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Texts about Religion and Culture

Allison (USA) about Religion

What Religion Means to Me Religion has always been an important part of my family and my heritage: both the Christianity of my father’s side and the Judaism of my mother’s. To me religion is very personal, and more of a family tradition than following a certain set of laws and worshipping specific deities. The sense of community, tradition, heritage, and family that comes from religion means more to me than the spiritual aspect of religion.

My mother raised me to be Jewish, but my father is Christian, so it is almost like I have two religions. My faith lies in Judaism, and I pray at a local synagogue, but I also celebrate Christian traditions such as Easter and Christmas. Because of the difference in religion, it is like I have two separate families, and sometimes it can be hard to balance the split. For example, because Judaism is based on the lunar calendar, some years Christmas and Chanuk ah overlap. Every Christmas, my family goes to New Hampshire to visit the Christian side of my family, but on Chanukah we visit my Jewish family in Boston. So there is a bit of a problem when the holidays overlap because obviously we can’t be in two places at once. In these years my family brings our dreidels and our menorahs to New Hampshire, and we celebrate Chanukah with just my immediate family. This situation can be awkward for the Christian side of the family because they are not a part of this private celebration. Also, in these years our stay in New Hampshire is shortened so that we can get back to Boston to celebrate with my Jewish family. These years are difficult because I enjoy spending time with both sides of my family, and I don’t like to leave early from New Hampshire, but I also hate to miss spending a night of Chanukah with my family in Boston.

Although we observe all of the important Jewish holidays, my family is not very religious in the sense that we go to temple regularly. We never go to church, and we go to temple only on the high holidays, three or four times a year. Recently, my father lost his job, and it has become too expensive for us to belong to the congregation. This year, for the first time in my life, I did not go to temple on the high holidays because tickets to attend the service were $100 per person, and my family could not afford it. This disappointed me quite a bit because I think that religion should be open to everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status, but the world is not perfect. Instead of going to services at the synagogue, my family held a private ceremony in our living room, led by my mother, and we worshipped in our own way. For me, religion is more about tradition and family than following the Torah.

Every year my Jewish family gathers on all of the holidays to celebrate. Rosh Hashanah is our New Year when we reach the end of the Torah, roll it back up, and start over for the nex t year. On Rosh Hashanah, it is a tradition to eat apples and challah, Jewish braided egg bread, dipped in honey for a sweet new year. Yom Kippur is the most holy day of the Jewish year, and it is our day of atonement. It comes about a week after Rosh Hashanah, and on that day we fast and go to temple to cleanse ourselves of our sins, and we apologize to all those we have hurt with either words or actions during the previous year. That night my family makes challah French toast to bring to our neighbor’s house to break the fast. Our festive winter holiday is Chanukah during which we celebrate the miracle of oil lasting long enough to create light for eight nights in the ancient ruins of a temple. So we light candles for eight nights and give presents to our family, and we play dreidel, a type of top used for gambling, but we usually play using chocolate coins called gelt, to "gamble." In the spring we celebrate Passover, and we remember how God freed the Jews from slavery in Egypt and brought them to the Promised Land. For eight days we eat matzah, unleavened bread, to remember the struggle of the slaves on their journey to the Promised Land, and on the first and second day we hold a sedar, a ceremonial meal during which we retell the story of the exodus from Egypt. It is not so much the spirituality that is important for me, but that sense of family and tradition because we always celebrate in the same fashion within my family every year for each holiday. I know that I am celebrating the same holidays that my ancestors celebrated for thousands of years, and that is what religion means to me.

Being Jewish is like being part of a huge community, and that is what I like most about it. I have a lot of Jewish friends, and our shared heritage creates an even closer bond between us. My faith also links me to my family and my ancestors. I know that I share the same beliefs as they did, and this common ground connects us. Every year my family lights a candle for my grandfather, and I know he did the same for his grandfather, and this shared faith and tradition of Judaism makes me feel like part of a never-ending cycle.

Allison Richmond Westborough High School Westborough, Massachusetts USA

Virtual High School www.govhs.org

November 18, 2005

Team Friesen (Jever, Germany) about Culture

Hello Allison, thanks you for your interesting E-Mail. First we were surprised that you wrote to us because we have first communicated with an other person. In this E-Mail we want to talk about our culture and the differences between USA and Germany. First we want to rectify the cliche that all people life in Bavaria. For example we life in northern Germany. And here the life is different to the life in Bavaria. Here the people have other traditions than there. Beside this we don`t wear leather pants all of the time...(in German: "Lederhosen")

Differences between USA and Germany: Firstly we think that you have better school system, for example you have better subjects and a thing what we absolute want to have: lockers! We have to carry all our books and other stuff every day to school and around. That is very hard for the back and so you get often backache! But we think that the people in Germany are often not so prude than the Americans. Here it is not so unnormal when we see a bare- bosom at TV in the late afternoon. Nobody makes a revolt about this. Here you have more freedom of press. The press isn`t so constricted by the politicians. But a big differences is that we have a law that forbids most of people to have a gun. You can`t buy guns as easily as in your country. To have a gun is very unnormal in Germany. But now we have a question to you: Is it right that many Americans don`t pay attention to the US-foreign affairs? Many Germans think so and this is why we want to know your opinion on this.

