Abstract
An analysis of Jung's work, "Flying Saucers" and the films "Signs" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" in relation to the issues they bring to light about religion and faith in general. The paper questions what makes people believe and uses the sources to answer this. The author concludes that belief is based on many factors, including personal experience, imagination, upbringing and education.

From the Paper
"The word "faith" is a term that often appears in conversations about both religion and the existence of life elsewhere in the universe. By definition, "faith" can be explained as the belief something that cannot be proven rationally by logic or evidence. Many people, however, who adhere to a religion might argue that religious texts, tenets, or a personal relationship with a deity gives sufficient evidence to factually prove their religion. This same trend applies to those who claim to have seen alien life forms; these people may have physical evidence or photographs that seem to have no other explanation except contact with alien beings. Why, then, is the existence of aliens not accepted as general fact? Why, along the same line of reasoning, is there not just one, true, fundamental religion? The answer lies in faith."

Tags:alien, aliens, close, encounters, extraterrestrial, faith, fiction, flying, jung, kind, religion, saucers, science, shyamalan, signs, spielberg

Abstract
This paper is basically concerning the importance of making religious subjects compulsory in schools. This report analyzes the pros and cons of it. It discusses that doing so would benefit those children who lack religious knowledge. This report also includes the guidelines in public school for teaching of religion.

Introduction
The Meaning of Religious Education
The Importance of Religious Education
Against Religious Obligation
Guidelines in Public Schools for Teaching Religion
Teaching about Religion in Public Schools
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Education plays an incredibly significant part in humanist notion. We suppose that it is the responsibility of every society to make the future enhanced than the present. Education is an asset, not merely or even mostly in a narrow financial sense but also communally as well as ethically. It should endeavor to accomplish as a minimum three basic tasks, the expansion of talents in addition to skills; the development of freedom of thought; and the development in ethical and communal behavior. It is also necessary that children must be trained in a relaxed, pleasant atmosphere to promote them to love as well as be loved, to enjoy a societal life."

Tags:education, religous, subjects

Abstract
This paper contends that, by ignoring the political implications of religion in his book "The End of Faith", Sam Harris oversimplifies the social and political impact of religion. The author points out that Harris and other secularists see religion waning in the face of the impending wave of modernity and technology, but the reality is that religion and modernity are not mutually exclusive. The paper stresses that Harris' inferred conclusion, which is that more secular Western societies are further advanced as civilizations and that Eastern civilizations are inferior, would wreak havoc on the global political arena.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
The Failure to Fix Religion
Religion's Debt to Secularism

From the Paper
"An interesting case study of this commitment is the way women have faired in Islamic societies. Harris would be surprised to learn of the positive attitude towards Islam of what he calls "improbable creatures scurrying about in shrouds." Islam is actually empowering to the downtrodden. Women have the "potential...to shape the community's moral discourses... through their interpretation of Islam." Islam is not, as Harris argues, a monolithic religion dictating all of the actions and beliefs of its adherents. It does not corrupt the tenets of Islam for women to extrapolate from the Koran ..."

Tags:oversimplification, modernity, exclusion, secularization, norms

Abstract
This paper explains that having faith in religious terms means believing in the presence of a greater force or forces. Faith in Buddhism, the author points out, means believing that the Buddha is the Awakened Being as a teacher of utmost capabilities, that his spiritual doctrine Dharma is the truth and that his followers Sangha are the rightly guided. Whereas, the paper continues, in Catholicism, faith is the belief in the ascension of an individual to the truths taught through the scriptures and traditions of the Church and the belief in the Holy Trinity as a premise that must be accepted without doubt.

Table of Contents:
What is Faith?
Faith and Belief
Faith in Religion
Buddhism
Faith and Belief in Buddhism
Limitations in Buddhism
Catholicism
Faith and Belief in Catholicism
Distortion of Faith
My Experience: A Comparison of Buddhism and Catholicism

From the Paper
"While you know that such action causes such event, you cannot be entirely sure as to whether this will change in the future. Faith means choosing to believe and to despite the fact that there may be doubt that that a proposition is true. Wanting to believe does not lead to faith.
"While faith feeds from belief, it is not wholly dependent upon it. Faith also includes trust, and trust often does not involve past proof, but rather a general expectation of behavior or action."

