Traveling to Europe

During class time, we often focus on our perspective of religions as we know them here in America, but I'm sure that other from around the world will view these issues in a very different light. Fall of this year, I will be studying abroad on the Champlain Campus in Dublin, Ireland, immersed in a culture I truly know nothing about - even if I think I do. I've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about where else I want to travel during my four months in Europe and I know that England, Germany, and Italy are solidified on my list, with Spain and Scotland as close seconds.

I could easily give an explanation for what draws me towards England, Germany, Spain and even Scotland, but what perplexes me is my intense need to visit Italy. What about Vatican City draws me to it despite my distinct lack of belief in the Christian/Catholic religion? Why do I believe that visiting these places will enlightenment me - make me feel something beyond this world - a sort of mystical transcendence?

In a web magazine for New York teens, Nicole Farrow, a non-religious teen who visited Vatican City, quoted her experience

"It was overwhelming to experience the love and faith of all the followers in the church, and in a way I felt as though I belonged. The artwork and the beauty of the church made me feel guilty for not believing as devoutly as the pious followers believe. I felt serenity as I walked passed the ancient and historic artwork. I was able to just sit back and absorb the experience and reflect on where I am now and where I am going to be. As I looked around, I saw that people have found peace through religion, and I wondered whether I would be able to find that type of peace if I were religious."

Nicole was drastically changed by her experience in Vatican City, but I still want to know why.

In Material Christianity, McDannell briefly touches upon the studies done on how architecture effects religion.

"Increasingly, studies of architecture and art are being conducted by scholars outside of the art disciplines. These scholars wonder what social messages we receive as we walk through an art or a natural history museum?"

I don't know what this experience will bring to me. What affect do you believe Holy places would have on you? Do you think it would be a life changing experience?

True Evil

Albert Fish was possibly the first American serial killer and he embodies the darkest permutation of the human mind. If there was ever an evil person in this world Albert Fish would be one of them.

WARNING!!!!! Don’t watch this video unless you have a strong stomach and you don’t mind the occasional bad dream.

The Myth of Pure Evil

This is just a quick response to part of Tuesday's discussion. I want to quote a few parts of The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt, a professor of psychology, that seem relevant and insightful.

Most psychopaths are not violent (although most serial murderers and serial rapists are psychopaths). They are people, mostly men, who have no moral emotions, no attachment systems, and no concerns for others. Because they feel no shame, embarrassment, or guilt, they find it easy to manipulate people into giving them money, sex, and trust. (p. 137)

Haidt cites studies by Cleckley, 1955, and Hare, 1993, to support this statement.

In Evil: Inside Human Cruelty and Aggression, [social psychologist Roy] Baumeister examined evil from the perspective of both victim and perpetrator. When taking the perpetrator's perspective, he found that people who do things we see as evil, from spousal abuse all the way to genocide, rarely think they are doing anything wrong. They almost always see themselves as responding to attacks and provocations in ways that are justified. They often think that they themselves are victims.  (p. 74)

According to Baumeister, we "have a deep need to understand violence and cruelty" through what he calls "The Myth of Pure Evil." (p. 74)

The Myth of Pure Evil

• Evildoers are pure in their evil motives (sadism and greed)
• Victims are pure in their victimhood (they did nothing to bring about their victimhood)
• Evil comes from outside (a group or force that attacks our group)
• Anyone who questions this moral certainty is in league with evil

The myth of pure evil is the ultimate self-serving bias, the ultimate form of naive realism. And it is the ultimate cause of most long-running cycles of violence because both sides use it to lock themselves into a Manichaean [good vs. evil] struggle. When George W. Bush said that the 9/11 terrorists did what they did because they "hate our freedom," he showed a stunning lack of psychological insight. Neither the 9/11 hijackers nor Osama Bin Laden were particularly upset because American women can drive, vote, and wear bikinis. Rather, many Islamic extremists want to kill Americans because they are using the Myth of Pure Evil to interpret Arab history and current events. They see Americans as the Great Satan, the current villain in a long pageant of Western humiliation of Arab nations and peoples. They did what they did as a reaction to America's actions and impact in the Middle East, as they see it through the distortions of the Myth of Pure Evil. However horrifying it is for terrorists to lump all civilians into the category of "enemy" and then kill them indiscriminately, such actions at least make psychological sense, whereas killing because of a hatred for freedom does not. (p. 75)

