20 Jan Your paper should include

RELI448 Comparative Religions

Week 1 Assignment: Perspectives Essay

Due Sunday by 11:59pm Points 25 Submitting a file upload

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 1

Lesson

Minimum of 2 scholarly sources (1 for the etic view, and 1 for the emic view. Your source for the emic view should come from someone who writes with authority in the religion you chose. For example, if you chose Buddhism, you could use a quotation from His Holiness, Dalai Lama XIV).

Instructions

Make sure to read the lesson this week to learn about etic and emic perspectives so that you can appropriately apply them in this assignment. In an essay, apply the etic and emic perspectives to your own religion or a religion with which you have some familiarity.

How would your tradition be described etically? Remember that this is an outsider’s perspective of what can be measured, studied, or observed.

How would it be described emically? Remember that this is an insider’s perspective as seen by practitioners

Make sure that you are using at least one source for each approach and include citations from the assigned readings and additional scholarly sources.

Click on the following link to view an example:

Link: Shinto Example

Etic

Shintoism is the indigenous religious practice of the Japanese archipelago. Having no specific founder, the practices and belief of Shinto (the Way of the Gods) can be traced to Japanese pre-history (Molloy, 2018, p. 246). As an animistic tradition, 1Shinto is focused on the veneration of nature spirits, the worship of ancestors, and observance of seasonal rites. What can be called the primitive form of Shinto was strongly related to the formation of an agricultural culture… Shinto developed from the worship (matsuri) 2performed in relation to the agricultural activities engaged in by those communal societies (Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai, 1985, p. 147). Though there are no universally held doctrines in Shintoism, there are some unifying practices and texts. The Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters) and the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan) both relate the myths of Japan’s creation and the subsequent emergence of culture and society (Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai, 1985, p. 1-11). 3These texts provide the foundation for the nature-based religions that would eventually become Shintoism, including some of the 3earliest recorded prayers to the kami (gods, or nature spirits), called norito (Molloy, 2018, p.253).

Central to Shinto practice is the idea of matsuri, or worship of the kami. Matsuri can have multiple forms and purposes, including “beseechings, giving thanks, presenting offerings, divination, announcing, praise, and making vows (Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai, 1985, p. 232).” Sometimes special celebrations, or festivals, are also referred to as matsuri, as they serve as offerings to the kami.

Traditionally, Shinto has marked the seasons with special practices, particularly for planting and harvesting rice… Because respect for nature is at the heart of Shinto, 4reverential objects and small shrines are sometimes placed in the midst of forests, in fields, or on mountains (Molloy, 2018, p. 257). It is not uncommon to find such small shrines, called kamidana (lit. table for the god), in Japanese homes. In offering daily prayers at these small shrines, the Japanese people connect with the indigenous practices of revering the natural world.

Emic

To further explore the beliefs and practices of Shinto, we can observe comments that are made about Shinto belief, as it is expressed by those who follow Shinto’s principles. 5On the subject of worship: Matsuri is a service presented to the kami, it is submission, and it is a point of contact between kami and human beings. It is a time when unity is achieved between the kami and human worshiper, a oneness between kami and man. In order to achieve this oneness, purification and sanctification are required, and a performance of worship with true heart and true mind (Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai, 1985, p. 235). Shinto priest, Yukitaka Yamamoto says, Shinto reflects an awareness of the Divine that calls for man to live according to the Kami so that he can find happiness and fulfillment in experiencing the basic joys of life… The human 6soul inclines naturally toward the Kami and 6can be cultivated to become more deeply-related through the right kind of activities. This is a matter for attention every day. People seeking to be close to the Kami should work at showing cleanness, brightness and diligence in all they do and should seek to cultivate harmony in personal relations. (Kami no Michi, 1987). Having no founder, and no overarching hierarchical authority, Shinto allows for syncretic practice, rejecting nothing that supports the basic joys of life, and which brings human beings closer to the Divine. 7A Shinto believer who denounces other religions is not a real Shinto believer. A real Shinto believer can be at home in a Shinto shrine at New Year, a Buddhist Temple at the Obon festival for the souls of the ancestors or a Christian Church on Christmas Eve. All of these make individual sense. They are authentic. They complement each other. This principle applies not simply to religion but to all the cultures of mankind (Kami no Michi, 1987).

Match Overview

1Observation based on analysis of religious text

2Observed historical development of Shinto

3Observation of available texts

4Observation of traditional practice

5Understanding of the meaning of the principles – not direct statement of principles from religious texts.

6Belief about religious traditions.

7Shows relationship to the religions around it.

References

Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai. (1985). The World of Shinto. Tokyo: BDK.

