Amanda (Rickie) Watson

Dr. Bandara

RELS 2300

20 April, 2021

Reflection

I took this class with the intent of broadening my knowledge on the different religious

groups around me. Coming from Utah, the most predominantly Christian background, I had

trouble fully understanding what other religions believed in and how I could educate myself.

After the duration of this class, I have found myself gaining a new love for the culture of these

religions. Before starting this class, I had the notion that all religions were to different to

compare, though in the end, all religions have one goal in mind, to obtain the love of God (or

various Gods).

I wish I was able to actually attend a church gathering of one of the denominations that I

was assigned, which I will be visiting when I am able to. The two sites that I visited, virtually,

were a Catholic mass and a Hinduism ceremony. I found both to be incredibly different, for one

was under a reverent setting, where as the other it was sacred and full of life. I had some

understanding of the Catholic religion and their practices, for they are the most similar in how

they participate in religion, where as I had no idea what it mean’t to be apart of the Hindu faith.

Both were beautiful in their own way.

From the case studies provided, I chose the Yoder v. Wisconsin to asses and formulate my

opinion. The general stigma of the Amish people are that they are weird, which is cruel to say,

but this opened up my eyes for their motive in life. It is to be a community and in touch with

their native selves, with God as their focus. I found this to be truly heroic that they practice what

they preach. For this is not true for many religious groups, they simply take these guidelines and

do what they want with them. The debate at hand in the case study was whether or not to have

children participate in school after the eighth grade. This particular topic of the Amish rubbed me

the wrong way. I feel as if they are ‘protecting’ them from the world around them, though if they

had a true, strong, faith in God, even if a child is exposed to things that do not pertain to their

world, there should be no resistance that they will not return.