Faith a Pathway to Discipline (Essay Sample)

Faith a Pathway to Discipline
James Begin
Post University
FAITH, A PATHWAY TO DISCIPLINE
In the contemporary religious world, the distinction between faith and conformity seems to be so blurred. The younger generation seems to be unduly influenced into perceiving existence of faith without necessarily being given enough reason to do so. Such premature belief could be occasioned by real fear of sanctions from the older society; or fear of being perceived as deviant by the older generation. This assertion is greatly informed by two articles touching on Faith and Conformity. The first article is, "The Five Glorious Mysteries" written by Genevieve Cotter talks about parents from Montana who brainwashed their six children into believing by subjecting them to daily rituals of reciting the Rosary a given number of times (Cotter, 1998). With a similar theme, the second article "Salvation" highlights how children can be cornered into coming to "Jesus" and be ultimately saved (Hughes, 1940). In a special meeting for children at a revival at Auntie Reed’s Church the vicar and congregation endeavored "to bring young lambs to the fold" (Hughes, 1940). The nine children in the church were urged on to come and be saved by "Jesus" and it appears that; especially for the main character, Langstone, there were little options left since he was under pressure to impress both the minster and his aunty. Sometimes parents pressure their children into conforming to their faith with disciplinary actions, be it subtle or forceful, it could actually serve to push their child further away from the parent's belief.
The first article "The Five Glorious Mysteries" portends a family with very tacit and stringent rules and schedules on conformity, set by parents for their children to conform to without any shred of objection. This move as partially effective but still it faced tremendous mindset resistance from some children like the main character. The main character illustrates his frustration with the system by giving memories of how he once tried to rebel against reciting the rosary. He says that, ‘….This is the nightly ritual of our home. No one escapes it. No excuses are accepted. Last year, when I was 9, I tried to be an exception to that rule. I never tried it again. Dad knocked me off the chair when I didn’t kneel down. What’s more, I impressed, by my example, all my brothers and sisters. They’ve never tried to test the rule again’ (Cotter, 1998). This implies that the children partake in the process in a bid to fulfill conformity requirements but not out of faith. A good number of them do not do the prayers and rosary on their own volition, but under duress and coercion of either circumstances or parents. With respect to this article, the main character never believed in that conception of faith; neither did he enjoy participating in the ‘ritual’. But nonetheless he had to do it out of fear of sanctions from his father. The same can be said of three of his other siblings. This article implies that in a world whether dogmatic following of religion is insisted on by parents; the children are likely to drift away even further by delving deep into criticism of the whole process rather than praying with the rest.
The second article, "Salvation”; takes a slightly different approach on how children can find themselves believing even if they don’t pontificate the same. The parents devised a disguised coercive way of subjecting their children to inordinate pressure to give their lives to "Jesus". Having been subjected to immense pressure from the congregation, which includes their parents, the children are left with no option but to get saved. In fact, they take the whole idea of salvation for granted after all. As Langstone recalled, "…….Finally Westley said to me in a whisper: "God damn! I'm tired o' sitting here. Let's get up and be saved." So he got up and was saved." This they do, only to impress the crowd, without any fear of repercussions. The build up to salvation as perceived by the church is also coercive because the children are not even allowed to think for themselves. This is how the vicar induced Langstone into being saved by singing the famous â...