RLST Notes - Lucia, Amanda PDF

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Lucia, Amanda...

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Religious Studies- 24 January 2019 INIPI RITES (SWEAT LODGES) Vocabulary ➢ Rites of passage- title of a famous book written by Van Gennep, ➢ syncretism - the combining or uniting of multiple cultures, religions, or schools of thought (having a religion that doesn’t celebrate Christmas but still putting a tree up bc you are American) ➢ Hybridity- two things that come together to make something new Sweat Lodge Review ➢ Proud of my culture ➢ Pass knowledge to next generation ➢ microscopic/telescopic ➢ Rules ➢ Cultural symbolism ➢ Purification ➢ Animism- the attribution of a soul to plants, inanimate objects, and natural phenomena ➢ Community ➢ Medicine ➢ Stories ➢ Songs ➢ Prayers ➢ Therapy ➢ elders/ancestors ❖ Vocabulary ➢ Ni-life force ➢ Inipi rites

Exodus and African American Religion, 31 January 2019

❖ Founding Story: Exodus ➢ The Chosen People ■ to a foreign place (Egypt) ➢ A national story, of the people ■ An entire people trying to be saved from marginalization ● covenant=contract Three Exodus Interpretations ➢ 1630- John Winthrop ■ “A Model of Christian Charity” ■ Possession of the land is contingent upon observing the moral obligations of the covenant with God ■ Gods’ will and America’s Destiny ➢ 1783- Ezra Stiles ■ “Progress Toward Perfection” ■ America’s present and future eminence ■ Optimism and deservingness ➢ 1831- Maria Stewart ■ “You may kill, tyrannize, and oppress as much as you choose, until cry shall come up before the throne of God; for am I firmly persuaded that he will not suffer you to quell the proud, fearless and undaunted spirits of the Africans forever; for in his own time, he is able to plead our cause against you, an to pour out upon you the ten plagues of Egypt.” ➢ Enslaved Israel ■ Slaves as Israel ■ America as Egypt ■ Jesus has given Mosaic characteristics ❖ MLK ➢ Tough mind and tender heart ■ Compared to a serpent and a dove -> any allusion to the bible, serpent is a symbol of wisdom and knowledge ● Blending of character ➢ Social Criticism- (is this the space of the church? ■ Compare to Televangelism ● Soft- minded (tell black people to stop being like this and stand up) ◆ Science and religion

➢ Evoking rationality ➢ Conformity versus resistance ■ Regimes of Knowledge ● Un-American ? ● Good Samaritan- linked to when a man was beaten and the priest who walked by didn’t care but the samaritan who walked by did care and stopped and took care of him ● Universal altruism Law- i s an ethical doctrine that holds that the moral value of an individual's actions depend solely on the impact on other individuals, regardless of the consequences on the individual itself ■ Prayer on the cross ● How to love and why? ◆ Eros- Romantic love, attraction ◆ Philia- family love, friends ◆ Agape- highest form of love, love of god and the heart of men, understanding and love for the good will of all men, seeing the divinity inside of man ➢ How is explained through examples from the bible and use Jesus as the ideal example of how to love ➢ Why- you need to have a god’s eye view, you cannot hate someone because at a time they were good and deserve to be loved ❖ Exodus ➢ Black people can use it to compare to their own situation ❖ X ➢ Integration ➢ Segregation ➢ Separation ■ Elijah Muhammad ■ Nation of Islam ● Christianity versus. Islam ◆ His last name is X because all last names used to be slave names and he uses Islam as a sense of resistance and freedom

Religious Studies- 7 February 2019 West African and Congo regions include the following ethnic groups (among others) West African Religious beliefs ➢ Belief in a transcendent, benevolent creator God ➢ There is a political distinction between these beliefs and others, depends on the region of people ➢ Belief in a number of immanent (right here) gods to whom people sacrifice ➢ Belief in the power of spirits that affect the welfare of people ➢ Belief in priests and others who were expert in practical knowledge about gods and spirits ➢ Belief in spirit possession, in which gods, through their devotees, speak to humans ➢ Ancestors hold a powerful position ❖ West African religious rituals ➢ Magic:charms, amulets, tinctures for healing and illness prevention and protection ➢ Witchcraft: belief in and fear of contagious magic (i.e. hair clippings may be used to harm) ➢ Contagious magic- “ is based on the principle that things or persons once in contact can afterward influence each other. In other words, it is believed that there is a permanent relationship between an individual and any part of his or her bod” ➢ Burial rites become very important (because of the important position of the ancestors) - e ven on slave graves they are present due to their great importance ➢ Spirit possession: gods mount a devotee to convey messages and their will through divination ➢ “Danced Religions”: dancing, drumming, singing ■ Songs and dance- brought through slave trade ■ Call and response ■ Celebration gratitude ■ organization/ social solidarity “Nat Turner Preaches Religion” ➢ 1831 Slave Rebellion in Virginia

