Reflections on the Term

With our Intro to Religious Studies course nearly over, I would say that the most interesting and all-encompassing (meaning it is a characteristic of seemingly every religion) concept that we have talked about is the so-called "perception of convenience". This concept also relates to the idea that religion and culture are dynamic systems that form an inter-causal relationship; in other words, the two are continually influencing each other. I think that many people, including myself at one time, regard religions as universal and fixed institutions. Throughout the term, however, I think that I have learned how much religions change over time, and how they are originally created in order to provide a rationale for the universe, and as such are more or less simply a convenient way of viewing the world. We have seen this through the Psalms, which portray a sometimes violent world in which one can supplicate God for the destruction of one's enemies. Although this seems to us today a somewhat savage teaching, it was a necessary way of life for the Jews at a time when they were often subject to war. We also saw a convenient perception in the Bay Psalm Book translation of Psalm 2, giving a very old Psalm a modern, New World spin. And finally we saw this in the Kebra Negast, which gives a convenient but false legitimization for Christianity in Ethiopia.

This leads to the notion that religions and cultures are continually influencing one another. To me, this notion seemed somewhat contradictory to the concept of religion, which I viewed as claiming to be absolute, universal, divinely inspired, etc. But when these characteristics of religion are cast aside, the innumerable ways in which religion is shaped by and shapes culture become clear. For instance, the Rastafarian's beliefs were born out of the poverty and oppression that they faced from the Babylon culture, and yet now the Rastas are respected and have begun to influence Jamaican politics. This in turn affects how the Rastas view themselves, their desire for repatriation to Africa, and their place in Jamaica. In addition, we looked at Jane Addams and her work at Hull House, which was also a direct response to social conditions, in this case the extreme poverty faced by many (particularly immigrants) in urban Chicago. This may not have been a religion exactly, but Addams's efforts were certainly influenced by religious ideas, and she held her humanitarian ideals religiously. Her efforts have certainly made a large and lingering impact on social life at the very least in Chicago.

As our course is nearing its end, I feel that these characteristics are fundamentally linked to religion, and are perhaps the most profound additions to the way that I view religion.