In my college, it is a requirement to take a general religion class before you graduate. Some people liked complain about it, saying that it’s not necessary and to be honest, I was one of those. I could recite the Bible forwards and backwards from my “glory days.” I had to memorize all 66 books of the Bible in kindergarten. So, what could I possibly learn in a religion class? Good Lord, I had Bible class every day from K5 to my junior year of high school. But, seeing as I still had to take the class; I bit my tongue and tried to remain positive.
You see, after I left my church, I was very bitter. I proclaimed myself agnostic, and I did not set foot in a church for two years. You still couldn’t pay me a million dollars to go back to the church I grew up in. Religion, in my mind, was just an institution that takes advantage of people’s open-mindedness. Not just Christianity, either, but it was certainly one of the worst culprits.
My religion class, however, changed my mind completely. Yes, I learned all about Moses and Abraham, but my professor took a scholarly approach to it all and never took the Bible literally. We actually did not interpret the Bible the way we wanted to, and we did not take it out of context. She taught us about Sodom and Gomorrah from a different perspective; we learned about social issues and how strict Christians use certain verses that literally do not mean what they say they do. So, sure I knew all the verses and that was good start, but I was forced to recognize something that I did not want to: that not all Christians are like the ones I grew up with. It’s a lot easier to think a whole group is evil and just leave it alone, but it takes courage and time to realize that there is some good.
What benefitted me the most, was when we studied religions other than Christianity. We read the Bhagavad Gita while learning about the customs and beliefs of Hinduism, and I could not put the book down. I had never had the chance to study other religions, and I ate it up. So much so, that I took a World Religions class the next semester. I had the chance to go to a Muslim Mosque, a Sikh Gudwara, a Hindu Temple, a Buddhist Center, and an Orthodox Church.
I think when you have these experiences, you cannot continue to be ignorant and bigoted. It’s eye-opening. So, I'm still on the journey of self-discovery, and I may never be religious or spiritual ever again; but I’m openminded to the idea, now, and that is what matters.
