H O U R 1

COMPARATIVE

RELIGIONS

WELCOME

• Welcome to Humi 009 – Comparative Religion

• Javy W. Galindo

1. Is everyone in the correct class?

2. Roll

3. Introductions

4. What is this course about?

5. Syllabus Review & Course Expectations

• Name

• What are your goals while attending De Anza College?

• What humanities classes have you taken at De Anza, or anywhere, if any?

• What question or topic you are hoping we explore in this class? Or, what do you hope we do NOT do or discuss in our class?

• “I don’t have one” is not a good response. You should drop the class immediately. ☺

INTRODUCTIONS

THE COURSE (IN GENERAL)

What is a Religion?

Religio:

• Religare: “to bind,” “to tie together” as in a ligament. • “bond between man and man?• “bond between man and the

sacred?”

• Re-Legere: re- “again” + legere- “read” • Religion = “to read again”?

• Later �

• Respect for what is sacred. Reverence for awe.

THE COURSE (IN GENERAL)

What is a Religion?

• What are some common elements of a religion?

• How many do you think there are existing today?

• Can you name some?

THE COURSE (IN GENERAL)

How many Religions are There?

• 1000s of Religions!!

• Over 18 “Major” Religions

• Pop > 0.5 Million

1000S OF “RELIGIONS”!

THE WORLD RELIGIONS (WORLD COMPRISED OF DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES)

2010 Pew Research Study (230+ countries & Territories)

• What percentage of the world do you think claims to be religious?

• 84%

• How would you rank these religions in terms of population (Buddhist, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Unaffiliated)?• 1.• 2.• 3.• 4.• 5.

THE WORLD RELIGIONS (WORLD COMPRISED OF DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES)

• Unaffiliated = claim not to be part of a religion.

• *Includes followers of African traditional religions, Chinese folk religion, Native American Religions, and Australian aboriginal religions.

• **Includes Bahai’s, Jains, Sikhs, Shintoists, Taoists, Wiccans, Zoroastrians, and other faiths.

THE COURSE (IN GENERAL)

So, we’ll try to learn about the diverse religions of the world.

But what will we learn about them?

THE COURSE (IN GENERAL)

What are the “Humanities”?

• Princeton Website:

• Studies intended to provide general knowledge and intellectual skills (rather than occupational or professional skills).

• What does this sound like to you?

“RATHER THAN OCCUPATIONAL OR

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS”

Sounds like this to some…

THE COURSE (IN GENERAL)

What are the humanities?

Report on the Commission on the Humanities:

Through the humanities we reflect on the fundamental question: what does it mean to be human?

The humanities offer clues but never a complete answer.

They reveal how people have tried to make moral, spiritual, and intellectual sense of a world in which irrationality, despair, loneliness, and death are as conspicuous as birth, friendship, hope and reason.

(IMAGE OF PERSON’S PLACE IN

SOCIETY)

THE COURSE (IN GENERAL)

What are the humanities?

Albert Einstein:Knowledge and skills alone cannot lead humanity to a happy and dignified life.

Humanity has every reason to place the proclaimers of high moral standards and values above the discoverers of objective truth.

What humanity owes to personalities like Buddha, Moses, and Jesus ranks for me higher than all the achievements of the inquiring and constructive mind.

THE COURSE (IN GENERAL)

Comparing ReligionsWhat we Will Learn About them?

1. How they Make Sense of The World and Our Place in It.

2. What they Say About How to Best Live our Lives.