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My Spirituality

My Spirituality

Jonathan Mackey

THEO 225 – Comparative Religion/ Philosophy

Feb 22, 2014

Gordon McClellan

Southwestern College Professional Studies

My Spirituality2

My Spirituality

Mapping my family’s religious affiliations, conducting the ARDA survey, and researching my

society and religious practices I have further concreted my belief that I am a skeptic of religion.

If I must classify myself, I would classify me as an agnostic and a skeptic. Although I feel as

though I do not know or understand religion enough to make a definite decision, I feel as though

current organized religions serve the purpose of giving hope that something better exists after

this life and to provide moral guidance to society. I believe that current organized religions are

all manmade and cannot address everything science has proven. I personally believe that some

power exists, I feel as though our universe and world is so miraculous that something god like

must have intervened to mold it into its current state. I also believe that we are not alone in the

universe. I believe that science has a place in religion. My beliefs must be supported by science

and fact.

According to The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy an Agnostic is someone who believes in

something, but the current definitions of God do not fit (Smart, 2013). The Handbook of Today’s

Religions defines Skepticism as when real knowledge is unattainable, then one should suspend

judgment (McDowell & Stewart, 1982)I believe both of these definitions fit my believe system.

If you look at my family tree you will notice that both of my grandparents were moderately

religious. They prayed and attended religious services frequently. However, my parents decided

that religion was not as important to them. My mother and father also grew up with different

religious backgrounds. Religion was not a priority in my home growing up. The only time I was

exposed to religion was when we visited my grandparents or I was at a friend’s house that had

religious parents. Therefore I have had little exposure to organized religion and can only rely on

my experiences and what I have studied.

My Spirituality3

I used the ARDA website to compare Agnostics with Catholics. One statistic that jumped out to

me was the education level, 43.1% of agnostics have a 4 year college degree and 25.9% of

Catholics have a 4 year college degree (Association of Religion Data Archives, 2014). This

statistic is actually in line with my family history, all of my catholic family members do not have

any college education at all. My wife and I will eventually be the only people in our family with

a 4 year college degree.

I believe as people become more secure in the world; for example they are economically secure,

without crisis, educated, and live in an area of the world where they have religious freedoms then

religion becomes less of a priority. According to the article, The Religion Paradox, people are

rapidly leaving organized religion in economically developed nations where religious freedom is

high (Diener, Tay, & Myers, 2011). I believe this is what has happened to my family, as we have

become economically secure; our need for religion has become less of a priority. With my

parents having different religious backgrounds it was easier for them to simply not address

religion as my brother and I grew up.

I believe religion gives people who have difficult life conditions something to look forward to, it

allows for hope. However as difficult life conditions are no longer present then there is less of a

need for religion in peoples’ lives. I believe this is what happened to my parents, they lived in an

area of the world that was socio-economically secure, middle class, and had no personal crisis in

their lives therefore religion was not important to them. My parents did not need that hope that

religion provides to make it in daily life.

My wife and I both consider ourselves agnostic and skeptic of organized religion. Since I have

no real organized religion background, it is easy for me to be skeptic of organized religion. I

My Spirituality4

have also traveled throughout the world and have me many other people of all different types of

religion. This brings me to question what religion is the right religion. Can more than one

religion be correct? Maybe there is no correct religion? I have seen throughout history where

humans have used religion to mold a society and to form public opinion. Is religion simply a

guide for society and a way to keep order?

Conclusion

I obviously have many questions and doubts about organized religion. History has taught me that

Man can and will use religion as a tool to mold society’s opinion. Sometimes this is for the good

of the society, sometimes it is self serving for the leaders of the society. Also as a war veteran, I

have seen an ugly side of religion, both on the Christian side and on the Islam side where

religion has been used to convince others to do horrible things to each other. This I do believe in

a higher power, I just don’t know what that is yet. What I do know is that of all the religions I

have been exposed to so far do not fit my beliefs 100%.

My Spirituality5

Appendix A

Family Tree

Mother’s side

Grandmother- Catholic

Grandfather- Unknown

Uncle- Catholic

Mother- Non-denominational Christian

Father’s side

Grandmother- Lutheran

Grandfather- Lutheran

Uncle- Non-denominational Christian

Father- Non-denominational Christian

My Brother and I

Brother- Non-denominational Christian

Brother’s Wife- Catholic

My Spirituality6

Me- Agnostic

My Wife-Agnostic

Appendix BARDA Results

Basic Views My AnswerPeople Like Me

w/ Same Answer*

All Respondentsw/ Same Answer

Attendance A few times a year 13% 16%Prayer Never 87% 13%Read Bible Once or twice a year or less 33% 25%

