Senior Religious EducationYear 11 Semester Two

A Study Guide forChasing God

We are about to follow the mostelusive and most controversial figure inrecorded history. Known about in everycountry of the world and hotly debatedin every language under the sun, no onehas been so passionately argued aboutor so fiercely defended.

For many people, a belief in Godis a significant aspect of their lifeexperience, defining their individualidentity and their search for meaning.Such a belief allows people toexplain the nature of existenceand the purpose of human life.It guides people’s personal andcommunal behaviour and plays animportant part in maintaining andshaping cultures. Three-quartersof the world’s population believein a Higher Power, yet there is nouniversally accepted concept of thismysterious being. Chasing God offersa contemporary and challengingexploration of religious belief.Through interviews with religiousleaders from diverse faiths, scientists,atheists, anthropologists andthe devout, Chasing God offers aprovocative discussion of God’s placeand purpose. The documentary takesus to places of worship where peopleof faith invoke the divine. Thesescenes of belief are juxtaposed withscenes of unrest and destructionthat allow the filmmakers to explorewhether God is still relevant intoday’s harsh world.

Mini-inquiry package for Religion and Life

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Watch on Clickview Exchange @ https://online.clickview.com.au/exchange/videos/31d25960-bf09-3845-b404-542006060b43

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Teacher Notes‘Chasing God’ is a documentary in 6 sections preceded by an introduction. In the DVD version each section can be selected separately from a menu.

Introduction1. God: a relentless search2. God: reality or imagination3. God: a most controversial role4. God: up close and personal5. God: a slippery character6. God: the final piece / peace

A mini-inquiry has been designed for each section.

The use of the documentary and the inquiry package is at the teacher’s discretion. The material will be enhanced by expository lessons, discussions, guest lectures and writing. Wider reading and research will be beneficial and is encouraged. Whole class activities which stimulate interest through debate or which allow the sharing of information are also encouraged.

The DVD runs for 52 minutes. It is suitable for secondary students. It is exempt from classification but the distributors recommend a G rating.

The following table indicates how the DVD links to the Catholic Content

Catholic Content for Units 1A and 2A Sections

People search for meaning and purpose in life People seek, sense and think about God

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 All people are capable of being religious

2, 5, 6 Genuine religious experiences affect people

4, 6Catholics believe that the search for meaning finds fulfillment only by knowing and relating to God

The human heart finds fulfillment in God4, 5, 6

Conscience is the source of true religious yearnings1, 3, 6

Catholics believe that God continuously reaches out to all people

People discover God through creation and the goodness of others1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

People discover God through awareness of personal mystery4, 5, 6

People find and express their religious search through religions1, 5, 6

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Christians enter into a dialogue with other religions

The Church helps people develop their experience of God

CreditsMany of the questions have been taken from the Australian Teachers Of Media on-line study guide written by Katy Marriner. This can be accessed as a pdf at: http://www.roninfilms.com.au/feature/2395132651.html. Permission has been given to use this material. The ATOM website and Education Shop website are listed below. Access these websites for more film resources.http://www.metromagazine.com.au

http://www.theEducationShop.com.au

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ProfilesThe following prominent leaders represent atheism, anthropology, religion, science and meditation. The interviews were filmed on location in India, Israel, Palestine, Italy, U.S.A. and Australia.

Anthropology Richard Heinberg, San Francisco, U.S.A. (Award-winning Author and Lecturer)

Atheism  Phillip Adams, Sydney, Australia. (Broadcaster, Columnist, Commentator, Awarded Order of Australia in 1987)

Buddhism  Geshe Sonam Rinchen, Dharamsala, India. (Senior Teacher at the Dalai Lama Temple and International Lecturer on Tibetan Buddhism)

Christianity  Cardinal Francis Arinze, Vatican City, Europe. (President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue)

   Padre Enzo Fortunato, Assisi, Italy. (Spokesman for the Franciscan Order)

   Reverend Rowena Curtis, Melbourne, Australia. (Pastor of the Baptist Church)

Hinduism  Shri 1008 Jagadguru Dr. Chandrashekhar Shivacharya Mahaswamiji, Varanasi, India.

