Marissa Lakovic

Gabrielli

LA 150

Final Exam Essay

Throughout the course of the semester, my knowledge on faith

and religion has broadened. Coming into the class, I already had some

background knowledge of faith and religion, because I am Catholic and

regularly go to church. But, this class challenged me to think more in

depth about faith and religion. Along with learning about faith and how

it is perceived, we learned about the three main types of religions, and

popular controversial topics in society, primarily in religion, and how

the three are intertwined.

In my initial assignment, I had defined faith as what you believe

in and having faith in someone is trusting them and what they do.

Even though these two ideas are closely related, they arent the same.

I still feel this way about faith in general, but after this course I have a

more in depth understanding. By reading the first two chapters of

Tilleys book, he really explains how he perceives faith and how he

defines it, along with the four most common misunderstandings about

it. Tilley really understands faith and all the aspects of it, and he

defines faith as The relationship between the one who has faith and

that which one has faith in. He gives a very simple definition that is
easy to better understand faith. Also, by reading about the most

common misunderstandings of faith, I better understood faith by

understanding what faith isnt. In the book Night, by Elie Wiesel, the

main character Eliezer, was going through a very tough time in his life,

and he lost his faith. And, in spite of myself, a prayer rose to my heart,

to that God in whom I no longer believed (Night, 87). Eliezer didnt

know why God was punishing them, so he lost faith. But, as the book

and his journey went on, he regained his faith. By reading this book, it

gave me a personal insight and helped me to further understand faith.

Also, in the Habakkuk, verses 1:2-3, illustrate the questioning of faith.

How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out

to you, Violence! but you do not save? Why do you make me look at

injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence

are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. (Habakkuk, 1:2-3)

At first, before this class, I thought that it wasnt a good thing to

question your faith. I thought you just take what you are taught and

build off of that, as you get older. But, now, even thought questioning

your faith isnt always a primary choice, once you do it, it makes your

faith come back even stronger.

In my initial assignment, I had defined religion as Religion is

what you are, and faith is what you believe. These two terms are also

very similar, but religion doesnt change base on the person like faith

does. Even though there are different types of religions, they all do
things very similarly. Each religion has their own sacred text, whether it

be the Quran, Bible, or Tanak. Each religion has their own views about

different religions. In the Quran, it talks about different religions, but

not in a positive light. In the Quran, Anyone who accepts other than

Islam his religion, it will not be accepted from him, and in the

Hereafter, he will be with the losers. (3:85) Also, there are certain

rituals and prayers that each religion does. In Does My Head Look Big

In This?, Amal finds herself and really expresses her religion for the

first time in her whole life. By reading this, it helped get a first-hand

idea of what it is like to be a Muslim woman and wear a hijab full-time.

It gives me an added insight on a different religion than my own.

In my initial assignment, I didnt really have a clear stand on how

the Catholic Church viewed poverty and labor unions. I said, The

Catholic Church doesnt necessarily like poverty, maybe some people

look down on it and I feel like the Catholic Church doesnt really like

labor unions. I made an assumption because I didnt have much

knowledge on this topic before this semester. After being in this class, I

now know that the Catholic Church doesnt so much look down on

poverty, but they want to try and help fix it. Also in my initial essay, I

said, But I feel like they try to come together as one and help out the

poor and less fortunate. I had the right idea here, and according to

the Second Vatican Council, If one is in extreme necessity, he has the

right to procure for himself what he needs out of the riches of others.
(11) Since there are so many people prostrate with hunger in the

world, this sacred council urges all, both individuals and governments,

to remember the aphorism of the Fathers, "Feed the man dying of

hunger, because if you have not fed him, you have killed him,"(12) and

really to share and employ their earthly goods, according to the ability

of each, especially by supporting individuals or peoples with the aid by

which they may be able to help and develop themselves.. They want

everyone to help out the poor and less fortunate, but especially the

people with an over-abundance of goods. Also, they said that if the

poor needs something, they shouldnt starve but merely take or steal

whatever they need from the more fortunate. Also, by reading The

Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day, it gave me a personal account of how

she actually lived in poverty at first, before she became successful. It

was a bitterly cold winter and the rooms I lived in were never

adequately heater. We were still at war, and it was the time of heatless

Mondays and meatless Tuesdays (The Long Loneliness, 83). I also

didnt know much about how the Catholic Church felt about labor

unions before taking this course. In Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII

supports the idea of labor unions, It is better that two should be

together than one; for they have the advantage of their society. If one

fall he shall be supported by the other (Rerum Novarum, 50). By

reading Rerum Novarum, it gave me intuition into how the Catholic

Church felt about labor unions, which I didnt know before this class.
 My initial sketch was a cross, with faith, religion and society

written at three of the four parts of the cross. I chose a cross because it

is represented a lot within my religion, and its one of the first things

that come to mind when I think of religion. Also, in Catholicism, the

sign of a cross is how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are connected

and represented. Faith, religion, and society arent connected as

closely, but they are all connected. Now, I still feel like my drawing

adequately describes the relationship between faith, religion, and

society. After this class, I can further see the relationship between the

three, and know now that they are intertwined closer than I thought

before.

My journey in this class has changed my perspective on

different aspects of life and how I treat different people with different

beliefs that I have. I have learned many things and have gained so

much knowledge from this course that will not only benefit me in my

personal life but also in my future career.