Religious and Ethnic Diversity Paper Essay

The religious group that I have chosen is Hinduism and the ethnic/racial group that is not my own that I have chosen is Black (African Descent). I have chosen these two to explain how they are similar and how they are different. Hinduism is a religion that most people know nothing about. They are one of the world’s oldest religions as it has no beginning and precedes recorded history. Hinduism is a religion that leads the individual to personally experience the truth within themselves and reach full consciousness where man and God are one. After reading I have found that Hinduism differs from other religious groups because they believe in reincarnation whereas the other religious groups believe that once a person dies they either will go to heaven or hell depending on how they were when they were alive. The experience of Hinduism and others that do not share their beliefs or practices is criticism. They are often judged and criticized because they fail to distinguish between revelations. This religious group has contributed to American culture because they don’t believe in violence. They also contributed to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Some examples of prejudice and discrimination against Hinduism would be the Caste system or saying that they all burn their wives as well as discriminate against India where most come from. After reading the information to write this paper I must say it has helped me to understand this religion because I didn’t know that they were so much criticized. From what I read it seems like a very peaceful religion. They believe in reincarnation which I believe is possible, I mean, â€Å"why does a person have to go to heaven or hell†? I think that their religion is against violence which we definitely could have less of. The racial group that I have chosen was Black of African descent. This group differs from others because they have gone through so much over the years. They have experienced slavery which many other religions haven’t as they more so experienced discrimination. Blacks have not had such a great experience with other races because of always being mistreated because of their color. I think that they were brought over for slavery and still experience this even now these days from certain types of other races. Blacks have contributed to American culture though business and through entertainment. Most of the entertainment business is African American as well as sports and now we even have a black president. All very good contributions to American culture. Some examples of discrimination would be things like unequal pay for blacks performing the same work as whites, isolating blacks to only work in certain areas or specific locations, routinely denying black’s promotions, laying off blacks while whites keep their jobs and take on theirs as well. All of these are prime examples of discrimination that blacks go through in the United States. The sources of this discrimination would be whites or other races that were not black. Most of the cases that I read about though were whites still discriminating against black even after all the movements to move past racism. What I learned about this racial group is that even after all these years they are still faced with discrimination more than other racial groups. I can’t really say that I have learned any more than I already knew just because I see this happen regularly. I have a black/Cuban fiance and I have seen jobs do these things to him and now we have 2 boys that are mixed with white and black and have seen them faced with discrimination just because of the color of their skin. In conclusion, I believe that Hinduism and Black (African descent) both experience similar discrimination if the fact that they are perceived by first impressions and by the color of their skin. They are not given the luxury of being spoken with or getting to know them without the preconceived notion of their skin color. Both Hinduism and Blacks contribute to American culture business wise and yet many fail to know that. I can’t really say they are different because these two groups both experience prejudice and discrimination quite often. They are both groups of people that have done nothing wrong and just want to be a part of the world. References – Nine Beliefs of Hinduism. (2013). Retrieved from http://www. himalayanacademy. com/readlearn/basics/nine-beliefs – Hinduism and the Encounter with Other Faiths. (2008). Retrieved from http://www. worlddialogue. org/content. php? id=59 – The Black Factor. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://theblackfactor. blogspot. com/2008/03/examples-of-discrimination-harassment. html.