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The term "Hinduism" came from a conjured-up place, referring to the ancient Indus River Valley and the people who occupied it. Hinduism actually is what Hindus do and think, and the things that they do and think are almost everything under the sun. This term is useful because you typically become a Hindu by birth rather than conversion and the religion is similar to that of Judaism in that Hinduism is as much a people as a religion. The term "Hinduism" can also be seen as problematic in the sense that as much as ritual, orthodoxy, and myths are categories used to describe a religious phenomenon and help up to understand a religion, they also create problems, which in this case is caused by how much of an "umbrella term" Hinduism is. To elaborate, Hinduism is an incredibly abstract term and so using the term to describe a specific thing would not do it justice. It would be similar to the idea of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all being called Abraham's religion. This can make the term be seen as problematic because the term didn't originate in the past and so there can be problems as to what the term actually refers to.

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Atman refers to the essence of the human being and translates to self or soul. Brahman refers to the essance of divinity. These two intertwine because the individul soul is divine. Prothero also suggests that they are one and the same. The analogy used in the book to illustrate the unity between Atman and Brahman is with salt and water. A father gives his son salt and water and tells him to combine them in a container, the next day he asks for the salt, but the salt has disovled in the water. which brings us to the point made that salt and water are equivalnt to atman and brahman because they are intervwined. Lastly, it is important is realize brahman, which is the divine, through individual effort (yoga). What stops humans is maya, or the illusion of disconnection. Practioners try to remove maya and move beyond that

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Moksha: this is the goal, and it means release, which refers to spiritual liberation- freeing the soul from bondage to samsara and its unsatisfactoriness. So the goal here is escape from samsara, and moksha is the escape. Prothero explains that not everyone will be able to attain this goal. Hindus do not strive for eternal life. They believe that it is given that we have eternal life, so the goal is to get out of the cycle. There are 4 aims in life, kama, artha, and dharma, but the ultimate goal is moksha. There are different techniques to reach the goal and different ways for practitioners to visualize moksha. At the end of the section in the book, Prothero explains that nowadays Hinduism is less exotic and many people seek Moksha through nothing more than love.

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The Indus Valley Civilization is the most ancient layer in Hinduism’s geology and provides a glimpse in regards to how Hinduism is practiced today.  We now know that this civilization was urban, technologically advanced, and literate. But because its script has not yet been deciphered, we do not know much about its religious beliefs and practices. As a result, it is unclear how much Indus Valley civilization contributed to Hinduism" (139).  The Indus Valley Civilization is connected to Hinduism because Prothero is giving us a timeline that shows uncoverings of scripts that have yet to be deciphered (preventing us to not really know the beliefs and practices). As well as figurines uncovered by archaeologists that seem to be prototypes of Hindu goddesses and an image of a man in a yogalike posture surrounded by animals who could be the prototype of Shiva, who is worshipped today as both an ascetic and the Lord of Animals.

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Philosophical Hinduism is the third layer in Hindu geology and some gods carry over from Vedic religion, but many new gods emerge, and gods that were once central become marginal, and vice versa. Ritual takes a backseat to philosophy, and mystics replace priests as the religious exemplars. . It started in the sixth century B.C.E., which was a period of astounding religious creativity that gave the world Hinduism and other religions. Philosophical Hinduism also introduced various meditative and yogic techniques designed to awaken liberating insight in practitioners willing to withdraw from the world into lives of celibacy and other austerities. Yoga in its original sense of discipline means “to yoke” one thing to another, and the things being yoked in the yogas practiced by philosophical Hindus were the self and reality, the self and divinity, the self and immortality.

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The Vedic religion is the second layer in the geology of Hinduism. It gets its name from the world's oldest holy books, the Vedas (meaning knowledge). The Vedics fall into the category of sruti meaning "that which is heard" or texts authored by divintity. The Vedas refer in a narrow sense to a collection of four books and in a borader sense to sruti literature in general. The language of the Vedas is called Sanskrit. The aim of the Vedas is to create and sustain social and cosmic order, what Vedas refer to as 'rita', but since humans cannot do this alone priests turn to the gods through ritual, and especially through fire sacrifice (or yanja) which is the central preoccupation of the Vedas. The Vedas believe that ritual is the glue that hold society together society. Priests who serve as Vedic religion's exemplars feed the Gods with animals, milk, grains, and other plants in exchange for order and all that sustains it. Echoes of Vedic sacrifice can be heard today in the sacred fires that burn in Hindu temples, arati ritual, and in marraige ceremonies. In the polytheistic world of the Vedas, gods are associated with the earth, sun, sky, water, wind, storms and other forces of nature as well as Gods associated with such principles as order and duty, etc. There is no single high god but the most important are Agni (the god of fire) and Indra (the god of war and weather).

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Devotional Hinduism is the fourth layer of Hinduism, referring to the bhakti-yoga of the Hindu epics, a story-driven path tailor-made not for priests or holy men but for ordinary men and women. Devotional Hinduism is about inviting the grace and favor of the gods into everyday life and therefore originates from a Sanskrit word for "sharing". One important aspect of devotional Hinduism is the place of gods in that in philosophical Hindu traditions, the religion is not centered on gods but rather on the individual's effort. The followers believe that you are not entering into moksha (liberation from reincarnation) or liberation from a relationship but rather through individualistic efforts such as different techniques of yoga. In philosophical Hinduism, the elite men are the only ones who pronounce everything and go off to do their duties but in devotional Hinduism, all genders can participate in this. Women and lower-caste men wanted to reach out and grab the brass ring of moksha without having to give up certain things of this world. This caused a shift from a one-man drama of utmost seriousness to a playful musical with a color cast of thousands in that the quest for spiritual liberation shifted, which is the dichotomy between devotional and philosophical Hinduism.

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The three deities that Prothero describes as “the Trinity” of Hinduism include Vishnu, Shiva, and Mahadevi. Vishnu is known best for his ten avatars (or incarnations) and each has very different forms such as a fish, tortoise, boar, half lion/half-man, and then in his human form Ram, Krishna, the Buddha, and Kalki which is the incarnation still to come. Shiva is a very contradictory figure both loving and wrathful male and female also referred to as an "erotic ascetic" and a solitary Himalayan yogin. There are two sides of Mahadevi: gentler incarnation while the other is more independent are ferocious. For all three deities, these gods can be depicted in different ways, but they are similar in the fact that those who practice Hinduism pray to them.

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Puja involves food offerings as an expression of love and devotion to god. There is also this idea that these offerings allow for merit in return to devotees.  Prothero also talks about this idea of Darshan which allows for worshipers to engage  “their deity in an intimate, eye to eye encounter.” This is similar to the idea of the apparitions in Chrisitianity and how people come across the god (or gods) they are worshipping.

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The Mahabharata tells the story of a family feud between different parts of a family clan and how their kingdom should be divided and ruled. This eventually leads to Arujna of the Pandava clan heading off to the final battle and struggling with a clash between following his duty and one's ethics in times of war. Krishna appears to him and explains that by performing his duty but being unconcerned with the results expecting no praise and fearing no punishment. This allow Arjuna and others to reach moksha.

