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Thinking about Religion

Module 2: Thinking about Religion

SOCI 3007: Religion and Family Violence

Bhaanvi Rai

Student ID: 3709893

Instructor: Dr. Cathy Holtmann

March 10th, 2022

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Consider

10 images that represent the diversity of religious practices in contemporary

Canada:

1. The Canadian Sikh community keeping the Gurudwara kitchens open to feed thousands

of people during Covid-19.

2. Muslim families in Canada celebrating the holy month of Ramadan by fasting and

breaking their fast on Eid.

3. My classmates who observe the Jewish Shabbat, each week from sunset on Friday to

sunset on Saturday. They usually spend time with their family and don’t use any kind of

electricity including using the internet, which gives them an opportunity to take a break

from the daily hassles of life and catches up with this family.

4. The Buddhist practices of Meditation that allows one to attain inner peace, cope with

their sufferings and attain nirvana. Meditation is popular among various age groups of

people all over Canada, and people who Meditate are said to believe in letting their

thoughts flow and losing themselves in the moment.

5. My friends belonging to different religions joining me for dinner and pooja’s (religious

celebrations) every year, while I celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights as a Hindu

woman.

6. Families from different religions, all over Canada wanting to celebrate Christmas, by

putting up a Christmas tree, exchanging presents and parents telling stories about Santa

Claus to their kids.

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7. Canada celebrating Multiculturism Day on June 27th to bring people from different

backgrounds, cultures, and religions together by sharing their stories with each other and

participating in various activities held across Canada

8. People from different religions celebrating Thanksgiving all over Canada wherein

families get together and have a meal together.

9. Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year), which is not a nation-wide holiday, but is a

secular celebration for people all over Canada. Lunar New Year has traditions from

ancient myths, folktales, and Buddhism. It is celebrated to a great extent in the East Asian

community all over Canada wherein they may often get to together with their non-Asian

friends and co-workers to celebrate and party as it marks the beginning of a New Year.

Although I’m not East Asian, I celebrated Lunar New Year with my friends from

Vietnam and South Korea throughout the years.

10. Practices to protect and promote Indigenous religions and texts have been increasing

every single day, as people all over Canada realize the value of restoring justice to the

Indigenous communities in Canada.

View

Religious Group 1:

I would like to consider the Sikh Community’s response to Covid19 all over the world, including

when India suffered a massive shortage of vaccinations and health care facilities. The URL is:

Sikh temple opens a hospital to help Covid-19 fight in India.

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During the second wave of the pandemic, around April 2021, the health care system collapsed in

various developing countries including India. The Sikh Community in New Delhi, the capital of

India, stepped in and turned their shrine into a 250-bed isolation center that was equipped with

oxygen and free ambulance services (Sikh temple opens hospital to help Covid-19 fight in India,

2021).

Sikhism’s core principles rely on serving humanity. Sikhs tend to justify their way of treating

other human beings on the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib Ji emphasizes the importance of

always helping people without any discrimination. In Sikh families, children are taught to help

others selflessly (Sikh temple opens hospital to help fight Covid-19 in India, 2021). From a

young age, children learn from their family members about the beliefs of their group, and they

grow up seeing their family members getting involved in similar practices, which further forms a

pattern that influences their behavior in the future. The Sikh community always comes forward

to help others, such as offering food from communal kitchens in temples. Being committed to the

wellbeing of society has been a pattern for the Sikh Community for a very long time, which

continues to run with the later generations as well.

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(Singh, 2021)

As the second wave continued depleting health care resources, more and more Sikhs volunteered

as front-line workers. The shrine has helped thousands of Covid-19 patients, and volunteers

continue to provide free oxygen and medicines, care for the critically ill, and lend a helping hand

to the government (Person & Bhardwaj, 2021).

Religious Group 2:

I would like to consider Saint Philip AME Church’s response to people from the Black American

community being left out during the vaccination roll. The URL is: Churches helping with

COVID-19 vaccinations.
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Saint Philip AME Church stepped in when people from the Black American community were

unable to receive vaccines. The video infers how the church believes in equality for all, and they

emphasize “Come on, come all, and roll up your sleeve for a vaccine” (Churches helping with

covid-19 vaccinations, 2021). The Church aimed to vaccinate 2,000 people in 3 days and they

partnered with Walgreens whose goal was to vaccinate underrepresented communities. However,

the Church believed in “representing their faith,” easing the various concerns related to Covid-19

and educating communities of colour about their concerns related to Covid-19. In addition, many

church members believe that medicine and faith can work together (Churches Helping with

COVID-19 Vaccinations, 2021).

