Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Religion
Meaning
Ethics
Future
Monotheism
Monotheism means the worship of one god.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all monotheistic religions: God demands an exclusive relationship with His followers and an acknowledgement of His unique power.
All major monotheistic faiths have a concept of the 'end of days' or final judgment
Deism
God as the divine watchmaker.
God sent into motion the universe with His power but we are now able to use our own reason to govern our lives.
Enlightened reason and science is the best way to understand the future.
Naturalism
The natural world is the source of meaning.
Ethics can be found 'in nature.'
Rather than formal religion, we must look to nature for guidance.
Nihilism
Life has no inherent meaning.
There is no system of morality inherent to the human condition beyond that which we construct.
We are adrift and not heading to a purposeful future.
Existentialism
There is no inherent meaning: we have a responsibility to construct meaning.
Given that human beings are totally free, we must create moral structures for ourselves that are useful.
We must move forward and not be curtailed...
As free beings in an uncaring universe we have responsibilities to ourselves and others.
Pantheism
God is in everything.
Human beings must show respect for others and the natural world, given the presence of God in all things.
Respect for the environment and other aspects of nature is imperative, to acknowledge the divine within everything.
New Consciousness
Spirituality is found within the individual, not formal faith structures.
Human beings must respect themselves first before they can respect others.
Looking within is the first step to spiritual awakening.
Religious traditions: A comparison
All religious traditions, whether ancient like the major monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, or Islam or recent like the New Consciousness movement, attempt to make sense of the world to help human beings understand their place within it. Monotheistic religions stress the direct, personal connection that God has with human beings. God demands that His creation acknowledges that he is the creator and the one God. "You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God..." (Exodus 20:5). This is fundamentally different from the 18th century Enlightenment philosophy of Deism. While Deists acknowledge God…
References
Exodus. (2012). Bible Gateway. Retrieved at:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+20%3A5&version=NIV
Zunjic, Bob. (2012). Jean Paul Sartre. Phil 358. University of Rhode Island. Retrieved at:
http://www.uri.edu/personal/szunjic/philos/human2.htm
. This was to lead to the inevitable interaction and cross -- cultural pollination between the cultures. Kline states that; " No wonder that such a large number of Egyptian loan words, phrases and intellectual ideas should be preserved in the Old Testament, along with a large number of idiomatic expressions, and two Egyptian units of measure" (Kline). However, while cultural interaction and the adoption of various phrases and
Gift giving creates a bond between the giver and the receiver. Mauss felt that to reject a gift, was to reject the social bond attached to it. Likewise, to fail to reciprocate is viewed as a dishonorable act in some cultures. Gift giving is a means to create social cohesion among the group. What Distinctive contributions did Weber make to social theory? Weber used his work to attempt to understand the
Slave Narrative and Black Autobiography - Richard Wright's "Black Boy" and James Weldon Johnson's Autobiography The slave narrative maintains a unique station in modern literature. Unlike any other body of literature, it provides us with a first-hand account of institutional racially-motivated human bondage in an ostensibly democratic society. As a reflection on the author, these narratives were the first expression of humanity by a group of people in a society where