Youth Group Cliques : How Religious Goals Can Disguise Discriminatory Group Dynamics

In schools, the place where Americans first learned critical fundamentals and values of freedom, religion is separated from home life to school life. In the United States, 89% of public school teacher’s cannot lead a class in prayer, 36% can teach a class comparing religions in different countries, and only 23% can read from the Bible for examples of literature (citation). Without religious instruction in schools, students are not granted with the option to display their faith and practice their religion in a school setting. Despite the advantages, some Americans argue that teaching religion in public schools can be dangerous and harmful to students. Schools disapproving of students practicing

From the first sentence of Anthem, what society deems appropriate to believe is evident. Page 19 says, “We strive like our brother men, for all men must be alike” (Rand 19). The quote reveals a loss of individuality and the importance of uniqueness. Throughout the society, the idea of the group before the individual and a loss of self are extremely conflicting to Christian values. Christ followers

In Roman society, the food would be served based on position in society, but in the Church, everyone was treated as an equal. Paul admonishes the church at Corinth for such practices in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:17-22). Paul bemoans the division that are present in the fellowship among believers and points to the counterculture equality that characterizes Christians. The Corinthians are following the conventions of their societal practices, yet in Christ there is a unity that overcomes the divisions of society. Upon first reading of this passage it seems that the Corinthians should have known better than to allow this practice to take place. However, with the cultural context this passage becomes less about intentional discrimination on the part of the Corinthians and more about the church finding its identity in the ways of Christ and not in the ways of the world.

The first section of the note on 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 in the HarperCollins Study Bible leads the reader to contemplate the issue of unity in the body of Christ, the lack of which is arguably the origin of most, if not all of the issues facing the Corinthian church. The Christians in Corinth were challenged with several internal problems, many of which could have been solved by the members seeking unity in their diversity. Paul introduces the idea that the church should function as the body of Christ, valuing the abilities and roles that God chose for each member. The first part of the note states, “Like certain other ancient writers, Paul regards the human body as illustrating the point that unity and diversity are not incompatible, applying

In that community you must love each other as equal and in that regard you must be equal. As opposed to Catholicism where,

By the 1830s, the Protestant denomination which I am personally familiar with, had begun a few violent attacks against the Catholic, because of their republican values. Later in the same decade, the Protestants again ignited fire into a convention, here in Massachusetts related to difference in views. Within these 35 diverse Christian denominations, 50,873,000 members are Roman Catholic (Catholic) hence the largest. Other equally functional denominations are Baptist, Pentecostal, and several others; says a recent American Religious Identification Survey. (35 Largest Christian Denominations in the United States). While there are numerous varieties of their divide, the onset of Christian community emphatically, traces to only one unified community. Since its establishment in the 1st century, the Christian community was founded on the doctrines of Jesus of Nazareth, which rather contributes to the wellbeing of communities, regardless of whether their views aligned with theirs or not. Starting with the apostle Paul, several

Who shared common backgrounds, common experiences and common realities. Religious freedoms develop experiences of a common existence which transcend beyond the individual but loom on the threshold of a collective body. Theological perspectives, rituals, and styles of worship emerged. This is why I ponder the negatives associated with religious separation. Since tearing down the bondage of segregation; the church has yet to experience a great surge of integration. James Baldwin, as well as many others, contend the most segregated day or hour in America is on Sunday. These words are spoken with much contrition, as to say there is something profoundly wrong with this situation. How can Christians call themselves Christians, yet separate themselves based on social and cultural differences during their hour of worship? The religious experience is not only a spiritual connection and oneness with God, but a collective oneness of self; viewing one’s own identity through the lens of cultural experiences. This is not say separation is an evil perpetuating religious divineness; but a necessity to maintain one’s identity. There is no solid foundation for religious integration; for

For Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, "I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment." In my opinion, avoidable disjunctions over trivial matters harm the church and interrupt the fellowship of believers. For example, my former pastor caused worthless and unloving disunity in our church because he fervently adhered to his Reformed theology at the expense of others, despite no decisive evidence regarding this doctrine existing in the Bible. Sadly, several strong Christians left our Church and never returned. Nonsensical divisions such as this lead to the innumerable formations of denominations and alienation of believers. Instead of initiating these fruitless arguments, Christians need to focus on living lives holy and pleasing to

