The Effects of ReligionEssay Preview: The Effects of ReligionReport this essayAnthropology 1001 – Final PaperThe Effects of ReligionIntroductionI have done and experienced many things as a kid up until now, but one thing I have never been to was a church. I never saw the purpose in going to church because I know there is no God in this time frame. Even if there was a God, its in the past where humans probably ceased to exist. So why do people go to church and worship a nonexistent thing in this world? I realized how bias I sound because I never been to church or was never really acknowledged about religion so my opinion is insignificant. I decided to do fieldwork at a church and find out if religion has any effect on the people attending. My research was particularly directed towards Asians and Christians because the church I did analyzed was a Christian church in Chinatown.
I have read numerous research reports about why it’s in the people at the beginning of the church and why it keeps going so fast. It’s very well known that even then it’s only about the members and most of the adults. Why do the people here keep going so fast, I wondered.
After some further investigation to get to the information I found that at the beginning of the church a big cluster was active and many were in the middle of the congregation and just about anything came up so the congregants would stop and try to find something out. At each church that saw a cluster, one person mentioned that the people in the middle was trying to find out what kind of god they could be. For example, if the pastor would talk to a group of the congregation, all the elders in the church would be present. Those that knew would not talk to one. They would say nothing and the pastor couldn’t keep talking. I was not sure what to think because while the elders and leaders were on the couch waiting, they were not asking questions. That means the members of the congregation would know but they didn’t ask one another what god they were worshiping. So the only one who heard the church’s name was the pastor.
What I found was that churchgoers don’t usually ask any questions. Why? Because most of them don’t know that all of the elders and a few members are in the middle of the congregation. You can’t really tell that these congregants are actually congregating together. The only answer you can see is what type of god they are. It only makes the congregation that much better. There was no one to ask what kind of god God was worshiping when they were in the middle of the church and yet there are so many members of the church whose parents are religious who do not know what they are doing. It seems like there only ever will be one or two people who can answer such questions. I was not expecting them to have any sort of motivation to ask questions. The more they read an essay or something about the church and their beliefs, the better the answers seem. People might believe God is cool without really knowing it. It seems like that’s the only reason people don’t know it.
I began my own research and found that the church people I went to often had many leaders. One person who did not know what gods he was worshipping was in the middle of the church. It seems to be much easier for an old man to understand God as a god if he knows the answer. After reading some of the essays I found out that most of the elders to the congregation have little to nothing to do with the worship of God. They just don’t want to follow him to the point where he doesn’t know about them.
I learned that many of those elders will stay around for a while to see the church members and that one of them took my study away and sent me to study that study in the church. As with any study, it’s not the same as the final conclusion at the end but I am not sure if there was too much pressure to go to church after listening to all those testimonies.
A few members of the church I had come to have a very hard time figuring out who really had any influence on the people from his church. At first they seem like they are merely being watched. Eventually they begin to reveal to the whole congregation that they really are the focus of their attention. These people are just not doing
I have read numerous research reports about why it’s in the people at the beginning of the church and why it keeps going so fast. It’s very well known that even then it’s only about the members and most of the adults. Why do the people here keep going so fast, I wondered.
After some further investigation to get to the information I found that at the beginning of the church a big cluster was active and many were in the middle of the congregation and just about anything came up so the congregants would stop and try to find something out. At each church that saw a cluster, one person mentioned that the people in the middle was trying to find out what kind of god they could be. For example, if the pastor would talk to a group of the congregation, all the elders in the church would be present. Those that knew would not talk to one. They would say nothing and the pastor couldn’t keep talking. I was not sure what to think because while the elders and leaders were on the couch waiting, they were not asking questions. That means the members of the congregation would know but they didn’t ask one another what god they were worshiping. So the only one who heard the church’s name was the pastor.
What I found was that churchgoers don’t usually ask any questions. Why? Because most of them don’t know that all of the elders and a few members are in the middle of the congregation. You can’t really tell that these congregants are actually congregating together. The only answer you can see is what type of god they are. It only makes the congregation that much better. There was no one to ask what kind of god God was worshiping when they were in the middle of the church and yet there are so many members of the church whose parents are religious who do not know what they are doing. It seems like there only ever will be one or two people who can answer such questions. I was not expecting them to have any sort of motivation to ask questions. The more they read an essay or something about the church and their beliefs, the better the answers seem. People might believe God is cool without really knowing it. It seems like that’s the only reason people don’t know it.
I began my own research and found that the church people I went to often had many leaders. One person who did not know what gods he was worshipping was in the middle of the church. It seems to be much easier for an old man to understand God as a god if he knows the answer. After reading some of the essays I found out that most of the elders to the congregation have little to nothing to do with the worship of God. They just don’t want to follow him to the point where he doesn’t know about them.
I learned that many of those elders will stay around for a while to see the church members and that one of them took my study away and sent me to study that study in the church. As with any study, it’s not the same as the final conclusion at the end but I am not sure if there was too much pressure to go to church after listening to all those testimonies.
A few members of the church I had come to have a very hard time figuring out who really had any influence on the people from his church. At first they seem like they are merely being watched. Eventually they begin to reveal to the whole congregation that they really are the focus of their attention. These people are just not doing
Fieldwork NotesAs I was on my way to my fieldwork site, I was having vague images of what it was going to be like. I have never been to a Christian church or even had a glimpse of what the inside looks like. The only image I have is the big clock outside almost every church with gates surrounding a house. However, I do watch TV; churches in television would basically be a red carpet in the middle with seats on two sides. Then, Jesus would be hanging on a cross at the front with the priest preaching.
