Week #3

I've started some research, but not too much. I haven't had much time to get started because I have a few tests this week that I am trying to get ready for. However, since I am involved in the subculture I am researching I have been able to look at the subculture and try to view it from an outsider's prospective. While there I thought about some possible questions for my interviews. Some possible questions for the pastor could be "Why did you choose to be a pastor and why did you choose this church?" Possible questions for the individual who attends church could be "What are your views on Christians vs non Christians" or "Did anyone influence you to become a Christian and if so then who?" Possible questions for the outsider could be "What are your views on Christianity?" or "Is there a reason as to why you chose not to be a Christian?"

While viewing the congregation from an outsider's prospective I imagine an outsider would see how the church loves and welcomes everyone in, even if they are new to the church. I also think that an outsider would probably feel a little uncomfortable if they saw this because that is not considered the "norm". Being able to walk in and be loved without any knowledge of who anyone is would be a little weird.

I think that you will always find differences in academic research vs. non academic research. It's hard to find out what outsider's think about Christianity while searching through books. o it is best to do an interview with an outsider to get their reactions to certain questions and to hopefully get true answers.