Religion 100 Intro to Religion Discussion Posts

 

Chapters 1-2: Studying Religion

I liked the authors version of the quote by George Bernard Shaw, "We never doubt that we know what it is-until, of course, we start thinking about it" (page 4).  On page 8 Livingston proposed his "working definition of religion" as such, "Religion is that system of activities and beliefs directed toward and in response to that which is perceived to be of sacred and transforming power." In my own words I would say it is doing things and believing in something you believe to hold special power so that you can obtain a desired result. This could be living a certain way to stay in a deities good graces or performing a specific act to reach a higher level of consciousness. 

The approached that interested me is sociology. The sociological approach "focuses its attention on social behavior and the way in which religion interacts with other dimensions of our social experience" (page 22). This can help us understand how a religion shaped a society or how the society shaped the religion.  A sociological approach to religion helps us see the influence it plays in our daily lives.

Chapter 3: The Sacred and the Holy

On page 8 of our textbook the author defines sacred "as the term that best conveys, in the most general way, that objective reference or ultimate reality about which the religious speak or to which their symbols point." I grew up as a Seventh-Day Adventist and the Sabbath was a special and sacred day. The Sabbath, which they keep from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday is a distinct feature of Adventist as a protestant Christian denomination. The hours between sundown to sundown are special and set apart from the other days of the week. Adherents are meant to stop their normal work and "rest" , focus on God and attend church service. The Sabbath is what the book calls a sacred time "set apart for worship"(p.49). Adventist hold this day as sacred because of scriptures found in the Bible. The first is Genesis 2:2-3 where God rested on the seventh day, blessed it and made it holy. The second is in the 10 Commandment, Exodus 20:8-11 where it says to "Remember the seventh day and keep it holy" and to not do any work. 

Chapter 4: The Sacred, Symbol, Myth, and Doctrine 

There are many flood stories or myths across different cultures. The one I am most familiar with is the story of Noah's ark found in the Christian Bible.  It is a story that I once believed was true but no longer do. The story can be read in Genesis chapter 6-8. The story is widely know in our culture from children's books to nursery decor.  While the books and decor focus on the animals the actual story takes a more serious tone. The story says that God looked at the earth he had created and was so unhappy with what was going on that he decided to destroy everything, except for Noah's family and the animals that made it on the boat, and start over. That means he killed a lot of people and animals. This is a demonstration to the reader of the god's wrath and power and can be seen as a warning to make sure they are following the god's commands. At the end of the story God makes a promise to Noah to never flood the earth again and uses a rainbow as a symbol of that promise. This is where Christians find their meaning for the rainbow symbol. The flood myth may also serve as a story of an actual flood that may have occurred in the region.

https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/a-flood-of-myths-and-stories/

Chapter 5: Ritual

Some rituals that I am familiar with are weddings, funerals, baptisms, bachelor and bachelorette parties, and baby showers. One ritual that I have had for myself and been a part of is a mother's blessing. A mother's blessing is a life-cycle rite. The blessing way is best described in our book by Van Gennep when he describes the life-cycle rites and says "For every one of these events there are ceremonies whose essential purpose is to enable the individual to pass from one defined position to another" (p.77). Mother's blessings are usually held in lieu of a baby shower for an expectant mother who has already had a child. The blessing serves as a way to mark the change a woman experiences when adding another child to her family and lets her know that she has the love and support of the women in her life. The mother is separated from the community and surrounded by close female friends and family. My blessing and other's I have attended included food, a flower crown for the mother, a candle lighting ceremony, henna, and beads brought by guests that are threaded and turned into a necklace for the mother to wear during labor. Each blessing is different and there is no one way to do one. 

Pictures from my mother's blessing!

Chapter 6: Scripture

Public worship and ritual is a common use of sacred texts and is described in the book as reading or reciting scripture during religious services, ceremonies, or rituals (p.109). An example of this would be reciting passages in the Bible during a communion service or reading the biblical account of Jesus birth during a Christmas service. 

