Finding My Religion

Story by Becca Rice

"Lord, we are breathing the breath that You gave us to breathe: to worship You, to worship You. And we're singing these songs with the very same breath: to worship You, to worship You."

Her bright red hair catches in the light of the candles flickering along the edges of the room. She brings her hands in front of her chest as she sings, palms facing toward her, fingers stretched toward the ceiling. Around her others sit and sing, while some hug friends nearby. In the balcony, one man spreads his arms wide, his fingertips outstretched as his voice joins the chorus.

It was a night like this, two and a half years ago at The INN, a Christian non-denominational ministry group, which sparked Western junior Julie Lynch's rediscovery of her faith. During the service she had a "this is it moment"-what some call a "spiritual birthday."

"I can't even remember what they talked about that day," Lynch reflects. "I just remember thinking, 'This is the place where what I've been taught and what I believe in the world come together as something so much bigger-a place where all my questions will be answered.'"

The INN University Ministries is one of 16 religious Associated Students clubs on campus. As students reach college and are faced with choosing classes, majors and friends, some find their spirituality is another question to ponder. As they enter a largely secular campus, some students will re-evaluate their faith and its current place in their lives. Some explore and advance in the faith they have grown up with, some seek out new religions to try, and others dissect and abandon their faith.

According to the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, the number of Washington residents who are not religious increased from 15 percent in 1990 to 25 percent in 2008. The number of Catholics in Washington decreased from 19 to 16 percent, and the number of "other Christians" dropped from 60 to 48 percent. Meanwhile, the number of believers of other religions, including Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism, increased from 2 percent to 5 percent.

The results of the survey show that the United States, as a whole, is becoming less religious. The number of people who claim no religious affiliation nearly doubled between 1990 and 2008, from 8.2 percent to 15 percent. With religious involvement down, what is it like to be a religious student at Western?

Assistant professor of liberal studies, Holly Folk, teaches religion in America and introduction to the study of religion courses at Western. Folk says college is a time of self-realization, where students investigate their religious beliefs to help figure out who they are and who they want to be.

"Being away from home, away from the watchful eyes of one's parents, allows students to consider if a particular religious message is right for them," Folk says.

College is also a time when many students leave their religions. According to an April 2009 study by The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, close to half of Americans have changed their religious affiliation at least once throughout their lives. Of those who change religions, the majority leave their childhood religion before they turn 24.

In her classes, Folk is struck by the number of students who call themselves an "ex-this or that." She says students may leave their faith for many reasons, such as a disconnection from their home church, negative experiences within their faith, or the feeling their religion is too controlling or condemning. However, other students use college as a time to experiment with new religious organizations and ones with which they were previously affiliated.

"Every single group in the world asks, 'Who am I? Do I have something I'm going to be able to contribute to this world?'" says Rabbi Levi Backman of the Chabad Jewish Center. "That's why it's very important for people to find out who they are [in their faith]. In college, [students] find places where they can express who they are outwardly and proudly."

Since she became involved in her faith, Lynch says she has never been happier. She has stronger relationships with her parents and friends and has removed herself from unhealthy relationships. She says she now makes more conscientious choices, including drinking in moderation and refraining from badmouthing people. Lynch says that comparatively, her happiest moments before she acknowledged God are not as bright as her happiness now.

"I've become really self-aware about who I am and who I want to be in my career and in my relationships with people," Lynch says. "My whole life has been transformed."

Struggles also come with her newfound faith. Lynch says her parents, who come from religious homes but are not practicing Christians, are understanding and eager to learn about who she has become, but at the same time have more difficulty relating to her.

"It separates a big part of my life from them," Lynch says. "It's not that they can't be a part of it-but they can't empathize in the same way [as they could if they were religious]."

Lynch says she wants to be able to share her beliefs with her parents, but does not want them to think she is trying to convert them. She also worries about what will happen to her parents after death as non-practicing people.

"I'm part of a religion that says you need to go through Jesus to be saved and go to heaven," she says. "I see two beautiful people I've been blessed with, and I have a serious concern for [them] in the afterlife."

When Lynch tells people she is a Christian, she says their immediate reactions are often negative. At Western, Lynch says she has found people often link Christianity to being Republican, an assumption she disagrees with. She says Christians and Democrats share values such as helping the poor and underprivileged, but that it is hard for people to look beyond their preconceived notions of who a Christian is.

"This world doesn't look on Christians very well-for legitimate reasons," Lynch says.

She says the question is: "How do you change that?"

