Spirituality News 2.128

• New documentary chronicles the rise of the Satanic temple in the United States (The Hollywood Reporter)
• United Methodist Church votes to reaffirm anti-LGBT stances after dramatic, contentious debate (NPR)
• South African pastor, who claimed to resurrect a dead man, is sued by funeral directors (BBC News)
• Man behind BYU's popular mascot, Cosmo the Cougar, comes out as gay (Advocate)
• Nine Jewish gravestones vandalized with antisemitic graffiti in Argentina (Times of Israel)

 

Toulimin Model: Should Churches Pay Taxes? (In-Class)

For the past 30 years, a debate has raged over the whether or not churches should pay taxes. Proponents often argue that churches do many good works, including attending to the needs of the less fortunate in society. Opponents point to the massive money reserves and real estate holdings of many churches, all of which is tax-free. What do you think?

For this in-class assignment, you will utilize the Toulmin Model to construct a rhetorically-sound claim for or against churches paying taxes. This claim will be supported by two distinct sets (I & II) of grounds, warrants, backings, etc.

Use THIS template to present your claim in outline form.

Done in class on 2.28

Week 6: Buddhism

Week 6: Buddhism
Tue 2.26/Thu 2.28
Read: Online, find two pro-religious freedom and two anti-religious freedom articles—have these ready for class
Class: TOULMIN METHOD; Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations; Lecture—“Infographics 101”

Upcoming:

Week 7: Christianity
Tue 3.5/Thu 3.7
Read: eR—“The 100 Best Infographics” (Creative Bloq), “10 Tips for Designing Better Infographics” (DotDash), “12 Warning Signs that Your Infographic Sucks” (Visme)
Class: Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations; Writers workshop
Due: DRAMATISTIC PENTAD

Spirituality News 2.20

• DC Comics drops its Jesus-as-superhero title (Buzzfeed)
• New book claims there's a secret culture of gay priests in the Vatican (Telegraph)
• UK pub claims to have filmed the spirit said to be haunting patrons (Daily Mirror)
• Study: Muslims in Europe and America are integrating (The Economist)
• Young Mormon missionary dies after fall from roof in Dominican Republic (Daily Mirror)

Week 5: Hellenism

Week 5: Hellenism
Tue 2.19/Thu 2.21
Class: Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations; Lecture—“Inside the Narrative: Burke’s Dramatistic Pentad” 

Upcoming:

Week 6: Buddhism
Tue 2.26/Thu 2.28
Read: Online, find two pro-religious freedom and two anti-religious freedom articles—have these ready for class
Class: TOULMIN METHOD; Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations; Lecture—“Infographics 101”

Spirituality News 2.14

• Arizona atheist legislator, after giving invocation, is mocked by Christian colleague (Patheos)
• Pastor Robert Jeffress, spiritual adviser to President Trump, says anti-Trump Evangelicals are "spineless morons" (The Hills)
• Pope and Microsoft head meet to discuss ethics of artificial intelligence (Reuters)
• Why did the Instagram of a gay Muslim comedian come down? (HuffPost)
• Southern Baptist churches face extensive sex abuse scandal (New York Times)
  
  

Week 4: Islam

Week 4: Islam
Tue 2.12/Thu 2.14
Read: eR—“Why Churches are the Gold Standard of Tax-Exempt Organizations” (Forbes), “A Case for Why Churches Shouldn’t be Taxed” (Colorado Springs Independent), “Why Don't Churches Pay Taxes?” (Los Angeles Times), “We Should be Taxing Churches” (Slate)
Class: Reading discussion; Lecture—“Inside the Toulmin Method"
Due: REFLECTION 2

Upcoming:

Week 5: Hellenism
Tue 2.19/Thu 2.21
Class: TOULMIN METHOD; Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations; Lecture—“Inside the Narrative: Burke’s Dramatistic Pentad”  

Spirituality News 2.7

• Justin Bieber: "I believe that God blessed me with Hailey as a result" of year-long celibacy (Vogue)
• White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says God wanted Donald Trump to be president (Washington Post)
• Survey: Half of Millennial Christians don't want to evangelize (ChristianityToday)
• Mormon Church opens its first Italian temple, just miles from the Vatican (CNN International)
• This is how a best-selling Buddhist monk stays fit (GQ UK)

Multimedia Presentations

This semester, you will be responsible for a 10-minute multimedia presentation.

