My American culture, but not my religion

Holding the values and beliefs of a worship other than Christianity oft makes one extol if they seduce broken the norms of Ameri support society. A norm, as defined by moth miller (2002), is a generally agreed upon measuring rod of how people should be use up, usually unwritten and wise to(p) unconsciously. turn galore(postnominal) Ameri sesss practice Christian beliefs, one of the benefits of living in a free nation happens when all unearthly denominations can practice their faith in peace, regardless of the majority preference.The list of Christian denominations includes Catholics, Protestants, Baptists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Anglicans, Eastern Orthodox, Methodist, Presbyterian and umteen others. Being an individualist who reads of, and practices, m each religions both(prenominal) old and smart in the world I do non follow Christian beliefs. I would sort of define myself as a enigmatical or perhaps plane shaman since I read inclinations towards recognise the earth, nature and spirits this is also a common practice among Native Americans.Salvation, or offering oneself up for saving by a nonher beingness such as Jesus pre ascendently occurs in Christianity. However, I am at odds with this mentation in my own spiritual practice. My beliefs stalling in contrast because in my brainiac each person has the capability to carry out themselves, if they would only realize that inner strength. Of course, freeing to a Sunday service and reward holidays such as Christmas and Easter argon practices that I do non tinct in either. However, I do watch the Solstices, which fall surprisingly close to many of the Christian holidays.Being a mystic in a predominant allelely Christian world can make for a lonely only if very collected existence if you allow it. While others scuffle around buying gifts during the Christmas rush, I bleed to my natural w ares, making blankets, canned goods and handcrafted candles along with other natural gifts for those in my family who are Christian. It saddens me at winter time to view everyone complaining about how much the Christmas gifts they have to buy will cost them and how they take in to spend a commodious cumulation of care budgeting for their gift expenses.Everyone feels so pressured and locomote to get to the stores to kick downstairs the perfect gift. While the rest of the world worries away their time, I relax on the sofa reflexion television and knitting another parvenu blanket. At this point, when I am at odds with not only Christians but a capitalist nation (the dominant culture) that values material goods, I oddment if I am particularly self-centered for not wanting to deal with the melodic phrase and headaches of grumpy customers standing in crinkle at the stores.Luckily though, I am American by birth so although my religion may differ from the majority, I still blend in rather effortlessly with society. Other groups, such as new immigrants to this country stru ggle with many obstacles as they adapt to their new home. They must(prenominal) run into a new language, find employment and maybe need to polish off several(prenominal) development to facilitate them strain the financial means to support their families.This can present huge difficulties to immigrants since Americans predominantly converse English and the business world can supply prejudice towards people who do not have adequate facts of life in American based education systems. New immigrants must also learn the laws of our nation and the subliminal norms that we hold. 1 frequent norm, for example, being that little boys wear full-bodied and little girls wear pink.Being part of the dominant culture I do not have to worry about pass judgment out such subliminal norms, I learned them as I grew up in this society. Nor do I have to worry about construct socioeconomic status and attaining education and training in American schools to find and adequate job. I have alread y had that training, and luckily a stable financial background for building my own monetary status.Also, one of the blessings of being in the dominant culture allows me to empathize how to behave in public gatherings. I know that I am not supposed to talk in class, or speak out loud during funerals. As an American I should not often show emotion either, crying in public is somewhat taboo. We tell our children to drink it up, or act like a big boy or girl when they have the urge to cry. These few examples show the norms that we learn growing up as American that other groups have to grimace and adapt to when living in the nation. get back to the issue of religion, standing outside of the ethnical norm in monetary value of popular faiths has its benefits. When voting, I do not have to depend upon a expectations religious background or goals to help me decide which person I think would make a bankrupt leader.As I have mentioned in the lead I also do not have to spend a great deal of money on gifts for various Christian celebrations either. When crisis strikes, such as the non-Christian priest scandal ongoing in the Catholic Church, I do not have to worry that my children have been hurt by people we call on to drive home our souls or connect us to the Divine. One thing I do bang is that I can give to benevolence of my own choosing and am not induce to give part of my funds to any one church.Overall, standing outside of the cultural norms of Christianity in the American culture has benefits, some of which have been mentioned in this essay. Being an American born citizen also gives me great advantages to help me blend into the society despite my variable religious beliefs.Other individuals such as immigrants have to struggle with things like study a new language, discovering subliminal genial norms, and attaining adequate education in the American school system that mainstream society does not have to worry about. I weigh that I am very aureate to ha ve the ability to stand both inside and outside of popular culture, because it gives me a well rounded perspective as to how both sides, the included and the excluded can feel.ReferencesDubois, N. (Ed.). (2002). A Sociocognitive Approach to Social Norms. New York Routledge.Miller, B. D. (2004). pagan Anthropology (2nd Ed.). Boston Allyn & Bacon.Pettit, P. (2002). Rules, Reasons, and Norms Selected Essays. Oxford Clarendon Press.