The four main causes of Violence and Cruelty

Obvious causes

1. Greed/ambition (violence for direct personal gain)

- Explains only a small portion of violence

2. Sadism (pleasure in hurting people)

- Explains an even smaller portion of violence

Biggest causes

3. High self-esteem

- Unrealistic or narcissistic self-esteem is easily threatened by reality

- In reaction to those threats, people often lash out violently

4. Moral Idealism

- Good vs. Evil (your violence is a means to a moral end)

- The ends justify the means

The major atrocities of the twentieth century were carried out largely either by men who thought they were creating a utopia or else by men who believed they were defending their homeland or tribe from attack. Idealism easily becomes dangerous because it brings with it, almost inevitably, the belief that the ends justify the means. If you are fighting for good or for God, what matters is the outcome, not the path. People have little respect for rules; we respect the moral principles that underlie most rules. But when a moral mission and legal rules are incompatible, we usually care more about the mission. The psychologist Linda Skitka finds that when people have strong moral feelings about a controversial issue - when they have a "moral imperative" - they care much less about procedural fairness in court cases. They want the "good guys" freed by any means, and the "bad guys" convicted by any means. It is thus not surprising that the administration of George W. Bush consistently argues that extra-judicial killings, indefinite imprisonment without trial, and harsh physical treatment of prisoners are legal and proper steps in fighting the Manichaean "war on terror." (p. 76)

Source:

Haidt, Jonathan. The Happiness Hypothesis. New York: Basic Books, 2006.

Religion in Government Bad?

Throughout this class I have really learned a lot about the conflicts of different religions and the many different perspectives on them. I have come to the conclusion that everyone needs to just take a few deep breathes and stop being so obsessed that their opinion or viewpoint is the right one. Everyone needs to be more open to various ideas even if they don't agree with them. This whole idea came to my mind when I came across a video on youtube about atheists. I watched the video and didn't really know what to think. In a way it made many valid points on how the seperation of church and state lacks in many ways. It is obvious that our government isn't perfect when it comes to keeping religion and government completely seperate, but does it need to be. Aetheists argue and complain that religion is bad and that our Constitution is supposed to be about seperation of church and state. The majority of Americans follow some sort of religion though. It seems perfectly fine to me that government allow a little combination of church and state as long as the majority of citizens are okay with it.

"This is, after all, the only modern society in the world in which it is possible for a presidential candidate, when asked to cite the philosopher whose ideas had the greatest impact upon him, to respond by naming Jesus Christ. When Americans need to come together, as they did in the aftermath of the attack of September 11, it is religious buildings that they will turn." (Wolfe 247)

It is true that our country is supposed to keep government and religion completely seperate so that ones freedom of religion isn't imposed upon. I just don't see how it is so bad that the government allow a little religion in it. Nobody's rights are really being violated. This all just brings me back to my original opinion. In my opinion it seems dumb that everyone gets so hostile over little details when it comes to religion and or politics. People need to just be a little more open and relax. Watch this video on this atheist who needs to relax a little bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1ImMtHrrKo&feature=related

Sea People Suicide Bombers

I was thinking of what to write for this post and nothing immediately came to mind except for my mothers side of my family. When I was very young, my mother would bring me to church every Sunday and I never really thought much of it until I was in middle school. Sure, I hated waking up early and getting dragged out of bed, but for a while church was a time for me to think and let my mind wonder for an hour or so on the weekends. Some days I would listen to the priest and sermon, but that was rare. I usually ended up thinking about the bigger picture and of how much I really believe in it all. More importantly, church was a nice time for me to dedicate to letting my mind wander a bit.

Even though I was never really an active participating Catholic, I still went through the motions and got Confirmed in 8th grade. I was around this time that I started to question the fraction of faith I had. I started hearing about corruption in churches and many other disturbing stories; I couldn't look at the priests the same anymore. I'm not trying to make blanket judgments here, because I always had a lot of respect for my parish's priests-they were good people and told great stories. It's just that I never really identified myself as a full-swing Catholic, I sort of dabbled and lost interest. 