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The Ramayana is the "Story of Rama" and the central themes are more personal—not war and heroism and fidelity to the ethics of caste, but love and longing and fidelity to the ethics of marriage. This scripture tells the story of a demon, a kidnapping, and the trials and tribulations of a virtuous prince named Rama and his faithful wife, Sita. Sita throws herself onto a fire when first alleged by Rama to have committed adultery. However, she does not burn because the god of fire, Agni, knows she was innocent. When she becomes pregnant Rama thinks she cheated again and sends her to exile. She has twins who are the spitting image of Rama and he forgives her. She refuses to come back and casts herself into the earth and Rama takes his place in the cosmos. Because it is revered not only by Hindus but also by Jains, Buddhists, and even Muslims, the Ramayana stands alongside the Bible, the Quran, and the Analects of Confucius as one of the four most influential books ever written. It is often remarked that Hinduism divinizes human beings, but as the epics demonstrate it also humanizes the gods.

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Eleggua, Orisha of beginnings, of the Crossroads, of messages

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Eleggua, Orisha of beginnings, of the Crossroads, of messages

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Sexto Sentido - CANTO A ELEGGUÁ (FULL HD)

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Orisha are known as lesser gods within the Yoruba religion, human beings are guided in their life path through reverence and relation through Oisha spirits. There are three main types of Orishas, those that were present with the Yoruba god (Olodumure) at creation Obatala, Eshu, and Orunmila. Second their personifications of natural forces such a the sea (Yemoja) and river (Oshun). The third type comprises ancestors who once walked the earth as mortals, which include King Oduduwa. Similar to Greek gods the Orisha's act human and have their own personalities, trials, tribulations, and faults, and some gods also all under multiple categories of Orishas. Saying if they are good or bad is an oversimplification since like humans they are prone to mistakes and have tendencies to at both bad and good.

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An Orisha’s are often described as intermediaries between humankind and the supernatural. The term is also translated as "Gods”.  There are no required daily rituals. Personal prayer and sacrifice to one’s Orisha is encouraged. “In this tradition of communication and exchange between human beings and the divine, devotees consult the orishas through the technique of divination and feed the orishas through the technique of sacrifice. The orishas respond by listening to their devotees and making things happen for them.”  There are three types (First there is the ones who are present with Olodumre; Second there are personifications of natural forces; Third: defied ancestors who once walked the earth as mere mortals) and each ritual is different depending on the Orisha a person worships.

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Prothero states that the human problem with Yoruba is disconnection. The solution to this problem is to reconnect ourselves to our destinies, to one another, and to sacred power this can be accomplished through the technique of divination, sacrifice, and spirit/body possession, which in combination allow us to truly flourish as individuals and societies. The Yoruba cosmos is awash with both good and malevolent spirits known as ajogun. The ajogun can make one's lives a living hell and thus the Yoruba use animal sacrifices as thanks to the orisha to ensure good omens in the loves of newborns.

Sacrifice is fundamental to feeding the Orishas and other spirits, which guide humans in reconnecting with their fate.

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The Yoruba religion has great elasticity which has allowed it to survive. It has gone through the "pressures of capture, passage, slavery, and emancipation," but still remained. "It is difficult to summarize the key practices of any religion, particularly one as elastic as orisha devotion. But this task is even more difficult because of the penchant of Yoruba practitioners for secrecy. The key religious elite in this tradition in West Africa is the guardian of secrets, the babalawo. And, as Yoruba religion migrated to the New World, secrecy became only more important." The religion has orality which means it is communicated and practiced through spoken word, and this has allowed it to exist when other religions may have died out because of a reliance on text or written records.

Some main changes to the Yoruba religion is that the orishas were cut down from thousands to only a dozen or more. "Many orishas lost their associations with particular places and peoples in west Africa after they migrated to the New World. In West Africa only a chosen few, such as Ogun, Eshu, and Obatala, were truly pan-Yoruba deities. In the New World, however, almost all orishas serve devotees regardless of location." Another transformation is that houses of worship have been constructed for all orishas, which was not always the case. These changes have altered the way the religion is practiced, but they have also preserved and continued the religion into the future.

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Orishas - Despójame (Official Music Video) ft. Jacob Forever

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Orishas - Despójame (Official Music Video) ft. Jacob Forever

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Orishas - Despójame (Official Music Video) ft. Jacob Forever

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Syncretism is the joining or amalgamation of many different religions, cultures, or schools. This helped the smaller religions, compared to Christianity, survive during the conquest of the new world. “In the New World, traditional African religions were denounced as “heathen” and often outlawed", syncretism helped these outlawed religions to survive the prejudice against them.

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Olodumare, also known as Olorun (Owner of the Sky) is the Supreme Being for the Orishas. He rules the apparent cosmos from way up high, and is often known as a distant and difficult God. This ideal is much different from typical interpretations of God in Christianity and Islam because of how remote Olorun is. There are no temples, liturgy, or even priests, because those who practice the Yoruba religion do not worship him directly. Even sacrifices are not directed at him, but rather run through him. He is viewed as the sky god and is a chief source of power, in a religious tradition that is all about power.

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Ashe is a sacred power that is present in all contexts, especially in offerings. To feed spirits and ancestors, you give them, or direct ashe toward them. In a sense, it is a life force. It is similar to saying “Amen” or a final word that gives power to something. It is a word that calls to a source (ancestors, spirits) which gives someone the power to carry out a want, need, wish. It is almost like a sacred means to manifestation. It can be used to give power to both good and evil intentions.

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Ashe is a sacred power that is present in all contexts, especially in offerings. To feed spirits and ancestors, you give them, or direct ashe toward them. In a sense, it is a life force. It is similar to saying “Amen” or a final word that gives power to something. It is a word that calls to a source (ancestors, spirits) which gives someone the power to carry out a want, need, wish. It is almost like a sacred means to manifestation. It can be used to give power to both good and evil intentions.

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Spirit and body possession connects with the orishas in particular parts of the body, and are also connected with particular illnesses. The Yoruba are particularly adept at putting the body in motion and in this religion "spirit and matter dance cheek to cheek" (Prothero, 2011). Orishas manifest into the body through dancing or organs. This is very important to the Yoruba because through dancing and body/spirt possession people are able to connect with orishas. The Yoruba are giving thanks to the orishas by allowing them to manifest in their body's and feed them because to the Yorubas the orishas make the world work the way it does and it is considered a very symbiotic relationship.

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It is difficult to count the number of practitioners of Yoruba-based religions because of the secrecy involved with the religion. Yoruba-based religions are initiation-based practices and as Prothero says. It could be having a lot of knowledge on the religion or consulting diviners, it's hard to say what exactly makes a practitioner. This might shift mainstream understandings of religion in that religion is viewed as something that's open to everyone and accessible to the entire public. However, in a Yoruba-based religion, this isn't the case in that only some knowledge was meant for public consumption. It's not like the religion of Christianity where one can walk into a church and partake in the service or even open up the Bible to read up on the teachings. Since Yoruba-based religions are built on the idea of secrecy, this might change the mainstream understanding that all religions were meant to be accessible and open to the public since not everyone can be a practitioner/initiate.

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Ifa divination is a spiritual and physical investigation into yourself and helps to bring clarity to an indvidiual. This ritual provides  wisdom and knowledge, while allowing someone to connect to their highest potential. Ifa divination is a spiritual practice that has been used by the Yoruba people for years. This ritual involves  areas of one’s personal life and helps them address issues in their life. The Yoruba people use 16 sacred palm nuts, also known as the divination chain, which are shaken in order to reveal wisdom, as well as to communicate with Orunmila. The nuts are placed into smaller divination cups, before they are shaken. These cups have human or animal symbols/  figures. It helps the Yoruba people foresee predictions as well as prophecies. It also helps the Yoruba people communicate with gods, as well as their ancestors. This system was also used to solve personal problems. Through this divination, it helps individuals find some type of clarity and guide them to their true purpose or calling in life. Individuals also do this in times of sickness.

