CSJO-CU8.13

=CSJO-Grade 8 Lesson 8.13 (CSJO-Template)=


 * TITLE:** **Comparative Religion**
 * GOALS:**
 * Explore why and why not teach comparative religion
 * Compare Judaism, Christianity and Islam


 * BACKGROUND:**


 * Teaching Comparative Religion**
 * **Pro's**
 * chance to examine non-Jewish religions and compare them with Judaism from a secular humanistic Jewish perspective
 * Being a minority in a diverse society, our students should have a basic understanding of the religions of their friends and acquaintances
 * **Con's**
 * Any time devoted to non-Jewish religions is that much less time devoted to Jewish ones and the presentations are already pretty superficial
 * Non-Jewish religions have even more varieties than Jewish ones so that any presentation will be very superficial and arbitrary


 * Comparative Religion: Western Monotheistic Religions**

The major Western monotheistic religions are Judaism Christianity, and Islam. As monotheistic religions, they all profess the belief that there is only one true god who, along with his religion was originally revealed to the Jews and that all other gods are imposters and false. The later-arising religions also believe that their predecessors (Judaism in the case of Christianity; Judaism and Christianity in the case of Islam) unlike themselves, have corrupted God's revelation, strayed from the true religion and no longer are in God's favor. Thus, each of the later religions believes it has superseded its predecessors and is the favorite of God.

A major difference between traditional Judaism on the one hand and Christianity and Islam on the other hand is that Christianity and Islam are "universal" religions - recruiting and accepting any person as a member who accepts the central beliefs of the religion; Jews have traditionally been almost always born into Jewish families with very few "converts." Humanistic Judaism, more like Christianity and Islam in this respect, freely accepts to full membership any person who chooses to join while traditional Judaism deliberately puts many difficult requirements and obstacles in the way of joining.

Pre-rabbinic Torah-based Judaism and more modern liberal Judaisms (Reform, Reconstructionism, and Humanistic Judaism) do not believe that there is reward or punishment after death; pre-rabbinic Torah based and Reform Judaism assert(ed) the existence of an afterlife while Humanistic Judaism and Reconstructionism do not. Traditional rabbinic Judaism as well as Christianity and Islam do believe that people are rewarded or punished after death. All the monotheistic religions have strong and often differing senses of what is right and wrong based on understanding God's will as revealed in sacred texts. Traditional Judaism and Islam are based on detailed legal systems and many rules of behavior (how to pray, what to eat, how to engage in financial transactions, etc.). Christianity lacks the type of detailed, specific codes of behavior that characterize traditional Judaism and Islam, and is focused more on such concepts as faith (in the beliefs of the religion), works (good deeds), and grace (God's special favor). Liberal Judaisms value Jewish identity, community, and critical thinking and have few, if any, specific doctrinal rules or beliefs.

[Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism are so different from Western monotheism that i it may not be possible in the time available for discussion to impart any meaningful understanding of them [The very limited knowledge of the writers of these lesson plans has precluded at this time attempts to create background on these religions]
 * Comparative Religion: Eastern Religion/Ethical Systems**

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Jews felt oppressed under the mighty Roman Empire and longed for a messiah - a leader who would defeat the Romans and restore Jewish independence. Jesus, a faith-healer and spiritual preacher was seen by some Jews as the messiah - though as a spiritual leader rather than a military one. The word "Christ" is based on the Greek word Christos, meaning "anointed," - a word used for the Messiah - Jesus The Christ. Jews anointed their kings with oil as a mark of taking office and believed the messiah, the "anointed one," would be a descendant of King David, and thus a king, himself. The story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus formed the basis for a new religion - Christianity. Crucifixion is seen as God's gift to humanity to "redeem" all people, which is necessary because all people are stained from birth by original sin, which resulted from the disobedience of Adam. As a result, it is possible for Christians to be "saved" - rewarded with eternal life in heaven after death. Christianity is now very diverse, with different religious practices and different views on how a Christian achieves "salvation" - involving faith (in the beliefs of the religion), works (good deeds), grace (God's special favor). Christians wrote their own central texts: the New Testament. They also included the books of the Hebrew Bible into their own Bible, calling them the Old Testament. Jews were often persecuted during rule by Christian leaders in Europe (ca. 400 - 1900), but there were also periods of tolerance and even high Jewish achievement in Christian lands.
 * Christianity Lesson Background - Main ideas**

Starting with Theodosius I in 380s-390s, the Christian Church/Roman Empire began exterminating polytheism and also versions of Christianity with even slightly different beliefs than the "official" Christianity of the Church and Empire. At that time, while Jews were severely restricted, they were the only non-Christians allowed to survive and practice their religion.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Therefore, like traditional rabbinic Judaism, it reflects many values that we cannot accept in modern times - very harsh punishments by our standards, subservience of women, etc. The Islamic world today is divided - some want strict adherence to the medieval legal codes; others favor a modern interpretation. Ijtihad is the use of independent thinking and reason to draw conclusions about the law. For the Sunni, who are the majority of Muslims, it is widely accepted that ijtihad ended after the legal codes were fixed in about 900-1000. The inability to apply ijtihad today makes it difficult or impossible for them to update the legal system to conform to modern standards. For the Shia, ijtihad is still allowed but only by certain highly trained scholars.
 * Islam Lesson Background** - Like traditional rabbinic Judaism, Islam is based on an all-encompassing medieval legal system.

Jews and Christians are given special protection in Islamic law as "people of the book" but have second class "dhimmi" status and pay special "jizya" tax, though these practices ended in Islamic countries in the 20th century. Until the 20th century, Jews living in Muslim countries often did very well, but were severely persecuted in those places and time periods with intolerant Muslim rulers.

Traditional rabbinic Judaism and Islam are quite similar. They are both all-encompassing legal systems that regulate not only criminal and civil law and worship but also details of personal behavior, trade, finance, etc.