The more I thought about religions and how many there are, it just reminded of how everyones worshiping the same sort of idea, just in different context. It's a little bit like different languages, people just have different interpretations depending upon their faith. But ultimately, religion fills the same purpose in everyone's life. It's there to answer uncertainty and fill a void in many peoples lives. The shame here is that religion can often turn people against each other over such a simple conflict. How can anyone be certain they're right? And is it really about being right? I definitely don't think so. 

I remember watching South Park a while ago and this one episode really illustrated some of my thoughts on religion in a simple, but also pretty goofy way. Here it is.

 

Religion in Times of Crisis

In light of all the economic and financial troubles across the country, I thought examining religions role in times of crisis would be applicable to our class ideas and current events. From my observations and research, it seems to me that people are naturally driven to religious beliefs in times of crisis and despair. The Great Depression, WW I & II, Vietnam, and 9/11, as well as several other tragic events have signified a surplus of religious followers to cope and find religious guidance regarding these inciting tragedies. People feel secure if religious faith backs up their conscience in life, especially if their life is filled with tragedy and overall trouble. Religion serves as a form of knowledge and belief where answers and guidance can be derived, which especially helps during times of crisis.


The most timely widespread tragedy that affects many is the recent recession and global financial economic meltdown. As a result of this downturn, retail stores wait for customers while church pews fill in with people looking for enlightenment just as quick as the worlds money floats away. For external web content, I found an article while searching religion in the news, a LA newspaper group called The Daily Bulletin wrote an article titled, "As times worsen, many turn to religion for help, comfort ," which identifies the increased role of religious faith within Americans after hard times, specifically referring to the current economic hard times.

The article states, "In times of affluence and prosperity there is a tendency to be forgetful of the divine, but when a crisis hits, it is natural for people to drift toward institutionalized religion or spirituality. People are hoping to find comfort and a source of optimism." It is clear that across the country, as a result of rough times, religious entities benefit and increase in size and fellowship. People now a days have lost their investments, their homes, their hard-earned money, and now most Americans feel like they have been cheated, with recent scandals in the news. All this tragedy currently embedded in our society transpires faith within people, proving to be an increasing popular coping method. The question to ask then is, what else inspires religious impulse and motivation in people other than hardships?

The article states, furthering the notion that people flock to religion in hard times, "Rabbi Sholom Harlig...in Rancho Cucamonga is getting more calls than before, he states, "'I'm spending a lot of time trying to help people, to counsel them, they are very, very worried.'" Humans naturally want to conjure beliefs/values in their brains to satisfy unknown questions, and to alleviate hardships. Churches want to help, comfort and encourage, to offer a sense of hope for their followers in times of financial crisis, it apparently takes a crisis for several people to allow themselves into God's way. This recent influx of people seeking guidance from religion resembles the period after 9/11, and other tragedies. When things go wrong, people look for things to blame, and look for answers. It is only natural that humans flock to religion and prayer for answers, and justification for their hardships. People consult with the church regarding lay offs or losing homes, as well as troubling marriages. The article also points out a 10 to 20 % increase in overall church attendance since last summer. Churches are getting several distress calls from congregation members each week, just as quick as the economy is plunging.

To further the notion that humans naturally conjure thoughts to create pictures of God for religious belief, especially for religious belief in a time of crisis, Mark Lilla is quoted from The Stillborn God,
"All religions...face a common challenge: to make relations among God, man, and world...offer[ing] pictures...[one must] unravel...God is at the center of all such pictures, and depending on how we conceive of him, our images of man and world can change. The picture itself revolves around the presence of God, where he is and where he can be sought in space and time" (Lilla 24).
Essentially this quote from this text describes how we create our own images of God within our lives. He describes how God is at "the center" of all deciphered pictures of the world people create in their brains, thus highlighting the significant increase of church goers during a time of crisis. As we all create our own unraveled images of God for our own purposes, such as an economic plunge, which proves to inspire more religious followers.


