Religious Studies Courses Analysis Paper

During this semester of intro to religion, I learned a lot more than I thought I would. One of the most interesting things that I have learned is about Ignatius of Loyola. I thought it was interesting how Ignatius had his leg broken twice and then sawed his leg just so his legs would be even enough so he could wear tight pants. This reminds me of the world we live in today because people feel like they have to wear the right clothes or act a certain way to fit in. I just thought it was interesting how even way back then people still thought about fitting in with society. I also thought it was interesting how even though he believed in God he went into a deep dark depression because he thought God didn’t love him. During this time he whipped himself and grew his hair and nails out. Depending one how strongly someone believes in God they might believe that he is the creator of all things or that he doesn’t exist. Whether you believe in God or not everyone has pain and suffering in their life and there is no explanation to why.  

I also loved the reflections at the beginning of class. One that really stuck out to me was the reflection about anxiety. I have general anxiety disorder and take medicine for it; so I thought it was interesting to hear other people's perspectives on it. I felt that during reflection it was a safe space to share my opinions about certain topics that normally would cause arguments like abortion or immigration rights. 

I also found the world’s major religion topic at the beginning of the year interesting. I grew up Christian so my understanding of religion was only what the church and bible school had taught me. However during this unit I learned about Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. I learned about the type of God they believed in or if they believed in multiple God’s, the holidays they celebrated, and their places of worship for Judaism; it's a synagogue. Hinduism is a Mandir, which is a form of temple. For Buddhism it's any place where a picture of a Buddah is used, and for Christianity it’s churches. I had never really thought about what other religions believed in because I grew up Christian and I believe in Christianity so that’s all I focused on learning. Now that I learned more about other religions I wish I had learned about them sooner because after learning about them I now realize it’s important to educate yourself on what other people believe so you can understand their perspectives. 

One of my biggest takeaways from this semester is why people suffer is one of life's great unanswerable questions. And I would like to learn more about theories as to why people think we suffer. And of course I will always remember that Mr.King loves whales. But I really do want to learn more about why people suffer and why bad things happen to good people. 

Even though at the beginning of the semester I wasn’t excited about taking this course. I actually found it really interesting and I am glad it is required because I don’t think I would have taken it out of choice. But now that I have taken it I think in the future I would choose a religion class that teaches about the conflicts different religions have had with each other or one that talks about theories as to why people suffer.