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'As an atheist in Nigeria, you will be ostracised. Up to today, I have many people who keep their distance from me simply because I ask a lot of critical questions about religion. Many of them don't even know I'm now an atheist.'

Kenneth, https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/nigeria-undercover-atheists-words-180917212711132.html

In class, we discussed the role that atheism plays within the African American community. The video that was shown in class essentially outlined that atheism plays little to no role within the community.  Generally speaking, the African American community has a heavy religious involvement, following Western European Christianity practices of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. However, atheism makes up three percent of the African American community, nonetheless (even though there is a sense of peer pressure to be religious, according to the video).

While this class is American Religious Diversity, it is interesting to see the same effects of atheism happen worldwide. In the article, “Nigeria’s undercover atheists: In their words,” Chika Oduah exposes the religious culture that young atheists face in Nigeria. This is where the quote above comes from. It is a personal experience youth Kenneth feels. In another community “where religion is the rhythm of life,” Oduah allows the youth in Nigeria to explain their violent experiences of being atheist. From the article, it is clear to tell that practicing atheism in Nigeria is not a welcome act.  

Within each community, practicing atheism is not a common thing, nor is it welcomed with open arms. Growing up in a community with common beliefs that play a large role in everyday life, it can feel like constant peer pressure to follow those same beliefs. Even on an international scale, we see the commonalities that atheists face in their ethnic community.  

Now, how does this apply to people outside of Nigeria or the African American community? This mentality can be seen beyond religion. We live in a society that (generally) likes to be surrounded by people with common beliefs, whether it be political or religious. So, it is understandable to see what is happening. However, creating an environment that looks down upon different, other views and/or beliefs, becomes detrimental. It does not allow for beliefs to grow. If that happens, the world would become too similar (and maybe a little boring).

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In class, the Prosperity Gospel Movement was presented. This is a belief that some Christians follow, where they believe that financial blessings and physical well-being is in God’s will. Therefore, it is not God’s will for one to be poor or ill. While it has some influence from movements, such as the Pentecostal beliefs, the New Thought Movement, and American Pragmentism, this religious belief is heavily criticized for its focus on materialism and wealth. 

For instance, the article, “African Church leaders to react to ‘false gospel of prosperity,’” highlights specific criticisms toward the Prosperity Gospel Movement recently made by African church leaders. The church leaders emphasize that “’The Catholic Church will never endorse such ideas, which deceive people into thinking that, by some so-called miracle, manna will fall from heaven.”’ The church leaders believe that one must work to achieve something and that they’d rather promote people to gain education and vocational training (than this religious belief of prosperity). Although the belief is held among Christians, the Catholic Church makes their criticisms in hopes that it does not reach their own followers. 

This event is interesting to me because it shows criticisms of a newer religious belief made by followers of an older religion. We see religion evolving and forming into newer ideals that go along with the times. Beyond the Prosperity Gospel Movement, that became prominent in the 1950s, we also see the criticisms of another newer religion, Scientology. Leaders of “major religions” (i.e. Christianity, Catholicism) look down upon these new religious beliefs, that have roots within the 19th century, because the new ideals clash with the practices of the original church. Church leaders may feel as if the new religions promote beliefs that they do not wish to promote nor wish to have associated with their church. However, the Prosperity Gospel is only followed by some Christians and Scientology allows its members to also practice other religions. 

It’s fascinating, to me, to see if new religious beliefs can last as long as major religions, like Christianity and Catholicism, for example. In a day and age of technology and various media outlets, these beliefs have different resources to promote their ideals than their ancestors may have. But, will these new resources aid them or hinder them? 

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For American Religious Diversity, the class ventured off to the Church of Scientology in San Diego. The church emphasized what scientology is and what it practices. The largest takeaway was the eight dynamics of life in scientology: self, creativity, group survival, species, life forms, physical universe, spiritual dynamic, and urge toward existence as infinity. It believes that each human responds to life traumas with their reactive mind. In order to find the source of the trauma, members of the church undergo auditing to neutralize those traumas. The staff of Scientology also underlined that although it is a religion, it also is a science. Therefore, it also embraces members who practice other religions alongside scientology. 

Although we experienced the church of Scientology, it was a surface-level introduction to the “controversial” religion. However, the article, “How Tom Cruise and Scientology ‘saved’ a ‘suicidal’ James Packer,” shows how scientology is “practiced” on a personal level. According to the article by Dailymail, Tom Cruise introduced James Packer to the religion to help him pass through difficult times. Although Packer faced a falling out with both the religion of Scientology and the “high profile church advocate Tom Cruise,” his wife still believes that it did help them through such a difficult time. This incident took place in the early 2000s, but looking back now, Packer is grateful to Cruise as he could see what scientology was doing to him [Packer]. 