Works Cited:

DiMartino, Mediha. "As Times Worsen, Many Turn to Religion for Help, Comfort." Daily Bulletin. 2008. Los Angeles Newspaper Group. 23 Mar. 2009 .

Lilla, Mark. The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West. New York: Vintage Books, 2008.

Virtual Religion- Formal Post 2

In light of the assignment that our class has begun research on I decided to delve into one of my topics, Virtual Religion. Were in the 21st Century now, so as I could have guessed God has gotten with the times and is now online. Seeing as the internet is a useful tool that helps many of us in our daily lives, it no wonder religion has sought out web space for its followers. Making religion ultimately more convenient for those in practice, like www.saranam.com offers a way for people to order prayers at a Hindu Temple. A site that caught my eye was www.true2ourselves.com. It provides an online community for those of Christian faith that resembles face book with an online forum. Blogs, Poll's, Photo Galleries, and Even a featured video on the homepage. However, this concept of Internet Administered Religion seems to contradict religion itself. It seems to take away the experience of religion to make it more convenient for ourselves, but can we make God convenient? Doesn't it seem a little bit dis respectable to make Religion fit to your needs over the Almighty's? I did stumble across a posting in an online forum that was interesting titled "Your Parents Religion". The post does not renounce their faith, but clues us into the history that someone on this site might have, even doubts that person might have about religion. I don't agree with the idea of Online religious practice, but I feel like online communities open up new doors for people to find others of the same faith and values easily.




Cited Works

"Yale Daily News - 'Virtual' religion raises interesting questions." Yale Daily News - The Nation's Oldest College Daily. 23 Mar. 2009 .

"Your Parents Religion." Religious Website - Christian Community, Forums, Friends & Social Network. 23 Mar. 2009 .

"Blessed are the peacemakers"

"Suspicion, intolerance, and mistrust are driving us apart..."

- Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan

Earlier today I watched the movie Religulous. It was pretty much exactly what I expected it to be: a cynical atheist pointing out how funny and weird and ignorant and dangerous religious people are. I laughed along with it quite a bit, and I agreed with many of Bill Maher's points, but I didn't think the movie was very compelling. Many other atheists take a similar approach as Maher as they argue against religion. "These people think they're drinking the literal blood of a dead guy who was born from a virgin and will take them to a happy place in the sky when they die" [Cue wild, enthusiastic laughter]. 

Man, those religious folks sure are crazy, right? They sure are ignorant, right? Their ridiculous beliefs surely don't have a place in today's world, right? They can be dangerous, right? They are wild and crazy and stupid and deadly, right? And they can't be reasoned with, right? They are the enemy, right?

Okay, maybe people like Maher don't exactly go that far in their arguments. But I do think people who take the approach Maher takes in Religulous are headed in that direction, towards the ugly old Us vs. Them world-view that causes oh so many problems. 

They identify an opposing side (i.e. religious people) and then make them out to be grossly ignorant and irrational and crazy. They do not attempt to understand the other side. (Or, rather, they make no attempt to help their audience understand the other side.)

Let's say a Christian approaches me and tells me "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!" Am I going to say, "Oh, wow, you're right. That makes sense. I'm going to completely change my lifestyle and beliefs now"? 

No. There is no chance whatsoever that that will happen. What really will happen is that I will get pissed because I feel insulted. That person will be appalled that I don't listen because what he's saying makes such perfect sense to him. And he will walk away smug, knowing he tried to talk some sense into me but I am just too much of a fool to listen. Be we can see in this case that he is clearly the foolish one. 

He demonstrated no respect for or understanding of my perspective. His argument was not catered towards my perspective. His argument was catered towards himself, to reassure him of his own views.

So, let's say an atheist approaches some religious people and tries to explain how ridiculous those people's views are. He asks them, "C'mon, do you really believe that wafer of bread is the body of some dead dude? That's ridiculous." How is anyone going to respond to someone who just rolls his eyes in response to everything that's contrary to his own views?

One scene in Religulous shows a crowd of Christians watching a reenactment of the Crucifixion of Christ. Jesus is drenched in blood, being mercilessly whipped by Roman soldiers, as he carries massive beams of wood on his shoulders. Each time he stumbles, the audience applauds and jeers. They are watching a display of hideous brutality, and they relish it. What the hell is wrong with them? the movie implicitly asks. These are some seriously messed up people, right?

