In Chapter 3, Credo, Rodriguez discusses how his religion has shaped him and how it is transformed over time. Throughout the chapter, Richard makes evident distinctions between the religious practices he participates in at home and those he participates in a school. This parallels his previous analysis of his private and public identity. He refers to his home religion as a mere "night religion" while at school everything revolves on religion including the daily schedule and holidays. Because it is a Roman Catholic school, they incorporate religion into everything while at home it's for his private needs. One of these distinctions is that his home religion is more of a Mexican Catholic while his school religion is White Catholic, as we see this through the two differing depictions of the Virgin Mary. Additionally, his home religion revolves much more around their family needs rather than God as their savior who they worship, likely due to the fact that they view religion through the lens of their low socioeconomic class. Contrastingly, Rodriguez was exposed to the American culture which is why he values books and education in a different way from that of his family. Through the chapter, Rodriguez talks of how his faith has changed from a Catalico to a Christian. His views changed because he sees the church in a different light. Growing up in a Roman Catholic church, Richard felt that he had to be involved in his religion and in church activities as that was how it was. But not, it is merely a habit a ritual of word changes as he feels the churches have modernized and do not center around God anymore. While before the church was a community in which people come could come together and worship, he feels that the White churches he attends now are just for "social reinforcement". Similar to how his parents lost authority over him due to his advancement in language and his assimilation, so did the church. His religion evolved from a communal belief system to a much more individualistic belief system, which is very much like the American way to become an independent, hard worker.
This chapter while it went much more into depth regarding Rodriguez's religion, it did incorporate themes from previous chapters which stood out to me. I had a hard time relating to this chapter as I'm not a very religious person. As a child, I did attend church with my mom most Sundays but during my teenage years my mom stopped going which meant so did I. I think Rodriguez includes this chapter to show how religion has played a significant role in who he is today. Furthermore, I think he wanted readers to see that education and language changed many aspects of his life including his beliefs regarding religion. In my opinion, I believe that Rodriguez is trying to find himself through religion. In previous chapters, he talked about how he had a hard time establishing his own point of view and he described how he often was just an imitation of literature he has read. Even when he begins to feel disconnected from any intimate bonds, he turns to the interpretations of Richard Hoggart and finds himself through Hoggart's definition of the "scholarship boy". I think in this same way he tries to define himself through the elements of religion. This is why I believe he has such a hard time understanding how to label himself because he has always found himself through other means and not wholeheartedly being able to relate to just one religion leaves him struggling to be either a Christian or a Catholic. He continuously tries to label himself but the circumstances of certain religions only constrain him, making it difficult for him to identify with just one religion.
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