Separation of Church and State: A Moral Dilemma
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States guarantees the right to practice one's own religion without discrimination or retribution for doing so. Yet at the same time, when the question of opening each school day with a prayer is proposed it is met with public outrage. Religion has all but been taken out of America and the results can be seen everywhere you look. The media is filled with teenagers stealing, doing drugs, and committing violent acts. Many see it as a sign of the downfall of the society. They watch…...

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Works Cited

American Civil Liberties Union. (ACLU). "Joint Statement of Current Law on Religion in the Public Schools." April 12, 1995. Accessed October 2002.  http://www.aclu.org/ReligiousLiberty/ReligiousLiberty.cfm?ID=9007&c=139 .

Baker, Mike. "Do religion and schools mix?" BBC Broadcast transcript. Aired Saturday,

March 3,2001.

Coeyman, Marjorie. Finding the right fit for religion and schools. The Christian Science

Religion does not necessarily need to be considered to be something spiritual, as it can also teach people in relation to moral values and about how they can distinguish between good and bad.

A modern school system needs to be fair towards everyone and this can only be made possible by school authorities allowing children to express themselves without restraint. Parents should have the right to decide what their children will learn in school. Religion is generally beneficial for opening people's minds and for preparing them to behave properly in the contemporary society.

Works cited:

1. lanzer, Perry. (1998). "Religion in Public Schools: In Search of Fairness." Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 80.

Perry lanzer's article presents readers with solid arguments regarding to why the teaching of religion in schools must not be regarded as something immoral. Also, the paper brings support to religion and reveals the reasons for which it is beneficial for young…...

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Glanzer, Perry. (1998). "Religion in Public Schools: In Search of Fairness." Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 80.

Wright, Elliot a. (1999). "Religion in American Education." Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 81.

Brewster, Karin L. & Cooksey, Elizabeth C. & Guilkey, David K. & Rindfuss, Ronald R. (1998). "The Changing Impact of Religion on the Sexual and Contraceptive Behavior of Adolescent Women in the United States." Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 60, No. 2.

If the teacher and the majority of the class were engaged in prayer, that student will undoubtedly be receiving the message that his or her beliefs are inferior and not as important. Schools are the primary institutions of forming social and political identities, and it is for this reason that they must be kept religiously neutral.
Allowing religion into public schools will only increase feelings of separatism and inequality in this country. It is not only Constitutionally forbidden, but it is also ethically and morally prohibited. Whether or not the religion is permitted to directly influence the workings of the class, members of non-dominant religions or who are not at all religious will necessarily feel inferior to the rest of the class. The protection of their rights in the face of other's actions is the primary concern of the Constitution.

Outline

Introduction

I. Freedom of religion is a founding principle.

II. This has led…...

I agreed with Paul's perspective that the resurrection of Jesus is spiritual and cannot be fully understood by the human mind. I also believe that following death, Christians will not experience a physical rebirth, but expect to live an immortal, spiritual life in heaven. Paul's perspective encourages rebirth as a spiritual phenomenon. I think this belief closely ties with the second view of the resurrection, which is the resurrection occurred only in the imagination or faith of those closest to Jesus. Paul believes the resurrection of Jesus is spiritual, and liberates Christians from death by promising an immortal life in the likeness of Jesus. I feel there is a strong psychological element to this belief that can be explained as faith and the hope for death to not be the end of existence. Paul's point-of-view explains death is not an ending, but the beginning of immortal life. I agree…...

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Works Cited

Chidester, D. Patterns of Transcendence: Religion, Death, and Dying. 2nd ed. Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth Publishing, 2001. 169-179. Print.

Kramer, K. The Sacred Art of Dying: How the world Religions Understand Death. Mahwah, NJL

Paulist Press, 1988. 139-152. Print.

eligion
Qualifications of the divine and the nature of supreme reality are core concepts of any religious tradition. Hinduism and Buddhism conceptualize the divine and the nature of reality in complementary yet distinct ways. Buddhism emerged from Hinduism, in a manner not wholly unlike the way Christianity emerged from Judaism. Therefore, there are several core similarities in the cosmologies and the conceptualizations of divine reality between these two faiths. Moreover, the religious practices and philosophies of Buddhism and Hinduism tend to be more similar than they are different. These similarities should not obscure the real and practical differences in the ways Hindus and Buddhists conceptualize and communicate matters related to the nature of the divine, and the nature of supreme reality. In particular, Buddhism avoids distinctions between a divine and a profane realm; there are no actual Buddhist deities or gods. Hinduism boasts a plethora of gods and goddesses, although the…...

