This post will serve as a summary for today's class discussion during Mr. Lazarow's absence. Disclaimer: None of the following information necessarily represents my personal feelings on the topic.
What is America? Our nation was founded on democratic (yet also religious) principles in 1776. Yet has the same thing that once brought us together possibly tearing us apart? We all agreed that arguing the existence of God is very different from arguing the positives/negatives of religious doctrine. Some of us felt it to be self-serving; another portion of us felt it to be a useful tool of guidance. How could something so sacred cause such bloddy massacres (the Crusades, the Wars of Religion during the 1500s and 1600s, etc..)? Yet on the other hand, religion has also instilled certain morals within its followers.
This led to yet another topic of discussion. A non-believer is capable of maintaining morals. Just the same, a believer may lack the morality demanded by society. But by this point of the discussion, we began to question the definitions of a believer/religious person. What made someone religious? We found this hard to specify.
Some mentioned that their complaints against religion stem from those who practice the religion rather than the religion itself. In other words, different faiths may exist in harmony as long as one person does not impose their principles on another. When such imposing commences, different groups are separated further. How can something meant to bring us together tear us apart? One student mentioned a website (www.chick.com) that seemed to be doing just that: tearing different groups at the seams due to discrimination (i.e. against homosexuals, etc..).
This is about as well as my memory will serve me from today's discussion. Once again, I will state that this post is merely to inform Mr. Lazarow of our discussion (as he asked us to do) and does not represent my own beliefs in any way, shape, or form.
(Samantha Maliha)
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