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How did the loss of lands impact Native American religion and religious practices? Be able to identify two specific ways that the loss of lands affected the Native American religious experience?
- Loss of homeland = loss of lnd bases economy and culture, decline of traditional, spiritual, and religious practice
- New religious movements taking the place of old
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Why have the Diné (Navajo) been relatively successful in preserving their traditional spirituality/religion?
- able to keep more of land to preserve traditional way of life (economy) = more likely to practice traditional religion
- land based economy = land based religion
- flexible and open to integrating modern world with old
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In general, how have the Diné (Navajo) responded to Christianity?
- Presevation of tribal traditions
- Integration of Christianity into traditional religion
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How did the rise of evangelical Protestantism in the late colonial period impact early American politics, especially the relationship of church and state? (Great awakening)
- aught holy spirit in control, not church or state authorities
- Antielitist
- Rejection of established churches – don’t want input or control of state or church authorities
- Rejection of monarchies – ordinary people gain confidence to govern themselves
- Community forged on the frontier – colonists developed a unified identity
- People trust themselves and local community more that distant curch and political authorities
- People develop religious passion to be free of the English king and the church of England
- SEPERATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
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What was the Enlightenment? What impact did the Enlightenment have on the relationship of church and state in the United States?
- The enlightenment (philosophy of the founding fathers) : human reason should be at the foundation of government, not religion
- Power to individuals, question of authority
- Democracies
- Separation of church and state
- Modern science
- Does not apply to women, non-whites
- Governement too important to be corrupted by religion
- Individuals rely of reason, not state and curch authorities
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When was the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ratified? What does the First Amendment state regarding religion? How did Thomas Jefferson interpret the First Amendment’s religion clauses?
- “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”
- Ratified 12/15/1791
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What groups have we studied this semester that consider themselves to be Christian?
- Protestant
- Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, nondenominational, Pentecostal, quakers/friends, evangelical
- Catholic
- Latter-day saint (mormon)
- Orthodox
- Other christian
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What was Vatican II?
- 1962
- bring catholic church into conversation with modernity
- increased emphasis on participation of the laity
- mass spoken in vernacular of the people instead of latin
- laity encouraged to read the bible for themselves
- laity encouraged to follow their own conscience
- open dialogue with other religions, deacons given more authority
- still upheld resjection of birth control
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Identify one key similarity and one key difference between the Latter-day Saints and other forms of Christianity.
- Difference: connects biblical history with Americas, Christianity established in America before eyropean contact, have book of mormon, pearl of price and the doctrine and covenantys
- Similarity: believe in the holy bible
- How might one account for the diversity within American Judaism? What are some of the historical and religious reasons for the development of different forms of Judaism?
- In 1700s, given same rights and choice of citizenship, had option to integrate or segregate.
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How are “integrationist” and “segregationist” Orthodox Jews different? Why do they take these two different approaches?
- Segregationist jews separate themselves from everybody else. Speak a jewish language, Yiddish, wear jewish clothes, eat only kosher food, live in jewish neighborhoods, live wholly segregated life.
- literal truth of the bible
- integrationist – maintain that jews can live by the torah and also share the common life of modern society
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How do Reform Jews approach the Torah and the Jewish tradition? What do they embrace in Jewish tradition and scripture? In what way does the Torah continue to have an important influence in Reform Judaism?
- Reform jews affirm that the Torah is holy, but reads it as the work of people of a given time and place.
- Ethics take the highest priority in Judaism
- Accept as binding only its moral laws and maintain only such ceremonies as elevate and sanctify our lives, but reject all such as are not adapted to the views and habits of modern civilization
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How does Marc Lee Raphael characterize the difference between “traditional” and “nontraditional” approaches to Judaism? Be prepared to describe “traditional” and “nontraditional” approaches to the concept of “Messiah,” as described by Raphael (in the Class Notes packet).
- Traditional (conservative, reconstructionist, reform) – one omniscient, eternal, whooly good God
- Believe in a messiah, try to calculate exact year of its arrival, provide redemption of Jews from their inescapable oppressions, be a descendant of King David. End exile from land, resptore people to greatness, inaugurate a new era, produce miracles
- Nontradition (modern, orthodox) – oess certain there is a omniscient, omnipotent, and wholly good God
- Do not speak or write of a messiah, have transformed the idea of an individual redeemer to a vision of a messianic age. Lion and lamb lie down together
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What status does Jesus have in the religion of Judaism?