Meditation and devotion is when a "sacred text is used for personal meditation and contemplation" (p.109). An example of meditation and devotion is when a Christian has personal devotion time. During this time a person may read passages from the Bible, think about them and possibly write their thoughts in a journal. This can also be done in a group often called a Bible study. During a Bible study the group may focus on certain passages in the Bible and then share their thoughts and discuss how they can apply certain principles to their daily lives.

Chapter 7: Society and the Sacred

Mormonism

1. Mormon is a voluntary religious community. According to Livingston a voluntary religious community have a focus on "evangelism, proselytization, and conversion" (Livingston p. 131). One of the main practices of Mormonism is sending out young men and sometimes women on a mission. During the mission the missionaries go out and give Bible studies to interested people in the hope of converting them. Children born to Mormon parents still need to be baptized to fully participate and experience the benefits of the church. 

2. Another name for Mormonism is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was founded my Joseph Smith in 1830.  It is a founded religion because John Smith is regarded as their prophet and received new spiritual revelations which he wrote down. His revelations were put into a book called The Book of Mormon. 

3. Mormonism has a lot of similarities with Christianity. Mormon believe in Jesus like other Christian religions but also believe that He came to America to continue His ministry. Because of their additional beliefs they are not officially considered a Christian religion.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/josephsmith_1.shtml

Chapter 8: Concepts of the Divine 

Henotheism and Dualism

According to Livingston "henotheism refers to a religion that, while recognizing the realty of many gods, worship and believe in the ascendancy of only one god (p 172). 

An example of henotheism is "the religion of Israel in both the Patriarchal and Mosaic periods" (p 172). During that time the Israelite people acknowledged the existence of many gods "but from the time of Moses they considered their God Yahweh as unique in power and authority" (p 172). This belief can been seen in Exodus 18:11, "Now I know that the LORD is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them” (NKJV). 

According to Livingstone "dualism perceives the world as constituted by or as living under the ordering of two coequal, and often co-eternal, sacred powers" (p 163).

 Daoism is a religion that has a dualistic philosohpy. It is seen in their belief of the yin-yang. "The principle of Yin Yang sees the world as filled with complementary forces - action and non-action, light and dark, hot and cold" (BBC). In Daoism the goal is to have a balance between the two forces. 

 

Livingston, James C. Anatomy of the Sacred: An Introduction to Religion. 6th ed., Prentice Hall, 2009.

www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/taoism/ataglance/glance.shtml

Chapter 9: Creation Myths

Marduk Created the World from the Spoils of Battle

Ancient Babylonia

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20200222091648/http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/CS/CSMarduk.html

In the beginning there was nothing. The god of fresh water, Apsu, and the goddess of salt oceans, Tiamat, had children. Then their children had children. Eventually their descendants became loud and unruly and Apsu went to Tiamat and told her he wanted kill them as he was frustrated and could not sleep.  She disagreed but her planed to do it anyway. Their descendants heard about this and Ea their grandson killed Apsu. Ea built a palace on Apsu waters and fathered a son with the goddess Damkina called Marduk. Marduk was a giant with four ears, four eyes, and was the god of rain and storms.

The other gods complained to Tiamat that Ea had killed Apsu so she gathered an army with monsters, dragons and the god Kingu. This made Ea afraid she he asked Marduk to fight on his behalf. Marduk agreed as long as he could rule over all the gods if he won. Marduk defeated the army and killed Tiamat as well. He took half of Tiamat's body and put it in the sky and may stars as stations for the gods. The other half of her body he made land. He make rivers flow from her eyes. On her body he made vegetation and animals. 

Marduk made Tiamats supporters work the fields and waters. Soon they complained about their hard work and rebeled. Marduks solution was to kill Kingu and with the help of Ea and the birth goddess Nintu they created humans who now do all of the work. 

