Reply A
I feel like growing up in the south or South adjacent it is impossible to
have religion not affect your life in some way. I grew up in a First
Christian church. I went with my Aunt and Uncle every Sunday. It was a
conservative church with a mainly older congregation. My mother
never really went to church, she was always religious but not a church
goer. Maybe because she was a single mother I have never asked her.
I was involved in church plays. I went to awana every week on
Wednesdays. It was something I identified with as a child and
something I clung to until I was older. As I was older, teenage angst
you could say I was heavily questioning everything around me
including religion. Then in college even more so.
I find it hard to believe at times in a true “creator” when I see so much
suffering. Everywhere. Why would my creator take so many people
away and let people go hungry and really let the world burn. I cant see
how a murderer can repent just before he is set to die he can be
accepted and forgiven of his sins and a person who lives a “good life”
helping others, not hurting anyone but is an atheist is assigned to
damnation. Furthermore, I struggle with why people must have an
omniscient being in order to behave in a safe and kind way. Why not
just be a good person to be a good person?
I am not saying I don’t find the idea of having another being in charge
of it all isn’t possible. I have had miracles in my life I cannot explain.
However, I think it is natural to question everything that is put in front
of you and religion being that as well. I don’t say I need concrete proof
of how many things we do not understand. But I think it is a personal
choice and one to make on your own. Even though many have tried to
convince me otherwise. The individual needs to decide what is best
for them.
I most enjoyed the last speaker. I do think without the construct of
religion, there would be less wars and violence in the world. The
constant struggle for who has the right version of an idea and the
other is wrong. However, I do think it is human nature to search for a
higher purpose, to search for something more than what we currently
see before us.
Reply B
I am a cradle Catholic, which means I was born
into my religion, although I’ve also grown to understand the values and
lessons
I was raised with, and I know enough to choose for myself. Overall, I’d
say
my religion has impacted my life positively, more than I could possibly
explain
in words. My religion has gotten me through some of the darkest
times of my life mentally, and I don’t know where I’d be without it.
As for criticisms of my religion, the main ones
I have are some of the Catholics who use it as an excuse for their
discrimination.
While I don’t see this directly as the fault of Catholicism as a religion,
many
close-minded people have made this part of the culture surrounding
my religion.
I see people like these as an insult to the real values of Catholicism –
the
most important of which being to love everyone and treat all people
with
respect and dignity. When it comes to my family, I appreciate that they
raised
me into my religion, but I wish they had put more effort into teaching
me some
of the more important parts of it, many of which I didn’t learn until I
was older learning things on my own.
In my personal life, my faith is grounded on
just that: faith. Emotional experience has proven to be more than
enough to
build my relationship with God and Catholicism in the way that I’ve
done. I
understand why people are often skeptical about the existence of any
god or any
religion, but I feel confident enough in my beliefs and experiences that
I believe they can’t be shaken. I have experienced only a couple of
people who
attempted to change my beliefs by using “logic” to convince me to
give them up,
but it did not work. My favorite philosopher I read this week was
Thomas Aquinas. The main reason for this was that his writing was
much easier
to understand than Augustine’s, but also, I found his work more
interesting as
well and I enjoyed reading about his reasonings and logic in
defense of God
