Gabriela Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 I’m taking a qualitative methods course this (summer) semester and I have to do an “observation†project. Think anthropologists out in the field. I can pick my own site. I want to go to the Adoration chapel, but my professor thinks people have an expectation of privacy in a chapel. Frankly I don’t see what privacy’s got to do with anything, since an ethnographic observation doesn’t focus on any one individual, but on what people do generally, as a group so to speak, in a particular place. Knowing that, I personally wouldn’t care if someone sat off to the side of a chapel and observed what was going on in there while I was praying, so long as I didn’t know they were doing it. (If I did know, it would distract me from prayer, but I wouldn’t be offended or feel my privacy was violated.) The problem is: If I’m anomalous and most people DO have an expectation of privacy in a chapel and would feel offended or violated if they found out they were being observed (as a group, not individually), then there’s an ethical issue with doing an observation in an Adoration chapel. So: Would you feel offended/violated if someone observed you (and everyone else in the room, without your knowledge) in an Adoration chapel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrysostom Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 No. I think of it like this: when I pray at church before/after Mass, there are a lot of people coming, going, and maybe watching others pray. Maybe there's a weirdo (or a student, in your case haha) who is taking more than a casual glance, but I don't particularly care. But of course I wouldn't want to know about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Adoration, no. If I were in line for confession, yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriela Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 Adoration, no. If I were in line for confession, yes. LOL. Good point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandelynmarie Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 I would have no issue with it if I knew it was happening...sounds incredibly interesting. You might want to share some of your observations with the rest of us :) . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 "Here we are, observing the Catholic in his natural environment..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kateri89 Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 "Here we are, observing the Catholic in his natural environment..." Laughed out loud at this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 "Here we are, observing the Catholic in his natural environment..." "His gaze is fixated on an object of interest about 10 meters distant, totally unaware of our observation as we remain downwind." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneLine Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 I dunno, maybe I'm in the minority, but I would NOT like it. I really prefer to be totally alone with Jesus... and I'd feel a little like there was a voyeur watching me with my beloved.... On the other hand.... I found myself contemplating how to explain to a non-Christian that I was spending a lot of time and paying good money to travel across the city to spend a number of hours with... what looked like a piece of bread. YOU know why I did it, and I know why I did it, but try to explain it to someone without faith.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarmeliteSecular Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 It seems to me that if you go to a public place -- and I consider Churches and Adoration Chapels to be places where the public is invited -- there is no reasonable expectation of privacy. Don't we want nonbelievers to observe us praying? Don't we believe that might move them toward faith themselves? That being said, I would consider it discourteous for someone to observe me so closely as to make me self-conscious. It might lead me to find another place to pray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Laughed out loud at this one. I sometimes have my strokes of brilliance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 "His gaze is fixated on an object of interest about 10 meters distant, totally unaware of our observation as we remain downwind." "Here we see one of college age, so at peace and tranquility that he appears to be slowly nodding off... and so he does!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seven77 Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 shouldn't you be observing something you are not familiar with? and observing something you're not familiar with it doesn't mean not observing something at your parish-- sit in at a youth group meeting or the Legion of Mary meeting or a charismatic prayer group or even bingo… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seven77 Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 I sometimes have my strokes of brilliance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQMfN0UFqms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisa Marie Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 As long as you're not disruptive, I don't see any problem. The adoration chapel is a public place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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