Discussion Response: Prejudice

I have always most valued discussion-based classes for the chance they offer to realize one's own preconceptions and then to have them challenged in a thoughtful manner, and to do the same for others. Every person comes with prejudices and judgmental ideas, often unbeknownst to their holder, and this is both the division that causes conflict and the source of the creativity that finds solutions. Questioning is how we as people learn, and questioning oneself is both the hardest and most important part of any education.

In discussing Karen Armstrong's book today in class, I noticed in myself a preconception differing from many others in the room. Most of my classmates were at the very least raised in a religion, and many still practice. This is common among people around the world, but not myself. My parents are not at all religious, so I grew up without much exposure to any of the major faiths. I did not, for a long time, know their foundations, their stories, or their core beliefs. So, when reading the first several Armstrong chapters, I did not have the collective memory of the history of Jerusalem and the surrounding area. It was simply an interesting history lesson, nothing more, nothing less.

Then, in class, many people commented on how the reading paralleled or conflicted with what they had been taught growing up or what they believe now. While I thought I had understood before, it was not until today that I truly began to appreciate the gravity of the conflicting histories of not only several religions but also secular studies. As someone who does not have a first hand experience growing up in faith, I will never fully be able to grasp the connection so many feel with Jerusalem and its past. I most certainly come with my own preconceptions, but, as is usual, not the ones I expected. I hope that as the semester continues I will be able to better understand religious significance of the three faiths tied to the city now knowing I view it in such a foreign way.