Always Learning and Questioning

This is Vanessa, the author of this latest entry. She discusses her First Holy Communion here, and this photo was taken on that day. Happy reading!

When reading chapter eight I reflected back to when I would go to Catechism classes every Sunday in order to do my First Communion. My reflection came to mind towards the end of the chapter but it stood out to me the most. When reading about Suzanne’s daughter’s project it reminded me about what projects I did, and what I learned during Catechism class. I am sad to say all I can remember is coloring in religious pictures but never really talking about what they meant. I don’t know if it is just because it was so long ago; however, as I am thinking back, I feel like I didn’t learn much at all. The way I learned my prayers was from my mom and aunt. The only reason I learned them was because I needed to recite them to “pass” the communion test. I now wonder what children are learning in Sunday school now a days. Are they learning about their religion at all? Also, what are they learning in school, such as what religious holidays are being acknowledged? Why and why not?

In this same chapter I learned something new. For the longest time I thought that Muslim women wore veils because of their religion, and now I come to find out that it has nothing to do with it. I agree with Ranya in how she expressed her feelings towards the idea of the veil. I enjoyed reading her thoughts on her faith because they were so emotionally detailed that it gave me a sense of how she felt. When Ranya mentioned some Muslin women choose to wear the veil for pride but the majority of Muslim women choose to be uncovered, it goes to show that everyone has different viewpoints even if they share the same religious background.

In the beginning dialogue of chapter nine, Priscilla mentions how ignorant people were after 9/11, and the discrimination that Muslims began to face. When 9/11 happened, I didn’t understand why citizens began to discriminate against Muslim people, assuming they were all part of the terrorist attack. I think people who actually believed that were being unrealistic, brainless, and obviously close-minded. This was my first thought after reading the dialogue. My next thought arose after reading the second dialogue in chapter nine when Suzanne asked Priscilla about the fear of the Holocaust repeating itself. I began to wonder if not only Jews feared the Holocaust happening again, but what about other ethnicities that my also live in fear. One of many examples would be the Japanese fearing that another World War II would evolve and concentration camps may come back into effect. It is very heart breaking to think that many may live in fear due to historical events that happened in their home country or in a foreign country. I found this idea rather disturbing.

I strongly agree with Ranya when she mentions that politics and religion have a connection. As I was reading, the thought had come to my mind right before it was mentioned. The way Ranya approached Priscilla in chapter 9 was a bit severe and was evidently due to the anger built up from their previous meetings. The way I saw it was that she made Priscilla seem clueless about her Jewish history and yet expected quite a bit from her all at once. I can understand Priscilla’s position because she cares about being Jewish and also cares about Ranya’s feelings. She showed that she cared when she brought up the matter by asking other people. Priscilla is one Jewish voice that I think wouldn’t be able to make much of a difference based on the replies she received from the other people. If I were Ranya, I would at least appreciate Priscilla learning about her Jewish history and trying to become a voice. However, I would not want her to separate herself from being a proud Jew either; that would be ridiculous on my part.