Lynch feels she sometimes has to represent her faith in the classroom, and is careful to identify herself with her religious beliefs, but not to proclaim them. She says it can be scary to express her beliefs when she knows some people are quick to judge them.

"The typical college lifestyle is a struggle in understanding that it's okay to be different and that people will live a different life than you are," she says.

Western senior Kamran Rahman, founder and president of the Muslim Student Association, was born into the Muslim faith and says his religious participation has always been moderate. Rahman says his religion does not generally play a huge role in his daily decisions, but that Islam has had an influence over who he chooses as friends and what he does in his spare time. He hangs out with smaller, tighter-knit groups of friends and says he does not go out to a lot of parties, because they usually involve drinking.

Rahman is getting married this June, and says his engagement was faith influenced. Both he and his fiancée are Muslim, and Rahman says that if not for their religious beliefs, they would still have been dating and not engaged.

"In our religion, there's no concept of dating," Rahman says. "You're going into this with the intention of marriage."

To be able to marry his future wife, Rahman says he had to pull himself together. Prior to his engagement two years ago, he was unfocused and without a chosen major. Within two quarters of becoming engaged, Rahman had chosen a management information major and gotten a job.

"When you're engaged in my religion, the guy has to be able to provide for his family and wife," Rahman says. "The woman should never have to work to support the family. She should work if she wants to, but not because of economic need. [Supporting the family] is my purpose in the marriage."

Rahman started the Muslim Student Association in 2005 because he was used to having a place where he could relate to people of the same faith. In his hometown of Olympia, there are several mosques. In Bellingham, there is no official mosque, just an apartment that a Muslim family has rented to let the community use as a praying center.

The 16 or 17 active members in the association are close, and Rahman says it is nice to see other Muslims on campus since Western does not have a large Muslim presence.

"It helps to not feel you're the only one," Rahman says.

The group helps each other stay on track and abide by their faith, which Rahman says is difficult to do 100 percent of the time. He says his faith has helped provide him with a guiding path, which, alongside his engagement, has given him the discipline to graduate.

Members of the Muslim Student Association come from varied religious backgrounds. Some were born into their faith and some have become involved on their own accord. Rahman says many Muslims still retain their beliefs even if they are not practicing.

"You grow up with [faith]. You become accustomed to it," Rahman says. "It's almost equivalent to one's culture-it's hard to abandon it."

Lynch says she has seen friends go through changes in their faith, where they start asking hard questions about their religion and their frustration is apparent. Sometimes they become so frustrated they push away from God, whether temporarily or for the long haul, Lynch says.

"In college, people experience faith in a new way, and for some it's a complete rejection," Lynch says. "[In college] people have freedom and liberty, and they decide what to do with their freedom."

Rabbi Backman says he finds students are at times a bit hesitant, cautious or afraid when approaching religious organizations because of the imposing nature of some groups. He says the Chabad Center does not actively seek out membership, but hosts cultural events such as Friday-evening Shabbat dinners that are open to both Jewish and non-Jewish students.

"We have something to offer, and people can take it as much or as little as they want," Backman says. "It's not part of Judaism to convert people to our faith."

Backman does not encourage students to convert to Judaism during their college years. Conversion is not a simple process and Backman says classes should take priority. He believes students should investigate their own religion, if they have a religious background, before investigating Judaism.

"Everyone should find out who they are themselves, and go back to their roots first," Backman says.

The INN, like many other religious organizations, sponsors annual spring break mission trips. In 2008, Lynch traveled to Kingston, Jamaica with The INN, where her group worked to build a church.

By day, they mixed buckets of cement in the middle of the road and hoisted them on to the church roof, covered in rebar. They laughed and played cards with Jamaican college students and learned about their lives. At night, they shared their stories and testimonials about faith before returning to the dormitories where they slept-12 bunk beds to a room.

At the time of the trip, Lynch says she was still in the process of learning about God and Jesus Christ and what it meant for her to follow Him. It was in Jamaica that Lynch says she reached another turning point in her faith.

"[I saw] people having so much faith though they have nothing," Lynch says. "They'd pray for things like, 'I hope we can all eat dinner tonight.' It's so humbling to see how strong faith can be when you have nothing."

Lynch says she thinks she will continue to be religious throughout the rest of her life, though she fears she will only maintain her faith when it is good.

"Sometimes [my faith] rocks my boat, and I ask, 'Is this what I want to be? Is this what I want to be associated with?'" Lynch says. "But God keeps coming back."