No role in Judaism
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Before 1965, how and why were people from certain parts of the world excluded from becoming U.S. citizens? (See lecture notes online.)
- Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (banned Chinese from immigration and citizenship)
- Immigration Act of 1917 (barred almost all asians from immigration to US or becoming citizens
- Immigration Act of 1924 reduced number of immigrants to US
- More asians excluded, especially japanesee
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What religious groups have grown rapidly in the United States since the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965? (See lecture notes online.)
Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism
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What are some of the similarities and differences between Islam and the Judeo-Christian tradition? What status does Jesus have in Islam?
- Muslims believe their religion is the completion of the Judeo-christian tradition
- Abraham, Moses, and Jesus are considered important prophets
- Jesus is a prophet in Qur’an
- No prophets are considered to be God
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How does mainstream Islam regard Judaism and Christianity?
Jews and Christians are “people of the book”
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In what parts of the world can one find significant Muslim populations? Are most Muslims Arabs? Are all Arabs Muslims?
- 60% of muslims live is asia, 20% in middle east and north Africa
- most muslims are not arabs (only 25%) most arabs are not muslim
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What makes Muhammad (c. 570–632) so significant in Islam? (Note that “Muhammad” has various spellings, including “Mohammed” and “Mohammad.”)
- Received revelations, which were recorded in the Qur’an
- Created muslim community in Medina
- last prophet
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Identify the different ways that the term “jihad” can be understood, as explained by John Esposito (see p. 155 in the Neusner text).
- Jihad means to struggle or exert oneself in the path of God
- Also refers to the right, often duty, to defend Islam o the Muslim community from oppression and injustice
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Review the ethnic composition of American Muslims (see the lecture notes on Islam).
- African American: 30-35%
- Asian: 30-35%
- Arab: 25%
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Muslims in America are extremely diverse, in terms of their ethnicity, customs, politics, dress, and level of “assimilation” into the larger American culture. What are the only generalizations one can make accurately about devout Muslims in the United States?
- Islam is monotheism
- Devout muslims follow the 5 pillars of Islam
- Statement of faith
- Prayer and worship
- Almsgiving
- Fasting
- Pilgrimage to Mecca
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How is the Nation of Islam different from Islam (the world religion)?
- Founded by Wallace fard Muhammad in 1930, based on new teachings
- Taught Christianity forced religion
- Elijah Muhammad taught Wallace fard Muhammad was a prophet, incarnation of God. (against islams belief Muhammad last prophet)
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How did making his hajj to Mecca impact Malcolm X’s religious views, as well as his understanding of race?
- Saw all people as equal before God
- Believed traditional Islam could help overcome racial divisions.
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Are most African American Muslims today part of the Nation of Islam or part of traditional Sunni Islam?
Traditional sunni islam
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Did Siddhartha Gautama claim to be a god? What did it mean for him to be called “Buddha”?
- Became enlightened.
- ‘buddha’ = the one who achieved enlightenment (bodhi), awake
- many have become, can help others
- did not claim to be god, did not teach about “God” as understood in western religions, instead said he was “awake”
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What is a Bodhisattva?
- One who has an “enlightened (bodhi) existence (sattva)” and is dedicated to helping others in their journey
- Achieved perfect wisdom, which leads to perfect love and compassion for all beings
- Represent ultimated ideal of Mahayana Buddhism, those who postponed nirvana to bring others to enlightenment
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What are the Four Noble Truths?
- Life is dukkha (unsatisfying, suffering, anxious
- Dukkha is caused by the desires of the ego
- Dukkha is transcended when one is released from the self-interested ego
- The way to transcend the finite ego is the Eightfold path
- Right views, right intent, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood,right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration
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Does the U.S. Constitution (including the First Amendment) explicitly state that there should be a “wall of separation between church and state”? Where does this phrase come from? Why have Supreme Court Justices used this phrase when making their rulings on church-state cases?
Does not explicitely state. Founders and Jefferson state, court concluded first amendment made wall
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Edwin Gaustad states that in the 1940s, the Supreme Court began “to use the Fourteenth Amendment as a means of applying the First Amendment’s religion clauses to the states” (50). What does this mean? (How would you explain this in your own words?) What impact did this have?