Requirements:

• The presentation must be no more than 10 minutes in length.
• There should be 10-12 slides (including introduction and conclusion) and should contain least one video clip—absolutely no more than two minutes in length.
• On the day of your presentation, email your presentation (or a link) to me at dhdelao@gmail.com.

 Also:

• You must provide your own laptop.
• You may utilize any presentation program you like (e.g PowerPoint, Keynote). However, please sort out any technical issues BEFORE your presentation date (our room's projection system can be found throughout campus).
• Macs will require an Apple-specific adapter to connect to the university’s projection system. Newer model PCs with HDMI-only connections will also require special adapters. 
• You must present from a downloaded version of your presentation (e.g. PowerPoint, Keynote); DO NOT present directly from Google Docs online.
• Presentations without an introduction and/or conclusion cannot score higher than a C You may be docked for a lack of preparedness 

 Topics:

1. What is Karma?
2. End Times: Three Views on the End of the World
3. Ancient Deities: The Egyptian Gods
4. Will We Ever Have an Atheist President?
5. Who are the Jesuits?
6. Understanding Sharia
7. American-Born Faiths: Mormonism
8. What is Stigmata?
9. The Passion of Joan of Arc
10. The Crusades: An Historical Overview
11. Millennials and Religion
12. Who are the Amish?
13. American-Born Faiths: Christian Science
14. Angels Around the World
15. What Jesus Might Have Looked Like
16. The Victorian Obsession with the Occult
17. Were Jesus and Mary Magdalene Married?: The Case For and the Case Against
18. Possession Around the World
19. Ancient Deities: The Greek Gods
20. The Mystery of Bérenger Saunière
21. Acts of Faith: The Snake Handlers
22. Polygamy: A Worldview
23. Three Goddesses: Danu, Durga and Itzpapalotl
24. A Tragedy in New England: The Salem Witch Trials
25. What is Santeria?
26. Ancient Deities: The Mayan Gods
27. Who was the Buddha?
28. Controversy: von Däniken's Chariots of the Gods: Unsolved Mysteries of the Past
29. Mythical Creatures of the Bible
30. Understanding the Inquisition
31. The Gnostic Gospels: An Overview
32. Ancient Deities: The Norse Gods
33. Three American Indian Creation Myths
34. Animals Who are Worshiped
35. Honor Killings: A Worldwide Crisis
36. Who are the Mormons? 
37. Infamous Cults: The Branch Davidians, The People's Temple, and The Manson Family
38. Religion in Totalitarian States
39. Movie Uproars: The Exorcist, Dogma, and The Passion of the Christ 
40. Understanding Prosperity Gospel

Schedule:

Week 6: Tue 2.26/Thu 2.28 

1. Spencer G. - Understanding the Inquisition
2. Yarisel H. - Angels Around the World

Week 7: Tue 3.5/Thu 3.7

1. Diana G. - What Jesus Might Have Looked Like
2. Marina B. - Ancient Deities: The Greek Gods

Week 8: Tue 3.12/Thu 3.14    

1. Davis L. - Who was the Buddha?
2. Bowen Z. - A Tragedy in New England: The Salem Witch Trials 
3. Nikolle A. - The Value of Mediation

Week 9: Tue 3.19/Thu 3.21

1. Alden H. - Animals Who are Worshiped
2. Koushik M. - What is Karma?
3. Gerardo M. - The Crusades: An Historical Overview

