Rachna Shah
Oct 20, 2017

Saying Yes and No

How does your faith ask you to renounce (say “no” to) some things in order to affirm (say “yes” to) other things? What is renounced? What is affirmed?

2 comments0 replies
enriquejsancheguiguren
Oct 22, 2017

I distinctly recall being at church with my family, as the priest was reading from the bible, and we were answering him by saying "Amen". As if we were co-signing what he was saying. Eventually he got to a passage on a woman being subservient to her husband. I didn't say Amen because that's not a sentiment I feel ok with endorsing. This is, to the best of my knowledge, a Catholic Church, and I like Pope Francis and I think they do good things but it's stuff like this that makes me not very religious at all.

1
Rachna Shah
Oct 23, 2017

I agree with the idea that a religion being very strict tends to cause it to lose followership as time goes on, particularly with today's generation. Do you believe that a religion can evolve to the point where people develop their own interpretations of the religion based off what they find applicable to their lives and what they agree with?

0
New Posts
  • Aung Myo Htun ( Kelly)
    Dec 31, 2017

    Buddhism has no "God"

    Discussion 
    Buddhism has no God. We do not worship and believe any gods or God. People outside of Buddhism often think that Buddhists worship the Buddha. However, the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) never claimed to be divine, but he is viewed by Buddhists as having attained what they are also striving to attain, which is spiritual enlightenment and, with it, freedom from the continuous cycle of life and death. That is why the ultimate goal of Buddhism is “Nirvana” (kind of peace in heaven). As for me, I don’t believe any gods or God except our Buddha who is a pioneer of the natural basic rules that is how to live in life, how to communicate with people, what is honest, how to remind ourselves every day. Let me know any comment or discussion. Aung Myo Htun ( Kelly) Myanmar
  • Lucy
    Nov 9, 2017

    The role of religion in the Middle East

    Discussion 
    Interesting Article about the declining role of religion in the Middle East by the Economist https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21730899-they-are-consolidating-their-own-power-process-despots-are-pushing
  • Valerie Wu
    Nov 13, 2017

    In the Classroom, Respecting Religious Divides

    Discussion 
    I come from a predominantly non-religious family, but decided I wanted to attend a private all-girls school for high school in eighth grade. I ended up attending a Catholic all-girls school about thirty minutes away. At the start, religion was the most difficult class for me--all of our essays had to begin with "as a Christian" even though some members of the class weren't Christian. When I began producing our school's weekly news segment, I was told that we had to focus on Pope Francis more. Currently, liturgical masses are required as part of the curriculumn, and not attending can lead to a detention. It's been hard trying to adapt to this newfound environment. Ultimately, though, it was my choice and I've learned to understand religion not as a "selective group"--which is how I viewed it before high school, but as a way of understanding the world. Yet I do acknowledge that being forced to start essays with "as a Christian" for a grade, or even participating in certain religious activites that go against one's own beliefs, may not be the most considerate way(s) of respecting our religious divides. How do you think (religious) minority students should act in this situation? What would be your advice to those who feel that ther own beliefs are not being understood?