Salvation

In his narrative Salvation Langston Hughes tells us his experience that changed his way of
thinking toward God. Being part of a family in which religion was very important, there was a
special day in which the children would be saved. His Aunt had told him how he would see
God, see a light and feel him in his soul. Critical thing to say to a young child who does not
understand the concept of those things yet. With this in mind he waited to see Jesus, making him
and another boy named Westley the only ones left to be saved. Yet Westley grew impatient,
saying: "God damn! I'm tired o' sitting here. Let's get up and be saved. Langston immediately
thought Westley had lied to the church and to God. In my perspective, he is pointing out that
salvation is a concept that could mean differently to everybody. Since he had already been told
he had to see God and feel him to be saved he assumed Westley had taken Gods name in vain,
but the pressure of the church and his Aunt made him lie too. This just shows the effect an adult
can have on a child. Hughes was feeling guilty at the fact that he had lied to everybody at the
congregation, making them believe that he had in fact seen Jesus. To all this, Hughes comes to
the conclusion that God does not exist since he didnt came to help him. In my view, the author
wants us to understand it is all up to us on how we see what salvation is.

Among the Believers

In the article Among the believers Tayari Jones shares her experience of being an atheist and
going to bible school. She starts her article narrating how parents and children react when telling
she is atheist. In addition how children dont hesitate to ask if they are devil worshipers. She
answers by telling them they werent because her dad had told her so. When we are at a young
age and go to church with our parents we tend to ask questions about religion and the adults will
answer what they believe in. This is why one of the main points the author makes, is how
childrens faith is based on what their parents tell them. It is why going to bible school helped
her answered those many questions. If God made the world, who made God? A question many
of us could have, but the teacher thought of it as a joke when she asked. When realizing it was
not, she answered her question by giving her a mimeographed sheet of the 23rd Psalm. She
memorized it all with the intention to recite it the next Sunday meal. When getting the chance to
do so, she expresses how it was in that moment that she found the comfort of the words; even so
it was the day she may have decided to be a writer. In my view, by reading this article I see how
people have the same doubts as one in which what they should believe in or not. Parents should
not obligate their children to believe in something, instead they should give them the opportunity
to learn and explore what they believe. It also could mean finding your purpose as a human being
as the author Tayari did.

Essential Question:
1. How do our beliefs change over time?