Juan, the author of our first entry on chapters 7 and 8, is pictured here as a child, helping celebrate his cousin, Andy's, birthday. I don't know about you, but that cake is making me hungry!Happy reading!
By chapters 8 and 9, the women of the faith club had already built a strong friendship with each other. But now it was time to take the gloves off and get the facts straight about each other’s religions. In chapter 8, Ranya’s Madrassah, Suzanne and Priscilla try to get some answers about Ranya’s culture and the laws behind the Islamic religion, even if the questions might come off as offensive. Ranya, at this point, understood that Suzanne and Priscilla were not asking questions to humiliate her religion but to get the true understanding of it. I was amazed at Ranya's stance on her religion and how she found her path in it. The tables did turn in the next chapter.
In chapter 9, The Promised Land, Priscilla was now under the spotlight, and it was Ranya's turn to talk about her views on the Jewish faith. This was a debate that was bound to happen; from my understanding, since Biblical days the Palestinians and Israelis have been at war over the Promised Land. Ranya wanted to understand why Jewish people believe that they deserve the Promised Land over the Palestinians. Priscilla mentions that she isn’t supportive of the Israeli people taking land from the Palestinians; however, the women defend their religions by taking a stance on what they believe is true. Both Ranya and Pricilla are upset by some aspects of their religions, as I was at one point in my life.
When relating to these chapters, I have to start at the beginning of my life. I was born into the Catholic religion, and my mother was a strong believer. I did all the things a Catholic person would do: I was baptized before I was 1, I had my first communion at the age of 10. Interesting enough, though, I never did my confirmation. During these times, church, to me, was seen as an obligation and a chore. All I knew was that Jesus died on the cross for me and that he is the reason why I get to go to heaven.
As time went by, I started to avoid going to church and I would only go during important holidays or other events such as Ash Wednesday. I could see that my mother wasn’t too keen on the idea but she allowed me to make my own choice. I began to just live my life as a teenager and as a young adult, leaving Jesus in the back of my mind. It wasn’t until a crisis occurred that I came back to church.
The crisis occurred in my early twenties and I needed to find answers. At this time I had a friend who would occasionally invite me to her Christian church. So when I attended the church, I started to understand about the Christian faith and my relationship with Jesus. However, my mother was upset that I decided to go to a Christian church instead of a Catholic church. Her reasoning was that the Christian faith doesn’t pray to saints or the Virgin Mary, which is an important factor in the Catholic faith.
I was torn between the two religions even though they are both part of the Christian faith. Nevertheless, I continued my path into the Christian faith with my mother’s disapproval in the back of my mind. As time went on, my faith grew strong and I was given the opportunity to be baptized again. It was awkward to me knowing that I can be baptized at my age, but I did it anyway. It was a good feeling that I will never forget. Unfortunately that church was not doing well financially and they had to move to another location. I never followed nor did I find another church.
Interestingly enough, this made me think more about how I felt about religion. There were a lot of questions I had about Christianity. One question was why couldn’t I pray to Jesus and Virgin Mary? Another question that was more controversial was Christianity’s view on homosexuality. During this time, my cousin informed me that he was gay; at first I was astonished but I totally respected his life choice. What was devastating was that my cousin was an avid Catholic. When he finally got the nerve to tell his church, he was asked to leave. I was outraged at the church and even Christianity.
There have always been heated debates about homosexuality and religion. Homosexuals are sinners that will not go to heaven. I couldn’t grasp this. Why is it that my cousin can’t go to heaven when he is just as loving and caring as the next Christian? This is where I drew the line and decided that I will make my own path with Jesus. As long as I love Jesus and know that he died on the cross for me, I know that I will have my place in heaven. This made me think about Ranya’s decision to follow her own path. Ranya quotes from Bloom’s interpretation of the Quran, “The niche may be the heart of Mohammad or any discerning heart: God guides to his light whom he will. The blessed olive tree, neither of the East nor the West, is everywhere and nowhere, wherever and whenever, a purified vision, a light” (p.118). Like Ranya, I, too, will choose my own path to follow, with love and charity. I don’t know for a fact that my choices are the correct ones, but my faith leads me down a path that I follow.
While I wasn't raised going to church with my family, I did go to church off and on as a child when I spent time with friends, and I had (and still do...) questions and concerns similar to yours. I think this is important, as the curiosity we have feeds our desire to find answers, and to openly explore various possibilities. For me, in the end, faith is a feeling; I may not be able to explain it to others effectively, but I always feel it. And that guides how I live my life.
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