Religions Around the World

For some people, their beliefs are the biggest part of who they are. It makes them unique from others. Some religions say you cannot eat certain foods which may change what they like to eat. Many religions also have different varieties of clothing which influence the way they dress. Some people believe that we should all be equal while others think that some groups of people are better than others. This can change how they act to other people.

Every religion has their own set of beliefs. Some people believe that there is a being that created everything and there are consequences if you do certain things. This can change what people do or think. The point is, we all believe in different things and it shouldn’t matter what we believe in.

Still to this day many religions are getting discriminated, but this isn't something new. For example, there were many wars between Christians and Muslims near the end of the 11^th century. They were called the crusades. Western Christians were asked to recapture holy land taken over by Muslims, this started the crusades. The crusades ended in the year 1291 when the last crusader city fell. Some Muslim cities surrendered so their lands were left untouched. But, once the crusaders captured Jerusalem, many of the men, women, and children were persecuted. The crusaders made many people from different religions surrender.

In a recent study between the years 2006 to 2010 Christians were the most discriminated group and Muslims were second. Jews make up less than 1% of the world's population but are still the third most discriminated against.

This shouldn’t be the case. We all know that we inherited these beliefs from our parents and we all have the right to practice our own religions and beliefs. So before judging others by their religion, we should further our knowledge. We should show respect to those who follow different religions and accept differences and similarities. Everyone’s religion is special, we just need to understand this.

We are lucky to be able to express our own religion, although many countries still don’t have the freedom to do so. The map below shows the most common religion(s) in each continent.

Marsha created GlobalDreamers in honor of her mother so we will never forget!

http://www.globaldreamers.org/holocaust/index.html

2018 Holocaust Remembrance Project In memory of Janet Barnstable, who set an example of what true global collaboration is, with thousands of educators around the world.

Dear Marsha,

THANK YOU for teaching us about the Holocaust and your mom and how she survived the Holocaust. I understand that it was sad and also the heroism that is in the story and that you want the story of the heroism to live on. I understand that because I agree we should keep the story of the Holocaust alive. Plus, we learned not only from you but from our reading as well about the Holocaust and what really happened that nobody thinks about.

I like that you believe in peace and each other. I think that is an effective way to make people trust each other more. I think that everybody should know what peace is and try to make it happen. That’s what I think everybody deserves.

Dear Marsha Goren,

Thank you so much for giving your time and efforts to help my class and I learn about the Holocaust. We’ve been doing a unit in Reading on the Holocaust. In it we made a Wordle about the Holocaust, read a story about a woman named Hiltgunt Zassenhaus who was a letter censor during the Holocaust, watched two movies (Safe Haven & Paperclips), we learned about different Holocaust survivors’ stories, and went on your website to read those survivor stories too. Regarding Global Dreamers as a whole, I think it is an amazing thing and that it has, does, is, and will make the world a better place. As for your butterfly project, I think it’s so cool that the school has a year round display of the butterflies! My school participates in the one that the Houston Holocaust Museum promotes. This year, our school made about 1,700 butterflies!

Dear Marsha,

First of all I would like to thank you and Matan for taking the time to talk to our class. I learned a lot. For instance, you made Global Dreamers to bring kids from all over the world together. I watched the movie Safe Haven in class, I thought it was really good. I liked it because it showed that even in such drastic times of the Holocaust, some positive things can happen. I think it’s really cool you were such a big part of the movie. One question I have for you is, if your mother didn’t know how to sew, how did she sew the Nazi’s uniforms? I like that your mother did not want to take the number off that was printed on her arm. She wanted to keep it as proof that the Holocaust did happen. I also learned that Hitler said people over 6 months old are considered adults. I don’t know why Hitler wanted to take over Europe and kill so many Jews. I learned that Hitler was dumb enough to film everything. Thank you for answering mine, and everyone else in our class who had a question. Thanks again to you and Matan for talking to our class.

Dear Marsha Goren,

Thank you so much for teaching us about the Holocaust and taking the time to talk to us. I have learned so much about it. Some things that I have learned is that people could be so cruel. I didn’t know people could be so cruel. Sometimes when I think about it, it makes me so sad that someone would do something like that. I think it is so amazing that you have the courage to talk to people about it. You are really inspiring! It’s really sad that you mom died. I almost started to cry because it is so sad and a little scary. What does the Holocaust mean to you?

Dear Marsha,

You are a really great and inspirational person. Thank you for teaching kids all over the world about the Holocaust through things like Global Dreamers. I bet your mom would be very proud of you. Thanks to you, my class and many others got to learn about your mom, other Holocaust survivors, and more about the Holocaust. I learned that your mom was happy that she and her good friends were spared by leaving Majdanek. I also learned that you really want to fulfill your mom’s dream even more than you already have. Thank you for spending time with my class and teaching us things about your mom and the Holocaust. I really loved talking to you!!! You taught me that you should stand up for what you believe and should teach other people about it. I enjoyed speaking with you. I wish I could speak with you many more times.