Reflection Paper

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Recommended: Similarity and difference between Buddhism and Christianity

I grew up going to church. To me, back then, that’s just what you did. I never felt comfortable in a church, nor did I understand anything in or about the Christian faith. I went to different churches and bible study groups. I’d go with my friends to their churches and I would sit there awkwardly. I never told anyone that it didn’t make sense to me because I thought I was stupid or I was betraying my religion. As I got older I discovered other religions and what they believed in. I learned that it was okay not to be Christian. When I was ten, I moved to Columbia City, a very white, conservative Christian town. I already felt out of place because of skin color; I didn’t want to add my religious views to that. I forced those doubting thoughts …show more content…

We all formed a circle and they sang songs. The pastor played this hand drum, someone else played the guitar, and a few people sang. I felt a sense of community when this happened. Everyone was smiling and swaying to the music.
It seemed somewhat intimating when I had to find struggles faced from this group because Christians are a privileged group, but when I asked some of the members, I did find some answers. Some people mentioned that it is hard to maintain faith, because we are surrounded by science. Others mentioned how they disliked when people assumed certain things about them. People will assume that they all act perfect, or that they’re all republicans, or that they hate certain groups that aren’t like them. I found this information to false promptly after I had discussions with them, and they shared personal …show more content…

While talking to a few of the members we started talking about things you aren’t supposed to do. I decided to do more reading about it. In Christianity, you have the Ten Commandments. I related these to the first Five precepts in Buddhism. The difference between these are in The Ten Commandments it mentions that people of Christian faith will have no other Gods before their God (Watson, 1965, pg. 41). In Buddhism, there isn’t really a belief in God, so these parts of the Commandments aren’t similar. In the Ten Commandments, it says thou shalt not kill, commit adultery, or steal (Watson, 1965, pg. 110-130). In the Five Precepts, they say do not destroy life, commit sexual misconduct, or steal (Kozak, 2011, pg. 54). The Commandments and the Five Precepts are similar in this manner besides a few minor tweaks. I found this to be interesting because, to me, this means that people, no matter if they’re religious or not, all have similarities. Everyone should have these few basic values in life, and if people can realize their similarities, we can work towards a better

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