FREE ESSAY ON BELIEF, COMMUNAL AND SEEKER

BELIEF, COMMUNAL AND SEEKER

Belief, Communal and Seeker religious styles are used widely in the video series in this
course. I believe most people can identify with each style at one point in their lives.
The belief style deals with boundary questions. It is the basics that make up what you
think and hold to be true. Communal style is belonging to a group that hold the same
truths as you do. It is like being a part of a community. Seeker style is for those who
may have held certain truths, but are now unsure. The community in which they belonged
now doesn't seem to fit. Or the seeker may just be asking more profound questions. There
is much validity in the study of each of these styles. It may turn our study inward to
where we are, belief, communal, or seeker? 
All religions began with a myth of some sort. Be it Christianity and the creation of the
world or Buddhism and the journey of Siddharta to enlightenment. Myth can also point to
the future. The communication of myth is often acted out in ritual. One example is the
Last Supper. Which is still celebrated today in most Christian churches in America. Each
may have a peculiar way of doing so, but the message is still the same. 
Symbolic depth helps laity understand myth in religion. There may be certain truths that
are either too abstract or difficult to understand, so explanantions are made to aid in
understading. One may not be able to understand why humans are inevitably going to die.
An Indian legend or story from Genesis in the Bible can satisfy the curiousity. It may be
an explanation that is silly to some and widely accepted by others.
Some key function of myth in religion as discussed in Beliefs and Believers and the video
series are as follows: It answers profound life questions. This is important to religious
followers as described in the above paragraph. It guides individual and collective
behavior. Myth makes up the basics of religion. It is these basics that make up the
behavior of the believer. It affects how they act and react in respect to their beliefs.
It engenders self-esteem and empowerment. All people want to feel good about themselves.
We have an inner need to believe we are a part of something great and we are important.
It orders existence. From the history of the beginning to how its all going to end, myth
in religion sets things in a certain order. It provides reverence for the past; hope for
the future. In order for something or someone to have substance, there has to be a
beginning. Credibility is not given to fly-by-night operations. History gives this depth
and a clear plan for the future completes the package. 
Myths have certain characteristics. Myths are symbolic, imaginative, like art. This lends
itself to the drawing power of religion. It can be poetic, beautiful, and peaceful. Myths
are revelatory; they reveal special truths. To be part of a revelation allows the
believer to truly belong to a religion. When a person knows more, they accept more. Other
characteristics are subject matter including primeval origins, ancestral models, herioc
lives, ritual specialists (shamans or priests), and future expectations. 
Mythic performance as described by J.L. Austin, a modern philosopher, is 
-words that do rather than state or describe anything. It seems that J.L. Austin's
insight into mythic performance is much about first and the celebration of such. In
celebrating an event at relatively the same time each year, it almost makes it seem to
the celebrators that that day is present. Like wise Mircea Eliade deals with the essence
of time in understanding myth. In letting oneself truly explore the beginning, we can
relive these things and come to a deeper understanding.
The Australian Aboriginal Religion's concept of myth is within their belief system in the
Dreaming. In the Dreaming, Aboriginal truths are described such as the creation of all
things, how to hunt, Basic laws (right and wrong), some only for men, some only for
women. Once again, the Dreaming deals with firsts, how all there is came to be. It
involves how out of a formless substance rivers, streams, mountains and the entire
landscape was formed. Ancestor beings shaped this landscape. Some of these beings became
permanent geological feature while others ascended up into the sky. 
Although myth at one time meant to me that something was false. I now see myth,
especially in religion, as firsts, beginnings, history.