In Chapter’s three and four of his book, A Critical Introduction to the Study of Religion, author Craig Martin introduced the topics of socialization and social order. Socialization is the act of adapting to society’s norms while social order is the orderliness in society. Martin states that “we inherit rather than create these social systems.” (45), both of which can be applied to the book, Heaven’s Kitchen: Living Religion at God’s Love We Deliver by Courtney Bender. In this book, Bender volunteers for an AIDS organization named God’s Love We Deliver in order to explore how the topic of religion relates to and is found in the lives of the kitchen’s various volunteers. In 1994, Courtney Bender decided to volunteer for God’s Love We Deliver,
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A volunteer named Libby became “vexed to distraction when the man slicing jalapeño peppers next to her told her that he ‘had AIDS’.” (Bender, 58). She would then march over to one of the chefs and question “him in a carrying voice, ‘Did you know that guy has AIDS? Is that all right for him to be working in here?’. She was astonished that GLWD chefs let a ‘sick person’ work there.” (Bender, 58). Although the purpose of the kitchen and organization itself was to help provide meals for individuals diagnosed with AIDS who are too sick to shop or cook for themselves, Libby was uncomfortable around someone who was actually diagnosed with the disease. This backs up one of Martin’s key element’s to society which is social hierarchies and social positions. Libby felt uncomfortable around the unnamed man diagnosed with AIDS even though the chances of her actually contracting the disease weren’t likely. Libby’s automatic discomfort and her actions following this reveal indirectly show that she felt that the volunteer was a subhuman, or didn’t have the merits to be volunteering there. These thoughts stemmed from misunderstanding due to the misconceptions regarding AIDS back in the nineties. This could also be seen as an example of Martin’s key element indoor/outdoor boundaries as Libby may have believed that one …show more content…
It’s mentioned early on in the book by Bender that the volunteers couldn’t do anything that may disclose the health status of a AIDS diagnosed individual in order to avoid harassment from both neighbors and landlords. Bender states “GLWD’s delivery volunteers could not wear GLWD baseball hats, AIDS ribbons, or AIDS Walk T-shirts when they took hot meals to recipients’ homes. We could do nothing that might give away our clients health status” (10). Morally speaking, it’s deplorable that society had such a strong stigma on AIDs diagnosed individuals even with all the misconceptions surrounding the disease. Even if it’s something that one can’t fully understand or comprehend, that doesn’t mean that they should pass severe judgement on another. Although with that said, it was ethically correct for the volunteers of God’s Love We Deliver to not make it apparent that an individual indeed had AIDS due to the stigma that society had in place. Bender further elaborated on how God’s Love We Deliver tried to keep the confidentiality regarding the AIDS diagnosed individuals intact stating “volunteers delivered meals in nondescript brown paper bags and gained entry to buildings by announcing ‘meal delivery’ into intercoms or to doormen. Likewise, GLWD delivery vans displayed no outward identification.”
A volunteer named Libby became “vexed to distraction when the man slicing jalapeño peppers next to her told her that he ‘had AIDS’.” (Bender, 58). She would then march over to one of the chefs and question “him in a carrying voice, ‘Did you know that guy has AIDS? Is that all right for him to be working in here?’. She was astonished that GLWD chefs let a ‘sick person’ work there.” (Bender, 58). Although the purpose of the kitchen and organization itself was to help provide meals for individuals diagnosed with AIDS who are too sick to shop or cook for themselves, Libby was uncomfortable around someone who was actually diagnosed with the disease. This backs up one of Martin’s key element’s to society which is social hierarchies and social positions. Libby felt uncomfortable around the unnamed man diagnosed with AIDS even though the chances of her actually contracting the disease weren’t likely. Libby’s automatic discomfort and her actions following this reveal indirectly show that she felt that the volunteer was a subhuman, or didn’t have the merits to be volunteering there. These thoughts stemmed from misunderstanding due to the misconceptions regarding AIDS back in the nineties. This could also be seen as an example of Martin’s key element indoor/outdoor boundaries as Libby may have believed that one …show more content…
It’s mentioned early on in the book by Bender that the volunteers couldn’t do anything that may disclose the health status of a AIDS diagnosed individual in order to avoid harassment from both neighbors and landlords. Bender states “GLWD’s delivery volunteers could not wear GLWD baseball hats, AIDS ribbons, or AIDS Walk T-shirts when they took hot meals to recipients’ homes. We could do nothing that might give away our clients health status” (10). Morally speaking, it’s deplorable that society had such a strong stigma on AIDs diagnosed individuals even with all the misconceptions surrounding the disease. Even if it’s something that one can’t fully understand or comprehend, that doesn’t mean that they should pass severe judgement on another. Although with that said, it was ethically correct for the volunteers of God’s Love We Deliver to not make it apparent that an individual indeed had AIDS due to the stigma that society had in place. Bender further elaborated on how God’s Love We Deliver tried to keep the confidentiality regarding the AIDS diagnosed individuals intact stating “volunteers delivered meals in nondescript brown paper bags and gained entry to buildings by announcing ‘meal delivery’ into intercoms or to doormen. Likewise, GLWD delivery vans displayed no outward identification.”