Religion 307
WORLD RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS: EAST AND WEST
Special Focus: Violence and Peace in World Religions
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will be guided by a number of related questions: if the basic teachings of major world religions promote peace and the respect for human life, why is there such violence and conflict among religious people and especially toward others? To what extent do the sacred texts of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism allow for both violence and peace toward neighbors and enemies? How have influential thinkers within each tradition dealt with this topic? And how do the resources and teachings in these religions pertain to current events in our world?
Our inquiry will focus upon primary source material in each religious tradition with emphasis placed upon sacred texts and classical interpretations or developments upon these texts. To frame our questions, we will be using selections from a discussion dealing with the “Declaration Toward a Global Ethic” adopted by the 1993 Parliament of the World's Religions. We will also consider selected case studies dealing with religious violence in contemporary society.
Classes will consist of interactive lectures, class discussion, occasional video offerings and student presentations. Either Rel 106 or Rel 107 are prerequisites for this course. Although this course does not fulfill the “Tier I” religion requirement, it does fulfill both the university's International Perspective Requirement and the “World Religions requirement” for religion majors.
COURSE OBJECTIVES AND STUDENT OUTCOMES
The objectives and outcomes of this course are as follows:
1. To become familiar with the central texts and teachings pertaining to violence and peace in four major religious traditions: Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. This includes a willingness to study other aspects of the tradition that relate to our topic. Students completing this course should be able to connect the teachings about conflict, violence, peace and reconciliation with the central beliefs and practices in each religious tradition.
2. To develop critical skills in the reading of sacred texts that deal with this particular topic. Students completing this course will not only learn some of the classic interpretations about violence and peace in various religious traditions but also begin to ask their own questions of these scriptures and their interpretations.
3. To recognize the complex interrelationship between religious teachings and the behaviors of religious adherents. Students completing this course should be able to distinguish between ethical guidelines in religious traditions and the actual practices of persons who seek to follow these guidelines.
4. To research an aspect of this topic that is of particular interest to you. Preferably, this will involve cooperative work with others in the class as well as an individual research project. Students completing this class will therefore have a greater understanding of and appreciation for one specific topic dealing with religious violence, peace, justice or reconciliation.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1. Careful study and preparation of all assignments . You should make every effort to complete the reading assignments before class and come prepared to discuss their relevance. Hand-outs listed on the syllabus are required reading; not to bring copies of the readings to class will reflect negatively upon the class participation portion of your grade.
2. Attendance and class participation (15%) . You will be expected to participate in class discussions, offering thoughtful reflections about the material assigned for the day. If you have to miss class, it is your responsibility to get the material that we covered.
In addition to regular class attendance and participation, you will be required to submit one long (approx 4-6pp.) or two short (2-3pp.) contemporary news stories or articles dealing with religious violence in Judaism, Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism as related to the primary texts that we are reading in class. These articles, describing in some detail a current event or issue pertaining to our topic, will be reproduced and given to other members of the class for discussion.
Assessment of your class participation at the end of the semester will be as follows :
Grade A: Nearly perfect attendance (missed no more than three classes), frequent substantive comments or questions raised in class, demonstration of serious interest in the course materials.
Grade B: Regular attendance (missed less than five classes throughout the semester), occasionally raised substantive comments or questions in class, demonstration of some serious interest in the course readings and other material.
Grade C: Sporadic attendance (missed more than five classes), seldom raised substantive comments or questions, demonstration of little interest in the course readings.
Grade F: Infrequent attendance (missed more than nine classes) and demonstrated no serious interest in the course. This failing grade for class participation is usually “achieved”only by working diligently to miss class consistently. Dr. Aune reserves the right to lower your grade even further (to the point of course failure) if you miss an inordinate number of classes.
3. Two in-class examinations (25% each; 50% total) to assist in the comprehension and integration of material covered in class. Among other things, the exams will require you to connect contemporary issues with the primary sources from each religious tradition. The exams will not be comprehensive and there will be no final exam. You will receive a review sheet and further instructions prior to each exam.
4. Research project , consisting of both a paper précis and the final research paper (35%) .
Early in the semester, you should begin thinking about an appropriate topic pertaining to religious violence, conflict, peace or reconciliation. This will normally be either an extended study of one of the topics covered in this class or a study of a particular religious tradition not covered in the class material. If you choose to research a topic within your own religious tradition, the project must include some comparative aspect. More information about this project will be given before the due dates. The research project involves three interrelated stages:
(a) One page written précis of your research topic, due no later than Tuesday, March 26th (5% of your final grade). This précis will include a clear statement of your area of inquiry, a few of the central questions or issues that you want to pursue and at least four bibliographical references dealing with the topic. Late précis' will be penalized by 1/3 of a grade for every day they are late.
