Religious Philosophy Course

Essay for completion Certificate for Master of Religious Philosophy           

By Rev. James Connor

This is a vast  subject.  A definition of philosophy from the internet is: “the study of human morals, character, and behaviors.”  Wikipedia defines religion as “a set of beliefs and practices generally held by a human community involving adherence to codified beliefs and rituals and study of ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology as well as personal faith and mystic experience.”

I will begin with what you ended your summary with on Paper number 4; the idea that religion started because there actually is a God who we have a relationship with. 

I was brought up in the Catholic religion, including youth education, having relatives who were priests and nuns, and coming from ethnicities of Irish and Italian background with long Catholic roots.  I did not during any of this time, have a deep heart sensing or connection with the divine.

Later in life when I was 35 years old, I met a minister from a small, non-denominational movement called the Emissaries of Divine Light, named Walter Bahan.  I could see by this man’s actions that he was “walking his talk” in terms of his spiritual path – his everyday life reflected his internal belief and perhaps knowing of God.

I used to be a volatile, and sometimes even violent, man.  After meeting and getting to know this minister who was demonstrating spiritual principle in his daily living, I was inspired to follow his path. An example is that I used to get angry to the point of exploding at other people during business meetings or small group gatherings in which I felt like I wasn’t being heard or respected.  In talking to Walter about this, he led me to the concept of “letting go” – letting go of my ideas of what other people needed to do or think or say.  It took some time, and I would back-slide sometimes, but I was beginning to feel a deep change in my life as I learned new ways of coping and interacting with people.  Nothing in my previous education – religious or otherwise – had led to this kind of self-control and peace.

An example for something of mystic experience is that I can recall times when there would be a small group of us sitting together, and just spontaneously someone would sing a song, then someone else would say a poem, and there was such joy and open-hearted connection and satisfaction in the room, that it could be said that we were “in one accord in one place”, that we were filled with and sharing in the Holy Spirit.

I read and understand the points about how religion was created, as “projections” of human needs for answers, and addressing human fears.  Some of these are plausibly presented, and can be convincing arguments.  And if I hadn’t had what I consider direct experience of spiritual connection, and the internal knowing of divine love, I might be convinced of them, too.

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have various classes in Christianity, one on Wicca, along with several Pagan courses, more than a few courses about Metaphysics with more being added regularly.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free, legal and lasts for life, so please take advantage of our Free Online Ordination.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of minister supplies.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and am proud to have started the Seminary.

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Religious Philosophy Course

Religious Philosophy
Final Essay
Mary McGar

I found the final lesson to be one of the most interesting to me.  To have the information presented in this manner and with all the detail made the history of why certain events occurred and the end result of religious suppression was thought provoking.  The growth of Taoism and the Neo-Pagan faiths compared to the other faiths is encouraging to me, since I am a UU Pagan.  Perhaps “Pagan” will more quickly lose the stigma of being a derogatory word in the near future.  I found is interesting that Hinduism and Buddhism are holding their own as far as growth statistics are concerned.  To me, that indicates more people are reaching inside for truths rather than just accepting the established dogma.  The more people try to determine for themselves what religious path is best for them, the stronger and happier they will be, in my opinion, regardless of the path they eventually choose.  That people are truly thinking about their religious beliefs is a positive sign.

This course was fascinating throughout.  The lesson covering the parallels between Utnapishtim and Noah are remarkable as are many stories that have similar counterparts in different religions.  I also found it useful to be able to more accurately determine what groups are cults and which are not with the guidelines set forth in this course.

The continuum of diverse religious acceptability was easy to understand when presented as a staircase.  I had never given any thought that there are people who are unaware of any religious belief other than their own.  How intriguing!!  I think most people of the world have at least attained the acknowledgment step and, hopefully, in this day and time, are at the acceptance step.  I see proof of this as a Pagan.  Even ten years ago, the acceptance of Paganism was less than it is today, although because I live in a major Northwestern liberal city I might have a more optimistic view than if I lived in the South of Mid-West , for instance.  I hope, in my lifetime, to see great strides to reach at least partial amalgamation or, perhaps, regional is a better word for my expectations.

I learned much from the lesson regarding the difference in definition between histories, fables, lore, tradition, myth and legends.  I realize that, up to now, I have lumped several of them together in error.  In conclusion, this is the eight course I have taken from ULC and this one has been among the most, if not the most, thought provoking course of all.  Thank you, Robert Chamberlain for writing and offering this course.

