Still, it makes me sad that people can't talk about these things without resorting to ad hominem — and too often as first resort.

I was raised as a Catholic and attended Catholic school from elementary to junior high. Anyone else who is familiar with Catholicism understands the strict traditions and rules that we have to follow. Being Catholic to me was in many ways similar to having another culture, because of the fact that the many things we were taught became a big part of my life.

I also attended a Catholic school where I was one of the few Asians (or at least one of the ones who viewed himself as Asian). We had to wear uniforms, had to have our haircuts a certain way, have our shoes to be all black (if there was white on the show, we were forced to color it in…sometimes even with a marker). These are things that really annoyed me because I never felt that having to look the same was really anything beneficial. If students wanted to look “cool”, they found ways to do that. Then of course, having to attend Mass during the weekdays was very dull and boring since it was practically always the same thing. I never felt like I was learning anything from the Priests lectures, because it always felt forced…something that I’m supposed to learn and believe, never a choice.

I started seriously questioning my Catholic beliefs around maybe perhaps the 6th grade. This is when I had the very strict nun to be my main teacher, in religion and math. To this day, I still hated every single second I had to spend time in her class or even be around her. There was this one time where I was kicked out of her class because I yelled at her (the only teacher that I’ve ever yelled at). Looking back at it now, I actually regret not being more aggressive and speaking to my parents about hating Catholic school at that point.

My immediate family wasn’t a unified Catholic family either, my dad having forced to convert to marry my mom. Even as children, my dad rarely attended Sunday mass with us. So perhaps that in itself also made me question our religion more. Also, yes I’ve questioned as to why Jesus being portrayed as a White man, and me having a East Asian face made me even want to believe in anything that had to do with Christianity.

It wasn’t until after I was actually not attending Catholic school anymore that I had the chance to really think about religion and faith. One of my neighbor’s, he was a preacher or pastor (forget the actual term he was labeled), and he was married to a Filipina. Her nephew had just come down from the Philippines and I became friends with him. After speaking with him and his wife, I learned that they were former Catholics. In Catholic school, I was taught that reading other bibles was a big No-No and we were reminded many times about sins, especially mortal sins. So speaking with my neighbor and his wife was actually the first time I ever met people that talked to me openly about not being Catholic and at that point it gave me a urge to discuss religion with others.

I’ve spoken to people with different religious backgrounds such as Jahova’s Witness, to Judaism, to Mormons, to Buddhists, to Hinduism. I still have yet to speak to someone who follows Scientology, but I’m always open to hearing their beliefs. One thing that I have found was that speaking to others about their own religions has made me more comfortable about being raised Catholic. Although I don’t see myself as a devoted Catholic, I still appreciate some of the basic beliefs I was taught. Also I’ve found that even though certain groups have their own churches based on ethnicity/culture, there are still many people who have welcomed me into their own.

I remember this one funny conversation that I had with another Christian, he basically said “many religions have the basic concept and belief to love on another, but somehow everyone just disagreed and separated” which I guess can reflect many other things in life. Religion to me isn’t quite so different anymore to even being Asian or experiencing another culture or learning another language, it all comes down to your personal choice and how you really feel about it.

There are a lot of positive things that come from it, or just like there are negative or controversial topics that come from it…whether it’s the topic of homosexuals, or Catholics not being Christian, or why it’s offensive to be mistaken for being a Chinese (in relation to Westerners seeing all Asians as Chinese) or have the Chinese given other Asians a bad rep? or why some Filipinos don’t believe their Asian because they are Catholic.

At the end of the day, I’m not opposed to having religion/faith/culture because those things can be interpreted and have been viewed in many different ways. I guess for a lot of people, having a feeling of belonging to a certain community always helps and perhaps that’s a big reason as to why people follow and believe what they do.

Yes I still have questions about religion, especially Catholicism…but I still question other things such as the importance of being Asian (or my own ethnicity) when many Asians just separate themselves based on their own agenda. Or if there’s even any importance of being an American? when the mainstream sometimes don’t even view us as being an American.

It’s like that one saying I hear people always say “We’re all one race, the human race”…but even being one human race, we have free will right? well in the general sense. To me things like religion or culture becomes important and beneficial when you have the right people around you that makes life worth living.

So my answer to the question, does Religion make Asian teenagers more depressed? I think it’s the negative impact in general, through the choices of people, is what makes life depressing for others.

I know it really easy just to pick a target and get angry at it, especially when you can just listen to what you call the white “liberal” media spoon feed you, and whatever pop author of the day can dish to you to sell their wares. Taking one side of the issue can feel really comfortable, especially without regarding the other side of the coin

As for me being “sheep”? Hardly, I am very well read, always consider the other side of a position and try to answer points that are given. If I had a annoyed response, which I warned you I would, its because I’ve heard all this unintelligent drivel before.

