Religión

While watching In God's Name, I found the most important question that was also on the film guide to be the first one listed: "What commonalities among all the religions can you perceive?" I think this question is very important to answer, because it works to find the similarities in between different religions, which is not something that is done very often. In my experience, people tend to disregard this common ground, leading to misunderstanding, hate, and violence. One of the religious leaders in the film described all religion as "humanity's desire to touch the divine" or, in other words, that the purpose of religion is to bring people to closer to God. This makes sense to me. Before judging others for their religious beliefs, people need to realize that the other's beliefs most likely stem from the same longing that their own beliefs do - the longing to be closer to a higher being. 

Another common theme shared by many religions (although not quite all) is the tendency to think that only their viewpoints are correct. This can be seen in the way that people are quick to judge the customs practiced by other religions, including things such as their religious rites or even their attire. A good example can be seen in chapter 24 of the CC book which is entitled Symbolizing Roles: Behind the Veil. In this article, different opinions are expressed concerning women wearing veils that cover their face. Although some religions believe this practice to be good and right, others think it is oppressive, demeaning, etc. At the same time, even between those that do agree on whether or not veils should be worn have different reasons for coming to this conclusion. I use this (small) example of disagreement between religions to say that the need to be "the right religion" has led to much quarreling, which has prevented unity.

One of the aspects of a different religion in the film that I found to be the most interesting was about the Hindi spiritual leader, known to many as Amma. It was refreshing to learn about someone so giving and so full of love. I think what she is doing is very important missionary work, but it is not what many would even consider missionary work in the U.S. She doesn't spend time trying to convince people to repent or to chastise them for sinning; instead, she offers them unconditional love with the hug she gives.

It is important to understand about other religions for a few reasons. Learning the truth about other religions helps to break stereotypes. This does not mean that everyone has to agree with each religion, but that people should at least know the facts about the religion before they judge it.  Understanding other religions, as shown by the film in class, also brings about an awareness of the commonalities found in humanity.

Marriage y "La Familia"

     The purpose of marriage, in my mind, is to build a strong tie between two people.  A spouse is someone with whom to share your life. This view may be romanticized and somewhat unrealistic, especially since my parents are divorced (one being divorced twice).  However, watching what my parents have gone through has made me examine the meaning of marriage - and I have decided that marriage should be something about which both spouses are VERY sure.   

     Having divorced parents has also made my definition of a "normal" family stretch.  Personally, I have seen family include everything from a mother and two kids, to the all-American "nuclear family", to a large extended family that includes seven sets of aunts and uncles and twenty-five cousins.  But the loose definition that I assign to my family does not negate the importance of family in my life. All through growing up my family has played an integral part in my life, and I know it will continue to do so.

     In some ways, this is similar to the views expressed about kin in the article 'Family and Kinship in Village India' by David W. McCurdy.  Although no one I know in my family has been involved in an arranged marriage, those in my family do frequently consult other members (even from the extended family) in making important decisions.  A huge difference that I noticed from the readings and the movie concerned new family members being added.  In both the article 'Uterine Families and the Women's Community' by Margery Wolf and the movie about the Masai, new brides were treated with disdain by those in her new family, especially by the other women.  In all of my family, new additions are generally welcomed warmly.

    I was a little surprised by the way that other cultures view sexuality, marriage, and family. It is interesting to me that many Americans view sexuality in a more strict "one-or-the-other" sense, while some other cultures take a more open interpretation. Also, I re-learned that Americans have much less structure in the way of marriage rituals, custom's, etc, than can be found in other parts of the world.  These are aspects that I had known about before, but that are easy to overlook or forget.

Gender in Society

It is easy to take the freedoms and liberties that are offered to American citizens, men and women, for granted. Looking at the rituals that are practiced among the Masai brings an awareness of this ungratefulness. The Masai have a strict system set in place as to each individual's role in society. It is known, for example, that every man will serve as a Masai warrior from the ages of 18 to 30. I am thankful that there are more options for the next 12 years of my life in U.S. society than this. In terms of decisions, Masai women especially have virtually no choice regarding what they will do with their lives. At the proper age the women are circumcised and given away as wives, and then live out the rest of their days working for their husbands. They cannot own their own property, or even protest being mistreated by their husbands.  A women who cannot bear children is useless to the Masai society. These traditions are obviously vastly different than in the U.S., and could even be perceived by someone from outside of the Masai culture as a gross violation of human rights. 

