Man Vs. God Article

1. Write the main thesis/argument for each article and then give as many of the main supporting arguments for each.

Dawkins:

Dawkin's main argument is that God never existed, because the theory of evolution means that God did not do anything.

One of his supporting arguments is that Evolution is the greatest thing that the universe has ever accomplished, and that the Universe created life through evolution. He also says that having a superhuman intelligence like God would be impossible, because an intelligence is so complex that it had to emerge over time instead of being the thing that created the world, intelligence developed over thousands of years.

Armstrong: Armstrong argues that God is just a symbol for something that can not be described, and can only be recognized through rituals and living a moral life.

She says that God was never meant to mean an actual figure, and in the beginnings of religion, God was just supposed to act as a symbol for an Ultimate Reality that humans had no way of describing, but over time God became more than a symbol, and became a true identity in some religions. She also says that religion was not created to provide a definitive explanation of the world, but to help people creatively solve solutions in daily life and find an inner peace amidst a crazy world.

2. Give at least one example of what made you "think"

One of the points that made me think was when Karen Armstrong said that religion was not created to give a definitive explanation of the universe. This makes sense to me, but throughout the class part of our definition of religion is that it provides an explanation for why things are the way they are, and answers questions that humans can not logically answer.

Another thing that made me think was when Dawkins talks about how life does not correspond to the laws of physics, but uses them to it's advantage. I thought that was interesting because I have never really thought about how scientists do not usually consider people in Physics and most sciences. We are trying to understand everything around us, but other than in Psychology and Biology, we never really try to understand ourselves and how we relate to scientific concepts.

3. What is the "knowledge" presented by each of the authors?

In her article, Armstrong suggests that God is known through synthetic proposition, meaning that the symbol of God is used to simplify and abstract meaning that humans can not see or comprehend. She also uses language as a way of knowing by breaking down the meaning of the word "God" and analyzing whether or not it is a symbol or a literal meaning. Also, Dawkins uses a value judgement by stating "Evolution is the universe's greatest work."Although it is more relative to him and his opinions, he still knows it.

Ways of Knowing Assignment

Sense Perception: What is it? Why or how is it a way of knowing?

Sense perception is when you know something through seeing, touching, smelling, hearing, or tasting it. Basically, it is knowing something using your senses. It is a way of knowing because you can not know anything if you never sense it. If all of a person's senses were turned off for their entire life, they would never be able to know anything because their brain would never even recognize it.

Language: What is it? Why or how is it a way of knowing?

Language is any method of communicating between people or animals. It doesn't neccesarily have to be a spoken language, just something that can communicate what a person is trying to get across. If language did not exist, a person would not even be able to express what they know, and a lot of the things that we know are communicated to us by someone else. I think that Language is secondary to sense perception, you have to have sense perception to have language and to have a reason for using language.

Reason: What is it? Why or how is it a way of knowing?

Reason is using logic to understand or know something. I think you have to combine language and sense perception in reason and you use reason to know more about these and understand them more. For example, if you see something but you do not know what it is, you would use reason to figure it out.

Emotion: What is it? How or why is it a way of knowing?

You know something through emotion because it drives you to want to know and understand things. Also, sometimes you can only really know things through understanding how they feel emotionally, like what it feels like to be happy or sad.

Religion for Dummies Chapter 1

1. Describe the reasons why people follow (or flock) to religion.

One of the reasons that people follow religion is because it offers hope in a world that seems otherwise hopeless. It also addresses solutions to daily problems in life and large problems that all people experience and also questions that can not be answered. Also religion offers the possibility of finding long term joy in life instead of short term joy that is achieved through the material parts of life. Religion also offers a system of morals, and allows people to be happy with their lives by doing the right things and having good morals. Also, it addresses the question of suffering and most religions have a solution to end suffering. Also along with mental or spiritual health, some religions improve physical health through practices like yoga.

2. Compare and contrast religion, philosophy and spirituality.

Religion is different from philosophy because it includes rituals and philosophy does not. Also, philosophy uses reason and religion uses reason and revelations and guidance from a higher power, for example, religions believe in miracles which go beyond reason, while philosophies only use reason. Spirituality is different from religion because it is a connection to ultimate reality, but does not necessarily follow the same guidelines that religions follow like rituals and and ethics.

Ways of Being Religious

1. Describe each of the 6 ways of being religious:

The Way of Sacred Right: The process of trying to experience a Higher Power through rituals. This is usually done to achieve a feeling of support for all the things that are going on in someone's life and to get a feeling of renewal. It is usually done in groups, but can also be done alone.

The Way of Right Action: The process of trying to have everyone follow some type of moral code and so that everything is how it was intended to be. It is also trying to bring a part of a Higher Power into a person's daily life.

The Way of Devotion: Developing a personal relationship with a Higher Power. A person completely accepts it into their life and in return hopes to receive a sense of hope and a feeling of it's presence.

The Way of Shamanic Mediation: When a person goes into a different state of consciousness, hoping that they will be able to be at one with a Higher Power for a short period of time. The process is intended to bring change and solve problems in a person's life.

The Way of Mystical Quest: A journey to break free of the boundaries from life. The goal is usually to achieve unity with a higher power through some kind of process or path.

The Way of Reasoned Inquiry:The process of trying to answer questions that can't logically be explained, and trying to have a true understanding of how and why things are the way they are. This is usually done by studying holy texts and the history of the specific religion

2. What are the advantages of studying religion using this method?

One of the advantages is that it helps students get rid of generalizations that they have about different religions and any bias that someone has from being exposed to a specific religion. Also, by understanding one of the ways of being religious, it might help someone understand another way of being religious from that specific religion. Another advantage is that they provide a basis for examining the differences and similarities between religions. Also, using the framework, you can distinguish between what are really differences between religions and what are just contrasts based on whether or not you are comparing the same way of being religious. Also, you can use the framework to compare different patterns that are found in every religion but are still different to each religion. Also, it can open discussion of common problems that people who practice certain religions face and help people who belong to different faiths to have a mutual understanding of each other.

3. Explain what you think are the two greatest differences between eastern and western religions.

I think that one of the biggest differences between eastern and western religions is that western religions include the belief that there is only one higher power that is holy and should not be associated with the rest of human life generally because it is superior to the things that it created. Another important difference between western and eastern religions is that western religions have a historical element. The history of the religion usually begins with some sort of divine intervention or revelation to a historical figure in history who then finds followers and spreads the religion through converts. Most eastern religions do not focus on the history of the religion, except for small examples, and most eastern religions have not grown through conversion.

David Sedaris- Jesus Shaves

I think the point that David Sedaris is trying to make in "Jesus Shaves" is that it is hard to convey why people believe in the things they do, because it is hard to explain faith to someone. It is hard to explain why you believe something without proof especially when they believe in something else like the Moroccan student who does not understand why people celebrate Easter. I think another point that he is trying to make is that what people believe can be interpreted in many different ways. 

I think this is important to remember when you study religions because you may never understand why a group of people believe something and if you judge them for their beliefs, then you will never really learn anything about that religion. Also, people can interpret religious beliefs in different ways, and you need to take those different interpretations into account when studying religion.