The Reflection Of The Prayer

Day six, January 23 I was able to fall into the meditative state meditating for 15 minutes easily.

For many people, religion is a very touchy subject. For most, it is a personal decision; people choose a faith that aligns with their beliefs, ideas, and faiths. Although people would like to think that religion is a personal decision, and they can adapt it to how they feel and what they believe, in practice, that is not the case. Religion represents a commitment to a set of principles that are not moldable, adaptable, or flexible. Religion, although it may be a personal belief, it is extremely defined, with little to no room for flexibility. If people try to modify their religion to their own beliefs or ideas, the pushback can be severe. The lines in religion and faith as to what is acceptable and what is not acceptable are clear, and

never been educated on religion before now. For me, religion had always been like politics

I breathe slow, deep, cleansing breaths that sooth me. I close my eyes and listen to my breathing. I inhale peace and contentment. I exhale all my worries. I drift off to sleep easily and sleep well. Tomorrow I wake free from negativity.

notes, those who are religious when younger will have a hard time giving it up as adults.

According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center as part of a broader Religious Landscape Study, 78 percent of people who do not identify with any religious group were raised in a faith system and then left as adults. Further, about half of those people said that a lack of belief caused them to leave their faith, citing, among other things, "science" and "lack of evidence" as reasons for this skepticism.

Developmental psychologists have provided evidence that children are naturally tuned to believe from figures of authority.A child’s brain is set-up to believe what is told by elders, even if what is told is nonsense. Children usually acquire the religious views of their parents.

29% said they came from an unspecified Christian family, 27% said Catholic, 26% were Protestant, 9% said none and a small 6% said they were atheists and their parents were atheists. They asked when they decided to stop their belief and 13% said they never believed, 29% said they did when they were less than fifteen-years-old, 37% said they decided to become atheist between the ages of 15 and 24 and 21% said they did past the age of 25. Finally they asked why they did become atheist. Almost half, 47%, said that it didn’t make logical sense to them, 12% said that it didn’t comply with conventional science, 9% said it was because of a negative experience when they were young, 15% said it was because of the hypocrisy of religion and the church, 3% said that God didn’t meet an expectation they had, and a surprising 6% said they couldn’t remember. Finally 21% gave very specific reasons why, saying that college opened their eyes or that there was a person in the sky watching them but also how patriarchal the church is and its obsession with obedience and punishment. This shows a trend in why most left religion. One is that it didn’t make sense nor does it work with science, or they did liked how the church felt or worked which pushed them away to soon become atheists.

Envision this: a room, overflowing with intense emotions and a mother, laboring a child for endless hours. Finally, the newborn emerges into the world, taking its’ first, fresh breath of air; then, suddenly, a screeching scream like no other proliferates throughout the room. The infant finds its’ voice for the first time. But, the ability to speak ceases to begin with one’s first resonance; rather, it commences when we find our true selves influenced by inevitable circumstances and situations, where one’s voice truly shines forth. By exemplifying the harsh reality and stereotypical gender discrimination of the early 1900’s in the enduring novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston captivates the voice of an independent young woman who, as she matures, fiercely refuses to live a life pronounced by despondency, fear, and silence. Janie Crawford, a resilient, yet vibrant woman, overcomes many hardships while she evolves from a voiceless, adolescent girl into a woman, beating the drums of her own destiny. Janie continues showing dauntless courage as she encounters countless changes and endures numerable hardships throughout her life. Nevertheless, with many circumstantial influences and life-altering situations, she accomplishes liberating herself from the oppressive chains of stereotypical gender discrimination, all while finding her voice and gaining self-assurance. In the opening and ending paragraphs, Hurston effectively uses defining diction, colorful imagery,

In some occasions, like Tearsa and John’s case, the child sees this as constraint. Tearsa and John were afraid to exhibit any of their doubts to their parents due to their parent’s authoritative ways. This was common to see that highly religious parents’ children would develop a belief that the religion was the most important thing, (Flor & Knapp, 2001). So the fears of rejection from their own parents were higher. When none of their doubts were confirmed or denied, this resulted in a rejection of the religion. This case especially occurs if the child blamed the religion for the perceived negative methods of childcare from their

In addition, around that time, technology was advancing and I was introduced to a whole new world within the internet. The world around me was changing, and it was changing fast. As middle school progressed, I began learning about a variety of different subjects. I was informed about the existence of other religions, beliefs, and morals. Everything was new to me. Soon my perspective towards the world began to shift, and I began to view the world around me in a new, more comfortable way. After having followed my parent’s will for all those years, the option to go against their beliefs had finally become a possibility for me. It felt liberating, for I was on my way to shaping my own individual personality along with new beliefs. Due to being a teenager, my rebellious stage took over. Being exposed to so much information in such a small amount of time left me stranded in the middle of confusion. My parents would tell me one thing, but my mind refused to believe anything or anyone anymore. What was I supposed to do? Who should I listen to? Did my parents purposely refuse to provide this information in fear of me forming my own individuality? I was young, immature and didn’t know what was going on around me. The moment I stated my mind and proposed the possibility of God not being real, my parent’s facial expression filled up with rage as a thermometer

I think I always knew that my beliefs were not actually my beliefs, but I always told myself otherwise. I didn’t want to be the lone person in the family who didn’t believe in God. I was afraid of being looked down upon, since everyone I knew followed these stories and loved to do so.

When I was very young I was made aware of the need to research religion. The problem with this is that as a child my comprehension and knowledge were both very limited. Still I knew that I needed to figure out what was right for me. The easiest place to start for me was the Bible, since such a large number of

The Giver is a morally driven and thought-provoking story about a young boy called Jonas who lives in a society free of crime, sadness, pain, death, music, color and love. The story follows Jonas as he receives the memories of the past, good and bad, from the current Receiver, who is called the Giver. The Giver transfers memories by placing his hands on Jonas 's forearms. The first memory he receives is of a thrilling sled ride, which he will remake in the end of the movie. Jonas discovers the dangerous truths of his community 's secret past. Armed with the power of knowledge, which he knew about from memories (Ways of Knowledge), Jonas realizes that he must release all the memories to the community to allow them to feel

In our society today, it can be hard to fully understand and relate to biblical texts written in a seemingly different world. With stories of great joys and sorrows, I found that although the world we live in today is different, the messages are still highly relevant. As long as humans are still imperfect and desired filled beings, we will need the wisdom of these biblical texts to guide us. As the stories of overcoming hardships and suffering made an impression on me, the stories of love and acceptance filled me with great emotion. There are many differences that seem to separate Christians today, whether in arguments such as interpretations or certain beliefs. This has only divided an undivided religion. I found comfort and strength from texts about love and a calling for Christians to come together despite differences. In this, I found a deeper connection to myself and others.