Lili - McKinley - Discovering New Philosophies in the Class I Did Not Drop - Lili McKinley

Five months ago, I walked into the Greenfield Intercultural Center not really knowing what to expect when I interviewed for the iBelieve Interfaith Action class. Originally I became interested in the class because I thought that part of it was going on a spring break trip to San Diego. As I walked along Chestnut Street, I was surprised by the fact that the building where I was being interviewed was a house and even more surprised that I could take a class in such a cozy atmosphere. I walked to the back of the GIC to the small library and met Steve and Fatima, who were interviewing me. As I spoke to the both of them about the class, I was really impressed by the premise of the class: combining students’ own religious experiences with an academic study of religion in society. Although I soon realized that the class did not actually go to San Diego, I thought that the class sounded pretty cool and it did not hurt to take the class during the add/drop period.

My plans of dropping the class started to wither away after the first couple of class meetings. At the first class, I was yet again impressed.
The class was a religiously diverse group of students. Additionally, I was intrigued by the fact that there were three professors and that they each added a different angle to the course. Kathy added the anthropological and educational background, while Steve added a religious background and Fatima always made sure that everyone was engaged in conversation. At first I was intimidated by the amount of reading and writing that the course required, but I soon realized that the readings were truly interesting and added angles that never would have come to mind other wise. Furthermore, the readings were fascinating because the way I interpreted something was completely different compared to the students’ interpretations. Even writing the weekly responses did not seem like an assignment because by the end of class I still had so much to say that it was pleasurable to solidify my ideas in writing.

Consequently, the drop period came and went and I surprised myself by staying in the class. By the time we were three weeks into the class, I felt such a sense of community within the class that truthfully it would have been upsetting for me to leave the friends I was making within it. For me this is what is truly amazing: there were no more than two people from the same religion, yet there was more camaraderie in this group of people than I have seen in a group of twenty people from the same church. My personal hypothesis for why this is the case is because we were different, but still came together to understand one another. Honestly, I would say that this class is essentially a microcosm for an ideal pluralistic society. A pluralistic society should be one where everyone uses their different beliefs to bring something new and revolutionary to the table.

For me what I will take away from this class is what I want America to become. In America we have so many people who work together and come from completely backgrounds. Nevertheless, there is still so much people do not know about the religions of those around them. This ignorance is surprising considering that religion is the basis for morality. The other day as I walked down the street in Philadelphia, I heard a girl, who was chatting with some friends, say, “Oh right Lutherans, aren’t they the black religion?” I did not blame the girl for asking this question because one of her friends then explained that you did not have to be of a certain race to be a Lutheran. In fact, I think that not being afraid to ask questions should be a part of the American society. Added with patience of the listeners, I think being genuinely curious about other religions is how we will understand each other more fully. At the beginning of the year, some of the local Philadelphian religious leaders came to speak with us about how to lead religious dialogue. I remember one of them saying that now is the time for us to ask questions that might seem brash. There are only special circumstances where someone can ask personal questions and not be offensive to others. Thus, my view for American is a world where there is a pluralistic society that is not afraid to be curious about the religious ways of their neighbors and is brave enough to ask them questions about their religion in order to better understand those around them.