A "Religious" Experience

2/3/11


I keep thinking about the story that Dr Redick told us in class about the guy who said that being out in the wilderness is not a “religious” experience, but rather it’s a party. Obviously, that guy had a very narrow view of religion and what constitutes a “religious experience.” In my Western Religion’s class, Dr. Schweig spent an entire class going over what “religion” is. It really is an odd word because it lacks denotative force. If we try to rigidly define it, we cut out a number of things that could mean something sacred or religious to someone, but at the same time, if we define it too loosely, like if “everything is religion” then it looses all meaning and importance. He said that we define it by our experiences.

He made his own definition: “Religion is the human striving for what is understood as the Ultimate truth.” Let’s break that down:

1. Religion (latin – religare) “to connect again.” We’ve been separated from the holy, we are trying to reconnect with them.
2. Human vs. Animal (culture vs. instinct) We as humans are intrinsically religious, we just have to choose whether or not to embrace or participate in that.
3. Striving – practices/rituals/pilgrimages
4. Understood – the various ways to know and experience what is “Ultimate”
5. The Ultimate Truth – a single vision of ultimacy for each relgion; a vision of the totality of being; the othermost, innermost, the All, everywhere.

I think that is a good balance of structure and open interpretation. I’m glad that Dr Redick’s students sat down with the man and explained to him that a “party” can be a “religious” experience if he so chooses. I hope he found a higher meaning in what he does on his journey through the wilderness.