Week 10

The thing I found most interesting in the reading was Borg's interpretation of religion and practices.

The journey of me going through Marcus J. Borg's book Jesus has been an interesting one to begin with because I don't come from a religious background. Although I have some understanding of what Christianity preaches, I had never experienced it for myself. Reading the Bible for the first time and Borg's book has given me a different interpretation of the religion other than what I have heard any times. This quote from Jesus grabbed my attention, "Not only does our place within culture continue to shape us, but what happens within our culture's life can affect our view of the past" (Borg 294). Prior to this quote,  Borg talks about the idea of religion and how it may be applied to an individual's life. This interested me because being a first generation child from Japan, we always practiced Buddhism. My family did not attend temples every weekend or anything like that, but the context of how we spoke and believed traced back to Buddhism. Coming from a man who truly sides with Christianity, it intrigues me that I am able to relate to many of his sayings. From the quote, I can already relate that it is because of my Japanese heritage and culture that I am who I am today. My parents raised me with Japanese practices, for example eating as a family, using chopsticks, no shoes in the house, and speaking in Japanese. It is not until I came to Gonzaga that I found so much passion in my heritage. Since the tsunami that struck Japan, I have come to have a different view on the disaster that occurred in Haiti. Before, as horrible as it may sound, I speak with sincerity when I say that the occurrence in Haiti never grasped my attention. It is not until now, what has occurred in my motherland that I am able to empathize with those victims of Haiti. Though I did not realize until recently, I hold so much pride in my culture.

Another part that grabbed my attention is when Borg talks about the "rights" in Christianity. Because they are too long to list, I will write my reflection instead. I agree, Christianity emphasizes on the denying of the theory of evolution, abortion, homosexuality, pre-marital sex, emphasis on values, and the conformation to Christianity as listed on page 297. I feel that many Americans believe these rights, regardless of whether they are Christian or not. Coming from California, our view points are all over the scale so I cannot say where I get this assumption. To me, I feel that even if one is not of a Christian background, these "rights" are still implemented in their beliefs. It intrigues me that Christianity has the ability to relate with many different people around the world and I am excited to keep studying this religion.

I think it is ironic how it says "Pray for Japan" with the understanding that many people in Japan are not Christian, yet we all do the same thing, pray.