Studies of Religion II: should I choose it?

Nature of Religion and Beliefs

Religious Tradition Study: Buddhism

Religious Tradition Study: Christianity

Religious Tradition Study: Hinduism

Religious Tradition Study: Islam

Religious Tradition Study: Judaism

Religions of Ancient Origin

Religion in Australia pre-1945

Religion and Belief Systems in Australia post-1945 (16 indicative hours)

Two strands run through this topic. The first is contemporary Aboriginal spiritualities: the Dreaming as the determinant of that spirituality, expressed through kinship, ceremonial life and obligations to the land and people; the continuing effect of dispossession through separation from the land, separation from kinship groups and the Stolen Generations; and the Land Rights movement, where you need terra nullius, Native Title, Mabo and Wik, plus the argument that the Dreaming itself underpins the land rights claim. The second strand is the religious landscape from 1945 to the present, read through census data — Christianity as the major tradition but declining, post-war and later immigration, denominational switching, the rise of New Age religions, and secularism. The topic closes on dialogue: Christian ecumenical movements including the National Council of Churches in Australia and the NSW Ecumenical Council, interfaith dialogue in multifaith Australia, and the relationship between Aboriginal spiritualities and religious traditions in the process of Reconciliation.

Religious Tradition Depth Studies — Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism (22 indicative hours each; three studied)

Each depth study has three parts. Significant People and Ideas asks for the contribution of ONE significant person or school of thought other than the founding figure, and the effect that person or school had on the tradition — Asoka or Tenzin Palmo or Pure Land for Buddhism, Paul of Tarsus or Hildegard of Bingen or Liberation Theology for Christianity, Shankara or the Bhakti Movement or Gandhi for Hinduism, Imam Al-Shafi or Rabi'a al-Adawiyya or Al-Ghazali for Islam, Rashi or Maimonides or Jewish Feminism for Judaism. Ethics asks for ONE area only — bioethics, environmental ethics or sexual ethics — in the chosen tradition. Significant Practices asks for ONE practice from a fixed list: Pilgrimage, Temple Puja or Wesak in Buddhism; Baptism, Marriage ceremony or Saturday/Sunday worship in Christianity; Marriage ceremony, Pilgrimage or Temple Worship in Hinduism; Friday prayer at the mosque, Funeral ceremony or Hajj in Islam; death and mourning, marriage or Synagogue services in Judaism. The unifying idea, and the one the 20-mark questions keep returning to, is the tradition as a living, integrated belief system that answers the enduring questions of human existence.

Religion and Peace (22 indicative hours)

This topic is studied in the SAME two religious traditions throughout, and the whole thing is one argument in four moves. First, the understanding of peace in each tradition as it is informed by significant writings in the sacred texts — the Sutta Pitaka and Dhammapada in Buddhism, the New Testament in Christianity, the Bhagavad Gita in Hinduism, the Qur'an and Hadith in Islam, and the Prophetic vision of peace on Earth in Judaism. Second, the principal teachings about peace in each tradition. Third, how each tradition guides the individual towards inner peace, through prayer, meditation, ritual and ethical living. Fourth, how each tradition is actually contributing to world peace — the organisations, initiatives and statements that make the claim concrete rather than aspirational.

Religion and Non-Religion (16 indicative hours)

This topic sets religious and non-religious worldviews side by side. It opens on the religious dimension in human history — animism, polytheism and monotheism — and what that dimension has provided: meaning and purpose for the individual, social cohesion, and social transformation. It then turns to the global distribution of the five major religious traditions as statistical data, and to the rise of new religious expressions and spiritualities, together with the influences behind that rise: materialism, scientific progress, growing ecological awareness, and disenchantment with traditional religious practice and guidance. The second half covers non-religious worldviews — the essential features of Atheism and Agnosticism, the positions of Rational Humanism and Scientific Humanism, and how these determine aspirations and behaviour. It closes on a direct comparison: the response of ONE religious and ONE non-religious belief system to the transcendent, the human person and social responsibility.