Religion Part 2

Wow, ok there was a lot there. I love the discussion we have going. First (mom and cara) Ellen is my trainer who told me to write that. I actually had forgotten that it was at the bottom of the post, but I love that it incited so much curiosity ;)

I need to start this post as I should have started the other one: I am a foreigner here and struggling to understand a new culture. As such I am likely to say things that may be flat out wrong or insulting to Mauritanians. This is not intended and is solely the result of my incomplete understanding of a culture that is different from mine. With that said:

I love that the discussion on religion has incited its own exchange. I am not going to respond to absolutely everything but I think that everyone had truth in their comments. Basically, if I was one-hundred percent open with my views on religion, there is a good chance I that I would estrange myself so much that work would become impossible. There was a volunteer with similar view points as mine who shared them with people that he knew well and they never talked to him again. BUT, that is not of course true for everyone. I realized that in my first post I may have made Mauritanians sound fanatical and I did not mean to. Religion is taken very seriously here but there are people who don't give it much priority in their lives, they would just never publicly admit it. Perhaps one best way to emphasize this is to point out again that I am a guest in the ISLAMIC Republic of Mauritania. The notions of separation of church and state don't apply here as they do in the U.S.

I am excited that I have not been able to explain this perfectly because that is proof that religion here is one thing that is distinctly different from American culture. I look forward to continuing this discussion.