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Some Catholic groups view Santeria and Candomble as "bastardizations" because they take the understandings and beliefs of Catholicism and interpret it in their own understandings. For example, they use images of Catholic saints to represent the orixas in their religion. The reading states that to believe in Santeria, sacrifice is commanded by the Gods. There is a heavy emphasis on the sacrifice of animals which is very different from that of the beliefs of Catholics in that the Santeria believe that it is necessary to make sacrifices to prove the religion to be true, which is an ideology that Catholics stray away from. Some Yoruba groups view Santeria and Candomble as "bastardizations" in that Yoruba practitioners themselves see Santeria and Candomble as bastardizations because rather than trying to purify their traditions of African superstitions and culture. They believe that rather than implementing Catholic aspects to the religion, they should be more true to the African backgrounds and religions. Again this is why some Catholic groups do not have the best viewing of Santeria and Candomble because they are "decatholcizing" certain aspects of their religion and Catholics view anything outside of their religion as "demonic" which contributes to why they view Santeria and Candomble as "bastardizations".

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The Yoruba religions are endlessly elastic in that they do not reject new religious ideas or traditions. Instead, they approach new religious texts and traditions as something they can learn from and adapt to their own beliefs. They believe other belief systems can add to the “perpetual elasticity of knowledge” (p. 31). They believe that in understanding the way that others make sense of reality and the human condition can also contribute to their understanding.

The Yoruba religions have adapted to both Christian and Islamic traditions. Christianity, specifically catholicism was adapted in by the Yoruba religion the America’s in the 1840’s and Islam centuries earlier in other parts of the globe.

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According to Orsi, devotionalism is the array of practices, objects, liquids, images, ceremonies, and gestures by which Catholics engaged the presence of God and the saints in the spaces and times of everyday life. Within devotionalism, there are acts of prayers, rituals, as well as ceremonies and practices through the presence of physical objects. These images can create change within the world in that the image can change the atmosphere of a location. This relates to the images of the Virgin Mary in that the Virgin Mary transforms looking into a devotional activity. The image of Mary is venerated and the image becomes a medium of presence, which shows how the image can change the outlook of a location The image is then used as a widespread symbol that shows Catholic belief which is why the image of Mary is so prominently associated with Catholicism.

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The two different elements of Marian devotion, one being disciplinary (toxic) and the other emancipatory (tonic). So while some contemporary theologians have identified Mary as the champion of the oppressed, others have visualized Marian piety to include harsh and abusive tactics by those declaring themselves as soldiers for Mary. Priests and nuns participate in these forms of Marian devotionalism which can contribute to the overall distinction between the good and the bad of Christianity as a whole. Mary’s image can be represented in different ways such as themes of virginity, and modesty. So while some may see Mary as a beacon of light and a guide to how women are supposed to live, others may see Mary as a symbol of blind obedience, that women must live in the way that she did. Mary’s image and her name are often used to justify actions or as a guide for how they conduct themselves. An example can be seen through migrations and pilgrimages, where immigrants are solely depending on Mary for guidance.

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Mary's story and imagery mirror common human experinces because she isn't a divine being void of any imperfections. She expereinces anxiety, hadrship, and doubt like any real person would. She also wasn't some nobility but was still a person without sin. Depictions of her by artist have unorthodox materials that showcase that while she had no sin her dress was stained with blood and mud of the Cavalry. For marginalized communities she will be important because she is a person who can relate to the struggles of "everyday people." They can ask her to pray on their behalf as praying to God is intimidating and seen as such a divine being. So, Mary's human-ness drives her to be important as she is one of the individuals within the bible that are truly human and relatable.

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Protestant Christianity is often  seen as the norm in the modern day.  The Second Vatican Council has a desire to assimilate to mainstream American culture. The Second Vatican Council is the modern Catholic church (1962) which is when the Pope had bishops and other leaders to form the New Catholic Church. Because they viewed the symbols and images (paintings, rosary beads, etc)  as not fitting in with modern culture, they viewed them as outdated. They are a reformation of Catholicism and are trying to get rid of images and strip devotionalism because they view them as primitive/childish.

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The Divine Mirrors was an exhibition of images at the Davis Museum of Wellesley College. Within the display was a notebook that was made available to visitors for recording their impression about the exhibit. One visitor wrote out a Hail Mary, another one sketched out an image of Mary with a halo, and someone else left a white glow in the dark rosary. Everyone had a different reaction when seeing the image of the Virgin Mary, however something that they all had in common was showing their devotion to Mary.

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Throughout the 1980s, many apparitions of the Virgin Mary were reported by various people.  However, only a few of them were approved by major Christian churches.  Venerations of Mary are devotions to Mary such as prayers, songs, and visuals of the Virgin Mary. This is significant because in the Catholic Church, the veneration of Mary, mother of Jesus, encompasses various Marian devotions which include prayer, visualizations and arts that are devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The most commonly reported sightings are of the Virgin Mary and there have only been 16 approved apparitions by the Vatican.

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“It was known that the site of Juan Diego’s experience was the sacred hill dedicated to the Aztec goddess, Tonantzin, who was worshipped throughout the history of the Aztec empire…Tepeyac was associated with important pre-Columbian ceremonial routes traveled to stimulate the rain-giving mountains to release their vital waters…the cult of Guadalupe, while strongly Catholic in meaning, also expresses an Indian sense of sacred space and worship of a goddess and her cults.” – Davíd Carrasco, Religions of Mesoamerica

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Today, la Virgen Guadalupe is the single most potent religious, political and cultural image of the Chicano/mexicano…Because Guadalupe took upon herself the psychological and physical devastation of the indio, she is our spiritual, political, and psychological symbol.

-Gloria E. Anzaldúa

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According to Prothero, the broad story of Jesus in human history comes from the focus on the Christian problem of sin and the Christian solution of salvation. Before knowing the human history of Jesus, it is first important to the know the foudation of Christianity in that this religion was built on the understanding of being rescued and pursuing an eternal after-life. This is why Christianity is often refered to as a rescue religion in that Jesus was appointed by God to come to the world in a form of a human body and die on the cross for the people's sins. Prothero is an advocate for this as well in that he says that Christianity is a "rescue religion"  and that this rescue was only made possible as Jesus was dying on the cross. Prothero also mentions that in the ancient world, Jesus was a messiah in Jerusalem, a turth teller in Athens, and an emperor in Rome showing that Jesus was more than just a savior throughout the history of Christianity but was seen as much more. Throughout the course of the reading, Prothero puts a lot of emphasis on the idea that Jesus was also fully human during this time and that He came down from Heaven and was born a human being from the Virgin Mary, showing that He was capable of feeling the physical pains and anguish.

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The main distinguishing marks are: biblicism (emphasis on the Bible), crucicentrism (emphasis on Jesus’ death on the cross), conversionism (an emphasis on the experience of the “new birth”), and activism (emphasis on preaching and performing the gospel). Evangelicals speak of the Bible as inspiration whereas fundamentalists read it like a textbook. They are friendly to modernity and open to technology. Usually, they are politically progressive, but today, they are opposed to abortion and gay marriage but tend to lean left on other issues such as poverty and the environment.

