Yes, quite. It's always distressed me, that term. As though every single belief system that isn't Christianity/Judaism/Buddhism/Islam/Hinduism can be united by a single creed (and isn't Hinduism sometimes described as a pagan religion by various orthodox Christians?). I'd also like to know on what grounds "a Native American religion" is separated from the various South-East Asian (etc.) religions that are often just grouped as pagan religions.
The questions were just as badly worded too. My answer to "Do you believe in the existence of a higher life-form than humans" was "YES", but somehow I don't think that cats were what they had in mind....
On the other hand, SERIOUS YAY for St Francis of Assisi - patron saint of environmentalists, say I!
Enthusiastically seconded. How far forward did you come in the history of ecological thought, and did you touch on the Scandinavians of the 19th/20th centuries at all? Do Linnaeus et al count here? (I studied that legacy in fourth year and found in fascinating.)
Well, I went from pre-Stone Age to modern views (Gaia Hypothesis, Deep Ecology and so on, Bjorn Lomberg), but didn't get much time to dwell on each era. Linnaeus got a mention, as did most of the evolutionists. The associated tute was great - my tute partner spent the first half giving the case for apathy, and the second half reminiscing about her school days (it turned out that she'd been to the same school as the tutor). It ended with me singing Tom Lehrer's "The Elements" (we'd got onto the subject of how best to present scientific concepts to secondary school students, and things developed from there). I've hacked Gilbert in essays and tutes often enough, but this was the first time I managed to hack Sullivan :)
Somehow sneaking into the royal priesthood and people set apart . . .midnightmelodyMarch 13 2005, 10:04:26 UTC
Sorry, only just read this . . . I'm quite strongly Christianity, I suspect the Catholicism helps. *hand-waving vagueness* Interesting statements re ambiguity, eg 'all adults should pray daily'. If 'should' means 'God intends humans to pray, it would be better for them if people believed in God and prayed' then yes, if 'a law about this would be good' then definitely no.
Re: Somehow sneaking into the royal priesthood and people set apart . . .sea_brightMarch 13 2005, 14:07:25 UTC
I came out seventy-something percent Christian, and a hundred percent Muslim. Despite the fact that I ticked 'definitely agree' to 'Jesus is God'. From what I remember of the blurb that accompanied my result, the two factors that made it put me in the Muslim camp were that I'd said everyone should dress modestly, and that men and women were equal in the eyes of God. I think the former was working with a rather more radical definition of 'modestly' than mine, and while it may be a principle of Islam that men and women are equal as believers, given the choice between being a woman in the modern church and a Muslim woman, I know which one I'd pick...
Comments 10
Reply
The questions were just as badly worded too. My answer to "Do you believe in the existence of a higher life-form than humans" was "YES", but somehow I don't think that cats were what they had in mind....
Reply
Enthusiastically seconded. How far forward did you come in the history of ecological thought, and did you touch on the Scandinavians of the 19th/20th centuries at all? Do Linnaeus et al count here? (I studied that legacy in fourth year and found in fascinating.)
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
( ... )
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment