Transcript Religion - Humanities

Religion
Humanities G 125
Rasmussen College
Objectives
 1. Learn about other religions
 2. Understand misconceptions about other
religions
 3. Understand the relationship between the
Humanities and religion
Why learn about religion?
 Dan Dennet on God and Religion – proposes
that religion, all religions be taught in school.
Types of Religion
 Monotheism
 Polytheism
 Philosophical—no particular God or gods—more
a philosophical look at living. Example: Taoism
Monotheism
 Christian, Judaism, Islam
 All three religions come from the same source.
 Abraham, believed in one God
 Judaism – derives its name from Judah, son of
Jacob. First 5 books of Hebrew bible are called
The Torah—attributed to Moses
 Islam –descended from Ishmael, son of Abraham
and Hagar, when Sarah couldn’t conceive. Sarah
did conceive and Ishmael was exiled. He
wandered in the desert until he found Mecca,
where Mohammed later founded the religion
Three Faiths, One God
 Excerpt from the documentary: Three Faiths,
One God: Judaism, Christianity, Islam
 Three Faiths excerpt
 The Interfaith Amigos
Muslim
 Frontline Documentary
 Why I wear a Hajib
 Reel Bad Arabs
Buddhism
 The Life of Buddha
 Karma
 Cleanse the mind, liberate the soul = meditation
 Siddharta fasted for 40 days
 “If the string is too tight, it will snap” – must live in the
“Middle Way”. Live between extreme denial and a
total mystical withdrawal from life.
 Fingers touching together lightly – like a string being
held not too tightly, or too loosely.
Four Truths of Buddhism
 Life is filled with pain.
 Pain is caused by unfulfilled desires.
 There is a way out of pain.
 The way is to follow the Eightfold Path.
Eightfold Path
 Right Views – opinions based on a knowledge of
things as they are
 Right Intentions – decisions to act on such views
 Right Speech – saying what is appropriate,
guarding one’s statements so that they do not
provoke anger and defensive behavior in others,
but it does not mean saying what is known to be
false in order to avoid giving offense.
Eightfold Path
 Right conduct – behaving toward and
interacting with others in accordance with things
as they are, not as you want them to be.
 Right livelihood – earning what is needed to
survive and help others to survive, but never
earning for its own sake and for unnecessary
possessions earning makes possible
Eightfold Path
 Right effort is striving to do what needs to be
done, not to advance one’s own cause or
prestige
 Right mindfulness is maintaining the sitting or
meditative attitude anywhere, whether in
solitude or in society.
 Right Concentration—focusing unwaveringly on
reality without the intrusion of ego and the idle
chatter that floods the mind.
Buddhist Monks
 Morality
 Meditation
 Wisdom
 Practice Mindfulness
 Brahman means universal soul
 Brahminism lead to Hinduism which led to
Buddhism
Nirvana or Moksha
 State of bliss – free from pain and stress of life.
 Without pain, people cannot experience
Nirvana.
Taoism
 Pronounced, “dow”
 Traced back to the writings of Lao-tzu, sixth century
B.C.E.
 Tao Te Ching (dow day jing) – The Way of Life
 Health of the body’s system, the mind’s harmonious
processes, ethical dealings in all human interaction,
respect for elders, and hospitality to strangers.
The Three treasures of Tao
 Love yourself
 Merciful – love other people—global citizens
 Forgiveness – kind hearts, no judgment
The Tao of Pooh
 Eeyore’s Secrets of Happiness
 Dr. Wayne Dyer : Change your thinking; Change
your Life. Living the Wisdom of the Tao Ti Ching.
 How to live our lives in a place where we can
find
Agnostics
 People who don’t believe in, but don’t
necessarily discount a higher being.
Atheism
 People who do NOT believe in any higher power.
Religion and Art
 What is the connection between Art and
Religion?
 Art and Religion with Artist Joseph Brickey
 Architecture
 Influence of Hinduism and Buddhism on Religious
Architecture
Conclusion
 What did you learn tonight?
 Did your understanding of religions increase?
 How has religion influenced humanities? Give
specific examples.
 Is there anything that you would like to know
more about? Or anything you might continue to
study?