Reflection Paper On Religion And Religion

Religion 120 has taught me something more than just the meaning of religion. I would argue that I will be taking away more knowledge from this class than any other class I have taken so far in my college career. The learning path Professor Robert takes has benefited me throughout the semester. The learning path I took persuaded me to open my mind and absorb and understand the ideas of other individuals. After I opened my mind up and read all of the content we were assigned in class, along with listened to my classmates and professor Robert’s take on religion, I was able to picture religion as something other than just the physical place of worship and discussions taken place there. When most individuals think of religion they think about going to church and not much else. Religion is so much more than just the physical place and the individuals leading the practice. Religion has the potential to help guide you in life, along with giving you a sense of meaning in this big world. Religion has the power to help you connect with individuals like yourself,

1. In a minimum of 100 words, describe the basic teachings of Zoroastrianism. What a fascinating religion, Zoroastrianism is! I never knew this religion existed. The first time I heard the word “Zoroastrianisam” it was a few months back when someone on Facebook was talking about Gal Gadot, the actress that plays wonder woman and saying that she is Zoroastrian, like it was a bad thing. Then, I found a chapter in my text book pertaining to Zoroastrianisam and I was excited to read the chapter, just to see what they are talking about. I asked myself, why would this be a bad thing if someone is Zoroastrian? I learned that this is probably the oldest monotheistic religion on the world and most importantly, the base for 3 major religions. Judaism,

Since the dawn of time, religion has been the staple of humanity. It has been our explanation for the unexplainable, as well a way for us to form a community with those around us. Due to the natural diversity of humans, a varied set of separate religions has formed throughout the world. Religions continue to adapt and inspire each other, however, they all have their differences, as well as internal differences through the observations of each believer.

In various cultures, religion and philosophy have a big impact on daily life. Religion affected India in several ways, and philosophy affected China. Hinduism and Buddhism are two religions that influenced India. China was also impacted by philosophies such as Legalism, Daoism, and Confucianism. People’s daily lives evolved around all of these factors.

With modern advancements in science, many people believe that science will be the death of religion. They would say that eventually, science will discredit enough aspects of religion that it will either disprove religion altogether, or it will cause enough people to question their faith that religion will no longer be necessary and will no longer exist. I believe, however, that while science may disprove certain aspects of religion, it is very possible for science and religion to coexist.

Reading a chapter from a book based on how philosophy differs from science and religion. In a way it does not, they are really the same. They just use different terminology in how they discipline is expressed. For example, the scientific method is how the scientist comes to a conclusion, just how philosophers ask certain questions to prove their debates or theories. Religion, on the other hand, is more closely related to philosophy because both deal with beliefs and faith base systems.

Even though religiosity and spirituality are recognized as highly complex and multifaceted concept, majority of studies on religion and family from the past several decades measure religiosity with only one or two items (Mahoney, 2010). Religion is measured as mere frequency of attendances or self-reports importance of religion in life. It is imperative to include deeper measurement of religion such as religious and spiritual fulfillment, connectedness to higher being, difficulties or conflicts with higher entity or faith community, and deeper integration of religious and spiritual beliefs in one’s everyday life.

Religion is the prominent key source that has brought people together conforming around one solid belief of God’s plan. Throughout history, different paths of religions have taken course and formed different segways of beliefs and followed the words of the bible in different ways. Any religion has brought peace to people, keeping their trust around faith worshiping of a superhuman with power. My family and friends have helped shape my religion towards the Catholic church, even if the older generations in the family have gone different directions, such as, methodist or lutheran. Overall, even with different religions and practices of church in my family, I have allowed myself to keep an open mind with studying religions, even if mine is solely catholic. Altogether, my family and I have allowed ourselves to be overall christians and believe in the higher power.

Religion is a subject that is viewed differently by everyone. No matter what religious background you come from your views about religion will be based on your own personal experience. Religion plays a major part on how we live our lives and its how we will use it to raise our kids. Davis, Hook, McAnnally-Linz, and Placeres writes “Furthermore, given that many individuals view religion as a core aspect of their identity, religion may be an important cultural avenue for promoting virtue” (Davis, Hook, McAnnally-Linz, and Placeres 242). Religion has always impacting our lives in so many ways. This can be based on how we treat people, how we see people or even how we interact with people on a daily basis. Getting to know someone and how they were raised is the first step in understanding their religious beliefs and experiences.

