Intro to Religion Blog

As I write this last blog I think back at everything I have learned this semester. On the first day of this class I wasn’t so sure that I would enjoy learning the material we would cover. As the weeks went by I grew to appreciate the different views we looked at of religion. The different aspects that we learned made me feel like a wiser Christian. I never really looked at the simple principles that make up different religions. I really enjoyed learning and seeing how my knowledge grew over the semester. The midterm really made me open up my eyes and think outside the box. Religion is happening all around us more than what we think and pilgrimage is something we all experience without even realizing. I have a whole new respect for the world pilgrimage.

In class last week we discussed how Elvis Prasely could have his own religion. Well after reading the piece I decided that it was a religion. His fans make a pilgrimage to his house on the week of his death. The driveway they walk up to get to his tomb is like the limin. There you are joined with thousands of other Elvis fans and you all bound by showing your appreciation for his work and by worshiping his life and death. After doing this you are a changed person for experiencing such an remember-able activity. The axis mundi in this situation would be bedroom where Elvis passed away.

Is Pagan a religion? Last week in class we discussed, after reading a piece, if we would consider Pagan as a religion. Well as a class we decided that it was a religion and we have pretty good reasons to back that up. First of all we agreed that Paganism has rituals.Those rituals aren’t daily or weekly but they are seasonally. The main ones include passing of the seasons and sexually rituals. Before I explain anymore I need to say that Pagan is a Goddess based religion. The ultimate reality in Paganism is the Goddess and her son . There is a myth about a Goddess which represents the Earth and a Horned God which represents the seasons. The central community of Paganism is women.

Today in class we had to read a writing to help our skill of analyzing religion pieces and relating them. Well when I first read the writing just looking for the ways community was incorporated in it, I didn’t really pick up on much other things. I personally found that the women became close through just building their friendships through a variety of ways. Probably one of the more major ways is through education. Feminist is generally thought of man haters but this is not always the case. Pagans are actually trying to find equality between man and women, and they are wanting to have harmony with others and nature. Another thing that I found interesting is that this writing mentioned Wiccans. The only other time I have heard about Wiccans was in the movie “Baby Momma”. I learned there are two different kind of Wiccans, one that does not get along with men and one that does.

Last week in class we went on a little pilgrimage. First we started by washing our hands through a process called purification. Next we circled the “Kaba” seven times counter clockwise. The Kaba is a HUGE black building with gold on it. Next we had to run in between two hills that represented two big hills located in the dessert. The reason we do this is because it started when a women was searching for water for her child and then after running from hill top to hill top seven times. The women then finds water in a spring and gets to drink. Next we moved on to a hillside to stand for one minute without moving and just thinking. In a real pilgrimage you would stand on the hillside for one whole day praying and thinking about the world ending. On the fifth day you go to visit 3 pillars and throw 7 stones at each of them. The final thing to do in a pilgrimage is to sacrifice a lamb.

In class we learned the top 5 misconceptions of Islam. I honestly was one of the people that believed in these. I think that has to do with how the media presents the news to us. Well the media doesn’t even know what they are talking about because Islam is a religion and Muslim is a person. The media thinks that the word means the same thing and clearly they do not. Another thing the media leads us to believe is that ALL Muslims are terrorists. This is sooooo untrue and pathetic that people would think that. Have they ever heard of guilty by association? Yeah well there are good people everywhere so who are they to “label” people? And with the good always comes the bad unfortunately. Look at us Christians for example. We all like to think that we live the perfect life and always do the good thing but that is not true. We may go to church but actions speak louder than words. At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta there was bombing that killed many children. The bomber is still unknown but the officials say that is was someone protesting against abortion. Not saying that and terrorist is right but at least when Muslims attack they are proud of it and let it be known it was them. I just feel that we as a society need to watch how we “label” people just because of what groups they belong to or what they believe in. I think this happens more about religion than with other topics because people are so touchy about the topic.

Today in class we learned about the different yearly events on the Jewish calendar. The only one I was aware of before today was Hanukkah so that is the one I will discuss first. My knowledge of this holiday was very limited. I just new that there was candles and kids got gifts everyday. Hanukkah is actually the Celebration of Independence. December 21st is the shortest day of the year and then starting the 22nd it stays lighter out longer. Many thousands of years ago, before Jesus was even born the Jewish believed that they had just enough lamp oil left to light up the temple. The light represents sacredness. However it turns out that the oil lasted 8 whole days. This holiday also represents re-dedication. Some christians think that the Jewish started Hanukkah trying to copy Christmas. However this is not true.

I find this book very interesting to say the least. The story of how this guy just tried something completely different is inspiring i think. I would never have the courage to do such a thing. I wish he would talk more about the difficulties of how it was transform from a Brown student to a Liberty student. I think its something that everybody would like the chance to do or at least know what it is like on the inside of a christian school. I think this book is a good everyday example of the Turner model that people can easily identify. Im not really sure what the axis mundi would be in this novel but I’m guessing it just have to do with being a good christian and living by “The Liberty Way.”

I found ready about the Turner Model difficult. The reading was just hard to comprehend. After discussing it more in class it became more clear to me and I came to really agree with it. I like the idea how we are always trying new things and seeing what it out there in the world for us to explore. But after we explore we must go back and apply that to our everyday life. This is what makes a more round about person. It was very easy to see how the Turner Model really applies to us all. The movie clips in class showed how it is all around us. We just need to be able to identify it.

The world is made up of three simple levels. At the top there is heaven. Below heaven lies the world, and this two are connected by axis mundi. Pretty much anything can be an axis mundi. Usually church steeples, or something that is the main center point. Everybody wants to be closes to the axis mundi because it is to the most sacred and furthermost away from chaos. Here at Morningside the “M” or Lewis Hall is out axis mundi. I think that Lewis Hall is probably the best axis mundi here on campus because it is where we all start our adventure here at Morningside through admissions. The last part of the world would be the underworld which lies underneath the world.