World Religions Day 8

Research Day 3

Students spent their day finding facts about their religions.

Several students completed their packet and are ready to move on to planning their presentation.

******setbacks******

Several students have not been to class or have been unable to contribute to their group causing a few of the groups to be on a drastically different schedule for completion than others.

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Recent National Geographic Videos (cultural and religious rituals)

Entering adulthood (Papa New Guinea tribe)

Entering Adulthood (Amish)

Entering Adulthood (Mali tribe)

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Buddhism in Laos

World Religions Day 7

Research day 2

Students continued their religious research today and were asked to find quotes from religious texts or from a major figure in the religion.

They were then asked to interpret those quotes and to address their meaning from the point of view of the religion.

Buddhism

"All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him."

A student's interpretation: "If we think horribly then we become horrible. What you think is pretty much what you are."

Hinduism

"We cover all things with the lord by perceiving the divine presence everywhere. When the consciousness is firmly fixed in God -the conception of diversity naturally drops away; because the One cosmic existence shines through all things. As we gain the light of wisdom we cease to cling to the unrealities of this world and we find all our joy in the realm of Reality."

A student commentary: "I think that everything in this book that I read was extremely bright and makes me want to go do something great. Everything in the text was just positive minded and positive enlightenment."

Islam

"Allah-there is no god but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting Supporter of all; no slumber can overtake him, nor sleep; His are all things in the heavens and on Earth. Who can intercede with him except with His permission? He knows what is before them or behind them. Nor can they compass anything of His knowledge except if He wills. His throne extends over the heavens and the Earth. He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. For He is the Highest, the Supreme (in glory). "(2:255)

A student's interpretation: "Everything in this world happens because Allah wants it. He is almighty."

Judaism
"... the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to G-d who gave it." Ecclesiastes 12:7

A student's interpretation: "(It is) saying that no matter what happens, you return t where you came from. You will always go back to the G-d that created you. Your spirit (will)."

World Religions Day 6

Research day 1

Student groups began their research on each of the major religions. Each student was given the assignment which consisted of directions and a number of questions to help them begin their journey "to become experts on their assigned religion". This project will culminate with student lead presentations in which all students will be expected to present and ask questions of other groups.

The packet of questions included suggested information for the presentation on topics such as:

"Who is the founder of the religion?"

"What is the geographic origin of the religion?"

"What types of rituals and rules do they have?"

"What is the purpose of humanity?"

"Is there an afterlife?"

and many more that ask for not only factual data but probe to help the students understand and analyze the information they are learning about.

On "day one" of research, students were asked to write down three sentences on any topic that they have already learned. Their answers tend to assert the basic foundations of the religion, which they will build upon in the next few days.

Islam
Islam means surrender of oneself to God. It is based on the teachings of Mohammad the Prophet who teaches Allah's words. God revealed the Koran (Quran) to Mohammad. It is the second largest religion in the world.
JudaismJesus was Jewish. The two "founders" of the religion were Abraham and Moses. They don't believe in an afterlife. They believe the present is more important than the afterlife.
BuddhismBuddhism was originally located in India. Buddhism comes from Hinduism because the founder (Siddhartha) was a Hindu. The goal (of the religion) is to find enlightenment.
HinduismHinduism is one of the oldest widespread traditions in the world. Hinduism cold be described as a henotheistic belief; one in which there is devotion to a single god, while other's are accepted.
Four goals of Hinduism:
Kama -sensual pleasure and enjoyment
Artha -Material prosperity and success
Dharma - Correct action, in accordance with one's particular duty
Moksha - liberation from the cycle (reincarnation)
ChristianityChristianity follows the Ten Commandments as laws and are lead by priests, fathers, popes and cardinals. Most Christians are baptized and have prayer as a ritual. Christianity was started by Jesus Christ in Jerusalem.

World Religions Day 5

Religious Creatures

Students were introduced to various mythological and religious creatures such as centaurs, thunderbirds and fairies.




Students continued their discussion on religious creatures/spirits while drawing their own mythological beasts and spirits.







