Mitzvah Day is a day in the jewish community in November where people come together to volunteer in communities for local people. This year in East London Jews and Muslims came together to cook the beloved chicken soup for people in the mosque that was once a synagogue. They call this soup “Jewish medicine” believing it has medicinal properties. An Asian company also donated many ingredients for this day to make it successful. Over 2500 bowls of soup in 20 different venues were. made for people of different faith and people of no faith. The soup is a symbol of friendship, family, unity, and respect for everyone of every different religion. In today’s world people believe Muslims and Jews do not get along but on Mitzvah day this year they were all together seeing beyond religion, cooking soup together for everyone in the community. This is very important in todays world for little events like this to happen to show the world that we are all one. It is not a fight against each other and no matter ones belief, we are all on the same world and should all get along together. We learn in class that we must accept everyones belief and I believe that coming together and giving to the community together is a perfect example of how easy it is to get along

Americans participated in a survey to found whether they were either religious but non spiritual, spiritual but not religious, neither spiritual or religious, or both spiritual and religious. The survey found that the people who were more spiritual than religious were the more well rounded people who believed in more liberal views and had more empathy and compassion for others. Although a lot of the people who were more spiritual than religious were still born into religion such as christianity and judaism but chose to follow more untraditional views. This reminds me of Confucianism and Taoism because they do not necessarily follow the word of God but more of the teachings of kindness and simple lifestyles. They focus more on the human life and the universe and not so much on following a religious text such as the Bible. These people in the article also show that they assist others more than themselves. The article states that people who are more spiritual go through more experience with media such as TV and the internet that become significant in their lives. I believe that sometimes being more spiritual than religious can be more effective because it creates a better connection with yourself and helps with relationships with other people than following a religion.

This study found in the UK changes RE or Religious Education into Religion and World views. This would mean teaching things to be believed as “unorthodox” to the Catholic Church such as atheism and agnosticism. The Catholic education service rejected this report believing that students at catholic schools should not be learning about those topics. The Church of England accepted this saying that it will show the UK’s diverse society but The Catholic education system still will not accept believing that it will cause the school to lose its integrity. I believe that changing this class into the religion and world views class would be very smart for the UK. In class we were taught to accept everyones religion, learning about other religions around the world and all the different followings and beliefs has opened expanded my mind and made me more accepting of other peoples cultures and helped me better understand how people all around the world live. Even if people are at a Catholic school they should still be allowed to learn about other religions and decide for themselves what they want to believe in. I hope that the Catholic Education Services can reevaluate their thoughts on this report and become more open to learning about other religious affiliations around the world.

You would think that many international students want to come to the USA for college because of the education, parties, or greek life when actually a lot want to come to find schools with religious affiliations. In the United States there are 140 colleges and universities that have religious affiliations. Some are not strict and do not require any students to attend mass or take a religion class and some are very strict with their religious rules that they do not let the students do certain things such as watching pornography or engaging in sexual interactions. Some international students are more interested in Christian schools because they are fascinated and want to learn more about how Christian Americans interact with each other. Most Christian universities accept people who follow any religion, it is more about teaching and learning their morals and beliefs. Students say that attending Christian universities, even if you don't affiliate with Christianity is still better than non-christian schools because of the academic and cultural environment. Some students even say that it helps them feel more welcomed coming into America if they attend a religious affiliated school. This article reminds me of what our book teaches us. It takes religion seriously but also embraces the world and all the diversity of people and beliefs.

The word “Cult” has always had a very negative connotation. This article explains how easy it is for one to get stuck in a cult and how to get them out. It even shows previous cult members and where they are now and how it was hard for them to find themselves after. There are many different types of cults including religious cults. In the article it explains how showing the person things from your life like photos or text messages will remind the person that there is a world outside of the cult. Someone who was part of the radical Marxist-Lenist group in the 1970′s now today believes that that group was a cult. She says showing people in cults videos of ex-cult members explaining how bad it is is an effective exit strategy. It is also found that even after one exits a group it might take years for them to find who they are again and people must be very careful with them. 

In class we briefly learned that cults are not accepted in society and are considered very unorthodox in todays society. This article proves that this is true. Usually when you think of a cult you think of the KKK, or white supremicists or more racist/ unacceptable groups. This typically is true and I do not believe that cults are a good thing to follow. Unlike religion, I don't think people should support or accept other peoples cult followings. 

Confucius began as a teacher who had attracted disciples that believed in his teachings. Confucianism is centered around kindness and simplicity, they accept all people and believe all people are good. He also believed in education for all. The reason Confucianism believes in simplicity is because they believe everyone is good, that society should be unified. They don’t question the afterlife and believe that relationships are the most important thing in life. Confucianism is simplified into “The Five Great Relationships”; Ruler vs. Subject, Husband vs. Wife, Father Vs. Son, Elder Brother vs. Younger Brother, and Elder Friend vs. Younger Friend. So, simplified Confucianists believed that everyone should always follow the “Junzi” or the superior man. I like the idea of Confucianism and what the morals are. I support the idea of being kind and compassionate to others and aiming for a simple lifestyle. I don't necessarily agree with the idea of the “superior man” I believe people should be more equal and learn from one another mistakes and not really avoid the bad qualities in people. I also don’t know if I agree that Confucianism can be a religion I believe it is more of a teaching that a group of people follow.

Buddhism has been the most popular religion in China in todays world, over Taoism, confucianism, and Christianity, Buddhism is in favor of the majority of Chinas population. Venerable Xuecheng is one of the most successful monks until his downfall. He was seemingly a very compassionate monk who gave to the poor and lead many Buddhist associations. He was recently stripped of his title following sexual assault accusations. A smaller #MeToo movement has been formed in China since this summer and Xuecheng was one of the reasons. He would text nuns messages asking them to have sexual intercourse with them and when they would say no he would get angry followed by crude messages. 

In class we learned about Siddhartha Guatama, the Buddha. He began as a rich prince who gave up everything to follow the path of Enlightenment. In todays world Buddhists have strayed from this according to this article. This monk strayed from the followings of the Buddha, he used social media and other materialistic items that made him not follow his own teachings. The #MeToo movement has become very important in today’s world and I believe that no one should be given special treatment even if they are a religious leader. There is no excuse for what Xuecheng did and his punishment was very necessary. 

Since the Trump administration passed the “zero tolerance” policy, hundreds of children have been detained away from their families at the U.S. Mexico border. This article is showing Rabbis and other Faith leaders, some Christian, some Muslim coming together to protest the child migrant detention. They created a peaceful protest by coming together in prayer, singing songs, and quoting religious texts. One Rabbi, Josh Winston was one of the leaders of this protest. Whinston also compared what was happening to these children to “Israelites in the Bible who were leading an Egyptian Pharaoh.” There are still over 1,000 children at the camp in Tornillo who are separated from their families, these children are placed in poor conditions that are inhumane. After the Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, Rabbi Winston decided tp fulfill this “pilgrimage” and began gathering people. Activists joined the group and they began driving towards Tornillo camp stopping at 11 shelters along the way to volunteer. In class we learned about several pilgrimages made and about religions that were used to put others first and give more than you receive. The people who made this pilgrimage were giving up a lot of what they had to go fight for other people. I believe this pilgrimage that these Rabbis lead was very necessary, I don't believe in the zero tolerance policy and think that these children need to be reunited with their families.