Apparently, my practices and beliefs can be offensive, which is odd to me. We have such ethnic and religious diversity in the U.S. that I guess people figure I have to subscribe to something. I don’t. The sum of my upbringing, family history and life experiences have pushed me down a path that is somehow both pragmatic and mystical.
My first mistake, I suppose, is that I don’t believe in god. I definitely don’t believe in a single god whose image we are made in, and my “spiritual” idea of there being a “higher power” is waning. People don’t like to hear that you don’t believe in anything.
Even though I don’t have a stated religion, I’ll practice almost anything. Rituals are fascinating and necessary. I find ritual in almost everything I do from the mundane task of taking a bath to something as permanent as getting a tattoo (I have two and have more planned). I argue with my family often about this, I don’t ritualize in order to praise some arbitrary, all-powerful force, I ritualize the tangible. I believe in being conscious of all your actions, and ritual provides reason for your actions, no matter how silly they may seem.
I wasn’t raised this way. I was raised Christian, went to bible school, even sang in the church youth choir for a time. As a pre-teen I gathered friends together who were god and Jesus-loving and, most important at the time, who weren’t slutty, because somehow that was the ultimate no-no.
So how did I evolve from a good, Christian choir girl to vampy, Atheist pagan woman? I’m not really sure. I think my convoluted life has much to do with it. There are so many twists and turns that it is hard for me to believe that any of it is planned or guided by any higher power. There is just too much stuff going on and multiply that by billions of people; I just don’t think it’s possible to keep up.
Then there’s that I’ve always been open to alternatives to what I learned in bible school. It spurred my own personal quest for truth. Truth, to me means that I have to respect of other people and acknowledge that I may not be right, even if I’ve settled on what I chosen to believe, all those other people can’t all be wrong.
Then, I have to take into account my multi-faceted upbringing. My parents split when I was about two and they are on complete opposite ends of the spectrum. I’ve dealt with it by trying to find a balance between the two for myself, which is difficult and keeps my forever challenging myself.
This is a good place for me to begin my life journey, at the time of my parent’s split.
When my parents split, my sister and I lived with my mother in Simi Valley. She never really stopped being that crazy free-spirited person. We loved it. She took us everywhere with her and her crazy friends; long hikes in the mountains, bonfires by the train tracks, camping in Ohai, swimming at the beach. There was always company, we were considered “cool kids” and I guess that meant that we could hang. Living with my mom was like a magical adventure everyday of our lives.
Looking back on the reality of it, my mom and her crazy friends were smoking pot, doing coke and drinking all the time. (In my memory have an image of a square mirror with a gorgeous unicorn engraved on it. most of the time it had white powder on that I knew I wasn’t supposed to touch, but I just liked to look at the unicorn.) Our house was the party house because all of my mom’s friends were quite a bit younger than her. If you look at our school records, we were absent about half of the time. Everyday was like an adventure because she would decide that she didn’t feel like stopping her fun to pick us up from school, so she would take us with. At the time, my sister and I never knew the difference, it was just fun.
One Sunday night after a weekend with my dad he took us back to the house in Simi and my mom wasn’t home. We waited in the driveway for what seemed like hours to my seven-year-old mind. We left to go eat and came back, she still wasn’t there. We went to a pay phone and my dad called a couple of her friends, I guess they didn’t know where she was either. Eventually he told me and my sister to go to sleep. We woke the next morning back in our beds at his condo in L.A. My dad went back to Simi couple of times that week; he left us with his girlfriend rather than take us. We asked when we would go home, and never got an answer.
The following Monday my dad enrolled us in Third Street Elementary School. We thought my dad stole us. I would sneak to call my mom and never got an answer. Sometimes in the bathroom with the water running, we would whisper about getting a map and riding all the way to Simi Valley, back to where it was fun and free, and would talk about how much our mom must have missed us.
Life at my dad’s was very different for us. We hated it. It seemed like there was so much school and so many rules. We could never go outside since we lived in the city. We rode our bike and scooter in the building’s underground parking. We had to go to church. We had to wear stockings. When we lived with my mom we only had to do that once a year when we visited our great-grandma for Easter.
At school it wasn’t any better for me. I was an awkward kid with a huge imagination. That was no different from before, I was always the weird geeky kid that boys picked on and girls ignored. What was different in the L.A. school was that the girls picked on me too. More than just picked on me, they were down right mean, some girls even wanted to fight. My keeping to myself was taken as I thought I was better than them because I had “that good hair” and I was suddenly a “high yellow heifer.” I had no idea what they were talking about. I hated my hair, it hurt to comb it and it was frizzy. High yellow, that was beyond me. Mind you, I’m seven, I came from Simi Valley and race was never discussed in my mom’s magical world.
I stayed to myself, but eventually made a few friends who were also misfits. The intense hazing stopped after a few of the black parents caught wind that my dad is who he is, also a few girls saw his girlfriend pick me up and recognized her as well.
We didn’t hear form my mom for about a year. One day she just showed up at our school and we left with her.
