The Sermons

I enjoyed the sermon portion of the semester very much. It was interesting for me to see how writing with a "religious" mindset could change what I had to say or, at least, how I ended up saying it. In general, my paper/sermon was politically driven with various inserts relating to the Bible woven into the piece to give it a more Christian vibe. Finding out that even with a religious mindset I still was able to be truthful really made me rethink the role that religion could have in politics - that it could be positive too.

Fortunately for everyone who is not a morning person, the sermons were fun to listen to and a couple of them were able to persuade me into agreeing with their statements. Learning about which elements need to be included into a (protestant) sermon and how to reach specific goals in the piece was a worth-while experience.

Politics and Religion

I would like to clear up my position from class:

I agree, to an extent, and find it reasonable that a person of faith, or a person of no faith, would have their political opinions influenced by whatever their level of spirituality is. However, people need to realize that their faith and beliefs are not grounds for law, their customs and religious rules are not grounds for law, and any aspects or beliefs of their faith are not evidence for law. It's understandable that a Christian would be pro-life, but for that person to claim that abortion is wrong because it "sends a soul to hell," is a statement that will not be taken seriously and would only fall on deaf ears for any non-Christian (and many practicing Christians as well).

I also find it rather arrogant that some politicians would claim God or Jesus told them to do something. When there is no evidence to verify any authenticity in religiously motivated decisions then it is as if we are shaping the lives of others blindly instead of looking to facts, science and universal rights. I have no problem with mixing faith and politics as long as people are respectful and not assume that their faith is logical reasoning for policy, they need to find real logical reasons that can be proven and justified. Unfortunately, we are unable to justify biblical events from thousands of years ago, so religious convictions rightfully should not be used to resolve the current issues of today. In an ideal society, sure, religion and politics could be fine together, but in our world religion is, more often than not, used as an exploitative and manipulative tool in the political sphere.

This Week's Sub Class

I thought that the substitute professor did a great job this week. It was interesting seeing the first pieces of scripture that has been preserved over the years. I know that there have been significant discoveries of scripture as well as other religious artifacts found in Israel, but I did not realize how much more was found in Egypt because of the better preserving conditions - I think he said about 90% of scripture was found in Egypt alone. It was also interesting seeing where Jesus, John, Luke, Paul...etc. lie on a timeline and seeing how they influenced each other-that was pretty neat. I have more knowledge of my Jewish roots than my Christian (Protestant) roots and it is always nice to learn new things from either.

Song of Songs

When I think of religion, I think of scripture, a place of worship, values and rituals and certainly recitation. I did not know that there were certain parts of the Bible that were not "suppose" to be read aloud. The section we analyzed in class today, The Song of Songs, is not simply an allegory for God's love, but also an erotic story between a male love and a female lover. This love poetry exhibits sexuality in more detail than one might imagine the Bible would contain, but it is interesting why it should be read individually only and not aloud.

Islam and the Qur'an

Between listening to our in-class speaker from before spring break and the recent readings and Suras that we were assigned, I better understand how the Qur’an can be interpreted in different ways (besides the fact that there are so many different sources of translations and in many different languages). On the news all we hear about is how Islam and the teachings of the Qur’an are used to inflict violence and advocate morally unjust values, but this is mainly an interpretation by either extremists, the misinformed or simply ignorant people. Just like Christianity and Judaism, Islam can be used productively as far as providing common interests, a community, a sense of belonging and a set of good values to live by. Like the other two, it can also be used for personal gain and violence. I, for one, think that the words and art that I have seen from the Qur’an are beautiful and thought provoking. It is more than unfortunate that Islam has been put in a defensive position just because a loud group of fundamentalists have been exploiting its name.

Video Response

I thought that the video today was interesting. When I was in Jerusalem during the winter break, we went to the Kotel (Western Wall) and I was able to see how it was sectioned off for men and women and I can remember thinking how it seemed odd that the wall, one of the most sacred landmarks in the world for the Jewish people, was sectioned so that women had a little piece of the wall to go up to and the men had a long stretch of it followed by an entrance to the left where you could go inside and see the tunnels. I agreed with the speaker from the video who said that the traditions did not need to be lost, but need to adapt to include all Jews, which include women. We were also at a Kibbutz where we had Shabbat services and the Reform Rabbi was a woman. I have been to few Shabbat services, but I thought that this one was very nice. What was interesting was that a girl next to me said, "I am all for women's rights and everything, but I have had a male Rabbi my whole life and having services with a women just isn't the same for me..." There was another part of the trip, which I was reminded of from the video we watched today. I am referring to the part where we saw how the woman was segregated from the group of men, behind a sheet or curtain, while singing, and she was interviewed on how that made her feel. Back to the Israel trip, we visited a mosque in Ein Rafa where we saw a section enclosed with cloth. Someone from the group asked why that was and the man who was answering questions and talking to the group about how Islam works and its role in Israel and the world answered that the women had to pray in a different section because if the men saw them during prayer, it could distract them, giving them impure thoughts and disturbing the state in which they need to be in to respectfully pray, that it was not being sexist. This seems different from the situation addressed in the video, but it made me wonder: If in the mosque they separate women from men to keep them in a pure state during prayer... couldn't there also be a good reason why there is separation in Judaism? 

Torah

Question: Is the torah law, ritual, instruction, or narrative? What does the hebrew word "torah" mean in the book of Leviticus? What kinds of things "count" as torah, and what is (are) their purposes? Who is to speak these examples of "torah" and to whom are they addressed? Do the Biblical narratives in Genesis that we read, and the rules that we read in Leviticus, have anything common so that it would make sense to call both "torah?"

In Hebrew the word torah means "word of God." I feel that it could be assumed that the torah is a book of laws, filled with instructions of how to live a good and prosperous life with rituals and is presented in a narrative form with lessons within the stories. Depending on the context, one can read the torah and find its laws, rituals and instructions, but they are consistently conveyed through stories and messages. Leviticus talks about rituals ranging from cleanliness and atonement to circumcision and it talks about how you cannot eat "unclean" foods such as shellfish and pork, for example. 

The words from the torah are primarily directed towards the people of Israel, but I am not quite sure what kinds of things "count" as torah and who may "speak the examples." I would assume it is for the descendants of Israel (Jacob). The torah is for people loyal to God, who believe in the word of God. 

Genesis is basically a history of the creation focusing on the covenants and linking God to his "chosen people." This can be considered torah. According to my definition of what torah is above, Leviticus should certainly be considered torah because it contains both laws and rituals, but it can be argued to not be torah because Leviticus was written by man. However, the fact that it is one of the five books, which Moses wrote from his account with, God is reason enough for Leviticus to also be considered torah. Going along with my original definition, in this context, the torah is both law and ritual in a narrative form written by Moses for God.