Everyday Religion (Sumblog 4)

I think that one of my favorite topics we've discussed so far is that of Everyday Religion. It takes a step away from the institution of religion and looks at it with a more human perspective. Instead of religion being this undefinable thing, it's a part of people's everyday and it brings it from the concept of the sacred into the profane. I found a very interesting article about wearing the symbols of one's religion everyday and how that affects the people and how they feel about their religion. 

The article, titled Wearing Faith on your Sleeve, looks at several religions; Islam, Sikh, Chistianity and Judaism and symbols such as the crucifix, Sikh turbans, hijab and more. The students that speak in the article talk about why they wear what they do and how it affects perceptions of them. One student, a member of the Sikh faith, feels that the perceptions of the Sihk give him a large expectation to live up to and it molds his character. Another student, of the Muslim faith, says that she tries to smile all the time so people don't perceive Muslims as withdrawn or rude. All in all I really enjoyed the article and definitely recommend reading it; it's not too long and gives some pretty interesting insights. 

On a more personal note, I realized that while I wear my Pentacle most days, I often have it tucked into my shirt. Growing up in a heavily Christian area and family I always feel like it may be unacceptable to walk around with it openly. I also feel a lot of people have misconceptions about Paganism and I don't want to be associated with those misconceptions. So while I keep my faith with me everyday, I don't do it openly like those in the article I read and reading their experiences gave me some interesting insight into myself.