Category: Religious Education (Catholic) 35

RS 35: At Issue: The Death Penalty

Select one or more of the following articles to read, then answer  the question below.  Once you have completed the reflection question, print it and hand it in for grading.

Albertan on Death Row

Canadian on death row in Iran

Canadian on death row in Saudi Arabia

Reflection Question:

Is capital punishment (death penalty) ever justified?  You must provide reasons for your answer and provide evidence from one or more of the articles from above.  You must also draw upon the concepts (conscience, Kohlberg’s postulates, etc.)  you learned in the ethics unit.  It might be helpful to know the pros and cons regarding the death penalty, so it is worthwhile to visit Balanced Politics.org for a concise list of arguements.picture-2

Dead Poets Society Assignment

The Movie Study Assignment Rubric will be used to grade this assignment.

Directions:  Describe examples from the video Dead Poets Society for each of the following concepts.

  1. An example of an ethical principle followed by one of the movie characters in the movie.  Explain how the movie character’s ethics affected their morality.
  2. An example from each level of Kolberg’s postulates.  It does not matter which stage of each level you use.
  3. An example of an arbitrary law followed or not followed by one of the characters in the movie.
  4. An example of a natural law as it applies to one of the characters in the movie. For example, it could be a movie character who followed or did not follow a natural law.
  5. A movie character whose action portrays aspects of narcissism.
  6. A movie character whose actions indicates inertia.
  7. A movie character from the movie that responds to authority with altruism.
  8. A character from the movie that responds to authority with utilitarianism.
  9. An example of a movie character that depicts personality rather than their true character.
  10. A person of character rather than just represents personality.
  11. An example of a movie character that used a defensive evasion of self-esteem or developing character.  Describe the specific evasion.
  12. An example of a movie character that used an offensive evasion of self-esteem or developing character. Describe the specific evasion.
  13. Which worldview – anthrocentrism or theocentrism – was prevalent in the video?  Explain your answer.

Be sure to describe the scene or movie character thoroughly.   When describing a movie character be sure to clearly describe behaviors that undoubtedly illustrate the concept (narcissism, altruism, etc.) that you want to represent.
picture-2

Dead Poets Society Reflection 2

The following are two sets of questions relating to the movie Dead Poets Society.  Answer one of the sets of questions.  The reflection rubric will be used to grade this assignment.

Set One:

Answer the following three questions in a paragraph

  1. Would Neil Perry still have eventually committed suicide if Mr. Keating, his English teacher, had never come into his life? Why exactly did Neil take his own life? [Note:  To properly answer a questions such as these, find out why people commit suicide] Who really was to blame for Neil’s death?
  2. Could have Neil’s death have been prevented?  Could of his classmates have prevented his suicide?  [Note:  To properly answer a questions such as these, find out how suicide can be prevented] Could Neil have found another way out of his predicament? Was suicide his only answer?
  3. With similarly screwed up parents as Neil’s, why didn’t Todd take the same way out?

Set Two:

Answer the next two questions in a paragraph

  1. Just before the boys are called to testify, Cameron enters the room and is forced to defend his decision. He tells his friends, “Look, in case you haven’t heard, there is a honor code at this school, alright. If the teacher asks you a question, you tell the truth or you’re expelled”. Was Cameron following natural law?  Why or why not?  Was Cameron demonstrating character? Explain using specific examples from the movie.
  2. In the initial screenplay, Todd specifically does not sign the paper at the end. In the movie, we are not told one way or the other. Did Todd sign it or not? Why or why not? What would a person of character do? Explain. deadpoetsociety

Dead Poets Society Reflection 1

picture-12Select one of the questions below and answer it. When you have completed your answers, print it off and hand it in. The reflection rubric will be used to grade this assignment.

QUESTIONS:

1. There is a scene whereby the English teacher, Mr. Keating, asks the students to read their original poems. When he asks Todd Anderson to read his, Todd says, “I didn’t do it. I didn’t write a poem”. Keating responds with, “Mr. Anderson thinks everything inside him is worthless and embarrassing. Isn’t that right, Todd? That’s your worst fear. I think you’re wrong. I think you have something inside that’s worth a great deal.” What is Todd’s self esteem like? What is Anderson so afraid of? Was Todd using one of the evasions of self-esteem? Which one? Could 1 John 4:18, which says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love”, provide a solution to Todd’s problem? Was Keating using love to help Todd?

