Final Book

I'm somewhat torn about the book I chose for our final project. There are a ton of really great points in it, but there are also some things that contradict the Crossan book we read. The book I chose for the final is called Jesus: Why the World Is Still Fascinated by Him. So...yeah. It tries to focus on facts and it does a really good job, which I like, but because it contradicts some things we've learned, I'm not really sure what to believe. Oh well. I guess I'll figure it out eventually...hopefully.

Power of Words

I'm an english major, and as an english major, there are certain classes I must take. Power of Words is one of them. It's basically about how when you talk to someone, you should choose your words carefully because how you say things has a big impact on how people hear things. The other day, our professor decided it would be a good idea to show a video of a woman giving a lecture about Jesus. You know, those ones that play on Sunday morning on, like, every channel? This wouldn't have been a problem if i knew we were going to discuss the program afterwords, but my teacher is a very religious man and I knew we were watching it so he could feel like a good Christian, pushing his religion in our face and all. Well, this woman had a lot to say. Most of it being incredibly ignorant and judgmental. She said that if you have a thought against the Bible, that is the devil possessing you. So...if I don't want to stone my daughter to death, that's the devil in my soul? Oops. It was just a very aggravating video. So much so that I left in the middle of class. This is why I was turned off of my religion in the first place, because of people like this woman. The worst part? People were believing her. I guess the only thing our professor said at the end of class was "Wasn't she a great speaker?" Yeah, I'm sure.

Finishing up Dhammapada

This is a bit late, but I wanted to share with everyone my favorite part of the Dhammapada. I really enjoyed all of Chapter 15: Joy. I especially liked line 197.

"Let us live in joy, never hating those who hate us.
Let us live in freedom, without hatred even among those
who hate."

Does anyone else have any favorite lines from the Dhammapada? Or even the Muhammad book since we're working on that now?

Dhammapada

Okay so now that we're into the Dhammapada, I feel completely comfortable saying that I don't think I'm going to enjoy it. It's very repetitive and contradictory. It's like one entire paragraph is the same sentence three times over. Then, the paragraph after that, is saying the exact opposite. It's just aggravating.

Please excuse this short blog post. It is quite hard to do this on a cell phone that isn't meant for internet.

Crossan Review

Now that we've finished reading Crossan's book and gone over it a little, I think I can make an accurate review of how I feel about it.

Growing up, the Catholic church taught me to love God and be good to others. I always found the stories a bit unnerving, though, and my skepticism grew. The Crossan book really helped me to understand that things aren't always literal, and that the stories are just that: stories. I love that Jesus was just a poor peasant who was condemned simply because he was different. He did nothing wrong, he was just changing things for the better, differently than how people wanted him to. This book helped me to actually think about religion again as something to believe in, and more than just something to rub in peoples faces.

Welcome to Walmart

I was shopping at Walmart today and I realized something while I was perusing the book aisle. All the religious books, from what I could tell, were all Christian. What's worse is that I didn't find it very strange. It did make me curious, however. Why wouldn't one of the largest chain stores in the world sell something that millions of people would probably buy? I understand that Christianity is extremely popular in our country, but is that why? Or are they afraid of controversy? What do they think will happen if they sell something other than "I Found My Way Through Jesus" or a self-proclaimed "self-help" book on how God will save you? That was also the largest section in the aisle, except for maybe the romance novels. Is that what people want now? Love and salvation? Well, if so, I guess I'm making my own path.

Hey, Jesus

So in my last post I mentioned that I was worried for the Crossan book, but after reading a little, I've realized that it's more of an intellectual book than an opinion book. While reading, I found myself believing everything he said instead of questioning it like I do with the Bible. A lot of things in his book make a lot of sense and I'm actually excited to continue reading.

The Jesus Biography

I have to be honest, I haven't read the assignment in the Crossan book yet. Please keep this in mind as you read this blog post about it.

I'm a bit concerned to read this. I went to Catholic school for most of my life and I had always questioned it, but I never completely stopped believing in God. I'm not too sure about Jesus, and I'm afraid this book will convince me that he was just a poor man with schizophrenia. The only reason I'm worried about this is because my grandparents are very religious, and I'm very close with them. Talking to my grandmother about how I no longer believe in Jesus will certainly disappoint her.


This post may seem pointless, and it kind of is. The main points of it are that I'm not a Jesus freak, but I don't really want to be a non-believer. Unfortunately, it's difficult for me to be close-minded about these things.

Divine Intervention?

The other day I was talking with my very intelligent friend, Brian Fitzpatrick. He also happens to be taking World Religions, and you can find his blog here. Anyway, we were talking about issues between my family and he said something along the lines of "your family should find religion and like each other." That got me thinking. Does 'finding' religion completely change everything about you? Does it change your friends, enemies, and everything in between? I know it supposedly changes the way you look at things in life. All these things that are supposed to change made me ask another question: How much religion do you have to accept into your life before things become different?

There's the common "I think I'll start going to church now," and then there are more dramatic scenarios where people have near-death experiences that change how they feel forever. But where in there do things start to really change? I would think that if someone were to start attending church, they may become slightly more understanding (or irritable, depending on if they like it or not), but when do you start to like people that you couldn't stand at one point? I'm not saying that it doesn't happen - good for the people that do it - I just don't know where people get the empowerment from. Hopefully I'll figure it out one day.

A little of me

Hello all. My name is Rebecca Nicole Ryan and I'm very afraid of chickens. I'm eighteen years old and an english major at MCLA. I have two tattoos that mean quite a bit to me, one of which being three birds on my left wrist. I went to Catholic school for half of my life and I think that is why I was interested in taking a religion class. They only taught me about Catholicism and I'm interested in learning about different religions. I'm not a religious person myself; if that school taught me one thing, it was to be skeptical. I'm excited for this class, even though I have a feeling it may kick my butt. Oh well! I'll be trying my hardest!