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Reference

Cline, Austin. "Hinduism: Origins, Beliefs, Practices, Holy Texts, Sacred Places." About.com. Retrieved online:  http://atheism.about.com/od/bookreviews/fr/Hinduism_2.htm 

"Basics of Buddhism." Retrieved online:  http://www.letusreason.org/Buddh1.htm 

Freeman, Richard. Interview data received February 21, 2013.

The Heart Sutra. Translated by Kumarajiva and Pevahouse. Retrieved online: http://www4.bayarea.net/~mtlee/heart.txt

Religion the Gospel of Matthew
There are a number of similarities between Helmut Koester's article, The Gospel of Matthew: Jesus as the New Moses, and that of Marilyn Moses, also entitled The Gospel of Moses. Both of these works examine the reason and purpose that the book of Matthew was written, and explore the impact upon the immediate surrounding community of Christianity. However, in order to best summarize these works, it is necessary to do so individually, in order to gain the best understanding of these articles.

Koester's article primarily focuses on the book of Matthew's portrayal of Jesus as being directly descended from Abraham and aligned with traditional Israeli law. This is a particularly important aspect of the Koester's article (and the book of Matthew), because it verifies the fact that Jesus's teachings and works are directly in accordance with the Israeli tradition which preceded his existence, and which most of…...

And bee it also Enacted by the Authority and with the advise and assent aforesaid that whatsoever person or persons shall from henceforth use or utter any reproachfull words or Speeches concerning blessed Virgin Marv the Mother of Our Saviour or the holy Apostles or Evangelists or any of them shall in such case for the first offence forfeit to the said Lord Proprietary and his heirs Lords and Proprietaries of this Province the sume of five pound Sterling or the value thereof to be Levyed on the goods and chattells of every such person soe offending, but in case such Offender or Offenders, shall not then have goods and chattells sufficient for the satisfying of such forfeiture, or that the same bee not otherwise speedily satisfyed that then such Offender or Offenders Shall be publiquely whipt and bee imprisoned during the pleasure, of the Lord Proprietary or the…...

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Works Cited www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=90445657

Bonomi, Patricia U. Under the Cope of Heaven: Religion, Society, and Politics in Colonial America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Questia. 24 Sept. 2007  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=90445659 .

A www.geocities.com/lawandabrewer_uncp"Brewer, Jaques, Jones, and King. (2001). 23 Sept 2007  http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/16071783/religion.htm .

Crossing the Ocean to Keep the Faith: The Puritans. (2007) Library of Congress. 23 Sept 2007  http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel01.html .

Friedrich Von Schlegel (1772-1829), German philosopher. Idea 14 in Selected Ideas (1799-1800), Franklin, Benjamin. His Autobiography. Vol. I, Part 1. The Harvard Classics. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909-14; Bartleby.com, 2001. www.bartleby.com/1/1/.23 Sept 2007  http://www.bartleby.com/1/1/4.html .

ith regard to strong network ties, religions like Mormonism and Jehovah's itnesses will grow in communities with strong social connections that already exist. Thus, a few core members of the community become converted. Those core members are trusted in the community, and therefore community members are far more likely to embrace the faith through their trusted friends, neighbors, or family members than by total strangers. The growth of Mormonism and Jehovah's itnesses may also have to do with deeper psychological issues in places where these sects have been growing. Just as consumer behavior is linked to psychological theories, including theories of personality, so too is behavior regarding choice of religion. Mormonism and Jehovah's itnesses both demand a strict adherence to a set of rules related to personal conduct and social behavior. Proselytizing actively is also considered part of one's religious duty and social contract.

Therefore, what Stark and Iannacoone say about…...

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Work Cited

Lippy, Charles. Introducing American Religion. Routledge, 2009.

The work of Chidester explores different types of death, and symbolizes three patterns describing the transcendence of death: ancestral, experiential, and cultural (12). Types of death, and the way death is imagined, can help human beings die in a meaningful way, give life ultimate meaning, and significance (Chidester: 12). The ancestral transcendence represents a type of biological death, meaning this form of transcendence provides a way for the individual to connect with a continuous biological chain of parents and offspring (Chidester: 12). This is significant as the family line is not broken by death; death provides an ongoing continuity of family. The psychological type of death is considered experiential transcendence, and represents "profound and often intense psychological experiences that embrace death in acceptance or ecstasy" (Chidester: 14). Accepting and embracing death signifies death as a psychologically peaceful experience. A third type of death is social, referred to as cultural transcendence,…...

