Religion and Me: The Impasse (Sumblog 3)

                The Idea that everyone and everything has a role in our society has always fascinated me. To think, that each and every position held in our world is of use … I just can’t wrap my head around it. I think that it’s mainly because I look at things like poverty and homelessness, and can’t help but think “Wow, our society would function differently if we didn’t have people living in horrible conditions? I just can’t believe that.” So, call me kooky, when I just can’t wrap my head around the idea that we all play a part of a bigger picture… sometimes massively bigger picture.

                For Durkheim, I found myself interested in his views on religion. I mean, I tend to go day-to-day without thinking about religion, so I couldn’t really fathom what he meant when he brought up the idea that society and religion coexist within the same sphere almost completely. It didn’t particularly make sense to me, because I figured, if I didn’t think about it all the time, why would it exist in my reality. Then, I decided I wanted to go a day, and think about how everything I do, think, say, and behave has been affected by religion… and boy was I shocked at how much impact the ideas of Christianity have integrated into my life from the few times I went to church as a child.



Found this picture off of a blog which was ranting about whether or not athiests were religious: http://rantswithintheundeadgod.blogspot.com/2013/03/are-atheists-religious.html. I found it intersting because of the context of my personal journey with religion.

                To get some background, I was born Catholic, and baptized as such. My mother is an ex-nun who lived in a Monastery for a chunk of her adult life. My father is an Evangelical Lutheran, and it seems that I try to steer clear of religion all together. Opting for a world where I don’t need to go to church, or other religious ceremonies. In fact, I’m a self-proclaimed agnostic because I just can’t fathom how any higher being could exist. However, over time my family has labeled me the atheist… see Hispanic culture, and you may begin to understand.  Through all of that, I really have found myself at an impasse with religion, and it seems as though the car I was using to drive down that road has shut down.

                So, when I challenged myself to look at how Durkheim saw things, and specifically how he saw that religion and society danced in the same tango, imagine my surprise when I found he was kind of right. I mean from the time that I get up, to the time I go to sleep, ideas of Christianity are so strong in my mind that I find it hard to believe I could ever be viewed as an atheist. While, I choose not to go to church, I find myself constantly think of God, praying in my head, and quite frequently using what my grandma would call using the Lord’s name in vain. I mean, even at meetings, we always open with the pledge of allegiance and God is mentioned in there as well.

                After experimenting with this for a day, I now find myself at an even bigger conundrum, how does one get over the fact that they might be at a religious brink, and still call themselves atheist or agnostic. For me, I think so long as religion remains a big part of society, my family structure, and even how I view myself in relation to others. I don’t think I’ll ever be truly not invested in religion. So, for now, I’m still at an impasse, but my understanding of how religion affects me is at a whole new level.

Only time will tell, which path I take, for now, I'll just take a look around.
Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJnpe5R7JYOX-SvDd3DcUfmPbH6YmLxIRQqGXfSCPvs0kI7_D2ENIOX5fUu-NN63N95rL6U3ZuGQR0b1m2T79fSDUlCEVg6bHrFikiWFlzSQ752SYTqBA-msjMaO1OMq75wWWIDzxKjzlm/s760/road-not-taken2.jpg