Tara Monroe Monroe 1
HON 1390 - Kosmitis
Final Paper
10/29/2013
Word Count: 1658
America’s Ignorance
The history I learned about while in elementary school of the United States of America dealt with Indians, Pilgrims, and Christianity. Eventually in middle school and high school I learned about England and the colonists, but still the only religion we talked about in my history class was Christianity. Although that certainly is one of the religions in America, there are many different civilizations, cultures, and religions that affect our country, and it those religions and civilizations grow everyday. Although not all Americans are acquainted with all the religions that surround them, almost everyday they are affected by them whether they realize it or not. Westernized culture today is affected by a variety of religions both directly and indirectly. The United States of America is suffering because of its citizen’s ignorance about the religions, cultures, and civilizations that surround and affect them. Christian rather than Judaism has had a huge impact on western culture. A good percentage of American’s morals depend entirely on that of the bible. Added to that, much of the political controversy America has today is because of the Christian religion. I would go almost as far as saying that the political system can be directly tied to the Christian religion. According to John C. Green’s and James C. Guth’s data they collected for Christian Right in the Republican Party: The Case of Pat Robertson’s Supporter’s,
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“The question of political impact aside, however, most analysts believe that Christian activists have become increasingly more involved in the republican party” (Green, Guth 151). Since a high amount of political leaders in America are Christians, the republican ones at least, whether or not they choose to admit it, it does affect the nation as a whole. A lot of the laws and policies, nationally and locally, coincide directly with the bible. I do not think that someone should not be allowed to run for office because of his or her religious views, but at the same time the views of that person should not interfere with whatever position they hold. Almost all states have gay marriage bans that agree with the bible when it says, “If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads” (Leviticus 20:13). While the nation is not putting homosexuals to death they are still not letting them have the same rights that everyone else has. The laws may not punish homosexuals but many of the rural towns in the United States are stuck in their stubborn ignorant ways and take it upon their own hands to punish those who do wrong by the bible. It is on the news every day about homosexual teenagers being beat to death by kids at their school or committing suicide because they cannot deal with the bullying anymore. Many Christian Americans take the lessons they learn from the bible and expect everyone to abide by it regardless of what religion, if any, they are. These Americans do not need to give up their own morals and perception of the bible, however, all Americans need to realize there is more than the religion that they believe in meaning they need to accept everyone else’s morals and religion of which others choose to believe in.
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Karma has become a very modernized concept in the western culture. It has been re-defined and has lost its true context by a large some of the people that know the word, but not the true meaning of it. According to Y. Krishan, “karma, exhibit two conflicting trends: role of karma in shaping and individual’s destiny and in the achievement of the goal of liberation or moksa or nirvana” (1). Due to its redefinition Karma has lost the value of the word itself by western people. Many people in America who have no connection to Hinduism and frankly may