(b) A 9-10 page research paper (30% of your final grade). The paper will, in most cases, be a more detailed exploration of the issues raised by the initial paper précis (hand this in with the final draft). There will be opportunities to meet with Dr. Aune for a writing conference to discuss the development of your project. The paper must be well documented (use either the APA or the MLA style to cite your sources) and is due no later than 5:00 PM, Tues May 7th. You may hand it in sooner, but late papers will not be accepted unless there are special circumstances for which you will receive an “Incomplete.”
REQUIRED READING
Textbooks (Available in the AU Bookstore)
Testing the Global Ethic , ed by P. Morgan and M. Braybrooke (“Global Ethic”)
The Holy Qur'an , translation and commentary by M. ‘Ali (“Qur'an”)
The Bhagavad Gita (“Song of God”), trans. by Prabhavananda and Isherwood (“Gita”)
The Dhammapada, trans. by Easwaran (“Dhammapada”)
In addition to these texts, you will need a contemporary translation of the Bible .
Handouts (To be given out in class)
As listed on the class schedule below, there will be a number of required hand-outs provided both by Dr. Aune and by class members. You will need to purchase a 3-ring binder/notebook for keeping these hand-outs in order. On the days when your material is to be distributed, either bring enough copies of your article/news story for everyone in the class or drop your article/news story off at Dr. Aune's office one day prior to class and I will make the necessary copies. Being responsible for these hand-outs will be part of your class participation grade.
Recommended resources (for basic information about the religious traditions being studied):
You may need to gain basic information or review information about each religious tradition that we are studying in this course. The following resources are recommended:
:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/ (Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance)
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~pluralsm/ (Harvard's Religion Pluralism Project)
http://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu (Wabash center for religion and theology)
Click on the “Guide to Internet resources” and select topics of interest to you.
For resources dealing specifically with “Religion and Violence,” the address is,
http://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu/Internet/rel-viol.htm
The following textbooks on world religions can be borrowed from Dr. Aune:
Ellwood, R., Many Peoples, Many Faiths
Fisher, M., Living Religions
Hopfe, L., Religions of the World
Matthews, W. World Religions
Noss, D. and Noss, J., A History of the World's Religions
Schmidt, et. al., Patterns of Religion
Grading: Class Participation (15%): 15 points 94 to 100 A
Exam #1 (25%) 25 points 90 to 93.9 A-
Exam #2 (25%) 25 points 87.5 to 89.9 B+
Paper précis (5%) 5 points 84 to 87.4 B
Final paper (30%) 30 points 80 to 83.9 B-
Total 100 points 77.5 to 79.9 C+
59.9 or below F
Reasonable accommodations will be made for those students with documented learning disabilities. Students are bound by the Academic integrity policy published in the most recent AU handbook.
CLASS SCHEDULE
Date Topic Readings
1/15 Introduction to the course
Consideration of the “Global ethic” in religious traditions Global Ethic, 2-4
(covered in class; please read later)
1/17 Further consideration of the Global ethic Global Ethic, 5-8
Jewish view of being “fully human” Global Ethic, 22-23
Mishnah: Abot (“The Fathers”) chaps 1-3 [handout #1, pp. 446-452]
1/22 Jewish view of being “fully human” continued—ethical considerations
Mishnah: Abot (“The Fathers”) chaps 4-6 [handout #1, pp. 453-461]
1/24 Jewish view of non-violence and respect for life Global Ethic, 48-49
B.Talmud: Sanhedrin 73a-74b [handout #2]
Biblical texts: Exodus 20-21; Leviticus 19:1-18; Deuteronomy 22
1/28 Jewish view of non-violence and respect for life, continued
