Modern Religious Experience: Reflection Question #1: "According to Mircea Eliade religion has 'not vanished without a trace; [it] has contributed toward making us what we are today and so, after..."
Religion has influenced my life much since it is everywhere around me. In Korea, it seems this is especially true. It's because there are many small churches in every where, and many fortune tellers exist. My parents believe in different religions. My dad is Christian, and my mom is Buddhist. When I say to my friends that my mom is Buddhist, they view my mom’s religion as very interesting, but not in a positive way. The Buddhist religious system is not that strange and unusual, as many think. Even though their major beliefs have different religious formulas in their ceremonies, they respect each other’s choice and beliefs. Actually, I found that growing up with both religions is not a problem. I thought that was not very unusual and I thought everybody was like me. I realized everyone is not same as me when I learned religious conflicts in my history classes. I may be religiously infantile and maybe my parents are too.
For now, I have decided to believe in myself, letting things happen. However, I really don’t know, and our family doesn’t have many religious discussions. I think of many religious questions in my life, such as why are some people born into misery, like when I visited Philippines last year for Discovery Week. Just last night, my dad and I had discussed about this and my experiences during DW, but he listened and asked me questions about what happened, rather than religious questions. I am still learning a lot about my beliefs in SFS. I am keeping an open mind, as best as I can, but it is not very easy since religion is everywhere around me.
