Friday, March 7, 2014

Religious Experience

Growing up my family and I have always been Baptist.  My grandmother’s father and brother were both Baptist preachers, so being Baptist runs in our family.  For my religious experience I chose to go to a Catholic service.  For me it was a lot different than Baptist.  There was a lot of sitting, standing, and kneeling.  I was getting a workout in compared to a small portion of standing and sitting I am use to.  My friends, who I went with, were getting a kick out of me because it was so much different than what I was accustoming to.  I had gone to a Catholic before when I was very young but did not remember it and I wanted to go again.
            Even though I was with friends and knew some people there, no one really talked to me or introduced him or herself.  Baptist people are very sociable and have that southern hospitality.  Another thing is Baptist pray silently while Catholics have confessions to the priest.  For me, it would be hard because I am not use to talking to someone about my sins even if they know me or not. I feel as if that should be something between God and me.  It was different though having different people come up and do the reading.  Baptist has the pastor come up to preach and he is the only one who reads. 

            For me I enjoyed going to the service to see the differences in them.  There are some similarities but a lot of difference between the two.  It is a good thing to view different ones’ views and beliefs.  As far as your religious beliefs I believe a lot of it comes from your family and how they were brought up.  I know you can switch religions because my buddy is Baptist and his wife is Methodist.  She comes to church with him now so things can change.

2 comments:

  1. Matt,
    I enjoyed reading about your experience and the differences you saw. While I have been to more Baptist services than Catholic mass, I can second what you said about both. They are very different from each other. I agree with you in the fact that it is good to experience different religions. Nothing is set in stone. I know people who have converted in order to raise their children with one set religion.
    Great job!

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  2. Matt,

    I really enjoyed reading about you attending a Catholic mass. I am Catholic myself and it definitely is a workout, but I guess I am just used to it since I was raised Catholic and have been going about every sunday since I was little. I completely agree that it is a good thing to experience different religions and cultures to understand where people come from. Great post!

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