The jigsaw assignments prove to be very thorough in the way they bring us individually together to learn about if conservative, traditional religions are indeed becoming more militant and what that does to their future.  I thought crafting a non-verbal display would be difficult—and it is; however, it makes it a little better in a group.  On Tuesday, my group and I discussed one of Professor Spickard’s own text; and it was a doozy.  The main idea followed religious change in response to the social and theological change happening all the time in America.  Nowadays, people shut out religion because it is deemed too “conservative”, or “militaristic”.  Professor Spickard states that this thought takes away the weight of religion and its stance in moral/ethical discussions.  In other words, it undercuts people to let religion be a part of the public conversation.  Nobody is talking about religion due to the way the media has displayed it as being too radical rather than something that can be seen as an ethical part of one’s life.

Then, for my next reading on Thursday, I learned all about the British organization called Quest; which is an organization dedicated to gay and lesbian Catholics as they are free to express both their religious and sexual identity.  What is fascinating is most of the respondents’ positions on the current issues.  For example; many Catholics are accepting of same-sex relations; as long as it is in a committed relationship—like marriage.  Another majority are completely against the idea of same-sex relations—and many of the Quest community do not believe that the institutionalized church will change its mind.