I chose this article because I wanted to see scientology on a personal level. It was hard to connect with the church on the field trip. It felt broad and impersonal; however, I am aware that I was supposed to find a personal connection on my own through my own mind and self-actualization. The article, on the other hand, was also broad. It did not go into detail on how scientology saved Packer, but rather that it just did. 

Often, when scientology is in the news, it is a topic of controversy, perhaps it still is. It could be due to the fact that the religion focuses heavily on private, personal experiences. It’s interesting to see how secretive the religion can feel even after a church visit and through a personal article. However, that might be another factor of the religion. Scientology focuses heavily upon private one-on-one sessions of auditing. Perhaps, the privacy simply helps members of its religion heal and practice its beliefs. While that may be the case, the privacy also explains people’s hesitation and the controversy surrounding scientology. 

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The article, “Evangelical Christians could swing elections in Brazil,” explains the possible outcome of the next election in Brazil. That is because “millions of evangelicals translates into millions of votes,” because they work with lawmakers to reinforce fiscal protections for the churches. To provide context, Brazil has a large Evangelical Christian population that is going to continue to grow, according to the article, even though there “has been an increase in religious intolerance.” With controversy facing politicians ending up in prison, Evangelical Christians in Brazil have a large chance of creating the change that they want. The writers of the article believe in that because after having a previous president with a criminal record of murder,  “an evangelical president is exactly what Brazil needs.“

Like in Brazil, American’s religious population is also made up of a good percentage of Evangelical Christians. In class, however, we were exposed to pentecostal Evangelical Christians as we saw in the documentary, Jesus Camp. The documentary focused on a personal scale of the religion. It highlighted the “born-again” experience and how parents teach their children with a homeschooled education that align with their own personal and religious beliefs. 

I took interest in this article because it is intriguing to see a popular religion almost control the political field in another country, whereas in the United States, our political parties control the voting turnout and/or outcome. However, that is not to say that religion and politics in the U.S. are mutually exclusive. Religion plays a role within our political parties, but they do not control them, like it may in Brazil. For example, it’s common for the Republican party to have stronger beliefs in religion than the Democratic party. 

That is not the only difference of the countries. The political problems that seek resolution differ. The Evangelical Christians in Brazil seek fiscal reinforcement for their churches and overall political leader change. While in the states, it’s a matter of general national problems. 

It’s easy to see religious beliefs listed out on paper, but it becomes more personal when we can see the role it plays-- whether large or small-- in real life events. 

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There should be a fine line between religion and politics; however, sometimes that line becomes unclear on when and where to cross it. In the article, “American Atheists File Lawsuit Against Ark. Senator For Blocking People On Social Media,” it is reported that Jason Rapert, Senator of Arkansas, has been sued by atheists for “’violating the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution and Arkansas state law for blocking people on twitter and Facebook.”’ The group of atheists felt as if they had been unconstitutionally blocked from the senator’s social medias after expressing their point of views. 

However, what does this have to do with the class? 

In class, we discussed Madalyn Murray O’Hair’s role in atheism during the 1960s. She was a persistent, firm woman who believed fully in her atheistic beliefs that went completely against religions, or rather Christianity specifically. She took all the negative things said about her and viewed them as positive, making her more infamous than famous. She even embraced the title of the “most hated woman in America,” as the best thing to happen to her.  

The parallels between the article and the infamous Madalyn Murray O’Hair is not only the similarity in atheism, but also their persistence in said “belief”. In each case, we see two groups communicate their beliefs regardless of the backlash they may receive. Beyond that, the law is brought into both cases. We see O’Hair challenge the courts of the constitutionality on the use of “under God” in schools. Then, we see a new age of American Atheists bring in the courts to decide the constitutionality of being blocked by government officials due to differing beliefs. The article thus shows a continuation of the role atheism plays in politics. 

As a teenager growing up in a day and age of social media, it becomes common to see political battles take a new platform online in many different ways. This impacts me, first and foremost, because I am a voter and it is interesting to see how politics can be affected when religious differences come to light. 

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It’s easy to discuss religion in an objective sense -- to talk about their broad beliefs and practices. But, it takes an interesting and personal turn when we look at it from a personal view and how it can affect day to day life. Now this post is not to “dissect” the Quaker religion as we already discussed the basic makings of a Quaker in class. This post is aimed to see the lifestyle of a person practicing a minor religion. In our daily lives, the religions we encounter (if any) typically stem from the major religions in America (i.e. Christianity). I want to explore if a minor religion can truly affect the way a person lives their life. 

