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Developed by Eileen O'Connell, Tottenville High School; Vincenza Guiliano,
Tottenville High School; Judith Zampella, Susan Wagner High School; and
Vilicia Cade, Boys and Girls High School. 1998.
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Performance Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Compare and contrast beliefs of the "People of the Book" - Islam,
Christianity and Judaism
- Evaluate similarities and differences in beliefs of Hinduism, Buddhism
and Confucianism
Teacher's Note: It is important for students to comprehend that they are
talking about "religious" systems as well as "philosophical" systems. That
is why we prefer to use the express "belief systems." This mini-unit can
really be used to consolidate ideas related to beliefs through all the early
periods of man's history (as well as his/her pre-history). We have included
a wide range of documents , some of which will be unfamiliar to the student
while others may have already been read. When dealing with religions and
belief systems, it is important not to over-simplify the basic tenets of
each in an effort to generalize.
Materials
4 handouts - 9 copies of each for 34 students.
Suggested Strategies
Muslims call themselves "People of the Book." They also call Jews and
Christians "People of the Book." A comparison of the three religions of
the Middle East is very useful for students.
The student worksheet entitled Religion is an excellent motivator. All
of the quotations come from The Qur'an.
Creation stories are very useful for cross-cultural studies since
they are found in all cultures and many religions. Some very useful creation
stories are: Gilgamesh, the Japanese creation story, the Mayan story of
creation and, certainly, the story of Genesis.
The major belief systems go far back in time. Obviously, like other
ancient documents, they could not foretell the future. Nor were they aware
of the many instances religion/beliefs would be invoked in the succeeding
generations. A valid classroom exercise would be to examine the vibrancy
of each of these beliefs from an issue-centered perspective. Students
can select three or four contemporary issues and study how interpretation
has changed (or not changed) over time. Examples might be: role of women
in the workplace; the rights of inheritance in the Middle East; birth
control, contraception and abortion; terrorism.
Summary
The documents in this lesson can be used in a variety of ways. Some teachers
may want to use these as the basis for a group lesson while other teachers
may feel it is more effective to give each student a packet of documents
and maps. As a possible culminating activity, students might be asked
to construct a worksheet similar to "Belief Systems" included
here.
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