Student opinions on exorcism videos:
-Most students were not impressed by the exorcism videos. The conclusion was that either the videos were fake, or the people themselves believed that they were possessed when they were not truly possessed.

World Religions Day 4

Spirits, Angels, Demons, Exorcism and More!!!

Students were split into their research groups.
Half the students were asked to begin research on each of the 5 major religions views on spirits...





While other students were asked to review the exorcism videos and were introduced to the website.

After completing each task, students switched roles.

World Religions Day 3

THE AFTERLIFE
On the third day we discussed the idea of an afterlife, heaven, hell and purgatory, as well as enlightenment and reincarnation.
We also discussed other faiths ideas of an afterlife and students shared some of their opinions and ideas about what comes after death.

Most of our discussion was based on visual pictures of the afterlife that represent the different traditions.



After our discussion I read excerpts from the Oxford Guide to the Bible about:
Heaven
Hell and
Gehenna
-where we found out Hell is a real place where fire, death and horrible smells really are the case...or at least were at the time.
Gehenna today (Valley of Hinnom) outside of Jerusalem.

World Religions Day 2

CREATION !!!!

On the 2nd day we looked at creation stories from 4 religious backgrounds. Student groups summarized the stories and listed off import ideas within each reading.

Then we discussed commonalities between them, and came to some conclusions.

Ideas that were discussed included:
-elements of nature
-creator gods
-human involvement (usually that lead to them being influential or in control)
-elements of specific culture that are highlighted in the creation story (for example the Cherokee story includes corn and hunting *sustenance* and the Hindu story includes cows as the first animal besides humans created - cows are considered sacred -partially due to their ability to provide sustenance)

The stories:

Cherokee
Maori
Hindu
Judeo-Christian Story 1
Judeo-Christian Story 2

A note*
Though the Islamic faith follows the Judeo-Christian faith, the Qur’an (The Muslim holy book) does not have one unified creation story (like in the Bible), rather it provides elements of the familiar story at varying times while discussing other matters.

World Religions Day 1 Notes

On the first day we got to know each other a little and then discussed some of the religions we knew about and their origin locations. We followed that by Discussing some terms we may need to know.
Here are the notes:

Some terms:
Religion Spirituality Faith Belief Monotheism Polytheism

Religions = location of origin
Paganism/animism (nature worship) = worldwide
Judaism (Hebrews) = Israel, Egypt, Mesopotamia – split from Mesopotamian Religions
Christianity = Israel -Split off of Judaism
-Catholicism (Christian) = Italy
-Protestantism (Christian) = Germany, France (mostly)
-East Orthodox (Christian) = Turkey, Greece, Russia
Satanism = North America/Europe –split off Christianity
Islam = Saudi Arabia –Split off of Judaism and Christianity
Hinduism = India
Buddhism = India –split from Hinduism
Shinto = Japan
Rastafarianism = Jamaica/Ethiopia –split from African/Jamaican religions and Judaism/Christianity
Taoism =China

North American/Central/South American religions

Not mentioned but probably important:

Confucianism (China), Jainism (India), Zoroastrianism (Iran), Sikhism (India), Baha’i (Iran)

Various “mythologies” and varieties of the aforementioned religions.

African/Asian/Australian faiths/Caribbean Faiths

World Fact Book on Religion

Percentages of the total world population:

Christians 33.32%
(of which Roman Catholics 16.99%, Protestants 5.78%, Orthodox 3.53%, Anglicans 1.25%),
Muslims 21.01%,
Hindus 13.26%,
Buddhists 5.84%,
Sikhs 0.35%,
Jews 0.23%,
Baha'is 0.12%,
other religions 11.78%,
non-religious 11.77%,
atheists 2.32% (2007 est.)

Exorcism

Exorcism in India (Hinduism)


a National Geographic video

Exorcism in the Philippines (Catholicism)



a National Geographic Video

Exorcism in Islam



African Exorcism (traditional? Uganda)


Buddhist Exorcism