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Mhia Hernandez John Kubler English 114A September 24, 2013 Diversity: For Better or For Worse? Racial wars, academic segregation, social discrimination, and now religious diversions? The problem that we face today is one that weve struggled with for years. For years our nations have fought for their freedom, they have fought for peace, they have fought for sanctity, and they have fought for their dignity. In some cases, no fighting or war was involved. Weve agreed through meetings, weve agreed through treaties. We have put our differences aside for the greater good of the world. We have put our differences aside to welcome a community, to welcome a unity, to open opportunities, to build connections, and to form relationships. But when you get down to the bottom of it, maybe pushing aside our differences has only caused us to hide behind what it is we stand for. Religion is tricky, to say the least. Its more than just the color of skin. Its more than where people come from. Religion is a way of life. Religion defines character, defines, personality, defines the walk, and it defines the talk. Take apart a persons religion, and that is who they are. Take apart their way of life, and everything else unravels: the culture, the knowledge, the character-it really is a beautiful thing. Then comes the rising debatehow far do we go to allow and limit religions influence of this world? Whats right and whats wrong? Why should I believe this and deny that? These question quickly becomes problems because everyone has their own opinion of religion without having the proper knowledge. It stems from the failure to reflect on the facts they already know. The result? A cacophony of voices all claiming they know the answer. The lack of religious

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knowledge, regardless of the religion, leads to the assumption that religion is the same everywhere and is solely an emotional matter by definition. But if not that, then what? According to one of my professors, Religion is the symbolization process in all human traditions, where words, actions, or places are singled-out as special or sacred because they form a whole with their transcendent referent. To break it down in a more simplistic manner, religion really is a way of life. Everything about religion ties into the way a person looks at things. Its not your perspective, but Gods perspective, Vishnus perspective, Allahs perspective. All of a sudden its not your life anymore, but its your life lived by means of a certain standard(s). Its the idea that what you do now affects what could happen in the future. So if this is the case, why has it caused so much distress in our world? Taking into consideration the basic fundamentals of all this religious talk, its hard to believe that these sacred and holy idealistic ways of living is worth the controversy and worth the wars that are going on today. Dating back to the 18th Century, or even earlier, we had protests in France against Catholicism, before that we have the crucifixion of Christ, the Reformation, and in todays case, our country, as well as others, are suffering the after-math of the tragic 9/11 attack. Throughout history we have lived up to the idea of living in a world of peace and unity, and as the days go by, I feel the world is losing its dignity more and more. There are many ways to approach the benefits and obvious disadvantages of the religious influence in our world, and its even harder to decide if I would agree with all its benefits or deem it as destructive. Many argue that diversity is needed in this country, and we fight hard to stand up for those cultures who have made their ways overseas to start their lives here in America. If diversity is so popular and wanted, then why do people make a big deal if one person doesnt agree with the other because of what they believe in? We could so easily imagine all the people sharing all

Hernandez 3 the world, but apparently its not that easy to live out. John Lennon does an outstanding job in demonstrating a quiet and peaceful world. In his song, Imagine, his lyrics depict a world run by the same mindset, same likings, and even the same dreams. It would be so easy to live a life where everyone agreed on everythingno arguments, no strife, no controversy. But besides the fact that it would a completely boring life, just think of what direction our lives would be in. There would be no direction. Just this stagnant, day-to-day, same routine kind of living. Nothing to look forward to and nothing to live by. In the novel, Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi tells the story of her life and shows the difficulty and the repercussions she had to face in a diverse, culture-clashing environment. Through reading her story, I realized the innocence a child holds and how easy it is to train, or even corrupt a mind of something you want them to believe, true or not true. She paints a picture of the confusion she faces in choosing to believe what her heart is telling her or choosing to live under what her parents influenced upon her and what her teachers and what the government fed into her mind. Religious, or not, I believe we all fall under this mindset at some point in our lives. And in times of war it is evident that nations become vulnerable when under attack and it becomes easy to blame instead of thinking rationally first. In Marjanes case, she didnt allow herself time to differentiate the good and bad things about the situations that were happening around her. She sought religion for hope, but found herself disappointed when things continued to take a fall. I look at todays society, and I see how our nations have a mind much like Marjanes. We seek religion to bring us hope and to bring us peace, but it is the clash of these religions that bring us down. How do we react? We tend to blame each other. We dig deep into the differences of our lives and build these walls that cause us to become hostile and cause to really hate the idea

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of diversity. In an article written by Michael Jonas, he refers to this culture-clashing idea as a melting pot and suggests that maybe there is a downside to diversity. He noticed that in todays age, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogenous settings. David Gibson, from the Huffington Post, poses the idea that there is a strong correlation between faith and violence. I think the history of civil wars, religious battles, and terrorist attacks have led our nations to absolutely trust no one. Weve become scared to show our true colors. Weve become fearful of opening up our homes to anyone and everyone. Our world has pulled-back in a sense and our suppression has resulted in an outburst of wars to solve the problem. In a more positive note, knowing when and how this problem will end is the hope that we can all seek towards. Now, differences aside, what can this so-called melting pot offer us? Step back and just think about this nation we live filled with people from all over the world. Try and see the beauty of all these cultures bringing pieces of them to our country and infusing their heritage with ours and enhancing to become unique and original. Academically, students have grown to stretch from their comfort zone and associate with people who are culturally educated and essentially gain a better understanding of the world around them. Employment wise, we have received more help than ever before. Community wise, weve opened up ideas for new foods, new traditions, new musicits all an entertainment that is enjoyable to watch and participate in. I hear stories about how someone meets a person outside of their culture and it quickly becomes one of the best relationships theyve had. Life is all about learning new things, and one of the greatest ways to learn new things is to step outside of that comfort zone and explore the world around us. There are many things we can take from the religions that have entered into our communities, and since

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we have allowed such to happen, it is our responsibility to accept changes will come among us without having a negative reaction. After all, our country has set laws that have stemmed from the early Protestant teachings. The benefits we get from religion is more of a moral thing to me more than anything. The cultural side is a different story. There really is so much we can take from it. There is so much to learn and understand about a certain religion or culture. If we motivate and train ourselves enough to really dig deep and become knowledgeable about the people around us, I believe that it would be easier for people to be honest to how they feel about these differences and aware of what could happen if we accidently offended them. Culture clashes produce a dynamic giveand-take, Jonas states. I say that it is all about perspective. Take a step back, step into another persons shoes for a second, and try to understand. Peace is achievable, but it takes effort from everyone. Were all living dominoeswe all need to fall the same way in order for things to work out the way we know we all want it to.