I’m not really sure of the period of time in between. Perhaps I had a contact high from my mom’s frequent and indiscreet marijuana habit. We ended up back at my dad’s. He gained physical custody of us and we were to spend weekends with my mother.
The next nine years went on pretty normal. I got use to my dad’s more stringent rules, settled into attending church. My dad was just raised different from my mom, I guess, that’s why he was different with me. My dad is from Akron, Ohio and was raised in a very Christian, middle-class black family. What he said went, even when I knew, and He knew, he was wrong.
That strictness backfired on him. Not so much because I just wanted to go wild, but because he would never give a solid explanation for anything. I started to do Polynesian dance as a young girl, it was fine with him until I was turning 12, and suddenly he said I couldn’t. He said it was too sexy, which was ridiculous to me at 12. My dad’s word was the end of everything, and, looking back on that I guess that wasn’t so wrong, but his inability to explain himself spilled over into so many conversations we had. I almost began to not trust him. He didn’t make sense, so everything he stood for started to not make sense.
When I was a teenager I had an affinity for candlelight, unicorns and dragons. My aunts came to visit and saw the set up in my room (I had about 100 candles) and tried to convince my father I was practicing witchcraft. It was a horrible fight; I’m not quite sure whose side my dad was on. While I was at school one day, my aunts called themselves “exorcising my room.” They threw out everything they decided was demonic. I was furious.
I wasn’t practicing witchcraft, but after that, I started to look into it. I wanted to know what they were so scared of. What I found I loved. I didn’t convert to Wicca, but I enjoyed the mantra: “In harming none, do as you will.” This resonates as empowering and also calls you to be responsible for your actions and the impact you will have on others.
I began to notice the differences between my two parents and that began having an affect on my view of them as people, rather than parents. My father was secretive where my mother was open. My father held thing in where my mother would blow up her anger. My father was close minded where my mother was able to look beyond her personal beliefs. I began to gravitate toward my mother’s side. After a huge fall out with my dad I took off to my mother’s. By ‘took off’ I mean for a week I was taking extra clothes to school and stored them in my locker. I called my uncle, told him to pick me up, forged a note to dismiss me for a ‘doctor’s appointment’ and had my uncle take me to my mother’s in San Diego.
Only she wasn’t the answer either. My mom was definitely less strict, more accepting and definitely more fun. That’s because she’s a drug addict. She is also less reliable. From 16 to 18 years old I picked up my mom’s slack in the house; there was a lot of slack. She had three more kids with her second husband and at the time she was not doing her motherly duties. While I enjoyed more freedom, I also got a huge lesson in responsibility. It’s not like it was all on my own, my Uncle John and family friend C.C. lived there too. The burdens of the house were spread out between us, my mom with the least and me with the most.
Somehow in that time I got a lot of confidence I didn’t have under my dad’s roof. I was getting straight A’s and my social life improved 200 percent. I had two jobs my senior year of high school, a waitress and a go-go dancer. In some ways my mom was a confidence booster, though. Somehow her crazy, druggy rules of accepting who you are and doing the same with others resonated with me. Even though she was high most of the time, she made sense, and when she was wrong, which was most of the time, she admitted to it.
At 18 shit hit the fan in my mom’s. I had to get out of there. I started stripping to make enough money to move out. That, of course became a horrible wrench in my already-damaged relationship with my dad, not that I was trying to make things better (he missed my graduation). Stripping opened up a whole other world for me. I was…. an innocent stripper. I didn’t have an addiction to feed, I was molested, I didn’t have issues other than my mom was going crazy and I wanted out. I met and listened to so many stories of so many men (and women). That job forced me to tolerate other people at least for the time they were in the club.
Something else odd happened to me. I call it “finding my sexy.” I mean I found out just how powerful being a woman can be. The reactions on the Christian side of my family were so strong that I again had to find out what they were so scared of. These two factors got me back into looking at old, let’s call them faiths, like Wicca, which hold a woman, let’s say holy.
The women on my mom’s side have always been a bit witchy. Our intuition is high, we are in tune with the environment. Many of us have had experiences with spirits. We heal with our hands, keep up on herbal remedies. My Great-grandmother, my granddaddy’s mom, was a Cherokee healer and a midwife. I think that passed down through us. On my grandmother’s side they were just seductive. A dangerous combination, but I have decided to own it. That is where I am now in my spiritual quest. I no longer strip, but the things I learned about feminine power while I was doing it are still very much a part of me.
December 18, 2009
December 13, 2009
Religious Studies Final
Religious Studies –Final Exam
1) Kiva Hewett
2) Lilwisegirl
3) I have not missed any classes, but I have been late. My class before this one ends at 12:15. It is across campus and sometimes I have questions I need answered or, heaven forbid, need to use the restroom.
4) Movie link
5) I read all of the Copeland k, it was pretty good, much different than I expected, but anti-climatic. As for the Reader, I have skimmed through quite a bit of it. I find myself attracted to the ones that are about more alternative religions and experience. “Pilar” is one of my favorites, I like witchy women.
