Many people have different thoughts and feelings about certain kind of religions or beliefs. In In a Rocket Made of Ice, there are many different religions that are practiced at Wat Opot. Most of the kids are Buddhist while the founder, Wayne, is Christian. The book talks about how each one of these people view each religion and how it impacts Wat Opot. Having about four different religions shared in one place, could be a struggle for some of the people living there.
Background
In In a Rocket Made of Ice, many of these kids have very hard lives. Every one of them live at Wat Opot, and either have HIV or know a family member that has /or had passed away from HIV. HIV is a very deadly thing and many people are scared of it and do not know how …show more content…
As Rebecca tried to change their religion to Christianity, they were all born Buddhist so they stuck to that. “Rebecca would tell me about Wayne’s shortcomings, and how the children who knew nothing of God, only Budda, would lose all chance at heaven” (Gutradt 168). The community resides with a Buddhist temple, so Buddhist beliefs lead to how the monks treat the children. When someone from a Buddhist family dies, they have a ceremony with incense to burn and talk to the dead. Wayne isn’t familiar with this in his religion. “Burning incense is a heathen Buddhist practice; anyone who offers their deceased parents the blessings of the fragrant, sacred smoke will be sent to hell” (Gutradt 53). Some of the kids don’t really know their own religion and seem confused and not sure if they are totally convinced. “I notice Pesei does not chant the Buddhist invocation” (Gutradt 53). The whole town, around Wat Opot, is Buddhist. In the middle of the town is the Buddhist temple. Everyone gathers around it when someone dies to burn their bodies in peace. All the Buddhist people in the town feel like a huge family when somebody passes away to feel the comfort in each other in a hard time like this. When everyone gets together for this moment, everyone knows that they are passing away happy and they don’t need to mourn on the death of a loved
Background
In In a Rocket Made of Ice, many of these kids have very hard lives. Every one of them live at Wat Opot, and either have HIV or know a family member that has /or had passed away from HIV. HIV is a very deadly thing and many people are scared of it and do not know how …show more content…
As Rebecca tried to change their religion to Christianity, they were all born Buddhist so they stuck to that. “Rebecca would tell me about Wayne’s shortcomings, and how the children who knew nothing of God, only Budda, would lose all chance at heaven” (Gutradt 168). The community resides with a Buddhist temple, so Buddhist beliefs lead to how the monks treat the children. When someone from a Buddhist family dies, they have a ceremony with incense to burn and talk to the dead. Wayne isn’t familiar with this in his religion. “Burning incense is a heathen Buddhist practice; anyone who offers their deceased parents the blessings of the fragrant, sacred smoke will be sent to hell” (Gutradt 53). Some of the kids don’t really know their own religion and seem confused and not sure if they are totally convinced. “I notice Pesei does not chant the Buddhist invocation” (Gutradt 53). The whole town, around Wat Opot, is Buddhist. In the middle of the town is the Buddhist temple. Everyone gathers around it when someone dies to burn their bodies in peace. All the Buddhist people in the town feel like a huge family when somebody passes away to feel the comfort in each other in a hard time like this. When everyone gets together for this moment, everyone knows that they are passing away happy and they don’t need to mourn on the death of a loved