Diversity

PHIL. 250E World Religions: Beliefs & Values

This component of the LeADERS Program enables students to develop cultural awareness by examining cultural differences and concepts that impact individuals and society. In order to gain credit for completion of the Diversity component of the LeADERS Program, I enrolled in PHIL 250E – World Religions: Beliefs & Values.

The course consisted of acquiring familiarity with the basic teachings of a variety of religious traditions, East and West, as well as some of the major controversies within the traditions and between the traditions; the ability to critically examine the theology and ethics of the various traditions and make connections across religious lines; and a familiarity with the fundamental scriptures of each tradition and how they were constructed.

Right For A Women To Sue For A Divorce In The Muslim Religion

Professor James Van Dore assigned us to do a research paper with opposite arguments that had to be written to show an ethical issue that is occurring in different religions that are leading to some controversy or debate within religious studies. I was surprised that women in the Muslim religion were not able to divorce their husbands because in their beliefs only the husband can take that action. This was very saddening because women who wanted to leave an abusive relationship could not do anything.

In my paper, I came up with opposing positions on the issue which were that women in the religion need the right to divorce due that many Islamic women go through domestic violence and feel trapped in the relationship. As well, at a young age, Islamic women are married to their husbands leading to them suffering at a young age and not enjoying their youth. The other opposite argument was stating the reasons for women not having the right to divorce. In Islamic society, women have no right to divorce because many say it's the women's fault for not taking care of the husband correctly. Finally, it is because the husbands have all the control to proceed with a divorce. Overall, women in Islamic society are divided in half where some want divorce rights for specific circumstances and others do not want them because it's considered a sin. What is shocking is that Allah never denies divorcing and mentions that there is up to a third time to divorce leading that the Islamic women need their rights.

Reading Summary: Gilgamesh

Each week, students in the class had to read a short story and then write our own summary of the plot of the reading. Overall, explain what the reading says about the basic elements of the religion, especially its ethics. Gilgamesh focuses on the topic that human beings are meant to be on the land temporarily and that there is an afterlife beyond the earth that many humans should be able to go to.

The story shows to the readers that the gods in that religion knew that Gilgamesh could not cheat death. He could not do it because he is meant to live his life to the max and enjoy the time he has in the land. He was brought to life as a normal human being but did not become immortal because that is not his destiny. The morals that we see are that sooner or later people will pass away which is something you cannot avoid nor be scared of it because it is part of the life cycle. The life cycle exists so humans can reproduce which helps the population grow more and leave their mark in the world by leaving their sons or daughters that they personally brought to the world. From there the life cycle repeats again leading to dying and moving on to the afterlife.

Due to the work I’ve completed in this course and the instruction of Professor James Van Dore, I’ve been able to do the following:

Acquire a basic understanding of several foundational questions in one or more of the major areas of philosophy, e.g., metaphysics, epistemology, and value theory (including ethics).
Acquire a basic familiarity with the answers that diverse schools of philosophical or religious thought have proposed to foundational philosophical questions and the arguments with which they have supported these answers.
Acquire a facility with critical thinking and reasoning, especially concerning the construction and evaluation of arguments.

PHIL 250E has equipped me to use these skills above in the Cybersecurity field, especially where I want to help stop cyber predators from hurting children. I will be called upon to make many decisions in the field, and from learning appreciation and understanding of philosophical, religious, and ethical foundations it has prepared me to be informed, and make intelligent choices when it comes to a cyber case.

It has taught me to critically examine philosophy and ethical values and to understand how philosophical and ethical issues affect decision-making in professional disciplines.