Man vs. God

Read the packet from the Wall Street Journal titled "Man vs. God"

Although the packet has Karen Armstrong's article first - read Richard Dawkins articles first.

1) After you have read the articles: write the main thesis / argument for each and then give as many of the main supporting arguments for each. I suggest that you take notes as you go so you can formulate the argument after you've read.

Richard Dawkins said that because of the theory of evolution, God became less believable for most people in the world. He also said that if there was a God, he had no hand in the creation of life due to evolution. If that was correct then he would've been very bored with everything in the world. Dawkins stated that life was the only thing that could manipulate the laws of physics. He states that the possibility of life is out there, but if there is extra terrestrial life, then it is probably unsophisticated.

Karen Armstrong agrees with Dawkins on his belief that the theory of evolution has dealt a serious blow to the concept and the belief of God. But, she thinks that God is and should be seen as a symbol, and thinks that the idea of God has not been given up on due to the fact that people see him through symbols. She also said that religion should now, not instead of answering unanswerable questions, but along with it, be a way to guide one's life. Religion should now be viewed and understood more for the moral actions and values in life.

2) Also as you read make notes of what is most intriguing and / or interesting to you. Give at least one example of something that made you "think".

Something i found very interesting, was when Karen Armstrong was talking about the ancient Greeks. She said, "Most cultures believed that there were two recognized ways of arriving at truth. The Greeks called them Mythos and Logos. Both were essential and Neither was superior to the other; they were not in conflict but complimentary, each with its own sphere of competence." This intrigued me because we talked about a chart in class where it was a circle that was not connected in the middle, and the ends were reason and religion. Which, in essence is what she is saying the Greeks believed a few thousand years ago.

3) Finally, develop a ToK approach to the reading. What is the "knowledge" presented by each of the authors.

Neither author has complete proof of what they are saying, but they both use the metaphysical knowledge of God to describe what they are trying to say.

Ways of Knowing

Within ToK there are 4 main "ways of knowing"

Although you do not know what the definitions of the "ways of knowing" the four "ways" are given below. For each of the ways of knowing I would like you to answer the questions given. Don't worry if your responses are right or wrong, take an intelligent guess and then we will discuss.

Sense Perception:
- What is it? - Using the 5 senses to describe and understand something.
- Why or how is it a "way of knowing" - you must be able to sense something to know about it. you must be able to touch taste hear see or smell something or observe multiple ones of these to be able to know about it.

Language:
- What is it? - A way of communicating ideas and knowledge between multiple people
- Why or how is it a "way of knowing" - you must be able to communicate your ideas and be able to hear other peoples' ideas to know anything.

Reason:
- What is it? - it gives logic to our ways of thinking and makes things seem possible.
- Why or how is it a "way of knowing" - things must seem logical to know them, and things must be reasonable. ideas we have must be reasonable for us to study them and learn about them.

Emotion:
- What is it? - they are the reason we learn about something if we like it. they also give an identity to our memories, like if we remember something in a good way it it a good memory

- Why or how is it a "way of knowing" - we must have a reason to learn something or we must care about it to learn about it.

Jesus Saves Assesment

Read the article: "Jesus Shaves" by David Sedaris. Although a humorous essay, what is the important point Sedaris addresses in relation to religious belief? Why is this an important thing to keep in mind when studying religions?

Jesus Shaves addresses the miscommunication and the differences in religions belief in different places. the specific example they give is that when they are describing easter to a student in their french class who has never heard of it, they all have different views on it. In the class, they explain that in France they believe a bell comes from rome and leaves the people chocolate, where in the US a bunny brings chocolate to the children and hides eggs that they can find. The significance of this is that religions are interpreted differently everywhere and that people have different traditions and beliefs in the same religion.

The Ways of Being Religious

From the essay hand-out Essay IV: Ways of Being Religious and Essay V: Distinctive Traits of Western Religions answer the following discussion questions.

Read pages 4, 5 and 6:

Describe each of the 6 "ways of being religious"

Sacred Rite is the use of rituals and symbols to bring the religious experience to a physical form and to a more personal level.

Right Action deals with the way things are supposed to be. It deals with ultimate reality and the sacred intendedness of life.

Devotion is the forming of a personal relationship with god or ultimate reality.

Shamanic Meditation is the entering into an altered state of consciousness to reach atonement

with ultimate reality

Mystical Quest is where one is on a deliberate path to become free of the obscuring limitations

of ordinary life, and obtain a direct connection with ultimate reality.

Reasoned Inquiry is the study of religious scripture in an attempt to obtain divine wisdom.

Using page 9 - 10:

What are the advantages of studying religion using this method.

Get rid of generalizations that could lessen the ability to view different aspects of the religion.

To help understand different aspects of individual religions.

to help recognize similarities and differences between religions that aren't usually seen.

Help see true differences in religions and rule out misleading and false ones.

Open comparisons between religions that doesn't get rid of the importances of the religions.

Open paths for dialogue and understanding.

Using the "distinctive traits of Western Religions"

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

One of the greatest differences between the eastern religions and the western religions is that the western are monotheistic and the eastern and polytheistic. The western religions all have God being ultimate reality, where the eastern religions are mostly focused on the individual. In the eastern religions there are gods and idols that lead the way to a better life, where in the western religions there are the prophets. Another large difference between the religions is the difference between good and evil. In the Western religions God is the all-knowing judge of god and evil and is the ultimate decider of good and evil. In the Eastern religions good and evil is focused more around morals and karma.