Religious Experience & Ethics and Moral Conduct

Gender and religious experience

Ordination of women in various denominations, and women mystics 

Ordination, according to Christianity, is the process by which a person becomes a religious authority, such as a priest or a bishop. The issue of whether women may be ordained is controversial because some sects of Christianity are reluctant to respond to the advances in gender equality for a variety of reasons. Certain verses of the Bible such as Timothy 2:11-15 allude to an all male leadership in the church, and the all male apostles suggests that the leadership of the church, which is meant to be apostolic, should also be all men. The following denominations allow women ordination: Anglican, Community of Christ, Jehovah's Witness*, The following denominations don't allow women ordination: Church of Later Day Saints, Catholic Church, Orthodox, *cannot baptize or any significant rituals, but may lead prayer with a head covering on. Protestant- about half of the subdenomintations ordain women.

Ethical practice and legal issues

Medical issues: euthanasia, embryo research, genetic engineering, abortion

Christianity is opposed to euthanasia because it is said that it invades God's territory to control life and death. Furthermore it is said that it is a violation of the fifth commandment that thou shalt not kill. The catholic church went on record to say "[euthanasia is a] violation of the divine law, an offense against the dignity of the human person, a crime against life, and an attack on humanity." 

Christianity is also opposed to embryo research for the reason of preserving the sanctity of life. All fertilized embryos are regarded as human beings, and the destruction of them is considered to be killing and therefore a grave sin. However, other options of acquiring stem cells such as from umbilical cords are condoned by the church as ethical. 

Abortion is considered in the same way as embryo research, but even worse because it does not advance science and is solely to kill/prevent life. 

Genetic engineering is a gray area, as humans were given dominion over all living things on the earth, including ourselves. However, the body is considered a temple of God, and therefore is not ours to be altered. The complete formation of the human body is still unknown and therefore the argument is made that we cannot understand God's workings and therefore shouldn't tamper with the finer elaborate things. 

Religion and its Subjectiveness to Violence

The Holocaust

The Holocaust started due to the passive and active perpetrators that held deep feelings of animosity toward Jews. Ingrained by almost 2000 years of antisemitism in Christian teachings‚ this made the Jews receptive to the message of the Nazis, and which made the idea of eliminating Jews, even through extermination, reasonable and indeed desirable. The Nazi party blamed Germany's troubles following WWI on the Jews. The Jews began losing their rights and ability to defend themselves legally. Eventually, the greater mistreatment began with the implementation of concentration camps and ghettos and the final moving to death camps and of course, mass genocide. Many Jews were not able to escape to the US either because of immigration laws, which blocked their entry. This resulted in the massive losses to the Jewish people. Losses that reached over seven million deaths. 

The most likely way to prevent a situation like the Holocaust is to become a more active society that is not afraid to come to the aid of another. 

1. Christianity was formed by Jewish traditions and with the new following of the leader Jesus Christ. The Graeco-Roman world that it was formed in was conducive to travel and the indoctrination of the Roman emperor was key to its spread.
2. Jesus failed to fulfill the role as Messiah by not bringing the end of the world and the judgement of all people for their sins.
3. Baptism and Communion.
4. The Gospels were written up to several decades after the death of Christ, the first section to be written of the new testament is the Galatians or Thessalonians.
5. Constantine was essential to Christianity's survival because it created a new headquarters during the fall of the Roman empire and the practitioners a safe place of haven.
6. Eastern Orthodox Christianity differs in belief from western Christianity in the area of original sin and ancestral sin and the immaculate conception of Mary.
7. Indulgences,
8. Baptism, Communion, Confirmation, Holy Orders, Matrimony, Last Rites, Reconciliation.
9. Vatican II was a great sequel to Vatican I, and had several difference that  I cannot remember.
10. Liberation theology is a concept that involves a different interpretation of Christianity to create a new set of beliefs and are both fundamentally different and also similar to Roman Catholicism.

Taoism Questions

1.For me, I find the oneness with nature to be the most beautiful aspect about Taoism. Also the way the religion didn’t need a huge push to spread Taoism, like that of Christianity. One thing I find difficult to understand is that some of the symbolism can be difficult to follow sometimes.

