Over the process of two years and currently as a 3rd year student, I find myself in this changing and alien state of existence from what I was two years prior. The reason for this..... Is God.
Wow, wow, wow, now don’t take the wrong idea here. This is not a conversion story. Not that a conversion story would be wrong or anything, but instead it would be wrong for me to give the impression that I did believe in god, because the reality of the story is... I don’t. However, I still stand by my statement in recognizing that at least the notion of ‘God’ has made a direct impact on me over the last few years. And looking back on it now...I think it’s the Coolest Thing Ever!
Now, as an Anthropology student, learning about different cultural systems, ideologies, and perspectives is the heart of my disciple, and the reason I love it is because it reveals the degree of diversity our world is littered with. You can fly to the other end of the world, or walk to a different end of Peterborough, and you will still get a different cultural experience than where you came from. Sometimes this diversity is appreciated by those for its uniqueness, and sometimes it’s ridiculed for its degrees of differences. However, I have dedicated my academic career in an attempt to understand these diversities and to let these diversities shape my understanding of the world I exist in.
I currently live with two Christian roommates. One I had known to be a Christian since I met her during the first week of ISW and the other had just become a Christian as of last May. Both of them are absolutely amazing people, and interesting enough have taught me a lot about different cultural perspectives on viewing reality. Now, my experience with living with them hasn’t shaped my opinion on Gods existence, however, I would most certainly affirm it has shaped my understanding of Gods existence for Christians. Someone once told me; “you can only truly be an expert in understanding God, if you actually truly believe in him.” Now I never exactly agreed with him on this notion as it then leads us to start challenging the credibility of those who have PH.D’s in Greek Mythology, simply because they don’t actually believe in Greek Gods. However, I did agree to the extent that no one can ever completely understand a culture, if they are not truly and sincerely experience it. One can conceptualize, study, and research the game of hockey, but if they had never experienced playing the game of hockey, then I think there is some common ground to be said that the person may still be an ‘expert,’ but still lacks some form knowledge on the game.
It is this point that I must accept, that without actually experiencing being a Christian I must recognize there is a restrictive component in my understanding of Christian culture. It is the bane of any anthropologist, as he must accept that no matter how much data he accumulates, he will always be insufficient to his understanding of anything. O well, I guess accepting you have a problem is the first step to recovery right ;).
Anyways, I hope to make this an opening Blog post to what will hopefully be a specific titled series of Blogs post. I wish to delve into what will hopefully not be overtly controversial but instead promote interest, as I post tidbits of information of my experiences as a Non-Christian with Trent/Peterborough Christian culture perhaps? Who knows, the possibilities are endless.
Also, I want to know what you think. How has God or the notion of god affected your lives?
Wow, wow, wow, now don’t take the wrong idea here. This is not a conversion story. Not that a conversion story would be wrong or anything, but instead it would be wrong for me to give the impression that I did believe in god, because the reality of the story is... I don’t. However, I still stand by my statement in recognizing that at least the notion of ‘God’ has made a direct impact on me over the last few years. And looking back on it now...I think it’s the Coolest Thing Ever!
Now, as an Anthropology student, learning about different cultural systems, ideologies, and perspectives is the heart of my disciple, and the reason I love it is because it reveals the degree of diversity our world is littered with. You can fly to the other end of the world, or walk to a different end of Peterborough, and you will still get a different cultural experience than where you came from. Sometimes this diversity is appreciated by those for its uniqueness, and sometimes it’s ridiculed for its degrees of differences. However, I have dedicated my academic career in an attempt to understand these diversities and to let these diversities shape my understanding of the world I exist in.
I currently live with two Christian roommates. One I had known to be a Christian since I met her during the first week of ISW and the other had just become a Christian as of last May. Both of them are absolutely amazing people, and interesting enough have taught me a lot about different cultural perspectives on viewing reality. Now, my experience with living with them hasn’t shaped my opinion on Gods existence, however, I would most certainly affirm it has shaped my understanding of Gods existence for Christians. Someone once told me; “you can only truly be an expert in understanding God, if you actually truly believe in him.” Now I never exactly agreed with him on this notion as it then leads us to start challenging the credibility of those who have PH.D’s in Greek Mythology, simply because they don’t actually believe in Greek Gods. However, I did agree to the extent that no one can ever completely understand a culture, if they are not truly and sincerely experience it. One can conceptualize, study, and research the game of hockey, but if they had never experienced playing the game of hockey, then I think there is some common ground to be said that the person may still be an ‘expert,’ but still lacks some form knowledge on the game.
It is this point that I must accept, that without actually experiencing being a Christian I must recognize there is a restrictive component in my understanding of Christian culture. It is the bane of any anthropologist, as he must accept that no matter how much data he accumulates, he will always be insufficient to his understanding of anything. O well, I guess accepting you have a problem is the first step to recovery right ;).
Anyways, I hope to make this an opening Blog post to what will hopefully be a specific titled series of Blogs post. I wish to delve into what will hopefully not be overtly controversial but instead promote interest, as I post tidbits of information of my experiences as a Non-Christian with Trent/Peterborough Christian culture perhaps? Who knows, the possibilities are endless.
Also, I want to know what you think. How has God or the notion of god affected your lives?
I think God has been a convenient theory for us to reject taking responsibility for our actions and future as a society and species.
ReplyDeleteThat may or may not be true. However, it doesn't answer my asked question: How has God or the notion of god affected your life.
ReplyDelete'Jesus Christ is my Homeboy' t-shirts were as close to God as I've ever been, seeing as I have personally rejected religion since the tender age of 10 - after realizing that Santa and everyone else was fake, Jesus had to be too.
ReplyDeleteI think it's an interesting idea, 'God.' But to understand God, I don't think you have to believe in Him. The notion of 'God' I think is more a strength within ourselves which no one takes credit for. Hence my homeboy Jesus.