In the Youtube video, “Oh God...Let’s Talk About My Religion // What is Quakerism,” Jessica Kellgren-Fozard dives deep into what it means to be a part of the Religious Society of Friends. Kellgren-Fozard emphasizes that this is simply her own Quakerism, meaning that she cannot speak for the religion as a whole because interpretation of beliefs plays a large role in Quakerism. To her, Quakerism is about helping each other “live ethically” by the six core principles: “equality, justice, truth, peace, and simplicity and sustainability.” She uses the principles as well to live her own life, as well. For example, she believes in being as sustainable as her disabilities allow her to be, in order to, leave Earth in better shape for future generations. Along that, her interpretation of God (as it is different for every person apart of the Religious Society of Friends) is the “goodness in everyone mixed together,” which gives her strength and hope to believe that everyone is connected together. When it comes to praying, Kellgren-Fozard participates in a “Meeting for Worship,” where everyone prays collectively. 

Coming from someone who is not religious, sometimes it’s easy to forget that people forge their lives to follow a minor religion, hence why I chose a video about that. When religion does come into play, it usually stems from a major religion, rather than one like Quakerism. It’s interesting to see how some religions are simply followed. In a case like Jessica Kellgren-Fozard, we see that she allows her religion to set the principles as to which she lives by and what she believes in. It can be concluded that, yes there are masses that believe in the same religion, but when it comes to day to day life, it can begin to differ, especially in the Quaker religion. 

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Each religion has its set beliefs that either aligns with other religions or alienates them from the rest. The Shakers’s beliefs tend to fall into the latter category. The branches of their religion that sets them mostly apart is their belief in duality of the deity (a male and a female element), complete celibacy, and equality between men and women. 

Livia Gershon explores the gender equality of the Shaker religion in “The Shaker Formula for Gender Equality.” She explains the appeal of the Shakers to early nineteenth century women because of “the safe, mutually supportive environment of Shaker settlements.” While celibacy was enforced, the idea of no childbearing didn’t scare away any members of the religion -- it motivated them, according to Gershon. Beyond that, the leadership roles were shared between men and women, unlike other religions (i.e. the Amish), thus adding to the appeal for gender equality. 

While the Shaker religion is dying off, because of the lack of reproduction and welcome arms to new members, it leaves us to wonder what is its place in our society today? We live in an evolving society with bursts of movements to create social change. In a climate where women still continue to battle for gender equality, can the Shaker formula to gender equality help? 

Perhaps it’s naive thinking that a dying religion’s beliefs could solve our American gender problems, but it’s always a start. Granted, sexism in America is not our biggest social issue, however, it is still alive. For example, take a look at Serena Williams’s experience of blatant sexism with dress code and accusations of cheating.  

The Shakers had a lot of faults, mainly within their ideology that doomed them to an almost extinct religion, but their gender equality allows us to understand the appeal to the religion for those women. 

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The closest encounter that I ever had with religion in school is seeing my younger cousin attend a Catholic pre-school. Otherwise, I would say that up until college, my education has been secular, beside the brief mention of religion in history class. That can be due to the fact that teachers of my high school sought to make debates political (due to the social climate) rather than purely religious (because religion comes up in politics at times with certain issues). 

However, just because my education experience has been secular, I am still able to recognize the role religion continues to play in education today. In class, we viewed the documentary, Jesus Camp, in which children are homeschooled by Evangelical Christian parents. As viewers, we see the mother (and the teacher of the children) teach her children (or students) about topics in a way that only align with the beliefs of their religion. For example, they simply dismiss the idea of evolution or global warming on the basis that the Earth has warmed a “small” percentage (ergo it must be false). 

Everyone is entitled to their beliefs and opinions, however, they should also be aware of the other opinions as well. That is what Harriet Sherwood writes about in “Call for atheism to be included in religious education.” Sherwood summarizes that learning about other world views in religious schools will allow their students to gain more “respect and empathy for others,” because it will give students insight “into the sciences, the arts, literature, history and contemporary local and global social and political issues.” 

Now, I am not the perfect student from receiving a secular education, nor can I tell anyone the cons of religious education, first-hand; however, I do believe it is important for students, especially the younger ones, to have exposure and awareness to everything, so that they can form their own opinions beyond the ones that are groomed into them by their family. The Evangelical Christian parents aren’t “wrong” for teaching what they teach their children with, but their biggest fault is alienating their children to a singular belief. Perhaps their biggest fear is that their children won’t agree with their beliefs if they are exposed to other world views, but (if it is) that is not the case. Like Sherwood wrote, it’ll create respectful and empathetic children. 

Teaching about atheism or other beliefs in religious schools is not about converting students to those beliefs, it is to make them aware.