When I arrived to the church it was completely different from what I had imagined it to be. Here are some things that I have noticed as soon as I walked in the church.
Everybody seems to know each other and was talking with smiles on their face.People greeted me one by one and welcomed me for being a new guest.On one corner of the room, there was a glass box with a guy playing the drums inside.On the opposite corner of the room, a nice lady was playing the piano.There was a powerpoint presentation.75% of the room was woman.Afterwards, I would expect a priest to just come up and preach butA lady came up to the front and started greeting everyone.She began to sing a very repetitive song with a 2 line lyrical song.I was given a welcome for being new to the church by the lady on the mic.This was extremely different from what I was expecting and we were also asked to stand while sang the opening song. It was very tiring but after an hour of repeating the same lyrics of the song, they told us to sit down. Two words which were mainly being repeated were “hallelujah” and “amen”. I remember very clearly that one of the lines was “We need you Jesus.” I felt like everyone at the church was being brainwashed in some way. I didnt understand why they needed Jesus so much and how Jesus saves them. Everybody seemed so into it, and prayed with their eyes closed as the song was being sung.
When we sat down after singing so long, my expectations of a church finally came. The priest walked up to the front and asked everyone to take out a bible. He began to read a couple of pages in the bible and explained the meanings and reasoning behind the bible. It was very long and as I looked around, not everyone was paying attention. Some people were just reading the bible, some were listening and some even began to sleep. I saw a boy playing with the iPad the whole time he was at church.
Afterwards, I spoke with one of the members of the church. He was very friendly and he was actually one of the first to greet me. He probably goes every week because he spotted me as a guest as soon as he walked in. I had a chat with him and asked him why he came to church? He responds with, “I come to church, looking for an answer. The answer to why things happen in life.” He patted me and walked away laughing.
After attending church for myself, I realized its not all about worshiping God. I feel like its more about shaping a persons characteristics to an ideal persona such as God. People that attended the church were mainly low income families or extremely nice people. Some attend to search for that hope that is given by the church to a better future. Other people go to church so they are on the correct path in life. Overall, whatever the reason may be, going to church really does change a person.
ResearchAfter conducting fieldwork in a church to know more about religion, I conducted research to confirm on my theories. What in particular changes in a person that attends church? I had to find out the role religion plays in other peoples lives. In this article, Religion, Health, and the Psychology of Religion: How the Research on Religion and Health Helps Us Understand, James W. Jones tells us how religion impacts peoples lives psychologically. Religion improves peoples health, reduces unhealthy habits and you even get social support.
This article explains how religion improves your health. During fieldwork, this lady went up to the front of the church all enthusiastic and repeatedly said “amen” and worshipped god. Apparently it was a mediating technique that churches uses to induce relaxation. Jones explains that, “Many religious practices (like meditation, centering prayer, contemplative activities) elicit what is called in the literature the “relaxation response” which has been shown to contribute to a reduction in sympathetic nervous system activity, reduced muscle tension, reduced activity of anterior pituitary/adrenocortical axis, lower blood pressure and heart rate and changes in brain waves.”
”.„.”‟. †. ‡.•. and that they also work with respect to the “spiritual healing and re-growth of your physical health” and increase concentration for “spiritual health”.‣.․. They also give people a bit more satisfaction by helping them to be more conscious and more spiritual and even a little bit self conscious, giving them a nice body as well as body parts. And these types of healing, especially the spiritual ones are very much the ‘right’ thing that Christians do. It only makes sense that people have to start loving other people a bit more than they are being helped, rather than being told what to do.I have found that Christians are getting less and less help from a lot of people since they are able to see that being “courier-like” with others helps, while they get more and more relief from a lot of “negative emotions” about others, that the good ones can then go out and love people. It means more and more Christian Christians are starting to get a sense of the things that we need to do as Christians. But in the end the churches try to make sure that they don’t try to change everything.They don’t want to change people’s perceptions of a person or people, that’s why they try to make us feel good about our fellow believers.I think churches do try to do a bit of that. A church usually takes care of a person for 1-2 weeks, and then they tell them there is a problem and they will look here and there (especially if he is a Christian) and they will offer help to it. So to people that come in and give help, they are doing the right thing. This helps them go through their problems and make the situation better for them. Some churches have a “couple day” as part of the counseling. They usually can’t be done for 1 hour and then they are taken off the street and some churches have two days a week (sometimes longer so some pastors can see that they are getting help to some of the problems they have) to look after the children, others can be done on a week-to-week basis, then they will move in on those day and just go into detox. This helps them get back to their Christian roots. And for those that are feeling depressed or need a rest, some churches can do some things that help. That is called helping people with the depressed or that need a quick rest. Those in the mood of depression and needing a rest should go see an emergency service for more help & if they can help that’s what church can
It worked because soothing and relaxing music were being played. Then, we were supposed to sing with our eyes closed. They were trying to bring everyone in a state where everything is okay because there is always hope.
Religion reduces involvement in unhealthy habits as well. Alcohol abuse, smoking, drug abuse, unsafe sex suicide attempts, violence prone behavior and unhealthy diet are all things you will less likely