Praise Be to Purpose

Finding Meaning Through Religion

Religion and purpose may seem to go hand-in-hand because religion often gives followers a sense of purpose. However, not everyone seeks religion for the same reason.

“Pretty much any religion could potentially be a source of ‘purpose,’ ‘meaning’ or ‘identity’ to its adherents [a follower of the religion],” said Dr. John-Charles Duffy, a professor in the Department of Comparative Religion, “but adherents might or might not think of their participation in the religion in those terms.”

Religion often gives followers a sense of PURPOSE

He said adherents look to religion for many reasons such as a sense of community or happiness.

“Some people commit to a particular religion because they are convinced it is the truth, or because they are convinced it will assure them a desirable state in the afterlife,” he said. “... An observer might decide [it] is the same as ‘purpose’ or ‘meaning,’ but the adherent might not think in those terms.”

However, for junior Jocelyn McMinimy, faith gives her life meaning.

“My purpose is to know God, have a personal relationship with Him, and then to make Him known,” she said. “I strive—note the word strive, I do not do this perfectly or even well most days—to be a reflection of who He is by loving and serving those He has so beautifully put in my path.”

Her faith grants her peace about the future, both personally and for the world, she said.

In the midst of a chaotic society that is far from peaceful, McMinimy said her “faith in a good God has also provided a huge sense of peace” because she can “rest in knowing that in the midst of … chaos there is a good God at work.”

However, McMinimy said she has not always felt spiritually strong.

“My first two years of college I was largely living life for myself, striving to love others as best I could and running to God and my faith when I sensed I needed it … I was living this life that we’re supposed to as college students, but I felt this aching emptiness.”

This past summer McMinimy said she decided she “couldn’t profess God’s goodness to all [her] friends who didn’t know Him and not live a life that reflected personal faith in His goodness.

God couldn’t ride in the passenger seat anymore.” McMinimy said she decided God “was completely worth living for and handing over complete control to.”

Junior Hannah Clarke’s religion also gives her a purpose, which she said is to create and to liberate.

Clarke is eclectic Neopagan, meaning “someone who pulls from various pantheons and spiritual traditions to form a unique and custom tailored faith.” She is Luciferian and devotes to Haides, Persephone, Dionysus, Hecate, Loki and Bastet as well as Abrahamic figures like Lilith, Paimon and Belial.

“I’m a witch,” she said. “Luciferianism, the way I perceive it, is centered around the idea of enlightenment and pride … I am quite proud to be a witch. It’s as much of my identity as anything else.”

She said she was raised surrounded by texts about witchcraft and mythology, which partially influenced her current beliefs.

“My family has odd idiosyncrasies that certainly lend to witchcraft,” she said. “My grandmother worships the plants in her garden, and my mother is something of a nature worshipper as well. She has an earth goddess tattoo all the way down her back.”

However, Clarke’s father is Methodist, which she said “might have fed into the Luciferian aspect” of her beliefs. Despite the disconnect she said she feels from his beliefs, she considers herself a spiritual person and sought out books about Wicca, a new movement in Paganism.

When encountering unconventional beliefs or ideas, Clarke suggests keeping an open mind.

“Sometimes, it’s alright [sic] to let strange ideas exist without interrogating them, or attacking them, or attempting somehow to disprove them,” she said.

McMinimy believes similar ideas, saying exploration of one’s own beliefs and others’ beliefs is important.

“Regardless of what your spiritual background is, this time in our lives as college students is such an important time to explore and have these conversations about what we believe and why,” she said. “Religion and spirituality shouldn’t be these topics that are taboo. They should be commonplace here on campus and in this country. We have so much to learn from one another, and this is such a beautiful time in our lives to explore this critical component of ourselves.”

written by Erin Adelman

styled by Maggie Miller

makeup by Lilly Sloan

models: Emma Oaks and Carolyn Collins

photographed by Lauren Walker