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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Zero shook her hand and said, "All right. I'm Zero. Nice to meet you."

"It's wonderful to meet you as well." She smiled. "So we have to talk about reincarnation first correct?"

Zero shrugged. "I'm pretty sure we just have to pick one. Reincarnation would be my choice, but if you want to do the other thing that's fine, too."

"I don't mind. So... reincarnation... I think it's a bit silly because there MUST be new souls entering the system all the time. The birth rate is higher than the death rate."

"Why is it a bit silly, though? Some of the souls could be old, an' some of 'em could be new."

"Yeah. That's logical enough, I just meant that not everyone can be a reincarnation. Everybody says they have been the reincarnation of George Washington or Alexander The Great. Yet it's so astronomically unlikely that they even have a soul that's more than a hundred years old."

"Well, yeah, Reverend Custer was just sayin' there've been a lot more scullery maids in history, like, than famous people."

"Yes I know. So... what do you think about then?"

"...what do I think about what? Reincarnation? I guess it's possible, I dunno. But I'm supposed to figure out what you were in a past life."

"It's a bit hard to know when we've just met." She smirks a little.

"Sure, but I could make an informed guess. There've been lots of farmers in history, for example. But you don't look like a farmer type."

"Hm... that's a good point. You sure don't look like a farmer either."

"Nah, but I come from a long line of 'em." Zero grinned broadly. "Respectable work, farmin'. Which is why my mum ditched it as soon as possible, I suspect."

Matilda gets a good laugh out of that. "Yeah? So what did you mom stop the lineage of farming for?"

"A guy," Zero said flatly.

"Hm... Doesn't seem like such a bad reason to me."

"Well, it was, but it all worked out in the end. But that's not what we're supposed to be talking about," Zero pointed out, determined to keep on-subject.

World Religions, Wednesday, 2nd Period

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