While watching television, I came across many episodes of my favorite shows that relate to religion and the traditions of being Catholic. This caused me to think about how religion is viewed in the 21st century and what it really means to be a Catholic. The Catholic religion bases itself on traditions and what practitioners are "supposed" to do in order to consider themselves a true Catholic. Growing up, I considered myself Catholic because that is what my family raised me as. When I think more about my religious views though, I wonder if I am still considered a Catholic because I never participate in the traditions Catholics should be doing. I do not go to church anymore, I do not pray to God, I do not attend confession, etc.
This made me think back to a quote from The Transformation of American Religion, "Historian Robert Orsi has written of the "intense devotional creativity and improvisation in American Catholic culture" that characterized the religious life of his parent's generation, but in today's world, one study found that 61 percent of religiously active Catholics never pray with a rosary, 76 percent never engage in the novena (nine consecutive evenings of prayer), 44 percent never participate in the Stations of the Cross, and 53 percent never attend Benediction" (Wolfe).
This all relates back to an episode of That 70s Show that was on TV the other day where Eric's mom asked him and his sister to attend church with her, but they listed off reasons why they did not want to go.
This video shows how being a Catholic has changed over time. There is a clear seperation between Eric and his mom and how they view the Catholic Religion.
This blog post is meant to bring up the question of what it means to be a true Catholic. Must people follow the many traditions of this religion in order to be considered a true and devote Catholic or has the value of being a Catholic and the traditions changed so much over time that it solely depends on the individual and how they choose to practice?
WORKS CITED
Wolfe, Alan. The Transformation of American Religion: How We Actually Live Our Faith. New York: Free Press, 2003.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgprmIdnGmQ (Youtube video)
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To practice a religion you need to practice the material and go to the masses, just as students do homework and go to classes. Religion is built on a unique sense of community that is purely bonded out of common faith and belief. There are so many religions in the world that many people have the freedom to choose from in America. When someone claims to be a devout Catholic , but they rarely attend church isn't that leave out a hole part of the religious experience. My question is, Do you think its a common trend for people to practice there faith independently in todays day and age?
ReplyDeleteI guess if someone has a strong belief in god... then that should be enough for them as individuals. But there are people who just wear a religion around their necks, and I dont think thats enough to be devout.
ReplyDeleteI like how you found a contemporary and more applicable example of how religion is waining, or at least changing over time. It's a modern example, set in the past, so have our values really changed since the 70's? Or have we changed more radically from the 70's?
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