STAB 2017

Today we learned that a " manor " refers to a medieval house (sometimes a castle, sometimes just a large house) where the lord and lady lived. Sometimes, the manor refers also to the land surrounding the house. Big thanks to Bella Grace for pointing out that the Harry Potter books include Malfoy Manor as one of the settings! Also, Mac and  Diego  taught us that medieval doctors were sometimes a bit dishonest about the condition of their patients. According to the story of Thomas in Good Masters , the doctor sometimes criticized his patient for waiting too long to ask for help ... knowing that this criticism would help the doctor whether the patient recovered or not ! After the prayer, let the patient rest And tell his family "I will do my best To fight this sickness, but I fear his fate - It may be that you called me too late." Then shake your head, look serious and wise -  This sort of talk protects you if he dies. If he recovers, it was all your skill That br...

Caroline, Whitley, John,  and  Waller (tweeting from the perspective of Jesus of Nazareth): Hammurabi's Code is not up to date. Get in your most humble state. #Hammurabi_is_not_up_to_code Lili B. has been thinking a lot about the meaning of art.  Today she told me her new theory: " The meaning doesn't come from the art itself.  The meaning comes from the story behind the art . "

Review Questions (challenge yourself by answering them without your notes, if you can!) 1. FILL IN THE BLANKS : To explain how the universe began, Muslims use a story that is quite similar to the stories told by ______________ and ______________. 2. What are the names of two countries where a significant number of people follow the religion of Islam? 3. Which ancient religious leader might have tweeted the following? Keep calm and meditate on. #Nirvana_here_I_come 4. What do Muslims call god? 5.  FILL IN THE BLANK : Because Buddhists do not focus on the question of whether god exists, some people say that Buddhism is a __________________ rather than a religion. 6. What do Buddhists believe happens to a person after he or she dies? 7. Who started Islam, and approximately when was he or she born? 8.  Which ancient religious leader might have tweeted the following? Sometimes the itsy bitsy spider is Allah you really need. #Spiders_are_religious_too 9. FILL IN THE BLANK : The Isla...

With thanks to Kalani and  Asa  for the beautiful sketches: which building is a Buddhist place of worship, and which one is a Muslim place of worship? And here are some great initial questions about Islam... Ellen ,  Ford ,  Mac and  Olivia : In a mosque, why do the women and men have to sit separately from each other, and why is the women's area so much smaller? Why do only the women have to cover their heads? Zara ,  Max  and  Diego : Why does Allah have 99 names? Is there a reason for there being one fewer than 100? If Muslims believe there's only one true God, why does he have so many names? Dylan : Would Muslims consider it rude to not use a prayer mat? Whitley : Which direction do Muslims face when they pray, if they are already in Mecca?

Alexa, Liv and Gabriel :  You can change the world in a week ... or even build one from scratch. #YAH!WHEY! Grant, Grace, Davis and JP  came up with a tweet that is particularly effective when it's performed by the group...

During class today, Mrs. Chapman (Ford's mother) gave a wonderful presentation about Sikhism .   She talked about her own family's experiences and helped us all to better understand Sikh beliefs and rituals. Thank you so much, Mrs. Chapman, for sharing your perspective with us today! This photo was snapped just before Ford and Waller corrected their dress code violation. Special guest Hank, on the other hand, was allowed to wear non-STAB outerwear.  Thanks for joining us Hank!!

Today the students imagined that some of the ancient religious leaders used Twitter (!). Working together, they wrote some very clever tweets, including these two from the perspective of Abraham: Dearing, Diego, Mac and Nathan : I made a covenant with God today, but it's hard to cover it in 140 characters. #character_limit Jack D., Elsa, Sam and Kendall : Choose your idol that's monotheistic, just don't be too artistic. #Follow_the_Ten_Commandments

During Friday's class, we talked briefly about the American classic The Sound of Music . Liam and Dylan were kind enough to share their very own rendition...

Kendall : Once you die, where do you go if you reached nirvana during your life? Bella Grace  and  Lydia : Has anyone else achieved nirvana, other than the Buddha? Is there anyone alive now who has achieved nirvana? How do you know if you (or someone else) achieved nirvana? Bjorn : If Buddha wanted to stop suffering, why would he have caused suffering by leaving his family? Joe : The Buddha was a Hindu. So why was he upset when the worm died, if Hindus (and Buddhists) believe in reincarnation? John : Why did the Buddha choose that particular fig tree to meditate underneath? By Wynter Ford ,  Grant  and  Carter V. : If Buddhists don't consider their founder (Buddha) to be God, why did they name the religion after him? If Buddhism isn't built on the idea of God, what exactly is it built on? Also, who do Buddhists pray to when they use the prayer flags? Alexa : Once you become a monk or a nun, can you "un-become" one? Kelsey, Andrew ,   and  Lilly B. ...

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: What would you think if you saw a bird eat a worm? How would you feel? Joey : I would feel sad, but I wouldn’t regret that worm being eaten. I feel this way because (1) if the bird didn’t eat the worm, then the bird would suffer a greater pain of starvation, and (2) it's in t...