1. Dawkins
Thesis: God did not exist and is now an irrelevant concept because evolution effectively explains the awe-striking brilliance and complexity that is life, something commonly attributed to a benign creator.
a. Evolution makes the God concept obsolete.
b. Life exists in harmony with the laws of physics and nature.
c. It can be deduced that all life in the universe emerged in a similar Darwinian fashion.
d. Life starts simple and grows to complex.
e. Existence shan't be denounced as unimportant in attempts to save the concept of God.
2. Armstrong
Thesis: The point of God lies not within its actual existence in objective reality, but rather in the purposes the concept serve.
a. Evolution does indeed challenge the idea of an omnipotent being.
b. God is needed to help us understand our emotions and comprehend our lives and social structure.
c. Purpose of God is not to supply rational explanations, but to help people cope with life.
3. I found one of the most telling statements to be Armstrong's quote "Religion was not supposed to provide explanations that lay within the competence of reason but to help us live creatively with realities for which there are no ease solutions and find an interior heaven of peace;..." I interpreted this as such: religion was never supposed to be used as evidence for anything however it has been warped by modern theologians into a set of non provable hard facts. For example, as Armstrong mentions, Greek myths generally held no basis in actuality, but they were used as a way to convey moral and emotional teachings in an relate-able medium relative to the audience. So, this made me think, does the survival of religion truly rely upon the actual existence of God? I believe that in this day, yes, if god was proven to be non existent, then religion would collapse as an institution and be stripped down to those few truly spiritual people.
4. The existence of God was derived from the metaphysical portion of knowledge, however both authors agree that it has been challenged by new analytical knowledge (evolution) brought about through scientific studies resulting in empirical knowledge. Armstrong uses a combination of metaphysical and analytical knowledge when she makes the point that God helps us understand society. Metaphysical being the portion of God's presence and analytical being the deduction of how it works in relation to human understanding. Dawkins basis most of his article on analytical knowledge, especially when talking about the possibility of other life in the universe. He analytically knows how all life would come about; that all life would be formed in the same Darwinian manner as earth.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
4 Ways of Knowing
Sense Perception:
Distinguishing truth based on the five human senses. This is a way of knowing because of the experiential manner in which it allows a person to understand an event or statement to be true.
Language:
Text or spoken words used to communicate amongst each other or to process our own thoughts. This is a way of knowing because it is how people define the things they know.
Reason:
Explaining what you know or solving problems through rationalizing based on what you believe to be true. This is a way of knowing because it is important to understand what you believe and how you can convince your self of such things before you can know something.
Emotion:
Human feelings. This is a way of knowing because if one didn't feel anything for anything, there would be no incentive to acquire knowledge.
Distinguishing truth based on the five human senses. This is a way of knowing because of the experiential manner in which it allows a person to understand an event or statement to be true.
Language:
Text or spoken words used to communicate amongst each other or to process our own thoughts. This is a way of knowing because it is how people define the things they know.
Reason:
Explaining what you know or solving problems through rationalizing based on what you believe to be true. This is a way of knowing because it is important to understand what you believe and how you can convince your self of such things before you can know something.
Emotion:
Human feelings. This is a way of knowing because if one didn't feel anything for anything, there would be no incentive to acquire knowledge.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Religion for Dummies Response #1
Why do people flock to religion?
People flock to religion because of the security it offers. It provides solid answers to our restless minds which, so long as people take it to be the absolute true word of the Higher Power, cannot be shaken. These answers allow people to know why they live (to serve or follow the doctrines of God) and therefore allows them to also keep a steady flow of contentment and happiness going throughout their lives. To follow these doctrines is also to know, without much question, what is right and wrong in the world according to the followers of a faith. To have a secure grasp on one of the most ubiquitous battles in history, "Good vs. Bad," is to eliminate one of man kinds most prevalent questions. Just as well, the average sufferings of day to day life are inevitable, but when they show up, a religious man always has someone to turn to for guidance. Religion is, in a way, an investment of the emotional kind, and so long as one can keep the faith, it is a well protected and very secure investment.
Philosophy, Spirituality, Religion: Compare and Contrast.