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One of the most important features of Pentacostalism is the central idea of the Holy Spirit and how that connects the believer to God. Pentecostalism also believes that faith in the religion is formed more so by personal experience with god than through routines such as praying. The Pentecost is also very important and is a basis of pentecostalism being that pentecost was an event that happened in the bible and was based off an experience.

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Mystics practice concerns the preparation for, the consciousness of, and the effect of a direct and transformative presence of God. The rise of mysticism was in the Middle ages and Renaissance. In the textbook, its stated that "Christian mysticism was about direct experience of the divine". They were more concerned with the presence and experience of God. Athanasius wrote: “the Orthodox hoped for theists, or deification (‘becoming by grace what God is by nature'). Moreover, their awareness is that sometimes things aren’t what they seem, that “doubt is always part of genuine faith". The "negative way" to mystics is considered a God who is beyond space, time and description, and therefore can only be said to be "neither this nor that." Mystics also believed inthe  transforming prossess into an angel of sorts or Saint; Joan of Arc was an example of mystism, later being burned at the steak for being a witch, then later became a Saint.

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Similarities/Differences between Christianity and Islam 

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Similarities/Differences between Christianity and Islam 

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Similarities:

-both have notions of salvation by accepting word of prophet

-both have prophets

-both religions are Abrahamic, meaning they follow the lineage of Abraham and the profits.

Differences:

-Islam is more action oriented - more emphasis on routines such as prayer 5x a day, fasting. pilgrimmage, while christianity is primarily focused on text and community (showing up to church on Sunday)

-Muhammad is not a God, just the messenger for God. Jesus on the other hand is God in human form and is expected to return

-both religions are action oriented to some extent and both consider the text as important/essential. The text itself and the “actions” for each religion differ

-the texts for both religions mention violence, in the Bible is is mentioned more vaguely while the Quran attempts to regulate the violence that is mentioned

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Prothero states that the "browning of Christianity" may seem to be a new departure, but it is actually a homecoming. In 500 C.E. two thirds of the worlds Christians lived in either Africa or Asia and it was not until the midieval time would the church come to be largely European. We also have to recognize that St. Augustine, one of the greatest thinkers in the early church, was actually african american. There are differences in the Christianity that is practiced in across different societies. For example, Christians in Africa, Asia and Latin America tend to emphasize their faith’s experiential dimension, while those in Europe and the U.S. emphasize it’s ethical dimension. Christians in Africa, Asia, and Latin America also tend to preach the prosperity gospel and to focus on winning a ticket to heaven. Prothero talks about how the browning of Christianity are driven by births and conversions. He states that because of this, Africa and Latin America will surpass Europe by 2025 in terms of professing Christians.

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Mormonism originated in the early 19th century during the second great awakening. A confused teenager named Joseph Smith Jr. sought God for help in asking the question: Which Protestant denomination is correct? God, allegedly replied "none". An angel named Moroni told Smith to find gold tablets buried in a hill. Smith then translated these tablets to English and published them as the book of Mormon.

Mormons view themselves as Christians, however, most Christians say that Mormons are too far off. Mormons love Jesus and claim that God has a body, and that humans can become Gods. Mormons, although they see the bible as the word of God, also have three books as part of their scriptures: the Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrine and Covenants. Mormons also believe in ongoing revelations, which allows them to believe in prophecies.

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From the New Testament, one can conclude that Mary of Magdala (her hometown, a village on the shore of the Sea of Galilee) was a leading figure among those attracted to Jesus. When the men in that company abandoned him at the hour of mortal danger, Mary of Magdala was one of the women who stayed with him, even to the Crucifixion. She was present at the tomb, the first person to whom Jesus appeared after his resurrection and the first to preach the “Good News” of that miracle. These are among the few specific assertions made about Mary Magdalene in the Gospels. From other texts of the early Christian era, it seems that her status as an “apostle,” in the years after Jesus’ death, rivaled even that of Peter. This prominence derived from the intimacy of her relationship with Jesus, which, according to some accounts, had a physical aspect that included kissing. Beginning with the threads of these few statements in the earliest Christian records, dating to the first through third centuries, an elaborate tapestry was woven, leading to a portrait of St. Mary Magdalene in which the most consequential note—that she was a repentant prostitute—is almost certainly untrue. On that false note hangs the dual use to which her legend has been put ever since: discrediting sexuality in general and disempowering women in particular.
-Excerpt from "Who Was Mary Magdalene?" https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/who-was-mary-magdalene-119565482/

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Lady Gaga - Judas (Official Music Video)

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One of the central narrative that is pivotal to the story of Christianity is the narrative fallen humanity which is told through the events of the Guardian of Eden. Within the narrative, the idea of sin is introduced and we are shown how Adam and Eve were the first to sin, which caused the separation from God and people because of "sin". This was the background that set up the story of Christianity and is the reason why Jesus had to come as a human being to die for the sins that were caused by Adam and Eve because they brought perpetual sin.

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In Prothero he states that Christians are monotheists but are relatively soft compared to the monotheism of Jews and Muslims because it is organized around the doctrine of the Trinity: the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Alternatively, Prothero does not state where the Trinity comes from, and in the bible it does not state the trinity, therefore not all Christians follow the Trinity. Adding on to this, Prothero states that "Christians are monotheists, but theirs is a soft monotheism compared to the hard monotheism of Jews and Muslims, who refuse not just to petrify God in graven images but even to imagine God in human form”. In Christian tradition they build Jesus sculptures and Jesus paintings in order to promote the good news that God has taken on a human body. In the Christian faith they also believe that God will return one day to save them. Therefore this plays a role with there rituals such as communion.

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Orthodoxy and Catholicism are two branches of Christianity. They split because there were many religious and political conflicts that the western and eastern branches of the church disagreed on, including the pope’s authority. This split is known as the East-West Schism. The Orthodox called themselves that to denote that they had correct teachings and the Catholics called themselves that to denote they were full and complete and did not need anyone else. The main difference between the two is that the Catholics believe that the church authority should be centralized and the Orthodox position was that the church authority should be decentralized. Today, orthodoxy is led by patriarchs whose authority is confined to their own nations, not the pope. The Orthodox  also allow parish priests to marry and they focus mostly on the Incarnation and Resurrection and the possibilities that both portend for mystical communion with Christ.

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The Protestant Reformation was the result of grievances against the christain church.  Martin Luther was a German priest and he questioned the church and believed it was abusing its power.  He challenged the Church’s doctrine that the pope not the bible was the ultimate spiritual authority.  Luther also criticized the church for selling indulgences and posted 95 theses, arguments against the church.  Luther as put on trial in front of Church officials to defend his these, but the church ruled he was a heretic and excommunicated him.  However, Luther’s ideals were not lost on the people and as a result, this allowed the common people to feel empowered and question their religion and other aspects of life.  Generally, it diversified and expanded what it mean to be Christian.

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The central difference between the Catholics and the Protestants is how each populates the world with sacred power. For Catholics, the cosmos is filled with people and objects saturated with the sacred. The way Catholics access God is by praying to the saints, parading through the streets on their feast days, or going on pilgrimage to churches named in their honor. The Catholic Church has no problem or objection to the theory of the Big Bang or the creation of the world, but believes that these are metaphors or used by God to show how living beings were created. Protestants empty the Catholic cosmos of saints and relics, and see it more as something supersitutious. Their models are ordinary "knights of faith". Also, Protestants have heroes, but they do not pray to them or celebrate their feast days. The main moment in Protestant worship servies does not come when the bread and wine are shared, but rather when the Bible is read to the congregation and when the minister (who can be a women) interprets the text for the congregation. Therefore, Catholics can get to God through saints, relics, popes, priests, sacraments, and the Bible, while Protestants get to God without any intermediaries and read the Bible with God's guidance alone rather than a papal authority and church tradition.

