Campus Crusades for Christ

Topic: Interpretative Drift/Religion

Source: Various Friday Nights at 7p.m. on the HSU Campus in the Center of Activities building, where Campus Crusades for Christ members come together to worship the Lord.

Relation: During our Wednesdays  in class meet and  the readings from the Anthro  text, led me to believe that both Interpretative Drift and Religion work together by first interpretative drift and then the outcome, in this case, Religion. Like in Campus Crusades for Christ, students, religious or not, come to worship God or to find a faith in something greater.

Description: Every Friday students of all kinds, new, frequent attendees, seniors or freshman, come together to do one thing, and that is give praise to the Lord. There are many different denominations that come to worship and be a part of Campus Crusades. On Fridays those who arrive early, help build what would be the stage and the seating area by simply arranging the furniture and setting up the sound and projection screen. We all come together and mingle, talking amongst each other about classes, plans after the event and just asking how things are going. Once everything is set, we all come in the middle where the seating is and stand for the opening prayer. Prayer allows us to open and thank God for allowing us to be present, then we begin worship through song.  We usually go through about 2-3 songs. Once worship is over, we have our worship leader sit amongst us and began to talk about today’s “lesson” or subject. Scriptures are taken from the Bible to guide the lesson and participation from the crowd is always welcomed, whether it is joining the leader in the text through your own Bible or just nodding or saying “Amen!” The participation from the crowd is much needed. Once the lesson is done, we will end in a few more worship songs and closing prayer.

Commentary/Analysis:  Interpretative Drift and Religion work together where interpretative drift causes a ripple effect, that interpretative Drift happens first them creating a person to believe and practice a religion.  The definition of interpretative drift according to the Anthro text is, “The slow, often unacknowledged shift in someone’s manner of interpreting events as he or she become involved with a particular activity”.  Religion is a great outcome of this, someone who begins to read the bible and to practice the scriptures would soon begin to practice a religion. In my description, I talk about how we are encouraged to participate in the lesson, the lesson allows the audience, like me, to engage in the bible and better understand and make those connections from the verses to everyday life. Luhrmann from the Anthro Text explains that we don’t believe then practice but practice then believe.  This shows how participation in the church, allows you to see and be able to make those connections to the real world, thus allowing you to believe in more than just a coincidence. Interpretive drift continues to work when a person is then able to see their belief more as a truth than just series of events and it is more of a natural practice, then a person trying to seek out something greater. Luhrmann continues with explaining that once people except and adapt to a religion, they are then forced to stand up for it because of the contradictions and absurdities people see in it. This is true, and also a common conversation amongst members of campus crusades. We all were just people who did not know or understand the greater being out there, but through whichever way we came to Christ, born into a religious family, visited a church, or sought out by somebody from your community, we all have been through and continue to experience what Tanya Luhramm’s calls Interpretive Drift.