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The first step when Muslims get to Mecca they are suppose to cleanse the hands and feet. In Religion class we just used some good old bottled water and washed our hands. Second, the Muslims circumambulate around the Ka’aba seven times. Although Morningside couldn’t take the Intro to Religion class to Mecca we found a Ka’aba that was probably just as good as the original. We circled around a black cardboard box in the middle of the “M” seven times and one of the times we had to touch the Ka’aba. After circumambulating the Ka’aba, Muslims run between 2 hills seven times “looking for water”. They do this because Ishmael’s mother did this trying to find water for her dying son. And on the seventh time a natural spring appear and she can save her dying son. In our trip to Mecca, we ran between 2 trees 7 times. I’m just glad we didnt have to run up and down Dimmitt Hill. After finding water, Muslims stand in silence for a day, also known as Prejudgement Day. They think about death and judgement day on top of Mt. Arafat. We only stood in silence for one minute tho in our Morningside Mecca. After being silent, they cast rocks at the 3 pillars. They throw 7 stones at each pillar. They do this to remember Abraham casting out the devil. After the Muslims cast out the devil they return to the Ka’aba and recircumambulate the Ka’aba. And after that they sacrifice an animal by a halal butcher.

There are 5 basic misconceptions on the religion of Islam. The first misconception is that Muslims worship another God. That is false because Muslims are the people who practices the religion of Islam. The Islamic term for their God is Allah. The Islam prayer called the Shada is recited, “There is no God but God, Muhammad is the prophet of God”. The second misconception is that Muhammad is the “divine”. He isn’t the divine but simply the last prophet to be born. He is the prophet because Gabriel the angel talks to Muhammad and tells him to recite words which later become the words of the Koran. The third  one is that the Koran promotes violence and oppression of women. The Koran was given to Muhammad to tell people about Allah. It’s in comparable size to the New Testament.The fourth is that all Muslims are terrorists or believe in jihad. Jihad means struggle. They struggle to get over the inner struggle is the hardest. And the final misconception of the Islam religion is that all muslims are Arabs. Islam religion is spread throughtout the whole world. For every 2 Muslims in the United States, there are 200 Muslims in Southeast Asia. (Indonesia) And surprisingly Islam is the fastest growing religion.

Also with the Islam religion there are 5 main pillars. The first is saying and believeing in the Shahadah, the creed. Next its to participate in the Salat, which is saying prayer 5 times a day towards Mecca. Third, is Sawm, which is to fast during the month of Ramadan. Then, Zakat is random acts of charity and finally the Hajj is the pilgrimmage to Mecca.

Judaism is based off 5 things. The first is that it is a monotheistic religion, meaning it gives its God human attributes. The name given to the Jewish god is YWHW, (technically, you’re not suppose to say it!) And the Jewish people sing the Shema at the synagogues. The Shema states, “Hear O Israel, YWHH is your God, YHWH is one.”

The second is that it’s a textual religion, meaning that it follows out of the tanak. The Tanak is also known as the Hebrew Bible, it is different than the Christian Bible because the Tanak is only the Old Testament. The Tanak is made up of 3 texts. The Torah, which are the rules for living, is the first the first book. The second is theh Neviim, it is the historical part of the Tanak. And the third book of the Tanak is the Ketuvim, which are the writings. Also in the Tanak there are 4 story covenants. God will never flood the Earth again(Noah). God will provide land and descendants(Abraham). God will be “their God”, people will keep the Torah(Moses). God will give an eternal Kingdom and will dwell in the temple forever(David).

The third is that its a religion of the land. Israel is the place to be. In Israel the North half is lush and green, and the South half is dry and “dead”. There is a lot of fighting in Israel because everyone is fighting over Jersulam, “the holiest of the holiest”.

The fourth is that is a Ritual-Oriented Religion. For example, a daily ritual is Kosher which is appropirate food and dress. A weekly ritual is sabbath and to rest on the sabbath.

The last trait of Judaism  is that it is a nonpilgrimage religion. Some religions that they celebrate yearly is Yon Kippur (Day of Atonement) Yon Kippur is mostly spent praying and fasting for 25 hours in the synagogues. They also celebrate Rosh Hashanah also known as the Jewish New Year.  And lastly the holiday of the Passover which is celebrated to remember Exodus when Moses freed the slaves from the pharoah.

As we finished up the Unlikely Disciple I was pleasantly surprised about the book. I thought it was a great story that was interesting and pertained to the things I am going through in my life as well. The ending was a huge surprise to me because all along I thought he would stay at Liberty. If I were his friends, I would be super mad that he was just my “friend” so he could write a book.

But the Turner Model is present throughout the book. First Kevin has to leave the world of Brown, a huge party place,  and decides to go leave his world of convention, and goes to Liberty. I think his limin is his first day on campus as a Liberty student where it sinks in that he is in over his head. The creation of anti-structure is when he meets his floor mates and people in his dorm. The formation of communitas is him joining the choir at Thomas Road and Joey and his other friends. THe metaphorical death is when Jerry Faldwell died. And the return is when he goes back to Brown instead of staying at Liberty.

As the weeks go on in Religion class it definitely is becoming easier. The first couple weeks I will admit I was completely lost. But this time it is easier. Now we are learning about different types of pilgrimages. The first one we talked about was the Elaide model. The Elaide model is simply saying that the Earth is flat (not a sphere) and heaven and the underworld are sandwiching Earth. It also talked about how everything lead to the center or to a high point. This is because people thought that the closer you were to center pole it was kind of like a ladder to heaven.

Another model we talked about was the Turner model. In the Turer model there was a super important word limin which means a transition out the norm. The first step in the Turner model was to leave the world convention. And transition into a new place with new people. Next was the creation of anti-structure which meant to lose the stability you once had. Next is aggregation which is coming together. Communitas is bonding and forming a new “community”. After you form together, there is a methaphorical death, usually dealing with water or fire. And after all this happens the pilgrims must return home.

Some things that have interested me is that four different guys all have different aspects of religion. Which in reality you wouldn’t think that religion could have that many definitions.

First,  Frazer thinks that religion is the rejection of magic, if magic doesn’t work then try religion, if that doesn’t work then use science. I highly disagree about his definition of religion because science is not the answer to everything. Sometimes, there are unanswered questions and there is no way to ever find the answer.

Next, Durkheim says that religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to “sacred things” that is to say, things set apart and forbidden. These practices “unite into one moral community,  “community” and “church”.” I would have to say that i agree with Durkheim the most because his explaination is the closest to what we do today. I also agree because he says that it “unites a moral community” and when I go to church I feel connected with everyone around me.

Freud, what a strange man. His definition and belief of religion is the craziest, most opposite of what I was thinking. He thinks religion is superstitions, that there is no God or Gods, and that everything always leads back to the truth. Oh, and the fact that all men want to kill their fathers and marry their mothers, and that all women have penis envy is a hint that Freud had to be a little messed up in the head.

Last but not least is Marx. Marx defintion of religion was the sign of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. I disagree with this because religion is a choice for people so saying that rich people make the poorer people go to church and do things related to religion is their choice.