Explorations in Religious Identity (RE 300 WR)

I think caste would clearly affect how one interprets the Ramayana since throughout many religions the ways that people interpret the prominent texts stem from their social and economic situation. In one of the readings that discuss Brahmin versus non-Brahmin women singing songs about the Ramayana, and how women's songs, in general, tend to differ from those of men when it came to the religious text. Women's songs would be about things such as "pregnancy, morning sickness, childbirth, the tender love of a husband, the affections of parents-in-law, games played by brides and grooms in wedding rituals" (119). Although this specific example is talking about men and women, I think that the same differences would easily apply to people in different economic statuses within the Caste system. Drawing from my own experience, people in different economic situations have always focused on different things in the Christian Scriptures. My family being lower-middle-class in a town that was almost entirely upper class, we saw the differences easily; my family and I clung to the verses about God helping people through their problems, verses that talk about how money is not everything, etc. Our neighboring families in the upper class tended to focus much more on how God wants his people to be fruitful and provide for themselves, how important it is for more fortunate people to help those who need help, etc. The differences were clear.