The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

The belief system is based on the earth resting on the back of a turtle swimming in the ocean and that creation occurred by “Sky Woman” coming down and creating land and populating it.

Halloween is a fun, worldwide holiday. Today, Halloween, for children, is going out onto the streets and roaming from house to house asking for, mainly, candy. For adults, Halloween could mean parties, or handing out things to the children, or spending time with family. A similar holiday to Halloween, Day of the Dead. Day of the Dead is mainly limited to hispanic culture, however it has started to spread in more recent years. During Day of the Dead families create altars to attract and guide loved ones to their home, and the afterlife. Día de los Muertos consists of many community-wide celebrations, and parties. During Day of the Dead many people will dress up as skeletons and parade the streets of their community. These holidays might

Church of the Brethren does not accept abortion. Participating in abortion is not support their beliefs. Church of the Brethren is a denomination that was formed to continue their practices their own way. They started as a small group and to this day still recruit new members. They solely use the New Testament as their source of guidance for the practice they preach. Rational Choice theory explains Church of the Brethren 's position in opposing abortion.

A couple of the families were Jewish, another family was atheist, one parent was Unitarian and the last parent was of an ethical culture society. The Parents were to believe that the school was violating the first amendment of the constitution and this was not right; that according to Thomas Jefferson there should be a separation of state and church. Never before had the public school board been argued against with prayer like issues ( Haas, pg 7-20).

In cases having to do with constitutionality, the issue of the separation of church and state arises with marked frequency. This battle, which has raged since the nation?s founding, touches the very heart of the United States public, and pits two of the country's most important influences of public opinion against one another. Although some material containing religious content has found its way into many of the nation's public schools, its inclusion stems from its contextual and historical importance, which is heavily supported by material evidence and documentation. It often results from a teacher?s own decision, rather than from a decision handed down from above by a higher power. The proposal of the Dover Area School District to

Church a place many people go on Sunday mornings. A place to worship in the Lord and Savior or whichever God the individual believes in. Some individuals believe that church can only be held in the church building. When in reality it can be held anywhere for example the bedroom or a field. A thing that has been noticed is there are many types of people who go that fit in with a certain group. The types include everyone from the screaming child to the strict churchgoers and everything in between. Church may be a good place to go but it is believed that the churches today are corrupt.

The American education system is one of the main places of controversy for the Separation of Church and State. Almost every child in the United States attends some type of school, many of them public systems. In such a school setting, these children are often exposed to the beliefs of their teachers and administrators, as well as their own classmates. In Greece, New York, ever since 1999, the town board has begun their monthly gatherings with prayer. Rev. Lou Sirianni begins his gathering by stating: "Be thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable assembly," the prayer ended, "All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Savior" (Wolf 1). Recently in 2007, two residents who regularly attended board meetings, Susan Galloway and Linda Stephens, complained that the prayers were promoting more of a Christian community than any other religion (Masci 3). Although separation of church and state is stated briefly in the First Amendment, these two ladies had the right to go after the town for not allowing a freedom of religion and for most importantly throwing religion into a government owned school function. The case was brought to the Supreme Court in 2007 and is still under debate, with a result hopefully by the end of June 2014. The question is whether or not this prayer is allowed at a school function. Not everyone is willing to put

I found it interesting to know that the Wiccan religion does have holidays. There are 8 holidays called Sabbats. The Wiccan calendar follows the seasons. These holidays are Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lammas, Mabon. Kathy states the Goddess also goes through the seasons as Maiden, Mother and Crone. Here are a few dates and Holidays that Kathy mentions. Samhain is the Wiccan New Year. Which is October 31 or November 1. This is a big holiday for her. Her family gets together and has a big feast on this day. Kathy states “The veil between worlds is the thinnest during this time.” I found that very interesting. Imbolic is the holiday that celebrates the beginning of the preparations of Spring and planting. The time of year for this holiday is February 1st and 2nd. Kathy is real big into harvest and planting. She has a big garden in her backyard. She was so kind as to give me some of her cucumbers that she planted and grew in her garden.

In many different cultures, people celebrate holidays differently. I’ll be comparing La dia de los Muertos (Day of the dead) and Halloween. I will be comparing what they do, why they do it, and they food they eat on these holidays.

In USA we have many national holidays for all sorts of things. These holidays often times in remembrance or too honor someone or something of importance. For example, not long before this was written Martin Luther King Jr. day arrived. It honors MLK and all he did for African American equality. There is another day that should be honored though, that currently isn’t. The Boston Tea Party, it played a large role in the revolution, is already well known but is a topic that could use more discussion, and it had drastic results. Yet, it still has nothing in its honor besides a few memorials.

From the Campbell University School of Law, Jennifer Irby examines the court case Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe which had occurred three months prior. The purpose of the article was to expose the reader to the complicated issue of prayer in schools with an objective viewpoint. This article is similarly set up to Speich’s article of this case as they both are broken down into parts

Cults are the groups that exhibit intense and unquestioning devotion to a single cause. All the group members have a same goal or mission, and the group thinking helps the group members to stick on the same goal. For the Heaven Gate, their goal is to enter the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom level above human. The documentary of “Heaven Gate Cult” perfectly shows the four ways for the cult to promote their group thinking.

In 1974 Dulles published Models of the Church to address questions concerning ecclesiology-the study of the church. Many people believe that they know the meaning of the church, which is a place to become closer to God. However, there is more than what meets the eye when it comes to the Church, since it is a very complex organization. Dulles' book identifies and describes the different functions the Church possesses which Jesus Christ founded and continues to oversee today. He categorizes the models into five aspects: Church as institution, Church as mystical communion, Church as sacrament, Church as herald, Church as servant, and lastly his new model Church as community. In this

B. Topic Link: The holidays connection to it’s origins have mostly fallen by the wayside, and a number of new American traditions have developed.

The first chapter of the Unitarian Universalist welcome book kicks off with the question of, “What Do Unitarian Universalists Believe?” It expresses that they believe in the freedom of religious expression. They encourage all individuals to develop their own personal theologies, and present their religious opinions without Fear of reprisal. Unitarian Universalists can be known as heretics, because they make their own choice of what they believe or not believe. They believe in intellectual freedom, and encourage their members to have an open mind and heart that is truly free and open. They also believe in the authority of reason and conscience. The ultimate arbiter in religion is not the church or document, but rather the personal choice and decision of the individual. Unitarian Universalists are also known to be very vocal by supporting civil rights and protest unjust wars. They welcome and integrate gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members, and help support their rights in society. They have Sunday sermons were they unite just like Christians do on Sunday in a church. Unitarian Universalists express themselves with seven principles and six sources that they all share. Their Services include time for meditation, singing and prayer led by a minister. They have a symbol known as, the “chalice”, which has a special meaning to them.