STAB 2019

Willow : Why did the Ka'bah fall into misuse? Wasn't it always a sacred place? Why misuse it? Jack A. : Why do Muslims fast during Ramadan? Berra : The Qur'an says that you should always listen to your parents, but what if your parents tell you to do something that goes against Islam? Case  and  Brody : Why do more Muslims follow Sunni than Shia Islam? Chloe P.B. : How do Muslims imagine Paradise? Parker : Why are Muslims not allowed to eat pork? Jamez : Why do most people in the USA  speak with English but write numbers with Arabic ? Layla : Would Muslim women who wear the niqab all the time look down on/think unkindly of those who only wear a hijab to worship? Malcolm : Many scriptures of Islam have patterns very similar to Anglo-Saxon patterns (like the ones in The Domesday Book ). Why? Nicole : I noticed that there are three religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism) that have a lot in common with ceremonies, how they eat food, and being monotheistic. So why ca...

Today, as a follow-up to last night's History Video, we talked about the advantages and disadvantages of structuring a society as a theocracy . The students generally agreed with America's approach: t he separation of church and state . The students also read several passages from the sacred text of Islam: the Qur'an . One passage says the following: "Truthfully, with every burden comes a blessing." Working with Trey and Henry, Isabelle V. had a wonderful insight about this passage. She noticed a similarity between the quote and the Prayer of St. Francis -- a Christian prayer that we sometimes read during Chapel.  Specifically, she said that the quote from the Qur'an reminded her of this language from the Prayer of St. Francis, which also shows that good things can come from the bad:  "Where there is darkness, let us sow light. Where there is sadness, joy." What a beautiful (and insightful) connection between the two religions, Isabelle!

Here is a map of the Middle East, on which you can see the locations of Iran and Saudi Arabia . Although Iran is an Islamic theocracy and Saudi Arabia is also an Islamic theocracy, they are rivals (in other words, they do not always get along with each other). One reason for their rivalry is that the majority of Iranians are Shiite Muslims, whereas the majority of Saudi Arabians are Sunni Muslims.  Next week, I will give you a brief introduction to the differences between Shiites and Sunnis. 

Today we began our examination of the religion of Islam by looking at several images and discussing what we noticed and what we wondered . Sofia noticed that one spire is gold and ends in a crescent shape, similar to the moon-shape symbol associated with Islam. She wondered if people were inside worshipping, when this photo was being taken. Liam J. ,  Hannah  and  Case  also noticed the crescent-shaped object at the top of the golden spire, and they wondered what this object means or symbolizes. Xavier noticed that the building resembles a king's castle ( Colby also noticed this resemblance), and he wondered if the building is old or new. Chloe M.  noticed the interesting architecture of the building, with its combination of rounded domes and pointy towers. Caden , Landon and Anna noticed that these men are washing their faces, hands and feet. They wondered why they are doing this and whether there is a religious reason. Brody  and  Cadigan...

The students have learned that each of the major religions incorporates the idea of pilgrimage : taking a journey to a sacred place, in order to more fully understand the religion or to feel closer to God. There are several places in India to which Buddhists take pilgrimages. The most famous is the village of Bodh Gaya , to visit the banyan tree where the Buddha achieved enlightenment. --------------------- The students are continuing to ask fascinating questions about Buddhism: Caden : I learned at my old school that some Buddhist monks take a vow of silence. If they cannot speak, how do the monks show good manners, like saying " thank you "?  [Mr. Richmond: Caden is correct; some Buddhist monks do promise not to speak, so that they can focus all of their mental energy on the Eightfold Path. I love Caden's intriguing question about manners!] Carter : Why do Buddhists highlight all the bad things in the world even if they want them to stop? (They seem to remind people of ...

While reading about Buddhism, several students noticed that there seems to be an emphasis on rules . This led to some great questions: Colby : Why do Buddhist monks have to follow so many rules?  Nicole : Why do Buddhists have so many rules about being free? Shouldn't being free mean no rules? Trey : How strict are Buddhists about the rule against taking drugs? Are they allowed to take medicine like Advil and Tylenol? Other students, meanwhile, wondered about the Buddha's decision to leave his family: Ryan : When the Buddha left the palace and became a holy man, what did his wife and his son think? Did they support him? James A. : Did the Buddha say goodbye to his wife and son? Rowen  and  Henry : Did the Buddha ever regret leaving his family? Kemper : Is the Buddha the only person who has achieved nirvana ? If there are other people: do they just say that they reached nirvana, or did they actually achieve it like the Buddha? How do you know that a person has really reac...

Today we began to study our fourth religion: Buddhism . Buddhism is sometimes called a "philosophy" rather than a religion, since many Buddhists choose not to focus on the question of whether god (or another higher power) exists. In this class, though, we are going to classify Buddhism as a religion. ------------ The Buddha was very interested in the topic of suffering. He asked a number of deep questions: Why do people and other creatures suffer? Is it possible to escape from suffering? How can humans lessen the amount of suffering in the world? To begin thinking about these questions, I posed a couple of "thought questions" to the students today. They came up with fantastic responses: Question #1: What would you think if you saw a bird eat a worm? How would you feel? Would you do anything? Dylan : I like the idea of a bird eating a worm because it reminds me of nature. Sure, I feel bad for the worm, but whenever I see a bird eat one it makes me feel calm. And, sin...

Today the students worked in small groups to ponder a series of deep questions about Christianity. Chloe Z., Colby, Chloe M.  and  Justin tackled the challenging question of why God -- who is supposed to be loving and kind -- allows people to suffer . The group's discussion was absolutely fascinating, and here's a summary from  Chloe Z. : Suffering is as natural as happiness. It makes us appreciate the good things more. It's actually what makes us have happiness, since happiness is only there when it's compared to suffering.   A lot of suffering is caused by death, and that is only to make way for the living.   Also, I think the amount of suffering differs between people because god wants the world to be interesting and have different things. And after all, when you die heaven makes up for your sufferings. Octavia, Adam, Logan  and  Isabelle  also had a great conversation about this difficult topic. Here is Octavia's perspective: I think that so...

I hope that you'll enjoy Marin, Cabria  and  Eliza's interview of Qin Shihuangdi!

In the next couple of weeks, I will be showing you more of the videos that your classmates created for the Battle of the Ancient Civilizations . To that end, I hope that you will enjoy this gem of a song crafted by Dylan, Carson, Meg  and  Berra . While watching the video, you will notice that the background stunts provide some comic relief ( Meg , I hope that you didn't hurt yourself on that amazing, acrobatic fly-over!!).  However , it is Dylan and Carson's clever lyrics about Egyptian geography, technology, and religion that really stood out to me. Enjoy !