RJ 23

Open topic: I would like to take this open topic opportunity to reflect somewhat on the work I have already done as well as lay out future plans for my research. I did my first interview with a non-Catholic on Tuesday, and some of the answers I heard were astounding to me. This person was a member of a Christian church, and but he stated that he really had respect for Catholics. He personally has never discriminated against Catholics, but he thinks people view Catholics as “drinkers.” He has heard people say they want to join the Catholic church so they can drink. This is far-fetched and I have never came upon this before, but nonetheless, I thought it was very interesting. This man is a very Christian person and values his faith. The next man I interviewed, a senior here, was also non-Catholic but he doesn’t go to church. He has an interesting background that contributes to the way his thinks. He is from LA, California, so he is very open and used to diversity. He went to a Catholic high school and when asked if he would ever consider becoming a Catholic, he said NO, it’s not for me, it’s too strict, there are too many guidelines. This is stereotypical of the religion. It is often said to be too strict. He loves his faith but likes not going to church and having NO rules imposed upon him. He is a free bird. He describes the Catholic faith as unpractical. He does agree with Catholics on some issues, including Confession. He said confession is a great, great thing. He paralleled confession with counseling. When you have problems, you go to a counselor to talk about them, get them off your chest, and feel better. When you have sins, you go to a priest and confess them, get them off your chest, and feel better. I thought that was an awesome parallel, although we as Catholics do not go to confession for counseling purposes, but that is definitely an added bonus. I interviewed the president of CSO as well. He has some interesting insights- he hasn’t been a victim of Catholic discrimination. I am finding out all sorts of things! He said yes, discrimination is out there, but none of it is serious, or at least none that he has encountered. He likes the small church atmosphere and welcoming environment. I could agree with him on this one, as the welcoming environment of St. Joe’s appears many times in my fieldnotes from masses and Bible studies. I found it weird that he hadn’t ran into any discrimination. While pondering this, I wondered if he hadn’t because most of the people he hangs out with the most or associates with are Catholics. He agreed that most all of his friends here in Commerce and back home are Catholic, and therefore, I can conclude that is a reason he hasn’t been exposed to discrimination due to his religion. Our Bible study on Wednesday took a different twist. Veronica was taking care of a sick child, so Dr. Joe ran it. He read one of his deaconate papers to us, almost like a story time. I enjoyed it and learned a lot, but it was more of a teacher-student setting than a friend-friend conversational setting like we are used to with Veronica. It was a nice change of pace though. Dr. Joe is a truly remarkable man. As for future plans, I am interviewing Father George today along with my last non-Catholic interviewee. That only leaves my one for interview, Dr. Joe, and I have an appointment on November 30 with him. It will be very interesting to get a few more perspectives and start to draw some conclusions. I am excited to see what the final project will look like. My portfolio is coming along wonderfully as well.

Add a comment November 19, 2009

RJ 22

RJ 22

I am well on my way with this project. My WA4 is nearly completed, and I have done three out of nine interviews. I have two more scheduled for this week, so by the end of this week I will have over half of my interviews done. I am learning so much about the different perspectives people have. I still continue to take fieldnotes every Wednesday at Bible study and mass, along with the little fieldnotes I take while interviewing people. The only questions I have were regarding my codebook, but I think I have it figured out, and I think that more codes may arise as I continue to do interviews. All I need is support and encouragement! J

Updated Annotated Table of Contents:

1. Artifacts
   a.CSO/Catholic Church announcement card provided for students at a booth at orientation: This is a card that I got at orientation after signing up for CSO. It provides two prayers, mass times, and general church information, including contact information.
   b. Handouts after mass: I have five sets of the handouts they give after mass. This is where all announcements go. It lists mass times and has sections for your own reading. It has “Responding to God’s Word” sections that help you deepen the understanding of your faith at home.
   c. Hot dog cookout handout: This handout was for the first CSO event, one of which I could not attend due to soccer. It was a hot dog cookout that got all the members together for fellowship and fun. They talked about what they wanted to accomplish this year through CSO.
   d. Chi Alpha card: This was handed out at Bible study. A few of the boys were urging more CSO members to go to this Christian group on Tuesday nights.
   e. Bible Study handout: This handout states the readings we will be going over in Bible study that night, and has a quote at the bottom pertaining to the reading. There is also space on this for students to take notes throughout the night.
   f. Parish Registration Form: This is the form you would fill out to become a member of the parish.
   g. Parish Directory pictures reminder handout: this handout has a place to put the time/date you signed up for to take pictures for the parish directory. Olan Mills will be taking the pictures at no charge to the parishioners.
   h. “Faith Beyond the In-Crowd” : This is a letter written by a bishop that Father George e-mailed to me. It is so rich with information about people today that once belonged to the Catholic church but were pushed away. It will be very useful to my study, as it is a recent letter (dated July 16, 2009).
2. Fieldnotes and Expanded Fieldnotes: This section includes all of my many sets of fieldnotes. Most of them are from masses, and Wednesday night Bible studies. I have one interview (Veronica Juarez) in here, and my Commerce Week on Writing fieldnotes are also in this section. I have interviews with Brittney Yager and Carlos Robles as well. These interviews are so interesting and provide me with tons of information.
3. Permission Slips: This section includes the permission slips of all my interviewees (some of them are not completed, but the ones I have interviews set up for are!)
4. Writing Assignments: Up to now, this section has my revised WA1, WA2, and WA3. This will be where all of my writing assignments go.
5. Research Journals: I have RJs 1-21 in here. It is all very organized!

