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I grew up in a Lutheran Christian household and spent preschool through 2nd grade in a Lutheran private school. I would go to church every Saturday night, along with attending a mandatory Wednesday morning sermon in the gym. I was taught about The Bible from one perspective only from the get go. I was born in Indiana and my family moved to Iowa after 2nd grade, where we quickly found another Lutheran church that taught the same stuff I've been hearing. This constant attendance of church services where I would hear the same topics over and over again really turned me away from the religion. I had the moral base of the Lutheran church, but no interest in the teachings. After 6th grade, my family moved to California, which is an entirely different playing field from the hardcore conservative nature of Iowa and Indiana. I was introduced to real public school kids that grew up around all types of people. I was a complete outsider and had trouble making friends. Once I found my group, I quickly adapted to their ways of thinking and incorporated it into my own views. They were very accepting of all people and didn't spend too much time thinking about religions at all. Thanks to the spread out nature of the Lutheran churches in the area, my family stopped going to church, except on the holidays. I kept my moral base but started to questions the validity of the religion itself. After being influenced by my California friends, I saw the way my parents thought about people who were different than we were, and I disagreed. I began to follow the thinking that showing any negative emotion in public or around friends was wrong and calling people out for thinking different was even worse. I have grown to be a very positive person based off these beliefs and I have a generally easy time making friends with anyone, regardless of how different our upbringings may be. My background has shaped the way I think about and understand different aspects of life through a combination of religious morals and California public school friends. If I had spent my entire life in Iowa or Indiana I can say with 100% certainty that I would think much differently. I think I would have found my way to being as accepting as I am today, but it would come much slower and in a shockingly different way.

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Pressing Questions and things of that Nature

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Pressing Questions and things of that Nature

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So the prompt on the screen says to reflect on life, suffering, death, and the divine. Reflecting on life, I believe, is easy. I think it's easy to look back at everything I can remember and ask 'why did I do that' or 'why didn't I do this'. In the end though, that experience is apart of being a human. I do whole heartedly wish I could go back and do everything different, but I recognize that if I were to do that, I wouldn't be the person I am today. Lately I have been taking a much brighter look at life, instead of seeing it as a burden. I've really been looking around at the different bits of nature and all the mis happenings around me with a positive lens. I wish I could have done this sooner because I am only now realizing life to be a beautiful thing. Suffering is a hard thing to reflect on. Why did I have to go through all of that, did it have to be me? It's difficult to look back at your suffering and make yourself the culprit, however most of the times you are. I got myself into all of those situations without realizing all the harm that would come to me. This is similar to life though, in the fact that it is all part of the human experience. We all make mistakes and we all suffer at different scales. I believe suffering to be a necessary part of being a human. Death is always a tough thing to talk about. However for me I don't view it as a heavy topic. I believe that I am not afraid to die, I'm just afraid of the process that it takes to get there. Obviously being shot or stabbed or falling a thousand feet is horrific, but the aftermath is not something I worry about. I likely got myself into that situation and now there is nothing I can do about it. If it happens it happens, no harm no foul. Now the divine is something I am always wondering about because in the eyes of many religions, the divine is why we are able to have the human experience. I have only been acquainted with Christianity my whole life and I do hold some questions about the divine. As a church, we preach God to be completely good and loving. We teach that he is omniscient, and omnipotent. These are the things that I simply don't understand. Not all of these can be true at the same time and still align with the teachings of the Church. If God is omniscient, He knew beforehand that Eve would eat the apple. He would have even known that Lucifer would betray Him. If He knew these things, and knew what harm they would cause the future of His world, why would He let it happen. Unless of course, He wasn't all loving and caring for His creations. On the other hand though, He could be entirely loving of His creations, but in my mind this means that He wouldn't be omniscient. There are so many instances in the Bible where God wipes out a large amount of people. Is that showing love for all of his Creations? I haven't gotten the chance to ask any knowledgeable religious figure these questions, but I do think about them time to time. When I brought these concerns to my mother, she brushed it off and told me 'that is what faith is for'. I don't get that either.

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Think of a symbol that means something to you.

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Think of a symbol that means something to you.

