Religion and ethnic groups

Christopher Taylor Religious and Ethnic Groups paper June 8TH 2014

I have chosen to write about the Muslim/Islam religion. Racial/Ethnic group, I have chosen to write about Hispanic and Latino population.

Islam is a monotheistic religion based on revelations received by the prophet Mohammed in the 7th century A.D., which were later recorded in the Quran (or Koran), Islam 's sacred text. Islam has spread rapidly throughout the centuries and today the religion is, by some measurements, the largest religion in the world. The Arabic word Islam means "submission," reflecting the faith 's central tenet of submitting to Allah. Islamic practices are defined by the five pillars of Islam: faith, prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and alms. Followers of Islam are called Muslims (Religious Facts). Islamic religion differs from other religion because they have a very strict religious rules and guidelines to be a practicing Muslim. Also the Quran is the text in which Muslims follow, rather than the Bible which is followed by Christians and Judaism. My experience with Muslims has been met with racism with myself as well as others. I as well as others had only associated Islam with Radicals and terrorists, but through research have found that Islam is one of the most strict and influential religions in today’s society. The religion as a whole has been discriminated against because of a few bad people, but the majority of the religion has no hatred against America or nations alike. I have found that Radicals have taken the Quran and twisted into their own agenda but the true meaning of the Quran is about faith and discipline and devoting your life to Mohammed. The Islamic religion has contributed to American culture by showing individuals the meaning of depriving one’s self from pleasures to appease god, Muslims are true believers in sacrifice in which I believe the American culture could take some advice from. Muslims have also contributed to the American culture by implementing diversity into the population. Christianity has been the most practiced religion since its inception in C. 33CE and now has more than 2 billion members claiming the largest population of the United States, while Islam currently has around 1.3 billion. Islam has implemented a new way of worshipping God and giving members from all races permission to join. Specific discrimination that Muslims have endured has without a doubt being associated with terrorists and hating America or anyone who is not involved in Jihad in the name of Allah. As I stated before, this is the view of a select few in the Muslim religion and has been twisted to fit their personal agendas. Most of the population wants peace among countries and wants their right to live among us without fear and discrimination. My sources in which I found specific incidents of discrimination where www.monkeycage.org , www.amnesty.org/en/news/muslims-discriminated-against-demonstrating-their-faith-2012-04-23 and Wiki also had the term Islam phobia which will no longer be considered a word but none the less shows the level of discrimination they were faced with. From what I knew before this research and what I know now has educated me on the religion and its people and has encouraged curiosity about the Islam and Muslim religion. I now do not associate the word Muslim or Islam with Osama Bin Laden or terrorist’s because I have found that only the misguided want to participate in Jihad.

Hispanic and Latino Americans are an ethno linguistic group of Americans that have origins in the countries of Latin America. More generally refers to Americans who self-Identify as Hispanic or Latino. Latin American culture has populations in all continents and has ancestors in Native American cultures. The difference between Latino Americans is that their population and influence is so wide because they are in all places in the world, in a 2010 census it was documented that Latino’s and Hispanic made up 16.9% of the USA population which is about 53 million people. Latino’s have always been inviting and passionate about life, the majority of Hispanics and Latino’s are Catholic but has religious ties in Islam, atheism, and Indigenous religions. Hispanics and Latino’s have contributed to the American culture by way of life, food, religion, and making up some very important people in sports, government offices and show business. Hispanics and Latino Americans have endured many stereotypes in the American culture all of which is demeaning to the person and race of people. Some of the stereotypes that Latino’s have been associated with are Bandito, greaser, and macho. These stereotypes where to discriminate by calling the race thieves and lazy. The term greasers were actually started in Mexico because some were employed to grease wagon wheels, so the term greaser was used. I found this information on www. Thehispanicamerican.org which also gives more information on the senseless discrimination these people has endured. I have learned that Hispanics and Latino are one of the most diverse populations we have in America. The population is tied to Native American’s as well as every continent in the world so if we could put away the stereotypes I believe we could learn a great deal from the individuals in this culture.

Conclusion: The similarities I have found in my topics are that discrimination and stereotypes come from assumptions or the complete lack of information about a culture or religion. America has a bad habit along with others that put the cart before the horse meaning that we do not do are part of educating ourselves before we make a presumption about something or someone. I have always thought that all racism is the same in that it’s environmental and taught. Diversity has to be accepted or are democracy and the land of the free is a farce to the citizens of the United States because Europeans, whites, blacks and all others are in fact immigrants to this country and we need to live with another and learn from another rather than hate or stereotype another. The difference in my groups are that they have their own personal and moral beliefs, Latinos are mainly Christian and Islam are Muslims and have their own beliefs in how they carry out their life’s, but for the most part culture and religion are the two things that separate these two populations. The only conclusion I can come to about discrimination is that people need to educate themselves as well as their offspring to the different cultures they are going to encounter in their life time. I have a large population of Hispanic and African American that co exist with whites and I have educated my children on why their skin is different and where they are from because these are common questions parents are asked and if we make a small difference in skin color or culture a big deal, then they our kids will carry on the discrimination and stereotypes against people they will be living with in their community and country.

References: www.monkeycage.org http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/comparison_charts/islam_judaism_christianity.htm http://www.thehispanicamerican.com/hispanic-american-culture/hispanic-american-discrimination-02/

References: www.monkeycage.org http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/comparison_charts/islam_judaism_christianity.htm http://www.thehispanicamerican.com/hispanic-american-culture/hispanic-american-discrimination-02/