Saint Philip AME Church was successfully turned into a vaccination clinic, and with the

partnership of Walgreens one of the most successful drug stores in the USA, the church

continued providing people of colour with equal access to vaccinations. Uber offered free rides

to and from the church to ensure that the vaccines are more accessible (Churches helping with

covid-19 vaccinations, 2021).

During the pandemic, there was a lot of skepticism about getting vaccinated. Especially, people

belonging to minorities were not aware of the effects of the vaccine and had issues in trusting the

same. William Watley, the senior pastor stated that there are people who would not go to a mass

vaccination center, but they would come to their church, because they “trust the church and the

leadership of the church, and they know people who are helping with the process” (Churches

helping with covid-19 vaccinations, 2021). This event emphasized how these people of colour

would often feel burdened or isolated as their beliefs, values or religious identity was different
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than others but as the Church tried to encourage vaccination, the members belonging to the

church got together to get vaccinated as they trusted the church. Also, the church understood

how people of colour were not always privileged to have insurance or valid identity proof, so

they also planned on working on an agreement that would let people get vaccinated despite these

factors to ensure more people get vaccinated (Churches helping with covid-19 vaccinations,

2021).

Listen

Dr. Peter Beyer’s Research on second-generation Hindus, Muslims, and

Buddhists in Canada:

Dr. Beyer’s research was based on 200 second-generation immigrants from Hindu, Muslim, and

Buddhist families each. The research focused on the people and their religious practices such as

them following their religions or heritage and if they have, they dropped the practices. However,

the answer to these questions mainly depends on religion.

Muslim second-generation members would be greatly involved in following their Muslim

traditions and follow them in a way that is pre persistent and remain highly practicing (Beyer,

2012). In my opinion, the second-generation immigrants continue being pre-consistent due to

various factors such as the Quran requiring Muslims not to make any changes in the way of

practices to ensure that the text is sacred and unique, orthodox families and traditions. People

often gravitate towards religion more when they seem to have troubles or are alienated by
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society. Over the years with the rise of Islamophobia, Muslims growing up in Canada have often

been alienated and have had identity crises because of which they try to remain closer to their

religion and practices.

Hindus relatively have little relationship to the religious part of their heritage, but they have a

strong relationship to their version of implied “Hindu culture.” However, it’s prominent in more

women than men (Beyer, 2012). As a Hindu woman, I believe it is true to a certain extent

because women often face the pressure of “not letting down the family’s Indian culture and

upholding their Indian roots,” whereas men are expected to earn for their families. From a young

age, women would be taught how to perform religious ceremonies, which they carry on in the

future. Also, the religious books don’t prohibit things but are in a form of “stories” and

“folktales” which make up our Indian culture.

The 3rd contrast would be Buddhist 3rd generation immigrants who barely know anything about

Buddhism and who rarely practice (Beyer, 2012). One of the main reasons could be because

Buddhism is one of the slowest growing religions in Canada, which makes up only around 1.1%

of the total population (Martel, 2016). Owing to this 2nd generation immigrants, most likely fail

to meet people like them, they may often have identified crisis as they might not have received

appropriate exposure of their religion, which is why they are less engaged in practice.

Although the results seemed clear in the beginning, the research generated unexpected results

without clear explanations for people’s religious behavior. Although people belonging to the
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same religion may have a similar pattern in practicing their religious faith, I believe different

people belonging to the same religion may often have their own reasons or stories.

The question that I would like to ask: Although all 3 religions were Non-Christian, what

factors, in particular, do you have caused 2nd generation immigrants to have such different

relationships with their religion?

Dr. Ebaugh’s research on religion and immigrants:

Dr. Ebaugh’s research was based on how religious congregations affected the lives of new

immigrants in Houston, which was one of the most diverse cities in the USA. After her interview

with the people in the Vietnamese Buddhist temples, who told her that they spent time in the

temples, it was their “home away from home”, it can be assumed that religious places of worship

such as temples and mosques act as a community place for new immigrants who are thousands of

miles away from their families (Ebaugh, 2012).

New immigrants might often feel isolated or go through the loss of identity when they move to a

new country. Spending time in a religious place of worship often tends to give these immigrants

a sense of indent as they are surrounded by a place or people that carry similar values or beliefs.

