BELIEFS!

I believe in a lot of things. On a religious aspect, I believe in God. I am Catholic and was raised that way by my parents, and share the believes of the Catholic Church. On another level, I believe in our freedoms as American. Although I am Catholic, I believe in the freedom to choose your own religion and practices and respect for those who choose differently than me. I believe in living everyday to the fullest, and not taking anything in life for granted. And finally I believe in being thankful for everything you've got in life because there are so many other people out there that are worse off than you. Like I said before, my parents are the ones that raised me to be Catholic, and not only did they influence me on a religious level, but on all of these things I now believe today. My parents taught me never to judge and to respect those different from you, which is why I feel that I have so much respect for those of other religions and really feel like everyone has a right to believe what they want. My mother always taught me not to take anything in life for grated because in the blink of an eye it could be gone, and I try my best to keep this in mind as much as possible. She also taught me to be thankful for everything in life and I feel that I truly am (although there are always times where we get a little selfish as humans). I've seen how much better I have it than a lot of people in life and really understand why my mom raised me the way she did, in teaching me all these things. The book Oranges are Not the Only Fruit is based completely on beliefs. Janette's mom is a religious fanatic, so this is the way Janette was raised. Those that did not have the same beliefs as her mother, were considered "heathens" and "the devil". Everything Janette's mom believed, was right and everyone else was wrong. Homosexuality was considered a sin, and this was challenged by Janette, first with Melanie and then with Katy, both girls who she had intimate relations with. Finally, at the end of the book Janette decides to leave their church. She has a sort of a self revelation and realizes, this way of life she was raised to live is not who she is and who she is supposed to be. She has accepted that she is not the person her Mother wished her and raised her to be, but it is still difficult for her as her mother is constantly putting her down and calling her a "sinner". Even though she has accepted the fact that she will never be the religious fanatic her mother tried to raise her to be, she still struggles with the question of then who is she supposed to be?