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Lutheranism is derived from the original approach of Martin Luther, particularly in regards to how their worship is conducted. They heavily utilize liturgy and hymns in their gatherings, and don't believe that the bread and wine of communion are actually parts of Jesus. Instead, they believe that it is a representation of him, opposing the general thought of Catholic denominations. Most common in northern Europe and the American midwest.

Calvinists are mainly noted for their belief in predestination, or that the eventual direction of the soul going to heaven or hell was decided before the person was born. They are particularly harsh in their beliefs, such as believing that most humans are depraved and will be sent to hell. Most popular example of Calvinists being the Puritans.

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Mainstream America has many assumptions about women who wear the hijab. They assume that the hijab is connected to terrorism or 9/11 and see it as very restricting or sexist. Women wear the hijab because they want to support and take back their religion as well as fight against stereotypes related to Muslim tradition. Women also choose the wear the hijab because of the freedom of choice and it liberates them. To wear the headscarf makes a woman more aligned with the Muslim tradition, however less than half of Muslim women choose to wear it in public and this may be due to negative connotations in wearing the hijab. Modesty and piety also play a major role in women choosing to wear the hijab because in Islam men and women have a responsibility to remain modest in public and it is also seen as being religious when choosing to wear the hijab.

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Karen Crisco, a woman who wore a hajib to work at a medical practice on September 9, 2001, was told to remove it because she was frightening a number of patients, she sued citing a hostile work environment and was rewarded $35,000 and reinstated at her place of work. This demonstrated that even prior to 9/11, discrimination against Muslims was still prevalent within the United States. The Religious marker off the Hajib is connected to both racial stereotypes and fear, even though other markers such as the star of David and cross would not denote the same reaction. This dives into deeper themes about how certain religions are treated in the United States with more prevalent ones such as Christianity being treated in higher esteem and not being associate with fear in the way a religion such as Islam is.

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The U.S. court cases outlined in the article shows us that Muslim-American women (and Muslim women in France) do not have as much “freedom of religion” as other people do and that this freedom of religion is not so attainable for muslim women in more secular societies. In the cases where the hijab was banned from public schools and community pools, we see that the separation of church and state infringed upon their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion. Additionally, the ban is also denying equality between religions because the inability to wear a head scarf for these women further takes away their freedom of religion, movement, and access to public space. On page 244, Kathleen Moore explains that “no student should be forced to choose between following her faith and enjoying the benefits of public education”. This was reflected in the City of Omaha court case where the dress code was amended to accommodate for religious or medical needs. This is a push toward a more healthy balance between secularity, religious freedom, and human rights.

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One instance of hijab discrimination in schools was when The Holy Name Convent, a Catholic school, refused to allow an 11 year old Muslim student to modify her uniform by adding the head covering and lengthening the sleeves to the wrists and the skirt to her ankles.  The courts ruled the school board’s decision had been unreasonable and protected the child’s right to pursue her own religious belief free from discrimination.  Similarly, Natasha Hearn, was suspended twice from school for wearing her hijab.  The United States Federal Justice Department ruled in favor of Hearn.  Another instance was when a 12 year old was told she couldn't compete in a basketball tournament because she was wearing a hijab. After debate, she was told she would wear the hijab as long as it was tucked.  These examples show how schools are more formed to fit a Christian belief and norm, and that everyone who is attending those schools (especially the ones mentioned above) are accommodating to those norms as well. But there is no room for different beliefs and different norms.

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Mona Eltahawy: “Patriarchy is the form of oppression with which the entire world struggles”

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An example of a hijab related discrimination, by government agencies, can be seen through the Sultaana Lakiana Myke Freeman v State of Florida trial. This trial involved a Muslim woman who wished to have either no picture on her driver's license, or a photo of her wearing a niqab, which conceals the face. Sultana Freeman was initially permitted to being able to wear the garment, but this was revoked when a driver's license database check, prompted by the 9/11 attacks, formally suspended her license. She was also asked to present herself without the niqab for her photo. She refused to do so and sued the state, which led to a trial. In court, they ruled that even though she wasn't a terrorist, they feared that others who may be terrorists, may take advantage of these garments to disguise their identities. Although she was practicing her religion, the court claimed that "as long as the laws are neutral and generally applicable to the citizenry, they must be obeyed", and ruled against her. Overall, the conflict didn't get resolved in her favor, and the court essentially prioritized national security over religious practices, although her case was proven not be harmful. These events show that there isn't much distinction between church and state.

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Karen Crisco, a woman who wore a hajib to work at a medical practice on September 9, 2001, was told to remove it because she was frightening a number of patients, she sued citing a hostile work environment and was rewarded $35,000 and reinstated at her place of work. This demonstrated that even prior to 9/11, discrimination against Muslims was still prevalent within the United States. The Religious marker off the Hajib is connected to both racial stereotypes and fear, even though other markers such as the star of David and cross would not denote the same reaction. This dives into deeper themes about how certain religions are treated in the United States with more prevalent ones such as Christianity being treated in higher esteem and not being associate with fear in the way a religion such as Islam is.

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Laws about "the separation between church and state" intend to reinforce the legal right of all people to freely live their faith, even in public, without the fear of government coercion. The assumption that this is based on is that people are religious. There is the convenience of one religion which is Christianity in the sense that the United States was built on the foundations of Christianity. According to a poll conducted by Pew in August 2004, more than seven-in-ten Americans believe that a display of the Ten Commandments on public property is acceptable.  Another assumption is that the purpose of the law was to simply uphold the "secular purpose" test established in 1971 in Lemon vs. Kurtzman to prohibit government action. This was so to prohibit government action if they intended to favor one religion over another or tried to promote adherence to religion in general. We believe that these actions heavily impact the non-Christian communities in that Americans are getting comfortable with the religiosity of public officials and have moved beyond that era when religion was strictly a private affair.

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The five pillars of Islam are derived from the Quran (word of God) and Sunnah (actions of prophet Muhammed) and they include:

1) Shahada - profession of faith - Allah is God and Muhammad is prophet)

2) Salat - pray five times a day facing Mecca

3) Zakat - giving fixed portion of income to charity/community members in need

4) Sawm - fasting during ramadan from sunrise to sunset

5) Pilgrimmage - Going to Mecca at some point in a persons lifetime

These 5 pillars are generally accepted by Muslims as a part of their faith, however they are prioritized differently based on individual circumstances. For instance, in some parts of the world the hours for fasting are altered based on extended hours of daylight. Additionally, some people may be unable to go to Mecca in their lifetime due to financial issues or health issues (like a pandemic). Some may also not have the means to donate portions of their income.

Just because one of these pillars are not done by a practicing muslim does not make them any less muslim (except for Shahada).

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Sufism is a more minimalist, mystical tradition. They stress an “experiential” aspect of religion and believe that one can experience the divine while they are alive and not just in the afterlife.