Islam  Imam Sheikh Yahya Safi, Sydney, Australia. (Imam of Lakemba Mosque and Director of Da’wah and Fatwah office)

Judaism  Rabbi David Rosen, Jerusalem, Israel. (Director of the Anti-Defamation League)

Meditation  Dadi Prakashmani & Dadi Gulzar, Mount Abu, India. (Chief Administrators of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, Recipient of the International Peace Messenger Award from the United Nations)

Science  Professor Ian Johnston, Sydney, Australia. (Associate Professor, School of Physics, The University of Sydney)

Sikhism  Gyani Puran Singh Ji, Amritsar, India. (Spiritual and temporal head of the Sikhs at the Golden Temple)

Sufism  Sufi Sheikh Abdelsalaam Menasre, Nazareth, Israel / Palestine. (Sufi of the Quiderit Order)

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Before viewing the documentaryTask:

1. Research one or more belief system or discipline from the list on the previous page and share your information with the class.

2. Research the number of adherents for each group:a) In the world b) In Australia

IntroductionNarrator: We are about to follow the most elusive and most controversial figure in recorded history. Known about in every country of the world and hotly debated in every language under the sun, no one has been so passionately argued about or so fiercely defended.

The very existence of this figure has never been proven even though people seek a higher power in some way, every hour of every day, somewhere on the planet.

Task:

Watch the introduction but beforehand, read questions below. You may need to watch the introduction more than once in order to collect the information to adequately answer the questions.

1. Comment on the pronoun used for ‘God’ by each of the speakers in the introduction.

2. A ‘generalisation’ is a sweeping statement such as ‘everybody believes in love.’ What generalisations are made by the narrator in the introduction?

3. Seven religions are shown at prayer. Arrange the religions, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, Meditation and Sikhism in the order in which they first appear (this could be a whole class exercise).

4. The following statements about God are made in the introduction. What claims best describe your understanding of God? Do you disagree with any claim? Are there any that are difficult to understand?

• There are some things he can do that we cannot do• He is beyond human comprehension.• There are diverse ways of relating to him.• I felt that he is my friend.• He might not exist at all.• He never experiences sorrow.• Whoever searches for him, will find him.• He must be dead.

http://www.theage.com.au/tv/Documentary/Chasing-God-4200503.html

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1 God: a relentless searchNarrator: Nothing has baffled us human beings more than the meaning of life.

Focus Question: Why do people look for God?

Task:

Make notes of the reasons offered by the religious leaders and experts interviewed in this section. A table like the one below could be useful.

Francis Cardinal Arinze

Professor Ian Johnstone

Rabbi David Rosen

Dadi Gulzar

Phillip Adams

Questions

1. Based on the views of several religious leaders, why do people look for God? (short paragraph)

2. Should we chase God or should we let God chase us? What do you think would be the consensus of the religious leaders above?

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2 God: reality or imaginationNarrator: According to a worldwide religious census, there are approximately four-and-a-half billion people, living today, who believe in a Higher Power.

Focus Question: Is God real or imagined?

Task:

1. List the perspectives on both belief and doubt expressed by:

Rabbi David Rosen (Judaism)

Giani Puran Singh Ji (Sikhism)

Sheikh Yahya Safi (Sufism)

Phillip Adams (Atheism)

Professor Ian Johnston (Science)

Gese Sonam Rinchen (Buddhism)

2 Belief can be labeled as unquestioning belief, belief with reservations, elective believing or cultural believing. Use internet or print sources to define each type of belief.

3. Individuals may express belief in many ways. Religions commonly have the following elements as ways to express belief:Formal statements of belief (creeds)Myths and other storiesSacred texts and other religious writingsOral and written codes of behaviourSacred signs and symbols

Sacred spacesSacred peopleSacred timeRituals,Social structures

Religious experience

As a class generate examples for each of these

Questions:

1. What factors influence belief in God?

2. How is belief affirmed?

3. How is belief challenged?

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The speakers appear in the order shown here.

Draw up a table for notes like the one on the previous page.

4. How is belief expressed in worship (as demonstrated on the DVD)?

5. How does belief in God shape the growth and transformation of communities (start with the school community)?

3 God: a most controversial roleNarrator: Throughout history and still now, atheist and believers alike have questioned God’s apparent indifference. Their voices may be varied but their questions are the same: Where is God now? How can He or She let this happen? These are some of humanity’s most persistent and heartfelt questions.

