"Unless you've lived their life, you can't say what their life is like!"

One of the classes I'm enrolled in in this semester is anthropology. Unlike so many classes, this one can totally change the way we think of other people who live in different places. Because we are used to judging people constantly based on their looks, we've come to think in a certain stereotypical way of everyone who belongs to that culture. In this class, we discuss this issue and how cultural anthropologists deal with it. "Unless you've lived their life, you can't say what their life is like!" My anthropology professor/cultural anthropologist said this quote in class in defense of the other cultures and habits that we are not used to and when we see it, we judge based on what our own culture would agree on. He told a story about the "black church" (something I've never heard of before) and how the people receive the holy ghost and fall down. Another anthropologist wanted to see how this is even possible, so she went to that church and attended the service and her task was to observe, and write down notes of what the people were doing before she came up with a conclusion about this strange habit. Every Sunday she would attend and write down her notes. After few weeks, she found herself tapping her foot to the music and when everybody stood up, she did so to even though she has been trying not to imitate them or fall into this habit. Then, she starting shouting like them and lifting her hands up high, then she felt something; something good perhaps that took over her whole being. In a split of a second, she found herself on the floor. Now that she had experienced the holy ghost, she can relate and understand these people's habit. 

There is a saying that says "don't judge a book by its cover", neither should you judge people by their looks or culture without knowing what their life is like. I chose this topic in particular because I can relate to it since I'm Egyptian. For some people, the first thing that comes to mind is "do you live in pyramids?", "do you live in the dessert?", and "do you go to school on your camel?" These are true questions that I've been asked, unfortunately. As for others, the first thing they think of is "oh, you must be a muslim" or "a terrorist". These are all misconceptions that are made based on the ignorance of people. I've read online comments about some of the stuff in the recent news happening in Egypt and it struck me that they talk as if they were there. A book can give you slight ideas of what it's like over there but conclusion should never be made until you live with the people and live their lives. 

Also, being an orthodox christian has put me in a spot of questioning about how is it possible to live like this. Orthodox Christianity is known for being too strict; such as fastings when we follow the vegan lifestyle, almost the whole year. Also before going to mass, we must be fasting (no food or water) for 9 hours. The list goes on and on, but the point is you can't ask this question or say this life this impossible without trying or attempting to live this it for a bit to understand. This is why this class is really interesting and important. I hope that someday the world view of different cultures will change and that people would be open minded to try different things before being judgmental.