Misconceptions About Religion - Essay Example

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT RELIGION College Misconceptions are false or true and widespread rumors on people that become stereotypesin a society for generations. They happen to be very serious stereotypes, which occur among people who are of different origin, beliefs and cultures. These differences lead to misunderstandings of other parties. Misconceptions are misleading in most cases, however, they happen to give people a sense of idea to what the other party lives by. The way of life of every community, race, religion or ethnic group comes with misconceptions from outsiders. St Athanasios Greek orthodox church is one of the churches with many different misconceptions. With a population of more than one million, the church is headed by a head priest and is characterized by a number of religious activities. Most of their religious activities are questioned by various religious minds. I attended one of their services to find out more about them. I wanted to know more about their culture and practice and get to understand some of their misunderstood concepts. I got Emanuel a church member who was able to take me through some of their practices. Before visiting the church, there are many concepts that I did not understand. One of the misconceptions that I had is that St. Anthanasios Greek Orthodox Church practice outdated practices that do not reflect on current culture and are therefore misleading. It was therefore hard for me to believe that at this particular point of time, with computers and all the technology, people were still basing their lives on rules that were made almost 3000 years ago. This made me think that the St. Anthanasios Greek Orthodox Church believers was a religious group for the old people who could not adopt and accept changes (Gordon, 1980). The second most common misconception that I and so many other people had about St. Anthanasios Greek Orthodox Church was that they did not follow the normal calendar that other Christians use. This means that they had their own dates and year and that they would never celebrate Christmas and other Christian important dates. This misconception was based on controversial Easter dates that the church and its followers celebrated contrary to the other dates that most other Christians followed. Due to this, most people are of the opinion that the church has its own calendar, and would therefore not observe any other calendar that most of the world observes. My main concern was why they would come up with their own calendar to disrupt the calendar that the whole world use. It was like they wanted to be on their own, something that is not necessary as we need to be together. To me, it was like they were seeking attention by creating something that would otherwise inconviniece them. The other misconception that I had about St. Anthanasios Greek Orthodox Church was that the believers did not worship God. This was because most of the things that I heard about them did not reflect on the values that I expected from Christians. One of the major rumors that I heard was that they practiced human sacrifices to appease God. I however came to learn that this was very wrong and that there were no such sacrifices in the church (Greear, 2010). I also believed that St. Anthanasios Greek Orthodox Church did not believe in technological changes and would therefore never use any electronics in the church. Some also had a rumor that they would never go to any hospital since they believe in miraculous healing as opposed to medical healing. This was however difficult to understand because as I passed close to any of the churches, I would hear loud music coming from speakers. This made my curiosity grow more as I wanted to fully understand what took place inside the church. My understanding of St. Anthanasios Greek Orthodox Church community changed the moment I stepped into their church. I realized an organized group and the first thing that I noticed was that the priest was using a microphone to preach to the congregation. This made me understand that the church used new technologies and those they accepted change as opposed to my first belief that they were opposed to any technological changes. In my conversation with Emanuel, I came to understand that the church members not only went to hospitals but also prayed to every doctors to enable them perform their services well. They did this since they believe that doctors are Gods messengers. This also killed my misunderstood idea that the congregation never went to any hospital. After these two revelations, I came to realize that I had a misunderstood misconception about St. Anthanasios Greek Orthodox Church (Educational Video Network, 1995). After the service, I took Emanuel outside to ask him a few questions regarding the culture of their church. My first question was about their practices and cultures with respect to old religious laws. Emanuel told me that even though they used some of the laws set down by their old prophets as rules to guide them through their day-to-day activities, there were many laws that they had left behind. Some of the old laws and practices such as sacrifices had been abandoned many years ago and he assured me that in no particular period had they practiced human sacrificing. This made me understand that I had a misguided misunderstanding these people and that most of my judgments had not been right. I also came to realize that St. Anthanasios Greek Orthodox Church worshiped God and that their believes were just set standards to guide them in the right direction. I also came to realize that the church did not have their separate calendar rather they celebrated Easter on separate dates as other Christians did. Emanuel told me that the main reason why they did this was because they believed that Christ died on separate dates from the ones listed in the Roman calendar. This was from the teachings of their first prophet. I believe that misconceptions about other people’s religion are common phenomena. Most people have different views of other people’s religion believing that their practices are not normal. This has encouraged hatred among people on baseless facts and rumors. The main reason why there are misconceptions about other religion is lack of understanding. Most people do not fully understand other religions well and base their misconceptions on rumors that they hear from their religious leaders who, in most cases, would do anything to attract more people into their congregation. Religious leaders therefore spread some rumors about other religion, and people tend to develop some negative misconceptions about other religions. To reduce religious misconceptions among people in the population, many things need to be done. First, people should begin to understand other religions by taking some time to interact with their followers. Understanding them means interacting with them personally and asking them any disturbing questions in a friendly manner. This would ensure that people understand and differentiate rumors and misconceptions from the truth. It also provides a base to make people know each religion before judging it negatively. Next, religious leaders should be made realize that they have a religious responsibility to protect their congregation from misleading information and that they should not use false rumors to spread heat speeches against other religions. It is therefore important that they be silent on issues that affect other religions instead of going public on false issues. The third and most important thing is that people should be taught to respect each other’s opinions and religious views. My interactions with St. Anthanasios Greek Orthodox Church had a lot of positive impact on me and disregarded my misconceptions about other religions. I believe that with the right channel, we are able to correct the misconceptions that people have on other religions. Misconceptions of the society on other people’s religions are common. They are common due to the code of conduct and the way of life in which a certain religion displays the life to the public. Observations are freely made and the interpretations of what people observe are what contribute to the many misconceptions. Some appear to be absurd and insulting while others carry a high percentage of truth whereby with little clarity, they turn out to be plain truths and not misconceptions. Emanuel was very instrumental in helping me out, even though I asked very difficult questions regarding his religion, he did not hesitate to answer me and in most cases laughed at some of the beliefs I had. This made me understand that the people were understanding and friendly. People must make effort to learn and understand all religions to minimize the misconceptions on each other. With an understanding, one is able to eliminate misconceptions and embrace the truth about a religion and its beliefs. Minimizing misconceptions will consequently enhance respect among the different religions and promote peace among people even with differences. In conclusion, there are misconceptions about St. Anthanasios Greek Orthodox Church, and from the interview with Emanuel, it is clear that St. Anthanasios Greek Orthodox Church society follows the Bible to the letter, regardless of matters involving humanity. The concerns on being traditional in many people’s point of view are particularly unfortunate on how they defend their acts against humanity using the bible scriptures. References Educational Video Network. (1995). St. Anthanasios Greek Orthodox Church. Huntsville, Tex: Educational Video Network. Greear, J. D. (2010). The orthodox church. Eugene, Ore: Harvest House Publishers. Gordon, J. (1980). misunderstood religion. Altadena, CA: oxford education press Read More