introduction to religion blog

I was thinking about the project these days and I realize that it is actually very different than what I have done for other classes. I have started working on it and it really needs a lot of analytical thinking and creativity. It is not a straight forward job when you basically just have to write a few words on powerpoint. I think it needs a lot of work since it is also worth 100 points.

I found the first exam we had in this class, a lot demanding and different from other types of exams I’ve had before. I also think the final exam will not be eaasy at all but in contrast from the first exam, I feel more comfortable now about the most of materials covered in class. It is easier for me now to distinguish between different religions and what the meanings and beliefs are in each of them.

The last new material we had in class last week was about Graceland, and Elvis Presley. I was very surprised that Graceland had become a place for pilgrimage. Pilgrims would go there every year to worship Elvis. There have been cases in which pilgrims went to Graceland for healing and in some of those cases those pilgrims say that since coming back from Graceland, they have been feeling much better. The most part of the pilgrims go to Graceland in August and there is a big fiest over there also with singers that try to immitate Elvis.

In the article we read in class was stated that to Graceland go meny pilgrims but also many toursits as well. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish one from the other with just a first look, but by carefully studying them you will be able to see that the pilgrim goes to Graceland for spiritual and sacred reasons. The tourist goes there more to look around and have fun. This was a very interesting article that got me curios and I am currently planning a trip to Graceland to visit Elvis’s mansion.

I read the summary about possible project ideas for the presentations we need to do after Thanksgiving break. Everyone of them seemed very demanding and required a high level of creativity which I found a little bit strange especially for a 100 level college class. Anyways, most of the alternatives involved creative art (which is not my strongest skill), some others involved poems, creating websites, or creating and recording one`s own personal documentary. However, the last point on this summary had to do with reading a book and writing a review on that in the form of a presentation.

The review would involve reading the book very carefully and trying to connect the story in the book with what we have learned in class about pilgrimage. This will probably be my choice. I have already started to read the first book listed on that summary, “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. Right after starting reading it I remembered I had already read that book a long time ago, but since I do not have a very strong memory, I don’t really remember what goes on in the book.

My plan for now is to read the book in advance and highlight or underline the most important parts that relate to pilgrimage and what we have learned so far about it. After carefully going through the book I plan to write a review about it and then convert this review in the form of a presentation, probably on powerpoint or some other program similar to that.

Last time in class we learned about the city of Varanasi, also called Benares. This is a city located by the river Ganges. It is known as a holy city for Hindus, Buddihists and Jains. It is one of the oldest cities in the world. In class we also watched a documentry video about Varanasi. This documentary clearly showed the religious importance of the river Ganges. Ganges is said to have its origins in the tresses of Lord Shiva. The people of Benares worship different gods. You can tell which god they worship by the marks on their forehead.

The river is considered to be pure water and many people take holy bathes in the river to purify themselves. People in Varanasi are heavily involved in pilgrimage. There are five sights of pilgrimage in this city. In the first one poeple walk in a long circle (about 168 miles) around the city; the next one is a 55 miles long circle around Varanasi;the third one is a 15 mile circle; the other one is a smalle circle in the city of Varanasi; the last and the most populated one is in the temple of Varanasi, which has 72 shines. Many rituals are performed in this city usually for the pleasure of Lord of disruction, Shiva.

Last time in class we talked about non-western religions. Non-western religions include Hinduism, Budism, Taoism, etc. These religions are monistic. In contrast of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam where people believed in one personal god, in non-western religions there is one nonpersonal ultimate reality. These religions are not liner, but nonlinear (circular views of time): reincarnation, endless rebirth, karma.

Some of the gods of non-western religions include: Brahma (creative aspect, deep meditation), Vishnu (preserve, no chaos), and Shiva (destruction, chaos, fire, death). An interestic myth I read about on the assigned reading “Divinity Diffused” about the God Shiva, went like this: “A myth is told in sacred Hindu texts about the goddess Sati, wife of Shiva. Sati’s father is said to have performed a sacrifice to which neither Sati nor Shiva was invited. Sati went to the ceremony nevertheless, but was insulted by her father. As a result, she is said to have died of a broke heart, or possibly by suicide. Shiva, inconsolable at her death, traversed the earth in a mad dance, carrying her body. The gods became anxious to free him of his grief and decided to deprive him of Sati. They therefore dispersed her body bit by bit, and places where the body fell became holy. These sacred sites became major pilgrimage centres for goddess worship in India.” I think this is a really intersting myth and very different from the ones I have heard on western religions.