6) Midterm grade: A solid C
7) This question of the grade I deserve is a tricky one. On one hand, I have allowed my self to get discouraged not only with how internet and tech-heavy the assignments in this class are, but also with the fact that at least half the time we are in class it is about the new technology coming out. I don’t dig it. That said I’m not as engaged as I could/should be when we finally do get to the topics at hand. Based on that, I would give myself a C.
Then we have to factor in what I understand in the class, what I will take from it. I never really had an “ah ha” moment, I expect those. Something that brings what I already know to a greater understanding. I guess we only scratched the surface of religious diversity in class and the rest was reading done outside of class. The only concept I really have a hard time grasping is the idea of spandrels in terms of religious… I get it but can’t articulate it. On the other hand, I worked really hard on this final, so in this area I would give myself a B.
As far as the over all knowing what you want us to grasp from this class, I already carried with me. I get that religions form for different reasons, and that they actually live on and spread even more. I get that the ties to ones religion is complicated, and I get that here in the U.S. it is predominantly Christian and that is hard to break through. I understand that as people ended up on this soil their believe systems were generally either squashed or adapted as to not offend the dominant belief. Taking this in to account, I would give myself an A.
I guess to average it out, I would give myself a B.
8) I guess the only circumstance is that I’m older and not tech savvy at all, it hurts to look at a screen for too long. I took five classes this semester and have a Friday afternoon radio show and I realize that this definitely was a bit too much, but I don’t know if I like making this excuse, or the one for having a kid and working, but you asked for factors. As for extra credit, I did the Ramadan fast. All of my posts that I pulled off before my laptop decided it hates Yahoo are on my blog, other than that, I tend to sign them (Kiva Hewett, lilwisegirl).
9 and 10) Provided in a separate post
11) 11. How does the miracle story surrounding Our Lady of Guadalupe inform and impact the spiritual lives of those who are believers?
The mythology of Our Lady of Guadalupe is an example of “popular religiosity” or the way a religion is “lived and experienced by a majority of people” (Rodriguez).
The story behind our Lady of Guadalupe is one similar to several other religious icons in history. For example, the image of the Virgin Mary has been use in other countries too, not just Mexico. Wherever all hopes are lost and the people are oppressed, they will often turn to religious icons that represent them. As a result, there has been many versions of the Virgin Mary—Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, and many other countries.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is a Hispanic religious icon that the people closely associate with. The story behind it is very simple and makes almost no sense to me: a brown skinned Virgin Mary was imprinted on a cloth. That’s it. Nevertheless, it is a huge icon in Hispanic culture. The reason for this is because it comes from popular religiosity. Our Lady of Guadalupe has come to represent the notion of enduring suffering, the ability to hope against all hope, and a sense that everything has meaning and it is the result of God’s will.
The people are rejected by a society and they are poor, the Lady of Guadalupe helped them get through their feeling of being rejected because this was an icon that was like them, ethnic. The Lady gives joy and shares the suffering of the people, and as a bonus, she is also the people’s symbol of resistance to assimilation. This is probably why she is brown-skinned, she is one of them, rather than the pale-skinned icon of the virgin Mary.
If we look at the Hispanic’s history, we can see that the people are usually poor and oppressed. The only possible way for the people to get themselves through when they have no say in their society, at least God’s is on their side. The lady of Guadalupe is a representation of God’s presence in human lives.
12) How is the Latino/a religious experience different than the Asian religious experience in North America? In what ways are they fundamentally similar?
One of the biggest differences between the two is that most Latinos are Catholic, which is basically Christian in that they celebrate the same god and savior. Because this faith is very close to the predominate one in North America, Latinos didn’t have to readjust themselves by changing to a new religion. Asian-Americans however didn’t have it so easy. Since many Asians came to this country with religions and ideals so different from the predominant ones, they had to create their own institutions of worship.
Although both the Latino and Asian were oppressed for a period of time in America, Asians had to deal with the issue of retaining their religion. The Asian generations that were born in the States were tempted to assimilate into American culture because it was an easier. Many did. This is similar to the African-Americans creating their own form of Christianity so that they could be more accepted by white men.
Some Latinos also suffered from this problem, those who continued to practice religions like Cuban-Americans practicing Santeria (Garcia).
The biggest difference between the Asian and Latino religious experience in America is the pressure of converting. Nobody ever told the Latinos that their religion is wrong. However, for Asians who believed in icon such as Buddha, they were pressured to assimilate by the virus Christianity. The Asian were harassed by the whites, so naturally they would want the harassment to stop by whatever means possible. The Chinese slowly converted, while the Japanese had a big tug-a-war. The Japanese began to change and convert and then during World War II they and being put in concentration camps they began to dissociate from American society and took a second look at their old Jodo Buddhist religion.
13) What role did the Buddhist Church serve in the "ethnic adjustment of Japanese Americans"?
The Buddhist Church served as a cultural anchor in the Japanese community in some ways even more so than a religious center. While the church held ceremonies and followed the teachings of Buddha, there was not an expectation that you be Buddhist. The church helped as a place to work out the cultural differences in language and custom. Where language was an issue of misunderstanding (in the case of the woman’s breast) the church helped by changing the words so it would not be taken out of context.