So, I'll explain what is likely going on in their heads. They understand that Jesus accepted this brutal death. He easily could have escaped it, if he so desired. But he remained silent during his sentencing, and he never called any angels to his side to defend him. Jesus believes that by giving up his life, humans will be allowed to be forgiven for their sins. Every step he takes with the cross on his shoulders, he does so out of love for the very people who are jeering at him, whipping him, tormenting him. Every step he takes, he is forgiving them.

The Christian audience accepts that they themselves are sinners, and that by their own faults they have caused others to suffer. Therefore, they associate themselves with the Roman guards and the cruel onlookers who mock Jesus. They feel shame and guilt for the pain they have caused Jesus by hurting other people, yet they see that Jesus still loves and forgives them even as he's subjected to their most barbaric cruelty. The Christian audience feels deeply moved and comforted by this display of love and are reminded that they too should love and forgive their own enemies. Is this horrible and crazy and unreasonable?

How are we supposed to make progress if we don't try to understand the other side? If we treat the other side with fear and contempt without trying to understand their perspective, is there any doubt that we're going to make them out to be so much worse than they actually are? So much simpler than they actually are?

I'd like to highlight an excellent article by Jonathan Haidt, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. In this article he examines the divide between the liberal and the conservative frame of mind. As an illustration of one of his points, he describes a trip he once took to India:

I brought with me two incompatible identities. On the one hand, I was a 29 year old liberal atheist who had spent his politically conscious life despising Republican presidents, and I was charged up by the culture wars that intensified in the 1990s. On the other hand, I wanted to be like those tolerant anthropologists I had read so much about.

My first few weeks in Bhubaneswar were therefore filled with feelings of shock and confusion. I dined with men whose wives silently served us and then retreated to the kitchen. My hosts gave me a servant of my own and told me to stop thanking him when he served me. I watched people bathe in and cook with visibly polluted water that was held to be sacred. In short, I was immersed in a sex-segregated, hierarchically stratified, devoutly religious society, and I was committed to understanding it on its own terms, not on mine.

It only took a few weeks for my shock to disappear, not because I was a natural anthropologist but because the normal human capacity for empathy kicked in. I liked these people who were hosting me, helping me, and teaching me. And once I liked them (remember that first principle of moral psychology) it was easy to take their perspective and to consider with an open mind the virtues they thought they were enacting. Rather than automatically rejecting the men as sexist oppressors and pitying the women, children, and servants as helpless victims, I was able to see a moral world in which families, not individuals, are the basic unit of society, and the members of each extended family (including its servants) are intensely interdependent. In this world, equality and personal autonomy were not sacred values. Honoring elders, gods, and guests, and fulfilling one's role-based duties, were more important. Looking at America from this vantage point, what I saw now seemed overly individualistic and self-focused. For example, when I boarded the plane to fly back to Chicago I heard a loud voice saying "Look, you tell him that this is the compartment over MY seat, and I have a RIGHT to use it."

I would also like to draw your attention to what Queen Rania Al Abdulla of Jordan has been attempting on YouTube. Queen Rania created her own YouTube channel and asked viewers to "send me your stereotypes" about the Arab world so that she and others could attempt to break them down and discuss them. I highly encourage you to watch several of the videos on her channel.

We will not get far by simply demonizing that which we do not understand and are not familiar with. It is so easy for a person to lapse into the Us vs. Them mentality, but we ought to remember that one of the most influential humans to ever live once said, "Blessed are the peacemakers..." 

