www.bahai-education.org and download the program called Ocean. Everyone has their own programs for their own groups/faiths, but this is the only one I have found that endevours to embrace them all in a single reference library. In so doing, you would be surprised when you do search queries into all scriptures, the results very interesting.
I can only advise that in your search to seek with your own eyes and your own ears. Many will want you to see through theirs, so as to validate their own beliefs. God gave you a reasoning mind, and a soul to discern truth from falsehood. Count on it, rely on God to guide you, and know that there is actually an answer to everything to him who seeks it. God doesn’t call for blind faith… He just calls for the sincere to seek Him out and thus be worthy of the benefits that come from that journey.
Hope this helps in some degree. 🙂
Jonathan
“All of these religions have flaws or challenges, but they all allow people to connect with the Eternal.” Jeff’s observation is particularly valid, at least for me, after leaving an Eastern path after two decades of practice and very useful experience. For me, it was cognitive dissonance rather than cultural dissonance, since the path had done a good job acclimating to the West, dispensing with vegetarianism and long periods of meditation. Historical claims I couldn’t accept, plagiarism and cover-ups didn’t jive with the high ethical terrain and exclusive truth claims the organization asserted for itself.
That left me floundering for a decade, gradually “deconverting,” though I find many of the spiritual practices I learned invaluable still. We’re social beings, and a group offer much in the way of focus, stability and inspiration for regular practice. Best wishes on your journey. Please keep posting!
Think for yourself and make your own desicions. There is only one person that can say what is right and wrong for yourself, thats you!
If you have any question about how Scientology could help you to find answers for yourself, let me know.
Great blog you have here!
(Joining the conversation a little late….)
Kullervo said: Also, centuries of nobody believing in them seems to take away from their validity. (referring to Paganism)
But who has the right to validate anybody else’s belief? This sentence seems to imply that because there was a lack of historical support for pagan religions (in that the religions haven’t been practiced for years), that they are no longer valid. If pagan religions (meaning Roman and Greek religions) lost their validity long ago with the lost of adherents, what would be the reason for them to be making a come back?
Most modern day Pagans would say that the validation has to come from within the self rather than a figurehead that stands in front leading the way. (There is a discussion on my blog currently about this very issue.)
If I can’t actually summon Things from Beyond or cast fireballs, it doesn’t seem to be worth the time, effort, and possible risk to my immortal soul.
LOL – You seem to have a concept of “magick” that comes from the views that you have been raised in. (No offense meant by that.) I would say that many Pagans look at magic (I dislike the use of the ‘k’) as almost a type of prayer. Prayer has a very powerful effect on the mind that can be equated with the “I think there is possibility” rather than “I will get what I want.” As we know, we can pray for something, but the answered prayer doesn’t necessarily get answered in the way that you imagined.
All and all, I wish you and your wife well on your journery to finding your path and I look forward to what you have to say in your future posts.
Based on the premis that there is a Creator, would that Creator want the creation to be ignorant of the existance of the Creator? I think not. Parents what their children to know who they are. So, the Creator would want its children (us) to know Who it/he/she is.
Throughout human history (and before) the Creator has revealed its/his/her will to the human race. Bits of this information has been retained at different times and places and has become different religions. Baha’u’llah says this is part of God’s plan. But people, being people, misunderstand, so new teachers have given new knowledge suited to the time they appear and reaffirm the previous knowledge that was true.
Baha’u’llah said the human race is on the edge of becoming aware of its total self – hence the confusion of our age. Some people want to maintain their separateness from others, some are ready to embrace all of ourselves (all “races,” etc.).
It might bear investigating.
Ideas may be perfect, but people never are. Some people have ideas that might help them function better with other people – those bring peace. I have found that the people who most consistenly have ideas that help them function better with others are members of the Baha’i Faith.
The Baha’i Faith is newer than other religions, but all religions were new ideas once – maybe that’s not a bad thing.
[…] Should I Be Looking Elsewhere? […]