Throughout this Theology II class, I found myself thinking and learning more about my religion than I have ever before. Since I had twelve years of Catholic school I thought I knew mostly everything there was about religion, yet, this class challenged my understanding of things I thought I had a grasp of. Things such as contingent and necessary beings, revelation, the Church on homosexuals, Jesus’ life, the sacraments, spirituality, what a Jesuit is, who Ignatius is, what Laudato Si is, and what morality is; these are just are just to name a few that have transformed my idea of theology in this new age.

In Western society, religion plays a vital role in maintaining traditionalism. For instance, growing up as a Christian, I was taught that God loves everyone and forgives us of our sins, but he also condemns homosexuality and gives the consequence for such a lifestyle. Leviticus 20:13 mentions that “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood {shall be} upon them”. Basically, I believe that the Bible is saying that heterosexuality is the only way to living a comfortable and happy life. If one feels sexually attracted or drawn to the same sex, one should consider conversion therapy, ask for forgiveness from the Lord, or confess to the Virgin Mary. If one fails to comply by asking for forgiveness, one has not only committed a sin, but will also face judgement day by going to hell. Considering this theory, I do believe in the Bible and I agree, but I also believe that one should be free to choose who he or she wants to marry or love. That is, no one should be forced to live by what are claimed to be traditional norms and gender roles due to Christianity’s influence on society. We live in a society where one should be free to choose what religion they would like to practice or not and most of all, one should be free to express one’s sexuality without facing tragedies and feelings of oppression due to society’s rules, guidelines, regulations, definition of masculinity, and normality.

Religion these days have become the center of our attention as we contemplate whats right and what is wrong. Figuring out what religious views fit best with what you believe can be difficult to grasp as sometime we begin to wonder if what we read or believe actually is true. It is only human nature to question the beliefs that are set before us. Religious views all over the world have many spiritual beliefs and traditions that are all different in some way. It is important to have the knowledge of different religions as not everyone in this world believes the way you might. Having the sensitivity towards their belief is important and having the understanding that you can't change the way that they think. Two world religious views that are

When asked the question on my definition of religion, I decided to look at it in a way that goes beyond just my religion. Religion goes much deeper than being something that we just believe in, it is a relationship or a part of a person’s culture. My purpose of religion is something for me to try and understand what my goal in life is, as well as building a relationship with a higher being. Religion gives people that higher being that they can look to for guidance and comfort. I feel that you can also express your culture through religion as well as explain some of the reasons for some of the things that you have done in your life.

When we think of religion, we think of a higher being watching us from a holy place, ensuring that we are behaving accordingly. Growing up, my family never practiced any religion. I remember, when I was a child, I would go out every Sunday to play with my friends, but none of them would be available because they would be attending church. When I was younger, I remember attending a service once because all of my friends and their families were attending and I wanted to go with them. At the service, I was not truly paying attention to what the pastor was speaking, I was just trying to play with my friends. I vividly remember the look one of my friend’s mother gave me after I joked with my friend about how boring the service was. I, at the age of 8, remember being so bored, that I left the church while the pastor was still speaking.

Religion has been a topic that I have struggled with all my life. It was always a subject that I never had much interest in learning as it was not stressed to me as a child and because of this I have found myself to be ignorant to the practices of the major religions of the world. Stephen Prothero’s book God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World has helped me to develop a greater understanding of major religions like Islam, Confucianism, and Judaism. He was able to provide the basic ideas and stories of religions in an organized and simple manner that made it easy to understand the foundations of each religion. Prothero also explains the problem, solution, technique and exemplar for each respective religion to further develop that understanding. This was a great way to explain the major principals of these religions and educate those who are unfamiliar with them. Of all the religions Prothero presents us with in the chapters, the one I found to be most interesting was the one on Judaism.