Over all, the Buddhist temples were a refuge for the Japanese community to help deal with the stresses of being in a new land with people that did not really accept them.
During World War II most of the Japanese people in America were forced into concentration camps and all of their goods were taken and sold off to buy weapons, the Japanese had nowhere else to turn to. Once they were released from the camps, the Japanese didn’t have anything to start over with so the Buddhist church offered their temple as a sanctuary for the newly released Japanese. They help these people start new lives. The church also offer religious service and stuff (I am not going to list them all) such as Sunday school, wedding ceremonies and helped their people to learn English.
14) Overall, what lessons should we draw from the diversity of religious experiences in America? More specifically, what hurdles or conflicts do Americans still face in trying to practice their respective religions? Can they be overcome? How?
Although people today are not being persecuted for their religious ideas, especially here in America, they do deal with a more subtle form of persecution. The problem here is that, even though it’s said to be different, there is no separation between church and state. This causes an underlying mentality where people tend to be very narrow-minded and consider their religion to be the only true religion that can be correct. Here in the States, that religion is most often Christian.
Religion is a very sensitive issue amongst people, they do not like others criticizing their beliefs and most people will become very defensive when the issue is brought up. Thanks to such narrow-mindedness, many Americans would prefer to leave religion out of any conversation and will avoid the issue when possible to avoid being criticized or judged based on their belief system. This is a major issue amongst the political realm because those “unexpressed” religions tend to get pushed out to the margins. When a person hears that there is a Mormon, or even worse, Muslim (who’s not Muslim) candidate running for president, they immediately begin to pass judgment on him based on his religious beliefs. It doesn’t matter how little or how much this man is involved with this religion, he is still judged accordingly. If he decides not to mention his religion then he is seen as an immoral person because he doesn’t have the teachings of religion to “help him lead a good life.”
The hurdle that Americans have to face in practicing their religions is the mentality that one religion is more true than any other one, they are all constructs of the imagination. One needs to sit down and realize that each person has the right to choose the religious path of their choosing. When it comes down to it they are all just teachings and guides on how not to live a self-destructive life. Once people begin to realize that religion is a matter of personal choice and decision and not a competition, one will be able to worship in peace. Religious groups tend to look down upon other religious practicing groups which go against what is taught especially that of the Christian faith. Therefore in order to overcome this obstacle, people must realize that religion is not a competition and is not a game, it is simply a way to live life.
15) Describe how one new religious movement (founded in America) has transformed American life in unexpected ways?
I am going to take a huge leap here and say that all of the new religious movements that were founded on American soil had huge impacts in one of two ways based on whether the new religion was a “made up” one (for lack of a better term) or an assimilation of an old, earthy religion that was meshed with Christianity.
A) Caused typical Judeo-Christian Americans to be skeptical of their religion and the origins of it because they took a look at the new ones, like Scientology or Jehovah’s Witnesses, and see utter bologna.
B) Caused typical Judeo-Christian American to grow in their convictions because the “almighty god” prevailed and those “heathens” saw the true way.
The reason why I chose to answer this question this way is that no one new religion has made an impact on American life as a whole. The Native American Church only impacts the lives of Native Americans; Scientology has impacted Hollywood as a networking club. What is more common is the view that outsiders have of each new religion, and how that makes them feel.
16) There is an "arc" in each of the readings in the READER... If you were to start a new religion in America how would you best adapt it to the Judeo-Christian ethos in the United States? How have some of the religions mentioned in the Reader done the same?
The common “arc” in this reader is that each non-European culture had some adaptations to make in order to cope with the presence and beliefs of “white” America.
Usually when a people’s religion is oppressed by another they have three options; to abandon their own religion altogether (usually not voluntarily, like African-Americans), to incorporate the new religion (like Native American did), or to choose just to be different (like early Asian immigrants).
If I were creating a new religion in America I would choose to stand apart rather than adapt. The odd way I would choose to stand apart is by incorporating rituals and celebrations from all religions as best as possible.
17) Take one of the gurus/groups mentioned in the GURU IN AMERICA and describe
how they "branched" off from their original influences.
Eckankar Versus Radhasoami on “Soul Travel”
The conflict between more traditional Radhasoami and Twitchell’s new Eckankar is super interesting to me. That some level of waking time outer body experience is a big part of the traditional branches in order for the experience to have any merit and along came this newbie changing the game is maddening.
In the States where people want instant satisfaction, it is not surprising that people were drawn to the newer Eckankar version of this religion. It just goes to show just how desparate Americans are to have some sort of rooted spirituality.
18) Why do some religions get "stronger" and more resilient after they make an
extraordinary claim that gets disconfirmed? In addition, why do some religions
gather more followers after they have been publicly criticized and/or exposed in
the public media?
There are two ways that certain religions get “stronger” and possibly gain membership in the face of public opposition. The first is, of course that they get publicity. Not so well known religions have a lot of land to cover, and as we know, religions catch on by spreading their ideas. Negative attention is better than no attention at all.