According to the textbook, The term ‘Sufi’ comes from the term ‘suf’, which means wool. So Sufi means “wool wearer”, which means someone who has opted for a simple life of contemplation and pious poverty along the lines of Christian monastics and their scratchy wool garments. Another name for Sufism is ihsan, or “doing what is beautiful”. Sufis have a sense of God that is fundamentally close to them and engage in practices to do so. They literally feel the presence of God in their bodies. Whats most important is their experience with God. For some Sufis, the 5 pillars aren’t as important and are all outer practices or surface level, and there’s something deeper than that. What matters to them most is Allah and becoming close to Him and the experience of that. It challenges the question of what’s important to Islam. Some things Islam may not agree with is what’s most important to sufis.

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Prothero says that Progressive and Moderate Muslims are opponents of Salafism, Wahhabism, and Islamism, but they also criticize colonialism and imperialism.  Their task is to give voices to the voiceless and power to the powerless.  They welcome multiple voices not just within Islam itself but also from other religions as well.  Progressive Muslims believe that the struggle for justice lies at the heart of the Islamic tradition. Progressives distinguish themselves from moderates by speaking out more forcefully for religious pluralism and women’s rights and by drawing more generously on the thinking of intellectuals from Europe, Latin America, and the US. There is this idea that these people aren’t real Muslims, but we think they are.  These people are reimagining their original ideals while accepting society’s new norms and new ideas. It is important to still have those original beliefs but also allow them to reimagine new ideals that fit into the old ones.

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The core difference between the Sunni and Shia forms of Islam stems from their difference in beliefs of who should have preceded the Prophet Muhammad. According to Prothero, every religion is a "chain of memory" and a key link in this chain for the Shia is the martyrdom of Muhammad's grandson Husain. (pg. 52) The key difference between the two forms comes from the leadership following the death of the Prophet Muhammad. A majority backed Muhammad's father-in-law, Abu Bakr as his successor, making up the Sunni. However, a minority of the Muslim community insisted that Islam's next leader share Muhammad's bloodline, which would be through Muhammad's son, Ali, making up the Shia. The more prominent of the group is the Sunni, making up about 85% of the Muslim community, leaving the remaining 15% to be Shia. (pg. 51) This was due to the fact that the Sunnis focused on following the Prophet's examples whereas the Shia focused more on the linage of Muhammad's family as well as ancestry.

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Prothero defines Islamism as a radical form of politicized Islam that took the martyr tradition developed by Jews and was adapted by Christians in a dangerous new direction. It is because of this and the Western intereference in various Islamic cultures, that Islamsists take on an anti-Western and anti-American ideology. The goal of Islamists is to purify Islam from the pollution of modernity and also to create Islamic states following their particular version of Islam Law. A quote we found interesting was that "Islamists have latched onto the notion that we are witnessing a clash of civilizations between Islam and the Christian West, but what their activities demonstrate is an intra-Islamic culture war". Islamism is a political and revolutionary project seek to move forward by going backwards, which similar to other forms of fundamentalism is actually a modern invention, deeply influenced by the Western ideologies they seek to oppose.

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Shariah means the “right path” and is the term Muslims use for law. Historically, Muslims have not separated the sacred and the secular, so Shariah extends into all aspects of life- family, society, economics, and politics. It covers ritual and ethics, as well as criminal law, taxation, and public policy. The Hadith is a secondary body of scripture comprising thousands of accounts of the words and deeds of Muhammad. It covers both law and ritual obligations. Not all Hadith are equally authoritative. The Hadith and Shariah are related because all aspects of a Muslim’s life are governed by Sharia and the Sharia law comes from a combination of sources including the Quran and the Hadith.

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The Quran is the religious text of Islam. It contains the revelations from God that were revealed to the Muslim Prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. Characteristics include the Quran being untranslatable, and the word of God. According to Prothero "The Quran repeatedly states that the path to Paradise is paved with both faith and works – 'those who believe, and do righteous deeds, for them await(s) . . . the great triumph' (85:11) = but Islam inclines toward Judaism and away from Christianity by emphasizing orthopraxy (right action) over orthodoxy (right doctrine). "

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Muhammad is the final prophet of God (known as the "Seal of Prophets" and the reason he is so important in Islam is because Muslims regard Muhammad as Allah's. messenger. This means that Muslims only believe in one God and believe Muhammad is the messenger of that God.   Some characteristics about Muhammad is he was the only person ever to achieve the combination of spiritual and secular success. He was the vehicle for both a new religion. and a new political and economic order. Muhhamad and his earliest followers fled Mecca because his criticisms of local polytheistic traditions were frowned upon and they later established a Muslim community (a monotheistic religion/community). In the book, Prothero compares Muhammad to Jesus Christ, and even though Jesus was a great leader, he left it all to Paul to spread the word. However, Muhammad did both Jesus' role and Paul's role while being married and maintaining an extended family network.

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The Quaran is considered Islam's sacred text. The book splits people into beleivers and non-believers, in which those who perform the prayers being believers while those who don't are non-believers. It also hasn't been changed or altered over time. Since it's been written, its text has stayed the same. Its a way of knowledge, a way to live and percieve the world. It recommends how you should live your life. You also have to understand arabic to read it; it was translated from word of mouth by Allah. Its one of the only religious texts that address war as well, unlike many.

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Allah is the one and only God in Islam. Some key characteristics of Allah in Islam are beneficence showing that He is all good, immanence showing that He is ubiquitous, merciful showing that He is forgiving and compassionate, omnipotence showing that He is all-powerful, and transcendence showing that He is the past, present, and future. According to Prothero, this God is singular and the reason behind this is to underscore the singularity of having only one God and the pivotality of Allah's divine oneness. This is different from that of the God from the religion of Christianity, in that Christians being soft monotheists, have God appear as a Trinity: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whereas Islam's are more monotheistic in the sense that they reject the notion that God can incarnate in a human body (hypostatic union) and strongly believe that Allah can only be a God, which goes back to the origin of tawhid. On page 36, Prothero mentions how one of the biggest differences between Islam and Christianity is the rejection of visual images of God such as images, which cannot possibly capture the reality of the divine. In Islam, the only visual representation of Allah is the word "Allah" being spelled out, mainly in Arabic. However, in Christianity, especially Catholicism, there are often portraits of their God which is something that the Muslims disagree with since they believe that their Allah is absolutely and totally transcendent, far beyond all human conceptions of Him. This is very different from Christianity again, in the sense that Christians often refer to their God/Jesus/Holy Spirit as a friend, which can take away from the divinity from a Muslim's point of view.

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The two forms the jihad are the spiritual struggle against pride and self-sefencey which is the daily struggle of the inner spirt striving to live as a Muslim and the other is the physical struggle against the house of war or the enemies of Islam. The second one of the struggles calls for a variety or tactics such as preaching or teaching but could also call for war. This does not make Islam inherently violent because it all depends on context and a religion itself is not inherently violent, but the individual who practices it can be. Although there is a great amount of violence within the Quran it is often extremist who take the texts literally and use it to justify their violent actions. For example the Quran condemns suicide and killing women and children but extremist defend doing so on the basis of using the Quran text literally and justifying that they are fighting against the enemies of Islam. Many Muslims disagree with the extremist interpretation of the Quran, for example there is a survey that in which many Muslims in Nigeria, Lebanon, and Turkey do not condone the use of suicide bombers and think Muslims should fight for Islam peacefully. In contrast 70% of Muslims in Palestinian territories do belive that the use of suicide bombers meets their criteria for justice.