Focus Question: Why does God let bad things happen?

Task:

Atheist Phillip Adams contends that if God was real He (or She) would intervene to prevent human suffering. Rabbi David Rosen and Cardinal Arinze contend that humans cause the suffering because they do not use their God-given freedom properly. Listen to their arguments and note any points made by the other speakers. The order of appearance is as follows (some appear more than once):

Phillip Adams (Atheism)Rabbi David Rosen (Judaism)Francis Cardinal Arinze (Christian)Gese Sonam Rinchen Buddhism)Shri 1008 Jagadguru Dr Chandrashekhar Shivacharya Mahaswamji (Hindu)Sufi Sheikh Abdelsalaam Menasre (Sufi)Reverend Rowena Curtis (Christian)Phillip Adams (Atheism)Richard Heinberg (Anthropology)Dadi Prakashmani (Meditation)Richard Heinberg (Anthropology)Phillip Adams (Atheism)

Questions:

1 What is meant by ‘free will’?

2 How can God’s presence be seen in the ways people work to challenge inhuman and unjust conditions?

3 Is it wrong to depend on God in times of great need?

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4 God: up close and personalNarrator: In the end the existence of a Higher Power is either a universal truth or a mass delusion. In the absence of any veritable proof, what we are left with are personal experiences.

Focus Question: How is the existence of God experienced personally?

Task:

Listen to the personal experiences of God by the following and note those whose experience has been one of God’s direct intervention (e.g. being protected from death):

Sufi Sheikh Abdelsalaam Mensare (Sufi)

Dadi Gulzar (Meditation)

Giani Puran Singh Ji (Sikhism)

Padre Enzo Fortunato (Christianity)

Pastor Rowena Curtis (Christianity)

Dadi Prakashmani (Meditation)

Iman Sheikh Yahya Safi (Islam)

Francis Cardinal Arinze (Christianity)

Phillip Adams (Atheism)

Gese Sonam Rinchem (Buddhism)

Questions:

1. Are personal experiences enough proof of God’s existence?

2. Religious people have a sense that there is something beyond the ordinary experiences of life and that this something gives purpose to life. Give one example of this from the personal experiences to which you have listened.

3. Consider all the personal experiences of God you have heard and give a summary statement of what these tell you about God’s revelation.

Narrator: But others have simply given up on God.

4. Listen to Phillip Adams’ story of giving up on God. What do you think is Adams’ understanding of revelation (how God is revealed)?

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5 God: a slippery characterNarrator: This Higher Power is depicted in as many different ways as imagination will allow. From a bearded old man, to an all-seeing eye in the sky, to a simple, living point of light. As yet there is no one universally accepted image of God.

Focus Question: What does God look like?

Task:

1. Listen to the perceptions of God’s identity made by the following speakers (appearing in the order given). Show by a tick next to the speaker’s name those statements that agree with your perception of God’s identity. Show by a cross those statements you don’t agree with and show by a question mark those you are not sure about.

Phillip Adams (Atheism)

Reverend Rowena Curtis (Christianity)

1008 Jagadgura Chanrashekhar (Hinduism)

Rabbi David Rosen (Judaism)

Iman Sheikh Yahya Safi (Islam)

Professor Ian Johnston (Science)

Dadi Gulzar (Meditation)

2. Richard Heinberg presents a theory of how belief in one God (monotheism) developed. Complete the pyramid diagram shown in the DVD.

3. The DVD illustrates the different names for God on a large jigsaw. These names include, Shiva, Yahweh, Supreme Soul, Ram. Add to the list.

Question:

Reverend Rowena Curtis says, ‘I think it would be very difficult for it not to be the same One.’ How can one God satisfy all the different perceptions of different religions?

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6 God: the final pieceNarrator: For thousands of years in thousands of ways we have searched for the truth about God and despite times of confusion and acts of humanity God remains alive in the consciousness of human kind continually inspiring hope for our future.

Focus Question: What would convince people of the existence of God?

