Rational/Logical vs Faith

Honestly, I don't really know what to expect for REL200. REL200 stands for WORLD RELIGIONS, one of the elective subjects that I have to take. It includes the teaching of Buddhism, Hinduism, Jewish, Christianity and Islam, as well as other forms of beliefs like animism and so on. At first, I thought it would be just like American History or Anthropology where you memorize all the facts then it would be alright. But, it's not.

Not knowing that REL200 will cause a lot of thinking, and it really challenges my faith. Mr Eric said that there will be discussion but the arguments have to be universal and not bias towards your own religion. You could not say that the others are wrong and you're correct (so you won't hurt the others and this provides a harmony environment for studies).

Religion vs Science

Well, that was OK for me. The first class we discussed on "Religion vs Science". Can science prove or disprove religion? Are they both compatible? Can you be religious and be an effective scientist? Of course, I was a little of biased. But my argument was not that bad. I said that, science cannot prove religion. Based on my knowledge and the point of view from a Christian, God created all things included the living things, whereas science said that all living things started in a form of tiniest microorganisms or atoms. Let's take the egg theory for example. Scientists still can't prove that whether egg comes before hen or hen comes before egg. If they said hen comes first, where does it come from? The egg? Egg was formed with atoms? But how come hen was the mother of an egg? In religious view, God created all things. So, science can't prove religion.

Hen or egg first?

Today, we had another discussion. The topic was "Rational/Logical vs Faith". It was hard for me. The class started off with a few of video clips shown. One of them really offended me so much that I wished I could walk away from the class for a few seconds. Mr Eric said that we have to understand what's going on in US before we go there. It's just like most of the countries where their dominant religion would be criticized. In that case, we do actually sometimes criticize about the dominant religion here. As for citizens of US, they have the rights of free speech. So you can expect what they would say about the dominant religion- Christianity.

George Carlin:"Religion is bullshit."

This particular stand-up comedian, said that Religion is bullshit. Alot of foul languages used in the supposedly very funny comedy. He said that, 1) there is no God 2) we don't have to pray because we won't get what we want for 100% 3) contradictions of God's love. He did actually say that, "If there is a God, struck down the audience right now. Nothing happens? I put on a higher stake, if there is a God, struck me to death now." I wonder what would he say if the audience were struck.

I know it's supposed to be a joke. Sometimes, I don't really understand the jokes of the Americans. But much more would be expected in US next year. People with PhD will even argue with you till you're speechless. My faith is really challenged this time. I did a lot of thinking after REL200 classes. And FYI, G.Carlin is dead, after 9 years of his joke. He lived for 71 years and died of heart attack. But he made it into Hall of Fame though. I'm not impressed.