Chanukah song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Hmr5YOewww
One of my favorite songs

Martin Luther King and Jesus

I think if both Martin Luther King and Jesus were warped in the present time they would think about, Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestantism Religions is that people need to act better towards God and try and be a better human being. The religions are on the right path, they just need directions. Each church or temple, are different in many ways, so to be able to be in a church and then go to another church they need direction in that sence.

Interview Questions with Bishop Grant

INTERVIEW WITH BISHOP GRANT:

When did you begin practicing Christianity?

2005

Have you been practicing this religion all your life?

some what

What affects does being a pastor have on your personal life?

It gives you a closer walk with god and human kind.

God in Christianity along with other religion (compare to other gods)?

No other god but one who created Human Kind.

Relationship with God; what is the difference with Judaism, Catholic and Christianity?

Difference is they do not believe in god they worship idol.

What do you think God view is on our science and how we live life to the present day?

He is not pleased with the way we hurt and disobey one another.

What do you think gods view on us is?

Siner in need of repantance.

Why do you worship on Sunday and not a different day of the week?

By following the scripture it is said the we mush rest on the seventh day.

What are the practices of Christian faith?

1. Holy Spirit

2. Speacking in Tung

3. Living an honest life

4. love all

What are the requirements for being a pastor (training)?

You must be let by god and the Holy Spirit

Christianity Video

My Visit to a Christian Church

Church of God of Prophecy

Spring Valley, New York

My visit to the Church of God of Prophecy was very new for me especially when it came to visiting a Christian Church. I once visited a Catholic Church when I got into a car accident about seven years ago, I hit a telephone pole on Halloween night and I felt that I needed to go to feel relief. As I went through the service I felt comfort. I was raised Jewish and Catholic; so experiencing something like my visit to my co-workers church was a very nervous feeling.


As I entered the Church a feeling of peace and calmness flew over me. The smell was very light and clean. Bishop Grant began the services at 12noon on October 28, 2007. He began with the welcoming and announcements. Bishop Grant tells the churchgoers the topic of the service. The topic the day I went was for everyone to stop playing god. This means that people need to stop acting like god and be themselves because he knows what everyone is doing. Then afterwards he began with the prays of worship. During the prays of worship the whole church sing songs. The churchgoers get really into the songs. It is very interesting because they sing from their hearts; you can see it in there body movement and faces. Scriptures of reading is completed after the singing of the songs. During this activity they read from scripts from the bible. I have never actually read the bible; hearing excerpts from it was motivating. At the end the choir gets up and sings. There music is so moving, and peaceful. While they sing it makes the person want to think about his or life and really concentrate.


Overall my experience at the Church of God of Prophecy was very different and exciting. The people there were so friendly; they greeted me so kindly like I was just another churchgoer. They helped me feel welcomed, which felt really nice. As I was exiting I felt as if I was free. It might sound weird but I felt as if I had stress and everything that has been bothering me for the past days, weeks, months… lifted off my shoulder.

Shinto kamidana

If i had to create my own Shinto Kamidana it would be very interesting. My shrine would be placed in a room which we call it the new room. It is located on my first floor of my house and that is the room that when you enter the home, is the first room. It is more of a open room that many people would see.

The one thing that would be very important to me would be a butterfly. Ever since i was little i was always into Butterflies but as i got older they meant more to me than just an insect. They represent freedom, peace and life. When i look at a Butterfly i think of my life being free. Away from problems. The color purple would be on the Shrine. That is my favorite color. It would put a silk purple sheet laying on the shrine. The next things i would put on the Shrine would be pictures of family memories and family members taht have died, as a reminder they still are here in soul. I would also put candels at the both ends of the shrine because they give relaxation. That is something that i need in my life and that i cherish. Lighting candles at night gives me a time to myself and a time to forget of every stressful thing that happened during that day.

Get rid of "learning" ...

Get rid of "learning" ...

