What a vulnerable and open share about such a sensitive topic as religion. I did go through confirmation as a 15 year old protestant and had a catholic friend who did hers at 10. It is such a long time ago but I had a vague memory of the catholic ceremony being somewhat more stern. We on the other hand went to summer camp and had fun and there were never a question of going to hell if your did not believe in the 'right' way. Most of us did the confirmation because that´s just something you did, and you got presents from your parents and a party and yes if you ever wanted to get married in a church you had to be confirmated. So even if I belong to the Evangelical Church I do not consider myself a Christian.
In Finland we have a state religion and somehow I feel that is one of the reasons we have a more relaxed attitude to religion in school, in congregations etc.
Evidently there are the adventists and several odd so called free churches, and yes we have a christian party but somehow religion which is a subject at school is not as inflammable as it seems to be in the USA.
Not even the theological scholars at my University would say that everything in the Bible is facts. And the whole notion of whatever was written so many thousands of years ago, that that would all be facts, well it is very strange to me.
I really really appreciated what you opened up to in your article, beacuse it also explains what is going on in the US and how deep religious beliefs ran from hundreds of years back. The Calvinists, the Catholics, Adventists, Pentecostals... phew...
I remember in the 1970-80 we had young men (probably pentecostals?) coming to visit our school and how odd we all found them. But them being Americans they were also kind of exciting to us in post war Finland.
Thank you for sharing this perspective! I can imagine how strange the American pentecostal visitors must have seemed, given how strange they seemed even to me down in the midst of it all!!
I really thought a 'relaxed position' was possible in the church when I was really young, it wasn't until confirmation that I realized that, seemingly, no one was really that relaxed about it. Some folks have let me know that they continued to go to church and get confirmed even though they didn't believe quite the same; but that just didn't seem like a feasible option to me back then, at least not in the way it was presented.
But I think it is great when people can come together as a community, and like you're saying, just have fun without worrying if you're believing the 'right' way or not. In the early days of going to church, before being asked to go to confirmation, that's all it seemed to me—and I felt like life dealt me a real blow when it was clear I could no longer participate.
Nowadays I can see that there are a lot of churches and other religious centers that operate with an open mindset. I've even gone to a Buddhist center for a while to learn meditation and take in the stories / parables they taught there—it was fun and a lovely community space. I would even visit a church again. Because I still think there's a lot of beauty in theologies. But it's sad to know that there are still communities out there that demand fanaticism over healthy contemplation.
You are so right on this, a fun and communal space is what we all need and can be nourished in, no matter what kind of religion or non-religious it might be.
What a vulnerable and open share about such a sensitive topic as religion. I did go through confirmation as a 15 year old protestant and had a catholic friend who did hers at 10. It is such a long time ago but I had a vague memory of the catholic ceremony being somewhat more stern. We on the other hand went to summer camp and had fun and there were never a question of going to hell if your did not believe in the 'right' way. Most of us did the confirmation because that´s just something you did, and you got presents from your parents and a party and yes if you ever wanted to get married in a church you had to be confirmated. So even if I belong to the Evangelical Church I do not consider myself a Christian.
In Finland we have a state religion and somehow I feel that is one of the reasons we have a more relaxed attitude to religion in school, in congregations etc.
Evidently there are the adventists and several odd so called free churches, and yes we have a christian party but somehow religion which is a subject at school is not as inflammable as it seems to be in the USA.
Not even the theological scholars at my University would say that everything in the Bible is facts. And the whole notion of whatever was written so many thousands of years ago, that that would all be facts, well it is very strange to me.
I really really appreciated what you opened up to in your article, beacuse it also explains what is going on in the US and how deep religious beliefs ran from hundreds of years back. The Calvinists, the Catholics, Adventists, Pentecostals... phew...
I remember in the 1970-80 we had young men (probably pentecostals?) coming to visit our school and how odd we all found them. But them being Americans they were also kind of exciting to us in post war Finland.
Thank you for sharing this perspective! I can imagine how strange the American pentecostal visitors must have seemed, given how strange they seemed even to me down in the midst of it all!!
I really thought a 'relaxed position' was possible in the church when I was really young, it wasn't until confirmation that I realized that, seemingly, no one was really that relaxed about it. Some folks have let me know that they continued to go to church and get confirmed even though they didn't believe quite the same; but that just didn't seem like a feasible option to me back then, at least not in the way it was presented.
But I think it is great when people can come together as a community, and like you're saying, just have fun without worrying if you're believing the 'right' way or not. In the early days of going to church, before being asked to go to confirmation, that's all it seemed to me—and I felt like life dealt me a real blow when it was clear I could no longer participate.
Nowadays I can see that there are a lot of churches and other religious centers that operate with an open mindset. I've even gone to a Buddhist center for a while to learn meditation and take in the stories / parables they taught there—it was fun and a lovely community space. I would even visit a church again. Because I still think there's a lot of beauty in theologies. But it's sad to know that there are still communities out there that demand fanaticism over healthy contemplation.
You are so right on this, a fun and communal space is what we all need and can be nourished in, no matter what kind of religion or non-religious it might be.