Molloy, Michael. (2018). Experiencing the World’s Religions: Traditions, Challenge, and Change, Seventh Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Yamamoto, Yukitaka. (1987, Spring). Kami No Michi: The Way of the Kami – The Life and Thought of a Shinto Priest. Retrieved from http://www.tsubakishrine.org/kaminomichi/index.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Writing Requirements (APA format)

Length: 350-500 words (not including title page or references page)

1-inch margins

Double spaced

12-point Times New Roman font

Title page

References page (minimum of 1 scholarly source)

RELI448 Comparative Religions

Week 3 Assignment

Week 3 Assignment: Comparison-Contrast Essay

Due May 26 by 11:59pm Points 200 Submitting a file upload

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 4

Lesson

Minimum of 4 scholarly sources (at least 2 for Hinduism & 2 for Buddhism)

Instructions

Select one of the following pairs and compare and contrast these ideas in the religious traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism:

Self/No-self

Samsara/Nirvana

Karma/Rebirth

Your paper should include an introduction and thesis that clearly states your central claim, thoughtful examples and analysis in your body paragraphs, and a conclusion to finalize your thoughts.

Writing Requirements (APA format)

Length: 1200-1400 words (not including title page or references page)

1-inch margins

Double spaced

12-point Times New Roman font

Title page

References page (minimum of 4 scholarly sources)

RELI448 Comparative Religions

Week 5 Assignment

Week 5 Assignment: Interview Essay

Due Jun 9 by 11:59pm Points 150 Submitting a file upload

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Review chapters as needed

Lesson

Link (library article): Talking About Religion – How to Do It Right (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Minimum of 1 scholarly source

Instructions

For this assignment you are required to sit down for a conversation with someone whose religious identity differs from your own (this means that if you identify as Christian, for example, you should find a conversation partner who does not identify as such). The purpose of this exercise is for you to engage with someone else in conversation. That means that you will not only ask questions, but you will hopefully answer questions about your own beliefs, as well.

Review the article for this activity, “Talking About Religion – How to Do It Right” (link in Required Resources), for some guidance on how to engage in conversations about religion before meeting with your partner. You may also wish to share this information with your partner.

In this exercise, you will listen to the ideas of someone who you identify as religiously “other.” You will share your own ideas and report on what you learned. This would include what you learned about your conversation partner’s beliefs, and how those beliefs compare to your own religious upbringing and/or current practice.

The report should give a description of the major topics of discussion and a detailed summary of what you learned. As part of your assignment you should include the following:

Describe your conversation partner’s beliefs. Some things to consider include the following:

What are the material expressions of their tradition (statues, paintings, music, etc.)?

Do they see any conflict between the stated beliefs of their tradition and their own beliefs?

Based on your partner’s description, which theory of the origin of religions (Week 1) offers the best explanation for their approach to religion?

What challenges can your partner identify that their religious tradition faces in the modern world? Do they feel that their tradition is responding positively?

Is the tradition focused on belief (orthodoxy) or behavior (orthopraxis)?

Apply the 8 elements of religion from Week 1.

Provide some cultural and historical context for the religious tradition of your conversation partner. (It is important that you do some research before you have your conversation so that you are able to ask informed questions that come from genuine interest.) Make sure you use citations in your discussion of what you learned from your research.

Compare your partner’s beliefs and practices to your own religious upbringing and/or current practice. This is to be done in the report not as a debate with your partner.

Conclude with your personal reaction to this experience and any additional questions that came up after your conversation. Be kind!

This is a formal academic paper so pay careful attention to the basics of writing a good English composition.

Writing Requirements (APA format)

Length: 1000-1200 words (not including title page or references page)

1-inch margins

Double spaced

12-point Times New Roman font

Title page

References page (minimum of 1 scholarly source)

RELI448 Comparative Religions

Week 7 Assignment

Week 7 Assignment: Analytical Essay

Due Jun 23 by 11:59pm Points 200 Submitting a file upload

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 8, 9, 10

Lesson

Minimum of 6 scholarly sources (at least 2 for Judaism, 2 for Christianity, & 2 for Islam)

Please review criteria for scholarly sources.

Instructions

In a short essay, complete the following:

Explain the historical relationship between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. What are their geographical connections? What are their historical timelines?

Analyze the historical relationship between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in order to make an argument about the similarities and differences between the three religions. Select one main example from the following list on which to focus your comparison: the nature of God, the nature of Jesus, Holy Books, or Salvation. Your analysis should span multiple paragraphs and utilize specific examples.

Conclude by examining the current relationship between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam today. How has globalization influenced or affected the current relationship?

Your paper should include an introduction and thesis that clearly states your central claim, thoughtful examples and analysis in your body paragraphs, and a conclusion to finalize your thoughts.

Writing Requirements (APA format)

Length: 1200-1400 words (not including title page or references page)

1-inch margins

Double spaced

12-point Times New Roman font

Title page

References page (minimum of 6 scholarly sources)