The Approach to Religion in This Course 
E103, `Language and Religion' 
R. Port, January, 2006

Talking about religion tends to be a touchy issue for most people, and maybe for Americans more than some other people. Most of us take our religion pretty seriously. This course is intended:
  • NOT to teach or endorse any particular religion
  • NOT to compare the merits of any one religion with any other
  • NOT to criticize any religion or any particular beliefs of any religion.
    •  Instead, first, the focus of this course is on academic discussion of HUMAN RELIGIOUS BEHAVIOR. That means we will not focus on BELIEFS (although we cannot completely avoid them). We want to observe and compare religious practices. Doing so, we will find many similarities across very different religions - in what prayers are like, in the nature of chanting, in the use of language to describe religious truths.

    Second, in this course, we should avoid approaching issues in ways that put our own religious convictions or religious customs first. Why? Because religious views are normally a matter of faith, that is, they are based on unquestioning confidence that our personal religious beliefs, rituals and traditions are correct. That's what faith is! But this almost the same as saying that faith-based beliefs are not dependent primarily on objective evaluation of facts. Yet objective evaluation of undisputably relevant evidence is what science and academics are all about. So we can talk about religion, but need to do so with no expectation of changing anyone else's mind about what they believe.

    Of course, it is very hard to leave our religious convictions at the door (and perhaps impossible to succeed at completely). But we must try. We will try to be `objective' in this course. That means we will, as it were, place other people's religious beliefs and practices `on the table' for examination and analysis. At the same time, of course, we must be willing to place our OWN beliefs and practices on the same table for the same kind of analysis. In this situation, I'm afraid we may squirm a bit.

    So just because those of us from Christian heritage may all agree that something is true, or if even Christians, Jews and Muslims all agree on something, is not reason enough to presume the absolute, objective truth of that idea or to give any special priority to that view in an academic context. After all, there are huge numbers of people - more that half the population of the planet - who will not agree at all with our ideas. Hopefully, there are some students in this class who do not agree.  It would be the height of arrogance for us to take the attitude: `Well, they are just wrong. WE have it right. We know how it really is.'

    What we are seeking to do in this course is to take all religions seriously - equally seriously - in order to learn something about religion in general. I will try my best not to dismiss anyone's religious views or feelings. (If any of you think I am not succeeding in this, please talk with me about it.)  I hope that all students in this class will feel comfortable participating in discussion no matter what their religious traditions are.

    So, I ask you to attempt not to bring your personal religious views to class, but try to learn how to look at and discuss other people's religion, as well as your own, from a dispassionate and noncondemning point of view. I hope that in this way everyone of whatever religious background will be able to speak up and participate in discussion without fear of attack or criticism because of their religious beliefs and also learn something about human religious activities and about human language.

    Robert Port, January, 2006