This book deals with all of the religions we discussed, and the image shows a cooperation of perople from all religions, much as the teachings of these different religions all have similar goals.
ONE: The second section of Junior Morality dealt with coming to understand some of the world's most common moral systems. We studied the moral systems of the religions of Islam (John Neill's Islam Overview) and Judiasm (Andrew Geels' group's presentation on Judaism), as well as looking at Confucianism (My Confuciamism page) and Buddhism (Sean Kelleher's Buddhism Overview). We then discussed the differances and similarities, and found that while the four differ on smaller points and specific details of such things as rituals, for the most part the four are very similar in their dealing with how to act (Islam fits in the least of the four). All command behaving well and striving to be the best person possible as the core of their teaching. We then used that fact to support the idea of objective morality, that four religions from different parts of the world and different times all teach the same things means most likely that what they teach is a truth of the world.
TWO: Key Ideas I want to remember:
First: Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Guatama in Nepal during the fifth century B.C., who wandered the world for six years before realizing that material things were unimportant and, gaining enlightenment, became the Buddha, thus begining Buddhism. Buddhism centers on the fact of life's suffering. The four noble truths state that (1) Life is suffering, (2) The cause of suffering is material desires, (3) There is a way out of suffering, by eliminating desires, (4) and that The way out of suffering is by the eightfold path. The eightfold path contains guidelines for life, eight steps dealing with "Right" wisdom (right attitude and right view), ethical conduct (right speech, right action, and right livlihood), and mental development (right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration). The Nirvana or full enlightenment, and being removed from the cycle of birth and rebirth.
Second: Islam was founded by Muhammed, who in 622 AD saw the angel Gabriel and then dictated the Qu'ran, the Islamic sacred text. Islam rests upon the Five Pillars of Faith, the basic code of living. The pillars briefly summarized: There is no God but Allah, Pray to Allah five times daily, Give alms to the poor, Fast during Ramadan, and make one pilgramage to Mecca during your life. Beyond these five pillars are other religious and social laws in the Qu'ran, including the hot-topic idea of Jihad,the idea of a struggle, firstly an internal, personal struggle to overcome evil and to purify oneself, but also the armed defense of Islam from Infidels, or non-Muslims.
Third: Judaism began with Abraham,chosen by God to begin the religion of his chosen people, the decendants of Abraham. Abraham and God made a covenant that God would make Abraham's decendants more numerous than the stars or the grains of sand on the beaches of world, and in return Abraham would do what God commanded him. Jewish morality (Nathan Banet's "Key Moral Teachings" of Judaism) involves the ten commandments, involving one's relationships with God and neighbor. In addition to the ten commandments, the Jewish holy book, the Torah, contains commandments for Jewish rituals. The Jewish moral system is the basis for Christian Morality.
THREE:
This book deals with all of the religions we discussed, and the image shows a cooperation of perople from all religions, much as the teachings of these different religions all have similar goals.
FOUR: One question I want to keep with me: How could Confucius's phrase, "Do not do to others what you would not want done to yourself," parallel so closely the Christian Golden Rule, "Do unto others what you would have them do to you"?This to me seems like strong evidence that they are both right, if two different people in two different times, with not contact between each other, coudl arrive at the same conclusion about human behavior.
FIVE: The Buddhist idea of Karma will be a way for me to live more kindly, for whether or not it is true in this life that all the good or evil you do comes back to you, Christianity teaches that all your actions and unreconciled sins come back to you after your life. So remembering that this is true, perhaps in a mix of this life and the next, will help me live in more accordance to the Golden Rule.