hunterrener-blog

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      Religion has always a major role in an individual life throughout history. In the past, religion was a major factor in any sort of decision making. Whether i be about politics or not, it was always a cross through ones mind in decision making. Politics have always involved religion in a major way, many decision throughout history are solely based on religious beliefs.

      Based on the article “Poll: Church memberships in US plummets over past 20 years”, it seems that times are slowly changing. In our class, we talked about how religion plays a major role in politics and now based off of the article it doesn’t look like it will be doing that much longer based on the information provided. Based off of percentages given in articles, it shows that adults are no longer affiliating with a church. This only means one thing. People are not focusing on religion anymore making their knowledge in that particular subject less superior than it ever been. While it is okay to become a religious “none”, it seems that most decision in the past were made based off of a religious compass. Now, more and more decision will be losing that compass which was once of major importance.

     Questions rise when dealing with this sensitive subject. What is causing this? Who are we losing the most? How can we get them back? There are so many different causes to this problem but based off the article the cause is due to cultural and generational factors. The younger generations are getting harder and harder to attract unfortunately due. My opinion is because of this new sense of freedom that wasn’t like it use to be 30 years ago. In my opinion the best way to turn this around for the churches is to become more open, but of course that is hard due to the fact that some religions are difficult change.

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       Gay Marriage is becoming more and more accepting in society today. Throughout history it has always been a major struggle for gay individuals to come out because of backlash that they have always received. Today, these individuals that received the same backlash are now fighting back. More and more people are coming out and are expressing their sexuality. This at one point in time was unheard of. Laws today are being passed that allow the marriage of same sex. So, it’s safe to say that all the fighting for equal rights is finally paying off.

      While some people are open and accepting to the notion of gay marriage, there are quite a few that aren’t. Religion plays a major role in this. Many religions are not in favor of homosexuality unfortunately. This means that many people who were raised and brought up in this religion are most likely not going to be in favor of this notion. In particular, one religion exactly like this is the Mormon religion.

        The article “The Mormon Church still doesn’t accept same-sex couples” talks about the different aspects of gay marriage within this particular religion. The article discusses how the Mormon religion has not been accepting of same sex marriage or same sex families. There has been activist in opposition of this notion and their reasoning against it is their beliefs. Near the end of the article, we realize that the population in opposition is slowly fleeting. More and more people are no longer in favor of the opposing side and joining the other. So like always throughout history, homosexual individuals had to fight for their right and it seems to be paying off once again, but with a little more meaning than last time.

     This relates to this class because it shows how a religion we talked about and their preferences can change for the better. It took some work like it always has throughout history, but it finally paid off.

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Article 6

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/affirming-mosques-help-gay-muslims-reconcile-faith-sexuality-n988151

In this article by Finbarr Toesland writes an article about a new LGBTQ friendly mosque. This mosque is known as Unity Mosque and 10 years ago it began to allow all LGBTQ member Muslims to come attend prayer without having to hide their sexual orientation or gender identity. These members are able to attend this mosque without any fear of discrimination from the mosque or its attendees. Imam El-Farouk Khaki was one of the co-founders of this inclusive mosque and he explains why he started this mosque by saying “’I wanted a Muslim space that welcomed all humans and celebrated human diversity’”. This mosque has no dress code for women, no gender segregation and women regularly lead the Friday prayers, all things that Unity Mosques does which keep it far from how other mainstream mosques operate. When opening in 2009, Unity Mosque was the only LGBTQ inclusive mosque that Khaki had heard of although he felt that other mosques would soon follow his lead thus changing the way the Muslim community includes others and operates. He started to notice this trend of inclusion by the people of his faith, even commenting that “’more and more groups, communities, and mosques that celebrate and embrace inclusion and diversity are forming’”. Through the efforts of Khaki and other inclusive mosques more and more sexual and gender minority Muslims are coming back to mosque and are reconciling their religion with their personal identity.

This is such an amazing change in today’s world because as we talked in class, Muslims tend to not support and even condemn members of the LGBTQ community. When looking at the voting patterns and political alignment of American Muslims, trends of anti-LGBTQ voting and policy making can be found. The majority of Muslims still do disprove of people within the LGBTQ community however it is very clear to see that change is in fact coming to this faith community. Scholars have been studying the Quran thoroughly in order to find what the text says and how people may interpret it, with the hopes of finding that the Quran does not actually condemn homosexuality like many Muslims believe.