What does St. Patrick's Day Mean to You

In the spirit of today, St. Patrick's day, my blog post is about what this day used to mean to people and how much it has changed over time. St. Patrick's day is an Irish holiday every year on March 17th. It is considered a religious holiday that marks the anniversary of St. Patrick's death. This has been a religious holiday to the Irish for over a thousand years. I started thinking about how Irish families would typically attend church in the morning and celebrate at night but how now it is hardly viewed as being such a religious holiday. In recent years, St. Patrick's day has become less of a religious day and more of a celebration. The way I view St. Patrick's day ,because its how everyone else around me views it, is a night to go out with your friends and basically party. St. Patrick's day is still and will always be the celebration of being Irish but has lost its religious importance.
This also made me think about other holidays and how the tradition of them has changed over time. For Christmas, Easter and other Christian holidays, my family and I would always attend church in the morning. As I got older though I stopped going to church including on holidays. Christmas and Easter became just another reason to get together with your family and friends, have a big meal, and celebrate.
I feel this is exactly what we have been talking about in class and how religion has become less and less important over time. Wolfe states, "American Society is a nonliturgical society, its pace of life too fast, its commitments to individualism too powerful, its treatment of authority too irreverent, and its craving for innovation too intense to tolerate religious practices that call on believers to repeat the same word or songs with little room for creative expressions" (Wolfe).
Our traditions have changed over time and because we live in such a fast pace society and it is hard for people to find the time to be as committed to their religion as people were in the past. It is easy to see the differences in how we view religious holidays and the affect the decreasing religious beliefs have had.

Works Cited

Wolfe, Alan. The Transformation of American Religion: How We Actually Live Our Faith. New York: Free Press, 2003.

Controversy

For this blog post I went straight to YouTube for ideas, and found a video that I think is interesting as well as comical. Religion has always stirred up controversy for one reason or another and this video does not disappoint. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RV46fsmx6E&feature=related

Batman and Morality (Informal Post)

During one of the last classes, I brought up the end of Dark Knight when the Joker and Batman are discussing the morality of the people of Gotham City.

The first youtube clip shows the part of the movie where the inmate takes the mechanism to blow up the other ship and tosses it out the window, while the regular citizens on the other boat all want to blow the inmates up, but don't have the guts to do it.

The second clip is the discussion between Batman and the Joker. Batman talks about how the residents of Gotham were ready to believe in good, but the Joker knows that they'll break after they see the corruption of Harvey Dent. Harvey Dent, the White Light of Gotham, was symbolic for the idea that people need something to believe in - one of the primary reasons many of us believe religion exists.


First Part
Second Part


Does religion give people everything they need to believe in? If not, what else is there?

And what happens when religion fails to fulfill this goal?

Mythology and Modern Religion

I never really thought about mythology until it was brought to my attention in my Scientific Revolutions class last Semester with Professor Bashaw. I can’t quite remember how the topic was brought up, but it was basically about how myths of certain ancient cultures shouldn’t be called myths at all. Our teacher explained how he didn’t like this because it’s not fair for the religious practices and beliefs of ancient cultures to be considered just “fictional stories” compared to the religious practices of today which are considered more “true.” I thought the statement was very interesting and I completely agreed with it. In a way, the stories of the past could be just as false as the religious stories of today. I also thought about how it would feel if someone of the past found out that what they were praying for would be considered a fictional story by someone of today. It was funny because I actually did have that experience when the topic was being discussed. I was trying to write something down and couldn’t pay attention to what the teacher was saying, until I heard the words “Christian Mythology.” I have no idea why (I’m not as religious as I used to be) but a voice in my head shouted “What the hell did he just say!?!” The comment caught me by surprise; it seemed very offensive that the religion I am associated with was being called “Fake.” Then again, I haven’t been to church in a while, don’t pray anymore, and my belief in religion in general is fading, so I probably shouldn’t take offense to that.

It would be impossible for me to tell you why religions of the past are now considered myths since this would take years of research. It could be because of a culture that fell long ago, such as the Greek, Egyptian, or Roman empires would also cause the religion it was mostly associated with to fall with it. Michael Brooks states in an article:

“It turns out that human beings have a natural inclination for religious belief, especially during hard times. Our brains effortlessly conjure up an imaginary world of spirits, gods and monsters, and the more insecure we feel, the harder it is to resist the pull of this supernatural world. It seems that our minds are finely tuned to believe in gods.”

It could be that after a civilization falls, and if it’s religion falls with it, people will go on and pray to new gods. The old gods, religious practices, and prayers must have been forgotten about, probably explain why they could be considered “myths”. Like what Michael Brooks just stated above, Humans need to believe in something. I guess if they can't believe in one god they must go to another, and the old gods are forgotten for what the stood for originally. Of course these are only theories of my own, there is most likely a better reason behind this.