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The symbol that I am choosing for this prompt is my favorite musical artist, Laufey. She is a more recent artist that makes soft, jazzy music, often accompanied by an orchestra. This symbol resonates with me because of the opportunities she has brought me and the morals I've enhanced in myself by listening to her. Laufey concerts sell out insanely fast, and for pretty high pricings too. My friend, who lives over in California, had the opportunity to buy a ticket taken away moments before he could make his purchase. He was 2nd in line to get the ticket and the person in front of him bought the last one. After hearing this information, I asked, as a gift for my birthday, to get me and my friend tickets to her concert in Pittsburgh. We got great seats and my friend flew out for an entire week to see the concert with me. This is so important to me because without having him as a friend, I likely would not be here anymore. Laufey as a symbol means so much to me because her concert provided an opportunity for me to see the best friend I have ever had in person one more time. On top of this, her music is something that brought my entire friend group together as well. Before I moved away from California, we would all carpool and listen to her new releases on the way to wherever we were headed. Although I haven't seen them in a long time, I still consider them to be my best friends I've ever had the privilege to meet. Laufey as an influential person preaches the ideals of being kind, which she frequently shows off through her fan interactions. She runs her own book club and treats everyone with respect and care, no matter how big of a fan they are. I aspire to be like that - not when I grow up, but now. She is an extremely talented musician as well, and her dedication to the craft has inspired me to pick up an instrument. As soon as I get the funds, I will be buying myself a bass guitar and learning how to play. I chose the bass guitar because it supports all the other instruments. It can sound great on its own, but when paired with a louder, more center-stage instrument, it really shines.

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How might someone from another background or experience feel when they see representations or symbols that do not reflect their unique identities.

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How might someone from another background or experience feel when they see representations or symbols that do not reflect their unique identities.

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I feel like this is a weirdly worded question. From a me standpoint, when I see a symbol that doesn't reflect my struggles or identity, I don't really mind, mostly because it was made to reflect someone else's. However, for symbols like the American Flag, I can see how someone who hasn't had the best experience with America can feel betrayed in a sense. For a symbol that is made to reflect and symbolize all of America, many Americans feel that it does not, and that the country is abandoning them to some extent. Imagining myself in someone else's shoes like this really only helps me to not judge them for their thoughts. I can understand where they are coming from as long as I know they have a good reason behind it.

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How has the Bible influenced Western civilization?

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How has the Bible influenced Western civilization?

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The Bible and its texts have impacted nearly every part of the world; Especially America. The founding fathers of America made decisions for the country's future largely based on the Bible and their religious beliefs. Since then, we have separated Church and State, but the Bible's morals and teachings are still prevalent in politics. We as a society have a hard time accepting the LGBTQ community and for many, this stems from the Bible. We also have a hard time picturing Jesus as anything but a white man, although he was most likely not. The Bible and its teachings have had an enormous impact on the world since it was mass-produced, and even long before that. While it has led to the unification of many cultures, it has also led to the destruction of them as well. This can be seen through groups like the Crusaders and Spaniards as well. The Bible's teachings remain relevant and in a good way in today's world. The Bible provides a baseline moral code that many people believe in and follow. Proverbs and stories of Jesus's teachings show how to be a good human and support your peers.

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Think about influences of popular religious practices, devotions, or piety that have shaped your life.

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Think about influences of popular religious practices, devotions, or piety that have shaped your life.

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The only tradition that I can think of that isn't formally tied to religious institutions is camp. This is meant in the form of a church camp or summer camp where all of the kids are from the same church. I have been to multiple of these in my life and every time the counselors and other members make a huge deal about building community and making friends, not only in each other, but God as well. Many children would go year after year to these camps just to do the same activities repeatedly. The church and other associated parents would introduce these camps to the children and their parents through a church service or Sunday school. These experiences influenced my views on religion and spirituality as a whole because of the link of religion to the fun of the camp. I believe that the purpose of these camps is to give children something positive to relate their religion to, so they continue to practice it in the future. Along with this, I feel it is an inadvertent way to have the parents who attended the camps put their kids in the camps, and those kids will put them in the camps. I feel as though these experiences haven't necessarily resonated with me because I was very antisocial as a child. I would always be alone, not conversing with my peers or counselors on these trips. I think this led me to not get anything out of the camp at all.

