Imagine all the people, sharing all the world...

I am currently taking a Comparative Religions anthropology class. I am taking it as a random elective because I thought it would be really interesting. I was right. It’s one of the few classes that I actually enjoy and learn from.

I took this class because I think it’s extremely important and valuable to learn about and understand different viewpoints, especially about religion or lack thereof. As a Christian, how can I be confident in my own faith if I can’t compare it to anything? How can I reach out and minister to people of different faiths if I don’t understand where they’re coming from or what they believe? And how can I be a truly loving, nonjudgmental, open-minded person if I stay locked up in my little Christian bubble all the time?

For my fieldwork project in this class, I had to attend two different events related to two different religious affiliations that I am not familiar with and write a paper comparing and contrasting them. I ended up going to a Sunday morning service at Fountain Street Church and a general meeting for GVSU’s chapter of the Center for Inquiry.

Fountain Street Church resides in a breathtakingly beautiful cathedral in downtown Grand Rapids. It was once defined as a Baptist church but has now taken on the mentality that I can best describe as, “We don’t know what to believe, so we’re just going to believe everything.” They referenced the Bible and also mentioned that they study the Koran and other scriptures. They used the term “divine” as a seemingly all-inclusive term for whatever higher being or beings may be out there. They spoke about being “religiously reluctant, spiritually shy, and morally modest.” They are basically open to everything and anything because they see validity and flaws in all religions.

The Center for Inquiry is an organization for atheists, agnostics, skeptics, and those that are open to learning about and discussing other viewpoints and religions. Most of the people at the meeting considered themselves “nonreligious” but there were a couple Christians, and after mentioning that I was there as part of a class project, I was asked straight up by one of the girls, “Are you a Christian?” Not “Are you a religious?” or “What are your beliefs?” but “Are you a Christian?” Obviously, my answer was “Yup!” And her response was, “That’s cool. I respect that.” The meeting was pretty disorganized and was more of a hang-out than anything else, but I had some interesting conversations with a few of the people there. I asked one of the guys what he would consider the goal or purpose of CFI to be. He said a few things that I found really interesting. He explained that CFI is designed so that people can get together and have open discussions about their beliefs, but he considered the GVSU chapter more of a social group than anything - a place where people who leave the church and lose their community can find a new community. He also encouraged me to get more involved with the group because it’s important to have different viewpoints. He doesn’t want to live in an echo chamber all the time. Amen!...I mean…I agree.

So basically, Fountain Street is not sure what to believe so they assume all religions are mostly right, and CFI is not sure what to believe so they assume that all religions are mostly wrong. It was an interesting contrast, and I actually really liked attending both of these events. I never once felt attacked or judged or excluded. I was warmly welcomed by both very open-minded groups. It made me think in a broader perspective and step outside of the bubble that I far too easily put myself in. I love having such a strong Christian community, and I would be lost without it, but it can be dangerous to only surround yourself with people that look and think like you. I'm not about to become a Universalist Unitarian or an Atheist, but I do believe that spending time with people who are will make me a better Christian. After all...Jesus hung out with the prostitutes and tax collectors. 

I took a couple classes last semester about diversity, and in a lot of ways, I can compare my experiences in those classes with my Comparative Religions class. These are the classes that make me glad that I go to a public university. It can be hard to listen to some of the painfully close-minded and underdeveloped theories of stubbornly opinionated college students, but it is really important to talk about the controversial issues that a lot of people are afraid to discuss. And it’s even more important to have these discussions with people that are going to challenge your opinion and make you think outside of your own beliefs rather than just mindlessly agree with everything you say.

The moral of the story is: Be open-minded. Don’t judge people (because you don’t have that authority, anyway). And love everyone. It’s a great philosophy for life. 


-Ray


"Even in the most unlikely and conservative of places, you can find sometimes this glimmering idea that God might be bigger than our limited religious doctrines have taught us." - Eat, Pray, Love