The other part is more so regarding the ideas of the religion. Even if they get disproved in the public eye their will still be those die-hard members who don’t care what the public thinks. Those are the member that will stick it out, those who were riding the fence will fall off and what they left is a core group of true followers who will ultimately be more affective in spreading the message and gathering new recruits.
19) What is the most important thing you learned this semester?
This semester the most important thing I learned is that my teacher is an idiot. ;)
20. Extra credit: describe how you would make a successful new religion in
America? What would be some of the things that you would implement that would be
different from already existing religions?
1) Kiva Hewett
2) Lilwisegirl
3) I have not missed any classes, but I have been late. My class before this one ends at 12:15. It is across campus and sometimes I have questions I need answered or, heaven forbid, need to use the restroom.
4) Movie link
5) I read all of the Copeland k, it was pretty good, much different than I expected, but anti-climatic. As for the Reader, I have skimmed through quite a bit of it. I find myself attracted to the ones that are about more alternative religions and experience. “Pilar” is one of my favorites, I like witchy women.
6) Midterm grade: A solid C
7) This question of the grade I deserve is a tricky one. On one hand, I have allowed my self to get discouraged not only with how internet and tech-heavy the assignments in this class are, but also with the fact that at least half the time we are in class it is about the new technology coming out. I don’t dig it. That said I’m not as engaged as I could/should be when we finally do get to the topics at hand. Based on that, I would give myself a C.
Then we have to factor in what I understand in the class, what I will take from it. I never really had an “ah ha” moment, I expect those. Something that brings what I already know to a greater understanding. I guess we only scratched the surface of religious diversity in class and the rest was reading done outside of class. The only concept I really have a hard time grasping is the idea of spandrels in terms of religious… I get it but can’t articulate it. On the other hand, I worked really hard on this final, so in this area I would give myself a B.
As far as the over all knowing what you want us to grasp from this class, I already carried with me. I get that religions form for different reasons, and that they actually live on and spread even more. I get that the ties to ones religion is complicated, and I get that here in the U.S. it is predominantly Christian and that is hard to break through. I understand that as people ended up on this soil their believe systems were generally either squashed or adapted as to not offend the dominant belief. Taking this in to account, I would give myself an A.
I guess to average it out, I would give myself a B.
8) I guess the only circumstance is that I’m older and not tech savvy at all, it hurts to look at a screen for too long. I took five classes this semester and have a Friday afternoon radio show and I realize that this definitely was a bit too much, but I don’t know if I like making this excuse, or the one for having a kid and working, but you asked for factors. As for extra credit, I did the Ramadan fast. All of my posts that I pulled off before my laptop decided it hates Yahoo are on my blog, other than that, I tend to sign them (Kiva Hewett, lilwisegirl).
9 and 10) Provided in a separate post
11) 11. How does the miracle story surrounding Our Lady of Guadalupe inform and impact the spiritual lives of those who are believers?
The mythology of Our Lady of Guadalupe is an example of “popular religiosity” or the way a religion is “lived and experienced by a majority of people” (Rodriguez).
The story behind our Lady of Guadalupe is one similar to several other religious icons in history. For example, the image of the Virgin Mary has been use in other countries too, not just Mexico. Wherever all hopes are lost and the people are oppressed, they will often turn to religious icons that represent them. As a result, there has been many versions of the Virgin Mary—Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, and many other countries.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is a Hispanic religious icon that the people closely associate with. The story behind it is very simple and makes almost no sense to me: a brown skinned Virgin Mary was imprinted on a cloth. That’s it. Nevertheless, it is a huge icon in Hispanic culture. The reason for this is because it comes from popular religiosity. Our Lady of Guadalupe has come to represent the notion of enduring suffering, the ability to hope against all hope, and a sense that everything has meaning and it is the result of God’s will.
The people are rejected by a society and they are poor, the Lady of Guadalupe helped them get through their feeling of being rejected because this was an icon that was like them, ethnic. The Lady gives joy and shares the suffering of the people, and as a bonus, she is also the people’s symbol of resistance to assimilation. This is probably why she is brown-skinned, she is one of them, rather than the pale-skinned icon of the virgin Mary.
If we look at the Hispanic’s history, we can see that the people are usually poor and oppressed. The only possible way for the people to get themselves through when they have no say in their society, at least God’s is on their side. The lady of Guadalupe is a representation of God’s presence in human lives.
12) How is the Latino/a religious experience different than the Asian religious experience in North America? In what ways are they fundamentally similar?
One of the biggest differences between the two is that most Latinos are Catholic, which is basically Christian in that they celebrate the same god and savior. Because this faith is very close to the predominate one in North America, Latinos didn’t have to readjust themselves by changing to a new religion. Asian-Americans however didn’t have it so easy. Since many Asians came to this country with religions and ideals so different from the predominant ones, they had to create their own institutions of worship.
Although both the Latino and Asian were oppressed for a period of time in America, Asians had to deal with the issue of retaining their religion. The Asian generations that were born in the States were tempted to assimilate into American culture because it was an easier. Many did. This is similar to the African-Americans creating their own form of Christianity so that they could be more accepted by white men.