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It is difficult to study native religions because Native American traditions have been neglected because their religions are Indigenous and generally not oriented around mainstream American understandings of history or texts. Native religions do not follow the 'mainstream' way of doing religions, rather they focus on sacred spaces, land, and ritual life. Studying natie religions shows us how all religions do not look the same. We found a quote on page 176 of the text that said "the meaning of land has long been considered a primary consideration for understanding native american religion". This further proves how if you wish to study their religion, you need to focus on land and sacre spaces.

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The Ganondagon is important to the Haudensaunee because it was a sacred place for them. It is known to them as where the Peacemaker (one of the founders of the Haudenausee) journied across Lake Ontario and met a woman known as the Mother of Nations. The Seneca call this the Town of Peace and honor the burial site of the Mother of Nations. Ganondagon is a place that united the Haudensonee and Seneca to the Creation.

This relates to Tuesday's discussion because it displays how land plays such an important role in native religions. There is a strong history behind why land is so important, and this story connects to the idea that native religions are not portable, unlike the 'major' religions. The Haudensaunee are able to directly connect their history back to this moment and the land that encompasses it.

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Landscape is connected to Indigenous creation stories and ritual cycle and inherent to their worldview, but for most non-Natives/"modern citizens" of New York State, land is seen as a commodity. In terms of gender relations, the privatization of land ownership was assigned to a male head of the household. Private property broke up extended family units and severed clans (overseen by women) by making the nuclear family a primary economic social group. So, women are stripped of power when this happens. So privatization of land is religious, political, and gendered. Challenges of sacred landscape include that it is very hard to simultaneously regard land as sacred and as a commodity at the same time. You can’t see land both as a living embodiment of creation and also a dead, mute matter, only made useful for human beings. Another challenge is that sacred landscape questions our definition of religion. Consideration of how sacred landscape moves our definition of religion from belief to material existence. Overall, distinctive people can occupy a single place yet understand it in dramatically different ways. There are different meanings for land and different interpretations of its relationship with people. Most Americans assume land is private property, however the Haudenosaunee people see it as a sacred space.

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According to Jake Swamp, the Haudenosaunee addresses grief by reestablishing a correct relationship with the natural world. They believe that through this, their views of the world will shift. This is directly related to the thanksgiving address in that the Haudenosaunee believes that the intent of the thanksgiving address is to give thanks to the beings of the world for providing and always looking out for them. This brings up the question of grief and what exactly is this grief. Professor Arnold argues that Americans have a hard time coming to terms with this "grief" which is colonialism. Our group interpreted this as the Americans experiencing grief with colonialism because they feel apologetic towards the indigenous people that had to experience this. On page 179 of "Sacred Landscapes of New York State and the Problem of Religion in America", Jake Swamp says that "grief results from our unwillingness to connect ourselves to the process of creation through giving thanks". This is a clear example of the Haudenosaunee relationship between the practice of the thanksgiving address and the abolition of their grief. (pg. 7)

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According to Jake Swamp, the Haudenosaunee addresses grief by reestablishing a correct relationship with the natural world. They believe that through this, their views of the world will shift. This is directly related to the thanksgiving address in that the Haudenosaunee believes that the intent of the thanksgiving address is to give thanks to the beings of the world for providing and always looking out for them. This brings up the question of grief and what exactly is this grief. Professor Arnold argues that Americans have a hard time coming to terms with this "grief" which is colonialism. Our group interpreted this as the Americans experiencing grief with colonialism because they feel apologetic towards the indigenous people that had to experience this. On page 179 of "Sacred Landscapes of New York State and the Problem of Religion in America", Jake Swamp says that "grief results from our unwillingness to connect ourselves to the process of creation through giving thanks". This is a clear example of the Haudenosaunee relationship between the practice of the thanksgiving address and the abolition of their grief. (pg. 7)

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The non-Native view of land is as an inanimate thing that serves as a commodity with which we can do what we want. However, from the perspective of Indigenous people land is a sacred part of their religion and culture.

By understanding this view of land, it is easier to relate to indigenous people. But more than that, without this understanding, indigenous people and people with a non-Native view of land will never be able to reconcile their difference of opinions on difficult matters dealing with sacred land.

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Of the Suquamish Nation, Calina Lawrence was born and raised within her ancestral culture at a time during the reawakening of the teachings of the canoe and the Coast Salish way of life in the Pacific Northwest.

The Suquamish Nation is one of many that comprise the Coast Salish peoples.

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Calina Lawrence - ʔəshəliʔ ti txʷəlšucid | Dir. Tomas Karmelo Amaya [Official Video]

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The Kinààldá cermony is when a girl gets "initiated into womanhood", which happens when a girl just starts her first period. During this process, the girl has a mentor who guides her through the traditional cermony and will make sure that the girl understands the meaning of what is happening around her. The Kinààldá cermony shows women their sense of beauty and strength. "They sprinkle a bit of the cake on the earth, thanking it for providing them with food and life." (pg 37). The cake that is made during the Kinààldá ceremony is significant because the making of the cake is correlated with the girl's life and her future. If the cake is successful, then the girl's life will also be successful. Everyone works on the cake together in harmony, which brings a sense of closeness to the community. While the ceremony is celebrating and teaching Dine women the proper way to live it is also a celebration of the earth. The Kinaalda cake is a representation of how the earth and the land provides life and food to them. The sprinkling of the cake before anyone eats is thanking the earth for the spoils it provides the people. The ceremony celebrates in what ways women are like the earth, strong, beautiful, and provide life. 

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The Kinààldá cermony is when a girl gets "initiated into womanhood", which happens when a girl just starts her first period. During this process, the girl has a mentor who guides her through the traditional cermony and will make sure that the girl understands the meaning of what is happening around her. The Kinààldá cermony shows women their sense of beauty and strength. "They sprinkle a bit of the cake on the earth, thanking it for providing them with food and life." (pg 37). The cake that is made during the Kinààldá ceremony is significant because the making of the cake is correlated with the girl's life and her future. If the cake is successful, then the girl's life will also be successful. Everyone works on the cake together in harmony, which brings a sense of closeness to the community. While the ceremony is celebrating and teaching Dine women the proper way to live it is also a celebration of the earth. The Kinaalda cake is a representation of how the earth and the land provides life and food to them. The sprinkling of the cake before anyone eats is thanking the earth for the spoils it provides the people. The ceremony celebrates in what ways women are like the earth, strong, beautiful, and provide life. 

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The designs on the dress are based on the aesthetic of the land around them.

—This means it is important to preserve the beauty of land around them in order for this ceremony to take place.

The corn that is used at the end of the ceremony represents a daughters final transition to womanhood.  All aspects of land are being used to bring community together and celebrate a woman and her abilities. The land and its fertility is used as a  representation of the sacred powers of womanhood.

In this gesture, everyone honors and gives thanks to the corn, to its fertility, to the earth and its creative power, to the four directions and all the holy people that live in the mountains that border the Diné landscape. (p. 37)

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"Everyone suffering does so to fulfill a dream, a vision, or a heartfelt desire to ease the suffering of his or her people or the earth. People pray and dance for friends or family members suffering in another winter" (p 26). This quote goes on to explain the reason for the sacrifice which is so that the community will not have to suffer in the future and that there will be enough food and the people will remain healthy. This is a perfect example of a ritual in that, through prayer and sacrifices, they are honoring a promise.

