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Gen Y bloggers write on a wide variety of subjects, but one that I haven't really seen too much about is religion. I realize this is a touchy subject, and it can spark long, heated debates, but it's a topic that really interests me and means a lot to me personally. Many of us are recent college grads, still in school, back in school, or starting out in our first job. We are constantly on the go, so much to do, and not enough hours in the day. So, how do we make time for faith and religion in our lives? Is it still important to us, or is it something we've put on the back burner until we're a little older?
Here's my story:
I am, and always have been, very proud to be Jewish. My dad is a rabbi, so I pretty much grew up at the temple. Many of our congregants literally knew me since I was born. I loved the sense of community, and the welcome feeling I got whenever I went there. I had great friends at temple too. We had some pretty fun times together. I excelled at Hebrew, and later went on to tutor kids preparing for their Bar/Bat Mitzvah. At a pretty young age, I decided that I would not eat pork or shellfish, and that is something I plan to continue for the rest of my life. For seven years, I attended a Jewish overnight camp, and worked there for three more. Camp was where I really found my Jewish identity and truly connected to the prayers. I was involved in youth group, and traveled to Europe and Israel with my Jewish peers. Visiting places with so much Jewish history was incredibly moving. I can recite most of the prayer book (including English) by heart. I wear a ring with my Hebrew name.
Credit must be given to my parents. Despite the fact that I'm a rabbi's kid (and another rabbi's niece) Judaism was never forced on me. I went to temple because I wanted to. I made the decision to keep kosher. I decided to tutor Hebrew because I knew I could help. Throughout my life, I have made my own choices when it comes to faith and religion, and that is a large part of why I feel so positively about it. Instead of resenting the fact that I was often the most Jewish among my classmates or friends, I have always enjoyed teaching people about my holidays and traditions. From kindergarten through college, I have taught many a non-Jew to play dreidl and love latkes. I know that hatred often grows out of ignorance, so I take every opportunity to educate people.
A number of my friends had religion forced on them as kids and now have no interest in making it a part of their lives. Parents are supposed to pass the teachings of their faith onto their children, so their children can pass it on to their children, and so on. But, by not giving them any choice in how they learn and become involved in their faith, the result is children who are disenchanted and bitter. What many people don't realize is that there are many ways to live your faith. It's not just about going to temple or church, but about learning and teaching, tradition and culture, giving back to the community, exploring different communities, and so much more.
In writing this, I realized that this issue is so complex, and I haven't even scratched the surface. I guess what I'm trying to say is don't give up on your faith. Even if you have bad memories from when you were a kid, you're a grown up now, so take the opportunity for a fresh start. Give it another chance. If you think you don't have time for religion, you're wrong. You can make time. Remember that there is more to religion than the Bible. Culture, community, and traditions can be so meaningful. With everything that's going on in the world, we all need something to keep us grounded.
So, what do you think? Are faith and religion important to you? Are they important to Gen Y? (I welcome your comments, but please no negative or hateful words. They will be deleted)
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Comments
04.10.09
Religion is a hard topic to tackle in terms of generations because everybody's beliefs are different. Ask two twentysomethings in different regions of the world how religions fits into their lives and you'll get two <em>very</em> different answers.
In the US, I think it's really all about lifestyle. For some people, church makes total sense. For me it doesn't. I'd rather go for a walk with my dog on a Sunday morning. For me, that's more comforting than any church I've ever been in.
It all depends on how you define faith and religion too. I think everyone is thinking about it, we just don't exactly know how to talk about it.
04.10.09
Samantha,
You hit on an important point that religion can be expressed in many different ways. I was born into one, and for a long time, I couldn't reconcile it with my own reality, until I decided that it was better for me to take the lessons that are offered in a way that I understand them and apply them to my life.
I'm fully involved in my faith community now as a result, because I chose to go and explore and look for answers so I could see myself within the paradigm I was taught.
It's another way of understanding our reality. For some people, it's important, and indeed central to their lives. Others choose to understand reality in a different way.
Great post!
04.10.09
Faith and Religion are two different things.
You can have faith without having religion, and you can have religion, without having faith.
