Becoming American By Becoming Hindu By Prema Kurrin

America: Religion and Identity
American religious practices and identities have contributed to a shared American identity and experience in a number of ways. In contrast, these same practices have contributed to difference. For example, American religious practices seen in the reading, “Becoming American by Becoming Hindu”, by Prema Kurien; in the book The Cursillo Movement, by Kristy Nabhan-Warren; in the reading, “Second-Generation Asian Americans”, by Helen K. Kim and Noah Leavitt show different ways that American religious practices and identities have contributed to a shared American identity, as well as how they have contributed to difference.
To begin with, in the reading “Becoming American by Becoming Hindu”, by Prema Kurien the author focuses on the importance of holding on to things such as heritage, religious beliefs, and culture when coming to America (Kurien). …show more content…
In a sense, the Catholics downplayed difference in favor of what united Christians. The Cursillo movements were intended to bring people closer to God and educate them on the religion. These movements brought a diverse group of people together. Thus, it can be concluded that these practices greatly contributed to the American religious experience. The Cursillo Movements in America also brought up the argument that race, gender, and class could perhaps be transcended through Protestant and Catholic religion (Warren). It is something that can be debated, regardless the movements were divided in terms of race. There were English Cursillo weekends as well as Spanish Cursillo weekends. There was an effort to bring the two races together, but it did not go well. It can be argued that perhaps later down the road, the second generation of Spanish speakers would be more comfortable joining the English Cursillo