Spiritual News 04.21.14

• Poveglia, "the world's most haunted island," goes on the auction block (New York Daily News)
• Even on Easter, Jesus is booed (Yahoo! Sports)
• When Easter and 420 collide (CBS News)
• There may or may not be an atheist in South Carolina's government (Buzzfeed)
• Survey: 51% of Americans question the Big Bang Theory (NBC News)
• Citing religious beliefs, some Cleveland cabbies refuse to display ads for Gay Games (takepart)

Week 13: Mo 21/We 23

Baptists (Orig. 17 century, England)

Sec. 16:
Week 13: Mo 21/We 23
Class: Writers workshop; Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (UP TO PAGE 4; BRING TWO COPIES)

Week 13: Mo 21
Class: CLOSE READ; Writers workshop; Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (UP TO PAGE 4; BRING TWO COPIES)

Sec. 16 upcoming:

Week 14: Mo 28/We 30
Class: Writers workshop; Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (UP TO PAGE 8; BRING ONE COPY)

Week 15: Mo 05/We 07
Class: Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (FINAL DRAFT)

Week 16: Mo 12
Class: End-of-class review
Due: PROCESS ANALYSIS

Sec. 80 upcoming:

Week 14: Mo 28
Class: Writers workshop; Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (UP TO PAGE 8; BRING ONE COPY)

Week 15: Mo 05
Class: Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (FINAL DRAFT)

Week 16: Mo 12
Class: End-of-class review
Due: PROCESS ANALYSIS

Spiritual News 04.16.14

• Religious Oregon high school students wear "Gay is Not OK" shirts on Unity Week's Day of Silence (The Raw Story)
• Homeless Jesus statue rocks wealthy community (NPR)
• No evidence of forgery in ancient text that speaks of Jesus' wife (Boston Globe)
• New bill proposes the Bible as Louisiana's state book (WWL-TV)
• The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster granted religious status in Poland, Pastafarians rejoice (Guardian)
• Canadian Christian school asks students, faculty to abstain from pornography, pre-marital sex, and homosexuality (Yahoo! News Canada)

Close Read Essay: Spiritual Matters on Film

Below are the scenes you may choose from for next week's in-class close read essay. You will be responsible for just one scene. They represent various perspectives on spirituality or a lack of. The goal is to closely analyze the scene in order to reveal new levels of understanding. We will discuss how this is done in class this week.

"Because Might Makes Right" from Crimes and Misdemeanors (Dir. Woody Allen, 1989)


"In the Name of God the Merciful" from Paradise Now (Dir. Hany Abu-Assad, 2005)

"I Read Your Book" from Contact (Dir. Robert Zemeckis, 1997)


"I Will Do What Needs to be Done" from Doubt (Dir. John Patrick Shanley, 2008)


"Every Sperm is Sacred" from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (Dir. Tery Jones, 1983)


"It is a Small, Quiet Maryland Town" from The Blair Witch Project (Dirs. Eduardo Sánchez & Daniel Myrick, 1999)

Week 12: Mo 14/We 16

Wicca (Orig. 1954, UK)

Sec. 16:
Week 12: Mo 14/We 16
Class: CLOSE READ; Writers workshop; Multimedia presentations; Guest speaker (TBA)
Due: REFLECTION 06; RESEARCH PAPER THESIS

Sec. 80:
Week 12: Mo 14
Class: Multimedia presentations; Guest speaker (TBA)
Due: REFLECTION 06

Sec. 16 Upcoming:

Week 13: Mo 21/We 23
Class: Writers workshop; Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (UP TO PAGE 4; BRING TWO COPIES); COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS (via email by noon on Sat. 04.19)

Week 14: Mo 28/We 30
Class: Writers workshop; Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (UP TO PAGE 8; BRING ONE COPY)

Week 15: Mo 05/We 07
Class: Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (FINAL DRAFT)

Week 16: Mo 12
Class: End-of-class review
Due: PROCESS ANALYSIS

Sec. 80 Upcoming:

Week 13: Mo 21
Class: CLOSE READ; Writers workshop; Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (UP TO PAGE 4; BRING TWO COPIES)

Week 14: Mo 28
Class: Writers workshop; Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (UP TO PAGE 8; BRING ONE COPY)

Week 15: Mo 05
Class: Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (FINAL DRAFT)

Week 16: Mo 12
Class: End-of-class review
Due: PROCESS ANALYSIS

Comparative Analysis Essay: Finding and Losing God (Sec. 80)

“At the end of the day, when I am lying in bed and I know the chances of any of our theology being exactly right are a million to one, I need to know that God has things figured out, that if my math is wrong we are still going to be okay. And wonder is that feeling we get when we let go of our silly answers, our mapped out rules that we want God to follow. I don't think there is any better worship than wonder.”

—Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz

“I could just see him sitting on his suitcases near the front door of my house. And I said to him, ‘I'm sorry God; it's not you. It's me. It's just, I don't think you exist. I mean, God, look at it this way: it's really because I take you so seriously that I can't bring myself to believe in you. If it's any consolation, it's sort of a sign of respect. So, you know, sit here as long as you want to, stay for a while, if you need to, there's no big hurry.’

And slowly, over the course of several weeks, he disappeared.”

—Julia Sweeney, Letting Go of God

***

In Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller embarks on a varied spiritual journey that ultimately reaffirms his Christian faith. Meanwhile, in Letting Go of God, devout Catholic Julia Sweeney comes to embrace a new identity for herself, that of an atheist. Although these two are on seemingly opposite ends of the spiritual spectrum, their respective journeys have much in common. In a concise essay, compare and contrast Miller’s and Sweeney’s stories about reaffirming and losing faith. Use specific examples from both the book and monologue to support your thesis.

Requirements:

• Three pages minimum
• MLA Style
• Parenthetical citation
• Works cited page

Due: Via email by noon on Sat 04.19

Reflection 06: We All Get a Turn—Thoughts on Death

Generally speaking, humans tend not to dwell on death too much. For most of us, our own death is a concept too large to wrap our brains around. Still, each and every one of us will eventually die. To help reconcile the gravity of that fact, we've constructed a number of explanations for what happens when we die via religion, philosophy, science, and the arts. Constructs, such as the circle of life or an afterlife, help us better comprehend what lies ahead. But, of course, now one can agree just what happens at the moment of our death. What do you believe happens when we die? Does our essence live on through a soul or form of energy? What of the role of science? How has it informed our understanding of this natural process? Finally, are you afraid of dying? What, if anything, gives you comfort?

Include at least two of the following in your discussion:

• "Thinking about Death Can Make You Value Life More" (LiveScience)
• "Five Facts About Americans’ Views on Life-and-Death Issues (Pew Research)
• "What Happens When We Die? " (Time)
• "I Do Not Fear Death" (Salon)
• "Confronting Death with an Open, Mindful Attitude" (Huffington Post)
• "askReddit: People Who Don't Fear Death, Why Do You Not Fear It?" (Reddit)

Requirements:

• Be in MLA Style
• Be two full pages in length
• Works cited page

Due: Sec. 16—We 04.16; Sec 80—Mo 04.14