Religion is the organized part, and I find (coming from a very traditional village in the old country) that there are many out there that have religion, but no faith. They go along with whatever the guy at the altar says. They never think critically, or read sacred texts critically. They are in a sense sheep in a herd.
I think religion can be a wonderful thing because it brings communities together. Faith is also important because you can have faith yet still be an atheist (IMHO). The issues arise when Faith is co-opted by Religion and Religion is used as an instrument for oppression.
When it comes down to it, I have faith, but I choose to practice religion in specific geographic areas and/or with people that are important to me.
04.10.09
I can relate to a lot of what you're talking about, as I am the son of a minister and also grew up in a church. However, around the age of 13, I really began to question the whole idea of religion and god (being 13 and arrogant didn't help), and made a decision, however misguided, to be an atheist. Not out of some rebellion against my father (he and I get along great, and he's not the 'fire and brimstone' kind of minister)
I carried that badge proudly until not long after I stopped drinking. At that point in my life, I managed to find a faith that I was comfortable with. It isn't Jesus, Buddah, the Dude, or anything else. Simply put: there is a god, and I'm not it.
Now, keep in mind that what you just read is the most I've ever publicly written regarding my faith. I truly believe that is is something very deep and personal, and can't really be put in a post for others to "converse" on. And let's not forget, "Faith without Works is dead"
04.10.09
Dr Pepper made a great point that religion can bring a community together. You also seem to dwell on that point, citing the traditionsl of your religion rather than any specifics about your faith. I think that this sense of "community" is what keeps most people active in their religions.
However, I think the most people, including young people (gen-y and others) are finding that the traditional beleifs of their religion don't fit in with reality today. Religion used to be used to explain the world around us, but science does a much better job of that. It's very hard to convince someone that 2000 years ago some guy walked on water, healed people with a touch, and died and came back from the dead. And it's even harder to convince them that this has any relevance to their life in modern times.
So more young people are becoming 'spiritual' which is a vague kind of faith, without the doctrines of any religion.
04.11.09
Does religion do more harm than good? It's an interesting and debatable question.
My two cents: More harm.
- To this day, almost all organized religions discriminate against women. In Catholicism, women cannot be priests. The Mormons somewhat recently allowed black men to become priests, but women are still excluded. Orthodox Jews exclude women from priesthood, as does Islam. Support patriarchy and discrimination? No, thanks.
- Community is lovely, really. So is charity. But religious communities necessarily exclude "non-believers" or people who belong to different religious faiths. Throughout history, this separation -- at first a point of pride, but quickly turned into us vs them -- has led to terrifying cruelty and bloodshed.
Morality and community don't need to have anything to do with faith or religion. In fact, religion can severely limit both.
04.12.09
Interesting topic to cover. As a whole, I venture to say Gen Y is a very spiritual generation, but not necessarily religious. Gen Y is open, accepting, and makes personal growth and development a priority. I think it is important to understand the difference between spirituality and religion. Spirituality is about finding peace, harmony, and connection to both the wider community and oneself--all of which seem to be key themes in dictating how members of Gen Y live their life. But in terms of adhering to specific religious tenets, I think Gen Y is moving away from this, as it is a bit too narrow and definitive in its explanation and exploration of life. Gen Y is a generation of possibility and perhaps, rather than "knowing". Overall, this perspective would suggests we are looking more to develop our own spirituality and connection to the world outside the typical confines of religion.
04.12.09
It is concerning to see a suggestion that religion can be put on the back-burner until later life. Whilst inadvertent, what this does is continue to allow employers to neglect the provision of time and space for people to practice their faiths in the workplace. And this, again inadvertently, is a form of discrimination that we should really have moved beyond. I would encourage all Gen Y, regardless of their religious beliefs and practices, to demand that their employers recognize the importance of faith and its place in the lives of their employees (and the potential employees who they're currently missing out on due to this ignorance!). It is only by doing this that we can encourage people of more diverse beliefs to come together to achieve shared goals in the workplace...something that promotes tolerance and understanding in the world...and even better commercial solutions to the issues faced by organizations in the global marketplace!
Please note, I am not at all religious.
11.24.10
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