Largest and deadliest slave uprising in US history Slaves killed between 55-65 whites Virginia executed 56 slaves accused of being part of the rebellion Militias and mobs murdered 120 slaves and free African Americans in the area ■ Across the South, state legislatures passed new laws ● Prohibiting the education of slaves ● Restricting the rights of assembly and other civil rights for free blacks ● Requiring that white ministers be present at all worship services ■ ■ ■ ■

Jim Crow Laws ➢ Racial Segregation laws ➢ Enacted after the Reconstruction period (1890) ➢ Continued to be enforced through 1965 ■ “Separate but equal” ➢ African American conditions were routinely inferior to those provided for white Americans ➢ Systematized economic, educational, and social disadvantages ■ Segregated spaced ● Public schools ● Public places ● Public transportation ● Restrooms ● Restaurants ● Drinking fountains ● US military ● Federal workplaces Rosa Parks ➢ 1943 Rosa Parks begins to work for the NAACP as an activist for civil rights in Montgomery ➢ It was not until Dec 1st, 1955 that she refused to get up for white passengers on a bus and was arrested ■ “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some

people have an image of me being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” Rosa Parks, My Story. ❖ Fannie Lou Hamer ➢ “I’m Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired” ➢ an American voting and women's rights activist, community organizer, and a leader in the civil rights movement. She was the co-founder and vice-chair of the Freedom Democratic Party, which she represented at the 1964 Democratic National Convention Civil Rights Movement ➢ Refers to organizers, strategies, and social movements in the United States who had the goal to end racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans and to insure Constitutional rights for all Americans Religious Studies, 12 February 2019 ❖ Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Civil Rights leader ❖ “Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” Matthew 10:16 ➢ Tough Minds ■ To identify and recognize the causes and effects of segregation and discrimination ■ To confront racial prejudice ■ To critique systems of oppression ➢ Tender Hearts ■ To cultivate compassion for one’s enemies ■ To love ● Synthesis= Nonviolent Resistance ❖ Nonviolent Resistance- Three Components ➢ Refusal to participate in evil: the evil of segregation and oppression, in this instance by riding in separate seats. However, the non-violence itself was likewise a refusal to participate in the evil of violence and aggression. ➢ Belief in that subordination to oppression was not true peace, hence the sense of peace was only an illusion and some sort of response was inevitable since the situation was inherently unstable. ➢ Did not create disorder, as white critics charged, but merely revealed what already existed. It was an exposure of an existing disorder, not its cause. When his critics charged him with lawlessness, King responded that

allegiance to a higher law, in the case, the laws of God, required breaking lower laws, to expose pre-existing lawlessness. ❖ Religious leadership of Civil Rights movement ➢ Inspirational oratory ➢ Access to large publics of African Americans ➢ Already community leaders ➢ Holy crusade to force America to live up to its promise of democracy ➢ “A moral and patriotic movement” ➢ Convinced the public that their cause was right and the pastors were called to a divine task by God ❖ Beware the “Santa Clausification” of MLK, Jr. (This “S anta Clausification” of King, as scholar Cornel West calls it — the portrayal of King as a celebrated consensus seeker asking for common sense racial reforms rather than as an anti-establishment radical — downplays the risks one of America’s most revered activists took to live according to conscience.) ➢ Civil rights movement involved countless people engaged in everyday acts of resistance ➢ It consisted of everyday people who walked to work instead of taking busses ➢ There is no movement that consists of solely heroes

MLK

Malcolm X

South

North

integration

separation

Middle class

poor

Christianity

Islam

Nonviolent resistance

Any means possible

dream

nightmare

❖ Influences on Nation of Islam ➢ Edward Wilmot Blyden ➢ Marcus Garvey ➢ Noble Drew Ali

❖ Ed ➢ Founder of pan-African movement ➢ Urged African Americans to develop a unified black nation in Africa ➢ Argued that Christianity was a religion designated for white people that served to oppress and disenfranchise African Americans ➢ Believed Islam was the authentic

❖ Marcus ➢ Climax of black nationalism in America ➢ Advocated separatist ideologies ➢ Back to Africa movement ➢ 1916, founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association to context white supremacy and empower African Americans ➢ Believed that religion could be a tool for liberation ❖ Noble ➢ 1028, Founded the Moorish Science Temple in Chicago ➢ Attempted to distance himself and his followers from negative qualities associated with African Americans by identifying as Moorish Americans (descendants from the “divine Asiatic nation, the original inhabitants of the Earth and progenitors of all non white nations” ➢ Derived the theology of the Moorish science temple from aspects of Islam, christianity, and esotericism and mysticism ❖ Wallace Fard Muhammad ➢ Light skinned, black or Arab ➢ Claimed to be from the holy city of Mecca ➢ Sold silks door to door among African American who had recently moved to Detroit from the South ➢ Argued for black supremacy ➢ Used the bible to attack the bible ➢ Introduced the Qur’an ❖ Fard’s Nation of Islam ➢ Established a fleet of ministers of the nation of islam ➢ Established university of islam ➢ Muslim girls training and general civilization class ➢ Established the fruit of islam ➢ Increasing polemic against the white race