Task:

Listen to the comments of the following people on their hopes for the future:

Richard Heinberg (Anthropology)

Rabbi David Rosen (Judaism)

Shri 1008 Jagadguru Dr Chandrashekhar (Hinduism)

Rabbi David Rosen (Judaism)

Dadi Gulzar (Meditation)

Reverend Rowena Curtis (Christianity)

Questions:

1. The DVD asks, ‘How will God make an appearance at the end of time?’ What answers do the religious leaders and experts have in common?

2. What would convince Richard Heinberg of the existence of God?

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Comments on Chasing GodTaken from http://www.teachers.tv/video/23961

Task:

Read the comments on the video and respond to the questions that follow each comment.

Submitted by spaceman11 on January 6, 2008 - 20:59.Good resource for year 11 after their Mock exam, in order to clear their minds a bit about Believing in God - a rather hard and unthinkable subject for some of them...

The only thing I still wonder about in relation to this video is the Christian approach to this subject, which I don't think was exploited and researched to its best.

But thanks for creating it, as it's a very good starting point of a debate!

Questions:

1. What is ‘rather hard and unthinkable’ about ‘Believing in God’?

2. What do you think the commentator meant by ‘…the Christian approach … which I don’t think was exploited and researched to its best.’?

3. ‘…it’s a very good starting point of a debate.’ What would you see as the question for a debate?

I enjoyed this and think itSubmitted by Jo Pearce on January 12, 2008 - 17:07.I enjoyed this and think it is a useful resource for schools. I wonder if the atheists were a bit outnumbered!

Question:

1. What do you think is the case for more atheists to be represented?

A bit too pro-faith Submitted by Ricardohos on January 20, 2008 - 11:33.Not a bad resource on the topic. I found myself wishing there had been far more on the other side of the fence. Reeling off pro-faith clips in stuccato fashion doesn't make them any more persuasive as arguments, and it would have been good therefore to hear much more from non-theists, or perhaps those who have lost faith in God - there were only occasional flashes of them. Some of the treatment of topics like suffering was also trite. Theodicy is not simply about human evil and freedom, and a complex topic ended up reduced to soundbites.

The music is particularly irritating. Tinkling away in the background in order, presumably, to make one feel the numinous it was so over-done, and so inappropriately applied, that in the end it made me feel the whole programme was manipulative. Which it isn't, really. It's not at all bad. It's just that it could have been a lot better.

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Questions:

1. Who or what is ‘…the other side of the fence…’?

2. In a video called ‘Chasing God’ is it unreasonable to have mostly ‘…pro-faith clips…’? Comment.

3. Did you feel manipulated by the background music? If so, how?

Chasing God and the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual UniversitySubmitted by bkwatch on May 5, 2008 - 18:57.Chasing God is a service device of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University made by followers who pictures feature about and whose deceased leader enjoys a flattering market placement amongst other religious leaders.

The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University are not a recognised university and have accreditation at all. They are a high demand and specifically millenarianist new religious movement whose teachings are based on mediumistic channelled messages from a spirit entity they believe is the God of all religions.

Amongst those teachings are the belief that time exists in a 5,000 year identically repeating cycle, the first half being a heaven on earth reserved entirely for its followers and that dinosaurs existed 2,500 years ago when "The Fall" of humankind happened and earth became a hell. Specifically, they believe that their yoga practise is bring on an imminent and desirable "Destruction" of humanity in which more than 6 Billion will die and the continents sink in order to make for a heaven for 900,000 of its faithful followers.

Their practise is not a classical Hindu practise and involved engage one's mind, body and wealth in a relationship with that channelled entity which they call BapDada.

Chasing God is a typical and well polished marketing piece used by the BKWSU that otherwise could have made a reasonably good light documentary. Central to its teachings is that all other religions are partial and incomplete memories of its practises and "Knowledge", the mediumistic message that are closely protected.

The BKWSU has issued a number of false predictions of "Destruction" including; WWII, 1950, 1976, mid-1980s and Year 2000 whilst continuing to accrue property and considerable wealth. £1 to 2 Million per year in the UK alone.

They charity was allegedly set up to "alleviate poverty".

Questions

1. Prior to reading this comment, did you have the impression that ‘Chasing God’ was ‘a service device’ for one particular religious group?

2. Having now read the comment do you think that ‘Chasing God is a typical and well polished marketing piece used by the BKWSU…’? Comment.

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