"Faciendi et Credendi" means, in Latin, "Believing and doing." For the Christian, this should evoke the Letter of James: "What good is it if someone says he has faith but does not have works?" (2:14). It also evokes the idea that the study of religion involves both the beliefs and practices of a religious community. Finally, it recalls that students of theology and religious studies are engaged in both classroom learning and active participation in volunteer service, ministry, etc.

Faciendi et Credendi is the blog for the Religious Studies/Theology Program at Loras College. It is an ongoing, public account of student progress that the program requires of all its majors. The blog provides an electronic “space” for students to reflect on their experiences as a major and on the relationship of those experiences to other facets of their life at Loras.

In order to post to the blog, first find the appropriate topic by clicking on the Blog Prompts tab. Find the prompt based on how long it has been since you declared your religious studies/theology major. Then, return to the Home tab and click on New Post in the top right corner of the page. This will open an html editor where you can type your post.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Second Semester After Declaring Major. Week 6


I am ending my second semester as a religious studies major and and wrapping up a religious studies elective class called Religion and Consumer Culture.  Although this class is not listed in the three categories below, it would fit under Group Three.  This group talks about being able to use theology to interpret beliefs and practices- religious or more broadly cultural- within the contemporary world.  

In this class, we looked at different aspects that make up a religion and by comparing these to aspects of consumerism, we looked at the possibility of it actually being considered a religion.  In order to do this, we specifically looked at  consumerism through the eyes of Christians and Buddhists and some other ideologies such as Marx.  

By looking at consumerism through these different religions and ideologies, I was able to get a better understanding of how consumerism not only has beliefs and practices that is enforces, but it also can be compared and contrasted to the beliefs and practices of religions.  For example, consumerism tries to get consumers to believe that through the consumption of goods, all of their desires can be fulfilled.  When we compared this to the beliefs of Christians, we saw that Christians' beliefs would contrast this and say that consumerism can only fulfill some desires and when it does, they are short term.  Christians say that God has put a desire in everyone to know, love and serve Him and this desire cannot be fulfilled by material possessions regardless of what consumerism tries to convince us of; only he can fulfill this desire. 

Overall I thought this was a great class.  I learned a lot about religions through studying consumerism.  Maybe if consumerism was looked at in light of a few more religions other than Christianity and Buddhist, it would have given even more of a clear picture of its religious aspects and how other religions view consumerism.

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2 comments:

  1. Dr. John Waldmeir, Associate Professor, Loras CollegeApril 5, 2013 at 1:50 PM

    Chelsea:

    Thanks very much for reflecting on the course with Dr. Darr--Religion and Consumer Culture. I wish we could offer the class as part of our permanent rotation but right now that isn't possible. I'm glad you found it helpful.

    It sounds like one of the issues raised by the class is one that won't go away as you move deeper into the major, namely, what exactly is "religion?" In our world today, it sure seems like we treat all sorts of things as religious that don't fit within the parameters of an accepted tradiiton. Nevertheless, they motivate us in many of the ways organized faiths have influenced their followers for generations. I hope that you'll keep this issue in mind as you enroll in other courses and feel free to ask questions about it whenever you can. Thanks again for the thoughtful post. jw

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  2. David PittApril 9, 2013 at 9:43 AM

    Chelsea:

    I too am happy to hear that you found "Religion and Consumer Culture" to be a helpful course. I am very much intrigued by the subject matter (and in first learning about the course, wished that I could sign up to take it!). More particularly, I frequently think not only about the way in which people intentionally decide to do things that reinforce their beliefs, but the way in which doing things shapes how we believe (even unintentionally).

    I find myself wondering, then, about the different ways in which we end up unintentionally behaving as consumers when it comes to religion (for example: choosing to listen to particular Christian Contemporary musicians; choosing to attent particular parishes; and even choosing to attend particular masses within a parish). But more importantly, if we end up behaving like religious consumers, how do those behaviors end up affecting our religious beliefs?

    What are some of your thoughts on these issues?

    Dave Pitt

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