The Rise of the “Nones”

A little tidbit from the NYT, share courtesy of Curls in the Capital:

Americans and God – ” We’ve mixed politics and religion so completely that many simply opt out of both; apparently they are reluctant to claim a religious affiliation because they don’t want the political one that comes along with it.”

I feel like everyone’s writing about this right now…

Religious Literacy: Americans don’t know their stuff

“The U.S. is one of the most religious countries in the developed world, especially compared to largely secular Western Europe, but … Americans still know relatively little about religion.”

In 2010, the Pew Forum released a major study on religious literacy in America. The results were amazing: out of 32 questions, an average of 16 questions were answered correctly. Perhaps more interesting, though not surprising, Agnostics and Atheists scored the highest. And of course they did – most people who reach that point where they throw their hands up in the air and say “I have no idea what’s out there” probably did a lot of searching before they reached that point. Or maybe that’s just a simplification of my experience.

Below is a link to Pew’s religious literacy test (doesn’t contribute to the actual survey). I scored really high on it (14 out of 15 correct!) … but I’m not bragging.

http://features.pewforum.org/quiz/us-religious-knowledge/

OK, how’d you do?

Part of my motivation for starting this blog was to become more religiously literate and to share my findings. If I blogged more often I would probably achieve that.

Now I want to talk about religion and what that has to do with who you are.

In a 2008 poll, it was found that the more educated you are, the less likely you are to believe in god. That may explain why the “god-less” groups (athiests, agnostics and secular humanists, to name a few) are more likely to know the facts on religion than those who actually believe. They dedicate a lot of time to doing the research and poking holes in spirituality. I do that, too… a lot. But it’s really annoying sometimes. More importantly, I think people who are more religiously literate are better able to design a form of spirituality that works for them.

A dear friend directed me to this article – so much fodder for my flames: “With more years of education, you aren’t relatively more likely to say, ‘I don’t believe in God.’ But you are relatively more likely to say, ‘I believe in a higher power.’”

A little personal insight here – I’m doing the online dating thing and people are obsessed with talking to me about religion (Aside – interesting data on religion and compatibility: http://goo.gl/PTtUV).  Literally 21 of the 807 words in my profile have to do with religion and yet that’s all anyone can talk about.

The feedback is really interesting – some people just want to know what I believe, some want talk about the decline of society due to lack of religion, some people want to discuss/debate Kant and Dostoevsky, some people want a link to this blog, and some people want to tell me that “religion is the opium of the people“. Thanks, dude, but I’ve heard that one already. I want to be truthful about my stance on religion – I’m deeply spiritual. I do believe in a higher power. I am also very intelligent. Don’t hate.

Since we’re talking about religion here and I’m a firm believer that I have none of the answers, I want to close with asking why is religion important? Why is it not? What are its functions? Why is it awful? Why is it great?

Feel free to break it down in the comments section or just think about it on your own. Also feel free to bring Kant, Dostoevsky, Marx, Jon Stewart and anyone else you really care about to bat on this. Also, feel free to be anonymous. I know you’ve got it in you.

1/6 Protestant Clergy in Netherlands are Agnostic or Athiest?

“God is not a being at all… it’s a word for experience, or human experience.” – Rev Klass Hendrikse

This article notes that some people would like the see the Netherlands as “a laboratory for Christianity, experimenting with radical new ways of understanding the faith.” While some people may find this offensive and even heretical – I think it’s an interesting way to look at things. It’s not the first time Christians got radical about re-defining what their faith was actually about. Nearly 75% of American Christians identify with protestantism – a branch of Christianity that stemmed from a similarly radical shift in religious thought.

Click here to read the article

Opportunities for Life

On August 4, 2010 – a year ago, next week – I received a phone call that changed my life. It was the Gift of Life Foundation informing me that I might be a candidate for bone marrow donation. After rounds of testing that spanned two months, it was decided that I was a match and the procedure was scheduled for October.

To say that I have always been this religious/spiritual/what-have-you would be false. In high school, after a traumatic church-split (a story that will most likely emerge later) and other various factors took hold, I gave up religion. For a while, I even gave up God. I don’t feel like this is particularly unique. In fact, a quarter of my age cohort does not identify with any religious belief and even fewer attend religious services. This call changed all of that for me. There is no word to describe the feeling I felt when Gift of Life told me that I could possibly, with one simple act, save someone’s life in the most literal sense possible.  I did something I hadn’t done in quite a while – I prayed.

As the months before my procedure progressed, I prayed every day for the 26-year-old leukemia victim I called “John”. I did more yoga. I went to religious services. I repaired broken relationships. I sang. I took care of my body. I fell in love. My faith grew for an untitled, uncategorized but generally merciful and benevolent god that gave me such a beautiful opportunity. I donated peripheral blood stem cells. I traveled to southern Africa. I started this blog.

