Working Together with Different Beliefs

This is Mya, and she DIDN'T write our latest entry -- rather, her owner did. Sovanny is Mya's proud owner, and she said, "This is my dog, Mya, watching TV. Isn't she cute?!" Yes, Sovanny, she is cute, and I think everyone will enjoy reading your entry as much as they enjoy seeing the photo of Mya!



In chapters 3 and 4, the three complete strangers who wrote the book talked about the Abrahamic family feud and the controversy of the crucifixion of Jesus. These chapters show the hardship of working together with different beliefs.

The one thing that I did agree with was displaying the truth of Jesus’ crucifixion in Suzanne’s writing. I feel that every religion has its flaws like the girls stated, but the fact is they need to realize that history is not something that someone can rewrite. However, I disagree with the fact that she wrote about the crucifixion without consulting the other girls prior to doing so. I felt that maybe Priscilla was not being overly sensitive, and that it was probably just something that she felt very strongly about. Suzanne probably did not feel that the crucifixion was a big deal because her religion emphasizes it. This was unlike Priscilla who, in this case, felt like the victim; it was just an uneasy topic to her in general, and as a team they should have verbalized what they were going to write about.

Reading these chapters made me realize that our society does focus heavily on the religious views held by the majority, in this case Christians. I do notice that most of the holidays that we celebrate are based on Christianity; for instance, Easter, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Saint Patrick’s Day, and so forth. Growing up in our school system, I felt that they heavily emphasized holidays in a classroom setting. Honestly, when I was a child I felt forced to celebrate holidays in the classroom. Our teachers sent us letters about what was going to happen on certain holidays and what we needed to bring to class, and sometimes what we needed to wear. For instance: we had to wear green for Saint Patrick’s Day and wear a costume for Halloween. I made this connection when I was reading Priscilla’s part about her son not understanding why they couldn’t have lights and decorated trees for the holidays. I can understand how it feels to be different; children can be cruel, especially to other kids that are different. I remember other children making fun of me when I was a child because I was left-handed and it was not normal. I strongly feel that children do pick on other kids a lot, especially if they are different. And as a child there is nothing more that you want than to fit in.

The reading made me realize that all children are different. Children develop differently and each student has a different culture or a religion that needs to be respected. As a future child educator I feel that it is important to accept children and be sensitive to their culture, religion, family and ethnicity. I feel that we need to accept all religions and teach children how important it is to be different and diverse.

The reading answered this question for me: How is behavior learned? Priscilla said that she watched a documentary on the crucifixion of Jesus, and that her son entered the room and told her to turn it off, that they were not supposed to be watching stuff like that. As I was reading it, I felt that Priscilla was shocked by her son's action towards the documentary. I felt that his behavior was learned through her because prior to this group, she felt uneasy when it came to the crucifixion. She even said that saying Jesus’ name made her feel uncomfortable. I felt that she probably expressed that discomfort and that her son caught on to it.