Personal Reflection on Religious Perspective

Personal Reflection on Religious Perspective

Worldview

I was raised in a Christian family but I have always been bothered by the degree to which different Christian faiths maintain that they represent the only "correct" interpretation of the Gospel and that other Christian faiths are "wrong." I have always found it particularly offensive that some specific Christian sects believe that other fellow Christians are not eligible for eternal salvation at all. Generally, I appreciate that the Christian worldview incorporates secular concepts of benevolence and charity and I have always tried to make sure that my personal lifestyle choices and decisions are consistent with this Christian worldview.

Personal Beliefs about God and Religion and the Sacred-Secular Dance

As an adult, I have chosen not to affiliate with any specific church or Christian sect because I believe that God values all of us equally regardless of exactly how we choose to express our religious convictions. In my opinion, the relationship between the individual and God is a highly personal relationship and that private prayer or communication is much more spiritual and meaningful than ritualized prayers and customs.

It seems to me that the shared ritual of religious services actually detracts from the spiritually meaningful quality of the communications between believers and God because group songs, dances, and other rituals often become the focus of religious worship instead of the actual connection between the individual and God. Whereas it is very difficult for a single individual communicating directly with God to become distracted or to focus on extraneous or superficial aspects of that dynamic, the practice of group prayer (especially those involving complex musical components) often seems to take precedence over communal forms of religious worship. In that respect, private individual prayer seems much less susceptible to distraction and superficiality to me than many forms of contemporary religious services.

Christianity in Relation to American Society

In my opinion, it is a fundamental mistake for Christians to lobby for secular laws that reflect Christian religious beliefs. It seems that many Christians believe that secular laws should be consistent with their religious convictions, most notably in connection with issues such as contraception and abortion. On one hand, my Christian beliefs do prohibit certain forms of contraception and all forms of abortion. However, I recognize that when it comes to very early-term abortions, (such as where fetal development is at the zygote stage before any human characteristics have developed), the moral issue should be entirely separate from the religious issue. That is because the central basis for objecting to abortion (at this early stage of fetal development) is a religious belief that human life begins at conception.

Certainly, Christians should be free to maintain that belief. However, to lobby for laws prohibiting early-term abortions for non-Christians is nothing short of imposing our religious beliefs on others. In principle, it is no different from Catholics lobbying for laws prohibiting anybody (i.e. non-Christians) from eating meat on Fridays; for that matter, it is no different from a Jewish majority lobbying for laws prohibiting everybody from eating pork or shellfish. In my opinion, Christians devalue their faith by trying to impose it on non-believers. Their efforts to promote behavior that is consistent with the Gospel should be limited to members of their faith for the same reason that Christians would never want members of society outside their faith to impose foreign religious values or beliefs on them. In my opinion, Christianity is strongest when it respects the rights of other and the fundamental separation of church and state. To do otherwise, contradicts the very concept of Free Will.

My Worldview in Relation to Interpersonal Interactions and Perspective

While I do maintain a personal relationship with God, I do not consider that relationship to be the most important aspect of the way that I express my Christian faith. In my opinion, the way we manifest our religious values is by expressing them in meaningful ways in the lives of others. Furthermore, the opportunity to do so comes in myriad forms. In a typical day of my life, I express my Christian worldview of loving my neighbor and dong unto others on a continual basis from the moment I wake up until I go to sleep.

For example, when I get up in the morning, I am careful about how loudly I play my radio because I understand that my neighbors sleep later than I do. Likewise, I avoid doing certain things that I have every right (i.e. every secular legal right) to do, such as mowing my lawn early in the morning, purely out of consideration for my neighbors. Similarly, when I drive to school or to work, I am always mindful of the sensibilities and welfare of fellow motorists. I may yield the right of way when I am not legally obligated to do so and I typically allow other vehicles to merge safely and I try to avoid doing anything as a driver that could endanger or inconvenience others, irrespective of my technical legal rights and obligations. I will wait and hold doors open for other people even when it might be more convenient and quicker for me to pretend that I have not noticed them. I will offer someone who appears to be in a rush to step ahead of me in line at the coffee shop and if I have a full grocery cart at the supermarket, I will usually offer to allow someone behind me to go ahead of me if I notice that they have only a few items in a hand cart. Naturally, if I receive too much change from a cashier, I will always alert them to the mistake. In these respects, my Christian worldview dominates my daily interactions with others so much that it is no longer anything that I must think about consciously. In fact, I believe that this, rather than doing the right thing for selfish reasons (such as the fear of the consequences of doing otherwise), is the essence of being a Christian.