My peripheral blood stem cells, ready for shipment.

I got an update on John’s recovery about six weeks after the procedure. He was doing much better, I was told, and things were looking positive. I continued to think about John every day, began to imagine what he might look like, where he might live, what he does for a living, what his family may be like. I also thought about what it would be like when the year of confidentiality expired and we could introduce ourselves to each other. I hoped he would want to meet me. I hoped he would be happy.

I’ve heard that oftentimes spirituality is about loss. I would revise that and say that oftentimes spirituality is about hope and that hope and loss are very closely related.

I got a call on Tuesday from Gift of Life. They said John didn’t make it. And I cried, and cried, and cried.

I’m feeling a lot of things right now, but at the end of it, I suppose the ultimate feeling is gratefulness. My hope for this man allowed me to live the past year to its fullest, to appreciate my health and vitality, and to enjoy the richness of life and the beauty and love that surround us all. I truly hope that he had the same opportunity.

I encourage each of you to swab your mouths for the National Bone Marrow Registry. I went through Gift of Life, but all swabs ultimately go into the same registry. A friend asked me if I’d donate again and the answer is, hands down, yes.

My closing thoughts – Every opportunity in life is a risk. But if you don’t take the risk, there is no opportunity for life.

Oneness Continued

A reflection of Thandie Newton’s personal journey beyond self and her discovery of the oneness. Not the most amazing TED talk ever, but… 8:15 is where it’s at.

 

The Best Things about Church

First, I must apologize for the hiatus. I actually have a draft entry saved called “I gave up my religion blog for lent” but even that isn’t timely anymore. I blame the silence mostly on not having a personal computer and partially on moving. But I am now settled. And I still don’t have a computer. But, alas, I’m ready to get going again.

Though I wasn’t writing, I was out and about. Some highlights: a month-long yogathon (almost 24 hours of yoga in one month), learning to pray in the Islamic tradition, Ash Wednesday at the Washington National Cathedral, Easter Eve with the Anglicans, and several visits to Tikkun Leil Shabbat. These will have to be repeated, but at least I tried, right?

So now to the topic at hand – Church. I find that my peers tend to bristle when I drop this “c” word. My return to the blogosphere wasn’t intended for today, but – after I was happily woken at 8 am, bright-eyed and ready to take on the world – I couldn’t wait to go to church. I spoke to three friends prior to my departure and I was really shocked by the temperature drop when I said I was going to church. I was like “GUYS! I’m going to the UNITARIANS. It’s different!”

But is it? Yes, in some ways, Unitarians knock most perceptions of a faith community on their head. But in a lot of the important ways, it’s exactly the same. In a good way. I’d like to explore today the benefits of a faith community as illustrated by the dear DC Unitarians.

Also, I want to put out a disclaimer: I’m not revealing the names of where I go anymore. I don’t want to be perceived as a “worship critic” or as an advertisement.This is about my personal spiritual journey and nothing more.

OK – Church can serve many vital functions in society. I was once told by a couple that they became Unitarians because the only thing worse than telling their children there was no Santa would be telling their children there was no God. That seems a bit dour to me, but funny in a dark way. For me, growing up, church was a great place to socialize and be socialized, take leadership opportunities, meet amazing mentors, etc. It’s a great place for kids. They aren’t the only beneficiaries, though.

This morning I was greeted by a wonderful man named Mike. He was really happy to give me a tour of the beautiful facility. When I asked him what it meant to him, being Unitarian, he said “It’s more about being a good person.” Wow. Mike isn’t the only one. The congregation really takes that seriously, too.

Faith communities in general tend to provide ample opportunities to be a good person – both outside and in. This congregation has various active civil justice groups and a framed photo of the minister being arrested in an act of civil disobedience in the fellowship hall. It participates in the Washington Interfaith Network, and is even physically tracking congregants’ efforts to save water and better the environment.

But making the world a better place is only possible if the world’s people are intent on being their best selves. This holy place also offers support groups for family and friends of people with mental illness, hosts Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, offers a vibrant children’s ministry and numerous other groups, including the 20’s and 30’s group, which I’ll discuss a bit further later.

The message today actually focused on identity. As many of you know, what you DO tends to define who you are in DC. It’s often the first question someone will ask you when you meet them – sometimes even before they ask your name or shake your hand. It’s pretty disgusting. Anyhow… In her sermon, the minister noted that we are not our bodies. We are not our jobs or education. We are not our ideas. We are not our feelings. We are not our emotions. This is something we tend to emphasize in the yoga world as well. Somehow our beings transcend all of these physical things to make us greater than the world to which we are currently tied. When we detach ourselves from these constraints and limitations and connect to the greater oneness, we become better people. It’s nice to meditate on that. Give it a shot.

