As it t urned out , t hough, aft er t he first couple of w eeks, t he coalit ion m aint ained air superiorit y over Iraq, and t he missions becam e routine
AM ND: 218.
David involved int o Gulf War is reflect ed in t his book. His mind w as full of St ephen. He w as afraid of St ephen being hurt ed. He couldn’t sleep
soundly during t he w ar.
Aft er that m orning, and on ot hers t o follow , I never slept as soundly as I did w hen I served in t he gulf w ar AM ND: 218.
On February 27, 1991, Coalit ion forces succeeded in liberat ing Kuw ait from Iraq and President Bush declared t he w ar over. David came back from
Arab Saudi in M arch 1991.
I ret urned from Saudi Arabia in M arch 1991 AM ND: 218.
The realit y bet w een America and it s people can be draw n as w hat David had experienced w it h t he mot her w ho could force David t o do
everyt hing she ever w ant ed. The mot her is symbolized as America w ho can force someone and David is as t he people w ho is forced t o obey rules.
4. Religious Aspects
The largest religion in t he US is Christ ianit y, pract iced by t he majorit y of t he populat ion. Christ ianit y w as int roduced during t he period of European
colonizat ion. Among Christ ian believers, m ost of Americans now days believe in Prot est ant s t hen follow ed by Cat holics and t he ot her Christ ian branch.
Previously, t here w ere no dist inct ions as Cat holics or Prot est ant unt il by t he early 16t h cent ury in Germany t here w as a movement as a react ion against
medieval Roman Cat holic doct rines and pract ices, especially in regard t o salvat ion, just ificat ion, and ecclesiology.
The t erm ‘Cat holic’ w as first used t o describe t he Christ ian Church in t he early 2nd cent ury t o emphasize it s universal scope. Cat holic simply
means universal. This church w as led by t he Pope. It w as official form of t he early Christ ian church. How ever, many ot her Christ ians use t he t erm Cat holic
t o refer more broadly t o t he w hole Christ ian Church or t o all believers in Jesus Christ .
Cat holicism w as by far t he largest Christ ian group. Wit h more t han one billion adherent s, Cat holics const it ut e about half of t he w orld’s
Christ ians. Cat holicism is t he majorit y religion of It aly, Spain, and nearly all Lat in American count ries. One day, some Cat holics leave t he church and
move t o Prot est ant churches. From t he survey, it w as apparent t hat most Cat holics w ho leave t he Church do so because t hey aren’t get t ing t heir needs
met and found more appealing or sat isfying alt ernat ives in Prot est ant churches.
Agreed t o stat ements above, t he w rit er found t hat most of people’s religion in America is Christ ianit y. Ot herw ise, t he charact ers in t he book are
most ly Cat holics not Prot est ant s. Cat holics believe t hat t here is only one God and argue t hat he has revealed himself as t he t rinit y. They hold t he Old
Test ament as t heir script ure w hile Prot est ant made some changes from t he Old Test ament t o t he New Test ament . Som e Christ ians believe in t he original
script ure, t he Old Test ament . Therefore, t he charact ers in t his book believe in Cat holic. Cat holic is t he religion t hat believed by t he charact ers. It can be
seen from how t hey w ent t o Cat holic church.
Four days lat er, on a foggy M onday m orning, I parked M r Turnbough’s car in front of t he sam e Cat holic church Ron, St an, and I had briefly at t ended
w it h our aunt years ago as preschoolers. AM ND: 97
A church is a building or st ruct ure t o facilit at e w orship and t he meet ing of Christ ianit y. Tradit ional church buildings are oft en in t he shape of
a cross and frequent ly have a t ow er or dome. Ot her comm on shapes for churches include a circle, t o represent et ernit y, or an oct agon or sim ilar st ar
shape, t o represent t he church’s bringing light t o t he w orld. Anot her common feat ure is t he spire, a t all t ow er on t he ‘w est ’ end of t he church or
over t he crossing. M ore modern church buildings have a variet y of archit ect ural st yles and layout s.
Christ ians usually go t o church every Sunday for w orship. Some of t hem believe t hat go t o church every Sunday is obligat ion and some ot hers
believe t hat it is not a must but rat her alw ays keep Jesus Christ in t he heart . Christ ians celebrat e t he Christ ’s Day, Sunday, t he day of His Resurrect ion. All
Cat holics must refrain from menial labor on Sunday and w orship God by at t ending Sunday M ass.
Besides, David w as religious for having a bible. The bible is
ment ioned as t he place t o keep his brot her’s let t er.
For now all I could do w as replace m y brot her’s let ter in my Bible, and pray for the best . AM ND: 121
The Bible is a canonical collect ion of t ext s considered sacred in Christ ianit y. Different religious groups include different books w it hin t heir
cannons. Int erest ing fact is t hat t he Cat holic Bible cont ains seven books of t he Old Test ament not cont ained in t he Prot est ant Bible. These books are:
The Wisdom of Solom on, Tobit , Sirach, Judit h, 1st M accabees, 2nd M accabees, Baruch. Addit ional part s of Est her and Daniel are also not in t he
Prot est ant Bible. These books are somet imes referred t o as the ‘Apocrypha’ by
Prot est ant s or t he ‘Deut erocanonical’ books meaning ‘also canonical’ by Cat holics. These books w ere not w rit t en in Hebrew , but in Greek inst ead.
The Cat holic Church, t hrough t he int ercession of t he Holy Spirit , discerned t hat t hese books w ere divinely inspired and included t hem in t he Bible in t he
year 382 AD. at t he Council of Rome, under Pope Damasus I. M oreover, David’s family celebrat ed Christ mas since t he Holy days of
Christ ians are Christ mas, East er, New Year, Pent ecost , Saint s’ Feast Days. It is t he day w hen Christ ians believe of Jesus w as born. it is celebrat ed
generally on December 25. Christ ians celebrat e t he birt h of Jesus t o t he
Virgin M ary as a fulfillment of t he Old Test ament ’s M essianic prophecy. In t his day, people w ill decorat e t heir house w it h pine t rees. The out side of
houses may be decorat ed w it h light s and somet imes w it h illuminat ed sleighs, snow men, and ot her Christ mas figures. Other t radit ional decorat ions
include bells, candles, candy canes, st ockings, w reat hs, and angels. The children believe t hat in Christ mast eve, Sant a w ill come. Sant a
Claus, also know n as Saint Nicholas, Fat her Christ mas and simply ‘Sant a’, is a figure w it h legendary and myt hical w ho, in many w est ern cult ures, brings
gift s t o t he homes of t he good children during t he lat e evening and overnight hours of Christ mas Eve, December 24. Sant a Claus is generally
depict ed as a port ly, joyous, w hit e-bearded man - somet imes w it h spect acles - w earing a red coat w it h w hit e collar and cuffs, w hit e-cuffed red
t rousers, and black leat her belt and boot s.Therefore, t hey w ill be happy w ait ing for Sant a’s arrival.
As Christ m as Day came nearer, my brot hers and I becam e m ore and m ore excit ed. ACCI: 18
5. Cultural Aspects
