Two groups entering Kegan's Jail

I think it is symbolic. The Alpha group goes into Kegans along with group of four Muslims. They are black but I do not know if that makes them Black Muslims. We don't ask. But last night a couple of our members attempted some friendly chatter. We are stuffed into a couple of small chambers as we pass through to the prison population. It is hard to ignore each other. In the past we mostly have ignored them. They responded a bit. The coolness was breached a little. Aside from our different faiths we also vie for the one TV-DVD platform available and the chaplain has ruled we can have it. After all we have been there longer and we have the warden's approval for this special J-Dorm initiative. But they even used it in their response. The coolness will remain, probably.
What I think is symbolic is how the two groups dress and behave. They are all four of them dressed in black pin striped suits. They are all thin, well groomed, and decorous. We on the other hand are a scruffy lot. We are dressed casually, casually groomed, mostly overweight, both men and women, and we laugh and talk during the time in the waiting room before we go in. They all look much alike. It is almost a uniform. We on the other hand look very different. Some are in shirts and jeans. Some have the dress shirt slacks look. One lady often wear a business suit. Some men have longish hair and short hair. At least one man has a beard. While they wait they sit or stand without talking. Some read, others just wait. One is obviously their leader. I think you might be hard pressed to tell who our leader is. No you could tell, that part might not be so different. We catch up on what has happened to us during the past week. We speak of people we know and trade prayer requests and praise reports. As far as I can see they do not share their private lives with each other. Perhaps they do that elsewhere. For their sakes I hope so.
Isn't this symbolic of the different faiths? I think it is. Islam seems mostly about submission, as the name implies. These men are very much the paragons of submission. Submission to a standard. These people fit the qualifications of an austere religion. We on the other hand exemplify following a more loving God who accepts (and uses) people just as they are. We trust it is God who does the work. This is not about looking and acting a certain way so that God will act or expecting that God will only work if we meet a certain standard. I think it is cool that this contrast exists. Most of the men in the prison population will never be able to live up to the standard of these four men. One could try I suppose. But we hopefully are modeling a God who accepts people as they are and is willing to forgive sins and shortcomings. We serve a personal God.