➢ Advocated black supremacy ❖ Elijah Muhammad ➢ Named chief minister of islam from Fard ➢ Identified Fard Muhammad as ‘Allah’ himself ➢ Expanded on Fard's doctrine of the supremacy of the black race over the white invoking Qur’an 49:15 and 76:2 as proof texts ➢ Implemented an apocalyptic vision of the final hour ❖ Life in the NOI ➢ Enforced a strict behavioral code ➢ Demanded that disciples refrain from what he viewed as eating habits carried over from slave traditions ➢ Admonished alcohol, gambling, smoking, and drug use ➢ Encouraged discipline, education, modest dress, traditional gender roles,cleanliness and Islamic prayer ❖ Malcolm X ➢ Became a minister of the Nation of Islam (1952) ➢ The NOI had grown to include dozens of temples in twenty-eight cities and thousands of card carrying members (late 1950) ➢ Became increasingly influenced by Sunni Islamic teachings

Model Minority Myth and American Ideals of Freedom ❖ 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act ➢ Removed racial and national barriers to US immigration ➢ Opened Us Immigration beyond a limited quota system to attract persons from any country, with the aim of reuniting immigrant families and attracting highly-skilled workers (doctors, engineers, computer scientists, etc.) ➢ Set restrictions to 17k per country per year, with exceptions for relatives of US citizens ❖ Results of the 1965 Immigration Act ➢ Considerable numbers of educated Asian migrated to the US as skilled workers ➢ This first wave of post-1965 Asians were highly-educated, with the economic ability to travel in order to relocate to the US ❖ Post-1965 Immigration Act ➢ In the three decades after the immigration act more than 18 million legal immigrants entered the US, more than three times the number admitted over

the preceding 30 years (from, in descending order: Mexico, Philippines, Korea, the Dominican Republic, India…) ❖ W.E.B Du Bois to African Americans in 1903-> ➢ “How does it feel to be a problem?” ❖ Vijay Prashad to Indian Americans (Desis) in 2000-> ➢ “How does it feel to be a solution?” ❖ The Model Minority Myth ➢ The stereotype of the “studious Asian American” who excels academically, often in math and science. ➢ The stereotype of two person, educated, high income households who raise children to be high achievers ➢ The stereotype that Asian Americans are highly educated and highly successful, a model to which other racial minorities should aspire. ❖ Consequences of the Model Minority Myth (MMM) ➢ Can create additional pressures ➢ Cause anxiety ➢ Lead to mental health issues ➢ Foment anti-black, anti-native, and anti-latinx racism ❖ Origination of the MMM ➢ Originated in the 1960s ➢ Used to apply to people of Chinese and japanese descent (later also to those of Indian descent) ➢ Used to contrast Asian Americans to African Americans (particularly during Civil Rights protests) ❖ Failures of the MMM ➢ Failed to account for how the experiences of Asian Americans in the 1960s were different from those of African Americans, Native Americans, or even many Latinos, who were either slaves or had their lands colonized ➢ Failed to account for spectrum diverse experiences (among different cultures) within Asian Americans ❖ American Multiculturalism

Introduction to Hinduism ❖ Hindu- Arabic reference to Sindu (Sanskrit word Sindhu, which means "a large body of water", covering "river, ocean) ➢ Sanatana Dharma- eternal life; original name of Hinduism ➢ Hindu temples within the U.S. stand as beacons ❖ The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir is a Hindu temple complex located in the City of Chino Hills, in southwestern San Bernardino County of southern California. The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir is open to all faiths. ➢ Swaminarayan also known as Sahajanand Swami, was a yogi, and an ascetic whose life and teachings brought a revival of central Hindu practices of dharma, ahimsa and brahmacharya. He is believed by followers as a manifestation of God. ❖ The three primary branches within hinduism ➢ Shiva (Shaivism)- worship of the god Shiva ➢ Vishnu (Vaisnanism)- worship of the god Vishnu and his incarnations (ten incarnations) ➢ Shakti (Shaktism)- worship of the goddess ❖ Shaivism ➢ World renouncer- Asceticism- s evere self-discipline and avoidance of all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons ➢ Often depicted with a snake and a pot, dreads which shows him as a renouncer ➢ Puts elephant head on his son because he took his head off since he was protecting his mother from Shiva, his name means remover of obstacles, Ganesha ❖ Vishnu ➢ Bala Gopala (Krishna)- 8th incarnation of the God Vishnu ➢ Rama- 7th incarnation of the God Vishnu ➢ Hanuman (Rama and Sita)- most severe devotee within Hinduism, worships with clear devotion: Rama ■ Commemorate the birth, the monkey God ❖ Shakti ➢ -> has 9 manifested forms ■ Durga (Devi)- the inaccessible or the invisible, rides a tiger, most commonly worshiped and most powerful ■ Kali- of death, time and doomsday, depicted standing on Shiva->

