HSC Studies of Religion Question Thread

[elysepopplewell]

Thank you so much for that website! Just saved my life!! And for counter arguements, the teachers are representing any of the five major religious traditions. I didn't think of searching debates but now I'll look around. 

Ooh, tricky task! The debates seem like the best option in my mind...but even debates between atheists and people from the main religious traditions might be helpful, because they'll likely still tackle the same things: what does it offer for the adherent? How is it relevant today?

Good luck!

[SSSS]

Hi  I was wondering if anyone knew what the age of aquarius is. Its a new age movement but I am unsure on what they believe in or promote. Thanks 

[elysepopplewell]

Hi  I was wondering if anyone knew what the age of aquarius is. Its a new age movement but I am unsure on what they believe in or promote. Thanks 

This is really coincidental that you asked this - I had no idea what it was until yesterday when I was researching new age movements and astrology! So, from what I know (and I don't know a lot, I just researched until my curiosity was satiated), it is part of the astrological new age movement. Depending who you ask, we are either in the age of Aquarius or entering it. Most people believe we are among it. It has a lot to do with the Zodiacs. So, every 2160 years, we move into a new zodiac year. The way that the "year" is calculated is actually quite mathematical, but I shan't be acting like I understand that lol. Astrologists believe that the zodiac years can affect humanity and civilisations, by seeing the rise and fall of society. It is largely attributed to the new age of Aquarius that the Industrial Revolution, American Civil War, and discovery of electricity are products. The age of Aquarius, to most astrologists, came in the 1800s. It's been colloquialised by referring to the hippie times in the 60s and 70s as the Aquarius Age, but this really doesn't have a lot to do with astrology, it's more of a hijacked understanding. Aquarius is the house of the woman, so historically, the two have matched. Women's rights have been put on the global agenda in huge ways in the 20th and 21st century. So, it isn't a new age movement in itself, but part of the astrological understanding of the new age.

SOR 1 students do not need to know this! I just thought I should throw that out there in case someone is scrolling through panicking :')

[SSSS]

This is really coincidental that you asked this - I had no idea what it was until yesterday when I was researching new age movements and astrology! So, from what I know (and I don't know a lot, I just researched until my curiosity was satiated), it is part of the astrological new age movement. Depending who you ask, we are either in the age of Aquarius or entering it. Most people believe we are among it. It has a lot to do with the Zodiacs. So, every 2160 years, we move into a new zodiac year. The way that the "year" is calculated is actually quite mathematical, but I shan't be acting like I understand that lol. Astrologists believe that the zodiac years can affect humanity and civilisations, by seeing the rise and fall of society. It is largely attributed to the new age of Aquarius that the Industrial Revolution, American Civil War, and discovery of electricity are products. The age of Aquarius, to most astrologists, came in the 1800s. It's been colloquialised by referring to the hippie times in the 60s and 70s as the Aquarius Age, but this really doesn't have a lot to do with astrology, it's more of a hijacked understanding. Aquarius is the house of the woman, so historically, the two have matched. Women's rights have been put on the global agenda in huge ways in the 20th and 21st century. So, it isn't a new age movement in itself, but part of the astrological understanding of the new age.

SOR 1 students do not need to know this! I just thought I should throw that out there in case someone is scrolling through panicking :')

Can't believe you found out this information yesterday, and I had issues with it today! Thanks so much. SOrry for being annoying, but do you know any reliable sites for age of aquarius or how I could find them?

Thanks again!!

[elysepopplewell]

Can't believe you found out this information yesterday, and I had issues with it today! Thanks so much. SOrry for being annoying, but do you know any reliable sites for age of aquarius or how I could find them?

Thanks again!!

That's not annoying! I find this stuff really interesting! You'd be best looking at astrology overall, as the Age of Aquarius is just one aspect of that. The most helpful site that I came across was this one but this one also has some cool stuff. Are you researching this for an assignment or is it just for study notes?

[SSSS]

Yeah, its for my assignment. The thing was that the teacher changed my religion to age of aquarius because too many people were doing scientology. Thanks for the sites, I checked them out and they cover a lot of information!!

[elysepopplewell]

Yeah, its for my assignment. The thing was that the teacher changed my religion to age of aquarius because too many people were doing scientology. Thanks for the sites, I checked them out and they cover a lot of information!!

Uhh! They must have faith that you'll adapt well Let us know how it goes, I'm keen to see what you produce on it!

