I find myself in an interesting position on Brandeis' campus. Religion has always been a topic that has fascinated me-my group of friends back home, amusingly enough, consists of a Catholic, a Baptist, an atheist and me, a Jew. Even though I grew up in a mostly Christian area, with many good friends who are pious Christians, I still find myself drawing on Christian stereotypes. Christian Awareness Week, however, reminded me of what true Christian values really are, and it taught me the importance of confronting stereotypes, religious or otherwise.Even with my Christian friends, I often forget that not all devout Christians are fundamentalists. When I think of religious Christians, I think of Pat Robertson, who raves about letting Jesus into one's life, confessing one's sins and gaining salvation. I visualize a video my uncle made of a neo-Nazi during a confrontation and an online message by a Jewish teenager who was beaten up by his classmates after refusing to convert.

My Baptist friend goes to a small Christian school in rural Indiana, and I often joke that when I visit her, her friends will try to convert me. However, this is clearly not true. My own insecurities about my beliefs do not mean that all Christians are out to actively and forcefully convert me.
As an outsider it appears as though very few Christians can agree, but in reality there are fundamental values that tie them all together. In trying to avoid over-generalizing about all Christians, in the past I've tried to learn about their many branches. However, what I learned last week is that these differences are just semantic and that most Christians would agree that the most important aspect of their faith is what ties them together.

I find it easy to be cynical because of so many acts of violence carried out in the name of Christ. We live in a world where people are abused for their religion, race and sexual orientation. However, it is important to remember that these are radical actions and that these ideas are not emblematic of mainstream Christianity.

The underlying message revealed in the movie Saved! is that love, kindness, tolerance and forgiveness are true Christian values. Stereotypes cannot be broken unless they are exposed and discussed in depth, which the movie does through its enlightening use of humor.
When discussing the movie afterwards, I found it interesting that the Christians I talked to took a different message away from the film. My first question after seeing the movie was whether Christians find it offensive, because I believed the message was that homosexuality was not wrong and that premarital sex and teen pregnancy, while not ideal, could still have a happy ending. One person explained that she believed the movie was emphasizing that these were indeed sins, but that forgiveness and tolerance should trump any punishment.

It's so easy to forget that interpretations vary, and I find this difference in perception challenging to overcome. However, revealing my take on the movie led to an in-depth and informative discussion on sin itself and why exactly people believe these acts are sinful.

Admittedly, I am easily angered with others when I disagree with their beliefs. I do not consider myself a very religious person and I forget that my belief that the Bible was not written by God but by men is not shared by everyone.

From the perspective of a Jew who is skeptical of religion, Christian Awareness Week provided enlightening discussions which reminded me about the many stereotypes I hold about Christianity. I would like to think I am a very accepting and open-minded person, but as I discovered, it is too easy to succumb to uninformed assumptions based on stereotypes.
Last week taught me much about both Christianity and myself, and I hope others who took advantage of these activities were able to gain more of an understanding of Christianity and break their own stereotypes, too.