Why do you think religion is so important to so many people?

Answer each question completely and include the questions before each response.

1. Why do you think religion is so important to so many people?

2. Essential throughout most religions is a concept regarding ultimate bliss, immortality.  Why?

3. Of the three monotheistic religions discussed in the text—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—what similarities (besides the belief in one God) do you find?

4. Articulate the difference between religion and morality, and then comment on the role of morality in religion.

5. Briefly describe your earliest exposure to morality.

6. What role does self-worth play in one’s morality and, perhaps, even in one’s religion?

7. Explain the meaning of  Emerson’s famous statement in “Self-Reliance”: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”

8. Should the major role of art be to improve society? Why or why not?

9.  In “Meditation XVII,” John Donne says that God is the most important presence in our lives; in the poem “Hap,” Thomas Hardy rails against a universe in which either God is absent or unconcerned about human beings. Explain these differences.

10. Which idea or ideas from the “additional selections” for this module did you find most fascinating? Why? Supply very specific reasons.