Let's Talk Religion

Baby Isa speaks (Christianity) Hanukkah (Judaism) Khalsa (Sikhism) The elephant and the blind men (Buddhism) David and Goliath (Christianity & Judaism) The monkey king and the mangoes (Buddhism) The Prophet Muhammed and the spider (Islam) Nachiketa and Yama (Hinduism) Rama and Sita (Hinduism) Abraham and Isaac (Judaism) Malik Bhago and Lalo (Sikhism) The Lost Son (Christianity)

These were Flash videos. Since Flash is now obsolete, these are no longer available at the original website . Before they were discontinued, I made screencasts for the videos, using Studio in Canvas. Below are links to these Studio videos. An academic, an educator, a faith leader, a young person and an atheist share their thoughts on the sacred texts of the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. There are five themes, each with three questions that the different kinds of people from the three Abrahamic religions address, each in their own way. I recorded the videos based on the question, allowing each person who addresses the question to speak (it thus being a sort of "interfaith dialogue"). This way you (the viewer) can compare and contrast what these people have to say in response to each question.  I suggest that, before you view the videos, you consider how you might answer the question. Then, after you listen to how others in the video have responded

by Laura Ellen Shulman - Dec. '85   "Why do bad things happen to good people?" is a common question asked by Westerners. This situation is cause for much religious doubt in traditions based on a concept of an all good and just God. "If God is good why is there evil in the world which God created?" It is not justice when good people suffer. Job asks the same question and discovers that "his is not to reason why, his is but to do or die" without questioning what he cannot comprehend. The question is asked by all people in all times and places. Our solutions to the problem are diverse. When the philosophers of ancient India asked the question they came up with a much more psychologically satisfying answer. The Indian answer to the question is the basis of all later Indian religious development (including Jain and Buddhist as well as Hindu) while the Western "answer" continues to make religion very hard for many people to hold on to.   Indian Wor

I had my first truly mystical experience when I was a junior in college. I recognized it as God's revelation of himself to me, making his presence known in my life. I was deeply depressed. I roomed alone (by desire). My few friends rarely visited me. I did not party or play loud music. And there I was on a Saturday night in the dorm with a "mixer" (dance) going on downstairs and a loud party going on in a room down the hall and I was locked behind my door feeling sorry for myself and angry that others were having fun while I was feeling left out, even though that type of fun was not the something I enjoyed. "What's the point?" I asked to no one in particular. "Why do I even continue to live?" My deep depression was leading me to suicidal thoughts. In an instant, I had my answer. A thought occurred to me: "I'm OK just the way I am. I do not have to be like everyone else." A great sense of inner peace and joy came over me and washed my

  Exploring the the Relationship Between Mysticism and Religion A Story by Laura Ellen Shulman     A young man has his own very special relationship with God - an internal mystical connection with his Source and the Source of all. This is a relationship through which wisdom, knowledge and insight is gained regarding the nature of God, human nature, life in this world and how human beings are related to and ought relate to God and each other. This young man puts this understanding into practice in his own life. He loves others as he loves himself because he knows everyone is united as one in God. He has a unique and refreshing view on life. He is happy and at peace and this shows in his very being.     People are attracted to him by the love he shows for them and the insightful things he has to say. They listen and try to understand but very few of them have the benefit of the same relationship he has with God. It is this relationship that makes the difference between hearing what he ha

Consider the possibility: The first chapter in Genesis is a brief outline or synopsis of the unfolding history of  humanity through six 1000 year stages ("days"). Support: Biblical dating traces the "Beginning" back about 6000 years. Jewish reckoning of Biblical time holds that is has been 5760 years since creation (current year on the Jewish calendar). In religious circles it is sometimes noted that "1000 years is as one day for God." Even if we look to history, archaeology and sociology, we can see that civilization and recorded history of humanity does not go back much more than 5500 years or so (to 3500 BCE). First stage of human history: Humanity (i.e., civilization,  not  the species Homo Sapiens) is "born" - represented by the creation of Adam ("mankind"). This "Adamic" stage lasts about 1000 years (Adam lived 930 years: Gen 5:5). Adam would be the "prophet" of this first stage of humanity. Adam also represent

An Interpretation by Laura Shulman From the Chuang Tzu (Taoist Tradition): "The ruler of the South Sea was called Light; the ruler of the North Sea, Darkness; and the ruler of the middle kingdom, Primal Chaos. From time to time, Light and Darkness met one another in the kingdom of Primal Chaos, who made them welcome. Light and Darkness wanted to repay his kindness and said, "All men have seven openings with which they see, hear, eat and breathe, but Primal Chaos has none. Let us try to give him some." So every day they bored one hole, and on the seventh day, Primal Chaos died."     This is the creation of the universe, the elimination of chaos. Creating something in your image of perfection may very well destroy something else. Chaos is a mixing of all things into one (the Chinese word is "Won-ton" as in Won-ton soup). This unity of all is non-differentiation. As soon as the chaos is sorted out and ordered it is differentiated, it becomes many. Differentia