fandomhigh | World Religions, Wednesday, 2nd Period [11/22]

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religion

World Religions, Wednesday, 2nd Period [11/22]

One might wonder why the religion teacher has a busted lip and what looks to be the beginning of a black eye. From the forbidding look on said religion teacher's face, one might want to keep one's questions to oneself on that particular matter.

Jesse is awake. He has no coffee. He doesn't have his feet propped on his desk, and there are no handouts to go with today's class.

Instead he watches the class file in, and stands up when everyone is settled in.

"Mornin'. So, tomorrow's Turkey Day. If you're an American, you know it's a secular celebration of food. They'll tell you in grade school that it's somethin' else. Honoring the pilgrims and all that happy horseshit.

"It's about the food."

He rests his hip against his desk and tousles his already tousled hair. "Since I've already shot the syllabus to shit, and I've had a long coupla weeks, we're gonna throw it out for now. I'll save Christianity for near the end, when we're comin' up on one of the religion's big days.

"Instead, what I want you to do today is to think waaaay back to the beginnin' of the year when y'all made up your own religions and tried to sell your buddy on it.

"Today you're gonna come up with a high holy day for your religion. Food? The first grape stompin' of the year? Holy day of the great beatdown? I want your holy day, how it's celebrated, what colors, sacred items, or clothes are associated with it. You can do that with someone and I'll come by and listen in, or you can do it on your own and give me a report, your choice.

"There's a point to this. Really."

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"My holy day will involve pudding," Cally stated.

"Okay, why?"

"Because I like pudding. Why else?"

"Nonononono, you should think of some big, important reason, like . . . pudding is the food of the gods and eating it on earth with allow you to become closer to holiness."

"...but it's just pudding."

". . . you're missing the point."

"That religions are supposed to be overly complicated?"

"The religions are supposed to have deep, spiritual meaning. Otherwise, someone will go, 'oh, well I like bacon, so I'm going to eat bacon on your holiday instead of pudding'."

"But why shouldn't they? I mean, if they like bacon more than pudding."

"Because it's your religion. You're making it up so that they'll follow your rules."

"What if my rules are 'do what makes you happy as long as you're not hurting other people'?"

"You call that a religion? That's not even remotely oppressive."

"Why would you want an oppressive religion?"

"That's what religions are for! They divide up the power, and the person who made it gets all the power and the people who follow it are the person who made it's pawns, and it's like world domination only more subtle."

"And... dumb," Cally said.

"Oh come on. People like to be told what to do. That's why we have governments and cultural rules and religions and all the other social institutions that give us rules."

"But oppression is bad," Cally said. "Really, really bad."

Jesse had been listening in on his students' exchanges and had to interject on this one. "Yeah. Religion's oppressive. God wants you to love him and then sets you up in a universe that's filled with reasons to hate him. What are you gonna do about it?"

Nadia blinked, surprised to hear that Jesse agreed with her. "Well, there are two ways to go, I guess. You could let other people know so that they can decide for themselves whether they want to be oppressed by it, or not, or you could monopolize on it."

Cally blinked at Nadia.

"Please tell me you wouldn't monopolize on it."

Nadia shrugged. "I'm just saying what you could do. I haven't said that I've decided or anything."

"...It's an up in the air issue?"

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