Philosophy is a system in which reason is heavily relied upon to decipher morals and ethics whereas religion goes beyond reason by adding things such as miracles and revelations which would not be found in philosophy. Philosophy also excludes certain religious practices such as rituals and ceremonies. Spirituality is similar to religion and philosophy in the sense that it generally excludes the ritualistic parts of religion, but also accepts things that cannot be reasoned like the higher powers. Spirituality is like reading a magazine in a waiting room, you can stay informed, know what you believe and don't, however it does not require a subscription to any specific provider. In other words, spirituality is simply ones personal connection with Ultimate Reality without the immersion in organized religion.
People flock to religion because of the security it offers. It provides solid answers to our restless minds which, so long as people take it to be the absolute true word of the Higher Power, cannot be shaken. These answers allow people to know why they live (to serve or follow the doctrines of God) and therefore allows them to also keep a steady flow of contentment and happiness going throughout their lives. To follow these doctrines is also to know, without much question, what is right and wrong in the world according to the followers of a faith. To have a secure grasp on one of the most ubiquitous battles in history, "Good vs. Bad," is to eliminate one of man kinds most prevalent questions. Just as well, the average sufferings of day to day life are inevitable, but when they show up, a religious man always has someone to turn to for guidance. Religion is, in a way, an investment of the emotional kind, and so long as one can keep the faith, it is a well protected and very secure investment.
Philosophy, Spirituality, Religion: Compare and Contrast.
Philosophy is a system in which reason is heavily relied upon to decipher morals and ethics whereas religion goes beyond reason by adding things such as miracles and revelations which would not be found in philosophy. Philosophy also excludes certain religious practices such as rituals and ceremonies. Spirituality is similar to religion and philosophy in the sense that it generally excludes the ritualistic parts of religion, but also accepts things that cannot be reasoned like the higher powers. Spirituality is like reading a magazine in a waiting room, you can stay informed, know what you believe and don't, however it does not require a subscription to any specific provider. In other words, spirituality is simply ones personal connection with Ultimate Reality without the immersion in organized religion.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Ways of Being Religious and Hermeneutic Study
Six Ways of Being Religious
Sacred Right:
A communal way of connecting with ones "Higher Being" through worship and rituals in which some sort of archetypes are imitated. This serves to renew the faith of a group through group activities devoted to any particular God, as well as establish a set of morals and general behaviors considered to be acceptable.
Right Action
An attempt to bring all followers of the faith to exist in "the way things are supposed to be." This is brought about by following the divine order. To follow the divine order is to keep things "the way they are supposed to be."
Devotion
The surrender of the individual to the God. Usually occurs through some sort of overwhelming emotional stress to high to bear, resulting in a conversion and emotional cleansing. A devotee generally expects atonement and some sort of everlasting hope and energy from the God.
Shamanic Mediation
A passing through various states of altered consciousness in attempts to unlock some deep down connection with "ultimate reality." These deep connections are to be unlocked and allow for the answering of life questions. Expressed through possession, visions, spirit journeys, etc...
Mystical Quest
An ascetic approach to stripping the human of humanly limits. An attempt to reach a direct relationship with God and live wholly within God or "ultimate reality." Once all limitations have been lost, ones focus can go straight to "ultimate reality"
Reasoned Inquiry
A systematic study of scriptures and traditions in attempt to acquire some kind of "divine wisdom" This knowledge is to be used to answer life's questions as well as snuff out any other question that may undermine the faith.
Advantages
1.They help to breakdown students preconceived notions about unfamiliar religions. They also help students to study all aspects of certain traditions and religions, rather than assuming that a single part of a religion is representative of the entire idea.
2.It allows students to see how certain parts of the religion contribute to the whole.
3.It allows for the compartmentalization of religions in a comparative manner. For example students can see the differences and similarities between any two religions by dissecting the religions into the six ways and comparing their respective parts, allowing for a more specific look into the comparable aspects of various traditions.
4.They can help one to appreciate the differences of religions rather than make false contrasts between two traditions due to a mis-comparison of two different ways of being religious.
5.This framework opens up a door for in depth comparative study without preconceptions. Once again, the ability to compartmentalize the religions into the six ways allows one to look in depth into the comparative components of each way as it pertains to the religions in question.
6.It allows for friendly non-threatening/defensive dialogue between people of a religion and different traditions.