From all the clubs and organizations I am associated with, I consider the National Conference of Synagogue Youth my favorite extracurricular activity for the past three years. The National Conference of Synagogue Youth is a club that is growing internationally, especially when I was president last year for Dallas. The local club I was managing started off with a population in the low twenties to the mid-thirties with the help of popular events I created with the board and friends associated. For example, The board members of NCSY in Dallas successfully bring in a Holocaust survivor for the week pertaining to Holocaust day every year. I would spread the information through others with Instagram, text messages, and emails that would later be

As a Christian what I have observed in my school and in my generation is that youth do not understand what it is to be a Christian and disciple of Christ. There are those who do not have a personal relationship with Christ nor understand what being a true Christian. Then there are those who claim to be Christians but continue to live their lives with the rest of the world. And at last those who have truly dedicated their lives to Christ and have a personal relationship with Him. In 2008 I started my own organization to encourage teens to have a daily prayer life and personal relationship with Christ. I saw this need in my school and I decided to do something about it. The scripture that I use for my organization

and fund a religion. The original settlers in America were looking for religious freedom, in particular they were trying to get away from the state sponsored religion being practiced in England at the time. The Anglican church was the “church of England” and bishops were appointed by the King of England (Heyrman 2017). If you didn’t belong to the official religion of the country, you were an outcast. A lot of these outcast were the people who originally settled the United States, they wanted to get away from state sponsored religion. However, once in America they started the same system of government supporting a favored religion. Instead of one national religion, individual states supported different churches. According to Shmoop (2017): “Congregationalism

Covenant encourages prayer, reading, and learning about God’s word. As indicated in Davis’ book, “Every member of the community needs to be growing in the Word. This has implications for our individual habits with the Word and for the way we use the Word inside and outside the classroom” (pg 60). Furthermore, according to In All Things Christ Preeminent, “Communal meditation on the Scripture is vital to Covenant’s academic life” (pg.61). In contrast, my experience with peers at LaFayette High School presented a greater challenge as a follower of Christ. Christians were a minority at LaFayette High School and were scrutinized for professing their faith in Christianity. Teachers were also discouraged from spreading the Word of God and faced job termination for doing so. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) was the only type of Christian bonding within the school and even then, it was mandatory that it be student lead and

Paul in Romans 14 was not just reminding the Christians in Rome to be unified, but instead Paul was reminding the Christians in Rome that Jesus was their patron, their main source of honor and by being disunified they were shaming the one who had saved them from death and given them life. Thus the interpretation that is left for Christian’s today is not just to respect other Christian’s in maturity. But instead the interpretation is enriched through the knowledge of honor/shame cultures reminding Christians that Jesus is where all of a Christian’s self-worth comes from and when a Christian immaturely decides to quarrel with other Christians they are shaming the whole body of Christ, moreover they are shaming Christ who has given them eternal

Paul outlines 3 major ideas in the way that all believers should relate to one another. Paul begins with the posture that we should take with one another. That posture has 3 goals: humble and gentle (without exception), dealing with one another in love, and eager to maintain unity in the church as a whole. Sadly, we have lost sight of this posture not just interracially but also inter-denominationally and cross culturally. While all of these goals are extremely difficult to begin to achieve they are even more necessary to maintain. We are then reminded of the way and reason that we should seek to maintain this unity. That way is through the cross of Jesus Christ where we were reconciled unto God. Because of this reconciliation to God he has

Most people would agree with the statement “You need to reach beyond the borders of our own groups.” People agree with it, but it is less likely that they will do it. In chapter one, Cleveland makes a good point that we are so good at at closing off people that we do it with such excellence that it no longer appears to be a bad thing. One of reasons we need to reach beyond our own groups is to share the unity of Christ. It sounds so cliche, but when we go outside of our boarders we are giving the people who are unlike us to have an opportunity to experience Christ. Just like Cleveland’s friend Sam, many people are turned off from people who claim to follow Christ, because Christians don't typically welcome everyone in. When we reach beyond