Tags:belief, greater force, tradition miscommunication

Abstract
This paper explains that belief in science and faith in religion are based on two distinct sets of validations and logic that are thought by some people to be incompatible but not by other people. Next, the author underscores that evidence is the primary support of belief in science; whereas, faith over evidence is stressed through religious doctrine. The paper concludes that, until science is able to disprove the existence of a creator, the rift between the faith of religion and the empiricism of science is likely to continue for some people.

From the Paper
"Religion, at its very heart, is based on faith and therefore defies evidence. Religion is a personal matter. As John Polkinghorne offers, "the God of Christian theology is a personal God." While scientists may be described as pragmatic realists, philosophers are less exacting or sure of reality. Individuals might choose to believe in God just as they may choose to belief in Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, or UFO's. Such examples may seem trite; however, they do make the point that many atheists contend is the reason to reject religion. Blind faith in a certain set of issues, such as a particular religion, justifies faith in other illusions which also confound science's ability to prove.
"Such an understanding of religion might assign it cultural value that is distinct from the understandings and empiricism of science. For example, religion has been demonstrated to particularly proscribe specific modes of working, eating, and interrelating with fellow human beings. Such principles may simply be the result of a society's acceptance of a certain morality. Many religious individuals fear that adherence to atheism involves no moral support. This too is false, as the majority of atheists are able to live and believe in a moral order."

Tags:validity, justification, personal, pragmatic, atheists

Abstract
This paper looks at two Connecticut Roman Catholic churches (St. Joseph's Church and Holy Rosary Parish), and how their design reflects the faith of the religion. The paper examines how the form of the architecture follows the function of the religion.

From the Paper
"It is often thought that perhaps even the earliest forms of art are a direct expression of divine faith. Certainly some of the most beautiful masterpieces in the world were religious devotions rather than simply beautiful images. When we think of art as an expression of faith, we are immediately reminded of the beautiful statues of the Greek and Roman gods, numerous representations of the Madonna and of course Michelangelo's ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. A more common expression of faith through art however is..."

Tags:roman, catholic, art

Abstract
This paper examines the impact of religion on American society, tracing the development of insular outlooks to the acceptance of diversity of faiths in the US. The paper also addresses secularism in America, noting that American society, with regard to faith is one of a cyclical nature, where secularism challenges the faithful and then the faithful respond with what would seem a fervor of conservatism. The paper also discusses the role of Christian religious identity as an expression of being American. A chart indicates the breakdown of Christian denominations in the US. Additionally, the paper describes the role of prayer in American religiosity. The paper concludes by noting the many challenges in America to make and remake its religious faith.


Outline:

Ignorance of Other Religions before WWII
Impact on U.S. Society
Theology
Political/Atheism
Impact on Judaism on Christianity
All Men Created Equal
Religious Nation under All
List of Various Religions
When did U.S. Religiosity Begin?
Founding Fathers
Fundamentalism
Prayer in Daily Life

From the Paper
"The rise of political atheism largely began as a current of the cold war, as communism brought to America a sense of fear associated with a rejection of religion. Communism was largely dubbed as evil due to the fact that it espouses that religion is an unnecessary aspect of civil society in almost the same thread as it rejects capitalism and individualism. All of these issues made communism a perceived threat to American culture, which became hunted in much the same way as heresy had in the past. Though the separation of church and state were seen as nominally good the reality is that most Americans viewed a completely secular society as a dangerous premise. (Lippy, 1994, p. 195) Secularism in politics was seen as acceptable only to a point as the individual might be expected to refrain from overt attempts to witness to his or her constituency from his own interpretation of faith he was still very much expected to have a faith and a Christian faith at that. "

