Freeman,+TheodoreD+2012

__Assignment 1__

I find it is quite hard to describe where I have arrived. It could be said that I'm a spiritual being such as Mr. Plouffe. My dad is an Atheist while my mom has her own beliefs which are similar to mine. When I was young I thought there was a god and a devil, so I was curious about Christianity. But that didn't satisfy me completely. I thought about other religions as I heard of them, and most sounded fine but I wasn't able to claim to follow specifically one of them. So I am more of a traditional american melting pot. I am sure that there is some higher power out there somewhere, perhaps all around us. I don't think we really go anywhere when we die, just that it is our time for the final and eternal rest that unites us all. As I said, my mom has a similar belief so we talk occasionally about what we think things are and such. My dad who is an Atheist doesn't seem to care really. And my brother is really just off in his own world. I think that my ideas don't largely affect my community, as it is not a largely practiced idea, if at all practiced outside myself. I wouldn't say that there aren't those who might have reached the same conclusions as me, but we aren't a very connected people.'

__Confucius in Every Day Life__ I after thinking about it, I realized that some aspects of the family culture in the 1960s in the US were at least similar to some of the ideas of Confucianism, those being to respect the people around you and most of all your father and mother. I would have shown a clip of the movie Blast From the Past to show this relationship of respect but I was unable to find anything that would accurately portray the concept that I'm talking about. I'll keep searching, but for now all I can say is that in the movie, a man and his wife from the 1960s think that their house is about to be nuked, so they escape into their own bomb shelter, and raise a child there for the next 30 or so years all the while never moving on from the culture of the 1960's. During that time it was very important to respect ones father, and I thought this was shown well in the movie. This relates to the Confucius element filial piety. This is essentially caring for your family when you are home, and respecting them when you are away and this is very similar to the social implications of being a successful businessman in the 50-60's. You would take care of your family and respect them.. as much as you could.

__//Tao of Pooh Page//__ The Pooh Way + Busy Bakson

__//Buddhism Sect//__ __//Zen Page//__

__//Final Assessment for Religion/Philosophy Unit//__ I wasn't able to reach anyone for this assignment so as is outlined in the description of the assignment, I'll just be posting my 10 questions in a list format. 1.) What kind of role, in your opinion, does respect play in the workplace, household, etc? 2.) Do you believe in reincarnation as it is described in the Buddhist faith? 3.) Do you think that human beings are the most superior creature here or are we equal to the birds and the beasts? 4.) If you were living in a government with a very bad leader whom you felt wasn't working for the wants and needs of their people, do you think you should have the ability to remove that leader and replace them with someone whom you think would do a better job? 5.) Do you believe that we have an inner energy that flows like water, that we have an inner morality which reflects us in a next life, or is there no spiritual essence or moral meter? 6.) Do you regularly practice rituals that were taught to you by your parents and to them by theirs? 7.) Do you go out and exercise with fluid movements often? 8.) Do you treat others not how you wouldn't want to be treated? 9.) Do you practice a lot of meditation for long periods of time? 10.) Would you identify yourself as most like a Buddhist, Confucian, or Taoist?

I tried to make my questions carefully so that the person being interviewed wouldn't have to choose between two faiths simply. I also intentionally have the 10th question last because I don't want my interviewee to be thinking in those directions before my other questions.