religions

religions

The limitations of language have never been more obvious then when I tried to write about how the study of world religions this semester has influenced me both as a student and as a member of the human race (Smith). Before taking this class I usually felt threatened by any other assertion of another religious view. I felt that the goal of other religions was to try and disprove mine. The change in understanding of other religions and what they stand for has changed drastically over the course of the semester but a few concepts seem more important to me than others.  
Guest speakers, Amir Ahmed and Huma Faruqi, of the Islamic Speakers Bureau came to class they mentioned that there are over 70 different schools of thought just within the Islamic faith. I found this particularly enlightening because the same is true for any religion. The fact that there are many different thoughts within one religion makes perfect sense. Until it was actually brought to me attention so pointedly I never really considered that there would be so many different opinions and practices by so many people all over the world, which are influenced, just as my own beliefs are, by respective traditions and cultures. I also realized that the action of a few people does not define an entire group. I certain don’t want to be held responsible for the actions of some of the followers of my faith, with very different ideas and interpretations. Therefore I make an effort to be more informed about a situation instead of following the opinions of others blindly, which is essentially what a lot of people are taught to do. The information that they receive about other religions is incorrect or misrepresented by well intentioned teachers that have been essentially brainwashed themselves. It was also interesting that the four aims of religion, as outlined by Joseph Campbell, fit all religions and support the idea held by Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Baha’i is that there are many different paths of faith to...