Some Latinos also suffered from this problem, those who continued to practice religions like Cuban-Americans practicing Santeria (Garcia).
The biggest difference between the Asian and Latino religious experience in America is the pressure of converting. Nobody ever told the Latinos that their religion is wrong. However, for Asians who believed in icon such as Buddha, they were pressured to assimilate by the virus Christianity. The Asian were harassed by the whites, so naturally they would want the harassment to stop by whatever means possible. The Chinese slowly converted, while the Japanese had a big tug-a-war. The Japanese began to change and convert and then during World War II they and being put in concentration camps they began to dissociate from American society and took a second look at their old Jodo Buddhist religion.
13) What role did the Buddhist Church serve in the "ethnic adjustment of Japanese Americans"?
The Buddhist Church served as a cultural anchor in the Japanese community in some ways even more so than a religious center. While the church held ceremonies and followed the teachings of Buddha, there was not an expectation that you be Buddhist. The church helped as a place to work out the cultural differences in language and custom. Where language was an issue of misunderstanding (in the case of the woman’s breast) the church helped by changing the words so it would not be taken out of context.
Over all, the Buddhist temples were a refuge for the Japanese community to help deal with the stresses of being in a new land with people that did not really accept them.
During World War II most of the Japanese people in America were forced into concentration camps and all of their goods were taken and sold off to buy weapons, the Japanese had nowhere else to turn to. Once they were released from the camps, the Japanese didn’t have anything to start over with so the Buddhist church offered their temple as a sanctuary for the newly released Japanese. They help these people start new lives. The church also offer religious service and stuff (I am not going to list them all) such as Sunday school, wedding ceremonies and helped their people to learn English.
14) Overall, what lessons should we draw from the diversity of religious experiences in America? More specifically, what hurdles or conflicts do Americans still face in trying to practice their respective religions? Can they be overcome? How?
Although people today are not being persecuted for their religious ideas, especially here in America, they do deal with a more subtle form of persecution. The problem here is that, even though it’s said to be different, there is no separation between church and state. This causes an underlying mentality where people tend to be very narrow-minded and consider their religion to be the only true religion that can be correct. Here in the States, that religion is most often Christian.
Religion is a very sensitive issue amongst people, they do not like others criticizing their beliefs and most people will become very defensive when the issue is brought up. Thanks to such narrow-mindedness, many Americans would prefer to leave religion out of any conversation and will avoid the issue when possible to avoid being criticized or judged based on their belief system. This is a major issue amongst the political realm because those “unexpressed” religions tend to get pushed out to the margins. When a person hears that there is a Mormon, or even worse, Muslim (who’s not Muslim) candidate running for president, they immediately begin to pass judgment on him based on his religious beliefs. It doesn’t matter how little or how much this man is involved with this religion, he is still judged accordingly. If he decides not to mention his religion then he is seen as an immoral person because he doesn’t have the teachings of religion to “help him lead a good life.”
The hurdle that Americans have to face in practicing their religions is the mentality that one religion is more true than any other one, they are all constructs of the imagination. One needs to sit down and realize that each person has the right to choose the religious path of their choosing. When it comes down to it they are all just teachings and guides on how not to live a self-destructive life. Once people begin to realize that religion is a matter of personal choice and decision and not a competition, one will be able to worship in peace. Religious groups tend to look down upon other religious practicing groups which go against what is taught especially that of the Christian faith. Therefore in order to overcome this obstacle, people must realize that religion is not a competition and is not a game, it is simply a way to live life.
15) Describe how one new religious movement (founded in America) has transformed American life in unexpected ways?
I am going to take a huge leap here and say that all of the new religious movements that were founded on American soil had huge impacts in one of two ways based on whether the new religion was a “made up” one (for lack of a better term) or an assimilation of an old, earthy religion that was meshed with Christianity.
A) Caused typical Judeo-Christian Americans to be skeptical of their religion and the origins of it because they took a look at the new ones, like Scientology or Jehovah’s Witnesses, and see utter bologna.
B) Caused typical Judeo-Christian American to grow in their convictions because the “almighty god” prevailed and those “heathens” saw the true way.
The reason why I chose to answer this question this way is that no one new religion has made an impact on American life as a whole. The Native American Church only impacts the lives of Native Americans; Scientology has impacted Hollywood as a networking club. What is more common is the view that outsiders have of each new religion, and how that makes them feel.
16) There is an "arc" in each of the readings in the READER... If you were to start a new religion in America how would you best adapt it to the Judeo-Christian ethos in the United States? How have some of the religions mentioned in the Reader done the same?
The common “arc” in this reader is that each non-European culture had some adaptations to make in order to cope with the presence and beliefs of “white” America.
Usually when a people’s religion is oppressed by another they have three options; to abandon their own religion altogether (usually not voluntarily, like African-Americans), to incorporate the new religion (like Native American did), or to choose just to be different (like early Asian immigrants).
If I were creating a new religion in America I would choose to stand apart rather than adapt. The odd way I would choose to stand apart is by incorporating rituals and celebrations from all religions as best as possible.
