Week 9 - Future of Spirit Realm Studies - Ryan Tong

In the article “Connected: Indigenous Spirituality as Resistance in the Classroom”, the author Eric J. Ritskes claims the idea that spirituality is not the way that we believe it to be. Everyone in the Western thought believes that spirituality should be observed as one person’s journey to spirituality. However, this is not correct and that spirituality should be viewed differently, as that one person makes connections with the rest of the world. Spirituality is in fact, more focused on the community and not so much the person itself at all.

Back in my hometown in Alameda during high school, I would spend time studying every day with my friend. We would meet up at the library each day, whether or not we had homework to do. When we met up, we would touch base to see what was needed to be done, and study for an upcoming exam, do homework problems, or read the book.

To give him a name, we will call him Jen. We became better friends through this routinely study and Jen asked me to go to church with him and attend bible studies, and so I did.

As a person, I never had spiritual beliefs. My mother is atheist, unaware of how the world operates on a spiritual level. My father was a Christian, but quit doing so after a year. He has always told me that religion is a lie, used to corrupt and control people who follow a particular sect.

This did not stop me from attending bible studies with Jen. I entered the Christian group, skeptical of how things worked and observed how I would change. We would talk about how the life of Jesus Christ affects us and how he lives in all of our hearts. I began to understand and appreciate Christianity and religion as a whole.

However, despite my background after all these bible studies, I realized that it was not whether I agreed or disagreed with their beliefs. Whether I was as my skeptical and unbelieving self at the start of attending bible studies, or as I am now, able to appreciate Christianity as more than just a “brainwashing”, I realized that in both ways I enjoyed attending bible studies. It was a hang out with friends, where we can talk and have a good time. And in both phases of myself, I found that I enjoyed myself much more than I did at home or at school. This is the community that Ritskes talks about in his paper.

However, this brings up my questions for myself. Do I need to know what my beliefs are? Should I bring these questions towards myself and ignore myself as a center point to everyone else’s center, or follow Ritskes belief and formulate questions based on my connections?


Works Cited:
Ritskes, Eric. "Connected: Indigenous Spirituality as Resistance in the Classroom." Spirituality, Education & Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May 2017.