Activity [
Lesson 2]
Reconsider the Religion Realm:
Profound Differences--Often
Overlooked
Directions A: Use the blank form
below to jot
your quick responses to the set of questions (1-5).
Number your answers, and reply in a brief phrase or in a sentence. If you
aren't sure, give your "best guess" at the answer. Respond to
the complete set of questions before you study the "Did You Know?"
chart that follows the form.
1.
What best predicts the life stance of an adult?
2.
When a child in your class volunteers that her family never attends any
religious services, what meaning can you attach to that family's degree of
religious commitment?
3.
Media in the United States often discuss religious diversity and tabulate
demographics regarding religions. You might see a chart with the term
"Faith" in the left column followed by "Buddhist" and
"Christian" and "Muslim" and "Hindu" and
"Jewish" along with a count in right column? What's wrong with that?
4.
Our media often set the "religious and spiritual" idea apart from the
"secular" in describing people living their lives. Where does
this strategy come from?
5.
In some countries (e.g., Australia) it is considered bad manners to ask another
person their religion. What are your thoughts on the propriety of such
questioning?
Directions B: Study the table
below, row by row. Ponder the implications of each row for your own
thinking before you move to the next row. The statements within this table
derive from material in The State of Religion Atlas.2REF
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Chart:
Looking Beyond One Outlook
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Topic
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Major
Idea
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Elaboration
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stating religious affiliation
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The meaning of “claiming a religious affiliation”
differs from faith to faith, (as well as from country to country).
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In both Islam and Hinduism, the notion of religion as
a separate ingredient is unthinkable. In many places, Islam describes
itself as a “way of life” rather than as a “faith.” And
Hinduism’s “faith” is not what is meant when a Christian talks of
faith.
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how much a faith is practiced
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Questions about how much a faith is “practiced”
are not really appropriate to those whose religious identity goes hand in
hand with ethnic, social and cultural identity.
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For many if not most people, their religious faith is
not a matter of conscious choice. They are born into and reared in a given
set of values and beliefs, and unless some trauma shakes them or they move
out of their own culture, the religion of their birth remains their
religion throughout life.
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religious observance / attendance
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It is a mistake to equate religious life with church
attendance or to assume that lack of attendance is any measure of a
discrepancy between professed belief and practice.
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Compared to other countries, the USA has developed a
high level of church attendance among those professing a faith. TV and
radio and other alternatives, however, are available as means of religious
observance, and there is growing interest in spiritual explorations
through secular and unconventional channels.
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religion and life
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Even within Christianity, the notion of religion as
separate from life is largely a Protestant northern European/North
American idea.
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The division into a public, secular world and a
private, religious/spiritual world has colored how religion is understood.
This in turn has led to a greater marginalization of religion from social
life and use of a model that divides secular from religious.
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uncertainty and doubt
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The issue of religion is difficult for the many
people who are uncertain that they can believe anything specific about the
divine or who are sure that they cannot.
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It is not socially acceptable anywhere to profess to
be an agnostic or atheist. In a handful of places (e.g., Iran) it is
dangerous. Worldwide, the number who count themselves agnostic or as
having no faith is growing. The number who say they are atheists is not
sizable and is not growing.
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Directions C: After your study of
the table, respond again to the five questions.
Record afresh using the form below. This
time, incorporate any new insights you may have gained from the table
information.
1.
What best predicts the life stance of an adult?
2.
When a child in your class volunteers that her family never attends any
religious services, what meaning can you attach to that family's degree of
religious commitment?
3.
Media in the United States often discuss religious diversity and tabulate
demographics regarding religions. You might see a chart with the term
"Faith" in the left column followed by "Buddhist" and
"Christian" and "Muslim" and "Hindu" and
"Jewish" along with a count in right column? What's wrong with that?
4.
Our media often set the "religious and spiritual" idea apart from the
"secular" in describing people living their lives. Where does
this strategy come from?
5.
In some countries (e.g., Australia) it is considered bad manners to ask another
person their religion. What are your thoughts on the propriety of such
questioning?
End of Activity. Return to
Guide Sheet.
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