11-C Catch-up Day: CR#4 Scores - Ongoing and Updated & CR#5 Prompt from Wonhyuk

Below is Wonhyuk's choice material for CR#5 - and indeed, we have another good one.  I'm glad I've handed over the reins to you guys.  If this doesn't get you in the mood to argue and debate, nothing will.  So, on to our first conversation about religion.

Is the video below one sided?  It certainly is, but essentially what it's done is taken a story from the bible and translated it literally to exaggerated images.  But how exaggerated are they?  Angry bears eating children are angry bears eating children.

When I was young, I was raised until the age of 7 to be Christian, until my parents phased themselves out of churchgoing.  For a young family, it was helpful for them to go to church and enjoy a support network.  I had some good memories of Sunday school, but among those I do recall thinking that a lot of this stuff sounded a bit absurd, and I was confused by it.  Noah's Ark?  200 year old men?  Why doesn't God talk to us anymore?  I could never get a straight answer.

My religious views align with Wonhyuk's somewhat closely, and while I do believe in "something" I don't believe we should assign human qualities to it, define it, or make rules for it.  It's a bit sad that in this day and age we still need religion as an excuse to get together with other people and "do something good."  It's even sadder still when we get together and use it to do something horrible.  There are an infinite number of debate motions that can be derived from this material, and maybe a viewing of the documentaries "Religulous" or "30 Days of Islam" would help.  

Respond away - and the same goes to the other classes.  If it interests you, and you have 15 minutes you don't mind spending hitting the keyboard - tap away and get bonus marks!  This is what these CR's are for.

Without further adieu, I give you Mr. Lee:

I know religion is a very sensitive issue, but I really want to talk about it. I used to be an atheist, but now I just don't believe in any religion; but, I do have respect for every religion.  I believe religion itself can do many things - inspire people, change them, lead them to good. However, I dislike people who use religion for their own benefits. For example, in Korea, there are very many churches, and many rectors are more interested in fancy cars than their religion.  And I dislike when people are so one-sided that they cannot blend with other religions. The purpose of religion is to achieve enlightenment  -  not to follow every line it supposedly teaches. Chang Tzu said:

"Words are like a net. We use a net to catch fish. After we catch fish, we forget the net. Words are meant to communicate meaning. If meaning is understood, words themselves should be forgotten." 

The Bible is a good book. The Coran is a good book. Buddhism has great textbooks. However, believing every word and obeying every line is proposterous. As some character in some book stated (I cannot remember), the Bible on the next page completely contradicts the last. This is just a quote, and I do believe the Bible has great significance within it. However, if one wants to make something out of a religion, if one expects to live a meaningful life, one should not follow and believe every line. The purpose of a religion is not to kill and slaughter everybody else who believes otherwise. If so, religion was used only for a tool of war.

I'm sorry. It seems that I've criticized Christianity so much, but I do like and respect Christians.

Okay, and here are some questions for my CR. "What is your religion? And how can your beliefs be justified? What do you believe about other religions?" It simply means "state your opinion about religion."

I will introduce some videos. They are made by atheists, and I found them quite interesting.  I am not an atheist myself, by the way.

Interesting stuff.  Try and get this done before midterms. 

We are a bit behind, so please catch up and get these CR's out of the way.  Also, make sure I update them and have them in my records if you did, in fact, get a CR done.  Lateness will result in slight deductions, and please remember to include potential motions no matter what the CR is.  Everything is related to debate - even the 30 Days stuff.

 

11C – Wednesday	CR#4	CR#5
Zerus	9.2
Paralta	9.2
Tarsonis	9.5
Shakuras	9.5
Albion	9.2
Terran	9.2
Halcyon	9.0
Aridas	9.4
Cerebus	9.0
Maltair	0.0
Roxara	9.2