Last time in class we talked about Islam. I personally find every religion fascinating. It is just like different cultures. I love to travel and explore different cultures and if I like doing this of course I also enjoy exploring different religions that these cultures are part of.

I think a very good point that the teacher really focused on was the prejudice on islam. There are many misconcepts that were stated in class and I think it is very important for people to understand them and get them straight. I think of it like this, in every country there are “good people” and “bad people” and nobody can judge the whole country based on these “bad people” and their actions. This is the case for muslims too. I understand that people are driven from the terrorist acts commited by muslims in USA, but it just happened for them to be muslims. Those are not acts based on religion because no where in the Koran violence is toleretad.

I think we are learning a lot and starting or continuing to appreciate the role of religion on people. Religion is all about peace and that is very important especially in our times.

Last tuesday in class we learned about judaism. I have to admit that before that class I new very little or almost nothing about judaism. I got a lot of information out of that lecture about this religion. Some key concepts were: Judaism is a monotheistic religion, that means that people who are part of this religion believe in one personal God; they have named their God, YHWH; judaism is a textual religion, it means they have a bible called Tanak, or the Hebrew Bible; judaism is also a religion of the land and it is a ritual-oriented religion.

After learning about Judaism I became curios to know a little bit more about it, so I went online and gathered some more information. Here is what else I read. Judaism is the religion, philosophy, and way of life of the Jewish people.Judaism claims a historical continuity spanning more than 3.000 years, so it is one of the oldest religions. It came before Christianity or Islam.

What I have learned so far about Judasim has fascinated me, especially the rituals held by Jewish people. Such as the Rosh Hashanah (the anniversary of creation), Yom Kippur (a day of fasting), and Sukkoth (a time of thanksgiving that takes place over 8 days).

I have finished reading the book “The Unlikely Disciple” by Kevin Roose. I must say that I started reading this book because it was required and at first I had a prejudice thinking that it would be a boring religious book. Turned out I was wrong. It was, indeed, very interesting and pleasant to read. I will not write down what the book was about, because I think that by now everybody knows that. I am just going to say what parts of the book had an impact on me and I found interesting.

I found very interesting Kevin’s idea to enroll to Liberty University and write a report about his experience. He is really open-minded and wants to get the most out of his life. His experience at the evangelical university is just amazing to read. I think it also takes courage and patience to take a step like Kevin Roose did.

The other part I found even more interesting and intriging, is how lucky and smart Kevin Roose was to get an interview with Rev. Falwell very soon before died. This makes his experience even greater. I think that it would not had been the same if he would have transfered to Liberty University one semester prior or after when he did actually transfer.

I found the reading “The Sacred and The Profane” by Mircea Eliade, very interesting, especailly the meaning of the center of the world. This was almost all new information to me, so I tried to read the material thoroughly in order to understand it better.

In many cases the mountain is considered the center of the world since it is high, closer to the “divine” and it is thought of as connection between heaven and earth. As stated in the reading, the word use for this connection between earth and heaven is axis mundi. For example, according to Islamic tradition, the highest among place on earth is the ka aba. This belief is expressed by the following statement: “our world is holy ground because it is th eplace nearest to heaven, because from here, from our abode, it is possible to reach heaven; hence our world is a high place.”

From the rading, it is clear to me know how and why people in past chose the space where to build temples and churches. Where they build the temple or the church symbolized to them the center of the world. A place where they would be closer to God and their prayers would be heard.

In class we have discussed so far four different theories about religion by, Frazer, Durkheim, Freud, and Marx. They all have their own ideas and explanations about religion and God. I cannot say which is right and which is wrong because these are all well educated men who base their theories on what they have learned and experienced.

I think that in what time period each of these thinkers lived in, influeced somehow also their view on religion. Everyone of them has had different life experiences which have shaped their view on religion and the divine.

I must say that the theory I rely more on is that of Frazer. He provides a very simple and clear explanation about religion. He writes that religion is the rejection of magic and that makes perfect sense to me. People in the past have tried to explain things in nature they did not understand by thinking it was magic. Then they saw that magic was not the reason why events in nature were happening, so they turned to religion and began to pray. According to Frazer there will come a time in the future where the world will shift completely to science and it will leave religion behind.

Although any one of us has their own “favorite” theory, I think that to have the complete understanding on what religion is, we need all of these thories. All of them together present a full view on religion and God.