[mjorfian]

Hiii. So I'm just touching up on my notes for bioethics in judaism and my teachers have emphasised the impact of the rulings on both the adherents as individuals AND as a community. The adherents part is no prob, but when talking about the implications that it has for the jewish community, what would you say for, per say, Abortion as the bioethical issue? thanks!

[elysepopplewell]

Hiii. So I'm just touching up on my notes for bioethics in judaism and my teachers have emphasised the impact of the rulings on both the adherents as individuals AND as a community. The adherents part is no prob, but when talking about the implications that it has for the jewish community, what would you say for, per say, Abortion as the bioethical issue? thanks!

Hey there! It gets interesting when we look at ethics for the community. Personally, I found that my notes were more vague for this part because a lot of it is just repeating what you've said is the importance for the individual, except on a larger scale. So, ethics are important because they are a code of conduct that binds the community together, it unites them although it can also cause discussion. Ethical rulings are also important for the community because it ties the present Jewish community with the past Jewish communities: the sources of ethics remain the same.

Speaking more specifically about bioethical issues, we can look at concepts like abortion actively affecting the community because it directly involves "potential" community members, (for loss of better wording). Similarly, euthanasia affects the community because it involves the life of one community member - but also because the community should come together in such a time to assist the elderly or severely ill.

[mjorfian]

Hey there! It gets interesting when we look at ethics for the community. Personally, I found that my notes were more vague for this part because a lot of it is just repeating what you've said is the importance for the individual, except on a larger scale. So, ethics are important because they are a code of conduct that binds the community together, it unites them although it can also cause discussion. Ethical rulings are also important for the community because it ties the present Jewish community with the past Jewish communities: the sources of ethics remain the same.

Speaking more specifically about bioethical issues, we can look at concepts like abortion actively affecting the community because it directly involves "potential" community members, (for loss of better wording). Similarly, euthanasia affects the community because it involves the life of one community member - but also because the community should come together in such a time to assist the elderly or severely ill.

Ahh okay that makes it easy then! I'll pop that in my notes! thank you Elyse And also, 'how (adherents and community) have responded the issue (in regards to actions and attitudes) would it just be sufficient to talk about Rabbis of the various sects speaking about it? Or would I have to bring up more evidence from elsewhere? And I'm just wondering if it really is essential to have that included in an essay or are my teachers just saying it as an additional thing? I'm really not sure haha

[elysepopplewell]

Ahh okay that makes it easy then! I'll pop that in my notes! thank you Elyse And also, 'how (adherents and community) have responded the issue (in regards to actions and attitudes) would it just be sufficient to talk about Rabbis of the various sects speaking about it? Or would I have to bring up more evidence from elsewhere? And I'm just wondering if it really is essential to have that included in an essay or are my teachers just saying it as an additional thing? I'm really not sure haha

This isn't the kind of thing you'd expect to see in a short answer, but it could be the little thing that boosts you in an essay! It isn't specifically required in the syllabus, but it's definitely a good thing for your notes. I'd be trying to be more specific than just Rabbis speaking about the topics - perhaps you could say "At the convention of blah blah in 2016, Rabbi such and such declared...." That is more specific without being too straining on your memory. Alternatively, you could find declarations and quote them! All of this is taking your knowledge to the next level, but you surely won't be left badly because of it!

[kneehaha]

Hey Elyse,

Half yearlies are coming up, and i was wondering if you had any tips and advice for the SOR exam for eg roughly how many stats should i remember that'll be beneficial with the post 1945 questions and just general tips

[elysepopplewell]

Hey Elyse,

Half yearlies are coming up, and i was wondering if you had any tips and advice for the SOR exam for eg roughly how many stats should i remember that'll be beneficial with the post 1945 questions and just general tips

Hey! So if you have to cut it down to the essentials, I think it's definitely worth knowing fast facts like the percentage of the population each religion holds, which is the fastest growing religion (Hinduism), which is the steadiest of the religions in terms of growth (Judaism), which year Catholicism over took Anglicanism, which year Christianity made it's first drop in percentage...and I think that's a good place to start.

The way I recommend studying for SOR multiple choice and short answer for post 1945 is by doing past paper multiple choice. They recycle questions often, and you learn the facts through multiple choice. You can move through the papers very quickly, therefore covering content quickly. I learnt this way and I seriously recommend it, it was really helpful for me because it was a fast paced study (no rote-learning) but covered content quite quickly too.

[sageziman]

Does anyone have information on Jewish Bioethics? 

[jamonwindeyer]

Does anyone have information on Jewish Bioethics? 

Hey! There are some notes on it in our Notes section; you can find them here!