Abstract
This paper examines the roots of monotheistic and polytheistic religions, and the different gods worshipped over time. The author uses such examples as the gods of ancient Greece, the Code of Hammurabi, The Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Bible.

From the Paper:

"There is no doubt that having belief in a supernatural being or beings is healthy for the human soul. Whether it be one God or a family of gods and goddesses, religion allows the human essence to have something to help cope with emotions, give blame for the unjust, and rejoice in a celebrate life. Truth, indeed, is finite, and the roads that lead to it are numberless.?

Tags:monotheism, polytheism, iliad, greek, homer, scripture, epic, hammurabi, code, aphrodite, ishtar, gilgamesh

Abstract
Life of Nicholas Black Elk, a religious elder, as told to the author. History of the Plains Indians of the late 19th Century. Describes the tribe's belief system. Black Elk's relating how the spirit voices came to him. Sanctioning of his vision. Need to bring his message of the unity of the planet to the world.

From the Paper
" Black Elk Speaks (2000) is more than a history of the plains Indians of the latter 19th century. Black Elk was a religious elder of a people that has historically relied on the oral tradition. So this recounting of his life and his vision can be seen as a sacred text that has been preserved on paper instead of committed to memory. As Black Elk begins to relate his life and his vision to John Neihardt, he calls upon the Spirit of the World to keep him true (2), and then he reaffirms the authority of his vision, his tribe's belief system, and his belief that somehow, this vision can still be fulfilled.


When Black Elk was five years old he heard the spirit voices and saw the two messengers who flew down from the sky (14-15). He knew that this was not a dream, but a vision that came from the One Spirit. From that time he would occasionally hear the..."

Abstract
This paper first outlines Baruch Spinoza's argument in Part 1 of the "Ethics" for "substance monism" - the position that there exists only one substance. It then explains how Spinoza's position differs from that of Gottfried Leibniz in the "Discourse on Metaphysics". The paper concludes with the assertion that Leibniz's account for the nature and number of substances is superior since accepting Spinoza's conclusions leads to a number of logically troublesome consequences.

From the Paper
"Leibniz's account for the nature and number of substances differs significantly from Spinoza's. For Spinoza, there is only one substance in the world: God. Leibniz essentially agrees that there is only one true substance. However, to Leibniz this substance is the monad, comparable to a soul or spirit, which "is nothing but a simple substance that enters into composites" (Monadology, p. 484). For Leibniz, God exists external to the world of monads, and might be best thought of as a type of "supersubstance" or "supermonad." It was God who set the world in motion; therefore, substances depend on God for their existence. Since Leibniz's God possesses the will to create or destroy substances "in accordance with the principle of the best" (M., p. 487), God is the only necessary being. All other monads, then, depend on Him for their existence, and as such, are non-eternal contingent beings. Spinoza's pantheism forces the conclusion that all substance is eternal; if it were not eternal, then it would have to be created, which would then violate his definition of substance as something "that the conception of which does not require the conception of another thing from which it has to be formed" (E., p. 416)."

Tags:modern, philosophy, God, eternal, creation

Abstract
This paper is an intriguing philosophical approach at solving the problem with evil. It discusses the conversations and writings of Philosopher Swinburne and the antitheodicist. Arguments are presented between Swinburne and the antitheodicist and an attempt is made to answer the question; does Swinburne succeed in solving the problem?

From the Paper
"There shouldn't be any evils that are not caused by men, such as plagues, earthquakes, natural disasters, AIDS, cancer, and disease to name some of them. Swinburne explains that these tragedies and misfortunes allow men to do noble acts. The September 11th tragedy is a classic example. The entire city of New York came together and sacrificed lives, money, time, and effort to help others. Their crime rates dropped to the lowest ever of that city."

Tags:evil, paper, philosophy, problem, swinburne

Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss the book "Reservation Blues," by Sherman Alexie. Specifically, it looks at the musical poem at the beginning of the chapter "My God Has Dark Skin," and how it relates to the beliefs and religion of the characters throughout the book.

From the Paper
"These words tell the story of how the Native American's had to give up their beliefs, and their religion for the white man's religion, in the name of "modernity" and "Christianity." The numerous Native American tribes each had a complex religious system, made up of folk tales, and a wide variety of gods and goddesses. Yet, when the white men came and took over the Indian lands, they tried to convert them to the "true" religion of Christianity, while they gave up their old ways and beliefs."

Tags:Indian, god, christianity, modernity, native, american, white, men

Abstract
Using anthropologist Michael Allen's article, 'The Hindu View of Women', this essay examines the way in which Hindu beliefs shape and inform both the treatment and conceptualization of women within its religious culture. A detailed discussion of the specific religious beliefs that have influenced the treatment of women is undertaken, and a thorough case study of the Hindu practice of suttee (sati), or widow burning, is used to illustrate Allen's article.

From the Paper
"The custom of widow-burning, since first witnessed and recorded by foreigners in 316 B.C.E., has variously produced reactions of indignation, horror, admiration, disgust and pity. Early eyewitness accounts particularly exemplify these reactions and provide a wealth of information not readily available to today's anthropologist due to the decline of suttee since its illegalisation in 1829. Although such accounts are laden with methodological problems and are invariably accounted solely from the time-specific, culture-specific, white, European "male gaze," they provide an informative insight into the physical reality of suttee. One such account by the Dutch traveler Stavorinus recounts the acts of a sati on the shore of the Ganges in 1770 (quoted in Weinberger-Thomas, 1999: 97-100). From this account, several important themes emerge which can be used to expose the ideology that underpins the treatment and conceptualization of women within Hinduism."