Who knows, in the distant future some high school student is going to be writing a paper titled “Christian Mythology.”

While I couldn’t find a video relating directly to what I just said, but I have found a funny video by Seth McFarline. The religion the family in the video discusses is just as absurd as the religions of today (In my opinion of course.)




Credit:

Brooks, Michael. "Born believers: How Your Brain creates God." New Scientist. February 4, 2009.

Course Readings

Religion and Politics

"We assumed this was no longer possible, that human beings had learned to separate religious questions from political ones, that fanaticism was dead. We were wrong"

GOD told George Bush to run for president, and our citizens were stupid enough to vote for him twice. He has put a halt to stem cell research due to his support from the religious right. He has put halts on abortion as well. How is it fair for our government to decide what our morals should be?

Meanwhile, Jesus camps are teaching our children at a young age some pretty scary things. They actually have children idolizing a cardboard cutout of George Bush. Our first amendment is clearly not followed by our political rulers. When will Church and State truly be separate?

Jesus Camp Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=309MCU8TonE&feature=related


Lilla, Mark. The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West. New York: Vintage Books, 2008.

Morality...continued

Its hard to say whether or not religion is good or bad for promoting good morals in society-because there are just so many variants. However i do agree with you that one could argue it both ways. My grandparents were extremely religious and my dad was until about when I was 15, my mom on the other hand was not at all and now recently has become religious. I thought i was kinda rebellious for not going to church when i was younger and thats mainly why i didn't go- yet deep down felt morally bad or like i was doing something wrong. Now though, I thank myself for staying away from the church and following my moms earlier views.
The swap in religious significance with my parents has caused me to realize that the church does good for some people and can promote the right morals ethics and ways of living your life but i think that those same ideals can be taught in much better ways. My mom travels all over the world helping those less fortunate than us living in our first world country-and having traveled with her extensively I feel I obtained morals if not equal but better than some of the people I know who have attended church. Appreciating what you have and caring for those around you I feel are the essential basics to be morally good. The church may do this for some people, but for me the baggage that comes with the church is just ludicrous. Its so unsettling knowing the immoral and corrupt things the church has done in the past to humanity.
Speaking about the media or movies and morality is interesting as well because the church used to use similar forms of manipulation that the media uses today. Whats great now though is that they are working together- I saw on the news that a Bishop in Brazil spoke out against an abortion a 9year old girl had because her father raped her and got her pregnant- Now... where the hell is the morality in that?

News info from CNN.com

Morality and Religion

It is always interesting to think about the relationship between religion and moral beliefs. For the longest time I have always felt that religion must positively influence the moral decisions that persons make. This could be because my mother’s side of the family is Roman Catholic and I have always been influenced by many of their beliefs and moral behavior. Although when I really started to think about it I realized that even though they are pretty religious their moral values are really no different from my dad’s side of the family which isn’t religious at all. This got me thinking about the relationship between moral beliefs and religion to a greater extent. Thinking back I now wonder why I have always felt that religion and morals are so closely related. I wonder if it is all the movies about the good old days when families were “perfect”. These movies made you think that every family would go to church on Sunday, eat dinner together every night, and never say a bad word to anyone. Hollywood and even many politicians like to make us think that things were better in the 50’s when families were close, the woman stayed at home, and divorces were uncommon. Maybe in some ways things were better back then, but what about all the segregation and racial violence?

I think that religion and morals have very little, if any, relationship at all. I feel that moral values come from society and human kindness. The majority of people simply want to act in a good manner to others because it makes them feel good. There will always be a minority that doesn’t care about being nice to others but this has always been true no matter how prominent religion is at the time. Religious institutes do emphasize good moral behavior, and for this reason whenever religious persons act in a good way others think it is because of their religion. But maybe its just because they’re good people. What about those religious persons that act in a bad manner?

