Religion Reflection

The Indigenous people of America are called Native Americans or often referred to as “Indians”. They make up about two percent of the population in the United States and some of them still live in reservations. They once lived freely in the wilderness without any sort of influence or exposure from the Europeans who later came in the year of 1492, and therefore their culture is very different from ours. The Iroquois are northeastern Native Americans who are historically important and powerful. In the following essay we will discover some differences between the religious beliefs of the Native American Iroquois and Christianity to see if culture and ways of living have an effect on the view of religion, but we will also get to know some similarities. I am going to be focusing on the Iroquois, which are the northeastern Native Americans in North America.

The author of the course textbook offered his definition of religion. Based on your own spiritual understandings and beliefs, do you agree with this definition? Explain your reasoning. Cite references where possible.

As a child, I remember always saying I want to live in a large house with all my close relatives. In retrospect, that was my greatest but far fetched fantasy, since I did not realize then how divided and chaotic my life truly was. I still don’t, since they say I pushed down all my unpleasant memories, and when I’m ready they’ll come out. I often regain glimpses of the past that hurt me deeply, so I wonder do I genuinely want to remember everything? Let’s rewind. A nickname for the South is the Bible Belt. Church is a part of everyone’s life, no matter what the social class. You pray for every meal, and every day and night you pray. I didn’t pray. There are so many different words that describe beautiful ways to worship, but I can think of none. I memorize the words I hear every day, like the Lord’s prayer, I repeat them, but no belief is held behind the words. I stare at the worshippers with their eyes closed and wonder how the same words have so much meaning for them. As I go home to my mother, her boyfriend and my step sister, I find the reason why I can’t pray. No matter how hard I deny it, they’re still the reason why.

Evaluate: Relate the effects of the event on yourself and others involved; describe emotions or images the experience evoked; identify the “heart of the matter”—what issue or question is raised/is at stake for you?

I’m taken this class because I want to have a broader idea about other religions. I hope this class will enlightened my mind, and I also hope it will allow me to dig deeper into what I believe. What the word religion means to me is to have faith in something we cannot see or understand, so the core of religion for me is having a strong faith in God.

During this course, I have learned about several different religions and philosophies. Being that I am a practicing Catholic, I have chosen to write what I learned about Christianity and Judaism. Being born and raised Catholic I know quite a bit about Catholicism and Christianity in general however, I never know too much about other Christian denominations. Judaism is the next religion I feel I know a little bit about based on my Catholic upbringing. So, with believing I knew a lot about these two religions I was surprised at what I learned by studying them in class. As I write about these two religions I will include elements that I took from the religions and incorporated them into my “created” religion based on Friends.

Who is God? Is a question I can easily imagine a kid asking an adult and the latter replying with God is our creator, or God is an old bearded guy up in the sky watching over us, or even God is a supreme immortal creator deity that certain people believe in. All those responses are different because those replies are based upon that person’s beliefs and values. There is no single correct answer to who or what is God . An answer to the question “Who or what is God?” can reveal how a person views God and religion. This past semester my answer to “who or what is God?” and “how can I relate to God?” has grown in depth of understanding and how I relate to God.

With what are we being filled with? We Christians today have heard this question time and time again. We say that God is what fills us; yet we are still left craving and wanting more. So if God is enough and we believe that to be true then are we really allowing God to be our ultimate source and spring of life if we are still left feeling empty?

Student Answer:           For me a religion consists of several different elements that are not universal to all religions found today. First, a religion is one that is shared and practiced by a group or ‘communal in nature’. Second, a religion has a unified set of beliefs that not only define the world and our place in it but also provides a set of ethical standards and guide to life. Third, I think a religion should invoke an emotional response from the believer through a supernatural connection with a higher being or God. Finally, I believe a religion should identify certain things that are sacred to the religion (Molloy, 2010).          Community or ‘communal in nature’: Having more than one person or a small group of people become followers of a religion is a testament to its validity in society. To me this is the most important aspect of defining religion. A true religion should be able to use its teachings and belief system to retain and cultivate new followers by connecting with them on a personal level.          Unified set of beliefs and code of ethics: What separates a religion from groups of people with an idea is the unified belief in something. Even if the exact details of those beliefs are not universal the overall beliefs are the same. An example would be all the different Protestant Churches, and the different sects of Islam and Buddhism. A religion’s beliefs should be (mostly) the same across the world. Also, there should be an ethical or moral code of

The Roman Catholic Church was the largest Christian church, with more than 1.25 billion members worldwide. One of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history of Western civilization. Headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, its doctrines are summarized in the Nicene Creed. One the one hand, the Catholic Church was also distinguished by its celebration of the seven sacraments. They are the Baptism, the First communion, the sacrament of the Forgiveness, the declaration of principles, the sacrament of Confirmation, the sacrament of the sick, the sacrament of the Marriage. Also, the Roman Catholic Church provided many basic religious beliefs. The ones shared by the other Christians as resulting from the New Testament and formulated in the

Before taking American Religious Lives, I had previously taking Mystery and Meaning, that was my first encounter with religion. Essentially everything that we have learned in the class has been new to me because I do not have any prior experience with American religion, since my other Religious Studies class focused on Asian and Native American religions. Growing up I never went to church growing up, but I was baptized, but never understood what that meant. I do no think of myself who is involved or a part of any religion. The fact that I am unfamiliar makes the class very challenging for me, but it is also a good type of challenge because it makes me work harder to understand all the topics discussed in class and it makes me really have to think deeper about all the topics. Not being associated with any religion is also helpful because I can be an outsider and not have a biased opinion and not have to choose a side of the different religious perspectives. Religion seems like it is a very complex topic, where a lot of religions in America have different sects and each sect has a different background. I knew that Christianity was the most popular religion in America, but I did not know about all the different sects and that Christianity as a whole is the faith of over 70% of Americans and that most of the other 30% is made up of people who are unaffiliated with any religion. (Wormald, 1).

was not raised in a family that went to church every Sunday. We rarely went to church, but it was not because we were against it or don’t believe in God. It just that it was never something we focused on. My parents weren't raised going to church every Sunday either, they would just occasionally go on holidays or with other family members. Therefore, going to church was not passed down to our family. We didn't talk much about God or the Bible, so we considered ourselves Christians but I did not know many of the formal bible stories except for what I have figured out over time by friends, school and doing my own research.

Introduction to Religious Quest has given me a more solid understanding on the history of religion. It also gave me a vivid explanation on how and why the world operates in a certain manner and how religion cannot be overlooked because it plays an important role in shaping the human life and character in relation to human experience. Initially, in the first few weeks of classes I had the idea that the class will mainly cover the moral characteristics and obligations in respect to religion placing more emphasis on Christianity given the nature of the Institution. But as time went by, other religion and their ideas were introduced. This made me realize that I have been biased about the term “Religion” in general. Because I come from a Christian background I never really considered how and what other religion and their ideas were like. The only idea that came to my mind was Christianity.

Throughout the course, the various readings regarding the philosophy discipline have surely affected my own belief system. Preceding the course, I had not considered many of the issued discussed. Some details, like Bentham’s theory, provided me with a completely new outlook. Others such as views of God and eternal life affirmed conclusions I had already made.

This past United States presidential election caught religious leaders by surprise. For the first time the number of non-religious voters outnumbered any single religious bloc of voters in a national election. This is the latest in a string of sobering reminders churches face a challenging new era in America.