Religion as a Moral Guide Learning Plan 3: Sample Format for Religion as a Moral Guide Religion as a Moral Guide Student’s Name Ethics Learning Plan 3 Date Instructor’s Name 1 Religion as a Moral Guide Introduction Response: (Note: Explain the purpose of your paper. Explain to the reader using two to four sentences and/or highlight major ideas to be covered.) Examine the Religious Impact on Interviewee Response: (Note: Your response should be written in complete sentences and proper paragraph structure. You describe at least four ways your interviewee felt “shaped” by his/her religious experience. Select four sub headings listed below.) Religious Traditions Response: (Note: Your response should be written in complete sentences and proper paragraph structure. You describe the interviewee’s religious traditions. Please review page 4 for a definition of the term traditions.) Religious Practices Response: (Note: Your response should be written in complete sentences and proper paragraph structure. You describe the interviewee’s religious practices. Answer the questions, “How can this believer trace his/her ethics to his/her religious background/experiences?”) Special Religious Times Response: (Note: Your response should be written in complete sentences and proper paragraph structure. You describe the interviewee’s special religious times.) Education/Indoctrination into Religious Beliefs Response: (Note: Your response should be written in complete sentences and proper paragraph structure. You describe the interviewee’s education/indoctrination 2 Religion as a Moral Guide 3 into religious beliefs. State how members were enculturated into their beliefs; that is, what was religious education like…at home/in the center of worship/at summer camps/where else.) Sense of "Religious Community” Response: (Note: Your response should be written in complete sentences and proper paragraph structure. You describe the interviewee’s sense of “religious community” Examine how a sense of "separate religious community" was established/maintained? What insures that the practitioner feels "like" a Mormon, a Jew, etc.?) Personal Obligations Based on Religious Teachings. Response: (Note: Your response should be written in complete sentences and proper paragraph structure. You describe the interviewee’s personal obligations based on religious teachings. Elaborate: What obligations does this person feel because of his/her religious faith? What obligations are taught but this follower does not believe in? Why?) Critical Thinking to Challenge Religious Teachings or Traditions Response: (Note: Your response should be written in complete sentences and proper paragraph structure. You consider how this person did (or did not) use critical thinking to challenge religious teachings/traditions of the faith. Provide examples.) Ethical Reasoning to Religious Training Response: (Note: Your response should be written in complete sentences and proper paragraph structure. You develop at least two concrete examples that illustrate how this person connects his/her ethical reasoning to religious training.) Religion as a Moral Guide Personal Insights on Religion for Moral Development Response: (Note: Your response should be written in complete sentences and proper paragraph structure. You develop at least three personal insights gained from listening to Gandhi's AND your interviewee's stories as well as from class activities.) Conclusion Response: (Note: Your response should be written in complete sentences and proper paragraph structure. Provide a summary of the main points and final thoughts.) 4 Religion as a Moral Guide 5 References Response: (Note: Your response should be a listing of references using the APA format. You need to cite at least one source and it may include the course textbook. You can use citation machine to assist you. Special note on Interviews: Because a personal interview is not "recoverable data," the APA guidelines stipulate that you list it in the text of a manuscript but do not put it in the reference. In a manuscript (or outline, for some assignments), you would cite an interview after mentioning some information from the interview as follows: ...is the usual procedure followed when a student is caught violating a campus alcohol consumption policy (A. B. Smith, personal communication, February 23, 2004). Religion as a Moral Guide 6 Definitions Religious Traditions What holidays (if any) are celebrated? What times of the year are especially important? Are any special food/dress/gifts/etc. tied to those traditions. For example, in the church some individuals were raised in a very German area, Christmas services were always conducted in German. Another example, during a Presbyterian service, the kids always put on a Christmas program and a spring musical tied to Bible stories. Grandpas and Grandmas, older siblings, parents, etc. all attended, Church was/is always packed for those services. On Christmas Eve, after a "communion" of hot chocolate and cookies, people sang "happy birthday" while a couple dressed as Jesus and Mary carrying their newborn wandered the sanctuary. At a pagan services held at solstices, individuals held a "Festival of Lights" service just before Christmas that includes Jewish, Christian and Kwanza practices. Practioners felt committed to learning about a variety of religious traditions, including recently a members' "ascent into atheism". At the end of Ramadan, a Muslim came to describe why that tradition is so important to communal life among Muslims. Religious Practices What do members DO? At some services, members always have a time of "joys and concerns" where members come up and light a candle and "fill us in". Members may have a period of meditation, whether backed by quiet music or silence. What hymns do they typically focus on? Perhaps, such practices as celebrating community, social justice, and love of the earth. What are some of the causes that the congregation is focusing on? Such practices as social activism, fair trade efforts, "green" projects, the local humane society, CROP walk, and community diversity initiatives. Religious Community What makes one feel like a Muslim? Like a Jew? A pagan? Members may get together weekly or monthly on social events, such as, couples Covenant Group, a member of the Cribbage Players, and a member of a Women's Group whose primary focus was eating out. Do they participate in choir? Do they have parties at member’s homes to celebrate Christmas, Religion as a Moral Guide Hanukah? Do they go on bike trips, picnics, nights out to plays, etc? What are member’s social and religious gatherings? 7