Meet the Believers Analysis

Erin E. O'Brien

Arizona State University

SOC 420, Weight

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For my first interview, I discussed the religion of Unity with a family friend, Janice. She

informed me from the start that Unity and Unitarian are two different religions. In the religion of

Unity, the beliefs are based on teachings of the Bible, combined with Tao, Buddhism, New Age,

Free Thought, and Metaphysics. One of the major beliefs is the law of attraction which states that

what one puts into the universe is what comes back to them. When discussing Janice’s religious

background, I discovered that she was raised Catholic but has attended many types of churches

and is open to other religions. She said that she has been a part of Unity for about six years. When

I asked her about what led to her change from Catholicism to exploring other religions and

ultimately identifying with Unity, she stated that is was through her own discovery and research.

This is a perfect example of Rational Choice Theory in action, where one uses the experiences,

knowledge, and resources available to them to make personal decisions (Johnstone 2006 pg. 37).

Some of the ways in which Janice practices this religion is through attending services, praying,

meditating, attending self-awareness seminars, practicing the law of attraction, and healthy mind

and body practices.

Janice shared with me that that the guiding statement of Unity is that “all people are

welcome and accepted.” Specifically, the church that she attends posts their purpose as “At Unity

of Mesa, we enlighten, empower, and energize one another to uplift our world through a greater

expression of God” (Our Purpose). This is truthful of her experiences with her church and has

helped her develop more empathy, understanding, compassion, and love for all people of the

world. This led me to ask her more about the way her religious views impact her perspective on

social issues such as gender identity, racial differences, and science. With Unity being accepting

of all, this was a fairly simple conversation. She feels that because of this, she does not judge others

based on their gender identity and is open to what they feel is most comfortable for them.
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Similarily, she is open and accepting of all races. She said that often the message that they receive

at the church is that there is a need to strive to close the gap of racial divide in our country. With

so much conflict arising in our country today, Janice believes that although Unity is a small fraction

of people within a large group of religions, they can make a large impact on society through their

acceptance and love for any and all kinds of people. It will be through this practice of love and

acceptance that Unity is able to grow. In terms of science, Unity uses some studies of metaphysics

and psychology to apply to the role of positive attitude and law of attraction in their beliefs.

Janice was very open in sharing her views with me and confident in her beliefs. She feels

that her religion has led her to greater self-awareness and self-acceptance. What I found interesting

in part of our conversation was that she specified she does not believe in an overarching entity that

has control of her life without her participation, nor does she believe in the devil or hell. As this is

a study of her beliefs, I did not challenge her with the fact that the Bible (which Unity claims to

follow) is specific in these topics, but I noticed this contradiction in my own reflection. I think this

again point back to the Rational Choice Theory and deciding what is best for yourself based on

what you know. The conversation that we had was very enlightening for me because I grew up

knowing of this church and associating it with some very strange practices, none of which Janice

mentioned to me. Possibly, I was led to believe certain things by others who influenced my

opinions and views as child. I now have a better understanding of Unity’s practices and feel less

“afraid” of the differences in our beliefs.

In my second interview, I had to opportunity to learn more about Islam from a former

exchange student my family hosted in 2006, Dinara. We have kept in touch over the years and

consider each other sisters. When our family hosted her back then, I did not know much of her

religious practices. She attended church with us and asked some questions here or there but in
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generally she was pretty quiet about her beliefs. Now I have had some time to chat with her over

Facebook and have learned a lot.

Probably similar to many Americans, I had a skewed idea of what Islam is due to the

terrorist attacks on America on September 11, 2001. One of the discoveries I have made is that

Islam has many subgroups, some of which are very radical, and others that are more traditional.

Dinara identifies with the more traditional views of Islam. The primary belief is in the one and

only God, Allah. She uses the Quran as the text to study her beliefs, much like the Bible is for

Christians. Since we attended Christian services together in the past and have a comfortable

relationship with one another, more of our discussion was around the differences and similarities

in our beliefs, with a focus on understanding each other better instead of arguing our own sides.

One of Dinara’s religious practices is to pray to Allah. We talked about how Allah is a God

to be feared by Muslims. She said that she would never consider a connection or relationship with

Allah as I would with God. We did have trouble discussing God because for her, Allah is God,

whereas I would never make this claim. I want to emphasize that we were not arguing our views

but trying to better explain them to each other.

It is not necessary for Muslim women to attend the services at a mosque. They are able to

practice namaz (specific recited prayer) from home. Dinara shared with me that she chooses to

follow a certain Imam (religious leader) via broadcast from Moscow, Russia because she believes

that he is better educated than many Imam’s in her own country, which is Kazakhstan. She

expressed her confidence in his education because he explains everything from a scientific point

of view. She said that it is very important to her that the Imam is well educated and is able to

display this in the services.

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Dinara visited our family again in the states in 2017. She brought her husband and children

with her. Something that she shared with me during her visit was that she is actually divorced from

her husband, even though they live together and raise their children together much like a traditional

married couple would. We discussed this a bit more during our chats so I could understand why

one would divorce but continue to live in a married lifestyle. She said that divorce is looked down

upon for Muslims, but she feels that her husband is “stupid” and she no longer wanted to be married

to him. What is more interesting about this dynamic is that even being divorced, they are not in

other romantic relationships and remain committed to each other and their family. For Muslims,

family connections are extremely important.

When I asked Dinara about her beliefs in things such as the paranormal or spiritual beings,

she stated that she believes in angels as well as evil spirits. She explained to me about jinn, which

are supernatural beings that can be good or evil. She also believes that there is a devil as it is stated

in the Quran. The different spirits were more complicated for me to understand compared to what

I have learned about in Christianity.

Both of these interviews were a great experience for me to broaden my religious

perspectives. I can see how their different practices affect each person’s values and way that they

choose to live their lives. There are stark differences between Unity and Islam which is the primary

reason why I chose these two to study, and also had easy access to converse openly with someone

of each faith. My biggest take-away comes from the Unity view of acceptance for all. A Christian

may claim to love others but can be very quick to judge their actions based on personal beliefs and

holding others accountable to beliefs they may not even follow. Janice explained to me that she

feels very open minded to all types of people and beliefs and this is something I can grow from

myself. Dinara was a bit more centered on Islam, although her practices were not as routine she is
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more devoted to Islam than Janice is to Unity. Dinara is a devout follower of Islam and has been

for her entire life. She is not open to what others believe or feel, but she did not express this in a

way that was disrespectful. Either way, I was glad to find out how religion plays a role in others’

lives. The only other study I would have liked to do was with someone who identifies as agnostic

or atheist. This could open my mind even more to what it would be like to have views developed

that are separate from religious teachings.

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Works Cited

Johnstone, R. (2006). Religion and Society (8th ed.). Taylor and Francis.

“Our Purpose.” (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.unityofmesa.org/our-purpose.html.