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The purpose of Sun Dance is to sacrifce labor, time, possessions, pain, and suffering for the well-being of the earth and the community as a whole. One example of how there is a relationship between the Sun Dance ceremony and the land is the tree placed in the middle of the ceremony which represents the center of creation as a way to communicate with sacred forces through the land. The dancers are making individual sacrafices on behalf of the whole community by starving themselves and doing bodily harm. One example of the dancers using the land in their ceremony is that they pierce themselves with eagle talons which our group felt was a representation of them getting closer to sacred power.

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The First Salmon Ceremony begins in a longhouse, an enormous structure with open and lined on both sides with red benches. The ceremony begins at noon with nearly fifty dancers and drummers performing songs that honor the salmon when the dance is over the tribal leader steps forward to the center of the longhouse between the two fires. The leader tells the crowd the story of the salmon ceremony, which emphasizes the importance of both the human tribe members and the respect they have for the salmon with whom they share their land. After this a young boy will notify the group of the Chief salmon's arrival, the salmon Is carried in by canoe, it is then cut leaving the bones and head intact. The bones and head are placed back in the water in order to bring good fortune for the return of Chief Salmon during the next ceremony.  In the week leading up to the ceremony, this respect is also shown in the tribe's efforts to not pollute the water in order to further show their appreciation for all the salmon has done for the tribe.

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The first salmon ceremony is held to celebrate the the arrival of the first salmon run. The first fish caught will be sliced and distributed amongst the members, and its' bones and head will be returned back into the water, given thanks and praises. This ritual is important because in this culture, because they believe if they treat the salmon well, they will be treated well in return by nature. If they give praise and respect to the first salmon in the salmon run, they will in turn have a plentiful harvest in the upcoming seasons. This salmon is the first salmon back, received by the chief and people with great repect. This first salmon is believed to be reincarnated every year, and serves almost as an ambassador for the salmon, which is why it is celebrated. The first fish is titled by the people as the "Chief of the Salmon People".

"He explains that the ceremony has existed for countless generations, to honor the return of the Chief of the Salmon People (Haik Saib Yo Bouch, or Haik Ciaub Yubev), who arrives first, as a scout for his people. If he is treated properly, his bones and skin will travel back to his village, where he will come back to life, renewed and able to return the following year. When he arrives at his undersea village, he will testify to the good care he was given. Then, his people will follow his lead and come, offering their lives to the Coast Salish people." Page 28

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Week 1

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Religions differ in their dogmas and institutions; however all religions are concerned with ethics and truth. Religion is a powerful force that can be used for good or evil.

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Ignorance is not bliss. It is dangerous to assume and minimize what a religion value. People hold their values closely and will fight for it. So being educated on religions means we as people can avoid conflicts and come to an understanding without minimizing and taking apart significance to people’s values.

“But pretending that the world’s religions are the same does not make our world safer. Like all forms of ignorance, it makes our world more dangerous.”

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The four part model that Prothero is, a problem that the religion faces, a solution to this problem which also serves as the religious goal, a technique for moving from this problem to this solution and the last one is an exemplar who chart this path from problem to solution.

This model is effective as it allows us to approach any religion and provides a basis on what each religion articulates.

We believe that this system is too simplified and be difficult to apply the four part model for other religions.

“At the heart of this project is a simple, four part approach to the religions, which I have been using for years in the classroom and at the lectures around the world.”

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What Prothero means by "toxic and tonic" is that religion is a great force, whether that be for evil or good. Regardless of which way it sways, because Prothero believes religion is such a big factor in this world, he claims that we cannot just ignore it. He quotes "Religion is hazardous to your health and poisonous to society", which shows the "toxic" aspect of religion. An example of this would be when churches exploit people for money. They are using the "tonic" aspect of religion to make a profit, which in turn makes this "tonic" aspect a "toxic" one. When Prothero says this, he means that religion can be hazardous to your health because individuals must abide by specific guidelines when following a religion and in turn, this can be poisonous to society, since these people make up society. When followers of religion get exploited by their church, it not only harms the individual's beliefs about that religion but also society's view of that religion.

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What Prothero means by "toxic and tonic" is that religion is a great force, whether that be for evil or good. Regardless of which way it sways, because Prothero believes religion is such a big factor in this world, he claims that we cannot just ignore it. He quotes "Religion is hazardous to your health and poisonous to society", which shows the "toxic" aspect of religion. An example of this would be when churches exploit people for money. They are using the "tonic" aspect of religion to make a profit, which in turn makes this "tonic" aspect a "toxic" one. When Prothero says this, he means that religion can be hazardous to your health because individuals must abide by specific guidelines when following a religion and in turn, this can be poisonous to society, since these people make up society. When followers of religion get exploited by their church, it not only harms the individual's beliefs about that religion but also society's view of that religion.

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He begins this section by explaining that one of his goals is to be fair to all religions. For example, if there is a Christian idea, he will not use it when writing about Hinduism and Buddhism. He writes “to claim salvation as the monopoly of any one religion, is like claiming that God can be found in this room and not the next”. After writing this he highlights that only Christians seek salvation and although some other religions speak of sin, some religions do not describe salvation from sin as the goal. Here he goes into the sports analogy. Different sports have different goals. It would not be fair to ask which sport is best at scoring runs because baseball is the only sport that “scores runs” and the other sports have different goals. If you are to criticize a tennis player for not scoring enough runs, that is simply a misunderstanding of the game. The analogy is “just as hitting home runs is the monopoly of one sport, salvation is the monopoly of one religion”. He then writes, “If you see sin as the human predicament and salvation as the solution, then it makes sense to come to Christ”.                                                         This is important to think about when studying religion because not all religions have the same goals, practices, or elements. We need to be aware of context when studying religion and not make assumptions.We chose this image because we saw different athletes coming together for the Olympics, and although different sports have different goals they are all treated the same in this ceremony because not one sport has a monopoly over the entire Olympics. Each athlete has similar goals but are measured in different ways for whether or not they will win a medal.

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He begins this section by explaining that one of his goals is to be fair to all religions. For example, if there is a Christian idea, he will not use it when writing about Hinduism and Buddhism. He writes “to claim salvation as the monopoly of any one religion, is like claiming that God can be found in this room and not the next”. After writing this he highlights that only Christians seek salvation and although some other religions speak of sin, some religions do not describe salvation from sin as the goal. Here he goes into the sports analogy. Different sports have different goals. It would not be fair to ask which sport is best at scoring runs because baseball is the only sport that “scores runs” and the other sports have different goals. If you are to criticize a tennis player for not scoring enough runs, that is simply a misunderstanding of the game. The analogy is “just as hitting home runs is the monopoly of one sport, salvation is the monopoly of one religion”. He then writes, “If you see sin as the human predicament and salvation as the solution, then it makes sense to come to Christ”.                                                         This is important to think about when studying religion because not all religions have the same goals, practices, or elements. We need to be aware of context when studying religion and not make assumptions.We chose this image because we saw different athletes coming together for the Olympics, and although different sports have different goals they are all treated the same in this ceremony because not one sport has a monopoly over the entire Olympics. Each athlete has similar goals but are measured in different ways for whether or not they will win a medal.

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“The fundamentals or essentials of all religions are the same. There is a difference only in the non-essentials.” Swami Sivandi (Hindu teacher)

This is in some ways opposite of what Prothero is arguing. Religions are NOT the same. In fact, Prothero critiques this.

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Bill Maher vs. Ben Affleck: A Religious Literacy Case Study