Religion
In keeping with an earlier entry about oddities in my students’ categorizing tendencies, I have noticed another peculiarity among Hispanic youth in Los Angeles. I suspect it’s larger than just here in the city, but this is where I came across it first. When reading a story in the ESL textbook about a Jewish family, I stopped to check for comprehension and found none. Most of them had little idea what Judaism was. A couple had a vague recollection of hearing the word associated with the Bible, and a few with the Holocaust.
I stopped to explain a little and, wishing to begin at a familiar starting point, I asked, “How many of you are from families who consider themselves Christian?”
Only about half raised their hands. Now I was stumped. I’m pretty sure we do not have a thriving Hispanic-Muslim or Hispanic-Buddhist community here in the Los Feliz/Echo Park area. I chose one who had not raised his hand.
“What religion are you?” I asked bluntly, puzzled.
“Catholic,” he said.
“Oh, okay. So you’re Christian.”
There was a chorus of “No!” from those who had not raised their hand. It took some questioning until I finally understood, and found myself staring at them in consternation. They did not consider Catholics to be Christian. And they had never heard the word Protestant as far as they remembered.
I suppose it’s no big deal, but it was one of those many culture-shock moments that has left me staggered since I relocated. Within the public school system, those on high have been concerned about American ignorance of the Middle East, thus the students do rather extensive studies of Islam, and make little picturebook-research reports to show their awareness of the various aspects of that religion. But no one questions how well they understand the religion they actually practice.