Tags:secularism, faith, Protestant, theology

Abstract
In this article, the writer examines Hume's views on religion with specific reference to the notion that the existence of God may be proved. With reference to the essay "Of a Particular Providence and of a Future State", the essay shows how Hume refutes the "argument from design". The writer shows how the conclusion that God's existence has been proved leads to paradoxes, specifically in relation to "cause and effect" and providence, leading Hume to conclude that the existence of God is purely a matter of faith. The writer also shows how Hume's epistemology is also based on faith, and therefore his version of empirical skepticism is properly called "mitigated skepticism". Finally, the writer shows how Hume's agnosticism is consistent with his statements regarding religion.

From the Paper
"In this sense any thing that is at first thought to be a miracle must be properly termed 'a new experience' only. In his philosophy of empirical skepticism Hume points out that we cannot declare anything to be a physical law, because any such law can only describe past experience, and the unexpected may always take place. But the unexpected still takes place according to natural law, and it is illogical to believe that the latter can be transgressed.
"Hume's arguments are not against faith, but against dogmatism in the name of faith. Faith indeed is the underpinning of all Hume's philosophy, though not in the theological sense."

Tags:existence of God mitigated skepticism faith agnosticism epistemology

Abstract
This paper considers the nature of faith healing in today's society and traces its development through a belief in shamanism in traditional societies, noting how religion and medicine are often fused, with the religious leader also being the medicine man who knows the secrets of healing. Christians have faith in the healing power of prayer and depict Jesus as a healer as well.

From the Paper
"Religion and medicine have had a long relationship. In modern times, the two are often at odds, with some believing more in faith than in science and others taking the opposite view. In traditional societies, religion and medicine are often fused, with the religious leader also being the medicine man who knows the secrets of healing. Christians have faith in the healing power of prayer and depict Jesus as a healer as well. Certain groups place a greater emphasis on faith than medicine, such as Christian Scientists, who do not take their health issues to doctors but to God."

Tags:faith, healing, shamanism

Abstract
A comprehensive analysis of the legality of parents denying their children access to health care on the basis of their involvement in a "faith healing" religion such as Christian Science or Faith Tabernacle. The paper explains that for some residents of the United States, traditional medicine is not religiously acceptable in the face of sickness. On the contrary, these residents are so strongly against medicine that they will not even allow their children to see a doctor if they suffer from life threatening illnesses. It discusses how many followers of these religions are denying the use of traditional medicine and joining a movement that shies from what society considers the norm for treating sickness by putting their belief in God's ability to heal their family's illnesses. The paper argues however, that parents' religious convictions about the disuse of any type of medicine for their children should not be allowed as a legal means of denying their children this medicine because these convictions often cause the needless deaths and suffering of many children whom medical care would have helped.

From the Paper
"For centuries America has debated to what extent church and state should be separated. More recently the argument about the disuse of medical treatment for religious reasons and the resulting deaths of the children of certain religious organization's followers has arisen. Since the seventeenth century when settlers came to America to escape religious persecution and seek religious freedom, the issue of separation of church and state has been in debate (Council 1). However, not all religions were given equal rights before the Bill of Rights was created: in Boston anyone preaching outside the established church could be fined or banned from the settlement (Weiss 11). Also, in areas that practiced South Anglicanism, those who spoke out against the Christian faith were sentenced to death (Weiss 11). However, the first amendment to the American Bill of Rights, which was passed in September of 1789, changed these discriminatory practices on a federal level and caused less religious discrimination to occur (Weiss 31). This amendment states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" (Bartlett 3). This amendment did not, however, guarantee the protection of United States citizens from state religious discrimination; but the fourteenth amendment, which was passed at a later date, did (Weiss 32). Opponents for and against parents' rights to deny their child medical care based on religious convictions are eager to solve the question of the relationship of church and state and the necessity of parents to obtain medical care as required by state governments. This issue has thus become a pressing argument that must be solved quickly because many children's lives are at stake."

Tags:abuse, children, christian, faith, healing, illness, law, medicine, science, tabernacle