The U.S. is filled with many types of people, with a variety of ethnic backgrounds, religions and social beliefs, people who coexist and interact together on a daily basis. These interactions can be seen in school, work and home lives. 

According to the Pew Research Center, a majority of Americans say that hardly any of their friends have the same religion that they do. After surveying adults, they found that 37% of adults have friends that have the same religion as them, and every six-in-ten friends are of different religions. 

Studies also show that the majority of adults’ same-religion friendships are with their friends in their neighborhoods, family friends, churches, family gatherings and those from outside of the workplace.

Sophomore Elliot Mok believes that his experiences with his friendships in school and with extracurriculars differ.

“A lot of my friends in school have a different religion than me, but outside of school with sports and my youth group, I got to find those who share the same religion as me and bond in a more religious setting,” Mok said. 

Mok further explained how his relationship with his friends being so diverse is something that his parents are proud of him for, for being inclusive to the people around him in the things that he does.

Sophomore Yasmeen Sultan, was raised in a Muslim household however, and her and her parents experienced a different outlook from some of her other family. According to a variety of parents from the Baton Rouge Parents Magazine, the cause of concern for most parents is that if their kids were to be friends with someone who doesn’t share their belief system, it might cause their children to disregard what they initially believed. 

 “[My parents] said it doesn’t matter what religion. The type of friend they are to you, their beliefs in their heart and that they fear God, it doesn’t matter which God, that’s all that matters,” Sultan said.

Sultan believes that her perspective has expanded since she was introduced into a more diverse religious setting, where she can see her peers as equals. This has also affected her own religious outlook. 

“Being friends with others that have different belief systems makes me cherish my religion more because it shows me the amount of respect that I want for myself and should have for others. Especially due to most of my in-school friends differing from [my] religion whereas my outside friends believe the same thing as me,” Sultan said.

Sultan also elaborates that being friends with those of different religious backgrounds has made her even closer to God than she was before, emphasizing that they made her realize the importance of loving her religion and believing in God in the process. 

Having friends with the same religion but other branches is a common occurrence. Senior Anthony Hamoud sees the rarity of having those who share the same exact core beliefs. 

“I don’t think it has affected us in a negative way, we embrace our differences. We all accept each other as a friend. Being all the same religion and embracing it in different ways keeps us remembering that at the end of the day we should come together,” Hamoud said.

Hamoud sees this common trait as a blessing, a sense of high power being in their life. In the face of trials and tribulations, they have their faith and each other to fall back on. He believes it is a strength that not many people can find and wouldn’t trade it for anything else. 

Studies from the National Library of Medicine show that parents felt that their religion promoted family connectedness and closeness but also constituted a source of conflict within family and the larger community. A comprehensive understanding of parental religiousness, parenting practices and child adapting to these expectations, requires appreciation of the positive as well as the negative effects of parental religiousness in the family.

This is a large parallel between Hamoud and his friends, Sultan and hers and also Mok and his. The initial concerns about how parents feel about their kids and their religious backgrounds gives them a voice on what they expose their children to. Hamoud, Sultan and Mok all have unique experiences with their religions and how that affects their friendships along the way. They have more modern outlooks as their parents have developed open minds regarding religious backgrounds, and continue to share that by passing down the same views with their children. 

Kids often adapt to the world around them faster than adults do, not by pure circumstance, but by their choice of being open to modern-day thinking.