Student Question
What role did the church play in Noah's upbringing in Born A Crime?
Quick answer:
The church played a significant role in Trevor Noah's upbringing due to his mother's deep religious commitment. He attended church activities at least four nights a week and visited three different churches every Sunday, each offering distinct experiences. This religious environment shaped his exposure to media, limiting him to church music and biblical stories instead of popular culture.
Church played a large role in Trevor Noah's upbringing because his mother is a very religious woman who never misses church.
Noah was at church more evenings than he wasn't as a child; he says he was there at least four nights every week. They had prayer meetings, Bible study, youth church, and normal services. Each Sunday, his mother took him to three different churches. Noah writes:
The reason we went to three churches was because my mom said each church gave her something different. The first church offered jubilant praise of the Lord. The second church offered deep analysis of the scripture, which my mom loved. The third church offered passion and catharsis; it was a place where you truly felt the presence of the Holy Spirit inside you.
Noah goes on to say that there was a difference in the racial composition of each one. The first was mixed, the second was white, and the third was black.
His religious upbringing determined what kind of material he was allowed to see. He said that he listened to church music, not popular songs that kids at school would sing. He didn't watch movies, either. The Bible, he says, was his action movie and Samson was his superhero. So the church played a large role in his upbringing and environment.
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