Progress Update

Quick Recap

Second week into 505 and I narrowed down my problem to the religious awareness of San Francisco State University. Coming to pinpoint my problem was not easy because I was also interested in weight loss, organic food, urban gardening, user interface, etc. At the same time, I knew the topic of religion is a bit of a touchy subject and I would be shooting myself in the foot if I fail to present my case logically. Due to time constraints, I was challenged to choose one topic I was truly passionate about. 

DAI 505: Research & Development

I started to notice San Francisco State University's lack of religious awareness about four years ago. I became Christian, a.k.a. "a follower of Christ" around that time and was genuinely interested in sharing my faith. Prior to that, I was Atheist from the age of 7 and was able to make any religious high school student look like they were believing in myths and superstition. In a way, as an Atheist, I was also "sharing my faith" with others so that they could see how foolish religion was. To make a long story short, I met a few Christians who were reasonable and logical. They helped me see that I was judging a religion without knowing the doctrine from which it came from (I grew up with a Catholic background and went to Sunday School before I decided to call myself an Atheist).

When I decided to "follow Christ", it was after locating a resource on campus (a bible study group) where I could invest some evenings investigating the doctrines without a bias. The hardest part of that experience was coming up with questions that didn't make me look dumb. But over time, I was able to ask many questions of interest. By going to bible studies, I actually learned how to actively listen and was able to assess the truth claims of the Bible for myself. I also learned how to dive into deeper conversations with others who were from different backgrounds, which is so important at SFSU because we're so diverse.

I wanted to see where my colleagues were coming from in regards to their religious belief. I spoke to two different types of students: native students & international students. Surprisingly I found many of the international students were open to talk about one's religious belief. Native students had a relativistic attitude towards religion. It sounds something like, "If you're religion works for you, that's great. Mine, whether I have it or not, is working for me too. Nothing to really discuss here. As long as we're happy and get along." That was the reoccurring theme of my experience. Though, I have my suspicions as to why my colleagues did not want to discuss: 

1. They don't know what the claims of each religion are, 
2. They hold the view that religion is irrelevant to today's context (This view actually needs to be challenged), or 
3. They believe that happiness equals no division.

This is a problem because our society is left with superficial knowledge about "religion".