Disadvantages Of Being An Outsider Analysis

is that there are outsiders in today’s society. When one is made into an outsider, the bias

Let us consider that the title of “outsider” is mainly given by observation, judgement, rather than by truly getting to know one, understanding. Some examples to back our consideration are real-life situations, in circumstances of the short story, “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, and in the song “Dumb” by Nirvana. We can refer to either a present or past situation, maybe a class or while walking through the halls of school, picture someone you think of as an outsider. You most likely barely know them, you probably have not even spoken to them. Take a look at that situation and you can determine that you may have only misjudged them, they may have some of the same interests and likings as you, but you have never taken the time or gotten the chance

　　There are many books on religion that try to break down each with enough facts to get the reader to understand. Though books are filled fact after fact and at times, slight biases, they sometimes forget to include values and reasons why people follow them. Because of this, students can miss out on a chance to get a deeper understanding of religion and the people that follow it. Huston Smith’s The World's Religion, Revised & Updated is that book that can broaden students’ viewpoint of all religions.

The experience of being an outsider is universal. It is something most of of can relate to and an experience that will probably happen sometime in everyone's lifetime. There are many examples of this in literature.

They explain that the “concept of worldview connotes a fundamental reality that shapes members of a small world’s belief system” (353). These people have shared experiences and perspectives, which makes up how they view and interact with the world. Integral to their worldview are the social types that make up their small world. Chatman (1996) mentions two that are of significance here—insiders and outsiders. Insiders are the individuals who make up the small world while outsiders are essentially strangers. Along these lines, it seems as if Granovetter’s (1973) idea of strong-ties and weak-ties can be applied to Chatman’s description of insiders and outsiders. Insiders share strong-ties and they often rely on one another for information because they know and have built some amount of trust between one another. Correspondingly, outsiders are people with whom the insiders have weak-ties. Insiders typically do not rely on outsiders to fulfill their information needs, and if they happen to acquire information from an outsider they will likely try to verify the information before they accept it as factual because they do not know the outsider well enough to trust

What is an outsider? An outsider is a person who is not excepted by or is isolated by society. Have you ever been an “outsider”? Everyone experiences a situation where they weren’t able to fit in. The feeling of not being able to fit it is universal. Not everyone is the same and in certain situations you may not be able to bond with everyone. Everyone is focused on being judged or being the person who is judging someone. If you are not like everyone in your society group, those people don’t except you. Nowadays our society feels that if you aren’t up to people’s expectations, you are known to be an “outsider”. Being an outsider is universal because not everyone is social, not everyone can afford nice things and not everyone is popular.

On occasion, authors approach cultural subjects as historians. However, Huston Smith limits the historical facts to stay focus on the values of the religions (Smith 10,12). Having an history filled book can cause readers to lose interests in his discussion. To keep the numbers down, Smith picks the religions that most people acknowledge and would share the most common themes in their life (11). He is passionate about his studies, and he wants the audience to find their own appreciation for religion. To accomplish this, Smith simply states that,”This is a book about values”(12). Some books describe a certain faith’s good and bad qualities and can sometimes put more emphasis on the bad if the

One example of an outsider would be Gregor in the famous story “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka. In this story, there are numerous examples of Gregor being misjudged and Gregor feeling misunderstood. The first example is how people view Gregor as a traveling salesman. “People don't like traveling salesmen. I know that. People think they earn pots of money and thus lead a fine life. People don't even have any special reason to think through this judgment more clearly” (Kafka, 148). In this quote, you can clearly see that people are misjudging Gregor because he is a traveling salesman. In the text, Gregor feels that he is misunderstood because none of these people know that Gregor has to work as a traveling salesman not because he wants to, but because he has to pay off his family's debt. Another example is how Gregor’s family assumes things about what he would or would not do. “But how can it be Gregor? If it

In William James’ 1902 book “The Varieties of Religious Experience” he opens with depicting the approach of his review. He clarifies that it would be of little advantage to construct the examination with respect to regular people who have bound religious encounters and emulate customs which have been passed on to them. Rather, he centers the review around 'religious virtuosos '. In addition, as he clarifies in his second address, the attention must be on individual religious experience instead of corporate, in light of the fact that it is more central. Actually, it is out of the extreme encounters of a little few that most religious developments (or "factions" as he terms them) have created. Part 3 builds up that individuals appear to have the ability to encounter the concealed furthermore an inclination to see it as being more genuine than things seen, listened, touched or tasted.

In summary, there are many benefits and drawback to the academic study of religion from the outsider’s point of view. Benefits can include factors such as gaining a new understanding of a religion or being able to gain an unbiased perspective. Drawbacks, however, include factors such as an ethnocentric point of view of an individual or simply missing minute details in a belief of religion. When everything has been said and done, I do believe that the outsider’s perspective on the study of religion is very important and something that should always be

Looking over the article Why ‘‘isms’’ Are Evil: Theory, Epistemology, and Academic Sects as Impediments to Understanding and Progress Lake argues that scholars engage in too much theological debates and widen the gap generating five pathologies: reifying research traditions, rewarding extremism, confusing traditions with theories, narrowing the subject and finally aiming for hegemony

I am confident in my religious beliefs, but I also am careful to listen to others who may have opposing views. I think as a society in general, we all could benefit from hearing ideas that contradict and challenge our worldviews in order to better ourselves and the people around us.

“Religion is a ritualized system of beliefs and practices related to things defined as sacred by an organized community of believers.” (Basirico et.al. 379). Religion is an important element in the society because it influences the way individuals act and think. It has shaped the relationship and bonding among families as well as influenced the decision made in economics and politics. Religion in general has contributed to shape a society and a government structure which will influence the way the individuals under certain governmental structure behave. Sociologists are interested in religion mainly because religious belief is heavily rooted in individuals’ lives and it helps sociologists to interpret human’s actions, expression, and

Learning courses specializing in religion can foster open-mindedness, cultural appreciation and improve behavior among students. Students may be more apt to accept differences in people around them, and portray a positive attitude when they have access to learning about diverse religions.

During the course of this class, I have learned a lot about different religions. I still have an unprejudiced view of religion. However, I did not suspend my belief to have an understanding of religion. I have been able to learn of other religious beliefs without feeling threatened of my own. I found there are many different practices in other religions, some I agree with and some I do not agree with. I have come to except others, ways of worship without getting upset. I have become humble in my conclusion now that I have a better understanding of others beliefs. The world seems to jump to conclusions and be judgmental about other religions. Postponing ones judgement on a religion is a difficult thing to do. Being raised and taught a certain religion and set of beliefs is distilled in to one’s mind. I, on the other hand, reserved my personal judgement until I have learned more about it.