Get rid of "learning" and there will be no anxiety.
How much difference is there between "yes" and "no" ?
How far removed from each other are "good" and "evil" ?
Yet what the people are in awe of cannot be disregarded.

I am scattered, never having been in a comfortable center.
All the people enjoy themselves, as if they are at the festival of the great sacrifice,
Or climbing the Spring Platform.
I alone remain, not yet having shown myself.
Like an infant who has not yet laughed.
Weary, like one despairing of no home to return to.

All the people enjoy extra
While I have left everything behind.
I am ignorant of the minds of others.
So dull!
While average people are clear and bright, I alone am obscure.
Average people know everything.
To me alone all seems covered.
So flat!
Like the ocean.
Blowing around!
It seems there is no place to rest.
Everybody has a goal in mind.
I alone am as ignorant as a bumpkin.
I alone differ from people.

I enjoy being nourished by the mother.

As i read this poem i thought of homeschooling a person. This is a person who believes that going to school and learning in books will only bring anxiety. Those yes or no questions is a waist of time there is no difference. This person is alone all the time and has not been at a normal comfortable setting. I read all the poems on this website and they are very touching. I love poems in wrote one poem already and i was actually thinking about putting a book maybe together of poems. Right now my scheduale does not allow me to sit back and write poetry. When you get a chance look at this website and if you like poems there might be a couple on it you might like. http://www.hm.tyg.jp/%7Eacmuller/contao/daodejing.html#div-1

"10 questions for the Dalai Lama"

I think that this interview video was excellent. It painted a clearer picture in my mind about the Dalai Lama. Things about him; where he came from; what he believes in; and what he wants to do for the rest of his life. It is very sad what Chinese government is doing to those who believe in the Dalai Lama. That is their religion and I do not understand who can tell them what or who to believe in. That is like the USA government telling the citizens that we can only practice one religion. After watching the video i wish he would do more for those who believe in him. I feel as like he is just living his life and not caring for others in his religion. After he dies they will not have a Dalai Lama to believe in and feel comfort to. It is a shame and i wish people all over the country would realize that each religion is different and that you can not take away something what people believe in.

"Big" questions

There are many fundamental or "big" questions to which all religions respond. Examples of "big" questions would include:
What is ultimate reality/God?
What is the nature of the cosmos?
What is the nature of a person?
What is the purpose of human life? Or how can we achieve "salvation"?
What happens to us after death?
What is morality or what is the basis of morality?
What is the meaning of history?


Hinduism religion believes in many different things. Hindus believe in one god and reincarnation. They still do believe in other gods and except the belief of other gods. They also believe in the caste system which is that the person is born into the religion. It also accomodates the idea of religion and personal god. By doing good and reaching Nirvana we can achieve salvation. Buddhism has many different values, which include right knowledge, speech, behavior, effort, livihood and aspiration. Salvation comes by nonattachment to the world; follow the eight fold path. This includes self-effort, salvation through reincarnation. Jainism believes in nonattachment, honesty and nonexistance. They acknowledge the existance of gods but does not rely on them. Sikhism believes in kharma and that people will contine with kharma and live again and again.
They all believe in rebirth and reincarnation. The difference amoung them are what they believe in towards gods and goddesses.

10 questions for the Dalai Lama

I work at Blockbuster and on Tuesday i receive movies coming out in the following weeks and as i was opening them up, i can accross a movie titles 10 Questions For The Dalai Lama. It seems very interesting. I will bring it to class tomorrow and see maybe we can watch it next week. I just need it back before the 22nd. It released date is the 23rd. I get movies for free weeks ahead. That is one great thing working at blockbuster.

