Religion

What role does religion play in your life?
Why or why not? How much of a role should it play in a government? In society? In school?


Religion definitely has an impact in my life. I was baptized Catholic and used to go to St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church overlooking Waimea Bay. I went to St. Peter and Paul for 13 years, but I was attending Epiphany (a Christian school) so I was able to learn l differences between Catholicism and Christianity. I eventually stopped going to church because I moved to town. Every now and then when I stay with old friends on the North Shore I go to North Shore Christian Fellowship (most of my friends stopped going to St. Peter and Paul). Religion used to have such a big role in my life mainly because my dad always wanted to go to church and I always wanted to be with him.
Religion is a topic that should not be intertwined in the government. Religion brings up many arguments, and people that are abiding by the same laws in the government may not be practicing the same religion the government is intertwining. Rules should be rules without any influence of religion (just to be fair to everyone).
Religion in society is something that I don’t see as an issue. Yes, some people argue of fight against others to elevate their own religion, but here in America we have the right to disagree with eachother and it is a healthy part of our society.
Religion should be taught at school. Either all religions should be talked about or taught, or none at all. If you allow the students to learn the many different religions and associate with the ones that they feel suit them best instead of pushing a religion on them, it will give them a better sense of what it means to be religious, and will also give them insight to the issues many people fight about.

Native Speaker Conflicts

Throughout Chang-Rae Lee’s Native Speaker, the main character Henry Park faces challenges that test his ability to problem solve. He has multiple conflicts in his life, his wife left him, he is struggling to find himself, his Korean background becomes an issue, and he feels that his dad doesn’t accept him.
“You are a surreptitious, B+ student of life, illegal alien, emotional alien, yellow peril: neo American, stranger, follower, traitor, spy” (Native Speaker 5). This is part of the list that Lelia wrote in hopes to describe Henry the way she viewed him.
Henry Park has also been known to be shy and conceal his feelings, which was eventually clouding his ability to find himself. He went to speak to a psychologist where we can find the quote, “I genuinely began to like him. I looked forward to our fifty-minute sessions on Thursday mornings” (22). Through this quote we see that Henry is willing to separate from his Korean ways to try to become more American.
Henry’s conflicts also involve his father, and the “immigrant ethic”. The immigrant ethic involves hard work all day for your family, faith in Jesus Christ, and never missing a mortgage payment (47). Henry lives quite differently from his father and his father viewed him as a typical American, which Henry couldn’t accept because his main struggle was between his Korean blood and his American Ethnicity.