Week 5 Assignment: Interview Essay

Week 5 Assignment: Interview Essay

Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:

• Textbook: Review chapters as needed
• Lesson
• Link (library article): Talking About Religion – How to Do It Right (Links to an external site.)
• Minimum of 1 scholarly source

Instructions
For this assignment you are required to sit down for a conversation with someone whose religious identity differs from your own (this means that if you identify as Christian, for example, you should find a conversation partner who does not identify as such). The purpose of this exercise is for you to engage with someone else in conversation. That means that you will not only ask questions, but you will hopefully answer questions about your own beliefs, as well.

Review the article for this activity, “Talking About Religion – How to Do It Right” (link in Required Resources), for some guidance on how to engage in conversations about religion before meeting with your partner. You may also wish to share this information with your partner.

In this exercise, you will listen to the ideas of someone who you identify as religiously “other.” You will share your own ideas and report on what you learned. This would include what you learned about your conversation partner’s beliefs, and how those beliefs compare to your own religious upbringing and/or current practice.

The report should give a description of the major topics of discussion and a detailed summary of what you learned. As part of your assignment you should include the following:

• Describe your conversation partner’s beliefs. Some things to consider include the following:
  • What are the material expressions of their tradition (statues, paintings, music, etc.)?
  • Do they see any conflict between the stated beliefs of their tradition and their own beliefs?
  • Based on your partner’s description, which theory of the origin of religions (Week 1) offers the best explanation for their approach to religion?
  • What challenges can your partner identify that their religious tradition faces in the modern world? Do they feel that their tradition is responding positively?
  • Is the tradition focused on belief (orthodoxy) or behavior (orthopraxis)?
  • Apply the 8 elements of religion from Week 1.
• Provide some cultural and historical context for the religious tradition of your conversation partner. (It is important that you do some research before you have your conversation so that you are able to ask informed questions that come from genuine interest.) Make sure you use citations in your discussion of what you learned from your research.
• Compare your partner’s beliefs and practices to your own religious upbringing and/or current practice. This is to be done in the report not as a debate with your partner.
• Conclude with your personal reaction to this experience and any additional questions that came up after your conversation. Be kind!

This is a formal academic paper so pay careful attention to the basics of writing a good English composition.

Writing Requirements (APA format)

• Length: 1000-1200 words (not including title page or references page)
• 1-inch margins
• Double spaced
• 12-point Times New Roman font
• Title page
• References page (minimum of 1 scholarly source)

Solution:

Interview Essay

Since time immemorial, many scholars have regarded to be among the most ambiguous characteristics of human beings.  According to Molly (2013), there exists a wide range of religions, which considerably shape the cultures and the way of lives of people.  Although the role of religion in the lives of people is imperative, Daley (2014) has articulated that most people usually find it uncomfortable to discuss topics related to religion.  However, discussing religion is pivotal in understanding various religion aspects.  On this basis, this paper seeks to report a religious discussion with my partner who is a Muslim in an attempt to have a deeper understanding of the Islamic religion.

As aforementioned, the religious belief of my partner is Islam. Taking this into consideration, the application of the eight elements of religion is fundamental when it comes to understanding Islam.  Peach and Vertovec (2016) posit that the Islam religion can be explained through the “Six Articles of Faith”. This is where the Muslims believe in only one God (Allah) who is considered eternal, omniscient, as well as omnipresent.  Understandably, the origin of Islam can be described from a psychological point of view. Precisely, in line with the idea of Freud Sigmund, religion is usually as a result of the unconscious mind. Freud considered God as an illusion that is based on the infantile need of people for a powerful figure. Therefore, from his perspective, religion is necessary owing to the fact that it helps people in society in restraining violent impulses.  As such, on this basis, Muslims want to feel secure all the time and this explain why they believe in Allah, a powerful father figure (Van der Noll & Saroglou, 2015). Muslims believe that God plays a huge role in helping them overcome a wide range of life challenges.  The beliefs of my conversational partner are in line with these beliefs. She believes that God (Allah) is the provider, and she always looks at him in difficult situations.  On the basis…..Please click http://writers-corp.net