Wednesday, March 5, 2008

#22 Joining weird religions

Most Hawaiians are affiliated with some sect of Christian religion. Either Catholic, New Hope, Jehovah's Witness or the Mormons. But somehow it seems that the weirder the faith the more of them join. They might not be full-blown members or attendees but Hawaiians always have ties to the weirder ones: Jehovah's Witness and Mormons. So you'll find small groups of Hawaiians trying to abstain from drinking alcohol and smoking, encouraging marriage before sex, not celebrating birthdays or Christmas, discouraging same sex marriage and not working on Sunday.

Funny thing is, many of today's Hawaiians' ties to weird faiths normally began long before they were born. Many times mom, dad, and the grandparents are strong members, but the kids lose interest along the way and are now enjoying life and the freedom from weird sabbath day practices. Never feeling the need to ask the questions of eternity: Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going?
Of course, this all begins to change once, marriage and children come into the picture. It's when this happens all of a sudden Hawaiians have a very special bond with things of spiritual nature and importance, so it's only common for many of them to seek out a religion later in life. Christianity seems the most suitable because doing good to their neighbors and living in a forgiving and loving way comes almost naturally for Hawaiian all around the world. Kinda hard imaging a Hawaiian practicing Bahai.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't think Mormons are weird. I married one.

Kids lost interest I think because they were forced to do things they didn't understand...

Mom D said...

Speaking of weird religions. Did you know that not only are you married to a Mormon but she has Jehovah Witness relatives, Seventh-Day Adventists, Bahais, and maybe a few born agains, too? Combined with the Catholics and tons of Mormons you've got quite a bunch there!

Gelfling said...

Hi!

I think being good to your neighbor and living in a loving and forgiving way is fundamental to a lot of religions, including Christianity! Maybe we are more alike than different if we look at the heart of it. =)