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Article 5

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/planned-parenthood-strong-armed-california-into-making-religious-health-insurance-plans-cover-abortion

In this article by Nicole Russell, published by the Washington Examiner, the relationship between Planned Parenthood and religion is discussed. In particular the actions by Planned Parenthood that is forcing religious health insurance plans pay for the abortions that take place under Planned Parenthood. Back in the fall of 2014, there was a case between the churches who were behind the religious based health insurance plans versus the California Department of Managed Health Care. In this case, the churches sued the Department because they did not want to pay for their patients to elect for abortions due to the fact that these abortions are against the religious beliefs of these establishments. Since this initial case in 2014, these two sides have been in litigation with each other. In August of 2014 the director of the California Department of Managed Health care stated that any health plans that restrict the coverage of an abortion were now illegal in the state of California. This applies to all health care coverage so naturally the religious based health care operators were included and held to these laws. Upon further investigation it was found that Planned Parenthood actually “intimidated the state into changing their policies” knowing that this new law would only affect Planned Parenthood and the religious health care providers,

As seen in class by watching the Warriors for Jesus with Jerry Falwell, Christians are adamantly against abortions. Many Christians are against abortions because of their belief that upon conception a baby is created. Many Christians believe that abortion is the murder of unborn babies. Numerous Christian groups have gathered together and petitioned, campaigned against, and many other political actions have been taken in order to outlaw the act of abortions. Knowing this information, it is understandably outrageous to expect and force these Christian and outright religious based health care providers to not only allow abortions to take place but to also have them pay to have these operations done.

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Article 4

https://www.10news.com/news/national/there-are-now-as-many-americans-who-claim-no-religion-as-there-are-evangelicals-and-catholics-a-survey-finds

This article written by CNN Newsource, on the 10-news website, states the change in what the majority of religious identity is in the United States. This article states that for the first time since the creation of the General Social Survey, the “No Religion” option has topped the list of answers from American participants. Acknowledging the credible source of Ryan Burge, who is a political scientist at Eastern Illinois University and Baptist pastor, the information that states that 23.1% of Americans claim that they have no religion. Burge also informs us that Catholics make up 23% of Americans and evangelicals account for 22.5% of United States citizens. However, because these three groups remain within the margin of error between each other, they are considered to be statistically tied. This article goes into to detail about who these “Religious nones” are in order to inform the rest of America. I personally have never heard of this terminology before and had never really known that this group existed.

This class was the first time that I had ever heard about this ‘religious group’ in the United States. I learned much about this group of people here in America. This article also goes into large detail of this group. What they say about this group aligns with what was taught and discussed in class. One highlight of this is the classification of this diverse group of individuals who only share “a rejection of organized religion”. This article also provides more information and speculation about this group of ‘No Religion’. One example of this is the estimation that this group will in fact be the largest group of all religious identifications within four to six years. Both class and this article also explain why this group has the number of members that it has. The article gives many reasons however, one standout reason that it gives is “the internet”. The explanation for this claim is that the internet provides a place for these nonbelievers to find each other, similar to how church or temple provides this service for Christians and Jews

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Article 3

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/04/06/fires-struck-black-churches-days-southern-louisiana-authorities-think-its-suspicious/?utm_term=.81081c158eb8

Written by Tim Elfrink, Kayla Epstein, and Alex Norton this article from the Washington Post discusses the series of targeted fires on several black churches down in southern Louisiana. Going into detail about the fires, the arrest, and the reaction from the community and attendees of these churches, this article teaches its audience about what these fires mean to the people affected. Three fires were started in the southern Louisiana area all at predominately black churches. These fires took place on March 26, April 2, and April 4; these fires burned and destroyed the St. Mary Baptist Church in Port Barre, the Greater Union Baptist Church in Opelousas, and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Opelousas respectively.

