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MARTIN: |
Professor Markel, how many religions do people in the United States
practice? |
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MARKEL: |
I
don't think anyone knows. Most of the large religions of the world
are practiced here. |
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SALAH: |
Many religions with small numbers practice their religion here too.
That's an important thing about the United States. People have the
freedom to practice their religion. |
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MARTIN: |
Where do they practice? Where do they meet? |
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SALAH: |
Do
you mean if they are small? |
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MARTIN: |
Yes. I know about churches for Christians and synagogues for Jews
and mosques for Muslims. |
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SALAH: |
Many people meet in homes. |
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MARKEL: |
In
community meeting rooms. |
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SALAH: |
I
am a Muslim. Sometimes I go to mosque. But we don't have a mosque in
this town. We hold our meetings in the community building. We take
our things on Friday and make it a mosque for that day. The men meet
early in the morning. The women meet in one of our homes. |
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MARKEL: |
On
Sunday, some Koreans use the same community building for their
church. |
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MARTIN: |
I
know religion doesn't have to have a building. |
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MARKEL: |
That's right. Sometimes the building is a problem. |
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MARTIN: |
How
is that? |
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MARKEL: |
Let's look at Christian churches for example. Some groups built very
large churches in the city long ago. Then the people moved away from
the city. There is no one to go to these big beautiful churches.
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MARTIN: |
But
other people live in the city. Can't they use the churches? |
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MARKEL: |
Sometimes they do. But sometimes the neighborhood is a different
religion. Maybe the new people in the neighborhood are Hindu or
Buddhist or something different. |
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MARTIN: |
Do
most people want to have a building for their religion? |
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MARKEL: |
Yes, I think so. |
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SALAH: |
But
not everyone. Native Americans often have their important
celebrations outdoors. They want to be close to nature. |
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MARTIN: |
It
seems religion and culture are almost the same. |
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MARKEL: |
They aren't the same. But of course they are very close. |
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SALAH: |
I
agree. But people from different cultures may have the same
religion. For example, Muslims live in the United States, Saudi
Arabia, and West Africa, and many other places. They all practice
the same religion. |
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MARTIN: |
Professor Salah, do you teach religion in your classes? |
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SALAH: |
No.
I teach about religion. I compare religions. I teach about the
larger Western religions. |
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MARKEL: |
I
teach about the larger Eastern religions. |
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MARTIN: |
Are
young people interested in religion? |
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SALAH: |
I'm
happy to say that many of them are. |
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