Final Class

Buddha

Thanks go to Alex, David, Shannon, Morgan and Marta for making our time together interesting, deep, stimulating and respectful.

Quiz

Today we did a quiz on different religion in the world. The main idea behind the quiz was to give the students enough information to answer this question: Are the different religions the same, ie do they worship the same god?

God the Mountain

One way that people describe the different religions being the same is with an illustration. If God was a mountain the different religions are trying to climb the mountain to get to the top. Their perception of God is going to be different to someone on the other side of the mountain.

Same or different?

Mecca

The problem with this idea is that a Buddhist would deny the existence of the mountain. A Hindu would say “I am the mountain” a Muslim would say there is only one way up the mountain and a Christian would refuse to climb the mountain because they believe they can’t and that God comes down the mountain.

The answer

The different religions are different, they are not the same and they don’t worship the same god.

Why young people are so sensitive

A student asked me why young people take things so personally. This sparked a philosophical discussion. Not only do we have a generational gap between parent and child but now we have a philosophical gap. We have moved from being a Modernist society to being Post Modern. The values of modernism are essentially that we will succeed through the use of our reason and science. We will make this a better world through hard work and commitment. People had jobs all their lives and this was an important part of their identity. Having a home and family was very valuable. But after two world wars and the dropping of two atomic bombs the younger generation became disillusioned with modernism. All that hard work and commitment didn’t pay off.

Post Modernism

There was a reaction against absolutes and authority. Truth became subjective and personal. The here and now is what is valued, friends are more important than jobs and owning your own home. The idea of committing yourself to hard work with long term planning is not appealing to young people because they live in a world of enormous and rapid change. What matters is friends and what makes them happy now.

Why people take things so personally

Post Modernism

Hinduism

If I say I love U2 as a Rock Band and you bag them it hurts me personally. I’ve shared something of myself and it has been rejected. With Modernists they could disagree about things in an abstract way. But with Post Modernism it is much more personal so when you disagree it hurts more because people feel like they themselves are being rejected.

My story

A student asked me how I came to be a Christian. I come from a broken home with a troubled background. A friend in High School was a Christian and we argued a lot, I was an Atheist and an evolutionist. He gave me a Bible and I read the gospel of John. Jesus hung out with prostitutes and the lower sectors of society, like lepers and the poor. This blew me away because I thought God was really only for the middle class, for people who were straight. I realised I needed Christ to be my Lord so I asked him to be. Since then I’ve tried to live my life his way rather than my way.

Things got worse

Judaism

Did becoming a Christian make my life easier? No. Jesus wants me to love my enemies. I’d rather ignore them or hurt them back. I’m told to love people who I may not like, that isn’t easy. Christianity is not about getting stuff out of God it is about realising God is on the throne and wanting to serve him, not the other way around.

Feedback forms

• It was great! It always made me think, and I always left the class feeling good about religion. Thanks for taking the Class.

• Learnt about other peoples views on religion and spirituality

• The lessons were informative. I felt I was in a positive and safe environment allowing me to dig deep within and find out who I am and even if it was a bit depressing.

• This class provided open and welcoming discussion of spiritual and religious belief. I look forward to further classes.