To avoid semantic confusion in our class discussion we should agree on the meaning of these terms.
Here is my proposed interpretation:
RELIGION: what today is called "organized religion": the hierarchy, the buildings, the structure, the holy books, the authoritative interpretation of the holy books, the dogma(ta), the rituals, the collective prayers, the memorized instructions, the official theology, the doctrine, the "sins," the excommunication, plus the popular beliefs.
RELIGIOUSNESS: the general sense of belonging to an organized religion, but not completely, with deviations from the dogma(ta) and beliefs, but a strong sense of spirituality, a belief in life-after-death, in the existence of God.
FAITH: the strong belief that God exists and that s/he intervenes in human affairs, s/he can be moved by prayers and other rituals to perform miracles, to protect from evil and individual tragedies. In some cases, God acts through intermediaries, like angels, saints and prophets who can perform miracles.
POST YOUR COMMENTS:
- Are the definitions clear enough to guide us through the discussion? (We don't want to get bogged down in endless semantic disputes. Rather, we need a basic consensus on the meaning of these terms so that we can make progress.)
- OPTIONAL: do discussions about religion, faith etc. make you uncomfortable? Yes? No? Indifferent? Tell us why.
Those definitions are very clear and provide a good guideline for informed conversation. Discussions of religion don't make me uncomfortable, it's a topic that l love hearing about.
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ReplyDeleteYes, i believe these definitions are clear and accurate enough to use to provide us with a solid discussion.
ReplyDeleteDiscussions about religions and faith do not make me uncomfortable. I do not really have a total desire for learning and researching other religions, but when conversations are brought up and I am told different things about someones religion that differs from mine, I find it interesting to hear.
I believe these discussions are clear and acceptable. However, personally it is an unfamiliar topic since I grew up outside of religious influence. I accept these definitions without argument because I am not so sure of them myself, and would probably learn more from others, who actually come from religion/religiousness and will contribute on the subject.
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ReplyDeleteYes, I believe these definitions are clear and acceptable. Hearing or discussiong religion does not make me feel uncomfortable because I love to hear different views about it and learn.
ReplyDeleteYes, I believe these definitions are clear and acceptable. Hearing or discussiong riligion does not make me uncomfortable because I love to hear different view about it and learn.
ReplyDeleteI agree with these definitions. I don't feel uncomfortable when speaking about religion because I support other peoples views and beliefs are. What the next person's views or beliefs are don't affect mine in any way and everyone is free to believe in whatever they wish to believe in.
ReplyDeleteThese definitions definitely make sense. Religious discussions don't make me feel uncomfortable as long as they're respectful. In fact I actually look forward to them. Mostly because I find other people's faiths interesting. However as soon as a religious discussion becomes disrespectful or heated (as they do sometimes) I begin to get uncomfortable.
ReplyDeleteThe definitions are clear and should give structure to the class discussion. Discussions about religions and other thing is okay for me at time because it is interesting to learn about other religions. At the same time I may get defensive of my own religion.
ReplyDeleteYeah thats true discussing it and lerning about other religion is interesting.
DeleteI also tend to get defensive about my belief. There is so much conviction in me.
DeleteBy religion you mean the catholic religion specifically correct? if so then yes that is a good basic definition for it.
ReplyDeleteReligiousness is an accurate definition.
Your definition of faith im having trouble differentiating with religion. they seem like the same thing in your eyes. My view on Faith is a belief that a higher being exists and we communicate in some way with, whether through prayer or other nonspecific means. Specific names like god or saints leaves out most other religions in existence.
These definitions posted are clear enough from a religious aspect to guide people through the discussion, although I feel as if everyone has their own individual definitions of these words and it may cause some controversy in discussion. I personally feel as if these are clear enough definitions to relate to when using these words, being that this is a somewhat text based on religion. Discussions on these topics do not make me feel uncomfortable, but I also feel like it is irrelevant to discuss other people's viewpoints on faith/religion/religiousness and that we should just discuss it in the context the story is told in.
ReplyDeleteI think the definitions are clear enough. I get uncomfortable speaking about religion because even though I am Catholic I don't consider myself very religious (I don't go to church, don't recite prayers, etc). I do say that I belong to that religion though. I just don't know enough about other religions and that makes me uncomfortable. I know everyone is different and has different beliefs and I don't want to come off as ignorant when speaking about religions I don't know about.
ReplyDeleteI think the definitions are clear enough to guide us through the discussion. I feel no way talking about religion but I do prefer not to speak about it much in certain settings and with most people. It is not the easiest conversation to have with someone.
ReplyDeleteVery well defined. It touches on every aspect of each term. I enjoy talking about faith and religion. It is who I am. There's no separation. There's no Brandon Wagner without it. For me this is like my very own child whom I love, never ceasing to talk about it or mention something about it.
ReplyDeleteThe definitions are very clear for our discusiion. Religion or talking about topics that relate to it don't bother me at all, on the contrary it is rather interesting when someone else talks about different beliefs or has different points of views on relion.
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