The Extremes in Beliefs

 How does religion shape the way people understand and respond to the worlds around them? Religion takes many shapes in daily life, from decision making to generating ideas, from stereotyping to creating first impressions to attaching emotion to memories. I think that most of us, even though we might not notice, are constantly influenced by religion, whichever religion that might be, and whether you identify yourself with the belief or not. Although I do not consider myself a catholic, or identify myself with any type of Christian faith, or any other, I cannot deny that the religious lessons I had come across in my young childhood, do affect my way of thinking now, not always, but every now and then.  I do not choose for it to be so, but one cannot help thinking a certain way when it has become a part of your reasoning, and as long as you have some knowledge of it, it will be used to analyze the world around you.

But every mind is different; people view religion in different ways. There are those who believe that their religion is one and only, so it must be followed word by word, these are typically radicals, or the orthodox. There are also the most common ones, these range in intensity, they believe that as a part of the religion, they must believe, embrace, accept, and practice, the main idea of what the religion is. Then there are those who believe that their religion serves as a guideline to life from which's values are vast in amount, but are not entirely necessary; therefore offer them with the opportunity to choose in what to have faith in.

Some people believe that those with strong religious ties have stronger values, a more defined sense of respect, morality, and a better developed judgement… I disagree. The mentality that an individual has when referring to their faith, or lack of faith, highly impacts not necessarily the values they have but more of the way in which those values are applied. An agnostic or atheist can have just as good values as an orthodox, I don’t think that the severity and strength of religion in an individual specifically affects their persona, but what if affected, is the way its interpreted and applied.

When I was young, my grandmother basically raised me until I was four. Her being a devote Catholic did not specifically affect me. Her teachings reflected her form of thinking, and were therefore transmitted to me. I did not question her teachings until I had turned seven, slightly forming my own opinion on religion, maybe it was the absence of her devotedness when being taught, or perhaps it was my own father’s lack of faith that drove me to declaring myself free of religion when I turned twelve. But me at twelve no longer is me, now. Although I do not consider myself a Catholic, when asked, I sometimes say I am. Is it that maybe I fear rejection due to my lack of belief or is it me just searching for a title to suit me? Could religion be possibly abolished completely, and have future generations never know about it? Or is the need to believe in something, just part of being human? It’s the baby steps in the development from child to adolescent to adult that best help see how religion affects and shapes the way people act in response to the world.

A small observation I have made in my life, concerning religion, is that most of those who seem the most devote are those who’ve suffered a great deal. Could it possibly be that it is because they seek safety or a better chance?  Does social class affect the level of devotedness/ faith?