Reflection on Promises

       In class we had watched the documentary "Promises" about the children growing up in the city quarters of Jerusalem, and how the different religions of the children affected their daily lives. To me, it seemed very sad to see these children place so much hatred upon each other, and how they spoke so many violent words about death to those not of their religion. To me, this seemed like a type of ethnocentrism, but from the religious aspect, not race. Religion in the holy land has always been a struggle. 

       With  the tensions exhibited by these young kids, it really worried me for the future of these nations. With all the hatred towards the orthodox Jews, non-strict Jews, Muslims and other religious groups, they are setting their children and grandchildren up for decades more unrest and bias, and also many years more of violence and bombing on buses and shootings in the streets. 

     

To try and fix this, the producers of this documentary traveled to the Holy City, and began integrating ideas of intercultural communication with the children in hopes of removing the walls of distrust for members of the other groups so that hopefully someday, these kids would grow up, have kids of their own, and pass along ideas that people of other faiths truly aren’t as evil as their adults have perceived them to be.