SUMMARY OF THE COURSE
The course looks intently into the beliefs and practices of a range of communities in the city, (Liverpool). Liverpool, being a seaport, has attracted ex-seamen from Africa, the Arab Gulf and parts of Asia, who have chosen to settle in the city and as a result bringing with them, various traditions and religious beliefs. This therefore makes a range of ethnic and religious communities play an important part in the life of the city today.
The course reviews what exactly religion is, why we should study religion and how to study religion and suggests that Religion should be studied from a disinterested position with ability of the student to not let his/her own belief distort his/her study, he/she should be open to various religious expressions, be careful when looking for the boundaries of religion, to place forms of religion in their social and historical context and finally to avoid hasty conclusions when dealing with questions about the truth and value of particular religions.
The Main events /topics and their implication Critic
The topics covered in the course in my opinion are intelligent and insightful.
The subject of religion impacts greatly on communal and inter personal relationship. For instance to avoid offenses people must understand boundaries or conventions that rule the lives of their neighbours, students, colleagues, employees etc.
Also many policies are born out of a form of religious background and thus cannot be ignored. For instance, in places like Oman and the US, the rights of women are different and totally connected to religious beliefs hence understanding religious beliefs and practices should not just be of academic interest alone but also to give insight to the rights and privileges of individuals as religious beliefs are contained in social policies
This is supported by the author’s argument for the study of religion, stating that the reasons to study religion falls into 2 categories which include understanding better the society in which we live, the culture we inherit and the wider world of which we are a part and the second for individual’s personal quest for religious self-fulfilment.
However, further looking into the first category, the author claims that one reason why we might want to study religion would be to reach a better understanding of contemporary Britain.
This reason might not be true for other environment, for instance, in Nigeria where the number of religion is lower than that of Britain. In at least this respect, the author could have noted the environmental impact on the study outcomes.
The author also agrees that understanding religious beliefs and practices should not just be of academic interest alone but also to give insight to the rights and privileges of individuals as religious beliefs are contained in social policies.
Understanding Religion is pertinent to the study of religion as one needs to first understand what exactly the subject is to be able to effectively study it.
The author interestingly examines what religion is by looking at the different account and the views of different faith as practiced by the people in the video clip. Worthy to note was that all of the practisers of the different beliefs, believe the word “religion” does not describe their belief and practice. Some of the speakers preferred the term ‘way of life’ or ‘faith’ rather than ‘religion’. This was insightful, to say the least, to see the similarities of a frown to the word “religion” among the many beliefs.
Hence the question ‘what is religion?’ the author agrees is claims are fundamental to the study of religion as the answers to this question can have a significant practical implications for the society. He concludes that by creating the mental space in which to study what we know as ‘religion’, in such a way that does not plainly mirror our own personal conclusions on the truth and value of religion, is the beginning of the critical study of religion.
The author also compares many conclusions of different authors on the subject and draws his conclusions that the definition of religion to be to “a widely differing range of beliefs held by people in Britain” seems to be the most accurate.
He argues that the term religion has only recently taken on the meanings attached to it today which is used to include many different kinds of beliefs and practices across cultures. And that one of the consequences of the expansion of Europe was the naming of several religions found beyond the continent as previously, European writers had referred to many of these indirectly as ‘the religion of’ a given people; for example, ‘the religion of the Chinese’
Relating this argument to Nigeria, it was only since the 18th century that the term religion has come to be used. Previously, Christianity was referred to as “the way of the white man” and idol worship or traditional religion referred to “the way of our fore fathers” so I tend to agree with his argument.
I believe studying religion is likely, to begin with an already built-in assumptions about the value of religion even though not restricted to one religious tradition.
In how religion should be studied, the author notes that a comparable divide exists. There are those whose style of approach and methods are closely bound up with their own religious opinions or with a personal search for religious self-fulfilment and then there are others who, irrespective of whether they are religious or not, attempt for a fair approach not shaped by their own beliefs.
The author also agrees that it would be pointless to approach religion in a way that cuts out those parts that might challenge one directly because in studying religion, one places him/herself in a position in which personal views may be changed. He also agrees that it would be difficult to study religion as an outsider as the ‘outsider’ cannot escape depending to an extent upon insights from ‘insiders’ when studying a particular religion. An ‘outsider’ who has never been through a particular ritual, for example, can only give an account based upon observation and third-party testimony.