Secular Religion School

  Celeste Jackson 9/19/22 RELS 221 Western Religion  What parallels can you draw between Native American and African religious resistance movements? There are many similarities and parallels between Native American and African Religions. Both groups view the spiritual world and everyday life as one and the same with no separation between them. Both believe in a high God that is mostly removed from daily life and they instead interact with spirits, or ancestors for direct help. They both also viewed the earth as a resource to use respectfully and not to abuse. Native Americans and Africans both faced colonial development and encroachment in their respective regions. The Native American lands in the West were being colonized by European-Americans and in Africa, where Tanzania is located today, the land was being controlled by the Germans.  In response to the encroachment and abuse of the people and the land, resistance movements began to form. A popular re...

  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...

Grade 8/10 Teacher feedback:  Good discussion of the key concepts! Your paper is well-organized and -written. You include good examples of the terms requested and place them in separate paragraphs in your analysis. However, you do not include explanations of the four terms (-0.5 each). Otherwise, good work. Celeste Jackson                                                                                           02/06/22 REL 230 Religions of the World  What is the reason for Arjuna’s indecision? At the end of The First Teaching, page 27, stanza 47 we read that Arjuna has slumped down into his chariot and “his mind is tormented with grief”. He finds himself at a personal crossroad in the middle of a battle where the opposing side is his family.  We can ...

Rel 230 World Religions  Brahaman - everything is Atman - true self Maya - illusion of duality Karma - actions - don’t want any Dharma - duty/responsibility Samsara - cycle of rebirth Moksha - liberation from the system, returning to Brahaman Hindus find themselves stuck in Samsara. By discovering their Dharma they are able to get rid of their Karma. This allows them to find their Atman and no longer see the world through Maya.  Then they will enter into Moksha and be Brahaman.