Test of faith

Vikram Jambulapati, 20
Hyde Park, agnostic

Did you attend religious services as a child?
I lived in Boston growing up and [my family] used to go to the Hindu temple once a week. Then we moved to southern Georgia. It’s a very rural community and basically everybody went to church, so I used to go sometimes to church even though we practiced Hinduism in our household. We went to a Christian church because it’s what everyone did. We’d go to temple every so often but the closest temple was like four and a half hours away, so we’d go maybe four or five times a year. My dad still goes every Saturday. He’ll call and ask me, “Are you praying every day?” and things like that.

Well, are you?
Not in a very serious way. When you’re in the middle of a midterm and things aren’t going well, you think, Oh God, save me, but not with the same kind of passion and belief that people who are religious pray.

Do you believe in heaven and hell?
You want to believe that all of the good deeds you do will be rewarded some day and the bad things people do will be punished, but I don’t really think that’s the case.

Dale Colbert, 44
South Side, Baptist

How often do you go to church?
Well, it’s been awhile.

Why?
I moved, and I work two jobs, so it’s been crazy.

How often would you like to go?
I’d like to go at least once or twice a week.

What would you gain from going so often?
There’s no feeling like it in the world, especially if there’s a good choir.

Photo: Nolan Wells

Bharath Sun, 28
Avondale, Hindu

What’s the centerpiece of your faith?
It’s not so much about direct religious practices. There are people who make it really ritualistic, like the more old-school people. But the more new-age people just see it as an ethical direction. People definitely get carried away a lot with praising their gods or spending too much time on the religious rituals rather than using time to change the lives of less fortunate people. 

What’s the most difficult part of your religion to describe to people outside of the faith?
The no meat-eating. I grew up in India where if you are a Hindu and you eat meat it’s considered sacrilegious. It’s almost painted as you’re doing a very immoral thing. I came to America for opportunity and I realized that the staple diet of the entire country is meat. Does that mean that everybody is immoral? No. It’s just a way of life. I think Hindus tend to go too much into the details. They say, “Oh, I’m not supposed to eat meat. I’m not supposed to drink.” They do those things, but then they go through their daily routine and they don’t show very much respect to the people around them. I can’t even explain to my family back in India that drinking or eating meat are very trivial things compared to spending more time in the goodness of the people around you.

Meaghan Sevier, 12
Darien, Catholic

What do you like best about your religion?
I’m really looking forward to confirmation. That’s when you become an adult in the eyes of the church.

Is there anything people who aren’t Catholic don’t understand about your religion?
First Communion. When I had mine, some of my cousins asked me why we have that.

What happens after you die?
We go to heaven for eternal life. Our bodies are dead but our souls are still alive.

When you pray, what do you pray for?
I’ll usually ask for a good day tomorrow, no nightmares and if I did something I regret, I ask for it to be better tomorrow.

Is there anything you would change about your religion?
No, but I went to my aunt’s church once and I liked that they could speak out and communicate more during service. I felt there was more of a connection to what was happening; my church is more silent and disciplined. We don’t express ourselves out loud like that.

Dan Oh, 20
Elmhurst, agnostic

In what religion were you raised?
Catholic.

When did you start questioning it?
Middle school. I was thinking about the stuff they teach at church—about the commandments, sin, about good and bad—and I started doing meditation by myself and taking a less harsh viewpoint on life. So I began to question the religion. There were a lot of loopholes, a lot of cracks and contradictions.

Were you losing belief in God or Catholicism?
Since God is the key to religion, I was more questioning God. So the religion part automatically crumbled with it. It was like God was being made in man’s image and not the other way around.

Lavona King, 32
Humboldt Park, free-style spiritualist

What’s a free-style spiritualist?
Free-style spiritualists reduce the world’s various religions and spiritual paths to their essence. We have no beliefs per se—our spiritual ideologies are constantly evolving. Our focus is on soul development, God realization, becoming one with the divine. It’s free-flowing in a sense that it isn’t ordered or structured. This leaves room for growth since the strings of bondage to any religious or spiritual dogma are cut away. Cage-free!

Do you attend formal services?
I’ve been to services all over the city: the Krishna temple, B’hai, Buddhist, various Catholic churches. I’m a recovering Catholic.

What do you like best about your beliefs?
I’m free. My chosen path offers me many ideologies to subscribe to, many options, which is great because I’m spiritually commitment-phobic.

Surya Prakash, 53
Rogers Park, Lutheran

Do you have kids?
Yes. I have three sons. They are very, very active in the church. They’re in India. They conduct youth meetings, Sunday school and they’re musicians in the church. In India, they go to the remote areas to spread the Word because everyone knows about Jesus in the populated areas but no one knows about Jesus in the remote areas. My ambition and my ambition for my family is to go to the remote areas and spread the Word.

Do a lot of people in the U.S. assume that because you’re from India you’re a non-Christian?
Not really. [The U.S.] is the mixed pot of the world. You can find all of the world here.