Vanessa (USA) about Culture

Different Does Not Mean Bad

Throughout the  world, many people regard that if you believe in a different religion, then  different means bad. For example, the World’s largest monotheistic religions,  Christianity and Islam, have more in common than they think, but then there is  so much conflict among them. Believing in a different religion can come off as  something negative and threatening. Difference in religion is a good thing  because then one can learn different aspects of living life that might benefit  them. In addition, one will find out that even though they believe in a  different religion, two religions can have the same thing in common and thus  bring people together. People have different views of how to li ve life, and that  needs to be respected. In everyday life, people throughout the world have  different ways of accomplishing things, but it gets done, and I think that  religion can be interpreted this way. Christianity and Islam have the same  ideas, but there is so much conflict among them.

In the Middle East,  Islam affects people positively or negatively. I will start by saying that in  the Middle East women are affected negatively because they have no liberation. I  guess what I am trying to say is that Sharia (Islamic Law) has a negative  influence. Sharia is based on interpretations of the Koran and not what the  Koran really says. To be a true believer of faith, you should follow it  correctly. Right now in fundamental Islamic countries, that is not happening. I  do agree with the basics of Islam- peaceful submission to God, all humankind is  equal, and the five pillars. However, when you look at Islam (especially from an  American standpoint), you do not see this being practiced. I believe that this  is due to Sharia. You look at countries like Afghanistan (under Taliban rule)  and Pakistan, and they are very strict Muslim countries. Women there have no  freedoms. They have to wear Burqas, cannot take part in government, or cannot  even leave their house without a male presence. One day I was watching Oprah,  and on the show there were woman from all over the world talking about their  everyday lives. One woman from Kuwait stated that woman could not vote in their  Muslim democratic country (the only one in the Middle East). Also in Saudi  Arabia there were elections, and woman were not allowed to vote. What is part of  the five pillars, Zakat that is almsgiving, which is the duty to give to help  the needy, thus giving back to the community is something to be looked well  upon.

I was raised a Catholic, and I grew up practicing it. I got  baptized, had my first communion, and was recently confirmed. As most kids, I  never really enjoyed going to Mass. However, growing up in a strict Catholic  Portuguese household, I really had no choice. I find it so ironic that both  times that I took the Belief-O-Matic test, Roman Catholic was last. I could not  believe it. Other forms of Christianity were at the top of my list, but not  Catholicism. It is sometimes hard for me to distinguish what I disagree with in   Catholicism. I believe that everyone can be close to God, and that maybe the  only one closest to God would be his son. I notice that what I have  disagreements about is exactly why there were the reformations, and that is why  other forms of Christianity are at the top of my belief list. I disagree that  everyone is born with sin, you cannot have an abortion, cannot take the pill,  and the pope is the closest to God. Christianity is not that bad. The ideas of  Christianity are to be a good person who is never to commit sins. Christians  also believe in almsgiving. In every mass there is a section dedicated to give  money to the church and the poor. Christianity and Islam. Now there is a war  between the U.S., a Christian based country, and the Arab world, fundamentally  Islamic countries such as Iraq. America’s search for Osama Bin Laden can be  looked upon as a holy war. It is assumed that one of the reasons for the  terrorist attack back in 2001 was because most Americans are Christians, and Bin  Laden argues that Americans do not respect the Arab world, and this relates to  America being one of Israel’s closest allies.

Christianity and Islam  monotheistic religions have more in common than they think they do. Both  religions originate from Abraham. Abraham is a very important prophet in  Judaism. Christianity developed from Judaism. In Islam Moses, Abraham and Jesus  are known as prophets, but Allah is known as the mighty one, and Mohammad was  the prophet that spread Allah’s words. Islam is the latest of the monotheistic  religions, and the reason why the Koran (holy Islamic text) was written was to  correct what was written in the Bible. The Koran is based on the Bible. The God  that Christians and Muslims believe in is the same God that is the monotheistic  God. Both religions believe in being a good person and being faithful to God,  and when one dies, s/he goes off to heaven. However, how these two religions  interpret being a good person is different, and thus this is where the conflict  lies. The rituals of Christianity are different from Islam, but when it is all  said and done, these religions are very similar. In my conclusion, being  different does not mean bad because even though religions can be different, they  can also be similar at the same time.

Just because someone believes  something different from you, it does not mean bad. Christianity and Islam have  more in common than their believers think they do. If both belief systems set  aside their differences and thought about their similarities, then there would  be more peace in this world.

Vanessa Bairos Hudson High  School Hudson, Massachusetts USA

Virtual High  School www.vhs.org

November 25, 2005

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