Tramuta1

Brady Tramuta

Faith, Religion and Society LA 150

21 February 2019

Smith’s World Religions

Smith, Chapter One​:

1. Huston Smith clearly has a preferred way of approaching the study of religion? ​BUT what
types of approach does he specifically ​exclude?

On page 8 of the book it states about there being subtler ways to belittle religion. Some
people need to boost their ego by belittling another religion to get more into their own.
The author states that this WILL NOT be the approach to studying and that even the
smallest ways of patronizing religion will be avoided. ​He specifically excludes that
there is one main religion for everyone. “We shall be talking about Hindus, Buddhists,
Confucianists, Muslims -- it will be “they” and “them” all the way.” (8) This is
showing his preferred way of approaching the study of religion, by acknowledging
other religions and not just saying that only one religion fits all people of all types.

2. What is your opinion about his approach: do you agree with it, do you prefer one of the
approaches he excludes, or do you have, at this point in time, another way of looking at
religions that you are not a member of (if you have one)?

I most certainly agree with his approach because I believe that every person should get
the chance to feel the way that they feel and think the way that they do. No one person
should be excluded to certain things just because that is what hat they are supposed to
do. It should not matter what someone else’s religion is because everyone is entitled to
having their own beliefs and we as human beings should be considerate of that and
respect one another.
 Tramuta2

Smith, Chapter Ten​:

3. What does Smith say are the three obvious responses to the question, “What is the
relationship between religions?”

Three of the obvious responses to this question are explained in the paragraph titled
“The Relation between Religions” on page 384. The first responses is that one of the
world’s religions is superior to the others. The second is that “all religions are basically
alike” (385). It states that yes there may be some differences but in the end the
comparison between them all is greater. The third is that religions are similar to a glass
stained window, saying that the different sections coincide with the ones on a glass
window that divide the light of the sun into different colors (386). This is showing how
different all religions are and have qualities that make them unique and stand out,
therefore the reference to a stained glass window with multiple different colors.

4. A) Which response does Smith prefer?

I believe that Smith prefers the last one because it follows along with the fact that he does
not want to exclude any religions. He respects the fact that religions have different
characteristics and respects that people see things differently than he does.

B) Which response do you prefer? Why? If you have another response, different from these
three, what is it and why do you think that way?

I also preferred the third response because I believe as well that every person should get
the chance to have their beliefs and I 100% respect their choice to do so with whatever
religion they follow in life. I believe that the third response generally restated that all
religions are different and rather than hate on that we should emphasize it for all its
beauty it can offer, just like a stained glass window has so many different colors and
sizes to it.