Differences Between Eastern and Western Religions
1. Western Religions are considered to be Monotheistic. Their concept of God is highly different comparative to eastern religions. In western religions, God is placed on a pedestal, being supreme and superior to all. The main goal is to live in the direct presence of God in the afterlife. In Eastern Religions, God is a vague concept too big to dwell upon. In these religions, the end goal is more to reach a place of unity with the God concept in which you become part of the God entity in a form of Nirvana.
2.The path to the end goal is largely different between western and eastern religions. In western religions, humans repent and try to please a higher power throughout their lives as an attempt to make it into a heaven or hell. This puts the human in a position of servitude, living in a way that God would want. In eastern religions, one must strip away layers of self to reach a "higher like" status within, in which the knowledge of the world comes upon them and they are at peace. This approach is entirely self dependent, the achievement is based off of self rather than the appeasement of a higher power.
Sacred Right:
A communal way of connecting with ones "Higher Being" through worship and rituals in which some sort of archetypes are imitated. This serves to renew the faith of a group through group activities devoted to any particular God, as well as establish a set of morals and general behaviors considered to be acceptable.
Right Action
An attempt to bring all followers of the faith to exist in "the way things are supposed to be." This is brought about by following the divine order. To follow the divine order is to keep things "the way they are supposed to be."
Devotion
The surrender of the individual to the God. Usually occurs through some sort of overwhelming emotional stress to high to bear, resulting in a conversion and emotional cleansing. A devotee generally expects atonement and some sort of everlasting hope and energy from the God.
Shamanic Mediation
A passing through various states of altered consciousness in attempts to unlock some deep down connection with "ultimate reality." These deep connections are to be unlocked and allow for the answering of life questions. Expressed through possession, visions, spirit journeys, etc...
Mystical Quest
An ascetic approach to stripping the human of humanly limits. An attempt to reach a direct relationship with God and live wholly within God or "ultimate reality." Once all limitations have been lost, ones focus can go straight to "ultimate reality"
Reasoned Inquiry
A systematic study of scriptures and traditions in attempt to acquire some kind of "divine wisdom" This knowledge is to be used to answer life's questions as well as snuff out any other question that may undermine the faith.
Advantages
1.They help to breakdown students preconceived notions about unfamiliar religions. They also help students to study all aspects of certain traditions and religions, rather than assuming that a single part of a religion is representative of the entire idea.
2.It allows students to see how certain parts of the religion contribute to the whole.
3.It allows for the compartmentalization of religions in a comparative manner. For example students can see the differences and similarities between any two religions by dissecting the religions into the six ways and comparing their respective parts, allowing for a more specific look into the comparable aspects of various traditions.
4.They can help one to appreciate the differences of religions rather than make false contrasts between two traditions due to a mis-comparison of two different ways of being religious.
5.This framework opens up a door for in depth comparative study without preconceptions. Once again, the ability to compartmentalize the religions into the six ways allows one to look in depth into the comparative components of each way as it pertains to the religions in question.
6.It allows for friendly non-threatening/defensive dialogue between people of a religion and different traditions.
Differences Between Eastern and Western Religions
1. Western Religions are considered to be Monotheistic. Their concept of God is highly different comparative to eastern religions. In western religions, God is placed on a pedestal, being supreme and superior to all. The main goal is to live in the direct presence of God in the afterlife. In Eastern Religions, God is a vague concept too big to dwell upon. In these religions, the end goal is more to reach a place of unity with the God concept in which you become part of the God entity in a form of Nirvana.
2.The path to the end goal is largely different between western and eastern religions. In western religions, humans repent and try to please a higher power throughout their lives as an attempt to make it into a heaven or hell. This puts the human in a position of servitude, living in a way that God would want. In eastern religions, one must strip away layers of self to reach a "higher like" status within, in which the knowledge of the world comes upon them and they are at peace. This approach is entirely self dependent, the achievement is based off of self rather than the appeasement of a higher power.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Jesus Shaves Response
In "Jesus Shaves," David Sedaris makes one important observation; an observation one must keep in mind when studying religion. This point is that in today's world, a person of a particular faith is going to find ideas from other faiths to be far fetched or nonsensical, but if someone can believe something based on faith alone, then anyone can believe in anything.
