Teaching "religion" (definition)

I’ve rarely come across a topic or concept that I couldn’t at least half-ass define, but the other day the concept of religion came up in my junior high class and the students said they had no idea what it is.

:noway:

I’m usually assisted by a Chinese teacher but she was gone and really should have been there for this one. The students, although bratty and talkative, are very well spoken and I was very surprised at their ignorance. I did discuss this with the CT beforehand, but she said the topic hadn’t come up due to the nature of the discussion text we’re using.

Anyway, I lost it on some snickering young dolt who wouldn’t stop laughing when I was putting examples on the whiteboard, such as Christianity, Buddhism and whatever. The guy was laughing so hard at my examples that I stood him up and let him have it in front of the whole class.

Of course nobody said a peep after that. :help:

Back to the point. I did try to use extreme examples such as the war in Iraq and half of the conflicts in the mid-east, and they finally started getting it but these are obscure examples.

Does anyone have anything to offer on this vexing topic? I’m obviously going about it wrong. It doesn’t help that the class just doesn’t give a damn. But it will come up again in other situations.

Religion is a huge topic. What exactly is your teaching objective?

I’m not suggesting you read all of these (I didn’t), but here are a few Wikipedia links related to religion that you could browse through to see if there’s anything you think the kids might find interesting:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gods
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythology
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logos
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungry_Ghost
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungry_Ghost_Festival
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhong_Kui
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Enoch
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidi
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voodoo
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santaria
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_mythology
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_mythology
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_mythology
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_mythology
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olmec_mythology
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_mythology
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistress_of_the_Animals
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufi
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daoism
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahai
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumerian_mythology
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_%28god%29
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astarte
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_religion
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Fathers
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaman
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanidar (60,000-year-old Neanderthal “flower burial” site)

And here’s a website that has various religious and mythological literature, including legends and folktales:

sacred-texts.com/index.htm

If you’re trying to define religion rather than teach about different religions, a simple way to describe it is different groups of ideas about life and God.

Perhaps instead of using real religions, devise a few basic sets of beliefs yourself.

Religion A
There is one God
God loves everyone
When you die you go see God
You should be good because it makes you happy

Religion B
There is one God
God loves good people
When good people die, they go see God
You should be good or you will die forever

Religion C
There are many gods
Some gods love people, some don’t
When people die they become ghosts
You should try and make the ghosts and gods happy

Perhaps that would help define it for them in a way that doesn’t make them laugh about specific beliefs or “funny” names.

I don’t think you want to use extreme examples.
Start with basic questions about life: What are we? We seem to have the nature of beasts but feel ourselves to be something more. Where did we, and everything else come from? Where are we headed… is there a purpose to life? What happens after we die? Is there a hidden hand behind it all? If so, what might that god/gods be like? Basic cosmology/ teleology.
Rather than going through the contemporary answers available try getting the students’ thoughts. Throw some myths at them… the doctrines are pretty thin by this point but the stories are still great. The Nordic myth of the twilight of the gods is particularly interesting. That approach also allows you to steer clear of possible tensions with people who don’t appreciate religious discussions in the classroom, while giving the students a good starting point to think it through on their own.