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How would you go about counseling this individual? What information would you need to help them? Your task is to provide an approach to helping this co-worker deal with this tragedy in his or her life. First, you will need to know their religion (they belong to a different religion than you – you decide which). How would the tenets of their specific religion help them in making sense out of this tragedy? And then, how would the specific tenets of your own faith (or secular attitude) help them in understanding this tragedy.

The format of the response is open: you can write the scenario response as a dialog between you and the co-worker, you can create an outline of “talking points,” or you can just describe to another friend (or me) how you would go about this task. Be sure to have (1) a clear understanding of their religion and (2) a clear understanding of your own position.

All the tools and learning from the class is at your disposal. You can also use some (or all) of the following questions or topics to guide your conversation:

• What kind of theodicies would be employed by respective religions? (go to next page)
• How are these theodicies connected to other components of beliefs (i.e., creation myth, soteriology, etc.)?
• How does their religion conceive of their deity – does this plan into ways of overcoming suffering?

  Scenario 2 

In responding, students can use material from:

• Earlier in the semester: Otto/Eliade on encountering the sacred
•  William James on the idea of conversion (volitional versus involuntary)
• Peter Berger  the importance religion being able to convey meaning
• Durkheim (collective ritual, social function of religion, collective effervescence)
• Stark and others on strictness and rational choice theory – how do you minimize free-riders? What can you do to make sure you have a “strong” committed following?

Chapter 7 on Society and the Sacred

• What happens when there is a new revelation in a religion?
• How does a religion survive the death of its founder?
• Stark: Rise of Christianity
• How do new religious movements grow quickly?
• Boy Meets World episode
• The Leftovers episode
• Other sources you remember that will help demonstrate your point.

You have had a fairly normal life up until this point. You went to school, went to a Christian church with your parents, played in the band at school, and participated in youth soccer. While in college, you were on a walk in the woods and fell down a deep ditch. You were there for a long time wondering how you were going to make it out and if anyone was ever going to find you.

After some time, you receive a vision of what appears to be an angel that tells you to correct the misdirection of your church and lead others in the “true way” of faith. You tell yourself that if you survive, you will embrace this vision with vigor.

So, you go out and start talking to others about your new revelation and begin to attract followers. You are familiar with how new religions grow…so you use this knowledge to aid you in your new quest.

Describe the process that happens next for you as this movement grows. In addition to your own insights, be sure to take into account the following questions:

•  Who are you going to gather first? Who are the first people you are going to introduce to your vision? Why do you choose this group…provide support for this (i.e., Stark and Boy Meets World).
• What is the reaction of your own religious community? Are they receptive to your new message? What happens if not? Think about Chapter 7 on Society and the Sacred.
• What kind of restrictions/demands would you place on your followers? Why would you do this and what is the impact these demands may have on the strength of the group?
• What do you need to do to ensure that your movement survives after you die (hopefully not soon)? Again, cite some evidence for your decisions and be specific with things that you (and your immediate followers) will do.
• Finally, as generations of followers believe and then die, can you predict what will happen to your intense religious movement in 1,000 years?

  You can be creative in how you write this out. You can be writing an autobiography or it can be the “Unauthorized history” of your religion. Be sure to name your movement (i.e., Borneoism) and be specific in the actions you take and the reasons for these actions.
  Again, 3-5 paragraphs is usually needed to complete the response (which is roughly 400-500 words)

Religion

Essay 1

Everyone in the world belongs to a particular religious group or another. Various religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and others have developed over the centuries. Through religion, the terms ‘denomination’ and ‘sect’ have proved challenging to understand their differences. This essay distinguishes between ‘church/denomination’ and ‘sect’ and how each develops to one another.

A church or denomination is a large and recognized religious group that has developed over centuries and based upon distinctive traditions and beliefs. A sect is a smaller religious group that emerges from a larger established group and shares some beliefs from the root religion (Bradley, 325). Additionally, a denomination develops slowly over a long period due to cultural differences and geographical distances, while a sect develops within denomination mostly because of misunderstandings with the leaders of the primary religion.

A sect can develop to become a church while a church can create a sect. A sect is usually based on the relationship between the founder and the followers, which may fade away when the founders die (Bradley, 325). When a sect develops to have reliable and influential followers, it becomes a church and its beliefs are recognized in the society. On the other side, if church leaders continually develop disagreements, some members opt to quit and develop their sect, which borrows most of the beliefs and practices from the primary religion.

A sect whose beliefs are open and widely available tends to become more accommodating to culture over time than the one whose norms are kept as secret and hidden from the public. Religious groups face tensions concerning family life, politics, and intellectual powers. Such tension enables the religions to establish policies that seek to equalize and accommodate all the believers.

Essay 2

New religions continue to emerge with the wavering standards of the primary ones. While faith is a strong verdict of the surrounding world and happenings, people join the cults that win their conviction. The leaders of religious sects spread their beliefs, practices, and norms to people through preaching, teachings, and written manuals. Through this, they persuade people to join their faith. People who join cults and new religious movements are those termed as ethically and religiously qualified (Bradley, 326).  Memberships in usually free by those with acceptance virtue of the religion, and hence one joins a cult voluntarily and not by force or pressure from the authorities. While faith is a personal decision, and one is meant to join a particular religion by beliefs and spiritual persuasion, switching of my family cannot convince me to change my faith. Peer pressure entails persuasion powers and may manipulate one’s decisions. I once hated my parents despite the love I had always maintained for them, just because they were strict on my behaviors as a teenager. People can also be manipulated to change their religious beliefs if they consider another faith better than theirs.

Sean considers faith and his efforts as the key contributors to his success. He also views religion as fun, which convinces him to convert. I agree with Stark that people are not converted by a message. Messages can be heard and still lack persuasive powers to the target individuals. In this regard, people are converted by their inner and spiritual convictions, which creates an attachment to a particular doctrine. Therefore, an individual can only follow certain doctrines if they convert to the faith or religion associated with them.