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Works Cited

Chidester, D. Patterns of Transcendence: Religion, Death, and Dying. 2nd ed. Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth Publishing, 2001. 1-36. Print.

(Chidester: XX)

The song "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles is a song about loneliness, wanting, and hopelessness. The song begins with the lyric, "Ah, look at all the lonely people." The line is repeated twice and gives an obvious nod to the song's theme of loneliness. The song details Eleanor Rigby's life to embellish her loneliness and her longing for a better life. The first line about Eleanor is, "Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been/Lives in a dream." This lyric explains Eleanor throwing rice after a wedding ceremony, and dreams of having her own wedding and belonging. She is alone, and wishes for something more from her life. Eleanor Rigby lives her life in isolation, and this is signified by the lyric, "Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door/Who is it for?" Eleanor puts on a mask, "wearing a face," so that no one will be able to tell how lonely and empty she feels. The line, "Who is it for?" suggests, "What's the point? Why bother?" There is a sense of hopelessness. The song departs from The Beatles "pop-rock" sound, and has no drums, guitar, or piano accompaniment. The song only uses string instruments, adding to feeling of loneliness. The absence of other instruments allows for the desperation of the strings to be heard, and the isolation of the strings mimics Eleanor Rigby's isolation. A wish that people might have when they die, as suggested by the song, is to not die alone. The lyric, "All the lonely people/Where do they all belong?" suggests, "Where do the lonely people go?" And if no one is witness to their life, how does one know where the lonely people go? According to the song, Eleanor Rigby did not get this common wish. The lyrics states, "Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name/Nobody came." Eleanor Rigby died alone, and no one attended her funeral. The phrase, "was buried along with her name" refers to her being buried with her memory. She was alone in the world, and there is no one left behind to remember her; there is no memory by which she can continue to live.

The U.S. Supreme Court has supported school cooperation in regards to the establishment of religion. They have done this because they respect the religious nature of people and feel that people should be able to accommodate their spiritual needs (hat are the pros and cons of prayer in school, n.d.)?
On the other side of the debate, those who are against putting prayer back into the public schools often argue that school prayer violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because it says that the government shall not make laws in regards to the establishment of religion. Due to the fact that public schools are financed by the government, prayer that is led by school officials or included in any school program can be seen as government-established religion. Proponents to school prayer feel that school prayer ignores the division of church and state. Traditionally public schools are thought to…...

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Works Cited

"Prayer in Public School - Overview of Governing Constitutional Principles." 2003. Viewed 23

June, 2010. <  http://www.allaboutpopularissues.org/prayer-in-public-school.htm >

"What are the pros and cons of prayer in school?" n.d. Viewed 23 June, 2010, <

  >.http://www.allabouthistory.org/pros-and-cons-of-prayer-in-school-faq.htm 

However, prior to the creation of Israel the numbers were much higher (currently approximately 300,000 Palestinian Christians live in the U.S. alone (2004). Interestingly, the Israeli Army does not differentiate between Arab Christians and Arab Muslims in their occupation activities. In fact, in many areas Palestinian Christians are particularly hit by civilian casualty occurrences (Halter, 2001). In fact, Palestinian Christians identify so strongly with the Palestinian cause that statements like, "The Arab Palestinian Christians are part and parcel of the Arab Palestinian nation. e have the same history, the same culture, the same habits and the same hopes..." coming from the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, the Reverend Riad Abu al-Assal, is typical of the community as a whole.
It is for this reason that Palestinian Christians are particularly baffled by the pro-Israeli stance taken by many estern, non-Arab Christians (including, most notably, Jerry Fallwell, Ralph Reed, and Pat Robertson to…...

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Works Cited

Armstrong, Karen. (1997). "Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths." Ballentine: New York.

Avalon. Yale Law School (Staff). (2003). "The Balfour Declaration." Web site. Retrieved on April 19, 2005, from,  http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/balfour.htm 

Halter, Kristel. (2004). "Arab-Christian Suffering in the Holy Land. (Waging Peace)." Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. 1 December.

Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. (2003). "Islam: Religion, History, and Civilization." Harper, San Francisco.

