Category: Religion

Understanding Religion: Beliefs, Symbols, Rituals, and Ethics

Posted on | by Kelvin

What is religion? Be sure to include concepts such as beliefs, symbols, rituals, and ethics in your analysis. Illustrate how the religion practiced by the group you visited qualifies or does not qualify as a religion, based on your assessment.How do religious practices shape individual and group identity?
Discuss two examples of the formation of shared meaning developed through religious practice and participative rituals.
Illustrate two examples of ways you note individual and group identity is shaped by the experiences of the religious group you visited.
Provide two examples of how religious groups are shaped in part by cultural elements and two examples of how religious groups engage or affect secular culture.
Include two observations of cultural elements in the religious experience at the site you visited to support your conclusions.

 

Exploring the Islamic Center: A Journey of Reflection

Posted on | by Kelvin

Visit a Western religious institution that you do not belong to (for the purpose of our course “western” refers to Indigenous Religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam).
Religion and Culture in Canada
PART 1: Write a reflection paper (approximately 950 words) that reflects your experience at this religious institution. Your reflection paper will include all of the following information:
• State the name of the place of worship you visited, its address, and the religion and denomination of its congregation (i.e. Christian, Roman Catholic). Include one or more photographs of the religious place of worship you ‘visited’.
• Discuss the ways your experience in this particular space made you reconsider your views about this religion, or religion in general.
• Compare your experience of this particular space to how this religion is viewed either in the media, or your own congregation/community.

PART 2: Your paper should also reflect on all of the following topics (approximately 600 words):
• the people attending and caring for the institution you visited (e.g., their rituals, beliefs and the reasons why they belong to this institution)
• the architecture of the building and the design of the rooms (e.g., such as how the physical layout of the affects forms of worship)
• the forms of worship (e.g., prayer, meditation, song, sermons and communal eating)
• what this experience taught you about this religion’s beliefs and traditions that you were not aware of prior to visiting this institution.
• how this experience challenged (or reaffirmed) your prejudices/beliefs about religion and religious practices.

Consequences of the Fall of Humanity and Christian Response for Creational Purpose

Posted on | by Kelvin

Identify the consequences of the fall of humanity that leads to human suffering, and describe how a Christian organization fights back for creational purpose.One of the central components of every worldview is the topic of human nature. The topic of human nature asks questions about human value, human flourishing, and human purpose. Within the Christian worldview, the issue of sin and the consequences of the fall factor prominently into the topic of human nature.

 

Refuting Oversimplifications: Wald and Calhoun-Brown’s Defense Against Partisanship Narratives

Posted on | by Kelvin

In chapter 7, “Religion and Public Opinion,” Wald and Calhoun-Brown write, “partisanship and political animosity seem to be at an all-time high” (p. 167). In the same breath, they challenge this characterization. They write, “However, examining the distribution of public opinion helps to highlight the limits of these characterizations and expose them as gross oversimplifications,
especially around issues of policy” (p. 168).
A. Explain the authors’ defense of this statement.

 

Original Post on Plueddemann’s Chapter (“Leadership, Cultural Values, and the Bible”)

Posted on | by Kelvin

 

Write two 250 word discussion board post over the book chapters listed below.
Highlight points of particular interest to you based on reading Plueddemann’s book chapter and Northouse’s book chapter (both posted as pdfs in Course Content. You are to post: 1-original post of between 225-250 words on Plueddemann’s chapter (“Leadership, Cultural Values, and the Bible”). Do the same thing for Northhouse’s book chapter (“Culture and Leadership”)