I’ve given you a very information laden response, which you can research, yet you can’t seem to answer any which way except by getting upset and making direct insults against me. You have avoided even addressing anything I’ve said, you who claim to think “critically” as you grew up, which from your childish response is I think still a long way off.

Its funny you say you felt “whitewashed” because of christianity? To me you sound more like the typical “angry at his father” white boys that I have come across, than an confident intelligent asian american male who even if they have a disagreement with something, would not just pick the easy way out and target something to abuse with anger.

Asian americans, especially males do have to deal with alot of issues, but christianity is not one of them. Christianity has taught me much of my worth, so I never bow down to the Man’s tyranny of stereotypes. Even before asian americans males were standing up against the boxes the “white liberal” media/culture wanted to put us in, I could confidently challenge any notions or insulting actions toward me because I knew the special creation you and I are, in this amazing world/universe given to us by God. We are men of self-worth that God has created amazing plans for and have many wonders to behold in this life and the next.

People may call themselves christians and do things, but people calling themselves policeman, doctors or any such title can do horrible unethical things also. It has nothing to do with being a policeman, doctor or etc. And the way you talk about “so-called European christians” did their acts of brutality, if you really had been a “devout” christian you would already know the answers by these verses ” all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” and “Do not trust in the flesh, for the flesh will fail you”.
Do not forget though, that all of these sins have always been around, one way or another, committed by different peoples, religious/non-religious, white/non-white. We christians are the only ones with the temerity to record our own sins so that history does not repeat itself. I will give you one example though of this, even though european “christians” participated in the slave trade, which has been going on for thousands of years, its was european/british christians that ended it so fervently and even used militarily might around the world to make sure it came to an end, read the biography of William Wilberforce and John Newton, theres even a movie “Amazing Grace”. Slavery has been ended in the widescale practice forevermore, though pockets do remain in different parts of the world (Middle East, Mauritania, Sudan, and you have the eastern european/asian sex traffic).

If you have issues, its not with Christianity, but with taking responsiblity for whatever makes you into this incoherent angry individual.

If you are interested in anything I’ve said, I welcome you to email me, and I can give you the other side of things, not what I think you have just been misled to think.

I challenge you discuss things, instead of being angry at something.

And I pray that God blesses you in your life, and helps you with whatever issues that you might be dealing with or obstacles in your life you need to overcome. Take care Jonathen, if you have any responses, questions or views, please post them politely or email me.

Take care and I hope you find the peace you seem to be searching for in your life.

It is very shallow to take horrible episodes in history perpertrated by “white” people who call themselves christians and then blame all the christians and the faith for it? Well lets blame the buddhists for the whole nanking rape episode why don’t we?! Lets blame all the japanese imperialism and other atrocties committed on buddhists right? Or blame the supremacits buddhists of Sri Lanka that have oppressed their minority population. Or how about even better, lets condemn all you atheists/agnostics for the murderous “cultural” revolution of china or the genocide of cambodia by the Khmer rouge, or the stalinists purges and removal of native peoples in asia and the millions of other people killed and colonized by the atheistic regimes. And lets not even go into Islam’s history, we are still trying to get someone to own up to the Armenian and Assyrian (both christian minorities in the middle east) genocides, even though these are recorded events in history.

You are insulting about most of the world’s christians, not the “white” christians, but basically the asian, african, native american pacific islander true believing christians, that had nothing to do with european colonization or atrocities.

Christianity’s oldest communities are in Africa (Ethiopian/Coptics) Middle East (Armeinians/Assyrians/Maronites/Aramic/Syriac) and even in Asia (India/Kerala Nasrani’s) None of them “colonized” another country or wiped out the natives and millions of present day christians are the a variety of colors and stripes.

So next time you’re feeling self-righteous and want use the tired ole game of trying to use a easy target like the “turn the other cheek” christianity and blame the faith that actually created the standards for what is moral outrage in the world, why not be a little more intelligent and take a closer look at history and not be so naive to think that just because someone calls themselves a particular faith, doesn’t mean they actually practice the ideals of the faith.

What is scary is when people actually do practice the tenets of their faith and have no guilt at all of the atrocities commanded by their respective faiths. Btw Atheistic regimes have killed and displaced more people in the 20th century than any by the religious. Think on that.

Yeah, religion was just another obstacle for me to reconciling myself with my supposed peers. I grew up Chinese Baptist too, and while I got some great lessons, like love and stuff, the undue intolerance was what really got me stressed, because I really wanted rainbows while the church kept talking fire and brimstone.

I think religion can be a very positive force, but can also be used as a means of abuse. As in, guilt, “you must,” etc. I think an understanding of yourself as a valued creation of God is important for everyone, but especially minorities encountering racism.

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