Week 2 Assignment

This week we focused a bit on defining religion and how it's not necessarily an easy task. Our readings this month and the videos posted will primarily examine India's culture and Hinduism. Let's spend some time really focusing on this area.

1. Look for a current event that either examines India or Hinduism this week and summarize the details in your notebook.

2. Watch the two videos posted on India. The first is on India's Untouchables. The second explores India's fascination with gold. We will chat about these in class on the 21st.

3. Read the second chapter in Silk Roads and the next 20 pages or so in Religions of the World on Hinduism.

4. Consider the following questions and write in your journal a thoughtful response to at least three of the following questions. Responses should be a couple of paragraphs in length, or at the very minimum, a thorough consideration of the questions.

0. 1.   If you believe in a divine being or in some ultimate reality, do images come to mind when you think of it? If so, what kinds of images are they, and where do they come from? If not, what comes to mind when you think of the divine, and by what means do you focus your attention on the divine? 

   
   2.      What are the most important rituals, religious or secular, that you incorporate in your life? What meaning do they carry for you? 

   
   3.     How do you explain the evil in the world? Does the existence of evil and injustice pose a challenge to the belief in God? 

   
   4.   Hinduism sees the four goals of humanity as dharma (duty), artha (wealth and power), kama (pleasure), and moksha (liberation). How do these compare with your own ideas of the goals of life? Are these goals compatible with each other, or are some mutually exclusive? 

   5. In the text Silk Roads, there were many interesting points made about the spread of religions and their influences on societies. What was most compelling (or interesting, or new) that you learned about the early Christian tradition?