My Community

I live over the Tappan Zee Bridge in Pomona. It is about a 10-15 min drive from the Bridge. In my community we have mainly Catholic, protestant and Jewish. Mostly Catholic people live around here. My neigborhood is "dead". As you drive around I rarely see people outside. Only a few people i see almost all the time. It seems as if they have busy scheduales ( as do I) and might be distracted with cleaning their houses, their life styles. Some spiritual issues that my community deals with is that they are all to themselves; very quiet and not very socialable. My family we interact with some of our neighbors. A solution for the problem would be for someone to gather around during a holiday and get to know everyone.

I am having trouble with pictures and stuff to be added to my blog because my computer acts up everytime i try to.

Buddhism

The other night i was watching television and i switched to special on nbc. They were talking about how Buddhism has changed over the years. It was just very interesting because we were pretty much talking about it during class a couple of days ago. You might be able to catch it on nbc nightly news website. They showed how in one community, Indiana they practiced in a persons home. Thery are building a new temple and in the mean time the Monks and the Buddhist gather at the head persons homw. Also what i found interesting is that the monks live in the same community as Christians and other religions. One teenager said that it was very cool, when asked about having Monks and Buddhist live next door.

Mohandas Gandhi

"Hate the sin and not the sinner is a precept which though easy enough tounderstand is rarely practiced, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world."(http://www.sfheart.com/Gandhi.html)

Mohandas Gandhi was born in Porbandar, Gujarat, in North West India, on 2nd October 1869. Gandhi was an Indian nationalist leader, who established his country's freedom through nonviolent revolution. He became a lawyer and returned to India to establish a law practice in Bombay. He then arrived in Durban and found himself treated as a member of an inferior race. He was shocked at the widespread denial of civil liberties and political rights to Indian immigrants. As a lawyer and a political activist he fought discrimination with his principles of truth, nonviolence and courage. What i found that was very interesting he even traveled after his political years, to different areas and taught them about his ways. His acheivement was of him being a hero to his people and not giving up hope on acheiving his goal. I think Gandhi was a very good, true to the heart Hindu. He believed in something and he wanted to teach and have people hear what he has to say. Things do not get done in this world unless people speak up. He did not care about being in jail a couple of times, that was not stopping him. Missing class i was watching the movie on him because i work for blockbuster it is easy for me, anyways watching the movie left me in a maze. I could not believe what this man did and how he did it. For example going on a starvation strike until the violence ended. That was going to the extreme but a person has to do what he or she is going to do to make a point.

Teenville

I was watching Tyra Banks show and she had an episode titled Teenville. It was very interesting because it dealt with real life issues of teens. They picked 10 teens around the United States and there shocking opinions and stereotypes they've already formed. Tyra said that is does not matter if you're a football star or the cutest girl in school, it's tough to be a teen. It is very true, i remember being in High school and i would hang out with the hardcore music group, then went to the nerds, then i also hang out with people who were popular. The set up of this episode was the ten teens were to spend time in a fabricated community talking about race and backgrounds, and here they face with making quick decisions based on their first impressions of each other. They were to assign occupations such as garbage man, mayor, and prostitute.
As you watch the episode and the teens ask each other why do you see me as this & that. On the stage they came out with Tyra and had the chance to explain why and how they came to their decisions and to make peace with each other. One guy i forgot what the statement was but it was about religion and he was from down south area, he made a comment about the southern flag. The one girl was asking him questions about why he would say something like that. His ccomment was basically that he grew up around thinking like that so it is hard for him to think otherwise. This is very true the parents teach us to think one way but society wants us to think a different way. It was very interesting about the whole idea behind the episode, and i would suggest to watch the episode if you can.

Notes

If anyone has notes from the past two classes, on the question for the blog entry number two. write a comment on my blog. THanks guys!

Muslim Influences in India

In the pages of 96 - 103 it explains how Hinduism and Muslim began. One very interesting fact that i read during this chapter was that "there are more Muslims on the Indian subcontinent than there are in any other locale in the world." Muslims are staunchly monotheistic and Hindus tend to be polytheistic. Hindus and Muslims are very different in other ways also. Hindus have richly decorative temples, homes also their cars have images of gods. Muslims sacrifice cattle and other animals in commemoration of the biblical and Quranic account. Hinduism dealt with many reform movements as well. I did not know that Hindu had many different holy days. For example Holi. Holi was a celebration during February and March every year to welcome spring. During November Divali is celebrated to welcome the new year. It is a festive of lights. In october they celebrate Dasehra, which is a celebration in honor of Durga. Durga was a consort of Shiva.

