Original HW Post

Watch the video, East vs. West- The Myths that Mystify (Links to an external site.) by Devdutt Pattanaik. Define and discuss the terms “religion” and “spirituality,” reflecting on the video and readings. Consider the following statements from your text (Schmidt, 2019, p. 147) and summarize what they mean to you:

• Jonathan Swift: “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.”
• Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule.”

Evaluate the difficulties that may surface as a result of having a different belief system than your clients and share your reflections on this topic in 250-300 words. Support your comments with two references and respond to at least two of your classmates.

*****************************Please respond to two classmates********************************

Support your comments with two references and respond to at least two of your classmates. 250-300 words total.

Classmate # 1

Julian Gibbs

Hello Class, hope everyone is well.

• Jonathan Swift: “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.”

To begin to understand the phase “We have just enough religion to make us hate” we must first obtain a clear understanding how religion is defined. According to ScienceDaily, religion is an organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to an order of existence. From my experiences religion most of the times gives people the ability to interpret how they accept the consequences of their beliefs. Unfortunately but it’s been proven, that some religious groups are based off of financial and political gain. Some groups go as far as judging outsiders or how some people are put in the category as non-believers or sinners. Jonathan Swift statement goes deep because terrorism can be driven by religion. To not have enough religion, can make us hate, has always led me to believe some religions are being taught to hate instead of love. I use the examples from my experiences in the military while deployed to Afghanistan. The term religious terrorism is derived from the tactics to achieve religious goals or which are influenced by religious identifies. On the other hand, I’ve been taught how religion and having a strong faith in God teaches us to love one other. It’s hard to honestly judge someone based off of religion today. Having enough religion to love one another can come in many ways. As a Human Service professional you must consider empathy for others and understand feelings of another person.

• Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule.”

With some many religious groups today, first we must determine what spirituality is. Spirituality is the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things. In my opinion, spirituality is an inner strength, developed over time that helps you endure the struggles within. Speaking for myself, my spirituality has been the everyday process of understanding the person I’ve been become. Many times I’ve stopped to take moment to re-examine my purpose and direction in life. My spirituality is based off of self-awareness and self-esteem. When I hear the phase material forces, I think of how society dictates how material items are used to measure how much you love someone.

References

https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/religion.htm

(Links to an external site.)

https://markhumphrys.com/christian.terrorism.html

https://www.openhorizons.org/spirituality-what-is-...

Classmate #2

Charity Parker

Religion- when I think of religion I think of spirituality. Beliefs that you hold. I believe in God, so religion to me is how I worship, praise and my beliefs. The two seem to come hand in hand. But they are really actually different.

Religion is the practices you out into your beliefs. This is often times what causes the division between different religions. They don’t act the same as you because they have different beliefs.

“Spirituality is a connection with self, others and the world as a whole. Spirituality is “love and compassion”( Schmidt, 2019).

“On one hand, spirituality conveys humankind’s search for lasting peace and harmony with nature, while on the other, religious differences have too often accounted for rejection, oppression, hostility, and hatred between people who cannot accept divergent views and practices” (Schmidt, 2019).

Religion can be something amazing but it can also be something that divides us if we are not careful. Like the quote by Johnathan Swift.

Jonathan Swift: “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.”

To me this is not talking about the amount of love we have to give, but more the judgment and biased opinions against someone else’s beliefs. How easy it is for us to judge others, simply because our beliefs are not the same. Using our religion as a weapon instead of loving others. For instance I consider myself non denominational. I don’t hold on to beliefs of Pentecostals that wear the long dresses and skirts, or keep the long hair. While some Catholics pray to Mary, the mother of Jesus. I have never really understood worshipping or praying to her, when I feel why? When you can go to main source. And as you heard right there…what just happened? Its so easy to become divides or pass judgment when beliefs are just different. So this quote means to me.. its easy to judge or hate on someone else because of our own religion or beliefs, snd religion is not enough to make us love one another. We will always be different, believe in different things. And that is our right! We shouldn’t pass judgment on others simply because they don’t agree with you. “ Cultures having different views of their worlds. This is the root of the clash of civilization “( Pattanaik,2009). We need to love everyone regardless of different spiritual views and beliefs.

Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule.”

This is very powerful to me. I think if we see spirituality first we can all be happier people. Spirituality is growing , having self awareness . Not letting other beliefs ( or thoughts) rule over how we should act. Not letting in separation but learning to love everyone equally regardless of different beliefs. Love is a very powerful thing. Have you ever seen how just a smile can change someone else’s day? In order to live in harmony we have to just accept we will always hold different religious views, yet choose to love regardless.

References-

Pattanaik, D. (2009). East vs. west-The myths that mystify (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/devdutt_pattanaik.html

Schmidt, J. (2019). Social and cultural foundations of counseling and human services: Multiple influences on self-concept development. Retrieved from https://www.vitalsource.com