The Pros And Cons Of Religious Stereotypes In America

Among the minorities, people with an Islamic religious viewpoint are treated differently throughout America. A dark day in United States history,

Substance abuse providers that believe spirituality and religion is one in the same, may hold the belief that an individual that is an atheist or agnostic will not have the opportunity to acquire spiritual opportunities when participating in alcohol and addiction programs (Sussman et al., 2013). In addition, these substance abuse providers may believe that when an individual that eliminates alcohol and drug abuse without the intervention of spiritual assistance, such as a Higher Power, they may believe that the individual will not have the capability to achieve and maintain balance within their sobriety and recovery. Sussman et al. (2013) suggests that these substance abuse providers unknowingly engage in a thought process that includes stereotypes. Suggesting that individuals, who engage in spiritual behaviors that do include a Higher Power, are more deserving of achieving sobriety and recovery because they are practicing by being involved with working the 12-step program, thus, making them more righteous in obtaining a blessing from their Higher Power. Noteworthy, the term spirituality is often linked with religion with no specific boundaries out of lack of knowledge. Engaging in a spiritual practice that allows an individual to have a spiritual solution that is higher than them and gives them hope has a significant influence on alcohol and drug abuse. Gedge and Querney (2014) describe discussing spirituality with

Prejudice is explained and illustrated with examples deriving from culture and treatment of African Americans and how society perceives them to be. The definition of Prejudice is, “An unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason”(Dictionary.com) The majority of humans tend to judge individuals by appearance rather than personality. Prejudice and appearance are prevalent in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein as well as today’s culture which has consequences regarding race, age, religion, etc.

No one is born a racist; they are born in to a racist society. While ‘nature vs nurture’ has been a widely controversial topic, it is undeniable that environmental factors are the real origins of our behavior. The type of environment that we surround ourselves with is what affects people the most. Whether it be public, private, or home schooling, we are required to receive some form of education. In the US about 28% of students ages 12-18 are reported being bullying at school. On average, 7.2% of students admit skipping school due to personal safety concerns (Bureau of Justice Statistics). The Muslim community contributes to the majority portion of the reported victims of bullying. This begs the question: How are American Muslim students being treated

Stereotypes are a leading cause in the discrimination and prejudice against people with different religions. People assume what other religions believe, and they do not take the time to actually understand the other religion they are putting down. In the article Muslims Face More Bias In United States Compared To Other Religions it talks about how Americans are more likely to have prejudice against Muslims than they are about other religions. However, nearly two-thirds of American do not know anything about Islam. It mentions that because of

The definition of prejudice may vary among the different psychologist but most will agree that prejudice has something to do with prejudgment, typically negative, about a group. (Fiskie, 1998; Jones, 1997; Nelson, 2002 ). According to Plous (2003), Prejudice is not exactly considered an opinion, but an attitude which includes feeling such as hating the group, rather than believing they’re bad. Within psychology, we can link prejudice with discrimination and stereotyping (Plous, 2003). Although each may go together, they can be done separately. Prejudice and discrimination are most likely absent in a positive stereo type (Plous, 2013). For example describing an ethnic group as “family oriented”. Stereo typing does little to no harm without discrimination or prejudice. A generalized form of prejudice may lack discrimination and stereo types, such as being against foreigners.

Prejudice is “an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge” (Merriam); according to Lystra Moore Richardson of Yale University: “prejudice… was part of the very fiber of Southern life [during the Great Depression].” With these two pieces of information, it is derived that people formed judgments and opinions of a person without just

To begin, socialization or having one’s upbringing (family, media, etc.) teach and perpetuate prejudice. According to social cognitive theory, through direct instruction, modeling, and other social influences on learning, prejudice is viewed as an attitude that is formed as other attitudes are formed. For instance, the media,

Stereotypes often determine how we see people who are different from us. Stereotypes play such an important role in our perceptions of others, but what exactly are they? A stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing (Williams, 2013). In essence, stereotypes are not limited to different races and ethnicities, but also include: genders, social classes, cultures and even certain hobbies. In light of the increase of negative attention that Muslims have been receiving in the media, the stereotypes discussed in this paper will be centered on Muslims. Specifically, the stereotype that all Muslims are terrorists will be analyzed.

In 2007, according to the Federal Bureau Investigation of the Nation’s law enforcement agencies “there were 9,535 victims of hate crimes; of these victims17.1 percent were victimized because of a bias against a religious belief which totaled to be 1,628 victims of an anti-religious hate crime” (1). Almost ten thousand people were victims of hate crimes alone in 2007. That is something to be alarmed about because part of living in the U.S.A as minority is to have freedom to do and be anything you want and yet we find that you really don’t have that freedom because you get attacked for practicing that freedom. The increasingly rate of hate crimes is soaring that many states like New York, New Jersey and California now have the highest

Stereotypes is one of the most common causes of racism. Through radio, through television, through the internet, through music, through books, and many alike, the real potential for stereo types to arise are an inevitable possibility. Parents, willingly or not, expose and teach their children, subconsciously, by saying statements and/or watching programs that involve racism. When there is a constant source of negativity towards a certain race, then it will eventually effect the overall opinions of the populous. (The 4)

Although prejudice and stereotype seem similar, they actually have two different meanings. While stereotyping involves the generalization of a group of people, prejudice involves negative feelings when “they” are in the presence of or even think about members of the group. “Prejudice comes from direct intergroup conflict, social learning, social categorization and other cognitive sources” (Ferguson). Not all stereotypes are negative; there are also positive and neutral stereotypes. Some stereotypes do not slander a race, culture, gender, or religion, but nonetheless generalize a group of people that may or may not be true. For example, some people say that all Asians are smart or good at math. Though people of Asian descent may often be more studious, not all Asians do equally well in school (Floyd, 62). Another common example of a positive stereotype is that all black people are good athletes, dancers, and singers. Though these are positive stereotypes, when people believe them, they don’t take into account that every person is an individual and different. A neutral stereotype

In addition to the areas of ambiguity, there is the problem of religious ignorance (Giess, 2012; Haynes, 2011). There is a marked and dramatic ignorance among Americans about religious traditions including their own (Giess, 2012). Ignorance is no virtue and especially so when the opportunity to harm one’s students through intolerance and ignorance is more prevalent than ever before. The US, the predominance of the Christian religion notwithstanding, is becoming more and more diverse religiously (Gunther & Purinton, 2011). This type of ignorance is a contributor to the escalation of religious intolerance that has manifested itself in increasing numbers of hate crimes (Haynes, 2011).

Prejudice is the negative attitude based on false generalizations about members of different racial and ethnic groups. From prejudice, discrimination is born. We all are guilty of discriminating other people, but one can only speculate the factors that bring about this hatred towards one another. Although a single cause cannot account for the presence of racism, factors such as socialization, self-justification, and competition are a few human attributes that lead to acts of racial discrimination.

A current cultural conflict taking place in America today is religious. Many Americans discriminate against the Islamic faith and there have been countless acts of mistreatment of Muslims in the work place, at school, in public, and in the media. Negative feelings and acts toward Muslims have become so prevalent that in 1991 the Runnymede Trust Report coined a term for it. The report defined the “unfounded hostility toward Muslims, and therefore fear or dislike of all or most Muslims” as “Islamophobia” (Defining “Islamophobia”). There has always been some religious cultural conflict with Muslims in the United States, but since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, conflict has escalated significantly.