A writer's Random ramblings
Holding to one’s own religious faith and identity while peacefully coexisting with those who differ need not be mutually exclusive categories. In fact, a deep faith in one system of thought can inspire curiosity about other ways of thinking. Properly informed, curiosity can then lead into dialogue with and acceptance of “the other.” Sometimes, one person can even embody this ideal by bringing together tenets of several schools of thought into her own, as I have done through many years of studying history, religion, and philosophy from the world over.
Following a family religious tradition from an early age provides the foundation. In my own experience, beginning as a Roman Catholic taught me the tenets of the Christian faith. However, as I began to study history in school, I often found myself wondering how an all-loving God could get so angry with believers as to condemn them to eternal torture at times. Catholicism also eventually seemed to have too many rules and too few definitions of its major ideas, such as exactly what constituted sin. Learning the history of religion led me to later become Lutheran. I’m still Christian at the core, but feel more comfortable about key ideas in the faith. Now, I understand sin as breaking the Ten Commandments, rather than struggling with a more general idea of what behaviors are bad and would be condemnable versus what keeps me good in God’s sight. My religion and faith in God now also aligns much better with the philosophical definition of humanity as neither all good nor all bad, but containing elements of both all at once. Concluding that I agree more with Luther’s vision of humanity increased my faith in God. After learning in history of religion that Luther said such a belief and having a personal relationship with God brings salvation to humanity, I found myself better able to understand other faiths and philosophies. Although Luther’s famous belief sounds so much more positive, it can help one begin to better understand the Eastern philosophy of Karma. Coming into Luther’s “justification by faith alone” from a Roman Catholic background helps even more. After all, Catholics say that only those who do good works on earth can get to Heaven, where Karma states that one reaps what he or she merits, even on earth. If one has not performed enough good deeds on earth under Karma, he or she can be reincarnated to try again at improving life and the world. Whether reincarnation exists or not, a faith filled life will result in good works that spread kindness and peace to all when carried far enough. Tying the possibility that reincarnation may exist to improving a soul improving by becoming Christian and therefore justified and cleaned by faith in God rather than by actions tied me even more strongly to God. At the same time, learning the history of cultures where people see Earth as the mother of us all allowed me to reconcile my feminist chasing the equality of all people nature to the concept in Christian thought as God as our father. Therefore, adding my own views of the world to what I learn by classes and readings shows an example of how learning of many schools of thought can enrich one person and make her want to work for world peace by serving as an example for all. Both in and outside of the aforementioned classes, I have encountered many interesting people. Some shared my American culture, but not my Christian faith. Others differed from me culturally, but not spiritually, and some held differences in both ways. Thanks to my upbringing and education, I learned the art of conversation. When those holding other faiths and cultures welcomed such discussions, I learned as much about those folks as they did about me, amounting to more than any class could demonstrate. Talks of this nature due to high school seating charts led to a Jewish classmate learning along with me about each other. We came to a conclusion on shared religious heritage and where our faiths differed. For me, the experience led to a deepening of my own faith based upon greater historical understanding. I found that although Jesus, whom I claim as savior, may have been a prophet for Jews and cancelled out their dietary regulations, we still hold fast the same literature and laws on how to treat one another in the Old Testament. During the same formative years, some neighbors also provided me with inspiration for studying other religions. One lady from India and another from China although it was not discussed actively because I was too young to understand when I knew them, led me that way. Later on, I took courses on Buddhism, Taoism, and other Eastern religions and philosophies. I’ve since then also read about Wiccans, Native American, Japanese, and many other traditions. Many religions in my experience all seem to have one thing in common: they all ask us to love our fellow humans and some higher power, whether it is called God, Nature, or something else entirely. If we all only learn to follow that commandment, no matter what religion we claim, we can create peace. Too often in this world, people, whether consciously or not, teach children to identify and then exclude “the other.” If we would only allow children to be children and grow a healthy curiosity, they could open their minds and learn from everyone they encounter. As seen in my personal story, the ideas of many cultures, religions, and philosophies can create harmony in one person. After children learn to do this one on one, they can expand out to a global scale to create a more peaceful world where all people can live and thrive. Finding and pursuing one’s own interests leads to more engaged students. Parent after professional observation has borne this out over many years. Why don’t schools take us up on the idea by creating more tracks for the pupils to investigate subjects? It would certainly make more sense towards graduation rates than forcing all students to take classes in a certain order.
This begins at the earliest levels. Even elementary school can teach subjects such as basic chemistry, physics, and earth and space science to children to gauge interest. In early social studies, use the Pillars of Citizenship to show children how people and societies can grow to respect one another and build upon that in making friends in a peaceful world. Teach them similarities and differences in various cultures, and introduce other languages as pupils who speak them join classes or as soon as primary language proficiency happens. As students progress through school, take a look at how courses form tracks based upon their curiosities. For those planning to use computers often or others not seeking mathematically-bound careers, offer a more practical math track. For example, basic algebra and geometry, then some statistics and a computer math course could provide foundations for those interested in education. Why not offer a fundamental finances course for everyone for one semester as a math credit they can really use? A basic computer sciences course could also double as the technology education credit required to graduate in many places, regardless of whether the curious learner follows a whole series of such coursework. To prepare youngsters for college, follow a track of more papers, less posters and artistic projects in language classes, and keep foreign language ones in the target language, not the student’s native language as soon as vocabulary hits a sentence level. In science, several tracks could be offered based upon the pupils’ interests and future goals. For those who want to major in something besides science but are fascinated by the arts, a track of basic biology intertwined with anatomy followed by relevant physics lessons and a capstone bringing it all together would suit them well. Others may prefer to study on a track of earth and space science followed up with meteorology and environmental science. Social studies, which can intertwine with science on the environmental track or arts and education with psychology and sociology counting as more than electives, also benefits from choices made by interested pupils. Of course, as many folks argue, physical education deserves for students to choose how to accomplish its goals. Too few schools offer courses to satisfy the requirement without asking for too many sports per term. Many children would like to study dance or gymnastics without having to attend an auditions-only art school for this requirement. Since both get a person into motion and could theoretically provide lifelong physical activity and health, they ought to be added back to the high school curricula. Within the school, it makes sense to split the number of sports offered in semester of gym, either by the season one would generally play the games, or by taking a poll to see how many of the offerings interest the class. Many extracurricular activities do the same. If a student belongs to a school sanctioned running club, marching band, varsity or club sport, the school should look at that as a physical education alternative, especially for those with difficult schedules. It provides the student with a means to activity of interest to him/her, which could be built upon for later health. Although one may not stay in a marching band for life, putting the air through a wind instrument builds lung function, and good marching technique teaches healthy ways of walking to be continued with less injury. As long as the sport or activity the student joins has school approval and provides at least 6 hours of physical activity, that equals what most would get in class, so deserves to count toward gym. In these ways, more students would remain engaged in their education longer. That would boost graduation and college acceptance rates. In the long run, the results of offering choice in education would lead to a more satisfied and happier society by fulfilling the people’s curiosity. |
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June 2020
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