- 14th amendment (citizenship to slaves) stated that states ca’t take away rights given by federal government
- religion causes weren’t being followed by the state
- government began to apply, causing outpour of church/state cases
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By the beginning of the twentieth century, religious pluralism was becoming a prominent feature of American society. What impact did this have on the relationship of church and state in the United States? (See Gaustad, p. 51)
Religiously homogeneous communities become thing of the past. Longstanding customs or practices could no longer be justified on the basis of tradition, must be defended on constitutional grounds in order to survive
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Why did Supreme Court Justices find it particularly important to require a “separation of church and state” in public schools? (See Gaustad, pages 75 and 76.)
Public school is the symbol of democracy and most pervasive means for promoting our common destingy. One should strive to keep out that which would divide the students into separate groups. Refrence hefferson’s wall of separation.
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What did the Supreme Court decide in the Engel v. Vitale case? Identify the variety of ways Americans (including religious figures and groups) responded to this decision.
Court determined the use of regents prayer in school constituted a practice wholly inconsistent with the establishment clause. No part of buisness to compose official prayers for any group of people to recite.
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According to the Supreme Court, what are some ways in which religion can be present in public schools? (See Gaustad, Chapter Five.)
- Allow religious groups to meet on campus like other groups
- Allowed to distribute religious lierature
- Do papers on religious themes
- Be excused from classes where content offends religious views
- Schools may not discriminate against private religious expressions, instead give students same rights to engage in religious activity and discussion as the have to engage in other activities, though may not endorse religious activity or doctrine, nor may they coerce participation in religious activity
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Do scientists like Dr. Masel necessarily believe everything must be “proved” by science in order to be “right” or “true”?
no
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How does Dr. Masel explain the different uses of the term “theory” in everyday English and in science terminology?
Theory = a hunch or hypothesis
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According to scientists like Dr. Masel, if a theory includes a supernatural explanation, can it be categorized as science?
Science looks only at natural explanation. Can not be science, but could still be right.
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How does Dr. Masel describe the difference between science and religion?
- Science asks what happened and how, looks for literal truths about the world
- Religion asks for what purpose, and what we should do about it, looks for profound truths that transcend the physical world.
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How does Dr. Masel respond to the notion that science (such as the theory of evolution) is atheistic?
Not atheistic, they have nothing to say about religion one way or another
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What is the “Lemon Test”? (See the lecture notes on D2L.) How has the Lemon test been used to strike down efforts to teach creationism and intelligent design in public school science classrooms?
- Developed in Lemon v. Kurtzman, test to determine if the religion clauses of the First Amendment have been violated\
- In order for referral and state legistlation to be constitutional, it must comply with all of the following
- Government’s action must have a legitimate secular purpose
- Government’s action must not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion
- Governments action must not result in an “excessive entanglement” of the government and religion.
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Epperson V. Arkansas
statecould not tailor its teachings and learning to the principles or prohibitions of any religious sect or dgma, . (Arkansas sought to prevent its teachers from discussing the theory of evolution because it is contrary to the belief of some that the book of genesis must be the exclusive source of doctrine as to the origin of man)
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Edwards v. Aguillard
Louisiana did not ban Darkinian theory but rather decreed that it had to be “balanced by instruction in creationism/.” Court found Louisiana creationism act was to advance a particular religious belief and fell afoul. Requiring creationism in public school science classrooms violate lemon test.
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Kitzmiller v. Dover
- icluding intelligent design in public school science classrooms is a violation of first amendment (saw as a religious view, relabeling of creationism, not a scientific theory, instead a theological argument.) NOT SCIENCE, not testable
- ID = religious motivation to give the American public underground doubts about evolution, doubts that do not exist within established scientific community religion influencing science, advancing a particular religious belief
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How have “Modernist” and “Fundamentalist” Protestants responded to the rise of modern science? (See the lecture notes on D2L for November 18.) What has been the relationship of the Catholic Church with modern science since Vatican II?
- Fundamentalists – bible literal source of truth, oppose and reject aspects of modern science (evolution challenges literal truth of bible)
- Modernist – read bible more symbolically (still source of truth though not historical) can accept evolution and modern science
- Catholic church believe evolution compatible with Christianity, accepts modern science
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