Robert: A whole week of the Dave phenomenon got everyone thinking. Christian, Muslim, agnostic, so be it — people of any religion or no religion had some sort of reaction to the propaganda. Some friends of mine were upset at the marketing and commercialization of religion.

We are offended when Western religions are mocked, but for years people have comfortably walked all over non-Western religions. Right under our own noses, the University of Illinois has “Chief Illiniwek,” a mascot whose antics and existence are a mockery to American Indian religions and cultures. Although American Indian students fought tremendously, the school kept their mascot. Chief Illiniwek and other mascots like him grace many products and sell like Amway.

My own people have traditional beliefs that have been commercialized. Religious images called ki’i have been popularized and known as tiki. The most common ki’i representation has been of Kuka’ili-moku, one of the four main gods of Hawaiian religion. Now, you know Kuka’ilimoku – I’m sure you’ve seen him at a party somewhere as a statue, maybe even taken a shot out of a little ki’i shot glass. Last fall, Kuka’ilimoku was even on Gap bags. I don’t imagine Virgin Mary knapsacks would sell very well.

When an artist smears a Madonna image in feces, everyone screams foul. Yet for years, museums have held no reservations against stealing the most sacred images from Native religious sites and displaying and desecrating them.

The First Amendment claims to give us freedom of religion, but it doesn’t grant us a freedom to practice without our beliefs being mocked and desecrated. Self-proclaimed as being open-minded, Americans are often closed-minded and not as cultured as we like to pride ourselves as being. Agree with Dave? Agree with me, too.

Rishab: Religion is something so sacred and personal to people. We all are aware of the fact that in today’s world many of the disputes are in the name of religion. Religion reflects and is a deciding factor in our lives in every decision we take. People generally tend to twist their religion as much as they can to suit themselves. I experienced this myself once I came to this new land dominated by Christianity. In the beginning it was hard to mold myself into a new culture. It is tough in the beginning to be in a place where there is no acknowledgement of the religion and God I believe in. But then I got used to it and lives with his inner conscience and picturing God at a time of difficulty. There is still a feeling of a vacuum and of no identity in an alien community.

Many people have altered their eating habits and thus go against their religion. Eating beef in Hinduism is considered a sin but many Hindus go against it as it gets hard to survive in a place where there are limited options to suit one’s taste.

This is often done at a time when the options seem to have vanished.

As we know religion more often then not is a debatable topic. People have varied opinions about their practices and beliefs. There would be many remarks supporting or opposing one’s views and how a person practices religion. The most important thing is what brings peace of mind.

Robert Baptiste

is a sophomore in cultural anthropology from Nanakuli, Hawai’i.

Rishab Chandra

is a junior in management information systems from New Delhi, India.