Beliefs and Believers, Religion, College Term Papers.com


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Beliefs and Believers

Beliefs and Believers Belief, Communal and Seeker religious styles are used widely in the video series in this course. I believe most people can identify with each style at one point in their lives. The belief style deals with boundary questions. It is the basics that make up what you think and hold to be true. Communal style is belonging to a group that hold the same truths as you do. It is like being a part of a community. Seeker style is for those who may have held certain truths, but are now unsure. The community in which they belonged now doesn’t seem to "fit". Or the seeker may just be asking more profound questions. There is much validity in the study of each of these styles. It may turn our study inward to where we are, belief, communal, or seeker? All religions began with a myth of some sort. Be it Christianity and the creation of the world or Buddhism and the journey of Siddharta to enlightenment. Myth can also point to the future. The communication of myth is often acted out in ritual. One example is the Last Supper. Which is still celebrated today in most Christian churches in America. Each may have a peculiar way of doing so, but the message is still the same. Symbolic depth helps laity understand myth in religion. There may be certain truths that are either too abstract or difficult to understand, so explanantions are made to aid in understading. One may not be able to understand why humans are inevitably going to die. An Indian legend or story from Genesis in the Bible can satisfy the curiousity. It may be an explanation that is silly to some and widely accepted by others. Some key function of myth in religion as discussed in Beliefs and Believers and the video series are as follows: It answers profound life questions. This is important to religious followers as described in the above paragraph. It guides individual and collective behavior. Myth makes up the "basics" of religion. It is these basics that make up the behavior of the believer. It affects how they act and react in respect to their beliefs. It engenders self-esteem and empowerment. All people want to feel good about themselves. We have an inner need to believe we are a part of something great and we are important. It orders existence. From the history of the beginning to how its all going to end, myth in religion sets things in a certain order. It provides reverence for the past; hope for the future. In order for something or someone to have substance, there has to be a beginning. Credibility is not given to "fly-by-night" operations. History gives this depth and a clear plan for the future completes the package. Myths have certain characteristics. Myths are symbolic, imaginative, like art. This lends itself to the drawing power of religion. It can be poetic, beautiful, and peaceful. Myths are revelatory; they reveal special truths. To be part of a revelation allows the believer to truly belong to a religion. When a person knows more, they accept more. Other characteristics are subject matter including primeval origins, ancestral models, herioc lives, ritual specialists (shamans or priests), and future expectations. Mythic performance as described by J.L. Austin, a modern philosopher, is -words that "do" rather than state or describe anything. It seems that J.L. Austin’s insight into mythic performance is much about first and the celebration of such. In celebrating an event at relatively the same time each year, it almost makes it seem to the celebrators that that day is present. Like wise Mircea Eliade deals with the essence of time in understanding myth. In letting oneself truly explore the beginning, we can relive these things and come to a deeper understanding. The Australian Aboriginal Religion’s concept of myth is within their belief system in "the Dreaming". In the Dreaming, Aboriginal truths are described such as the creation of all things, how to hunt, Basic laws (right and wrong), some only for men, some only for women. Once again, the "Dreaming" deals with firsts, how all there is came to be. It involves how out of a formless substance rivers, streams, mountains and the entire landscape was formed. Ancestor beings shaped this landscape. Some of these beings became permanent geological feature while others ascended up into the sky. Although myth at one time meant to me that something was false. I now see myth, especially in religion, as firsts, beginnings, history. Bibliography:

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