Novak, “Jewish View of War” [handout #3, pp. 125-137]
Biblical texts: Isaiah 2:2-5/Micah 4:1-5; Joel 3:7-13
1/31 Jewish view of tolerance and truthfulness Global Ethic, 92-94
Jewish view of the transformation of life Global Ethic, 136-37
Review of sections from Mishnah and Talmud
2/5 Muslim view of being “fully human” Global Ethic, 24-25
Qur'an, Introduction (i-xxiv); “Opening,” (chap 1) pp. 1-5
Qur'an, “The Clot” (chap 96), pp.1189-1193
2/7 Muslim view of being “fully human,” continued
Qur'an “Wrapping” (chap 74), pp. 1115-1119
Qur'an “Covering” (chap 73), pp. 1111-1114
Qur'an, “The Cow” (chap 2), pp. 6-126
[Special focus: pp. 80-83; 90-91; 105-111]
2/12 Muslim view of non-violence and respect for life Global Ethic, 50-51
Qur'an, “The Cow” (chap 2), pp. 6-126 [cont'd discussion]
“The Israelites” (chap 17), pp. 543-566
“The Cave” (chap 18), pp. 567-593
2/14 Muslim view of non-violence and respect for life, continued
Kelsay, “Islamic view of Peace” and “Religion as a Cause for War” [Handout #4]
Islamic Anthology, “Prophet Mohammed,” pp. 79-83
“Moslem View of Crusaders,” pp. 202-211
2/19 Muslim view of tolerance and truthfulness Global Ethic, 95
Qur'an, “The Spider” (chap 29), pp. 760-773
Qur'an, “The Believer” (chap 40), pp. 892-905
“Ha Mim” (chap 41), pp. 906-915
2/21 Muslim view of tolerance and truthfulness, cont'd
( Hand-outs on contemporary issues distributed)
Qur'an, “The Family of Amran” (chap 3), pp. 127-183
[Special focus: pp. 128-34; 141-63]
“The Food” (chap 5), pp. 237-277
2/26 Muslim view of transformation of life Global Ethic, 138
Qur'an, “The Originator” (chap 35), 832-840
Islamic Anthology, “Confessions of a Troubled Believer,” pp. 170-179
Discussion of contemporary issues Class hand-outs
2/28 Discussion of contemporary issues, continued Class hand-outs
3/5 Discussion of contemporary issues, continued Class hand-outs
Review for Exam #1
3/7 Exam #1 on Judaism and Islam
3/12-3/14 No class (Spring Break)
3/19 Hindu view of being “fully human” Global Ethic, 20-21
Huxley's “Introduction” Gita, pp. 5-17; “Gita and Mahabharata” Gita, pp. 19-26
“Cosmology of the Gita” Gita, pp.167-73
3/21 Hindu view of being “fully human” and respect for life
Bhagavad Gita, Chaps 1-3 Gita, pp. 29-55
3/26 Hindu view of non-violence and respect for life Global Ethic, 44-45
[Paper précis is due]
“The Gita and War” Gita, pp. 175-179
Bhagavad Gita, Chaps 4-8 Gita, pp. 57-96
3/28 Hindu view of tolerance and truthfulness Global Ethic, 91
Bhagavad Gita, Chaps 9-12 Gita, pp. 97-124
4/2 Hindu view of transformation of life Global Ethic, 135
Bhagavad Gita, Chaps 13-17 Gita, pp.125-50
4/4 Hindu view of transformation of life, continued
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18 Gita, pp. 151-64
[Additional hand-outs may be given]
4/9 Buddhist view of being “fully human” Global Ethic, 15-17
Easwaran's “Introduction” Dhammapada, pp. 7-46
Dhammapada, chaps 1-4 (including intros); pp.75-90
4/11 Buddhist view being “fully human” and respect for life
Dhammapada, chaps 5-10 (including intros); pp. 91-112
4/16 Buddhist view of non-violence and respect for life Global Ethic, 38-39
Dhammapada, chaps 11-17 (including intros); pp. 113-49
4/18 Buddhist view of tolerance and truthfulness Global Ethic, 86-87
( Hand-outs on contemporary issues distributed)
Dhammapada, chaps 18-22 (including intros); pp. 150-74
4/23 Buddhist view of transformation of life Global Ethic, 130-31
Dhammapada, chaps 23-26 (including intros); pp. 175-99
Easwaran's introduction, pp. 46-72
4/25 Discussion of contemporary issues Class hand-outs
4/30 Discussion of contemporary issues Class hand-outs
Review for exam #2
5/2 Exam #2 on Hinduism and Buddhism
Final Paper due no later than 5:00 PM on Tuesday, May 7th
Mon 2/17 Selections from Qur'an
Skim table of contents [Pages are numbered from right to left]
Surat 3.A.62-90 (pages 158-167)
Mon 2/24 Selections from Qur'an
Surat 2.A.114-143 (pages 46-57)
Surat 2.A.255-259 (pages 114-117)