Assignment
800-1200 words
Sociology: Visit to a Religious Event
Structure
While visiting my hometown, Iceland, during the Christmas holidays I decided to pay a visit to the Pentecostal Church in my neighborhood, Reykjavik, on December, 29th 2011. It is a cozy place of worship and well attended by a fairly distributed congregation of men, women and children. The audience was engulfed most of the time worshiping, calling on God loudly for help and offering adoration at the same time.
Appeal to senses
Upon approaching the building a light headedness took over me. I was not sure that others in the around me felt this way since people were dancing as if out of their bodies. Suddenly, everything appeared huge. The parking lots around the church looked bare and deserted by people.Immeditely, it seemed like a dream. However, I was determined to go into the building and join the worshipers.
On entering the building, I realized that I could not hear because the music was so loud an impeding deafness ensued. Definitely, my love for music was ignited, but the loudness disturbed my appreciation for it all. At this point it was me trying to contend with my own spirituality and the type expressed by the congregation that appeared to be wrapped up in the sentiments of that moment.
Invoking Experiences
Music is known to transcend cultures uniting various states of consciousness into oneness. My singing outburst could be depicted as an invoking experience. This was exemplified among activities observed within the group. For example, an old slender woman wearing a green and black outfit with marching church hat wandered crazily around the church. It would seem that she was filled with the Holy Ghost and could not identify with the real world experiences out side of herself.
With all of that fan fare my invoking experience was to respond to an uncouth young woman who physically assaulted the old wandering woman by pushing her. I was equally invoked to push back at her. More and more the attitude of worshipers invoked anger within me and subsequently I was forced to forgive myself of such anger and jealousy and continue to find some solace in the worship.
Participants’ Experience
The worship celebration included baptism by emersion. Actually the officiating minster at the baptism used to be a college during my adolescent. He is now converted to Pentecostalism and a faithful devotee of the tradition. When recognizing me in his congregation he whispered a greeting in unknown tongues which I could not interpret, but appreciated.
Three young men were converted to the faith and dipped into watery baptism hoping that they do not return to their evil ways of sinning. Further observations proved that while Pentecostal churches are unreasonably noisy they embrace people on the streets and point them towards the road of redemption.
Also credit must be given to the preachers who are charged with magnificent energy to keep the congregation fired up while in the building. It would appear that while they are there all troubles ware away until when they leave. There are speaking in tongues, interpretations, dancing in the spirit, wailing weeping, healing and many more inexplicable activities. Participants sing in celebration and worship. There is no time limit and they can go on for hours in the same attitude.
Religious subjectivity
My interpretation of religious subjectivity observed during the worship celebration among this Pentecostal congregation could be perceived from the paradigm of doctrinal obscurity. A major concern is targeted toward reasons for such loud music during worship. Was it for the purpose of invocation of the Holy Ghost or merely to activate a certain level of participation through which the congregation can drown their sorrows for a while?
Again, my experience with this denomination years ago based on doctrinal obscurity when they promised that my daughter would be healed if I continued praying and giving money to the church. It never happened and it was blamed on my faith. Obscurity of doctrine! It is the same as loud music and speaking in tongues. I cannot be a member of such a religious organization because I am still angry.
Bibliography
Durkheim Emile. Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Oxford World Classics, 1912.
Max Weber. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2009
Morrison Kenneth. Marx, Durkheim, Weber: formations of modern social thought. SAGE,
2006.
