TWO THINGS I HAVE LEARNED THIS SEMESTER
Ellen Casalino
The first thing I learned is that throughout history, religions had much conflict, violence
and prejudice. I previously thought most religions were at the very least benign, if not loving,
accepting, kind and all the other virtues perceived to be espoused by the God they supposedly
worship. I mean, isn’t that why most people adhere themselves to a religion is to try to follow
the teachings/example of the God they worship? While I was aware of barbaric practices
during the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition, I was very surprised to learn of the conflicts in
America starting with the Pilgrims all the way to present day! I just took for granted that
Religious Freedom was extended to the individual mind, that we all felt everyone was “free” to
practice their respective religions.
The first thing I think about when I think of freedom of religion is that anyone is free to
practice or believe in a religion without any government interference, but I never thought
about interference from “other” religions! A whole new concept for me! This was first
brought to my attention when we studied the Pilgrims plight. They wanted religious freedom
so badly, they were willing to leave all they knew and had behind and travel to an unknown, far
away land to get it. However, once they arrived and they were officially “free”, they didn’t
know what to do with that freedom. They were in chaos, everyone with different perspectives
on what should be.
Eventually some assumed leadership and organized a “church”. Now here’s the kicker,
everyone was expected to follow the rules and beliefs of that one religion without question!
Wait a minute, isn’t that the very reason they left England in the first place? To not to have to
be forced to believe one religion? Can you spell: I R O N Y?
Now, along comes Ann Hutchinson. She has been referred to as, “The voice of religious
consciousness “. She had a different interpretation the Bible and she had spiritual experiences
with God that she shared with others. This was not allowed. No one could deviate from the
doctrine of the Puritans since they believed theirs was the only true doctrine. So they called
her to account for her “violations” and asked her to denounce her beliefs/interpretations. She
would not and was appalled she would be asked to do so under the supposed law of religious
freedom. The leadership’s response was exile, banishment for her and her entire family! Wow!
A real eye opener for me!
Another example that was shocking to me was the bias against the Catholics here in
America. I had always perceived the Catholic Church to be “all powerful” all through the ages,
so I was surprised that they were at one time at the “bottom of the totem pole”. Of course
now it stands to reason that since they weren’t the first Church established here, and in view of
the inflexibility of the established religions, that they wouldn’t be made to feel very welcome,
let alone free to practice their own beliefs and rules. The Catholics feared the Protestants were
trying to convert them and so they kept to themselves, also to avoid persecution. Then came
along John Hughes, a Catholic Priest who single handedly took on the monumental task of
establishing the rights and freedoms for Catholics in America. He was very clever and used
many avenues to accomplish his objectives, particularly within the political system.
More recently, we are focused on the conflicts within Islam, which opens up a whole
new can of worms. In the name of religion and Allah/God, horrendous acts of violence were
committed on American soil. While the Islam religion itself does not promote violence,
extremists within have interpreted their beliefs to accommodate/justify their actions. So much
violence! Does religious freedom grant the expression of violence? A resounding NO! The
bottom line must always be: “Does it harm another?” I believe religious tolerance and respect
are merited only upon that basis, and upon that basis, if it does no harm, it must be tolerated
and respected.
Notwithstanding the many conflicts and much turmoil of religion in American, I learned
this semester that most religions try to adapt their practices/beliefs to the extent they feel they
can, to be able to “fit in” and not live in the margins. After all, America is home for all of us, we
all want to be accepted and feel welcome.
The second thing I learned this semester is that by and large, most human beings seek
after a God to worship. It appears to be an inherent need. This is manifest by the sheer
number of religions in existence! This need is so strong that people will attach themselves to
anything that even resembles a religion in hopes of making any kind of connection to a God. I
believe some religions are frauds that do not worship any sort of God but themselves, and
whose sole purpose is self- gratification. They say their doctrines/practices are God’s Will, to
coerce and manipulate followers to meet their selfish desires. I believe this to be a heinous
crime. I was shocked and appalled to learn of some of these cult’s practices in “God’s name”.
The Family is the one that was the most offensive. This Cult clearly fails the test of “do no
harm” as children were severely harmed. Other “religions” weren’t much better that had a
communal type living arrangements such as Peoples Temple. Ironically those people chose to
die to protest their lack of freedom, but yet chose to give up their freedom to follow a leader
(Jones) unconditionally. These communal types seemed to restrict freedoms from their
followers. They were “fed” only the information the leaders wanted them to know about the
outside world, God, doctrine, practices, and beliefs, thereby securing their loyalty and
unquestioning devotion. This begs the question, “Is restriction of freedom doing harm?” I
would say yes, so my respect is diminished for these types of cults/religions.
That being said, I believe most religions have more in common than not. It appears that
universally we are united in a common purpose to do God’s Will, whatever the interpretation of
that is. Most religions tend to have a lot of the same characteristics such as, love, kindness,
service to others, patience, tolerance, respect and morality to name a few. In other words, a
goodness about them.
Some religions have special purposes or focuses such as the Christian Scientists. Their
focus is healing. To arrive at a higher plane of love so that God’s love can heal us. The
Adventists and the Jehovah’s Witness focus on the End of Times and all the corresponding
disasters and calamities foretold in the Bible. Buddhists primary purpose is to relieve suffering
in this life in all its many forms. Sikhs have twin principles of justice and grace. These purposes
support my belief that most religions are inherently good. Even the religion of New Age which
isn’t an organized religion at all and doesn’t even worship a God, has a focus on self-
improvement. So even if all one does is improve themselves, that could be considered a good
thing too.
Collectively, most religions appear to exist for the good of mankind and to follow God’s
plan for them. I find this to be a wonderful thing, when we as a human race are striving to live
up to the measure of our creation and potential. What a great thing to be united in. We
should focus more on what unites us than what divides us.
All of this reinforces my observation that most people have an inherent need to have a
connection of some kind to a God. I like the thought of the Russian novelist Dotesvsky, “If there
is no God, then all things would be permitted.” How true, if we didn’t believe in a God, than
why bother to behave a certain way or obey commandments if it didn’t have any bearing on the
outcome of our life? We would just do whatever we darn well please with no restrictions
whatsoever.
I found this course extremely enlightening and interesting. I learned so much, not just
about the religions themselves, but about the motivations and reasons for their existence and
unfortunately their reasons for conflict. Becoming educated in a subject such as this one has
many benefits. It dispels fear of the unknown and allows one to make better choices or
judgments. In addition, it has the potential to foster more respect and eliminate biases, or at
least agree to disagree Ultimately, it would be nice to live in peace side by side, but that would
require all to become more open minded and educated, something not likely to happen in this
life. I am thankful for this experience and the huge contribution it made to my education and
to me personally.