Misconceptions Concerning Christianity - Essay Example

? Report On Religious Field Research Discuss Any Misconceptions You Had About The Religion You Researched Trying to understand other religions can be very hard for most people, due to the prejudices that they already have (Dyet, 2006). Religion is one of the most delicate issues to discuss especially if you are dealing with extremely religious people, who may hold very extremist views on religion. I researched on the Christian Religion, the most widely followed religion in the world. Christianity rose from Judaism foundations to become one of the most followed religion. Millions of people in America and the entire world practice Christianity (Dyet, 2006). Being the most popular religion in the world, there are various misconceptions about Christianity, some of which I personally held for so long. This research gave me a great opportunity to try and understand the Christian Religion and try to get answers to the queries I have had about Christianity for a very long time. Most Christians also hold other prejudices against other religious groups, which has led to religious discrimination and wars in areas dominated by one religion (Driscoll, 2009). In order to understand the Christian Religion, I attended a Christian prayer service at a Baptist Church, where I interacted with the Christian community in the church as they helped me understand the basic foundations of Christianity. I managed to have a small discussion with a few Christians in the form of an interview to help clear some of the prejudices I had towards their religion. After a lengthy discussion, I was able to understand the Christian religion and change some of the false impressions I had about this religious group. One of the biggest misconceptions I had concerning Christianity is how a Christian Worship Service is mainly centered on teachings about how bad other religions are. I had always believed that Christians are taught to despise other religions (Driscoll, 2009). This is a misconception I had held since my childhood days during my interactions with Christian who held very contempt views on other religions. I was made to believe, from their views, that they were taught such kind of ideas in their churches during worship services and Christian teachings. After attending the Service in a Christian Church, I was able to change this misconception. This was after carefully listening to the message and the sermon of the Preacher. His message was mainly centered on love for one another, understanding and mutual respect and coexistence (Driscoll, 2009). The Preacher emphasized the point that God created people in his own image and therefore every human being should be loved as he or she represents the image of God Himself. He also stated that it is through loving one another that people express their love for God, and that is how they shall be able to get to heaven (Dyet, 2006). According to the Bible, God created all humanity, so it does not matter the religion one belongs to (Driscoll, 2009). The main point is that all human beings belong to God, and should be loved and respected. After listening to such messages, I had to change my view on Christianity and reduce my prejudices regarding how they treat other religions. I was surprised to find out that Christianity is such a welcoming religion, whose main message is based on love for God and for one another. The other misconception I had regarding the Christian religion before this encounter was that Christians hated other religions simply because they were not believers in Christ Jesus. This prejudice kept me off from mingling freely with Christians because I could not trust the motives of some of them, just because I was not a follower and I felt they hated all non Christians and treated them like non believers who do not deserve to live. This misconception denied me so many opportunities of making Christian friends and mixing freely with other people and sharing ideas. In the course of this research on religion, I was able to come across some very challenging views on the Christina religion. Some of the findings contradicted with the opinions that I had held for so long about Christianity. Analyze How Your Prior Understanding about This Religion Was Altered (If At All) Through Your Encounter Christianity, despite teaching that all people must believe in Christ for them to enter heaven, the religion does not teach hatred against any other religion. In my research, I was surprised to find out that Christianity indeed teaches most of the teachings found in other religious movements. The bedrock of any religion is love, and how the Supreme Being (God) would like his followers to relate to one another and the right way of living (Driscoll, 2009). Through this research project and my encounter with the Christian community at the Baptist Church, I was able to understand the Christian religion better and change my views on how they feel about other religions and those who do not subscribe to their religious views. My greatest misconception that Christian leaders taught their followers to dislike other people who are non Christians was changed after my interviews with some of the Christians at the Baptist Church where I attended a church service. I was amazed to discover that Christians indeed teach love and respect for one another. Discuss Whether You Believe Misconceptions about Other People’s Religion Are Common and Explain Why or Why Not With so many religions in the world, people are bound to have different religious opinions from others (Egan, 1977). One religion may have teachings that completely contradict what one believes in. With the freedom of conscience being a fundamental human right, people are free to belong to any religion they feel suits their spiritual needs. Some may choose not to ascribe to any religious view (Dr. Ledbetter, 2010). Since different religions have different teachings to their followers, I believe that people are bound to have various misconceptions about other religions that they do not belong to. Despite there being some common teachings among most religions, their followers choose to lay emphasis on the differences instead of their similarities (Egan, 1977). The various religious misconceptions may also exist because of the nature of the religious movements themselves (Egan, 1977). Some studies have shown that despite most religions teaching that all men were created by God in His own Image, the pride of human beings has led to them taking control of all the other creatures of God, and in some cases seeking to alter what God had created. It is from this pride that various misconceptions about religious movements have sprout. Every person wants to focus on their religion as the best and only religion accepted by God (Egan, 1977). Religious books and knowledge was a preserve for leaders in most of the religions that have existed for a long time (Driscoll, 2009). This also created mistrust between leaders and their followers. This led to various groups splitting from the main religions and establishing their own set of beliefs. This led to animosity between followers of various religious movements and denominations that had split from one main religion. Such kind of animosity has led to the people having prejudices and misconceptions about other religions (Driscoll, 2009). Some religions view others as competitors. This concept portrays various religious movements as competitors for followers. Like in any form of competition, there is bound to be mistrust among the competitors as each of them strives to come out as the best. This has also made many people to have misconceptions about other religions which they view as competing religions (Driscoll, 2009). Recommend At Least One Step That Could Be Taken To Minimize Misconceptions People Have About Religions Not Their Own. With so many misconceptions about other religions, the best way to make people understand each other and coexist peacefully with others despite their religious differences is by promoting unity in diversity. This is through making people understand that religion only occupies one aspect of our lives, there are other aspects such as business, sports and recreation, security among others that we all have in common, despite belonging to different religions. This can be done through educating people on the need to be tolerant towards those from other religions, for the benefit of the whole society at large (Driscoll, 2009). Preaching diversity of religion will help people to be more willing to integrate their ways of worship with other people, and learn about other religions. This will also be a major step in helping people understand other religions and shade off some of the misconceptions that they had before (Egan, 1977). By doing this, it will be easier to establish a common ground that can be used to guide and provide direction on most religious issues among different religions in a particular society. In summary, the misconceptions that people hold about other religions can be eradicated through proper understanding of other religions. After my encounter with Christians, I was able to shade off my prejudice about this religion and I have become more tolerant to Christians that I was before. References Egan, G. (1977). You and Me: The Skills of Communicating and Relating to Others. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Co. Dyet, J. (2006). It's a God Thing: And Other Popular Christian Misconceptions. Colorado Springs: David C Cook. Dr. Ledbetter, D. E. (2010). Satan, Deception, and Scriptural Misconceptions. Longwood: Xulon Press. Driscoll, M. (2009). Religion Saves: And Nine Other Misconceptions. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway. Read More