Religious practices and beliefs on Earth: criteria and examples

Religious Life on Planet Earth

What does religion look like? To my alien culture, religion will take different forms. It will be seen through kindness, through humility, through love and altruism. In this paper, religion is not a dogma, it is not something that necessarily takes place in a building. Religion to my culture is a spirit, an act that inspires hope, a conflict that has been resolved. It is people helping each other in time of need.

Three examples of behaviors that meet the criteria are: a) affection shown between two people such as holding hands, hugging, looking deeply into each other's eyes, or kissing; b) a smile on the face of a person being served food by another; c) a person picking fresh vegetables from a garden and sharing it with others.

My Report on Religion in North America

On arriving in Hillsboro, a small town near Portland, Oregon, I converted myself into invisible and walked through the streets to find out if there was religion here. I came in front of a large building with people walking in and walking out. I looked through the glass and saw a man playing with a pliable substance. He pushed it, rolled it, tossed it up in the air as a spinning disc and caught it before it hit the table. This was not religion, I thought to myself. He poured meat and cheese on the disc and put it into a hot place. A sign said, "Izzy's" and below the big letters smaller letters spelling out "Artisan Pizzas," "Traditional Pizzas," "Voted #1 in the Northwest."

I moved inside unnoticed of course and there at a table were two people sitting side by side, the male had his arm around the female. She wore a blue sweater with a chain around her neck and what looked like a ring on the chain. I moved over closer and could smell a scented aroma from her and her lips were painted bright pink. Just then the male (wearing a jacket that had a big "O" on the front) leaned over and pushed his lips to her cheek. This was religion! Right here in a food building, religion was occurring. She turned his face directly towards her face and pushed her lips against his lips. I surmised they were praying; it certainly seemed like a religious prayer. Perhaps they were praying that there would be enough food for everyone. Outside I had passed by a male in tattered clothing holding a small pan out for passers by to put something in. Maybe the religious couple inside was praying for him to eat.

The function of religion in this town was apparently to make people smile and blush. As the couple inside prayed, their skin became a little flushed, and when they stopped pressing lips against lips, they wrapped their arms around each other in another kind of prayer. They smiled and pushed their heads against one another. This was true religion! Their God was the God of smiles and warm touching! Others in the food building were waiting for their food with no prayers, no religion. The young couple at the far table were the only religious people in the building. Their hands were interlocked, fingers grasping fingers. Their smiles lit up the room.

I needed to find out if there was religion on the big vehicles I saw rumbling along slowly, spewing back smoke from behind, stopping, starting, stopping so people could get off and others could get on. I stepped on board a big vehicle that said "Portland" on its front end. No one could see me as I remained in my invisible mode. I passed to the back and saw people with worried faces, tired faces, some had black skins, some white, and some brown. Some were holding plastic bags with items in the bags. Toward the back of the vehicle a woman held a tiny earthling in her arms. I sat opposite from this woman and her baby. She pulled the blanket down so the baby's head was visible and she pushed her lips to the baby's head and held her lips there for ten seconds or so. Religion on a moving vehicle heading for Portland!

The bus stopped near a large grassy area where children were playing; boys were pushing each other and throwing a round object at a hoop high above their heads. Little girls were singing and jumping up and down as a rope was swung in circles. No religion here, so I stayed on the vehicle. It was loud and the driver was bloated in his abdomen. The vehicle came to Portland. I got off at a stop near a building with people lined up in front, waiting to get in. A big sign read, "Portland Rescue Mission." Another sign said, "If you are hungry, homeless, lonely or sick, we welcome you!" I slithered through the long line and watched inside as males and females stopped at a counter where they were given a bowl of a hot steamy liquid, and bread, and some little morsel on their trays. Religion was very active here. Long lines of people were receiving food and smiling through mouths that had teeth missing.

I went outside and walked down the street to a place where the ground stopped and concrete stretched over flowing water. The sign said "Willamette River" and on the other side of the river I looked down from the concrete and I could see a garden with older females picking green things from the ground and loading these items into bags held by the hands of people wearing stained clothing. It was religion! Food grown from the black ground and given to people in need. It was like a sermon with no words, a spiritual song with no melody. I dropped down to smell the green items being picked; they smelled sweet, but some were pungent.