After reading this chapter on Hindu and Muslims i actually learned more today then i did before. That is very strange.

Second Life

This was actually pretty cool project. I have never thought about going on this website. I remember watching the news one day and they were discussing this website. It looked very interesting, which it is. Trying to figure how to move; walk, chat; fly; take pictures, was a little difficult. After you get that all down this website is a breeze. So, the project was to create an avatar, which my avatar is diamond Rivera. Then after getting used to the website interview three people.

I was able to interview two people because when i went on i noticed for some strange reason that so many people that were on were editing their apperance. This kinda made the process harder. The first person i interviewed was very interested in religion. He was also very facinated about the spiritual life's website and how it all works. He has only been on for two days. It was interesting to see two new people trying to talk to each other. HIs response to the first question if he was relgious or spiritual and his response was that he was an avatar. He had strong views of relgion, which we really did not go into because before you knew it he flew away after that question.

Then the second person i walked up to she did not know english. That made the second interview hard.

Finally the third person she did not care for being spiritual or religious and then flew away.

Doing this project was kinda difficult because many people did not care what response they gave me or first agreed to answer a few ? and then did not bother answering them for me.
I was trying to post a snapshot of the first interview but for some reason it was telling me to load a disc. Sorry no snapshot. No names of the avatar because i was not sure if we were supposed to. But i have them if they are needed

George Bernard Shaw quote

"There is only one religion, though there are a hundred versions of it”.

I would agree with the quote but then i do not agree with the quote. I hope this is not to confusing. You basically can see this quote from two perspectives. The first you can see that there is only one religion which can be the major religion that we have in this world, and then following that one religion it brakes down to small ones.

I would also disagree with this quote because each religion is practiced and view in its own way. Jews practice judiasm different than those of Roman Catholics. Yes each one belives in one God but the practice their believs in different ways.

"Belief O Matic" survey

Doing this survey I was really shocked with my results. I scored 100 % mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants and reform Judaism 80%. I think what this survey is telling me is that i am a stronger Christian then a Judaism. I have always thought more strongly to my Jewish side than the Christian side. Another religion that i am near to are Liberal Quakers. I looked online and saw that Liberal Quakers believe in direct reward or punishment toward heaven and hell. God is love, love is eternal. http://selectsmart.com/RELIGION/LQ.html. I think the score is similar to my beliefs. I did not realize until after completing the survey that many religions have similar beliefs. It is strange to see how much similar things can be and when they are all practiced different ways. Also many of these religions i have never heard of, for example: New thought, Neo-Pagen, Bahai Faith, New Age, and so on. But it is very interesting to see other religions that do exist.

1. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (100%)
2. Liberal Quakers (92%)
3. Unitarian Universalism (89%)
4. New Thought (82%)
5. Reform Judaism (80%)
6. Neo-Pagan (73%)
7. Bahá'í Faith (73%)
8. New Age (73%)
9. Sikhism (69%)
10. Mahayana Buddhism (63%)
11. Scientology (57%)
12. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (56%)
13. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (56%)
14. Orthodox Judaism (55%)
15. Theravada Buddhism (55%)
16. Orthodox Quaker (54%)
17. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (50%)
18. Jehovah's Witness (50%)
19. Hinduism (46%)
20. Eastern Orthodox (46%)
21. Roman Catholic (46%)
22. Islam (42%)
23. Jainism (40%)
24. Secular Humanism (37%)
25. Seventh Day Adventist (32%)
26. Taoism (27%)
27. Nontheist (14%)