Furthermore, over the years a lot of religions including Islam have tried to modernize, including

the Modern Islamic movement of Gulen, which emphasizes the importance of technology,

education, and modernization. It’s important to ensure that with time, religions should also try to
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modernize, or it could have been detrimental for the members of the community. For instance,

Hinduism promoted “Sati,” which meant that if a woman’s husband died, the wife would be

burnt to death. However, Sati was abolished in 1829, which was a very uplifting movement for

women, which moved towards the beginning of Hinduism being modernized and adaptive with

time.

The question that I would like to ask: Do you think different religions modernizing would

deteriorate the core values of the religion?

Jakobsen research on religion and sexuality:

Usually, a lot of people believe that studying religion and supporting LGBTQ rights does not go

hand in hand. They’re often looked at as opposites.

Jakobsen’s theory follows how religion is often intertwined with sexuality, but not always in

opposing ways. They are many more interesting aspects. Jakobsen asks, “Would the right to free

exercise of religion to be related to the right to free exercise of sex?” (Jakobsen, 2012)

In my opinion, various religious books have messages, which prohibit same-sex relationships but

at the same time, people are encouraged to be with those they love, and violence is condemned.

When people go on a spree of violence because of same-sex relationships, it defeats the whole

purpose of religion. Religion is used to bring members of the community together, not alienate

them, which is why religion and LGBTQ rights can co-exist.

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The question that I would like to ask: How do you think people can be convinced that

religion and different aspects of sexuality can co-exist without hurting the sentiments of people

in both communities?

Implications

In my opinion, both the places that I explored: The Shrine in New Delhi as well as the Saint

Philip AME Church seemed like a safe place for someone to disclose that they were a victim of

intimate partner violence.

Both places promoted equality and wanted to ensure that people in the community are provided

with the rights that they deserve. Sikhism and Christianity both promote serving other people in

need. While someone is a victim of intimate partner violence, they would be looking for a safe

space to address their concerns, where they would not be shunned, and a place and community

where they would receive the right kind of support.

Throughout the second video, we observe how the Church tries to ensure that people of colour

are given the vaccination, and they try to educate them about the same, as often people might get

isolated as they might not always receive support from communities that they don’t share beliefs

or values with. So, they often have a sense of belonging and feel less isolated when they receive

support from the community that they identify with. Also, in both the videos there are hundreds

of volunteers who genuinely want to help people in need, and a lot of them were also victims
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who lost someone they cared about. For instance, a volunteer in the Saint Philip AME Church

lost his nephew to Covid-19 after which he started volunteering at the Church to ensure more

people get vaccinated. I believe the volunteers in both religious places would emphasize with the

victim, provide them support, make them comfortable and guide them on how to go about the

situation.

As the victim tries to look for moral support, they might be able to confide in someone in either

of these places as they both follow a positive moral dimension which involves focusing on

equality and humanity; and partner violence is not justifiable in either of those criteria.
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References

11Alive. (2021, March 11). Churches helping with covid-19 vaccinations. YouTube. Retrieved

March 10, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfI-

Ss8gqoY&ab_channel=11Alive

Beyer, P. (2012, February 8). Research on second generation Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists in

Canada. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX-

o4vNmGBc&ab_channel=SOCI1593

Bhardwaj, M. (2021, May 10). Sikh temple opens hospital to help India Fight Coronavirus

Wave. Reuters. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://www.reuters.com/world/india/sikh-

temple-opens-hospital-help-india-fight-coronavirus-wave-2021-05-10/

Ebaugh, H. R. (2012, November 5). Research on religion and immigrants . Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBLcCSjPv1A&ab_channel=MediaAICTE

Jakobsen , J. (2012, February 8). Research on religion and sexuality. Retrieved March 11, 2022,

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoNImqyexgs

Martel, L. (2016, February 19). Two-thirds of the population declare Christian as their religion.

Canadian Demographics at a Glance, Second edition. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/91-003-x/2014001/section03/33-eng.htm
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Singh, S. (2021, April 26). Sikhs to the rescue as India's covid-19 crisis rages. Sandeep Singh:

Sikhs To The Rescue As India's COVID-19 Crisis Rages. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from

https://www.baaznews.org/p/sandeep-singh-sikhs-to-the-rescue?s=r

TRT World. (2021, May 22). Sikh temple opens hospital to help Covid-19 fight in India.

YouTube. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/?gl=NL