fandomhigh | World Religions, Wednesday, 2nd Period

Jesse seems to be permanently locked into his favorite spot, feet propped on his desk. Or he might just be asleep with a cup of coffee in his hand.

The clipboard for sign-ins is once again on one of the front desks, with a stack of handouts.

After everyone has come in, signed in, and taken their seats, Jesse opens his eyes and starts in on his lecture.

"Today, the syllabus says we're going to talk about Shinto¹ and Confucianism². Not because they're closely related. They ain't. But because they influenced the thought and culture of two major eastern nations - Japan and China.

Shinto could be considered a form of animism, which those of you who were awake will remember from last week.

Confucianism, on the other hand, is not really a religion, it's a kind of secular thought that has been so deeply ingrained in Asian culture that it has been given almost sacred status."

What follows is a lecture on the political philosophy of Confucianism, and Shinto, which had been the state religion of Japan until after World War II.

"Obviously, there are other religions that believe in reincarnation. There aren't many moral codes that include such an organized setup for bureaucracy.

I ain't a big fan of bureaucracy myself, but it worked for China and a lot of Asia for a long time.

What I want from y'all today is gonna be nice and easy." Jesse grins.

"Get together in groups of two to four and pick a topic." He finally brings his feet down off his desk and stands up to write two questions on the whiteboard:

1. Reincarnation - who was your partner in a past life?

"If you're in groups of larger than two, everyone mix and match. Give it a guess. Was your partner a goatherd, a princess, a bug? Do me a favor, kids, remember that in history, there are a helluva lot fewer Cleopatras than there are shit shovelers."

2. Shame - does it help or hurt?

"Confucianism ritualizes shame, saying that internalizing the values gets people to behave properly because they fear shame and losing face. It works. Does it take away people's free will? Or is it an irrefutable way to make people make the right choices without some boogeyman threatening eternal damnation?"

He finishes writing the discussion options and sits down again. Funny thing for students paying attention - while lecturing, Jesse's thick Texas drawl recedes, only to return once he drops the teacher's posture and relaxes again.

"I figure I know which one most of y'all are gonna wanna talk about. Have fun. I know I'll have fun listenin' to what y'all've got to say."

Handout links:
¹Shinto
²Confucianism

Syllabus

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"So I'm not creative, now?" Nadia smirked to show she didn't really mean it. "So do you think creativity is something that goes with you from life to life?"

"I truly hope so. Otherwise, we might all be boring," Kaylee said with a smirk of her own.

"Well, here's to us continuing to be creative in the next life, too."

Kaylee peered curiously at Nadia. "So, who do you think I might have been in a past life?"

"~~A goth working at a record store.~~ ~~The sort of wife of Jaye's future love interest.~~ A gypsy."

"A gypsy?" Kaylee considered that. "That kinda makes sense since I ended up travelin' a lot."

Nadia nodded. "And you've got a certain style that doesn't always mesh with everyone else's, but is fun, nonetheless."

Kaylee smiled. "Well, thanks for sayin' so. I appreciate that."

"No problem. Though, really, when you think about it, if reincarnation is real? You could have been, like, me in a prior life or something."

Kaylee blinked. "So I could be talking to my past life right now."

"Kind of makes your brain explode, huh."

Kaylee nodded. "Just a little bit, yeah."

"Possibly better not to think about it."

"Agreed."

"So. Shame as a way of controlling the masses," Nadia said, pointing to the second discussion topic.

"People shouldn't be shamed into doin' the right thing. They oughtta have their own free will," Kaylee said. "Otherwise, they could turn into uncivilized space pirates."

She shuddered just a little.

"But is it any better way of convincing people not to kill each other for no reason than, say, telling them if they don't listen they'll burn forever after they die?"

Kaylee shrugged. "I think shamin' and threatenin' could both be used to get people to do what was right I s'pose."

"Do you think that without threats or shame, people would still do the right thing?"

"I dunno for sure, but I got faith in most people," Kaylee said. "I would think they'd do the right thing."

"I think they'd do what they thought was best for them."

"Oh, I don't doubt some would," Kaylee added, thinking of some of Serenity's crew. "At least I would hope I'd do the right thing."

"But who decides what the right thing is?"

Kaylee blinked. "Huh. Good question. Guess it depends on a person's belief system."

"But if people will just do whatever the 'right thing' is by themselves, then why do we need believe systems?"

Re: Discussion Questions

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