It’s a funny one for me - I compartmentalise it in my head.
I went to Sunday school (C of E) but wasn’t particularly religious. I stopped going because I was bored - as did loads of kids. It wasn’t fast paced like computer games or biking.
However, I later on saw it as most of the kids who went to that Sunday school / church regularly seemed to turn out to be good people and not fall by the wayside. They had values I wished more had even if they too stopped going in the 90s.
What I’ve come to think about religion is that the fundimentals taught and guidance given that any decent human would want to teach, are usually taught in church when they may be missed at home. Whether busy being a stressed parent, or at school when someone in front of your child is pushed to their limits in their demanding teaching career.
Recently I went to my Godson’s christening (C of E) and the things taught in that room where fundamentally what I wished more would not just hear but actually understand. I felt like whatever church that was had ‘moved with the times’ and dealt with real issues. I thought I would go and just want it to be over.
Around that time I even begrudgingly went to my Dad’s mosque for Eid (islamic equivalent of Christmas) at his request and being a “more spiritual if anything” type of person today, was surprised by what was taught about living harmoniously with one another, how to actually be a good neighbour and friend.
If the person holding a sermon is an interesting, impactful and inspirational speaker (without going over the top) could make or break the attendance but most importantly can leave you feeling like you have used your time wisely and are inspired to take positive steps in your life. Or how to guide a child.
Much of what we decide about religion we hear on the news and see on film dramas or computer games and stuff like that so what we actually ‘know’ first hand isn’t always so clear cut. We are so quick to judge from our sofa.
I’m still not into any religion but realise news / games / films / things literally getting lost in translation don’t always help religion either. I don’t think most of it’s rooted in evil at all until you add certain humans into it.
