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Interacting with some people in the past couple weeks has shown me how ingrained religion is within our culture. Just the simple phrase: "oh my god" pops up so many times in regular conversations. Even the nonverbal communicative touching of the shoulders which communicates hope and prayer is something pretty prominent in conversations that I saw. Finally, seeing people wearing a cross whether it was a necklace or a tattoo, or even just owning a cross and hanging it somewhere like in their car is something I don't always normally notice.

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I was raised in a Catholic family and attended a Catholic k-8 school so religion was a large part of my childhood. Although I don't think of myself as a religious person and don't practice, I have learned a lot about the Catholic Bible and it's followers. I also work at a nursing home so I experience many different religions and their specific beliefs.

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I also see religion when my neighbors with the Jesus WiFi leave early on Sundays and greet me with a "God Bless" when I'm sitting outside with my morning coffee.

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I am christian and when I read my bible and read The Lord's Prayer, I used to and still get frustrated about wording. This is because of wording. So I read the same passage from the Orthodox Jewish Bible, and that was when I realized that wording is changed for modern understanding, and not necessarily kept from what one was taught. I was taught an older version of The Lord's Prayer not an "updated" version of it. While I am not Orthodox Jewish, it took me going through the Orthodox Jewish Bible to see and learn the realization of what I was thinking.

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Im muslim and i dont usually go to the mosque(place of prayer) but people who are very practicing offten go to the mosque. But something i noticed is that people who are not religious or religious always show up there on fridays which is a holy day.

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In my Music History class, we're learning about Gregorian Chant. The story told by the Church and the Roman Empire was that God sung these chants to Pope Gregory I, who then dictated them to a scribe. Historically, what may be more accurate is that Emperor Charlemagne pushed this story in order to standardize the practice of Christianity across the Roman Empire, to help him maintain control over Europe.

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We share a basement with my fiancé's grandparents and they are catholic! So, there’s numerous crosses, bibles and rosaries around the living room. His grandfather is also an artist and really enjoys making rosaries in his free time along with attending mass online. They also happen to have a few religious stickers on their car as well.  While I don't partake in any kind of religion, its very interesting to se how others practice these things and to see the art that comes out of it as well.

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I live next to 2 different Christian churches and they are only blocks away from each other. I did not realize how much I could notice once I take a more in depth look into my surroundings. I also tried to look out for more religious aspects in other things I do like playing video games. A lot of the music that I hear in game also has some religious aspects from the lyrics and also gives out a holy kind of vibe.

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I observe religion everyday as my family are active Muslims. I will see my uncle or cousins praying daily. I as well try to pray everyday. Likewise there is also a tasbih in my living room which is a prayer bead. My family as well does lectures once a week to learn more about Islam.

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Last week, I spent one evening at a celebration of life for my late uncle. I knew he had gone to church and went to a Catholic school when he was little, but I hadn't ever seen him show his faith through his actions or words. He and his kids never went to church, and his kids are also not religious, so I guess I had assumed he wasn't very religious anymore. However, one of his closest friends made a speech towards the end of the celebration, and in it he spoke about how much faith mattered to my uncle, even though he did not outwardly show it. He ended his speech with a prayer for him and my aunt, who also passed away. It really helped to reinforce in my mind the fact that for most people, faith is not something that is shown outwardly, but is a system of beliefs held within oneself.

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Working in a grocery store allows me to see many different people. One observation is that the store I work at has quite a few women who wear hijabs that shop at our store. I usually associate that with Muslim faith but the concept is the same as the outfit of a Catholic nun and even those of the orthodox Jewish faith will wear a hijab of sorts. I found that quite intriguing.

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Answer (1 of 8): Hijab is something that not only Muslims wear but all kind of religion encourages woman to wear a niqab(full body Muslim women's attire) that could hide their appealing body and to only show their face features.We Muslims believe that wearing hijab could avoid the danger of oppos...

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I most commonly hear about religion from my neighbors and occasionally on the news. Additionally, on my way home from work I often pass by a modern church that some people I know go to. While I don't actively observe a religion it's all around me and it's something that still intrigues me. Even though I'm not that religious, I still find myself saying "oh my God," or "Jesus Christ," out of habit. Religion is something that is all around us which is why we still continue to study it.

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I drive by churches and places of worship all the time.  This past Friday, I was making my way to the cities with my grandma when we drove past our old church.  As we roll by, she does the sign of the cross.  I don't know the reason why but she does it every time we drive, or walk past a church.

