The Jesus Cracker

Those who know me well know that religion (specifically, Christianity) is not exactly my forte. Growing up in a Unitarian Universalist church, I learned what I think are a wonderful set of values, and was able to develop my own moral and spiritual compass in a supportive, educational environment. However, our lack of intense focus on any religious text (i.e. the Bible) led to an innumerable amount of confusing moments, especially in regards to literary references and attending my friends’ churches for special occasions. Suffice it to say that I called the communion wafer a “Jesus Cracker” until some kind soul explained to me that this was not so.

So, when I told everyone about my internship with the YMCA, the first or second question everyone had was “But…you’re not religious?” First off, although I define myself as spiritual, this does not necessarily imply a lack of religion, (go google some UU forums if you want to educate yourself on this) and secondly…It’s the YMCA, more people at my gym are Jewish than not.

Both of these thoughts have recently undergone some reconstruction.

I think I’ve already mentioned that, in America, the YMCA is just called “the Y” in order to take the Christianity component out of the organization to make it more inclusive and attractive to a diverse community. It doesn’t really work like that anywhere else in the world, partially because YMCA’s are only exclusively fitness centers in America. In Germany, for example, it’s all about community building and family centers, so it’s not really a surprise that this type of environment lends itself well to being religious. I know it’s sort of difficult to wrap your head around, but the YMCA does a great deal of social work everywhere else in the world, and the Christianity component is an important aspect in uniting all of their programs, and standardizing their values to the community.

However, In Hong Kong, during one general monthly meeting they hosted a prayer session before it started. There was some singing, a little bit of a sermon, that was it. Religion didn’t really stretch into any of the programs I was dealing with, as Hong Kong is a fairly liberal and diverse city. My boss’ boss took pride in telling me that my boss was not, in fact a Christian, and that they hire their staff on the basis of their work, not their beliefs.

When I got here to Guangzhou, in mainland China, I was given a third example of how religion relates to the community, and to the YMCA. Christianity in Asia today belongs to the youth, not the older population. Many people know that in the late 1960’s, Chairman Mao launched his cultural revolution which, among other things, almost completely destroyed all organized religion in China. There have been roughly two generations of people since then. The first, the people around the same age as my parents, most likely grew up with little to no religion in their lives. Their children, however, tend to see this lack of religion as “old fashioned”, and look at Christianity the same way liberal American youths look at marriage equality; An opportunity to move their nation forward.

Yes, I just equated devout Christians and gay rights activists and neither you nor I are sure how we feel about it yet. (To the devout Christians who support gay rights, I apologize, and rock on)

I predict that the Chinese YMCA will become more religious within the next 20 years, as the younger population grows into leadership positions. 

No matter what country you live in, it’s clear that the youth are the revolutionary factor. What’s absolutely fascinating to me is how their missions and means can be so, so different around the world.