Acts Of Faith Reflection Ch 3.docx

Amber Kavie Religion 200 Dr. Simmons 8 December 2017 Acts of Faith Chapter Three Reflection I didn’t grow up in a diverse area. I think that I knew one Muslim girl who went to my school. We were not even in the same grade, so it was difficult for me to interact with her. Besides, it seems weird to me to befriend someone based solely off of their religion. However, even due to my sheltered upbringing, I felt an intense curiosity to learn more about other religions. I would sit on my laptop and search for information about Islam, Judaism, Mormonism, and even some more controversial religions such as Scientology. I wanted to learn everything I could to better understand my world, and to supplement the lack of diversity that I was receiving in my everyday life. Reading this book was extremely interesting. It was very shocking for me to read in some ways. Being white, I come from a place of intense privilege. Reading about Eboo attempting to become white was heartbreaking. This, coupled with his own identity crisis, made for an engaging first three chapters. I have always wondered what it must be like to grow up a minority in an area that has very few people similar to you. This is what Eboo experienced in middle-class suburban Chicago. He talks about the segregated basketball games, the white game, the black game, and the Hispanic game. He talks about his own identity and how he struggles to reconcile it. He wanted to be in the white game. What does this say? To me, it exemplifies the culture that we live in today. People promote the idea that being white is the best. We see white models, white actors/actresses, and white people in positions of power. In fact, people perpetuate the idea that white is the only option, especially when it comes to film and tv shows. “It’s a preposterous idea

to have a black superman or a Hispanic James Bond” the narrative says. Why is our country like this? Why do people find a way to devalue other cultures and races while inflating their own? Is it due to an unconscious desire to maintain control over others? Or is it because white people genuinely believe that in some aspect, they are better than others? Although I cannot even begin to relate to what Eboo went through growing up in an area that failed to represent his demographic, I can begin to understand another thing he talked about in these chapters, the issue of love. Eboo, at this point in the book, seems to be attracted to those different than him. He first falls in love with a Mormon girl named Lisa. They meet in high school, and although they dated for a little over a year, it was not meant to be. Lisa’s faith was most important to her, and she could not stay in a long term relationship with someone without conversion. In college, Eboo meets Sarah, a Jew. She is also very strong in her faith. She travels to Jerusalem for a semester in hopes of connecting more deeply with her faith and culture. She succeeds, and on a trip to visit her, Eboo comes to realize that Sarah must fulfill the expectations of her religion. Being in Fiddler on the Roof and doing research about the traditions surrounding the Jewish faith, I could understand where Sarah was coming from. To be a responsible and prolific Jew, one must marry within the faith. It seems to be the only way for the faith to survive (as coverts are not as encouraged as other faiths). Sarah knew that she couldn’t be with someone that wasn’t of the same faith, although Eboo was the one to have to tell her. To be put in this position twice seems very unfortunate for Eboo. However, I sensed a common theme. Both of these women were clearly very strong and convicted in their faiths. They knew what they believed. Perhaps that is why Eboo was attracted to them. Regardless, it was easier for me to understand Eboo’s perspective because I am currently dating a Catholic. I know it is not the same as Eboo’s situations, but for some people, a Catholic and a Lutheran getting together is

taboo. My boyfriend’s family is very Catholic, and there is some pressure to reconcile the two denominations. It’s difficult to be put in that position, especially when I have no intentions of converting to Catholicism. However, it is a struggle that we must face, and I was grateful to be able to relate one thing in these pages. All in all, I have been entranced by this book, and I fully intend on reading the entire thing. I find Eboo Patel’s writing style very engaging, and his story is very intriguing. It is so interesting to read a book from a perspective I have never known about. He makes connections between himself and others that scare me, but they also fascinate me. The fact that being in the right place at the right time with the right people may determine one’s future makes one examine their own life, and evaluate how they got to where they are now. I am excited to continue reading.