Upper-Intermediate - Attitudes toward Religion (D0260)

这个周末过得怎样？
zhège zhōumò guò de zěnyàng ？
How was your weekend?

还不错。周日我还和朋友去教堂做礼拜了。
háibùcuò 。zhōurì wǒ hái hé péngyou qù jiàotáng zuò lǐbài le 。
Not bad. On Sunday I went with a friend to church services.

原来你信基督啊？
yuánlái nǐ xìn Jīdū ā ？
Oh, you’re a Christian?

不是的，我并不是基督教徒。昨天是我第一次去教堂，也是我第一次参加这么正式的主日礼拜。这真是一次特别的体验。与其说我在参与一种宗教的活动，还不如说我受到了一种宗教文化的熏陶。
bùshì de ，wǒ bìng bù shì Jīdū jiàotú 。zuótiān shì wǒ dìyīcì qù jiàotáng ，yě shì wǒ dìyīcì cānjiā zhème zhèngshì de zhǔrìlǐbài 。zhè zhēnshì yīcì tèbié de tǐyàn 。yǔqí shuō wǒ zài cānyù yīzhǒng zōngjiào de huódòng ，hái bùrú shuō wǒ shòudào le yīzhǒng zōngjiào wénhuà de xūntáo 。
No, I’m not at all. Yesterday was my first time in a church, and it was my first time attending a formal Sunday service. It was really a special experience. Rather than saying I was participating in a kind of religious activity, it was more like receiving a kind of religious cultural experience.

听起来好复杂，我从来都没参加过这类活动，对各类宗教文化也一无所知，仅仅知道佛教，伊斯兰教和基督教这几个著名的宗教，更多的我也讲不出来了。
tīng qǐlai hǎo fùzá ，wǒ cónglái dōu méi cānjiā guo zhèlèi huódòng ，duì gèlèi zōngjiào wénhuà yě yīwúsuǒzhī ，jǐnjǐn zhīdao Fójiào ，Yīsīlánjiào hé Jīdūjiào zhè jǐge zhùmíng zōngjiào ，gèngduōde wǒ yě jiǎng bùchūlái le 。
It sounds pretty complicated. I’ve never attended those kinds of activities, and don’t know a thing about religious culture. I barely know anything about even the more famous religions like Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity. Other than those, I really don’t know anything about any religions.

其实我也是。我对宗教并不算了解，可我很乐意接触到不同的宗教文化。我有一些信仰宗教的朋友，很多时候我都是从文化的角度来分享他们的经历。和我一起去教堂的朋友就从小信仰基督教，而且非常虔诚。
qíshí wǒ yě shì 。wǒ duì zōngjiào bìng bù suàn liǎojiě ，kě wǒ hěn lèyì jiēchù dào bùtóng de zōngjiào wénhuà 。wǒ yǒu yīxiē xìnyǎng zōngjiào de péngyou ，hěn duō shíhòu wǒ dōu shì cóng wénhuà de jiǎodù lái fēnxiǎng tāmen de jīnglì 。hé wǒ yīqǐ qù jiàotáng de péngyou jiù cóngxiǎo xìnyǎng Jīdūjiào ，érqiě fēicháng qiánchéng 。
Actually, I’m the same. I can’t say I understand religion at all, but I’m willing to have some contact with different religious cultures. I have some religious friends, and I often find I can relate to their experiences on a cultural level. The friends I went to church with have been Christian since they were little, and they’re really devout.

我想我永远都没办法理解这种虔诚。宗教信仰是个人的自由，我不会干涉他们，但也没有办法深入其中。我们这一代人大多数都是没有宗教信仰的。不过现在信基督教的人在中国真是越来越多了，相反中国的第一大宗教-佛教的教徒大多都是老一辈的人了。
wǒ xiǎng wǒ yǒngyuǎn dōu méi bànfǎ lǐjiě zhèzhǒng qiánchéng 。zōngjiào xìnyǎng shì gèrén de zìyóu ，wǒ bùhuì gānshè tāmen ，dàn yě méiyǒu bànfǎ shēnrù qízhōng 。wǒmen zhèyīdài rén dàduōshù dōu shì méiyǒu zōngjiào xìnyǎng de 。bùguò xiànzài xìn Jīdūjiào de rén zài Zhōngguó zhēnshì yuè lái yuè duō le ，xiāngfǎn Zhōngguó de dì-yī dà zōngjiào -Fójiào de jiàotú dàduō dōu shì lǎo yī bèi de rén le 。
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to understand that kind of devotion. Religious faith is a personal freedom, so I would never interfere with others’ faith, but I myself could never get that deeply involved. Most people of our generation aren’t very religious. However, nowadays more and more people in China are becoming Christians. On the other hand, the followers of China’s primary religion—Buddhism—are mainly from the older generation.

是的。我认识的朋友中有一部分人就是因为受到家庭传统的影响而信佛或基督的。也有很多人和我一样只是从文化的角度来看待宗教。不过无论是何种宗教，我都主张用正确的态度对待这种信仰，而不能过分依赖。
shìde 。wǒ rènshi de péngyou zhōng yǒu yībùfèn rén jiùshì yīnwèi shòudào jiātíng chuántǒng de yǐngxiǎng ér xìn fó huò jīdū de 。yě yǒu hěn duō rén hé wǒ yīyàng zhǐshì cóng wénhuà de jiǎodù lái kàndāi zōngjiào 。bùguò wúlún shì hézhǒng zōngjiào ，wǒ dōu zhǔzhāng yòng zhèngquè de tàidu duìdài zhèzhǒng xìnyǎng ，ér bùnéng guòfèn yīlài 。
Yeah. Amongst my friends, there are some who are Buddhist or Christian because of the influence of family tradition. But there are also many people who are like me, and just look at religion from a cultural perspective. Still, no matter what one’s faith is, I will always advocate that people should maintain a proper attitude toward religion, but not be excessively dependent on it.

Vocabulary

做礼拜	zuò lǐbài	to attend religious services
信	xìn	to believe in
基督教	Jīdūjiào	Christianity
基督教徒	Jīdū jiàotú	Christian
主日礼拜	zhǔrìlǐbài	Sunday service
体验	tǐyàn	to learn through experience
与其	yǔqí	rather than
参与	cānyù	to participate in
宗教	zōngjiào	religion
不如	bùrú	not as good as
熏陶	xūntáo	to influence (positively)
一无所知	yīwúsuǒzhī	to know nothing about something
仅仅	jǐnjǐn	barely
佛教	Fójiào	Buddhism
伊斯兰教	Yīsīlánjiào	Islam
乐意	lèyì	to be happy to
接触到	jiēchù dào	to make contact with
信仰	xìnyǎng	to have faith in
角度	jiǎodù	angle
分享	fēnxiǎng	to share
虔诚	qiánchéng	devout
干涉	gānshè	to interfere with
深入	shēnrù	to penetrate
这一代	zhèyīdài	this generation
老一辈	lǎoyībèi	older generation
看待	kàndài	to regard as
主张	zhǔzhāng	to advocate, stand for
过分	guòfèn	excessive
依赖	yīlài	to depend on
信仰	xìnyǎng	faith, belief
一无所有	yīwúsuǒyǒu	not own a thing in the world
虔诚	qiánchéng	pious, devout
干涉	gānshè	to interfere, intervene
恋爱	liàn'ài	love, romantic attachment
弥撒	mísa	Catholic Mass