Research Exploratory Blog 2: Research Prospectus

The topic I have picked to write about is how Catholicism motivates people using fear through bible passage interpretations, sacraments, a sense of "community," traditions, and practices to try to attempt to gain their own salvation while ignoring the overall message of the religion. I will discuss how Catholicism has become dealt with in fear and lost focus from it’s true purpose and examine how one is able to live a good, faithful life by placing this fear behind them and opening themselves up to something that is greater and bigger than themselves: life itself. As a Christian man leaning towards Catholicism, I am very passionate about this issue and have witnessed many people fall into the same trap of blindly accepting things they do not fully understand out of fear of going to hell. In this paper I wish to not only express my thoughts about living a life without having to accept fearful ambiguity but explain how one can grasp life for what it is and accept the lack of knowledge humans have for many of the Catholic teachings and practices- and for every religion in that case- and use religion to grow both on a personal and spiritual level in the absence of any sort of encouraged fear that stems from the focused “higher power” one chooses to invest his beliefs in. I am not against Catholicism as I do label myself as “Catholic,” but I believe that Catholicism, like all religions, must be dealt with in a specific manner to ensure maximum potential for growth, hope, and moderate faith-based understanding without being afraid of what could happen if you do not follow as deliberately and literally as possible.

My thesis question is the following: how does Catholicism encourage people to faithfully follow the religion by using methods of fear in its bible passage interpretations, sacraments, ideas about community, traditions, and practices? To answer my thesis question I will first begin with explaining how humans acquired the concept of religion then offer what Catholicism has managed to do well as a religion itself. I will then move on to break down separate components of the Catholic faith that have become approached with through fear of the consequences of not accepting entirely the teachings enforced by Catholicism. I will explain how certain bible readings at the Catholic mass use fear to encourage people to essentially “do good” to avoid going to hell. I will explain how some of the sacraments have encouraged people to use religion as a sort of security from their fear and place their worries and mistakes on the Church in the hopes that it will be able to fix all their problems and give them a certain level of comfort going forward in life. The idea of the Catholic “community” will also be a point I attempt to break down by explaining how the true purpose of Catholicism (a “universal” religion based on love) has diverged from its original path and narrowed itself off from the initial intention of universality through the receiving off the Eucharist at daily Catholic mass. Lastly, I will explain how certain Catholic teachings and traditions have induced fear in the Catholic community of believers by causing people to blindly accept ideas they may not fully understand just to avoid the consequences of sin (aka going to hell).

A counterargument to my thesis question could be that religion has encouraged people to do amazing things all throughout history. The idea of “charity” will come into play because religion has, without a doubt, been a positive thing for the development of humanity as it has brought people to do things for others they may never have taken part in if religion did not exist. Also, the notion that Catholicism uses fear to motivate people to follow can be broken down by explaining how the only people that fear are those who are not adequately educated on the main message of Catholicism and only follow the religion to gain their own salvation when they die. These people are the ones that fear because their knowledge on Catholicism has not been expanded to the point that they actually understand what they are following. A counterargument against my argument for the sacraments could be that the sacraments do not offer people a “blanket of security” but an opportunity for spiritual growth in the attaining of God’s grace.  Another counterargument for my points about the traditions and practices of Catholicism could be that these things are not meant to be taken literally but serve to remind people of the history of religion and how it has managed to stay strong and exist in such a long period of time. Finally, a counterargument for my points on Catholic bible interpretations could be that the bible passages read at daily mass are not suppose to be taken literally but only motivate people to do good as opposed to using fear to scare people into serving others.

For my research I will use an up to date version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and a Bible. I will use also use a two and a half hour debate between famous atheist author Christopher Hitchens and former British Prime Minister and Catholic convert Tony Blair on “Is Religion a Force for Good in the World?” I will cite the book A Soul of the Man under Socialism written by Oscar Wilde and I will search for scholarly articles using Google scholar or the online database for the UF Education Library. The book Awareness by Anthony de Mello will also be used in my research in explaining how Catholicism works in the modern world. After my research I hope to acquire new insight on how a deeper understanding and knowledge of one’s religion (specifically Catholicism) can open up a world of personal growth and a strong faith-based spiritual foundation. I also wish to discover how people who have not been exposed to religion (aka do not follow a religion) can still lead faith-filled lives centered around spirituality and a deep understanding that life after death is not only for those who have a religious label.

My three credible sources are as follows: 1) the “Biblical Interpretation” academic journal published by Brill Academic Publishers, 2) “The Fear of God and Human Respect” article published by the Catholic Tract Society of Baltimore based on doctrinal and controversial works in the Catholic Church, and 3) a book by Philalethes centered on the exposition of the principles of the Roman Catholic Church religion with remarks on how it has affected the United States. I will use the first source to help explain how some interpretations of the Bible can be seen as a scare tactic to motivate people to do good deeds. The second source will help me explain how some Catholic teachings and doctrines can be scene as controversial and confusing which cause people to accept them anyways out of fear of not accepting them. The third source will help me describe how religion has affected people in society as a whole and how the absence of religion is not necessarily a bad thing.

By exploring the thesis question I have given in this research prospectus I hope to inspire people to rethink why exactly they are a part of a religion. In doing so I also hope to motivate people to dig beneath the surface of their religious beliefs and try to understand fully the ideals of how their religion works in their everyday lives to better themselves so they may have a more fulfilled spiritual life experience.