relg 110 sg 7-8

Overview

Introduction to Religion and Violence

1. How do most religions approach both peace and violence?

1. Why do so many people think that religion causes a majority of the violence and warfare in the world?

1. According to the Encyclopedia of Wars, what percentage of known conflicts have been primarily caused by religion?

Is Religion Inherently Violent?

1. Choose two of the images on the slide and explain what the religiously-motivated incident of violence it captures?

a.

b.

1. Why do Charles Kimball, Karen Armstrong and others believe that religion is inherently peaceful?

Charles Kimball: When Religion Becomes Evil

1. For Kimball, what is the difference between “authentic” and “corrupted” religion?

1. What are Kimball’s “5 Warning Signs” for when a religion is becoming “corrupted”?

1. Why does Kimball think that religion can help reduce violence?

Hector Avalos: Fighting Words, The Origins of Religious Violence

1. What is a “scarce resource” and why do they cause conflicts?

1. How does religion create “scarce resources”

1. Why are religious scarce resources especially prone to causing violence?

1. Who are the “New Atheists”?

Rene Girard: Violence and the Sacred

1. What is a “mimetic desire”?

1. What is “mimetic antagonism”?

1. What is the “scapegoat mechanism” and how does it create peace, according to Girard?

1. How does religion both cause and reduce human violence?

1. How does Christianity utilize the “scapegoat mechanism” in a unique way?

Sikhism and the Khalsa

1. Who was Guru Nanak?

1. Why does Sikhism promote religious tolerance?

1. What is the “Khalsa” and why was it created?

Introduction to Religion and Gender

1. In what type of culture did all major religions originate?

1. What is patriarchy?

1. In what basic ways did patriarchal culture influence these religions?

1. When we look at the textual sources for major religions to better understand the relationship between genders, what do we find?

Relations Between Genders

1. Summarize the perspective of “gender hierarchy”:

1. What is “complementarianism”?

1. What is “gender equality”?

1. Explain the understanding of “fixed gender identity”:

1. Explain the understanding of “fluid gender identity”:

1. Who are the hijras?

1. Who are “two spirit” people in Native American societies?

1. How does the Buddhist tradition view all gender categories?

Feminism and Religion

1. What is second-wave feminism?

1. Who is Mary Daly and what did she think about the Catholic Church?

1. Who is Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza and what is her “hermeneutics of suspicion”?

1. Who are Rita Gross and Judith Plaskow?

1. Why did many feminist theologians think that it matters what gender we use to talk about God?

1. What is the Goddess movement?

1. What is Womanist theology?

1. What is Mujerista theology?

1. Who is Amina Wadud?

Hinduism and Gender

1. Traditionally, in Hinduism, what are women viewed as?

1. Are women allowed to be Hindu priests?

1. Why were male children preferred in traditional Hindu society?

1. What is “sati” and why was it performed?

1. Who/what is shakti?

1. Who/what is Mahadevi?

1. Who is Bharat Mata?

1. Why do some Hindu theologians not like the word “feminism”?