17) Take one of the gurus/groups mentioned in the GURU IN AMERICA and describe
how they "branched" off from their original influences.
Eckankar Versus Radhasoami on “Soul Travel”
The conflict between more traditional Radhasoami and Twitchell’s new Eckankar is super interesting to me. That some level of waking time outer body experience is a big part of the traditional branches in order for the experience to have any merit and along came this newbie changing the game is maddening.
In the States where people want instant satisfaction, it is not surprising that people were drawn to the newer Eckankar version of this religion. It just goes to show just how desparate Americans are to have some sort of rooted spirituality.
18) Why do some religions get "stronger" and more resilient after they make an
extraordinary claim that gets disconfirmed? In addition, why do some religions
gather more followers after they have been publicly criticized and/or exposed in
the public media?
There are two ways that certain religions get “stronger” and possibly gain membership in the face of public opposition. The first is, of course that they get publicity. Not so well known religions have a lot of land to cover, and as we know, religions catch on by spreading their ideas. Negative attention is better than no attention at all.
The other part is more so regarding the ideas of the religion. Even if they get disproved in the public eye their will still be those die-hard members who don’t care what the public thinks. Those are the member that will stick it out, those who were riding the fence will fall off and what they left is a core group of true followers who will ultimately be more affective in spreading the message and gathering new recruits.
19) What is the most important thing you learned this semester?
This semester the most important thing I learned is that my teacher is an idiot. ;)
20. Extra credit: describe how you would make a successful new religion in
America? What would be some of the things that you would implement that would be
different from already existing religions?
December 12, 2009
A Trippy Trip into Scientology
THE PERSONALITY TEST
My sister and I were hanging out on Melrose Avenue just killing time when we saw a sign we’d passed a hundred times before. It was for a free personality test in the little scientology annex. We decided to try it out, our car still wasn’t ready.
When we entered we were greeted by a super touchy-feely white man with wide blue eyes. His energy felt cool and sticky to me. The test took about 35 minutes, the evaluation was even longer at an hour and a half. They gave us our results in separate “counseling” sessions where they told each of us that there was some hidden sadness that was holding us back from achieving our greatest heights.
Before leaving this counseling session, they tried desperately hard to get us to commit to doing extensive sessions auditing to help deal with our issues. I asked to see and keep my personality chart and that I would think about it. Though he was really trying to hide it, the man became irritated with this request. He said he can’t give them to me.
“Why not, they’re mine?”
“Actually, they belong to us.” He answered. “It’s just policy.”
“Well that’s just stupid.” I retorted. “Can I at least see them?”
“No.”
“Well now I really don’t trust you.”
“If I let you see them will you sign up?” He asked.
“If you let me have a copy I might sign up.”
This banter went on for another 15 minutes or so. I definitely wasn’t signing up for something if they wouldn’t even let me see my own personality test. Eventually, he got up and made me a copy. I won!
When he came back he wanted me to sign up, since he did something for me. The auditing sessions were too expensive for me anyhow and I told him that was a big part of it. He tried to convince me that it was an investment for my spirit and that it would pay off for me. He gave me his personal testimony on how much it changed his life.
“So you guys only offer salvation for those who can afford it?” I challenged.
“Well, it is more of a donation for the time and effort we put in here.”
“But donations aren’t mandatory fees.” I continued the argument. “And I’m not going to commit money I already don’t have for something I don’t even know I like.”
Eventually I was able to wear him down; I got a trial audit session for a nominal $5 fee. My sister did not sign up, but she grabbed a copy of Dianetics so we could look into it more. She thought I was a bit crazy to sign up for anything; I wasn’t so sure she wasn’t right. At the time we were engaged in a joint effort to find truth.
AUDITING
Auditing is the Scientology practice recalling a traumatic experience and dealing with it in a more rational frame of mind, in the present, in order to become “clear.” The reason one would want to be “clear” is so they can reach their full potential. Scientology basically says that through out your life you have created “engrams,” or blocks, that are keeping you from living a life of full spiritual awareness and physical power.
The session is kind of like Catholic confession, only instead of an anonymous booth you close your eyes and hold onto this E-meter that is supposed to measure your resistance and help the auditor to find where your “engrams are.
You begin the session by counting backwards from ten in order to relax you. Then you begin telling the auditor your traumatic experience over and over again, in greater detail each time. It feels a lot like a police interrogation, it’s not pleasant or warm, but very pragmatic. You are to tell the same story until you “feel joy in telling it.” This joy is indicated by smiling, even laughing, rather than the sadness or anger you may have expressed before.
The next step is to pick an event that was similar to the first and do the same thing. When you reach that point of joy you are done. Then the auditor asks you a few questions that eventually lead to that the events weren’t your fault. When you come to grips with that and forgive yourself for being so hard on yourself the auditor then asks you to clear the trauma from your ‘soul’ by stating out loud that you renounce the hold it has had on you. You count forward to ten and open your eyes.
