final

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVx3Hr809Sc



8. I was at my friend’s house for Thanksgiving and his brother had just became a priest, so he showed us the movie recording of the ceremony of when he actually became a priest. He explained to me about the schooling and getting his masters to become a priest. The ceremony was really long but it was interesting, it took place at a really big church in LA. Then he briefly explained how the hierarchy in the catholic church works with the bishops and the priests. My current boyfriend of 3 years had planned to become a priest before he met me, he told me that his plan was to study and become a priest so he can help people if he didn’t find someone he loved at the age of 20, but now that we are together his plans have changed. It was really interesting to hear about the process, I had no idea that they had to go to so much school, my friend’s brother studies theology and philosophy. Not being Catholic myself, me and my boyfriend have always wondered if we could get married in the church and we asked my friend’s brother. It turns out that you can, but the only requirements are that at least one of the party has to be Catholic, a letter of request has to be written to the bishop for him to approve before the church is allowed to marry us, and that since I am not Catholic but he is, I am not allowed to stop him from practicing his religion and I am not allowed to stop him teaching our children about Catholicism. That night I found myself asking a lot of questions and applying it to what we learned in class. I also began to question some of the things he said, he said that women are not allowed to be priests and that the church has science behind what they believe. I didn’t actually ask him out loud because I didn’t want to be rude, but why can’t women be priests? What kind of science do you have behind the religion, and I also noticed that he never actually mentioned how and what sciences have been done. I think I am still too skeptical to commit myself to one specific religion.





11. When the Europeans first took over Mexico and tried to convert them to Catholics, the native people did not want to and did not believe in it. The natives at the time had their own beliefs, this all changed with the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe was told. The brown-skinned virgin appeared to Juan Diego on a hillside. She told Juan Diego that he needed to go to the Bishop and tell him to build a shire in her honor in the spot that she was seen. The Bishop did not believe his story at first, but then Juan Diego presented the Bishop with a miracle. He brought roses from the top of the hillside to the Bishop in November, when roses did not grow, in order to convince the Bishop that she was real and that there is a miracle. After that, the Bishop believed Juan Diego and did what Guadalupe told them to do. The significance of this story is that, this was the first time that the Natives saw for themselves the virgin that the Europeans were all trying to convince them to believe. This led to a mass conversion to Catholicism for the Natives. For the first time Catholicism related to the Mexicans, because the virgin that appeared was brown skin and the event happened to a Native and not an European, therefore the rest of the Natives were much more convinced to convert to Catholicism.

12. Asian religious and Latino religious experience are different for both groups. Asians immigrated to North America, and when this happened they were able to bring with them their religious practice. These religious practice amongst the Asians, were brought over successfully because it was the first generation immigrants that brought them over. Religious practices that were brought over had no influences of Christianity like the Latino religious experience. Asian religions such as Buddhism and Shinto do not worship a god. Asian religions are more based on self contemplation. The four truths of Buddhism is more like philosophy more than a religious belief. Buddhism focuses on letting go desire and will therefore lead to no more suffering. The Asian religions focus on the mind and not a god.
The Latino religious experience was different from the Asian religious experience. Geographically Latinos are much closer to North America than Asians are. When the Europeans invaded Mexico, Catholicism was imposed on them. Catholicism focuses more on God, the Virgin Mary, and Jesus, the teachings of the religion is based on stories, these factors are different from the Asian religions. Many Mexicans accepted the ideas of Roman Catholicism after the invasion. By the time the Mexican-American war happened, the Mexicans had already adjusted to European languages and religion, so after the war, these components were brought to North America, as California, Texas, New Mexico and all those neighboring states became part of the United States.
In some ways the Asian and Latino religious experiences are similar to each other. Both groups of people are minorities of the country, and because of that they were segregated from the whites. When groups of minorities are being treated poorly by the others, they will work together to become stronger. These two groups of people both gathered together amongst themselves and practiced their religions together. These groups would gather together and use their traditional language, traditional customs and rituals together. Places like China town is an example of this, the group of Chinese people gathered together and lived in a one place so they can speak their native language and practice their traditions together. When minority group are separated from the white majorities, they will work within their own group to build a stronger foundation.

13. When the Japanese came to the United States they were treated poorly by whites and the Buddhist church was there to boost their morale. The Japanese immigrants were looked upon as inferior to the white community. The immigrants did not have as much money, and were new to the country and has not established root yet. This was a huge transition for the Japanese because in Japan they were considered to be superior and the greatest race of all Asia. Due to this situation, many upset immigrants turned to Buddhism. The religion provided them comfort they needed to deal with all the stress of the segregation. Buddhism taught them to be humble and patient, and to be calm about the situation and not get all worked up over it. The religion provided the immigrants an alternative way of thinking, instead of being upset, they were taught to deal with their emotions differently, by meditating. The Buddhist church brought together angry Japanese Americans as a group to help each other deal with the difficult times. Together they can speak their native language and practice their traditions, this gave them a break from their difficult life in the United States.

14. One important point that I noticed from the religious experiences of different ethnic groups is the effect of segregation from being a minority. When a group of people are being discriminated from the majority, the minority group will work together to support each other. This is why we see certain ethnic groups living in concentrated areas, for example there is a big amount of Asian Americans all living in Westminister. This is the same with religious groups, Mormons for example, there are not a lot of them but they all live in a certain area together, Utah, and in Utah, they have a lot of power and a lot of churches. This point is this, there are so many different religious in this country, and it is difficult for people to practice their religion because of this diversity and in order for someone to be able to practice their religion without because taunted by other religious groups, one much gather with other people with the same religion and practice it together, and this is why there are clusters of people living in specific regions on the country that have the same religious beliefs. In conclusion, in order for people to be able to practice their religions comfortably one of two things must happen, either everyone needs to be accepting of all religions and not be quick to judge, or (just like is it now) religious groups need to live in the same community so they are not discriminated and can work together and practice their religions together.

15. The church of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormons have impacted American life. This group of people are very exclusive and followers tend to be extremely dedicated. This group of people are concentrated in Salt Lake City, Utah, this is also where the Church of Latter-Day Saints is. The high population of Mormons and the exclusiveness of the religion has changed the dynamics of Salt Lake City. If you are a part of the church there are a lot of perks from the city, and everyone else is excluded from these benefits and can only get these benefits under one condition, join the church of Latter-Day Saints. Mormon churches are also very secretive and exclusive, those that are not of the religion are not allowed in the churches, and in front of the churches there is a list of names of the people that are a part of the church that can enter and everyone else is not allowed. The Mormon church is so exclusive and powerful because everyone that is a part of it is extremely dedicated, and because of these reasons, the region where they live at, they have taken over a lot of public benefits that are specifically only offered to them and no one else. They are a good example of a small religious group that worked together and completely altered the way of things not only within the church but the city as well.