Week 10: Tue 3.26/Thu 3.28        

1. Kevin F. - Ancient Deities: The Egyptian Gods
2. Cindy D. - .What is Santeria?
3. Allan C. - Who are the Mormons?

Week 12: Tue 4.9/Thu 4.11

1. Sukhvarsh K. - Honor Killings: A Worldwide Crisis
2. Vonny D. - Who are the Amish?

Week 13: Tue 4.16/Thu 4.18        

1. Noah G. - Ancient Deities: The Mayan Gods
2. Brian F. - Mythical Creatures of the Bible

Week 14: Tue 4.23/Thu 4.25

1. Ishina U. - Understanding Sharia
2. Jayden B. - Acts of Faith: The Snake Handlers

Week 15: Tue 4.30/Thu 5.2     

1. Waiyaki M. - Infamous Cults: The Branch Davidians, The People's Temple, and The Manson Family
2. Michael R. - Movie Uproars: The Exorcist, Dogma, and The Passion of the Christ

Week 16: Tue 5.7/Thu 5.9

1. Alexander C. - Ancient Deities: The Norse Gods

 

Reflection 2: Is Nothing Sacred?—The Cultural Appropriation of Religious Symbols

Cultural appropriation is the act of one culture "incorporating" aspects of another culture into its own. This differs from cultural exchanges in which American hip-hop and Bollywood-style dancing incorporate each other's moves, or Korean and Mexican cuisines integrate each other's ingredients. In cultural appropriation, a dominant group assimilates aspects of a foreign culture without regard to their original use or intent. In other words, parts of one culture might be absorbed into another in insensitive, even offensive, ways, often for their perceived exoticism or cool factor. This extends to the religious and spiritual practices of other cultures, as well. Thus, in America, we've seen hipsters embrace Dia de los Muertos, the popularization of sacred Maori symbols as tattoos, celebrities sporting Kabbalah string bracelets, and the labeling of a clean, Asian-influenced design as Zen-style. Each of these is misunderstood and, in turn, misapplied; and yet, each has seeped into American pop culture. How have you seen the religious or sacred iconography of other cultures absorbed into the American mainstream? And what of those instances when a particular culture is offended by the use of their religious imagery in the mainstream, such as No Doubt's 2012 Native American controversy. What is the line between simply borrowing, often sacred, cultural artifacts and misusing them? For example, can we truly understand the traditions of Ojibwa dreamcatchers when they're worn as earrings, or respect Hindu and Buddhist principles when we do yoga with goats? Is it possible to appreciate another culture's artifacts in a respectful manner?

Include at least three of the following in your discussion:

• "The Cultural Appropriation Primer" (Medium)
• "Cultural Appropriation—Is it Ever Okay?" (Refinery29)
• "The Problematic Cultural Appropriation of Polynesian Tattooing in the Wave of 21st Century Tattoo Revival" (Rampages)
• "The Awful History Behind Why Hipsters Think it's Okay to Wear Headdresses (Mic)
• "Cultural Appropriation: How Not to Celebrate the Day of the Dead" (TalkDeath)

Required:

• MLA Style
• 375-500 words
• Works cited page

Due: Thu 2.14

Week 3: Mormonism

Week 3: Mormonism
Tue 2.4/Thu 2.6
Class: DIAGNOSTIC ESSAY; Presentation sign-ups

Upcoming:

Week 4: Islam
Tue 2.12/Thu 2.14
Read: eR—“Why Churches are the Gold Standard of Tax-Exempt Organizations” (Forbes), “A Case for Why Churches Shouldn’t be Taxed” (Colorado Springs Independent), “Why Don't Churches Pay Taxes?” (Los Angeles Times), “We Should be Taxing Churches” (Slate)
Class: Reading discussion; Lecture—“Inside the Toulmin Method"
Due: REFLECTION 2

Spirituality News 2.2

• Kentucky teen vandalizes Hindu temple (CNN)
• ALSO ... Community comes together to clean up vandalized temple (WHAS)
• An atheist minister is hoping to keep her job (Religion News Service)
• Mormon church makes changes to temple rites that "empowering for women" (Fox News)
• Cuban Evangelicals push back on government plan for gay marriage (Miami Herald)