As a matter of fact, she seems very open to new ideas and theories, as she was able to discuss my beliefs with me in a very open manner.
Although Carol claims she does not strongly adhere to her original fundamentalist beliefs, she still belongs to the Baptist Church. She raised two children with the husband she found at Bob Jones and her family attended and still attends church together. She disagrees with some of the newly-imposed strictures that the Southern Baptist Convention has handed down, but she has faith in the future of the denomination. She believes that the basic organization of the Baptist Church as a whole is the way that churches should be organized. hen she was a young person, meetings were held in a democratic fashion, using Robert's Rules of Order. Even in the youngest classes of Sunday School. She believes that her parents' strongly protecting…...

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Works Cited

Armstrong, Karen. The Battle for God. New York: Alfred a. Knopf. 2000.

Jones, Steven. "Fundamentalism." New Religious Movements. July 17, 2001. Website available at  http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/fund.html .

Pojman, Louis P. "Gilbert Harman's Internalist Moral Relativism," the Modern Schoolman, Vol. 68 (November, 1990), pp. 19-39.

Robinson, B.A. "Eschatology, End Times and Millennialism." Religious Tolerance. 2006.  http://www.religioustolerance.org/millenni.htm .

Religions of the Far East are often clumped into a monolithic entity, perceived as essentially alike by those not familiar with the complexity and individuality of these traditions. Closer examination, however, shows that the major religions with roots in the Far East demonstrate a wide variety of beliefs. The tendency to group them under the heading of "Eastern religion" alone does not allow for the different histories, beliefs, and practices of these traditions. This tendency, however, has some validity in that Eastern belief systems do share many characteristics. In this essay, I will explain the basic precepts, including similarities of, differences in, and the relationship between three major Eastern traditions: Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism.
First, I will give a basic overview of the three belief systems, exploring their histories and general precepts . Then, I will explore the specific beliefs which these faiths share, as well as the beliefs which differentiate…...

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Works Cited

Edwards, L., 2001. A Brief Guide to Beliefs. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.

Esposito, J., Fasching, D., and Lewis, T., 2002. World Religions Today. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hopfe, L. And Woodward, M., 2001. Religions of the World, 8th ed.. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Sharma, A., 1993. Our Religions. San Francisco: Harper Collins Publishers.

They angered God, and as God has done throughout the ages, He punished the Jews. Many of them retain their faith and hope in God, and retained it even during their time in the concentration camps - it was the only thing that helped them to survive when all other hope had died. On the other hand, many Jews saw the camps as a place where they lost their belief in God. They questioned how He would allow such a thing to happen, and felt He had turned His back on them when they needed Him the most. Neither of these reactions is surprising. Another historian believes this gap between acceptance and denial of God will continue. He writes, "I believe that Jewish religious thought will continue to demonstrate this tension between mixed intentions, innovation, and conservation well into the future" (Braiterman 164). Faith is a tenuous thing for…...

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References

Braiterman, Zachary. (God) after Auschwitz: Tradition and Change in Post-Holocaust Jewish Thought. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998.

Mandel, Naomi. "Ethics after Auschwitz: The Holocaust in History and Representation." Criticism 45.4 (2003): 509+.

Mathis, Andrew E. "General Semantics and Holocaust Denial." ETC.: A Review of General Semantics 63.1 (2006): 52+.

Raphael, Melissa. The Female Face of God in Auschwitz: A Jewish Feminist Theology of the Holocaust. New York: Routledge, 2003.

The issue remains debatable, but a case can be made that the mainstream judgment was terribly wrong in a cultural sense" (right 17).
Schools and educational institutes play a vital role in teaching religious traditions and imparting knowledge regarding religion. The most important aspect of teaching religion is to adopt proper method of teaching. Avoiding controversial and extremist point-of-views and including positive elements from religious teachings from various religions could help in developing tolerance in the generation that growing in the era when religious violence is at its peak.

Other School of Thought

The other school of thought makes the case against religion when it comes to controlling violence. They argue that it is the religion that encourages violence simple on the basis of religious differences. People belonging to one religion consider them superior to others. Examples of all major religions including Christianity can be given when these religions induced violence in…...

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Works Cited

Wright, Elliott a. 'Religion in American Education'. Phi Delta Kappan. 81.1. (1999): 17.

Volf, Miroslav. 'More Religion, Less Violence'. The Christian Century. 119. 8. (April 10, 2002): 32.

Bennett, Gary L 'Preventing School Violence: Is Religion the Answer'. Free Inquiry. 19. 4. (Fall 1999): 28.

Vernon, Glenn M. Sociology of Religion. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1982.