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When I originally started this assignment I ended up going on a rant about Evangelicals and anti-vaxxers (some being tied to certain aspects of the New Age movement), but I feel like it wasn’t really appropriate for the assignment. So, this is my second attempt. I’ll just say that The Evangelical church is often mentioned in my Twitter feed along with the variety of Islamic religions, being featured in the news. In my therapy group we practice mindfulness meditation every session. I’m often frustrated by the practice and I definitely need to get better at it. Many of my neighbors are Muslim and you can almost always see a woman in a hijab somewhere in my apartment complex. In my introduction I mentioned that I’m having a hard time deciding what to do in regards to my elderly dog. I’ve been thinking about doing a few Tarot readings to perhaps get some guidance on what to do. I don’t necessarily believe that they can tell the future, but I think reading the cards helps to tap into one’s subconscious mind. I have quite a few Tarot decks, one is a Druid Animal Oracle that focuses on a variety of animals. I also have a New Orleans Voodoo Tarot, and a Sandman deck that’s based on the Sandman comic book. I have the phrase “Neither the Earth produces me, nor the Heavens, but only wings of fire” tattooed on my right wrist. I could’ve sworn it was from the book of Enoch, but it’s not it’s from a book called The Legends of the Jews in it the phoenix is described as having the phrase inscribed on its right wing. I also have a phoenix tattooed on my shoulder blade. I’m wearing a Devil’s trap silver pentacle that is a symbol from the TV show Supernatural. I’m a huge fan of the show and it deals with a variety of folklore, mythology, and religious themes.

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My mother has an extensive collection of cross necklaces, and for years, can be seen wearing one of them everyday. She told me that growing up, she was not particularly religious until an event happened that changed her life. She was at her father's bedside when he passed. At that very moment that he died, she heard a flutter of wings (as in angels), and saw an outline of figures as he breathed his last breath. She said that she felt that they were some sort of supernatural beings that were transporting his soul to heaven. It was instantaneous, but it changed her whole orientation toward life after death. My mom is now 90 years old, and still has her faith.

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My old elementary school used to make learning about your own religion a requirement. If you were Muslim, they provided a class about Islam. If you were Jewish, a class about Judaism and so on. If you didn't subscribe to any form of religion they provided a class about philosophy/life which I found cool. This was also how I was first exposed to different religions.

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I always pass a big church on my way to work every day, I think it's a catholic church and there are always homeless people sleeping out front. It makes me wonder if they pray to god each night hoping things get better. If they think praying would help their situation.

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Joe Biden's speech yesterday regarding the terror attacks in Afghanistan referenced a passage from the Bible.

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One way I found out that religion touches my life is through work, I work at a grocery store and when I was discussing this assignment with a coworker he told me that we have part of an aisle dedicated to foods that are Kosher and Halal, which are mean that people of the Jewish faith (in the case of Kosher) and people of the Muslim faith (in the case of Halal) and I thought it was super interesting and I was kind of surprised I'd never noticed it before. I've also had people say things like "god bless" or "have a blessed day" when I help them find something, I don't personally practice any religion but it does come into my life relatively frequently.

Bonus fact: Halal is the Arabic word for "lawful" or "permitted" and it is used in contrast with the word "Haram" which means unlawful or not allowed!

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My father is the pastor of a church in my city, and while I don't consider myself to be religious anymore, that was still a big part of my childhood. It's very common to see people display Jesus' cross not only around their necks but in their homes as well. I've seen it in my coworkers but also in the homes of families that I nanny. I have a spiritual ring attached to my keys and celebrate non traditional holidays with my group of friends. It's quite unfortunate that a lot of rights pertaining to people in this nation are based off of people's beliefs in a book written thousands of years ago. A lot of news and media hang onto that idea, and it's especially present on social media like Facebook, Twitter and Tik Tok where there is a market for that kind of people.

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I notice religion around me in many ways.

Language is heavily influenced by religion; “Bless you!” when someone sneezes, Hail Mary pass, God willing, God forbid, grace of God, act of God, baptism by fire, Sunday’s best, blessing in disguise, speak of the devil, go to hell, oh my god. The use of words like “gosh” or “goodness” in place of God.

Symbols of religion are also everywhere; the cross or Star of David on jewelry or churches, hijabs, kippah, turban.