Sedaris outlines his point by, first, telling of the scenario in which the students try to explain Christianity to a Muslim girl. The students must speak to each other in french because that is they're only common language, which ends up confusing the situation due to the fact that none of the students are fluent in french. So, with broken french, the students try to accurately convey the story of Christianity to a girl who believes in tremendously different principles and after a while, the Muslim girl stops listening to the muddled description. Sedaris then makes the point that even without the language barrier it still would have been difficult to explain the religion to the non-believer by writing, "I wondered then, if without the language barrier, my classmates and I could have done a better job making sense of Christianity, an idea that sounds pretty far-fetched to begin with."
Sedaris also accounts a conversation with his french teacher in which a dispute over the traditions and stories of Easter arises. Sedaris believes in the traditional American version involving the death of Christ, the resurrection, and the ascension to heaven all celebrated by hiding eggs, eating chocolate, and the arrival of the Easter rabbit. Hist teacher, however, believes in the French version in which a bell flies from Rome and delivers the sweets. After debating the practicalities of each story, Sedaris comes to a realization that he is basing his information on nothing more than pure faith, as is his instructor. To highlight the point that anything is believable under the wide umbrella of faith, Sedaris states, "In communicating any religious belief, the operative word is faith... I accepted the idea that an omniscient God had cast me in his own image and that he watched over me and guided me me from one place to the next. The virgin birth, the resurrection, and the countless miracles--my heart expanded to encompass all the wonders and possibilities of the universe."
The essay touches on a couple of important facts to keep in mind whence studying religions. The first is that when explaining any religion to someone who is not of the faith, it is certain that the ideas portrayed will indeed sound strange as illustrated by the incident involving the Muslim girl. Secondly, faith is a powerful thing because it requires nothing in the form of scientific or physical proof, only a whole-hearted belief in something. If one may believe in one thing without proof, then another can believe in any other thing without proof. It is important to keep this in mind when studying religion because rather than pointing out the preposterous nature of certain stories, students of religion should be looking at the history and function of such ideas. Nothing is preposterous when one bases their facts on whatever they wish to provide as proof.
Sedaris outlines his point by, first, telling of the scenario in which the students try to explain Christianity to a Muslim girl. The students must speak to each other in french because that is they're only common language, which ends up confusing the situation due to the fact that none of the students are fluent in french. So, with broken french, the students try to accurately convey the story of Christianity to a girl who believes in tremendously different principles and after a while, the Muslim girl stops listening to the muddled description. Sedaris then makes the point that even without the language barrier it still would have been difficult to explain the religion to the non-believer by writing, "I wondered then, if without the language barrier, my classmates and I could have done a better job making sense of Christianity, an idea that sounds pretty far-fetched to begin with."
Sedaris also accounts a conversation with his french teacher in which a dispute over the traditions and stories of Easter arises. Sedaris believes in the traditional American version involving the death of Christ, the resurrection, and the ascension to heaven all celebrated by hiding eggs, eating chocolate, and the arrival of the Easter rabbit. Hist teacher, however, believes in the French version in which a bell flies from Rome and delivers the sweets. After debating the practicalities of each story, Sedaris comes to a realization that he is basing his information on nothing more than pure faith, as is his instructor. To highlight the point that anything is believable under the wide umbrella of faith, Sedaris states, "In communicating any religious belief, the operative word is faith... I accepted the idea that an omniscient God had cast me in his own image and that he watched over me and guided me me from one place to the next. The virgin birth, the resurrection, and the countless miracles--my heart expanded to encompass all the wonders and possibilities of the universe."
The essay touches on a couple of important facts to keep in mind whence studying religions. The first is that when explaining any religion to someone who is not of the faith, it is certain that the ideas portrayed will indeed sound strange as illustrated by the incident involving the Muslim girl. Secondly, faith is a powerful thing because it requires nothing in the form of scientific or physical proof, only a whole-hearted belief in something. If one may believe in one thing without proof, then another can believe in any other thing without proof. It is important to keep this in mind when studying religion because rather than pointing out the preposterous nature of certain stories, students of religion should be looking at the history and function of such ideas. Nothing is preposterous when one bases their facts on whatever they wish to provide as proof.
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