So needless to say, I left feeling lighter. Well – tried to leave. As I was making my way out the door, a church member noted that I look like I’m younger than 35 and should come to brunch with the young adults group. I told him I was 47. He said that I could disregard the invitation, then. Har har har.

So through Columbia Heights strode this caravan of 20-somethings gabbing about their former lives, their friend’s illness, politics, undergrad, the sermon, their jobs, etc. It was so comfortable. I could go on about how great it was to meet Kiswahili speakers and to find commonality with strangers over a delicious vegan lunch, but I’ve gone pretty long at this point. At the end, they asked me if I would come back.

The great reveal – I explained that I’m a religion blogger and will most likely be on the move. GASP! The enemy. Apparently people don’t like to be blogged about. This question shed light on what will most likely be my biggest conflict with this blog (aside from actually writing entries) – what do you do when you find a congregation you’d actually like to be a part of? Come back to it I suppose. But let me just say – I kind of want to be a Unitarian. For now, though, I’ve got to try the whole menu.

Souled Out

Despite my long history of issues with faith – the dogma, the tradition, even the sometimes mindlessness that can accompany – one thing always draws me back. The music.

I joined the American University Gospel Choir in 2006 (my sophomore year of college) and they haven’t been able to get rid of me yet. This choir is unlike any group of people I ever encountered at AU. There is a sense of community, of oneness and love that is very uncharacteristic of the rest of the establishment (at least in my experience). Everyone is always so happy to greet one another before rehearsal starts (albeit thirty minutes late), so passionate about one another’s “prayer requests” and “praise reports”. They have this amazing ability to celebrate everyone, even when you don’t know everyone’s name.

So when I finally decided to write this blog, it made sense to start with my home congregation, the AUGC.

Though the choir is obviously very rooted in the Christian faith, all people from all faiths and all walks of life are welcome. Protestants and Catholics, Agnostics, Muslims, White people, Black people, Latinos, foreign exchange students, grad students, faculty, neighbors of the school, the list goes on… And since AU is more fondly known as “Gay Jew”, it goes without saying that yes!, these too are represented. The tie that binds is the love of community, the love of music and the love of God. Whatever/whomever God may be. How beautiful.

On January 20 (yes, I know this is a bit late! I’m sorry! … and maybe get used to it) AUGC worshipped with First Mount Zion Baptist Church in Dumfries, Virginia. Boarding a bus a 5:30 am, this really violated my “no waking up before seven am policy”. But it was worth it.

Our charge was to sing with FMZ’s youth choir, The Voice of Zion, a stunning group of high school students with fabulous voices, for the church’s Black History Month/Presidents Day service. This massive predominantly African-American congregation boasts at least five choirs that I can name off the top of my head. There is truly a culture of music and praise in this place.

That fact can actually be a bit intimidating. We were tossed in with the youth choir, with whom we had never met, and sang under the instruction of their own director, not our dear Sylestea. Not to anyone’s surprise, the first service left something to be desired.

With the 8 am dress rehearsal under our belt, we completely rocked the second service.

I have to take a few moments, step out of the chronology, and explain a few themes that presented themselves.

Black history month with a half-white choir while singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” aka “The Black National Anthem”: It is really tough to be a White girl and sing this song. It is even more difficult to sing it in front of a massive congregation without having that horrified expression of White guilt plastered across your face. Check it out:

President’s Day meets Black History Month: President Obama is the first African-American (no matter how you define Black, you cannot deny that President Obama is in fact African-American) to take the office of President. This is the second time ever that both President’s Day and Black History Month could be celebrated together in such a way. That’s awesome.

Feminism in the black community: Much to my surprise (and delight) the presiding minister of the second service was female. I never expected to see this in a Baptist church. I think this is really a testament to how the African-American matriarch truly is the backbone of Black society these days. I was so proud. And (sorry Mom) … I have never heard a better sermon in my life.

 

So, bearing these things in mind, I bring you back to the play-by-play. But first, a musical interlude.

Now, imagine that, except 10x better. That was us.

Wow was it amazing. Everyone was standing, arms were in the air, people were praising God, shouting towards the ceiling, hugging one another, weeping. Oh Lord, how excellent is thy name. After two encores, we were seated and the minister gave her blessing “Oh Lord, how excellent is thy name! For all things that just happened in this room, for which I do not have words, thank you.”

Then, my friend and neighbor Shalanda turns to me and says “Do you think we have arrived?” Man is that a loaded question. I seek clarification: “What do you mean? Black people?” “Yeah. Do you think we’ve arrived?”

I wish I could say I carried that conversation further (though it’s pretty volatile and perhaps I’m not entitled to an opinion). All I could say was “Do we ever really arrive?”

And with that, I leave you.

Go in peace.