Case Study!

On Wednesday, May 21^st, 2003 our World Religion class visited a total of 5 different temples of 5 different religions. These include a Mosque, a Buddhists temple, a Synagogue, a Hindu temple, and finally a Christian church. Each temple has its own kind of style and design which makes it very interesting. Some of which have a lot of statues and painting of god and goddesses, and some of the others would simple have only writings and words all around the building. The reason why some temples would not have statues or figures of the god/goddess is because they believe that god may not be seen or judge in a human way.

The first temple that we visited that day was an Islamic Mosque. The outside of the building was not so interesting; however, the inside of the building was full of writings and paintings of significant places. At first we waiting for several minutes for the imam to come and speak to us, but while waiting we around the Mosque and looked at the different paintings and scriptures on the wall. When the imam arrived, he talked about a bit of the history and background of Islam, and as well what they believe in and rituals that they perform. Afterwards, students and teachers in the group asked the imam question about the religion, questions such as why does people put their heads on the mud blocks when they pray. And the answer was because Muslims believe that human came from the earth according to the Qur’an, and instead of praying outside in the opening they bring the earth inside using these mud blocks. After out tour at the Mosque we then move on to out next destination, the Buddhists temple.

Once again at the Buddhists temple, our class looked around before the nun arrived at the temple to speak to us about Buddhism. When the nun arrived, she like the other leaders of the temples talks to us a bit about the background information about Buddhism. However, instead of just telling us these background information, she was more asking us question to see how much we know about Buddhism. Then we had out little question section and we moved on to a tour around the temple and looked at the different Buddha figures and the rituals that Buddhists perform. After looking at the Buddhists temple, we thanked the nun and moved on with our journey to the Synagogue.

Unlike the other temples, at the Synagogue we didn’t really have the chance to look around the temple. We basically sat at the chapel and listened to the speaker talking about Judaism and the basics of it. One of the interesting things is that our class got a chance to see the scrolls of the Torah, which is the holy text of Judaism. Also the speakers then told us about why the Synagogue is built a certain way, such as the windows and the eternal light. After the tour of the Synagogue our class went for lunch at a plaza close by. Although it was a bit of a rush for some people, but I’m pretty sure that everyone enjoyed their lunch and had fun during the meal.

When lunch was over, we hopped on to the bus and were getting ready for the rest of out field trip. The next destination was a Hindu temple located at Richmond Hill. When we arrived at the Hindu temple, I guess a lot of my classmate was a bit disappointed due to the renovation that they’re having, which makes the places a bit dirty and noisy. When we got in the temple, we saw many different figures of the different parts of the Hindu god. Then the leader of the temple then talked to us a brief explanation as to what Hinduism is and how it is the oldest religion in the world. He then answered some questions from the group; one of the questions was about the milk drinking miracle of Ganisha. We never really got a chance to look around the temple, however, the figures and paintings was already very interesting at the view which we can see it at.

At last, we arrived at the final destination of our tour, a Christian church not so far away from the school. When we were inside the building the main pastor of the church Jim simply talked to us about the activities happening weekly at the church and not so much about the religion. He then gave us a brief tour around the church, such as what each part of the church serves as and what activities happened where. We then went to another portable room which was built by the teens of the church, and there he talked more about the activities and the program which are held inside the portable. After visiting the church we went back to school.

The tour was a tremendous blast; it was interesting to learn about how these temples of different religions look like, and how some of them have a slight connect with one another. The temple that I liked the most would be the Buddhists temple, due to all its beautiful statues and paintings. However, my favorite speaker out of all of the temples would be the speaker from the Christian church. He sounded the most tolerant and humble out of all the speakers, and he did not so much cramp the religion into brief sentences. Also he would talk to us more about the activities at the church and not so much about the beliefs, I guess it’s because he understands that it’s really hard for one to understand such a huge religion in the matter of minutes, and that most people in North America probably has an idea as to what Christianity is.

In conclusion, from this simple field trip we could observe the impact that religion has on our society. It is easily imaginable if in one small city there are already that many different type of temples. One thing I learned from the tour is that no matter what religious background people are from, always be tolerant and understanding towards their religions. When a person is in a religion, it is far more complicated than just simply a tradition that they follow. Therefore, one should not go and judge other religions and not knowing the other side of the story but their own. Just because you think something is right, it may not always seem right to others due to different experiences that different people has gone through.