Bible The Bible is an ancient book of history and legends 86% 25%

Jesus Jesus probably existed, but he was not special 23% 3%

* Male, 36-55 years old, some college or technical training, no religion

My Spirituality7

Religious Identity My Answer People Like Mew/ Same Answer*


Born Again No 100% 74%Bible-Believing No 87% 55%Charismatic No 93% 94%Theologically Conservative No 100% 81%Evangelical No 100% 85%Fundamentalist No 100% 93%Theologically Liberal No 100% 84%Mainline No 100% 72%Pentecostal No 100% 95%Seeker No 100% 92%Religious Right No 100% 92%Moral Majority No 100% 90%


Religious Beliefs My Answer People Like Mew/ Same Answer*


God No 73% 11%Satan No 87% 27%Heaven No 80% 18%Hell No 87% 29%Purgatory No 87% 59%Angels No 73% 20%Demons No 80% 34%Armageddon No 86% 45%Rapture No 93% 51%Ghosts No 60% 54%


Religious Experiences My Answer

People Like Mew/ Same Answer*

All Respondents

w/ Same Answer

I witnessed or experienced a miraculous, physical healing No 100% 79%

I witnessed people speaking in tongues at a place of worship No 100% 74%

I spoke in tongues at a place of worship No 93% 94%I personally had a vision of a religious figure No 100% 94%

My Spirituality8

while awakeI felt called by God to do something No 100% 60%I heard the voice of God speaking to me No 100% 86%I had a dream of religious significance No 93% 78%I changed profoundly as the result of a religious experience No 100% 72%

I had a religious conversion experience No 100% 74%


Conception of God My AnswerPeople Like Me

w/ Same Answer*


God--A cosmic force in the universe Undecided 27% 15%God--Concerned with the well-being of the world

Strongly Disagree 40% 8%

God--Concerned with my personal well-being


God--Angered by human sins Strongly Disagree 33% 13%

God--Angered by my sins Strongly Disagree 40% 15%

God--Directly involved in world affairs Strongly Disagree 53% 15%

God--Directly involved in my affairs Strongly Disagree 53% 14%

God--a He Strongly Disagree 27% 17%


The Paranormal My Answer

People Like Me

w/ Same Answer*

All Respondents

w/ Same Answer

Ancient advanced civilizations, such as Atlantis, once existed


It is possible to influence the physical world through the mind alone Undecided 13% 22%

Astrologers, palm-readers, tarot card readers, fortune tellers, and psychics can foresee the future


Astrology impacts one's life and personality Strongly Disagree 40% 35%

My Spirituality9

It is possible to communicate with the dead Strongly Disagree 40% 33%

Places can be haunted Strongly Disagree 20% 22%

Dreams sometimes foretell the future or reveal hidden truths Undecided 27% 17%

Some UFOs are probably spaceships from other worlds

Strongly Agree 7% 4%

Creatures such as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster will one day be discovered by science



Moral Views My Answer

People Like Me

w/ Same Answer*

All Respondents

w/ Same Answer

Abortion--The baby may have a serious defect not wrong at all 93% 39%

Abortion--The woman's health is in danger not wrong at all 100% 60%

Abortion--The pregnancy is the result of rape not wrong at all 100% 57%

Abortion--The family cannot afford the child not wrong at all 73% 21%

Abortion--The woman does not want the child not wrong at all 73% 23%

Sex--Before marriage not wrong at all 67% 36%Sex--Between two adults of the same sex not wrong at all 71% 31%Sex--With someone other than the marriage partner

almost always wrong 40% 20%

The consumption of alcohol not wrong at all 53% 42%

The viewing of pornography only wrong sometimes 33% 26%

The use of marijuana not wrong at all 53% 15%Physician-assisted suicide not wrong at all 67% 26%Embryonic stem cell research not wrong at all 87% 54%

War almost always wrong 47% 31%


My Spirituality10

Worldview My AnswerPeople Like Me

w/ Same Answer*

All Respondents

w/ Same Answer

Actively seek social and economic justice Not at all important 13% 6%

Take care of the sick and needy Somewhat Important 27% 31%

Teach others your morals Not very important 33% 25%

Convert others to your religious faith Not at all important 87% 43%

Serve in the military Somewhat Important 40% 31%

Consume or use fewer goods Somewhat Important 33% 40%

God favors the United States in worldly affairs Strongly Disagree 87% 43%

God favors one political party in the United States Strongly Disagree 93% 57%


My Spirituality11

References

Association of Religion Data Archives. (2014, Febuary 22). Association of Religion Data Archives. Retrieved Febuary 23, 2014, from Association of Religion Data Archives: http://www.thearda.com/learningcenter/compareadult/survey10.asp?gender=0&age=2&education=3&religion=4&plm=15&cont=Continue+SurveyDiener, E., Tay, L., & Myers, D. (2011). The Religion Paradox. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 1278-1290.McDowell, J., & Stewart, D. (1982). Handbook of Today's Religions. San Bernardino: Here's Life Publishers.Smart, J. C. (2013). Atheism and Agnosticism. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy .

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