This creation myth is an example of conflict. Ea killed Apsu and Marduk battled against Tiamat and her army. In this story the earth was formed out of gods who were killed. To me this story paints humans as being created for the purpose of hard work. The gods that were on the loosing side of the battle complained about their work and rebelled. Instead of forcing them to go back to work humans were created instead. It reminds me of how humans use animals for hard tasks. Life during the time this story came about was much harder than it is now and that may have had an influence on how people characterized themselves in the story. 

Chapter 11: Theodicy

Soul making/Free-Will

Using the example of a plane crash, according to John Hick God has to let the plane crash because saving the plane would in some way have to go against the laws of nature or science. If God doesn't allow the plane to crash the lessons that are supposed to be learned cannot be. The first problem I see is regarding miracles in Christianity. If god gave humans free will for the "development of the moral qualities of human personality" (p 255) , they why have "miracles" or unexplained occurrences attributed to god, happen at all? According to Livingston, Hicks admits that this defense doesn't feel right on a personal level. Why must one suffer greatly or die for the soul-making or free will choices of another. Are there less harsh and personal ways the lesson could be learned? 

In our book Livingston quotes Hicks thoughts behind free will and soul-making "The world is seen instead as a place of "soul-making" in which free beings, grappling with the tasks and challenges of their existence in a common environment, may become "children of God" and "heirs of eternal life" (p 254).  Hicks says that the world cannot be perfect because if it was then humans would no be able to develop the "moral qualities of human personality" (p 255). This theodicy belief is found in Christianity. Christians believe that god of the Bible created humanity and believe that on day God will remove all evil. 

Livingston, James C. Anatomy of the Sacred: An Introduction to Religion. 6th ed., Prentice Hall, 2009.

Chapter 12: Ethics and Religion

Utilitarian ethics - "forms of moral behavior by individuals or communities that contribute most effectively to the greatest overall happiness for the greater number of persons" (Livingston p. 261).

In the scenario presented utilitarian ethics would allow me to lie and not tell the person with the knife where the other person went. This ethical view considers the benefit to me, a group and the consequences of which ever choice I make. By lying I would be able to keep the other person safe and prevent an attack within a community. With deontological ethics I would required to tell the truth and not consider the consequences because lying is bad and seen as a universal principle. With Utilitarian ethics I would be able to consider the consequences of the situation and how myself and other would be affected by allowing someone to continue to chase and potentially attack someone else. 

Chapter 13: Soteriology

Paganism

The method of soteriology in Paganism is The Way of Action and Obligation. Our book describes this method as "expressing religious convictions and hopes through patters of religious activities - rites, sacraments, and obligatory duties" (Livingston p 297). Paganism does not have a specific doctrine and is diverse. One aspect that they all have in common is the respect of the earth and practice of "if it do no harm, do what you will" (bbc). They practice their faith by performing rituals that connect them to the vital force found in the earth. Practicing rituals is how they connect to their Gods and Goddesses. One way they do this is my acknowledging and celebrating the different seasons of the year. One could say that Pagans may fall under the category of being  "suspicious of innovation" that Livingstons points out in the book. Pagans follow "traditional religions of the world" (bbc) and try to connect to the earth and nature the way their ancestors did. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/rites/worship.shtml

Chapters 14-15: Religion and the Modern World

According to our book major changes and revolution regarding women and Christianity did not begin until the "latter decades of the twentieth century" (p.367). More people are saying women have a greater role than subjugation to men and childrearing. Feminist scholars have pointed out women's roles in the Bible and errors that had been made in Bible translations. Some churches have changed their rules and allowed women more leadership positions and are even ordaining women as deacons, pastors, bishops. etc. Today you can even find college classes on religious feminism. Although there are Christian denominations now allowing women full participation and leadership opportunities not all are. The Seventh-Day Adventist denomination that I grew up in still does not allow women to become ordained ministers or pastors. The church organization decided that while women can preach, they cannot have the ordained designation as that would allow them to have their own churches which leadership believes should not be a position held by women. By giving women full access to leadership roles the church would giving women more power and autonomy. Power and control is hard to give up. Women in religion have made great strides but there is still more to be done. 

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