Personal Experience With Religion

I wrote this for a class, initially.

Personal Experience Reflection

      I signed up for this particular class, Comparative Religions, because one thing that I regard as a factor in my identity is my religious background, or lack thereof. It is unacceptable, in my opinion, for an individual who claims to reject religion in their personal life to be ignorant of different religions and have no justification for their decision aside from simple apathy. I want to educate myself, at least at a beginner’s level on varies religions that most of our human population follow. Religion can sometimes define a culture or a community or even an individual and it’s important to be aware of their beliefs.

      I hope that by taking this class, I will better my understanding of major religions and become familiar with particular customs, days of observations and a history or background of each. I’d like to find out the exact structure, composition, history, etc of the Christian bible. I’d like to learn more about the process of becoming an adult at age 13 for an individual who follows Judaism. I hope to obtain a firmer grasp of Islam and the guidelines Muslims live by. I’d love to learn the philosophies and beliefs of a Buddhist as well as the precedents and lifestyle of an individual who is Hindu.

      I was never raised in a particularly religious or spiritual background. My father’s side of the family consists, mainly of different denominations of Christians, while my mother’s side of the family is mainly Islamic. My father himself practices no religion while my mother used to enforce select Islamic beliefs in me such as not eating pork because the pig was seen as an “unclean” animal. At age 8, I disregarded all religious influence anyone might have had on me and chose for myself with previously no advanced knowledge of other religions. I had been exposed to my mother’s side of the family more than I had my father’s and had attended a few Muslim weddings and taken part in prayers and readings. At a very early age, probably from the age when a child can comprehend ideas such as religion and gods and such, I was influenced to believe that there was some higher power guiding its people spiritually and showing them guidance and then rewarding them. However as I though about it more and more and about human existence, I decided that religion is useful and unites people and provides guidelines to those who need or seek it and is a basis for community and culture in some circumstances, but was not for me. Somewhere around second grade, I declared myself atheist and it wasn’t until just recently that I felt the need to identify with something more than a rejection of a certain idea. I came about a few philosophies that I identify with and have chosen to find meaning in. Those philosophies include humanism, because I believe that meaning is found in people and that life itself is magnificent and alluring and all products of the being are of significance. Along with identifying as a humanist, I also am a bit of a naturalist as I find meaning in nature and the world that surrounds us. We are, after all, a product of our environment. Also, I am quite the existentialist, which can pose a problem every once in a while when I over analyze human existence. It’s extraordinary; the search for purpose and it’s interesting and yet mentally draining to constantly be pondering why we interact the way we do within our environment and for what cause do we live. I suppose psychology plays a role in all philosophies, and religions are more or less philosophies that influence your decisions and lifestyle.