These fires are so impactful om the community in southern Louisiana because of what these establishments mean to the people who attend them. As discussed in class, the black church is an extremely important establishment to the black community. An example of this is how the black church helped countless amount of people out of slavery through the code that these individuals would make and be able to communicate with through the use of spirituals and song. Another example of the importance of the black church to the black community is Martin Luther King Jr. who as we discussed in class drew his courage and much of who he was from the black church and his faith. As said by professor Whitaker you cannot understand Martin Luther King Jr. properly without looking and understanding the black church and his faith journey.

The people in this community are heartbroken that their beloved establishments have been desecrated and destroyed. Members of the community even came out to make statements in response to these fires, truly showing the affect and care for these establishments that people have. Reverend Gerald Toussaint commented “’I don’t understand it. What could make a person do that to a church,’” people of faith deeply value their buildings of worship, this is most greatly seen in the African American community.

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https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/qanta-ahmed-ilhan-omar-is-a-disgrace-to-islam-and-doesnt-represent-my-muslim-religion

This article discusses the statements of United States congresswoman Ilhan Omar, the actions of President Trump that followed, as well as the consequences of the entire sequence of events. Congresswoman Omar made comments about the devastating terrorist attacks of 9/11 at the World Trade Center in New York City, New York. In this article author Qanta Ahmed highlights the affects that Omar’s words have caused as well as analyzing and breaking down what she said is wrong. Ahmed, a Muslim immigrant woman like Omar, comments how although Omar “holds herself out as a proud Muslim… [she] gives millions of Americans a false impression of what Islam is and what we Muslims believe and stand for”, which then causes for the hate that Islam receives from those uneducated in the United States. Omar’s comments regarding the 9/11 terrorist attacks “display an appalling and dismissive insensitivity to the worst foreign attack on America in history”, completely striking the lives lost as insignificant.

An additional comment that she makes is one regarding the way that Muslims are treated like second class citizens in the United States to this day. Ahmed comments on this saying that it is simply not true. She is in the same shoes as Omar being a Muslim immigrant woman and Ahmed does not feel this way at all. This connects with what we have talked about in class. Omar and Ahmed can both agree that directly following 9/11 was a time of obstruction of the civil right of American Muslims. However, like we discussed in class this has changed over the years. Ahmed confirms this when stating that “we continue to have the same rights as all other Americans”. As we talked in class, Muslims in America often are doing very well for themselves and often vote against federal aid, both things that Ahmed confirmed in her piece on congresswoman Omar’s comments.

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Post 1

https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/2/6/18205355/church-chris-pratt-justin-bieber-zoe-hillsong

This article goes into detail about the new Christian movement of celebrities and other prominent people who are very open about their faith. While talking about faith is not new, the culture mentality of the article is. Written by Laura Turner, this Vox article goes into depth about celebrities like Christ Pratt, Justin Bieber, and Kendall Jenner who openly discuss and bring attention to their faith in Jesus and their relationship with him. Furthermore, it discusses the impact that these people and the churches that they go to have on today’s culture.

Focusing largely on Chris Pratt and the “cool” church that he attends, this article highlights his walk with Jesus, how he became a Christian, and how this impacts his fans and the culture of Hollywood as a whole. Turner highlights the many new “cool” churches that have been popping up all over the United States, from New Jersey to California. These new mainstream evangelical Christians have changed the face of what it means to be a Christian. Before this new age of celebrity Christianity, the spotlight Christians were people like Jeff Foxworthy who are “old and irrelevant and consigned to made-for-TV B-movies”, according to the article. Now these stars have extremely enormous fan following purely from the movies and other way that they contribute to modern media. Thus, these evangelists are able to reach many more people, causing Christianity in American youth to be more appealing. Furthermore, by separating their faith with politics these celebrity evangelists have increasingly made Christianity more appealing to the youth of America unlike the evangelicalism that sprouted from the Reagan years.

This article ties into this class because we have discussed both the voting patterns of evangelical Christians and those of young college aged people of America. What is interesting is that in class we discussed how the majority of atheists in America are college aged males, the exact demographic that people like Chris Pratt would reach through his movies and Instagram. Chris Pratt has shared many conservative ideas however tries to be a bridge between the political right and left of America; this is an important point to bring up because as we know, evangelicals in America are predominately Republican but popular Hollywood like Chris Pratt and Justin Bieber have most likely had an affect on how young evangelicals in America vote, perhaps moving them from the Republican party.