Body language; bowing ones head, hands in prayer, sign of the cross, kissing a relic, kneeling.

Religion is also in the news and politics. Separation of church and state isn’t really practiced in the U.S. Politicians pledge oaths on bibles, the word God is in our constitution and laws, religious beliefs are fought over and laws are created to enforce them. Not sure why this is tolerated in a diverse country where freedom of religion is valued.

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Religion has been a significant factor in my life. I grew up in a religious family, so this week was not hard to find something related to religion. I live right by a church, so I drive past it about ten times a day. I hear the church bells often, so I try to take walks close to the timing of the bells.  My mom and sister both wear cross necklaces. In addition, my mom and her husband watch church sessions daily, so I hear bible verses quite often when at home.

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Just like many others I grew up with religion around me and one thing that is always consistent is my mother. She is the most religious within the family so this week I was talking to her about it. She told me a story of how it has impacted her life by just having a presence in her life that she can always confide in when she's going through and hardships. One of which was the birth of my sister 21 years ago and that is why she dedicated the name Guadalupe to my sister. As always my mom always ends our calls with "God bless you and love you". So religion is never far away from me even though I do not practice it I do still have faith in it.

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It has been pretty easy for me to overlook the many different places of worship. Only because where I live there is a place of worship on almost every single block. I went to church as a child, which I didn’t understand why back then. However, now as an adult, there was a time where I did wander in one of these many different places of worship every Sunday in search of purpose and even god. I would like to say that after visiting a large handful of these places that I did find a sense of purpose, or god, or whatever one may feel when they are in a sanctuary of worship, but I didn’t. I know people worship for many different reasons and I fully believe that whatever you believe in is valid. So when I do notices these places of worship, I don’t think back to how I could find what I was looking for but I think about how beautiful and welcoming these parts of our community are.

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What I have observed within this past week was when I was working with a patient at work, I noticed she were holding a necklace with a cross dangling from it. I knew she was very anxious about her situation so I assumed that the cross gave her some comfort and helped her calm down. Another thing was my mom gave me a small book with scriptures that I could read when I'm in certain situations. My dad always refers to the Bible when I tell him about the situations I'm in every week. The last thing is I drive by about 5 different churches on my way to work mostly every day.

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My last university experience was from a much less diverse school, South Dakota State University. Most of the students who were enrolled in said college were white Christians. As someone who has always grown up and lived in a diverse and non-religious family, it was undoubtedly a culture shock. The first observation I made was regarding how it built a community of people for those residing in small towns. Everyone went to church together and all shared the same morals from it. While this made the community feel more connected in safe, it also made it difficult for me, an outsider, to feel that connection. This week, I was thinking more about some implications of how religion is in everyone’s life. From the simple saying “under god” in our national anthem, or how I subconsciously responded to my friend's sneezing with a “god Bless you.”

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One cant help but see Jesus fish stickers on cars driving on any road in our country. Here is an instance where religion, or a specific faith has become entangled with identity, or relegated to the vanity of image. These are some of the realms in which I see religion doing more harm than good, creating separation rather than unity.

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Religion is everywhere, and I've found it interesting to pay closer attention to each instance I encounter. I've seen positive and negative displays over the last few days, but one that resonates with me, even as a non-religious person, is that I love to listen to church bells. I live near St. Luke's cathedral, and I often pause on walks to absorb the rich, soulful sound. There's something about the way that the ringing of bells settles into the landscape instead of clashing with it, like so many other man-made sounds.

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I often encounter religion everyday because my parents practice Christianity. This means that I see a picture of Jesus everyday and also the Cross. Also, my parents have a rosary every Monday so I hear them pray. We also tend to say grace every time we have a meal.

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This week Afghanistan has been a hot topic in the news do to the Taliban takeover, because of this I’ve seen a lot of mention of Muslim practices and cultures, as well as stereotypes and extremist activities.

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Please remember to include your name on your post, thanks!

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An observation I came encountered with was that my grandma loves doing word search and she always asks me to purchase new books for her on amazon but she prefers the ones that include bible words.

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I often encounter religion because I practice Christianity, so every Sunday my family and I attend church. Our pastor often quotes scripture from his bible and elaborates on how we can improve ourselves and help others.

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Some religious references that I have observed that come to mind are in the film industry. For example, the trope of a "Christ figure" can be seen in countless films as well as religious symbolism and imagery.