Summary: Throughout my research in interviews I have found many interesting facts. I would like to start with an artifact I had e-mailed to me by Father George. This was a letter written by a bishop this past July about how one of the biggest groups in American society today is “ex-Catholics.” It pretty much tells a story about him, but it provides some good info. I interviewed two CSO students, one male – Carlos Robles, and one female – Brittney Yager. I was shocked to find that Brittney hasn’t been confirmed yet and she is more of a person that goes to mass on their own, whereas Carlos has rich history in the Catholic church, especially since he was born in Mexico. They both value their faith and enjoy CSO and Bible studies so much. They both like the fact that Bible study gives us a “sense of belonging.” There were common answers on many of the questions I asked them. Carlos kept saying people misunderstand our love for Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, and the saints. He said people think we worship Mary and the saints. In reality, we ask for their intercession on our behalf, they are helping us grow closer to God and eventually get closer to Heaven. Brittney was confused on the belief of Confession. When I asked her about it, she said that’s the ONLY thing about our faith that she doesn’t really agree with, but she just does it because that’s what we’re supposed to do. I was shocked by this. I didn’t know that so many Catholics didn’t know the reasons they do what they do. Veronica Juarez was so correct in her statement that the uneducated Catholics are the biggest threat to the church, they are portraying our faith, and if they are doing so incorrectly, others get the wrong ideas and that is where misconceptions and judgments occur. All three of my interviewees have been victims of discrimination due to their Catholic religion. I get the feeling that no one really takes too personal. Many words offend the Catholics, but they said they never hesitate to correct someone that doesn’t know what they are talking about. Many arguments that arise about Catholicism are from uneducated people that think they know what they are talking about when they really don’t. I thought it was interesting that Carlos said that he has been discriminated against much more here in the U.S. than in Mexico, where he was born into a Catholic community. This makes sense because the diversity of our religion here poses more potential for tiffs among them. I plan on interviewing Tyler Lokey, a male Baptist student. I can’t wait to do my first non-Catholic interview and get a NC perspective! I think these will really lead me to see what exactly it is that makes people think the way they do about Catholicism. Finally, an overriding theme in all my interviews was the history of the church and its tradition, which then translates into our ritualistic mass. The rituals we do at mass may seem odd, but the mass is an old thing. We aren’t (shouldn’t) be going to mass to be entertained. Many people stray from the church do to boringness, no entertainment on Sundays, or better youth programs at other churches. They fail to recognize the meaning of the mass, and the meaning that has been passed down through tradition. We are the oldest religion here on Earth, and everyone else branched from us. There is a reason we have stayed alive this long. Only time will reveal what fun facts I will unravel next! (P.S. my portfolio is filling up and becoming so awesome! I am excited for the final project!)

Updated Codebook:
CP: from a Catholic Perspective
NP: from a Non-Catholic Perspective (These need to be evident because I am getting viewpoints from both Catholics and Non-Catholics.
LK: Lack of knowledge (a main reason for discrimination)
Rit: Ritualistic (reason for discrimination)
CinE: Christ in Eucharist (a concept many don’t understand, and therefore a cause of discrimination)
CON: Confession (raises problems and discrimination)
P: papal authority-aka, the Pope. (many people think we worship him- cause for discrimination)
M: Mary, Mother of God (people think we put too much emphasis on her and “worship” her as well, problem for discrimination)
CSO: Catholic Student Organization
BS: Bible Study
MED: Media, a main form of transportation of discrimination

Add a comment November 19, 2009