Tags:allen, anthropology, dharma, hinduism, ideology, michael, patriarchy, religious, sati

Abstract
The central claim of the ID movement is that certain biological systems are inexplicable by solely naturalistic causes. William Dembski, a prominent ID proponent, argues that he has proven that intelligent causes are responsible for a certain type of information found in nature. Far from meeting with the kind of fame that one might expect to follow such a seminal 'proof,' Dembski has been strongly criticized by scientists, philosophers, and theologians. This paper examines the most prominent critiques from these areas. It concludes that Dembski's scientific claims have been thoroughly refuted, his theology is built on what will appear to many as a false dichotomy, and philosophers have revealed serious flaws in his 'design detecting' analytic machinery.

From the Paper
"It is pertinent to note that no neo-Darwinian biologist would ever propose that this is how the flagellum came about. Evolutionists maintain that the flagellum evolved from earlier precursors that most probably fulfilled different functions. Dembski's imaginative prob-abilities are therefore not only ridiculous, but completely irrelevant to the question of complexity. Given that Dembski has not successfully demonstrated the complexity criterion, his argument fails and thus specification becomes irrelevant. Nevertheless, Howard Van Till has raised serious concerns even with this latter question. Recalling that Dembski's definition of 'specification' is that an event or object conforms to an independently given pattern, there is good reason to suspect that the flagellum is neither complex nor specified."

Tags:behe, creationism, deism, designism

Abstract
This essay begins with a history, since the end of World War II, whereby attendance rates in all major denominations, such as the Anglican, Catholic and Presbyterian churches, have fallen dramatically. The paper then examines the demographic and cultural profiles, to understand that this phenomenon is the effect of the changing face of Australian society. This brief history of Australian religious practices states that rather than becoming a more secular society, Australian religion is more dynamic than doomsayers would have the populace believe.

From the Paper
"Since European settlement Australia has been a predominantly Christian country with at least two-thirds of the population affiliated with various denominations even until the present. However, since the end of World War II there has been a marked decrease in congregational numbers for all mainstream denominations, such as the Catholic, Anglican, Baptist and Presbyterian churches. From 1950 church attendance rates dropped from 44 percent to 25 percent in 1990, according to the National Church Life Survey. The causes of this phenomenon are debated within both the secular and religious realm and many theories have been proposed, which can loosely be divided into three main areas."

Tags:congregations, history, religion, secularisation

Abstract
A detailed explanation of the tenets and history of Gnosticism and the New Age movement, including a larger 'compare and contrast' section outlining similarities and differences between the two movements. Issues explored to determine the similarities between the two religion include God, knowledge, creation myth, evil, mysticism, heaven, dualism, nihilism, Jesus, and spiritual doctrines. Offers a thorough comparison of these two religious movements.

From the Paper
"Is it possible to draw similarities between two religious movements that have been contrastingly described as "dualistic, anti-cosmic and nihilistic" and "concerned with holism, life and healing"? These respective distinctions between ancient Gnosticism and the contemporary New Age movement, although perhaps not specifically explanative of spiritual concepts, are generally indicative of the basic themes that underlie each religion. Consequently, it can be asserted that the principles which these two spiritual movements are founded upon are unrelated, almost contradictory and, in this way, it would be inconsistent to assert that similarities can be drawn between ancient Gnosticism and the contemporary New Age movement. Although there are certain areas of spirituality where these two movements appear to superficially converge, causing certain scholars to proclaim their belief in a "subterranean umbilical cord" between Gnosticism and the New Age movement of the West, the extent to which the foundational aspects of these religious movements are contrary implies that most doctrines held by each will be conflicting at the most basic of levels. It is imperative to the assessment of possible parallels however, that the nature of these two movements be ascertained at the outset, as the origin, history and world-view of both affect spiritual doctrines and thus any further conclusions."

Tags:mysticism, god, myth

Abstract
This paper examines the ?father-creator? God, a ?trickster? God, and a ?love? Goddess of Greek, Norse and Egyptian cultures. The author believes that the ?father-creator? Gods have the most in common: Greek God, Zeus, the Norse God Odin and the Egyptian God Amen-Re. The paper introduces the ?trickster Gods?: Norse God Loki, the Egyptian God Seth, and the Greek God Prometheus. The paper also describes the ?love goddesses?: Egyptian Goddess Hathor, Greek Goddess Aphrodite and Norse Goddess Freya.

From the Paper
"The myths of these gods also referred to the sky. Both Zeus and Odin had palaces high above the mortal world, known as Mt. Olympus and Asgard. These palaces served as meeting places for the gods, and as observation decks. Zeus is often depicted as looking down from Mt. Olympus into the mortal world. Odin also gazed at mortals and gods similarly, from Hlidskialf, his throne in Asgard. Though he did not have a palace in the sky, Amen-Re was referred to as the "Sun" god. "

Tags:love, trickster, father, culture, fertility