Episode 37 - Religious Growth

Jordan opens up about how religion has helped her feel more connected to the world and a better person, after scorning it for years. The twins discuss how when a religion looks bad, it's often the way it's practiced, or groups of people, not the religion itself.

Takeaways

• Jordan’s fears of religion really stemmed from the extremist people of religion; a religion itself is not fear-worthy.
• Religion itself is not bad.  What makes it “appear” bad is the way certain communities choose to practice it.  
• Whatever religion you practice, ask yourself if you are practicing from a place of fear or love (true faith).
• Using religion as a shield/sword to act against other people is likely not what that religion stands for.
• Being religious is not the same as being pious.  Lots of religious people can also be hypocritical, violent, fanatical.  Piety is knowing your faith, and practicing it with love and acceptance.  
• Being pious is about surrender, love, non-judgement, non-violence. 
• Religion exists to give us structure, a way of living peacefully through love and surrender to a higher power.  It is not about rigidity, fear, or controlling others.
• Do you think it's better to give children a choice in what religion they practice or to raise them in your faith?
• Raising kids in your religion, it’s like wanting to share something you love with any other person. As long as they feel they can choose to keep it or leave it, there’s nothing wrong with raising them in religion.
• It’s easy to judge people for who you think they represent (political party, religion, ethnicity). Try to see the whole person.
• If religion is used as a fear-tactic in parenting, people may reject it as they grow up or else stay scared and sheeple-ish. This is what can turn off others who didn’t grow up with religion, looking in from the outside.
• Extremism is what we get when politics are mixed with religion to create fear in order to control a people.
• Religion and science aren’t mutually exclusive. They actually go hand in hand. 
• One should be able to question their religion’s traditions; otherwise it may be a cult.
• Take inspired action and surrender the outcome to God/higher power.  Inspired actions come from love and the more spiritually connected you are, the more peaceful you live.
• Religion helps to define our values. 
• Morals and values are ultimately adopted or rejected collectively by society
• The fundamentals of a religion can be practiced in different ways. This is how we end up with different sects of one religion. If one practice doesn’t work for you, you can switch to another. 
• 12-step groups, a non-religious space, use a lot of spiritual language and believe in a higher power which helps the members overcome their troubles.

Resources

• https://thebestschools.org/magazine/world-religions-study-starters/
• https://bigthink.com/videos/neil-degrasse-tyson-on-science-and-faith/
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolefisher/2019/03/29/science-says-religion-is-good-for-your-health/?sh=120291c33a12

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