Western Religion Final Exam Flashcards
Comes from the arabic root “salema”. Means peace, purity and obedience.
Islam
One who surrenders and submits to the laws of God
Muslim
Name 2 things wrong with Mohammedan?
- Not allowed to portray a prophet
- Gives the impression muslims follow a man-mande teaching of Muhammed, rather than divine
Name the imbalances in the battle of Badr
- Muhammed believers had 313 soldiers
- Quarash had 1300 soldiers
What was the result of the Battle of Badr?
- Muhammed believers won
- attributed to Allah
- Strengthened Muhammed’s position in Medina
Nam 3 sources for interpreting Quran?
- Quran itself
- Prophetic Hadith
- Opinions of prophetic companions and successors
What is commemorated on Ashura by Shi’a?
Mourn for the grandson of Muhammed @ Battle of Karbala
What is commemorated on Ashura for Sunni?
- day of atonement
- israelites freed from pharoah of egypt
What happened in the 8th century?
- Umayyad Dynasty conquered Southern Spain
Desribe the Golden Age
- Arab Spain produced renaissands
- worlds grestest minds
- spread of science, mysticism, and propserity
- Pluralism- Muslim-Christians-Jews lived in mutual tolerance
What did the Wahhabi movement destroy x4?
- Prophet’s tomb in Medina
- Shrines of Ali and Son of Husayn
- Attacked Shi’i
- Tombs of Sufi Saints
What extremist movements of today were influenced by Wahhabi movement?
Taliban & Al Qaeda
For indigenous religions- what is the problem with the term “primitive”?
- the culture did not begin until encountered by modern civilized cultures
What were biases of indigenous religions? x4
- Non literate
- no distinction between religious and non relgious
- stories are labeled “myth”, while buddhist sutras- “sacred literature”
- Not historical
What is the problem with words/language and religion?
- Jews didn’t say we belong to this religion
- Via Negative= can only describe God based on what he/she is NOT
- Difficult to describe God, language may be meaningless
Define Dhikr in Sufism
remembrence of god
How is Dhikr Practiced?
- Repetition of the name of God, Allah
- Special body movements or elaborate breathing
- Sometimes practiced in silence
Name 3 Areas where Genocide occured in indigenous religions?
- America
- New Zealand
- Africa
How did Genocide occur in Africa
- Millions of Africans were taken from their homes and sent to the Americas as slaves
- 11 million survived
How many indigenous people died in 1600 in the Americas?
- 90% of the original population died as result of European arrival
Define Progressive Revelation according to Baha’u’llah?
- truth is revealed by God progressively over time through a series of divine Messengers
Who was Baha’u’llah
- a new prophet thrown in prison
- muslims believed that there can never be another prophet besides Muhammed
- recognition of unity
Name the 3 teaching of Bahai according to social equality?
- Unity of God- (one, source of all)
- Unity of Religion-(all from the same source)
- Unity of Humanity
What is the Kabbalah
- Jewish mysticism based on the journey to the self
What was the Kabbalah movement critcized for?
- Used for escapism
- People believe if they plug into the system they will have all the answers
- Went door to door, prostelizing
Define Thetan in Scientology
- soul
- each is billions of years old
- reincarnated
Define Auditing in Scientology
- asking a person a question and acknowledging him/her for that answer
- Auditing= listener
- person being asked the questions is called preclear
Define e-meter in scientology
- electrical measuring instrument used during auditing
- measures mental blocks
How did Freud view religion?
- A neurosis
- unwilling to face the fact that life is mortal
How did Carl Jung view religion?
- Man is naturally religious
- religiousness comes from the unconscious
How did New Age movement contrast with organized faith, in terms of gender?
- gave women opportunity for expression and leadership
- Established religions are relativiely male dominated
Give some examples of New Age movements
- Hinduism, Buddhism, Sufism, IChing
- fascination with the depths of awareness
- Eastern experiences offered something that the west did not
What term sums up the New Age Movement?
holistic-a quest for the wholeness
Conflict with meditation
- too passivist
- not taking political action for social change
Ramadan x4
- fasting
- one of the five pillars of islam
- a time of spiritual reflection
- cleanse the soul
Describe the symbolic nature of a burqa
symbol of modesty, honesty, morality
Why are burquas a conflict with Quran
- Quran has no requirement that women cover their faces
- BOTH men and women are said to behave modestly in public
What is the cause of the sunni and Shia split
- Argument on the caliphate selection
- could not come to an agreement on who would succeed the prophet Muhammed
What is the authority structure for Sunni?
tradition goes back to Muhammed
What is the authority structure for Shia
believe in the physical succession appointed by Ali and Hussein
What does Falun Gong mean
- Dharma wheel
- Meditation combined with slow moving Qigong exercises
Falun gong for your health
intended to balance yin and yang
Falun Gong for religious practice
- what your practice exudes in you goes out into th world
- allows the world to be peaceful and harmonious
Describe issues with modern fundamentalism today
- homosexuality comes in conflict
- science in conflict with creationism
- Good and Evil struggly
- Evil- are the advocates for same sex marriage and abortion rights
Define pluralism
coexistance
Why is pluralism not like diversity?
- Different religions/ethnic backgrounds may be present in one place, but NOT engaged.
Why is pluralism not like relativism?
Relativism can lead us to ignore profound differences.
Define relativism
- No objective standards that apply to all people at all time in all places.
- Everthing is relative
How did Judaism change from its original form
- Historical persecution throughout
- Developed Reform
- Modernity may change the interfaith dialogue & attitudes towards universalism
Examples of Fetish in Western Religion
- lighting candles
- statues
- priest
- ministers
Define Naive Realism
The world is as I see it (ego centric). Our graps of the world is limited, can’t even see full spectrum of colors.