“The prevalence of widespread cheating at a predominantly conservative Christian university would seem to confirm the views of those who believe that religion, far from having a positive influence on personal moral conduct, is more likely to produce hypocrisy than honesty.” (Wolfe 153)

This really got me thinking about this relationship between religious institutions and morality. I can’t seem to come to a conclusion, only a few perspectives. In one way it seems that religion can only help moral beliefs and therefore is good in our society. In another way religion makes many hypocritical or even acts as a way for some to justify wrong doings. So is religion really beneficial to good moral behavior in our society?

Work Cited

Wolfe, Alan. The Transformation of American Religion: How We Actually Live Our Faith. New York: Free Press, 2003.

Religion and Sports

When asked to write about religion for this blog, I thought it would be somewhat easy considering all the different aspects of religion that we have covered in class. This task became a lot harder than I thought it would be as I considered different topics. Soon I found myself thinking about college basketball rather than the blog; this is when I realized how sports and religion are very similar and how religion plays a large role for many athletes and teams. Being a big sports fan I know how it can be following teams from season to season, watching almost all the games, checking updates and reading articles online, as well as debating over topics. This is behavior that somewhat mirrors what is done in religion, the total dedication and constantly being involved. It seems somewhat ironic that football games are on Sundays. Also, you always hear about sports teams being cursed and unable to win the World Series for whatever reason. This type of superstitious thinking reminds me of how people think about religion. Another comparison of how religion and sports are similar is the idea that if your parents are Catholic you’re going to be raised Catholic and share similar views. If your parents are die hard Yankees fans there is a good chance that you will be brought up to be a Yankee fan. Just like the feeling of being part of a sports team, being part of a religion group offers the same sense of belongingness. The idea of baseball players being extremely superstitious also reminds me of religion in the sense that one’s actions will have an effect on their future. In general I think it is surprising how many comparisons can be drawn between religion and sports.

Grimm Tales and Morality

"Everyone in the United States, religious or not, lives in a world in which moral choices can be bewildering and their outcomes not always predictable."(Wolfe 127)

Not only does this apply to the citizen's of the United States, but to other people and places as well. I could not help but laugh at Wolfe's statement after this weekend. I saw the show Into the Woods which deals with many themes and among them are morality and consequences of choices. Throughout the show, the characters make moral decisions that have quite unexpected side effects. For example, in one scene, Jack's mother (from Jack and the Beanstalk) is arguing with a giant and upsetting it (and when giants get upset they are quite dangerous). Just then she is killed by being struck on the head by another character who claims he was acting for the greater good. Another example is when a character steals from a witch's garden. The character makes the (im)moral decision to steal beans for his pregant wife (who was craving greens) and as a result gets a curse laid on him.

After seeing the show, I started to wonder how much of our morals come from the classic Brothers Grimm type stories we were told as children. I also thought about my own faith, and how important the stories in the Bible were to interpreting what I think of as right and wrong.

How do you think fairy tale stories or other tales have affected your moral judgment on today's issues?

Here's one of the scenes I mentioned!

Direct Link Here

Feel free to leave a comment!

more serious, or less!?

This idea came to me today when I was hanging out with my friends. It seems like our generation is a lot less serious about religion, than our parent’s generation. What I mean to say is, our parents follow religion more properly, or used to follow it well. You or a friend might be labeled with a religion, but you don’t necessarily follow it or care about it. Most kids in our generation I ask about their religion they say, “Oh, I’m this and this, but I don’t actually take it seriously.” I asked a Japanese girl, she said that she doesn’t follow the religion. I asked two kids from India, they said they don’t take it seriously, or they have their own ideals on the religious topic. So, it seems that it’s not just in America where this is going on, it’s happening all around the world. To me it really does seem like religion is becoming less serious in a way. Even our parents are becoming less serious about it. I will use my parents as an example. They used to a lot more religious when they first came to America, and ten years later, which is now… my mom has stopped going church almost completely, and my dad overlooks many rules or whatnot in his religion. My best guess is, it’s because of this sped up life style now a days. I’m sure there’s a lot more reasons why this is happening, so I’ll lets the class discuss it. And, I don’t want to write a lot like some people… you know who you are… >_>


And now a completely random video, cause I know you guys love videos... I have no clue what this movies about, but sounded cool. I would also like to mention that this video has nothing to do with my opinions. Enjoy. =D