Diana Eck’s article in our text, Afraid of Ourselves, is unfortunately very real. And, the video we watched in class is just one small example that addresses this issue. Here we are, all Americans, in the “melting pot” and still, after years of opportunities to accept each other, are still very ignorant of religions outside of mainstream America. If we simply look at demographics, quite honestly, “mainstream” America just isn’t what it used to be. As Charles H. Lippy states in The New Faces of Pluralism, “Even within the Christian tradition, it has become impossible to look at Anglo-American styles as normative.” I also agree with his idea that in the face of our country’s increased diversity, we can no longer regard a single religious tradition as normative or even culturally dominate.
Additionally, the point Eck makes in her article through the example of the American Muslims that were targeted after the Murrah Federal Building bombing was unnecessary, unfortunate, and based solely on fear and ignorance. And, the media’s failure to report the supportive involvement of Muslim firemen, doctors, and Muslim organizations who donated money and time to the relief effort only exacerbated the issue. I do not understand this.
In the style of true American tradition, I hope that the citizens will continue to “stand up” and be different. It is our responsibility to educate each other and explore more opportunities to embrace our differences.
In looking further into this topic, I ran across a 9/11 story of a true American hero…
I agree that when we think of a certain religion we think of race, but that is quickly changing. As said in our text Judaism consists of all types of different people. I think better education of religion and why people practice their religion is a great point and definitely needed.
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