Paraphrase the paper

Religions influence people much more than cultures do. People’s faith is their spiritual support. They want to keep their religion as their identity even giving up their lives. There is one girl, who is called Mary, has her faith as Christian. When enemies invaded her country and asked her to change her religion, she refused and perfered to die. Albright acknowledges that to those followers, their religious identity is more important than their lives. As she comments, “As she scrambled to her kneses, a young man of no more than twenty pressed the barrel of a pistol into the side of her head and demanded, ‘Renounce the cross or die.’ Mary did not flinch. ‘I was born a Christian,’ she said. ‘I will die a Christian.’”(P36-37) religious peole are willing to sacrifice themselves, in order to keep their religion. Enemies can control their bodies or kill them, but they cannot control their minds. Their faith goes beyond their physical control and forces them to fight against enemies. Those religious followers like Mary are not afraid of anything, because they have their motivation which is given by the God. When people want to keep their religious identity, they are able to do anything, even at the cost of their own lives. However, the cultural identity makes people spend a lot of money on imitating rich people to show their identity and fit people’s expectation. Because they do not want to have discrimination from others. They are not willing to sacrifice their lives for culture, because its influence is not as important as religion’s. As Alvarez concurs that “It’s not theirs to keep anyhow, just as the American dream isn’t as easy to achieve as it seems, so why not live it up, give your little girl a party she won’t forget, enjoy the only thing you really have, tonight’s good time, before the bills start rolling in.”(P55) She notes that Hispanic people throw a lot of money for their girls to show off. However, they are only willing to waste their money to chase their dreams instead of pursuing them by devoting themselves to truly achieve. Although people want to let others know their cultural identity even throwing all their money, faith is more important to them even sacrificing their lives. If cultural identity as people’s material requirement to pursue, religion can be their mental goals to accomplish, no matter how difficult it is. the extent of people who want others to know their religious and cultural identity is different. Religious people will keep their faith until the end of their life, because they already put their faith into their minds as part of them. Money can be used to show one’s cultural identity, but it cannot change people’s determination of be religious people and having their faith forever.

Religion has its power of control, even influences people’s culture. Religion can affect people a lot and even help them to find the freedom. For instance, the Pope returned to Poland and brought religious faith to citizens and encouraged them to pursue their own freedom without fear. As Albright mentions, “Standing amid huge crowds, the listeners recognized in each other once again the qualities that made them proud to be Polish—faith in God and a willingness to run risks for freedom.”(P36) When the Polish government controled their citizens by authority, people did not have their freedom. They were afraid of the leader’s power, so they had to follow orders without willingness. However, Pope, the person who spreaded religious faith to Polish, gave them the motivation to break the rules. Religion helps people to pursue their freedom, because the God is their spiritual support and directs them to overcome challenge. Religious people have their faith which can control their minds and direct them to do things that followed by religious rules. This control even affects people’s culture in some aspects. In Alvarez’s essay, she deeply explains how religion influences people in their culture. She indicates that some Hispanic girls have their faith which asks them to keep their purity before getting married. Priscilla is a religious person, so she has her religious rules in many aspects. She follows the God’s orders and gives her promise, because she believe that th God will direct her to become good person. As Alvarez states, “It’s from Priscilla that I first hear when the quinceñera makes her vow in the church, ‘it’s about chastity. You are promising God that you’re not going to have sex till you’re back at the altar, getting married.”(P52) These religious girls believe that Quinceñera is not only just a party, but also an important religious ritual, which is the God’s order for girls to obey. When these Hispanic girls having in the church, they are willing to accept the God’s plan, because they are religious people and they have their religious identity. They have to follow the God’s order which can help them to become good people. Both Albright and Alvarez emphasize that religion is very important for those followers. It is their spiritual support and guides them to do the right things. Believing in the God helps people to find their freedom and overcome difficulties. The god will direct people to have good life which they desired. As a result, Religious people want to keep their faith in their minds and follow the God’s plans. When religious rules have conflict with religious people’s culture, they will still obey these rules, because their religious identity is much more important than their cultural identity.

Religion also has more influence than gender does. Religious people are taught to do good things which is the God’s orders. They believe that they also did some terrible things, so everyone needs forgiveness, because everyone cannot be perfect. As a result, although those enemies who have different religion wanted to kill Mary, Mary chose to forgive her enemies, because she want to gain the God’s forgiveness of her mistakes. As Albright states, “The second lesson is that religion at its best teaches of forgiveness and reconciliation, not only when those acts are relatively easy but also when they are almost unbelievably different.(Mary, I need hardly add, is a more forgiving person than most—including me.)”(P37) Albright emphasizes that because the power of religion, people are willing to forgive hurts which are made by others. Religion teaches people to be tolerant and peaceful. No matter what others did, religious people always follow the God’s order, because the God guides them to do right things. Religious people’s faith encourages them to forgive others who even threatened their lives. They are willing to give up abminating others’ unforgivable behaviors, because they have their religious faith. However, people’s gender identity is not as much important as their religious identity. People even have no choice but they need to choose their gender, because they need to fit people’s expectation. As a result, it restricts people’s freedom. Witterick and her husband try to keep their third child’s gender as a secret and give him or her more freedom to choose what he or she wants to be. However, they always receive discrimination, because the baby’s gender identity does not fit people’s expectation. As Poisson states, “Friends said they were imposing their political and ideological values on a new born. Most of all, people said they were setting their kids up for a life of bullying in a world that can be cruel to outsiders.”(P365) Poisson discusses that the gender divides people into males and females, but it restrcts people’s freedom. However, people need to follow gender expectation, in order to receive fair treatment. Compared to gender, religion influences people much more, because it is one kind of spirt revolution which makes people have generous minds and warm hearts, and teaches them to be good people. People’s gender expectation teaches people to be men and women and helps them to realize what they should do based on their roles. However, some people do not agree with the gender expectation and want the freedom. In some extent, people are restricted by their gender identity, so they cannot have their own minds which comes from their hearts.

All religion, culture, and gender are people’s identity. although both cultural and gender identity help people to understand themselves better and direct them about what they should do and what they should be, these kinds of identity need to fit people’s expectations. As a result, both of them have some restriction aspects to people. People need to pay a lot of money for their cultural identity and do things based on their gender for their gender identity. Religion affects people more, not only because it helps people to solves their problems and direct them to be good people, but also because people are willing to follow the God in their minds. Religion is people’s spiritual sustenance of the hope of a better future.