 

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have various classes in Christianity, one on Wicca, along with several Pagan courses, more than a few courses about Metaphysics with more being added regularly.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free, legal and lasts for life, so please take advantage of our Free Online Ordination.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of minister supplies.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and am proud to have started the Seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

 

Religious Philosophy Course

Religious Philosophy                           
Final Essay

I found this to be a most informative course. One of the best things about it was that I was introduced to a few “new to me” religious systems, specifically Tenrikyo and Baha i, well I hadn’t even heard of those two. It was interesting to explore the fact that there are indeed new religions being created in modern times. I hadn’t really considered that. Very interesting to be sure.

Also, Jainism and Shikism, I was slightly aware they were out there but had never gotten a chance to really research them. Both are rather ascetic disciplines however, it was very interesting seeing the extremes of Jainism as to the reverence for life. Though I respect it very much, I doubt I could go to that extreme in my own life. I do have some similar beliefs as to refusing killing for no reason. And I have tried very much to avoid damaging other living things. I do not as of today, sweep in front of my steps in the off chance I should step on bugs. However, I have been known to avoid a step or go a different way if I feel there is more of a likely hood of doing so. As for Shikism, I think that the background there is fascinating and I could see how the outsider may even mistake them for another belief system. I had no idea they’d been so persecuted. We always hope that prejudice is going quickly extinct don’t we? Yet so often we realize it feels more like it only moved from one area to another.

And speaking of the subject, I must say that I was very surprised at the fact that some of the entries in our lessons by our instructor were rather prejudicial in themselves. Case in point, in lesson 20, question 2 part B at the end;  Wow! The idea that our instructor presumed in the question that China  didn’t have scientific method over it’s 1000’s of years, simply because it was not the “Western” scientific method, well that floored me! Of course the bigger implication was that “the East” didn’t have scientific method. That had developed in the West only. If one only looks even lightly at Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic Medicine (think East Indian), the Eastern Architecture and Astrology just to touch on the subject, it becomes quite obvious that those cultures not only had (and have) developed their own scientific method but used (and use) it. Ayruveda alone had discovered and treated patients with knowledge of what now is known as microbial life. Not to mention that practitioners were performing complicated, studied and perfected forms of surgery 2000 years ago. These were not “guesses” of an underprivileged caveman society. These were the results of a complex community of scientific minded practitioners. Many of the methods of the “ancients” surpass the results of the Greeks who’s developments later lead to our “Western” idea of science and scientific method. This is not to say that they are infallible. If it is created by humans it is indeed fallible. However, there is no basis to make a statement implying that there is no scientific method there in the past or presently. I strongly feel that for people who are not aware of this however, it is a bit dangerous to put that out as “fact” in that way. Even if the question was posed to challenge us, a person with no background in it wouldn’t know to question the way that was written.
I think it encouraged ignorance instead of  knowledge or even conjecture. It may be that our instructor expected us to catch it. I don’t think so. I’m not so sure it wasn’t perhaps that the instructor suffered more of a “Freudian Slip” there. :o)

I did think also that the Shamanic and Communal religions were treated a bit as an after thought in this course, or perhaps more, taken for granted. There is such rich and available information on these systems now that it would have been worth exploring in more detail in my opinion.


I certainly did appreciate the comparison techniques offered in this course. The instructor set some ground work and really worked form there, narrowing down the comparisons through a number of methods. It gave us more then just “food for thought”. It allowed us to expand outside of our narrow perspective without getting lost. An example being the Social, Natural, Philosophical and of course the addition of the Political problems of society and how they apply to our subject of Religious Philosophy. The use of these and other outlining directions was very well done.

With different, perhaps even appropriate, definitions of terms such as Globalization, as well as Millenarian, Eschatological and Apocalyptic, I found each lesson gave us not only much to think about, but a more accurate objective look at Religion in general. (another reason why the above scientific prejudice stood out so much)  One of the comparisons I enjoyed most was the use of Color and Taste as a criteria for how a belief system sees the world. This was most definitely one I had never thought of and one that I will be using again and again. I found that rather ingenious really and a great example of how perspective influences what we think is “Truth”. Learning more about Doctor’s Schwitzer and Singer along with others was great as well.

All in all I don’t know that the point of the course for me ended up being learning so much “more”, though I surely did learn some new things.

It was more about leaning new ways of looking at what’s there. And what is Philosophy for?! :o)

I would like to thank our Instructor and the Seminary for a thought provoking and enjoyable course.

Anna M. Pohl

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have various classes in Christianity, one on Wicca, along with several Pagan courses, more than a few courses about Metaphysics with more being added regularly.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free, legal and lasts for life, so please take advantage of our Free Online Ordination.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of minister supplies.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and am proud to have started the Seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar