Day 19 – What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics?
“What do you think of religion?” is a pretty broad question. I was raised United Methodist and came from the kind of family who dressed up for church every Sunday. As a kid, I got excited on those rare Sundays when we didn’t go to church, since it meant I could sleep in. I participated in summer church camps (as a camper and a counselor), church choir, and youth group every so often. I was even a Youth Director at one point. I didn’t fully embrace my faith until I was in college, when I connected with a group on campus that challenged my beliefs and my spirituality and pushed me further than I’d been before. Unfortunately, the leader of that group left after my first year, and I took that a little hard. After that my focus from the group was gone. My then boyfriend/fiance/husband didn’t come from a religious family and I didn’t want to push my beliefs on him. Church slowly faded from my life, and I was ok with that. I had always felt that if I was doing it out of a feeling of obligation, I should step back and then come back when I was ready and willing.
DH was raised as Catholic, but identifies as an Atheist. While that may be off-putting to some, it has been such a learning experience to me. I’ve grown so much more tolerant and sensitive of the beliefs of others, and I credit that to him. I find myself thinking about how uncomfortable people who aren’t Christian must feel when in situations when assumptions are made about the beliefs of the crowd. For example, at one of my jobs the leadership distributed religious Christmas cards at holiday time, complete with a CD of traditional, religious carols. I was a little flabbergasted, to say the least.
