By Emma Lattin
As of 2012, here
are the statistics.
In The United
States of America:
·
78.4%
are Christian
o 51.3% are Protestant
o 23.9% are Catholic
o 1.7% are Mormon
o 0.7% are Jehovah’s Witness
o 0.6% are Orthodox
o 0.3% are Other Christian Denominations
·
1.7%
are Jewish
·
0.7%
are Buddhist
·
0.6%
are Muslim
·
0.4%
are Hindu
·
1.2%
are other faiths
·
And
16.1% of us are unaffiliated with religion
So
let’s review. The majority of us are Christian. In fact, it’s quite obvious
this country was built upon Christian foundations, considering we’ve got “In
God We Trust” inscribed on our currency. But we are religiously variant in the fact
that we’ve got people of several different world religions living within our
borders.
But having
those many religions (with one dominant one) in a single country causes for a
bit of a problem with toleration towards each other. So here’s the real issue: Are we Americans religiously
tolerant of each other? It seems we’ve all got this general expectation for
everyone to be tolerant of us, but that rule doesn’t apply to us, because,
well, “I’m right”.
People
are always going to think that they’re right, so we can’t really change the
fact that they think everyone else in the world is wrong. But what we can
change is generalizations.
Don’t know what I’m talking about? Just look at the
years following 9/11. In 2001, the FBI reported that immediately after 9/11, “the
anti-Muslim hate violence skyrocketed
some 1,600%” (www.splcenter.org). 1,600%? How does that even happen? The
percentage should be 0%, if we were actually as “religiously tolerant” as we
claim to be. Just because some people in another country happen to be the
same religion as the Muslims living in America, doesn’t mean they both agree on the
value in terrorist attacks. But people tend to generalize, and because you’re a
Muslim, guess what? You’re a terrorist.
We
can think we’re right, but we cannot allow ourselves to generalize about other
people in other religions. We cannot determine what or who someone is based solely
on their beliefs. Everyone is an individual, with individual thoughts, hopes
and dreams. Every person has the freedom to express
their beliefs as they wish, without being bashed on by someone of another
faith.
This video describes what this
country should be, based upon its promises of religious
tolerance.
We must stand UNITED, not DIVIDED.
Works Cited
"Southern Poverty Law Center." Southern Poverty Law Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.
"Summary of Key Findings." Statistics on Religion in America Report. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.
The list of statistics at the beginning of your post is very powerful. It really makes the idea of variation of religion stand out. It also gives a taste of how truly "divided" we often are as Americans. The post is definitely set up for success, but I wish our posts could be longer so that you could tell more about how we, as Americans, can better "stand united" rather than "divided." I'm sure you will be able to expound on that more in your full Issues paper.
ReplyDeleteAbby-
DeleteThank you for your feedback. I wish the posts could be longer, too. That would have given me room to explain myself in a few more areas of this issue. I do plan to explore the idea of how Americans can stay united rather than divided. Thanks again!
I feel like your argument is a very relative issue, and that can make for a very powerful argument. But I feel like the overall tone of your argument is very sarcastic/ a bit demeaning. I can tell this is a topic you are very passionate about, but I feel like you could turn away some readers because of the tone.
ReplyDeleteTi E-
DeleteI understand how you may have felt my tone was sarcastic. I didn't mean it to come across sarcastic or demeaning (well I did mean to be sarcastic in some parts, but not all of it). I think that is just part of my style in this post, because I was trying to catch my audience's attention by being a little blunt. But, I will take your feedback and work it into my writing, especially for this issues paper. Thank you!
The argument you make is very interesting, very well supported, and very strong. However, there are two main points to work on.
ReplyDeleteThe first is that some points you make aren't well explained. One example is your point of the mindset of feeling intolerant of another viewpoint because a person feels that only they themselves are right. In addition, the question and answer, "But people tend to generalze, and because you're a muslim, guess what? You're a terrorist," also needs further explanation beforehand, however powerful it is.
The second is grammar. It weakens your argument be reducing your credibility, even though you cite well and you make great points.
With these out of the way, the paper loses its key weaknesses.
Kenton-
DeleteI think part of the reason some of my points aren't well explained is because I didn't have a lot of words to work with, considering our limit was 400. When I write my issues paper, I will definitely better explain myself. This time around I'll have 8-10 pages to do it. And I'm not exactly sure what you're talking about regarding my grammar... is there a specific part where it was poor? Let me know. Thank you!
The grammar errors are only small errors really, but they're important to the makeup of the sentences they are in.
DeleteAn example: "But having those many religions (with one dominant one) in a single country causes FOR A BIT of a problem with toleration towards each other." The issue is the capitalized text, "for a bit." You wouldn't say "causes for a bit of a problem," but rather, "causes a bit of a problem." Only slight error, nothing major.
There are a few other minor things in the rest of the paper... So I suppose I may have made my point a little overblown about how the grammar errors are a significant detractor to the paper, but they are nonetheless a detractor in some scale. Still, it's a good paper, and I would expect the full Issues paper to be even better. Anyway, have a good night.
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ReplyDeleteSorry guys, I'm pretty oblivious and didn't realize there was a "reply" button beneath your comments... Just ignore the comments I deleted.
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