U MAD BRO!? YES I AM. (Sumblog 7)

                So in this week’s sumblog I wanted to write a response to the discussion we had in class on the movie watched in class about the Muslim community center they wanted to build in New York City. This topic makes me extremely baffled on so many levels. It legitimately infuriates me that anyone can blame an ENTIRE religion based on the acts of a terrorist organization. I don’t see anyone condemning Christians after the Spanish inquisition (during which somewhere around 300,000 people were killed according to google.) No one condemns Christians after they murder doctors who help women get abortions. No one condemns Christians for murdering and torturing people for being gay, for being sexist towards women. And while these examples may not include every Christian on the planet, they certainly make up a significantly higher number of people than the few terrorists who took over the planes of September 11^th.

                So then why the fuck are people okay with condemning an entire religion they barely understand based off one terrible act? What is the difference? At one point will these surviving family members and citizens stop blaming and taking their rage out on Muslim people who work every day to make our country great. People who want to create a sanctuary and safe place for them to gather and practice. People who pray and live to follow the Koran, which is a book of peace? It frustrates me to hear people in our own class that want to take away the rights of these people, but would likely be enraged if their own rights were taken away or suppressed. How dare you condemn good people? Seriously?  What makes you more deserving than them to practice your beliefs wherever you want? Absolutely freakin nothing.   I will always work and fight to help people like this, as a good sociologist, activist, and citizen should.

What's Satan got to do, got to do with it? Sumblog 6

I actually was incredibly intrigued by the discussions and topics we covered in class on Tuesday. Going over sect, denomination, and cult seemed like a very thin line to me, as shown in class when we discussed the differences for a bit. The few that stuck out that though we did go over in class a bit, were the briefly mentioned Satanists. I’m fascinated with knowing whether or not what they would be categorized. I mean reading online in different forums such did reveal that some believe it has branched off from Christianity, some say it predates Christianity, and other say it is completely its own thing.

After doing a little more research (you know, googling Wikipedia…I’m mostly kidding) I was finding there was a lot more to Satanism than from what I assumed in my angst ridden teenage years. Not to mention my only interaction with a so called Satanist a few years ago was a total tool who I think had more anger issues than legitimate religiosity. OK! Back on topic! In a really cool article about a satanic group in Michigan on USA today, they describe Satanism as a sect:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/06/detroit-satanists-say-theyre-peaceful-sect/15219129/

               However, given the little ties to Christianity and a majority of society’s declination of Satanism, I think that it’s most likely to be labelled as a cult. Though it technically has no real charismatic leader, a man named Anton LaVey did create the church of Satan and is credited for bringing Satanism mainstream. Also much like the Cult status, Satanism has no relationship with society or the government, despite gaining grounds in now being allowed to worship Satanism in the military. Much like Christianity though, Satanism has its own denominations despite having such a small following, all of which appears to be slightly different to the individual, once again showing that religion is a highly personal and individualistic thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanism (ok...fine. Most of this I knew beforehand or wikipedia’d.) 

ALL THE RATIONAL CHOICES (Sumbog 5)

I found the rational choice theory (also known as surplus and exchange theory) to actually be extremely straightforward and sensible. Supposedly with this theory you take a look at one religion at a time and make a pros and cons list, debating on whether or not that will fit your lifestyle. I find this idea to be absolutely fascinating, and a big contributor as to why there are just so many denominations of Christianity. This definitely plays into some of the ideas we've discussed in class about religion being very personal. We pick a religion that benefits us the most, and find others whose beliefs are the most similar to ours.

Let’s put this into action and based off the rational choice theory decide which religion to pick, given the limited information. Take for instance Jehovah’s Witnesses. They don’t believe in hell, that’s pretty great right? They also don’t celebrate birthdays, saving you money not having to buy a pesky gift! On the other hand, those who leave the group are then shunned, thus a con. Now let’s make a short pro and cons list for the Westboro Baptist Church. Pro, they are a very tight knit community. Cons, they are sexist, racist, homophobic, and all around terrible. Also, they are exclusive to those who don’t share their exact beliefs. Assuming these are the only two options, using the rational choice theory, nearly everyone would likely choose to be a Jehovah’s Witness.

Given the vast amount of choices in religion, and the personal interpretation of religion, rational choice theory makes sense, but can be difficult. You are not supposed to compare the two religions with this theory, but once you have multiple pro and con lists, you have to compare them in order to make a decision. I feel that makes it slightly contradictory. But here is one thing we can hopefully all agree on! 

Digital image. Zerobs.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.

New Muslim Cool response (Sumblog 4)

For this week’s sumblog I wanted to discuss my thoughts on New Muslim Cool, which I finished watching at home. I wasn’t sure what to think of it coming in, I have no knowledge or experience with the Muslim religion. Of course I’ve heard all the ignorant and discriminate crap that some people spout off about it, but I know better than to use that as any kind of reference point. Though I still think it may have left some kind of bias in my mind with all the negativity surrounding this unknown religion.

Watching how Hamza has turned his life around, and learned bit and pieces of his religion was very touching to me. I could relate to the clear frustration and lack of knowledge his mother had to his religion because it’s fairly similar to my mother’s response to my lack of religion. Watching the way he interacts with his family was just absolutely sweet. When I think about the stereotypes surrounding his religion when it comes to women, the thought of abuse and neglect come to mind. This is nothing like Hazma’s relationship with his family. He clearly loves his wife and children, he is a very caring and loving father.

This kind of positivity and compassion is prevalent in everything Hazma does. He takes a genre like rap, which has a typically bad reputation and uses it to send a message of hope and community to people. He uses it to help people in gangs and prisons. He was able to assist others in seeing Muslim as more than the extreme fundamentalists. Unfortunately they revoked his clearance to help those people, and it blows my mind how that can be allowed without giving a reason. The Patriot Act is such shit in some ways. It allows the government to abuse its powers and not be held accountable in so many ways.

Watching the raid on Hazma’s mosque was difficult, it made me extremely angry. Over and over Hazma has shown to be nothing but an upstanding person, but continuously he gets shut down. I feel like it is such a testament to their faith when facing such discrimination. At the same time, I felt there were a few problematic areas that I wish they would have elaborated more on. I really wish they would have allowed Hazma’s wife to speak more. I felt like they didn’t not give her enough time to say her thoughts and beliefs, and that maybe she was holding back.

Overall, I still don’t know much about the Muslim religion, but seeing a bit of it in practice put a nicer light on it. Hazma seemed like a normal guy just trying to get by in life and not letting things hold him back. I might be interested in looking more into it, to see what’s what.