Interviews Commentary

Audio Clip #1 and 2: Our interviewee gave us a very basic answer, but it makes sense. If someone is going through a rough time in their life or living in poverty, then they may look towards religion as a sign of hope that things will get better. It tends to make them feel better about their situation and let God have a plan for them. To follow up that statement, religion is not really a necessity if someone is going through hard times. It all basically depends on the person. If they want to find a sense of religion to help them through their life and praise God, that is up to them.

Audio Clip #3 and 4: When someone comes from a multicultural family with one religion that they follow or if they aren't poor or going through hard times, religion wouldn't really have that great of an affect on someone's life. In some regions of the world, religion is an integral part of their customs and traditions, because following a certain faith is what some cultures recognize and is a practical concept to their people. In other parts of the world, views on religion are a little more divided. Some say they are part of a certain faith, but aren't very religious people and don't go to services. Others are very involved with their religion and go to church services and are involved in other activities in their religious community. Another question asked was; "is a religion known solely based on the religion itself?" For the Islamic faith, to some they aren't really known for their religion, but for acts committed by certain groups of that religion. Terrorists are mainly part of the Muslim population and because of horrible events like 9/11 that they caused, everyone views Islam as an enemy religion full of bad people.

Audio Clip #5 and 6: Religion can have a great impact on someone's life spiritually because religion can have a big influence on someone's life socially, politically and culturally. It can also cause an increase of a person's understanding of who they really are. Some religions are a one-way process and stronger in another way. That strength differs in certain religions. Some religions can cause a person to have a stronger understanding of themselves better than others,

Audio Clip #7 and 8: In an opposite view, the three circumstances stated in the original question all shape one's religion in each one of them goes into it significantly. Every bit of it goes into one's religion. That is how someone identifies a certain religion. A religion can be based on someone's culture, political views and social experience. It's not a one way process at all. One part of a religion can be mainly dominated politically and help people make decisions in the religion based on their political views.