2.What is beautiful about the Tao is that it does not have to be associated with the idea of a god. It can be left as purely recognizing a higher force present in the universe. By noticing the patterns in nature and their seemingly perfect properties, Taoists believe that these are not mere coincidence, but rather the workings of a higher force.

3.In western culture, ch’i has become more spiritual. Are you at balance? Health wise? Yoga (although traditionally hinduism) has ch’i incorporated aspects. It is actually quite interesting to observe these concepts westernized after studying their original roots.

4.Unfortunately, as I have aged and matured (somewhat), magic has ceased to be an explanation for phenomena. I seek answers to things, real concrete answers, and magic just isn’t enough of an explanation.  

5.The literal translation of Wu Wei is “without action.” To me, this means that one cannot actively pursue the concept of Wu Wei, rather by not trying, one will stumble upon it’s true meaning.

6. Yin and Yang are the opposites in found in every living and nonliving thing that creates a balance within the world. To define masculine as the positive and feminine as the negative is, I think, simply a reflection of the time period which Taoism originated. Those who decided to follow Lao Tzu likely lived in a male dominated society and wanted to present themselves as a positive influence.

7. If you killed someone, you are probably considered evil. But if that person were to kill a lot of people in the future, are you justified? Evil actions can have a positive action buried within, just as a good action can have and evil action buried within. It is difficult to separate the two into intrinsically good and bad.

8. Life cannot be a straight line. Considering the life path as a maze more accurately frames and reflects the reality of most people's experience. A vector is a tempting metaphor because magnitude and movement are part of life's journey, but straight lined paths are rare. Being born and growing big, fast and directly hitting the end goal is an unrealistic expectation in this world. Such a vector-like standard can be a platform for regret and despair. A maze, full of choices, challenges and questioning at every turn, is an adventure, and adventure is how we learn.

9. Oh absolutely not, Taoism is unique in this aspect.

Religious Site Reflection

I went on a bus. It was fun. 10/10 would recommend to a friend.






































































Just kidding. The field trip was a very informative and awesome experience. Each religion is beautiful in their own unique ways. It was amazing to see the intricacy of the beliefs, yet the underlying simplistic nature of respect each religion has for any other religion. My favorite part was listening to the Rabbi make the connection to Tibetan Buddhism. Whether on purpose or not he did an excellent job speaking. This is the second year I've been on this trip, and just like last year, I was awed at the extreme differences in culture and faith that were so close in distance. Thank you for this experience.


First stop: Islamic Center
The implementation of a school into the center seems just like a Catholic school, in the fact that children are taught everything needed for school exams, just the added religious classes. All of the men and women we encountered were very nice and respectful. The presentations when we were in the mosque were very interesting (although seemed very advanced for their age) and the recitations were beautiful and equally impressive.

Second Stop: Buddhist center
When the bus pulled up to this tiny building in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere, I didn't give it much thought. However the decorative design inside was quite pleasing actually. To listen to the nuns that seemed very down to earth and very knowledgeable about their faith was interesting. Much focus was spent on the Dalai Lama, which was frustrating, but understandable.

Third Stop: Hindu Temple
Looking out of the window and seeing this elaborate white detailed building was a treat in itself. You KNEW that you had just pulled up to a Hindu temple because you could see it from a quarter mile away. Our tour guide was late, but it gave us an opportunity to explore the compound. We were escorted into the temple and treated to a ritual (which I cannot remember the name of) and given much information about the religion. However, what I remember most is just the detail of everything there.

Fourth Stop: Jewish Synagogue
Being asked to wear a yarmulke was somewhat strange to me personally, but it is understandable within the confines of Judaism. I mentioned it before, the rabbi was an excellent speaker and made the experience all the more enjoyable. Although tired from the day of activity, he held my attention especially when he showed us the torah scroll. He was very open to showing us everything which made it extremely interesting.

Hinduism Review

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Independent Christian Study

Theme 1: Rituals

Objectives

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