Instructions: After reading Chapters 1 and 2 and watching the 30 Days video, you will attend a place or event that is geared toward serving members of a cultural group that is different from your own.   This may be a visit to a store or other business (no restaurants), a non-profit agency, religious service, etc.  You should take notes (either during or after) your visit.  You should also collect any visual evidence of having been there (brochures, photographs, etc.).  Following your visit, you will write a paper, details of which are described below.

• Prior knowledge:
  1. Why did you choose this place to visit for your “stepping out” experience?
  2. What, if anything, did you already know about this place and/or the people that this place serves?
  3. How/from where did you gain this previous knowledge?
• Visit (this should be the bulk of your paper):  
  1. Description: What did you encounter while you were there?  Some things to include:  physical environment, demographics of people, general mood of the people, encounters you had with others there, etc. 
  2. Analysis: What aspects of culture did you observe while there?  Be specific. 
• Post-visit Reflection:
  1. How did you feel when leaving this place? Why?  Think in terms of both personal feeling (attitude) and cognition (knowledge).
  2. What did you learn about your own group as well as the group you visited?
     

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     Queen of Peace Catholic Church on Mulberry and E. 3^rd

     A visit in the Queen of peace Catholic Church has been so beneficial to me in terms of appreciating the need for diversity in intercultural marriages. This church runs on the principle of loving God, loving others and making discipleship. The church is privileged to pass on the clear teachings of the Lord Jesus with regard to the profound mystery of the institution of marriage. Indeed, the church has for long appreciated that the love between a wife and husband within a marriage is deemed to be a sign of God’s love. From a prior visit, the lead priest insists on the unity mystery of the Holy Trinity where the community of love is based on the faith of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and further should be evident from the marriage structures.Addressing religious diversity in the Queen church is a key component in defining the cultural functions of people in Cedar Valley. Many people in the 21^st century are deemed to be open-minded and progressive, but this may not be the case especially when they hesitant to accommodate religious diversity. While most individuals marry on the foundation of love, religion continues to retain the very archaic functions. The children from an interfaith marriage are in most cases brought up with tolerant traits than otherwise perceived. We ought to recognize that the past days when civilized people married for security reason are long gone.

     Visit encounter and analysis

     My encounter in the visit to the Queen of Peace church was one very interesting and with so much to learn regarding diversity in inter-religious marriage appreciation. The basic reason for marriage is love irrespective of whether one is a white, Hispanic, Black, Muslim, Christian or Hindu. In this day and age, women have fully been engaged in the workforce and are no longer dependent on their partners’ income. People must not be worried about race and religion when considering a partner’s hand in marriage. The religious ethics and principles teach that it the prime time that people should move out of the cocoon for judging people on the basis of their religious and racial affiliations.

     From our historical basis, people have always found themselves falling into conflicts as regarding live norms and the whole purpose of life. Under the nation state as well as tribal structures, different societies within this region have always found a common ground in the worldview on matters of religion. The Cedar Valley society is subjected to significant tensions between the cultural and religious practices and beliefs. In fact, it is amazing how educational and economic differences among people continue to reduce but their differences in foundational beliefs become salient. According to the church achieves, a former researcher and priest indicated that there is no economic system, universal educational program, and political systems that can fully advocate for individual freedom while also resolving our deep-rooted cultural diversity and religious matters.

     Well-founded social relations such as healthy marriages are based on trust that conflict resolution can be sustained even without considering dissolution of social bonding. After a long period of being in the encounter with inter-religious discussions, am hence optimistic that the fundamental factor for improving trust between religions and races is not found by ignoring or attaining doctrinal agreement or doing humanitarian services, but they could in some way improve the situation. However, trust from inter-religious association emanates from individuals encountering intractable conflicts for honesty and patience. Inter-religion diplomacy is resultant from people learning significantly about each other and hence making clear the similarities and differences. The openness to the truth from all sources is not on the basis of relativism or over-arching ideologies for the wholesome harmony of all religions but rather on the urge to influence others through openness to their influence.

     Post-visit analysis

     I observed that inter-religious and inter-racial marriages are becoming an acceptable norm for the modern day society. However, to be successful it is key that the two people must have respect, honesty, and sincerity. This is ideal for fighting what has previously been a waste of time where the spouses want to prove their religion is more superior. As a result, things often get out of hand. Moreover, creating unnecessary fights by trying to provide proof that our spouse or children are better than others is indeed an inferiority complex situation. Don’t you want to prove a thing or aspect that you are not sure about? In fact, if one is certain that his religion is the best, then there is always no need of them feeling inferior. I have for these reasons found the need to discuss with my spouse about things that could hinder the success of our marriage.

     In therefore find it necessary to establish a new venue for the mutual exchange of ideas for religious and racial practices. This will however not occur in our law courts, commercial venues, and open town squares or legislature systems neither will it happen in the sacred precincts. Rather, the religious groups ought to establish or facilitate an inter-religious space where the partners are able to learn and accommodate other’s religious cultures and embrace them as unofficial proxies for their entire tradition. The most viable system for inter-religious diplomacy ought to promote ethical methods for articulated cooperation as well as contestation without giving any special treatments to one race or religion.

      

     References

     Munoz, C., & Lisa Speicher, M. (2015). The difference, Inequality, & Change: Social Diversity in the US. Second Edition. Basingstoke: Kendall Hunt Publishing.