Captive Heart

Note: this website is NOT part of Captive Heart Ministries, the Christian organization offering speaking engagements. Nor are we affiliated with Captive Heart, the support organization for those incarcerated at San Luis Obispo County Jail.

Some of the other things that we are NOT: a 1946 film, a manga series, a song by a deceased Latina superstar, or a made-for-TV docudrama about interracial troubles.

What are we? Well, nothing more than an exploration of various religious beliefs and values. So far we’ve barely scratched the surface; below is a blueprint of what you can expect at Captive Heart. To gain insight into any of these religious belief systems, simply choose from the menu at your right —>

Religions covered so far:

Catholic
Christianity (including Lutherism, Presbyterian / Protestantism and Jehovah’s Witnesses)
Judaism
Mormonism
Church of Satan
Buddhism

As an introduction to this complex subject, let us briefly define religion:

Religion is any life approach that involves beliefs regarding one’s place in the world, one’s origins, and / or one’s responsibility to live and act in the world in particular ways. Usually, religion is equated with belief and faith in a higher truth or power. Most commonly, though, it’s defined as the patterns (i.e. moral codes, values, practices, institutions, tradition, and rituals), that express faith, reinforcing those patterns in day-to-day living. It’s possible to share a religion’s philosophy and believe it its higher truth, without religiously manifesting that faith – hence the term, a “non-practicing Christian”, for example.

Stronger than a personal conviction, religion usually entails specific behaviors. However, the roots are religion vary greatly: it’s considered psychological by Freud, social by Emile Durkheim and philosphical by Ernesto De Martino. Some merely describe religion a way of life or a particular life stance.