This semester I’ve really enjoyed this class a lot. It’s hard for me to really learn the material and I don’t know why. I understand it when I’m in class but outside of class, I don’t remember anything. I tried to work on better studying habits but it never seems to work. I love learning about all the different religions and learning different perspectives on things but when it gets time for a test of a pop quiz and am totally lost. So in conclusion, I’m trying to change next semester is to try to ask even more questions and ask my teacher for more help.

When I had Covid it was a very rough time for me. I went to a haunted house with my teammate for Halloween in 2020. There were a lot of people there and I didn’t think much about it at the time but looking back at it everyone should have had a mask on. A couple days later my two of my teammates tested positive for covid and they both had symptoms. I still did not think I had Covid at the time because I didn’t have any symptoms. I was supposed to be going to Puerto Rico for a birthday trip the following week. but to get to Puerto Rico you had to get tested for Covid. so my whole family got tested and it turns out me, my mom, and my best friend had Covid. I was really upset because my dad still want to Puerto Rico for my birthday trip. he was sending me all these pictures bragging about how much fun he was having while I was trapped in the house on my birthday. I didn’t have any symptoms so it made it worse because I just felt like I was sitting in the house doing nothing.

Theism is the belief in some kind of god or gods, while atheism is the lack of belief in a god or gods. Among theists, monotheism is the belief in a single god, like, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. While polytheism is the belief in multiple gods, like, Shintoism, Thelema, Wicca, druidism, Taoism, Asatru, and Candomble. Take into consideration that henotheism is a belief in multiple gods, though one is more important than the others. Like Hinduism.  Modern faiths include a variety of monotheistic, polytheistic, and atheistic beliefs.

My Dad’s uncle passed away and he was Muslim. I didn’t know what the funeral would really be like but my dad asked me to go with him. I was wondering why the funeral had to be so soon. He said the body had to be buried in like 24 hours so I thought that was different from what I was used to. When I got there, he was in a wooden box but I never looked at the body because I am scared of dead bodies.  So when the ceremony started they said normal things you would say at a funeral.  Then the Imam asked all the Muslims to come up and pray over the body. They said these chants over and over again. I didn’t really understand what they meant but I just started crying. After the ceremony, was over we went to the cemetery. They put the body on the ground the faced him towards the east and took him out of the box then all the Muslim men covered him in the dirt. I started crying again but my dad said to me this is the way he wanted to go and that he wanted to be put on the ground and be natural. This experience really stuck with me and it really opened my eyes to another religion.

Christmas-  is an annual festival that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ,   on December 25 a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world.

Day of the Dead-  a holiday for remembering and honouring those who have passed. It is a festive, joyous time of celebration.

Diwali- a celebration of victory over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. Many things are done to ward off evil spirits such as lighting lamps, making rangoli patterns and lighting fireworks. It is also a time of new beginnings and a celebration of the Hindu New Year.

Hanukkah- the Jewish festival lasting eight days marked by the successive kindling of eight candle. Connected with Jews or Judaism.

Easter- a Christian holiday that celebrates the belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Although a holiday of high religious significance in the Christian faith, many traditions associated with Easter date back to pre-Christian, pagan times.

Ramadan- the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is a special month for Muslims. Because Ramadan is the month when Muslim practice one of the most important pillars of Islam which is Fasting.

I really don’t have a set religion even though, my parents raised me as a Christain. But they didn’t put any pressure on me to really stay Christain. They said that I can be who I believe what I wanna believe when I got older. Now that I’m older I’m just stuck. Ever since I joined Religions class it’s really been making me think about what I should believe in. I think I believe in God because someone had to create something because obviously humans or earth or anything can’t just appear out of nowhere.  I definitely believe there are other gods but I just think God is just jealous and feels like since he created everything, we all should worship him. (which I totally agree with him on that). But it’s hard to worship someone you haven’t ever met or not 100% sure is real. But the thing is I don’t not wanna believe in God because I don’t wanna go to hell. I wanna have eternal life but I don’t wanna just waste my time on this earth praising a God that isn’t real if he isn’t real. But if he is real I don’t want to be rejected at the gates. It’s not like I won’t do good or anything.

As a kid, I didn’t really care about God. My parents didn’t take me to church or put any pressure on me to believe in what they believed in. My parents just taught me how to be a good human being. They would say “treat others the way they wanted to be treated” or “you’re a leader, not a follower”. On Sundays, my Mom would play gossip music so, I knew who God was. I just didn’t know why I had to believe in someone I have never met. Why do I worship someone that doesn’t do anything for me? Why do my parents talk so much about this irrelevant man? These were the questions I would think of every time I thought of God. 

As I got a little older I started to get into manifesting and believing in the universe. I started buying crystals and started watching youtube videos on meditation. The manifestation was really important to me. I would get everything I wanted out of life with just manifesting. I started with small things like safe flights or money. Then I started to get into the big stuff like manifesting love and happiness. It really started to work and I even started to tell my Mom about it. My mom asked me “Who are you manifesting to” and I replied, “The Universe” she then asked me “Do you know who made the universe”. I respond “No”. She said, “God created everything in this world, so when you’re manifesting to the Universe your really just speaking to God”. That really stuck with me. 

I really started to get into God and who he was and why he was so important to me. I would read the bible and every time I would manifest I would use the Lord’s name. I started identifying myself as a Christain. I would watch online church every Sunday. One day I got a text from my Dad saying that my Aunt Dean died. I started questioning “Why do we die?” and “Why do bad things happen to good people?”. I started to get very angry and wonder why I was devoting my time to someone who takes people away from everyone. This really taunted me for a few months. I started to fear God and just try not to do anything bad or I would die and be sent to hell.

I then just started researching and realized everyone is going to die one day and there is nothing gonna change that. It’s really how you live your life and be just a nice person. So to answer the question “What do I believe?” the answer is I don’t believe in any Gods anymore. I believe that you should live life with no fear and to take all the opportunities that you are given. Because you only get one life and you should live it right.