2. There is a scene when Keating has his students marching in the courtyard. During that scene he tells them, “Conformity. The difficulty in maintaining your own beliefs in the face of others…Now we all have a great need for acceptance, but you must trust that your beliefs are unique, your own, even though others may think them odd or unpopular. Even though the herd may go ‘ That’s bad.’ Robert Frost said, ‘ Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.’” Is Mr. Keating really referring to character or is he referring to personality? Explain with what you learned about character and personality in class. Could John Keating be saying the same thing as it says in Romans 12:2? It says in Romans, Do not be conformed to this world,* but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Video Study: Dead Poets Society Reflection 1

picture-2Select the page on the left titled, Dead Poets Society Reflection Questions. This page contains two questions.  Select ONE of the questions and answer it.  Print it off and hand it in or e-mail it to me.

The reflection will be evaluated using the refection rubric which can also be found on the page titled, reflection rubric

REMEMBER, what I am looking for is your understanding of the concepts we have learned in class.  You must clearly indicate that you understand those concepts.  I am also looking for some personal revelations or insights.

Religious Studies: Personality Tests

 

Use the following links below to do some personality tests.

Click on Myers Briggs 1 and find out your letter code (e.g. ISTP). Then click on this site to find out the explanations.  Myers Briggs Foundation

Myers Briggs 2  (This is an easy one to do)

Enneagram Test (This is fairly long and can be more difficult to understand)

Pattern Test

Door Test

Luscher Color Test 1

Luscher Color Test 2

Another Color Test 3

Your souls color

Big Five Test

Have Fun!

Organ Donors

picture-11Consider the following  scenario.

A hospital has several patients on their waiting list (article on worldwide kidney organ shortage) who will die if they don’t receive organ donations. Canada (read article for details) has a organ shortage like all others nations of the world.  Some need replacement kidneys, others need a replacement heart, and others need new lungs. Today,  supplies of these organs are in very short supply. There is, however, a way to get these much needed organs, and that is to harvest organs from deceased patients without explicit consent. (This article gives the details to proposed legislation in U.K.).  Currently , in Canada, people have to sign a donor card and then the family must also agree before organs or tissue can be harvested. The hospital argues that the number of families offended by harvesting organs from a dead relative is a small price to pay when compared to the number of lives that can be saved by following such as practice.  Should hospitals be allowed to take organs from dead patients without explicit consent? Here is another interesting proposal. Ontario has proposed withholding drivers license if donor cards are not signed.  (See MPP for details)

Answer the question from an utilitarianist perspective.  Then answer the question from an altruist perspective. Be sure to clearly show the difference between the two points of view.

Reflection Rubric

Ecological Footprints

picture-11Religious Studies 35

As long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease. (Genesis 8:22)

All across the world, in every kind of environment and region known to man, increasingly dangerous weather patterns and devastating storms are abruptly putting an end to the long-running debate over whether or not climate change is real. Not only is it real, it’s here, and its effects are giving rise to a frighteningly new global phenomenon: the man-made natural disaster. BARACK OBAMA, speech, Apr. 3, 2006

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday that Canada “must act” to curb global warming after a newly released report that warns humans are “very likely” the cause of the problem.

“The problem is enormous. It’s large, it’s long-term and there are no quick fixes to this,” Harper told reporters in Ottawa.  Feb. 2 2007, CTV.ca News (full article)

Global climate change needs global action now.  The alarm bells ought to be ringing in every capital of the world.

John Gummer, British Environmental Secretary, quoted by Roy Greenslade, The Observer, 21 Jul 96

Climate change is no longer a doomsday prophecy, it’s a reality.

Astrid Heiberg, president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, quoted in Gist Magazine, 23 Jul 99

The following are links to websites with ecological footprints.  Go to one or two of the links and calculate your footprint.  For the footprint to mean anything, you MUST answer honestly.  Then write a paragraph whereby you indicate your footprint(s) and explain what effect your footprint says you have on the biological ecology.  You also MUST react to one of the quotes in your paragraph.  You may disagree with a quote, but clearly indicate why you disagree with it and provide something concrete to support your point of view. The rubic used to grade this paragraph is on the page titled ecological rubric (right side ).  Once completed, print your paragraph and hand in.

I would recommend the following two links

Royal Saskatchewan Museum (short and easy to use)

University of BC (also short and easy to use)

Global Ecological Footprint (very short, probably too short and not as accurate)

Earth Day Network (This is a fun site.  It measures in numbers of earths.  You just slide the bar to indicate your answer.  You can also select basic or more detailed answers.  It will, however, take longer to do.)

Best foot forward footprint (short and easy to use)