WHAT I TOOK WITH ME
I never went back for another session, but I can’t say it wasn’t beneficial in some way. I actually hold that this auditing serves as a good psychological exercise. Since then the issue I chose to deal with hasn’t affected me as much as it used to. I think that was L. Ron Hubbard’s original intent anyhow. From what my sister and I read in Dianetics, he never meant for Scientology to become a religion, just a self-help system.
The man at the center called me for a few weeks following my session. No doubt this was more to get money out of me. The last time we spoke I politely told him I wasn’t interested in joining the church, it just wasn’t for me. I’ve had to go to their big event center on several occasions for performances and every time I feel creepy when they come at us saying how they like to help performance artists and we should talk. More than anything it’s there forceful ways and slimy feeling I get that turns me off. I find myself using the auditing process on my own now. I am able to get a clear perspective on how things go down, I find that beneficial. The only difference is that sometimes I find that my trauma is entirely my own fault.
My sister and I were hanging out on Melrose Avenue just killing time when we saw a sign we’d passed a hundred times before. It was for a free personality test in the little scientology annex. We decided to try it out, our car still wasn’t ready.
When we entered we were greeted by a super touchy-feely white man with wide blue eyes. His energy felt cool and sticky to me. The test took about 35 minutes, the evaluation was even longer at an hour and a half. They gave us our results in separate “counseling” sessions where they told each of us that there was some hidden sadness that was holding us back from achieving our greatest heights.
Before leaving this counseling session, they tried desperately hard to get us to commit to doing extensive sessions auditing to help deal with our issues. I asked to see and keep my personality chart and that I would think about it. Though he was really trying to hide it, the man became irritated with this request. He said he can’t give them to me.
“Why not, they’re mine?”
“Actually, they belong to us.” He answered. “It’s just policy.”
“Well that’s just stupid.” I retorted. “Can I at least see them?”
“No.”
“Well now I really don’t trust you.”
“If I let you see them will you sign up?” He asked.
“If you let me have a copy I might sign up.”
This banter went on for another 15 minutes or so. I definitely wasn’t signing up for something if they wouldn’t even let me see my own personality test. Eventually, he got up and made me a copy. I won!
When he came back he wanted me to sign up, since he did something for me. The auditing sessions were too expensive for me anyhow and I told him that was a big part of it. He tried to convince me that it was an investment for my spirit and that it would pay off for me. He gave me his personal testimony on how much it changed his life.
“So you guys only offer salvation for those who can afford it?” I challenged.
“Well, it is more of a donation for the time and effort we put in here.”
“But donations aren’t mandatory fees.” I continued the argument. “And I’m not going to commit money I already don’t have for something I don’t even know I like.”
Eventually I was able to wear him down; I got a trial audit session for a nominal $5 fee. My sister did not sign up, but she grabbed a copy of Dianetics so we could look into it more. She thought I was a bit crazy to sign up for anything; I wasn’t so sure she wasn’t right. At the time we were engaged in a joint effort to find truth.
AUDITING
Auditing is the Scientology practice recalling a traumatic experience and dealing with it in a more rational frame of mind, in the present, in order to become “clear.” The reason one would want to be “clear” is so they can reach their full potential. Scientology basically says that through out your life you have created “engrams,” or blocks, that are keeping you from living a life of full spiritual awareness and physical power.
The session is kind of like Catholic confession, only instead of an anonymous booth you close your eyes and hold onto this E-meter that is supposed to measure your resistance and help the auditor to find where your “engrams are.
You begin the session by counting backwards from ten in order to relax you. Then you begin telling the auditor your traumatic experience over and over again, in greater detail each time. It feels a lot like a police interrogation, it’s not pleasant or warm, but very pragmatic. You are to tell the same story until you “feel joy in telling it.” This joy is indicated by smiling, even laughing, rather than the sadness or anger you may have expressed before.
The next step is to pick an event that was similar to the first and do the same thing. When you reach that point of joy you are done. Then the auditor asks you a few questions that eventually lead to that the events weren’t your fault. When you come to grips with that and forgive yourself for being so hard on yourself the auditor then asks you to clear the trauma from your ‘soul’ by stating out loud that you renounce the hold it has had on you. You count forward to ten and open your eyes.
WHAT I TOOK WITH ME
I never went back for another session, but I can’t say it wasn’t beneficial in some way. I actually hold that this auditing serves as a good psychological exercise. Since then the issue I chose to deal with hasn’t affected me as much as it used to. I think that was L. Ron Hubbard’s original intent anyhow. From what my sister and I read in Dianetics, he never meant for Scientology to become a religion, just a self-help system.
The man at the center called me for a few weeks following my session. No doubt this was more to get money out of me. The last time we spoke I politely told him I wasn’t interested in joining the church, it just wasn’t for me. I’ve had to go to their big event center on several occasions for performances and every time I feel creepy when they come at us saying how they like to help performance artists and we should talk. More than anything it’s there forceful ways and slimy feeling I get that turns me off. I find myself using the auditing process on my own now. I am able to get a clear perspective on how things go down, I find that beneficial. The only difference is that sometimes I find that my trauma is entirely my own fault.
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