Land of the free?

For a  long time America has attracted people because of the freedom of religion. Here in America one can feel safe choosing what to believe or express knowing that no one will persecute him for his religious views.

Through the years the population grew in the United States not only with people but also with nationalities, bringing traditions, beliefs and with it whole culture. Generations by generations those new comers were assimilated to the main American stream.

Nowadays the United States has hundreds of different nationalities living within the country. With so many nationalities one can find many churches. Baptist, Church of Christ, Church of God, Methodist Church, Lutheran ,Catholic and many more. All of them different in some ways but they all still convey The Word of God. Christians  just interprets the Bible in various ways.

Despite Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday services, religion is a part of every-day life .I found that some time ago, prayers were set in the beginning of the school day and at ball games. But because we are so diversified, and worship out God in different ways, government took prayers out. Instead of prayer now many schools have a moment of silence, so each person can feel free and comfortable in his/her religious preferances.

Yes, religion and state are existing separately, but as we can see, it is not working this way completely.

In my school some students go to the FCA-Fellowship Christian Athletes every Thursday morning. The number of this group is growing because more and more students want to be surrounded and led by their religion every single moment.

 Our small community in Fulton, Mississippi is a mixture of Southern hospitality and conservatism People here stay close to their traditions and beliefs. But as people come here to settle from different parts of the world ,they bring with them their culture, ideas and beliefs.

But the new stream of life is not making every person happy. Majority of them see the new comers as strangers, people who are looking to change their calm quiet life. When people close their minds to new things, they lose a lot.

An unfamiliar religion like Muslim is one of the things that people don’t like to hear about. Showing ones point of view, speaking up about religion, one can hurt or make someone angry. No, first Amendment is not protected in small areas like this , not in the  South. Here, the person does not feel freedom of religion that the Constitution promises. This close-mindedness of the people does not allow acceptance of different views.

We say that America is a Melting Pot. But do Americans really want everybody to be the same? People enjoy going to the new Italian, Greek or French restaurant that will open, to try something different. Don’t we want to taste something different and unusual from what we have on out tables now? If they are so anxious to try new food, why not to learn more about another religion? The more  we know the more we can discuss and learn. The easy way is to close ones ears and say,” I don’t need it” or “I already know everything”. But is this really the right way

Separation between church and state; do we still believe in this statement? The process of elections always includes questions about religion. People want to know what governors or senators believe or do they believe at all. Prayer services are usually held in churches for the elections and for the future of America. Presidential elections this year brought about many discussions covering different aspects .One of them was religion. As far as that people I asked, half of them said that they would not vote for Muslim president. So, where is the freedom of religion? Why should one be criticized by his beliefs and origins?