Brie Boggio

Dr David von Schlichten

SLA 150 01

5 May 2018

Take-Home Final Exam

Part 1: How has the course made you more aware of religion as a part of contemporary

culture?

This course has made me more aware of religion as a part of contemporary culture by

exposing me to all types of religions that are different from my own. We looked at Judaism,

Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and more. Being more education about different religions makes

me feel more accepting and open to new ideas and new ways of thinking. This course made me

realize just how much religion there is out in the world. Wherever you go there is going to be

some type of religion practiced. Depending on where you are, religions are more prominent in

certain areas. I also learned that you should not assume what religion someone is based on the

area they are from or the color of their skin. Being accepting of a person's religion and educating

yourself is the best you can do. I learned from our Muslim guest speaker that asking questions is

the best thing to do if you are unsure of something within their religion. If it is through good

means than most people will not get offended, and they will gladly answer your question. I have

become more aware of the misconceptions and wrongly accused things that our society comes up

with about certain religions. Through reading “Does My Head Look Big In This,” I have become

aware that no Muslim women is forced to wear the hijab. That is a common misconception that I

believed prior to learning about the religion. This class has taught me to be more aware about the

different religions within each culture.

Part 2: How has the course helped you to understand faith and spirituality as an integral

part of being human?

This course has helped me understand what the difference between having faith, being

spiritual, and being religious is. We were able to discuss in class what certain people have faith

in and how that relates to their spirituality or religiousness. This question relates to the book

“Man’s Search For Meaning” that we read in class. It relates to Frankl’s “logotherapy.” Trying to

find a meaning in life, you often look to God for faith and answers. In class, we talked about how

you don't have to be religious or believe in God to have faith in something. People that are

atheist can still have faith in things in the world. I have learned that having faith comes along

with being a human. Without having faith in things, we lose hope that things will work out in our

favor or that everything will be okay at the end of the day. Whether you have faith in God or

faith in the universe, as humans we all have faith in something. For me personally, I have faith in

God. I trust that He has a plan for me and that He will lead me in the right direction in life. I also

have faith in myself. I believe that I can do things even when they are challenging, and I can

overcome certain things that try to tear me down. This class has taught me that someone can be

spiritual without being religious. One can practice prayer and not be particularly religious.

Believing in miracles or having faith in a higher power will lead you to be more in touch with

your spiritual side. Faith, Religion, and Society has shown me how faith and spirituality go hand

in hand with our everyday lives as humans.

Part 3: How has the course assisted you in your personal faith journey?

Faith, Religion, and Society has made me more aware of my faith and what I have faith

in. At the very beginning of the semester, we talked about and defined both the words faith and

religion. I remember talking in groups and discussing what we thought faith and religion were
and also what God was to us. Defining all these terms made me think more deeply about what

faith is to me on a personal level, and what kind of things I have faith in. I was able to

understand myself on a deeper level and analyze what I believe in. One of our first assignments

was our faith journey paper. This was the first time that I sat down and truly focused and thought

about my journey of faith through the past several years of my life. I remember it being

challenging at first to think about my journey because I didn't know where to start. Once I started

typing about it, I found myself getting lost in the moment. I was able to think so deeply about

what has shaped my faith and made me into the person I am. I am so glad we were able to do that

assignment because it helped me come to terms with where I am in my faith journey. Another

thing we did in this class that allowed me to make connections with my own faith journey was

reading “A Man's Search For Meaning.” Reading about his experience in the Holocaust and how

he pushed through and made it out alive made me think about my own life. I questioned my own

sort of meaning in life and questioned the things that keep me chugging along on the day to day

basis. I was able to sit back, read the book, and ponder questions and reflect on myself.

Part 4: How has the course helped you to understand the basic faith traditions of Judaism,

Christianity, and Islam? Write briefly about the similarities among these three.

This course has allowed me to learn more about other religions outside of my own. We

explored others faiths such as Judaism, Islamic faith, Buddhism, and even Taoism, plus more.

Exploring these religions opened me up to new ideas and allowed me to learn about different

beliefs and ideas aside from my own. Prior to this class, I was not very familiar with many

religions like Buddhism or Islam. I didn't even know Taoism existed let alone what it was and

what they believed in. Through exploring the Tao Te Ching, I was able to get an understanding

of how the religion works and what they teach their people. When we took the post survey for
the Islam unit, that is when I realized I learned so much. Going into the Islam unit, I had so many

misconceptions about their faith. I never learned about it in a classroom setting, so I was very

uneducated. Reading the book “Does My Head Look Big In This” and listening to the guest

speaker talk about her experience with being a Muslim made me understand the faith more. I

think being more educated on different religions allows me to be more accepting and open to

new things and concepts. With exploring Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, I was able to realize

how similar these religions actually are. They all worship God, or Allah in Islamic faith. Some

differences would be where they worship. Jews go to a synagogue, Christians go to a church, and

Muslims go to a mosque. There are some minor differences, but exploring these three religions

made me notice how Muslims, Jews, and Christians aren't all that different.

Part 5: How has the course enabled you to understand and apply Catholic Social Justice

teachings?

Through taking this course, I have been able to get a better understanding of what

Catholic social teaching is and how to apply it not only in school but in my life in general. In the

course, we looked at multiple sources that allowed me to get a better grasp on the topic of

Catholic social teaching. Watching the movie about Elizabeth Ann Seton not only educated me

on the start of Catholic social teaching, but also on Mother Seton herself. I now understand the

deep roots of CST and Mother Seton’s involvement within the teachings. I found it very

interesting and well worth my time to watch “A Time For Miracles” as an introduction to CST.

Also, the book “Living Justice” written by Thomas Massaro allowed me to fully dive into the

ideas, beliefs, and developments of CST. Offering this book in the course gave me the privilege

to read more in depth about the big nine themes in Catholic social teaching, which I found

extremely interesting. We were able to discuss the book in class which helped me develop new
ideas about the topics that were mentioned in the book. I also loved watching the short John

Green videos in class that gave a summary of CST. These types of videos were a great launchpad

when starting a new topic such as Catholic social teaching. Without this course, I would not

know nearly as much as I do now about the Catholic social justice teachings and beliefs. Faith,

Religion, and Society was able to give me a solid foundation on a topic that I had never really

discussed before.