BACKROUND ANALYTICAL ENTRY

The Native American Church fought for the right to practice their religion. Because the government judged what they were doing, they choose to not tolerate it. The government said that the Church could no longer ingest peyote and decided to ban it. But, because the Congress finally came to realize that the religion was only trying to get closer to God and they shouldn’t be one to stand in the way of their beliefs. From this realization, the Congress made the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. This shows how America opened their minds to more religion and their tolerance grew.
Joseph Smith was someone who was “chosen” to express God’s will, or so the angel in his “visions” said. From the message, he created his own religion, Mormonism that at first wasn’t accepted by people outside his community. But, by the end of his life, became a religion that he himself couldn’t control. There were multiple accounts of Smith adding things to his religion. He must have felt that there were things missing so when he felt something was needed, he included it, for example, polygamy. This represents how open minded he was to change in the religious aspect.
Cotton Mather wasn’t open to unfamiliar aspects of life, such as witchcraft, as he started out in the Second Church of Boston. Because of his influence, he was thought of as a witness to the occurrences done from witchcraft. It can be said that because his father, Increase, held different views, Cotton developed a true interest for deism. He in turn started to be open minded to the scientific reasoning for the way things are. This shows how his religious tolerance came to be more near the end of his life.
Brandeis University was at first made for the Jews of America because they weren’t represented through academics. The founders wanted them to have a safe place to learn but then broadened their goal. Not only Jews are welcome at Brandeis, but they plan to have a very diverse class of scholars. The student population of Brandeis is a part of more than a dozen different faiths. From this account, you can argue that Brandeis University has become more tolerant of various religions.


Each one of these sources shows different types of religious tolerance. This tolerance is shown whether it is of a fellow citizen’s religion, their own religion, a new religion or their student’s religion.
The sub-topic of religion that has been chosen is religious tolerance. More specifically, the religious tolerance in the academic environment. This includes multiple factors: the parents of the children going to school, the child, the school (whether public or private,) the government, etc. These factors make religious tolerance important because everyone has their own opinion about religion and academics being incorporated. This plays a very crucial part in America because “the children are the future” and how they are raised will determine how the country is going to turn out.

LITERATURE ANALYTICAL ENTRY

"And now, from nowhere, the black memory of his brother's death rushed over him again, mindless and inexorable as a wind or wave, the huge cultipacker lifting- only an inch or so- as it climbed toward the shoulders, then sank on the cheek, flattening the skull- and he heard, more real than the morning, his sister's scream." (254)This quote was taken from Redemption, a short story by John Gardner. Redemption was how Jack Hawthorne, the voice of the quote above, ran over his younger brother as a child. This tragic accident makes Jack try to find his faith in order to survive. He wasn't like his family; running to religion to get through the unfortunate event. Redemption can be related to the topic of religious tolerance because Jack's family wasn't able to come to understand Jack's decision. Jack was able to deal with the pain he felt by his brother's death because of music. Playing the French horn helped instead of religion. Jack's family didn't acknowledge his new faith. For instance, during dinner, his sister didn't understand why Jack didn't say grace before eating. In order to please her, Jack lied and told her that he said it in his head.

Except for Jack, each character in the short story uses religion in some way to relieve their heartache. Jack’s dad, Dale, was able to become dependent on God and faith but then when one tiny misfortune occurred, he made a drastic change to atheism. His mom turned to church work and teaching at the high school. His sister, Phoebe, went to praying and believing that David was in heaven. The different ways that religion is used shows how every person should be aware of each other. How there needs to be tolerance in religious affiliations because even if everyone were to be one religion, it doesn’t necessarily imply that everyone uses it in the same way.

I believe that this theme of tolerance is shown because John Gardner wants to convey how religion isn't always the answer. Not everyone works in the same way; therefore, each person can get over a travesty differently. In Jack's case it was music, in his sister's, religion. Even though they are both going through the grieving cycle, Jack's family didn't approve of the way that he is doing it. "But there was nothing they could do."