United States-Centric Views Comparison

1.     Assignment: United States-Centric Views Comparison

·         Provide a copy of Appendix D to a friend or family member and ask that person to complete the table contained therein. In doing so, your chosen participant will consider what he or she thinks are the common United States-centric viewpoints on Muslim and Arab American and Christian American groups. Ask your participant to return their completed appendix at least 1 day before this assignment is due.

·         Complete a duplicate copy of Appendix D, following the same directions as your participant.

·         Write a 350- to 500-word summary in which you compare and contrast your participant’s answers with your own answers, and address the following questions:

o    How are your table answers similar? How are they different?

o    Do either tables list descriptors in the Both Groups category? Describe.

o    From either or both tables, name one or two descriptors that you think represent true facts about each group and one or two descriptors that you think are false.

o    How do you think an average American’s perceptions of each group are created?

·         Post your summary in the body of a forum message and both completed copies of Appendix D as attachments.

            The similarities between me and my chosen participant were few, we could both agree on what text governed each religion and how oppressive to women each religion was.  We also both agreed that the Muslim Americans have a male dominated political environment and a patriarchal society.  Little else did we agree on, my view on Christians and Muslims differed very little, but my partner definitely views Christian Americans as a more lenient religion and Muslim Americans to be more rigid. 

            We both placed a few descriptors in the Both Groups category, we agreed ‘women as homemakers’, both were ‘devout’, and have ‘religious content in education’.  This was all my chosen participant put in the both category.  I, however, included a lot more into the both category.  My both category included also, ‘fanatically religious’, ‘good neighbors’, ‘family oriented’, ‘modest dress’, ‘well educated’, ‘law abiding’, ‘fanatically religious’, ‘violent’, and ‘strict moral values’.  My view of Christian’s is the same as most people view Muslims.  My participant being a Christian definitely favored Christian’s when describing Christian and Muslim views.   

            Two descriptors on my table that represent true facts would be that Muslim’s are governed by the Qur’an and Christian’s by Biblical law, and each group are both fanatically religious.  Christians have proven to be just as fanatical about their beliefs as Muslims are now.  Two descriptors in my chosen participant’s table that are true is that both religions’ include religious content in their education and also that Muslim’s are governed by the Qur’an and Christian’s by the Biblical Law.  

            Two descriptors that I believe are false on my participant’s table would be that they believe Muslims’ to be undereducated.  I think you cannot say an entire group would be undereducated just because of the actions of a few.  Another descriptor in my participant’s table I would think is false is that Christian American’s have moderate moral values.  A few denominations might be a little more lenient on individuals in their churches on their moral values but I do not think that the Christian faith is that moderate in their moral values.

            I think each of us are influenced by our own beliefs, our surroundings, even friends or family, and especially the news.  Most of normal individuals get their information from the news and that is almost never favorable.  So the actions of a few get branded on the many because of the news broadcasts and the fact that few of the rest of us know anyone in that group intimately.  If anyone who knew a member of a group intimately then saw an unfavorable new cast regarding other members of the same group, that individual maybe able to separate the few from the many.  Since Muslims are a minority, especially in America, that would be difficult for a lot of us to get to know a member of that religion intimately enough to distinguish the few from the many.  I, for one, do not have that high of an opinion of Christians and all they do in support of their own faith and I see little difference in what they do versus what the Muslim’s are currently doing.  Let us not forget it was the Christian’s who started the Inquisition and the Crusades.