Faith and Tradition: Maybe We Should Stop Believing and Start New Customs
In America, many believe that our country’s values, morals and roots are in organized religion, specifically Christianity. Many, in fact, would go so far as to say that a lack of “God” in our country will be our downfall, as we continue to move farther and farther away a single religious influence. What if moving more towards tolerance and the value in individual beliefs and values would make a country of stronger people? What if religious influence would, actually, be the root of our downfall? “A Prophet’s Hair”, “A Father” and “Funeral at the Traffic Lights”, suggest that it is foolish to force faith, tradition and religion and it is either harmful or insignificant to the outcome of a situation. Religion tends to, ironically, create a false sense of security or power, and alienation.
The story of “A Prophet’s Hair” revolves around a money lender who breaks his son’s legs so that they can get more money begging. In the midst of a transaction, the money lender has a prophet’s hair in his possession for a few hours and because of it he decides he needs to be religious and begins to spew hateful truths at his family. He starts to take vicious control of his loved-ones and feels as though he has a greater sense of authority. “Hashim began to gush, to spume long streams of awful truths. In horrified silence, his children heard their father turn upon his wife and reveal to her that for many years their marriage had been the worst of his afflictions”. The entering of the prophet’s hair into his life, either by holy influence or otherwise, caused him to put his family through pain and be to insensitive. Before the entrance of this hair “Hashim was fond of pointing out that while he was not a godly man he set great store by “living honorably in the world”. After he “forced his family to rise, wash