Reluctance

Beside me lies my reading for Major World Religions. I placed it there, on the kitchen table, for myself to complete about four hours ago. I hesitate to start, not because I don't want to or that I'm procrastinating for the sake of procrastination. I am procrastinating, but in a necessary way. I hope. My father is the professor of that class and, really, it's no big deal. I don't think either of us change our tactics a bit. My approach to the class is more influenced by the fact that the content is fascinating and the professor unloads a gigantic workload.
But the assignment for tomorrow is a response to the reading - the topic of discussion is "Why Christianity?" And so, a personal profession of faith is required in each student's response.

So... okay.

So here I am, nineteen-years-old, asked to state, in words, what I believe in.

I've done a lot in an attempt to evade the question. I took a shower, did the dishes, made a delicious pizza and washed/maintained the bombastic cast-iron pan I've been using at every meal. It was a good shower and a delicious pizza. I prepared the dough yesterday, but something went wrong... I think it's too wet and I tossed too thick a crust. I made a simple roasted tomato sauce last night too (in the cast iron pan) and it rocked. A made a roast a few days ago (surprisingly easy, again with the cast iron pan and crazy delicious) with mushrooms in a red wine sauce. Gorgeous. With onions,a few slices of swiss cheese and a decent sized slice of bacon that my roommate keeps a hefty supply of, I crafted a very delicious pizza. But, as you now know, there are some changes I must make.

OK. Food post done.

The class, so far, has been spent exploring the way academia and society studies religion and how history has shaped it, influenced it, forcing it to grow and define itself. In my Media Criticism class, the first question of the semester was "What is a Christian film?" (I'll try and post the responses later). The first question of this class was "Why are you taking this class?" And a variety of answers were taken.

I couldn't help but sense that the professor felt a little concern when I said that, in response to another student, maybe we shouldn't study other religions for the sole reason of proving to ourselves that we've chosen "the right faith." He shifted his weight slightly and stated that, in the course of learning about other religions and worldviews, Christianity will also be illuminated.

"Oh I have no doubt about that, but how are we going to take the religions we study seriously if we're constantly keeping score? If we're constantly comparing subjects that require a different understanding of the universe?"

Basically, I felt anger from a few months ago when our family attended evening service and a guest speaker gave the message. He was a high school teacher in some local town and looked to be no older than thirty-five years old. And he spent the entire message giving a quick two sentence summary of the world's religions and then disputing it in favor of Christianity... in a small NW Iowa town that has more churches than it does gas stations.

"But Buddhism is obviously nothing more than an escape from reality! It's simply a false devotion to a godless mentality!"

If your mission was to get people to hate you, then you have succeeded.

But the point is that we cannot compare religions so quickly as to who is right(er). We're going to study seven or so complex, intricate major world religions... major... world... and though there are overlapping colors and shapes that are extremely useful in study, it's going to be... the extent of our study for each religion will be akin to overhearing someone sing Hey Jude and understanding The Beatles. (Yes, I just used the Beatles in an analogy to religion. AHhh!)

We'll see what happens, I suppose.



-Beer bread-

3 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 bottle beer

1 pinch salt
1 tablespoon baking powder

add beer to mixed dry ingredients and combine
add to bread pan

45 min. at 375 F