The question then becomes, "Do universal human rights exist? And who decides what these include?"  It is easy for an American to look in on the Masai and say that the way that they treat women is wrong; but the Masai do not think it is. Who are we to tell them how they should live their lives?  It would be ineffective to march into a Masai village and tell the people that they were no longer allowed to circumcise their women or that they had to let them choose their own husbands.  Personally, I believe that education is a key component in this debate. Every person should be given the opportunity to learn about different customs, and then decide how they want to live their own life--but, sadly, this an unrealistic objective.  

The value of gender in society is difficult to say. In cultures such as the Masai, it is easy to see how gender is important as the deciding factor for how one will spend his/her life. In other cultures, however, gender plays a significantly lesser role.  In Heading Home: Women, Work, and Identity in America, Dianna Shandy and Karine Moe note that in some cultures, such as the Wosho Indians of California and the Hadza of Tanzania, there exists gender equality.  Unfortunately, this is not the norm in many societies, including in our own. Although women have been given all of the same rights as men in the U.S., they are still left with many of the "duties" that they had to do when they were not allowed to work.  What results is women working just as hard  as their male counterparts during the workday, and then returning home to take care of the children and maintain the house. Examples of this can be seen in Global Women in the New Economy, by Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild. 

A two-gender system brings challenges in that it does not necessarily encompass everyone.  There are those who do not fit the stereotypes biologically or mentally. Furthermore, because many aspects of life are classified in society as pertaining to either gender (ex: pink is a "girl color" and blue is a "boy color"), people get confused when they don't feel that they don't agree with or fit into the particular stereotype. This is becoming less of an issue in U.S. culture today, as people are learning that not everything is a black and white (or as boy and girl) as they once though it was.  This can be seen in anything from men and women performing the same jobs (whether at work or in the home) to the distinction between some boys and girls clothing becoming less.

Reflect on the unique history of the United States. Each nation has its own unique history that created its cultural values, political structure, and legal code. After reading the two C&C case studies for the week, how was the United States influenced by non-state societies in its founding? What contributions were made by smaller-scale societies? Were you surprised by these contributions?

In the article 'The Founding Indian Fathers,' Jack Weatherford demonstrates some of the ways that Native Americans helped to shape the current governmental system used in the United States. Native American political entities and organizations (most prominently the Iroquois League) strongly influenced this country's foundation. Concerning federalism, for example, Weatherford writes that "The Indians invented it even though the United States patented it." (CC, p. 285).  This shows that without the idea given by these people, who were referred to as "savages," the United States would not necessarily be the nation that it is today. This idea is strange to me, because I always assumed that the Founding Fathers of our country came to America with all the bright ideas, and just needed to get away from British tyranny to set them into action. It does not help to correct these misconceptions that the Indians have never been credited for their help in creating a model for U.S. Federal Government, as Weatherford points out at the bottom of page 289.

Secondly, how do the U.S. cultural values and ideas about “good” government impact our decisions in foreign policy? How can our assumptions, coming from our own unique history, cloud our understanding of other nations’ political systems and values? How might we use our understanding of other cultures and their political systems to better foreign policy?

The U.S. has become infamous for trying to beat democracy into other nations, and particularly into Iraq. Robin Fox writes about this dilemma in the article entitled 'The kindness of Strangers: The U.S. and Iraq.' Fox argues that because government officials believe so strongly in "American democracy," they find it their duty to try to spread it across the globe. Surely other nations would want freedom and equal voices for all members in society, as is the goal of the U.S.?  Unfortunately, that is not the case, and U.S. officials have failed at giving democracy a good name for many Arabic countries due to their harsh, non-understanding foreign policy tactics. U.S. history has shown that oppression is wrong; but it took the United States (and other democratic countries) a considerable amount of time to realize this. Supposing that Iraqi values were the same as those of the U.S., the U.S. still could not reasonably expect Iraq to change its policies overnight to suit U.S. desires.  This is only heightened by the fact that cultural values in these two countries are drastically different, from the rights of the individual, to the rights of females, even to appropriate marriage partners.  To better U.S. foreign policy, Fox suggests that "Before we try to make them over in our image, we should remember how unnervingly recent was our own makeover, and act with becoming humility and caution." (CC, pp. 296-297). Also, Fox writes that we must understand that the "Iraqi People," are really only unified in that the live in the same relative geographic location, and that they put more emphasis on tribal unity than doing anything for the "good of the country."  If we remember that they hold these values differently than we do, perhaps we become less impatient with the positive, however slow, changes they are making.