myth idea- wrathful on the battlefield, killing the enemies and gods tried to intervene and called upon Shiva to control her, when he comes down and lies down on the floor in front of her she steps on him and apologizes ● Myth idea- standing on him in her power instead of apologizing ● Shiva Nataraj● Brahma●

❖ Hindu Practices ➢ Puja (ritual worship, at home and in temples)■ Homa- w  herein an oblation or any religious offering is made into fire ■ Aarti- light from wicks soaked in ghee (purified butter) or camphor is offered to one or more deities ■ Ganesh Chaturthi (ganesha’s birthday)- the clay idols of any god should be immersed after performing puja and worshiping for a certain period ➢ Festivals ■ Diwali- Hindu festival of lights ➢ Pilgrimage ➢ Sacrifice (usually fire sacrifice [offering things into a sacred fire], but sometimes animals ➢ Darshan- to be seen by a god or see a god ❖ Hindu Gods and goddesses ➢ Iconic images- with human or animal form ➢ Aniconic images- without human or animal form ■ Can be both iconic and aniconic ❖ Henothesism ➢ adherence to one particular god out of several, especially by a family, tribe, or other group. ➢ ➢ Brahman- class of people/priest ➢ Brahma- deity, creator of the universe ➢ Brahman- Essence of universe: Atman

21 February 2019

❖ Introduction To Buddhism ➢ Ananda- bliss ➢ Vedas (4 books) ■ Rig Veda/ Rg Veda ● Upanisads/Upanishads- find a group of people that live outside of society and thinking about other ways to attain ‘Moksha’ ◆ Moksha- liberation ■ Epic Literature ● Bhagavad-gita ● Mahabharata ● Ramayana ■ Puranas ● stories/myths of the gods ● Vedas are external rituals and the panjasds are about trying to kindle the internal fire ❖ Ideas common to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism ➢ Karma-”action”- over the course of time is given moral meaning- good and bad actions that have effects [karmic effects become critically important] ➢ Samsara- cycle of birth, life, death, rebirth ■ Moksha- nirvana ■ Anatman- n  on self

➢ Ahimsa- non-violence ➢ Dharma- law, duty, the path of knowledge ■ Sunya- emptiness

❖ The Global Spread of Buddhism ➢ 488 million Buddhists worldwide ➢ 3 primary sects ■ Theravada Buddhism (Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, LAos, Cambodia) ■ Mahayana Buddhism (China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam)- includes Zen (Chan), Nichrien, and Pure Land ■ Vajrayana Buddhism(Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Mongolia) ❖ Myth: The Life of The Buddha ➢ Shakyamuni Buddha (Gautama Buddha/Siddhartha Gautama) ➢ When Buddha leaves the palace he sees an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and an ascetic- this leads him to believe that if this exists then he must find an end to human suffering ➢ Hagiography- t he writing of the lives of saints ❖ The Four Noble Truths ➢ Duhkha- there is the fact of suffering or unsatisfactoriness ➢ Tanha- there is an origin of suffering (based in desire or literally thirst) ➢ Nirvana- there is the cessation of suffering ➢ The eightfold path is the means to achieve the cessation of suffering ■ Right Understanding ■ Right Thought ■ Right Speech ■ Right Action ■ Right livelihood ■ Right Effort ■ Right mindfulness ■ Right Concentration ● Yama- The God of Death, holding the wheel of life ● Three Defilements ◆ Rooster- Greed ◆ Snake- Aversion ◆ Pig- Delusion ➢ Goal: Liberation/ Nirvana (Karma: all activity is the result of karma) ■ Causes have effects ■ Negative karmas create negative karmic effects

■ Karamas are stored and impact future births 26 February 2019 Domestic Worship - Buddha - water , flower, fruits Temple Worship - Fruits and flowers and leaves are offered to the Buddha - Changing into a congregational model- where they actually sit down and there are hymns being sung, sermons discussed Monasticism - Monkhood - Some is temporary and some is permanent, depends on the length of commitment that is associated with where you go to practice said monasticism - Where they study as monks are schools and hold a lot of...