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Reflect on how historical and cultural factors shape the way people interact with the environment.

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Reflect on how historical and cultural factors shape the way people interact with the environment.

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It is not any stretch of the imagination to say that indigenous/native people and 'modern' people treat the world very differently from each other. To start, indigenous people often treat the Earth as its own organism or being. They treat it with respect as if it is some extremely knowledgeable ancient being. The name 'Mother Earth' comes to mind. On top of this, native people sometimes also view the world as all being connected in some way or another, like a giant spider web or root system. The Tree of Life comes to mind here; also that one swamp episode of ATLA where we find out everything is connected through spiritual energy. The modern view is nothing like this at all. We treat the Earth like a floating ball of materials for us to use. We abuse the resources and space of the planet and don't treat it with the same respect the indigenous people do. A big example of this is mining and deforestation.

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Reflect on what shapes your sense of loyalty to your country and whether it aligns with your personal values.

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Reflect on what shapes your sense of loyalty to your country and whether it aligns with your personal values.

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For me, patriotism reminds me immediately of the Founding Fathers and the Revolutionary War. After spending so much time in school learning about that time in America's, or soon to be America's, history, I believe that we might never see patriots like that again. Of course, there are people who rally every day in an attempt to change the country for what they believe to be the better, but no one will ever live up to the Founding Fathers' patriotism. I believe for a lot of people now, patriotism is a very foreign concept unless in relation to sports or online disputes. For me personally, the only times I feel patriotic are during the Olympics, other world-class sporting events, or when a European person says something dumb about America online. Concerning America's policies and politics, I feel no sense of patriotism, at least not yet. The ideas, concepts, and morals that I hold dear to me haven't been properly addressed. Until they are, I won't feel patriotism or pride for my country in a political sense. This isn't saying that I am not proud of the country I live in, because we do some pretty incredible things, but it does go to say that there is some serious work that needs to be done. Going back to my earlier point, I feel a very strong sense of connection to fellow Americans when presented with one of the situations I listed earlier. When I watch an American win the Olympics, or win an online argument, I feel connected to all of the other Americans that watched it happen with me.

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How do you feel about the ideas of self-denial, self-giving, self-sacrifice, and self-donation?

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How do you feel about the ideas of self-denial, self-giving, self-sacrifice, and self-donation?

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The ideas of self-denial, self-giving, self-sacrifice, and self-donation have been around for forever and will likely continue to be seen as long as there are people around. These terms are a combination of living for other people (Self-giving/Self-donation) and living for yourself(self-denial). While there are two sides to the issue, choosing to give up yourself for others or stick to your own are both correct choices. Humans are naturally social creatures, so a lot of what we do revolves around each other. Living for other people makes everyone else's' life's better, sometimes at the expense of your own (self-sacrifice). However, I have grown to be quite the people pleaser over the years, and making other people happy makes me happy so it can turn out to be a win-win in the long run. Sticking to yourself is a valid way to live as well. The universe is infinite and constantly expanding. This means that technically you are at the center of the universe. You are living your own life and not someone else's, meaning you shouldn't have to worry about making others feel a certain way. I give up a lot of my time to volunteer for the homeless and elderly. This is often at the expense of my own free time and social life. However, I don't feel as though taking care of them is my responsibility (I think this would change if I got paid for it). People are struggling and I do believe that it is the responsibility of the community to help them in any way possible.

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Truth is a concept that has been discussed and debated for centuries. I believe Truth to be what a person truly believes. Everybody can have their own truths. In the sense that we all experience things differently, we can all end up believing different things happened, but we would all be truthful. This is really hard to explain in words I apologize. There are facts (i.e. 2+2=4) which are true. However, if a person were to TRULY believe that 2+2=5, then that is also true. A person's truths are lived out every day in the ideals they represent and the thoughts that they have. Through a shift in perspective, a person's truths can change as well. Just because something is true now, doesn't mean that it can't change later. A truth is what a person truly believes, no matter if it is fact or opinion. For example, I truly believe How To Train Your Dragon to be the greatest animated movie ever. When I express this, I am telling the truth. My friend David claims the same about Cars. When he expresses his opinion, he is also telling the truth.

Btw: the dude in the picture is a character from Full Metal Alchemist, his name is The Truth.