I expected to be turned away right away. I wouldn't even want to talk to me, I thought. I've always dreaded these sort of people, these sort of conversations. Now here I was, on the other side of them.
For my mission trip in Philadelphia over break we surveyed people in the area of the city (Manayunk) where my youth group (ACF or Alliance Christian Fellowship), would be planting a new church (CityLight). We were to go up to people- on the street, at a park, in a mall- and ask them some questions. Simple enough right?
Are you a local here? Do you consider yourself a spiritual person? What do you think of Christianity? If you are Christian, describe your faith like. Likes and dislikes of the church? And so on.
Some people flat out said they would not discuss faith. Others, like one girl leaning against the wall outside a Hollister, said they were too busy to talk at the moment. At first I was annoyed by their apathy of flat out refusal to talk. I wasn't trying to convert them, I huffed. I just wanted to know why they thought what they thought.
Talking about spiritual beliefs, even in a non-argumentative way, requires are risk because it requires commitment. If you state your beliefs you risk being asked to stand behind them. Why? That dreaded question.
When prompted about their faith (if they did answer, which many did) they commonly said things like: "My family was such and such," or "I was raised so and so." Or, in one case "You know what enlightenment is, eh? Well, at 18 I experienced that." ...still not sure what to make of the last one.
But the overwhelming things seemed to be people didn't understand why they believed what they did. I wonder how far this expands not just beyond religion but into politics, philosophies, morals and even daily choices like coffee vs tea. Why? And more importantly, why are we so afraid to answer?
I often see people around campus surveying and preaching too, I usually do not pay any attention to them sadly, except for on Wednesday, when outside of the Forum, a bunch of Agriculture students were handing out free beef. Maybe you should give out some free food and people will cooperate.
ReplyDeleteI love love love your post. People believe what they are taught that's all the need to say. Which in faith, is not always a good thing. One should understand why and how they came up with they believe in and try to see if it what THEY believe or simply the beliefs of someone else.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Giselle- faith is about accepting guidance from parents and peers and using that guidance to find your own path, form your own beliefs.
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