Faith Web Assignments for Major Each Section of the Course

Web assignment for the first section of the course:
Introduction and Prelection

• �Living a Deliberate Life�
  Thoreau spoke of living a deliberate life. Aristotle said that most men lives lives of ships in the sea without rudders. Plato said the unreflected life is not worth living. Pascal believed most men busied themselves with distractions in order not to face the major questions of life. What about you? To what degree are living a deliberate life? To what degree are you guiding your own ship?
• �My Human Condition�
  You completed a web site on your idea of the human condition. How does this all apply to you here and now? Reflect upon a few of the most important aspects of the human condition that affect you and what are the effects of this upon you.
  
• The Cave in Plato�s allegory is the place where people are prisoners of ignorance and darkness. What is your your own personal cave? What do you need to be liberated from? What holds you in darkness or ignorance? Have you had an experience of being liberated from a particular cave? (Examples: racism, fear, some kind of addiction, hatred, selfishness --these things come to mind-there are many more options). Consider how you might be released from this cave.

• The Right Speech Experiment. Do some experiential learning. This is an assignment many of my students say is valuable and enlightening.
  What you are asked to do is to observe your own speech and monitor it. Watch the words that come out of your mouth. Ask yourself what your words reveal to your about yourself. Are you honest? Do you try to be truthful? Are you kind? Open? Rational? More detailed information is on the back of this sheet.
• Write a short story or create a conversation illustrating the "five common thinking errors" from the text. Each must be used at least once. Identify each with a endnote explanation It might be good to do this from your own experience.
• Write a short story illustrating the "five steps to critical thinking." Identify each with an endnote explanation.
• Cite a literary or cinema character whose story illustrates well the "process of knowing." Identify each with an endnote explanation.

• Create a web site on a person who is a modern model of faith.
  
  • Must have at least one picture of the person.
  • Must have the story of the person's growth in faith,centering on the events, people and experiences which molded and challenged their faith.
  • Must have links in your writing.
  • Must have at least three good sources. If the sources are internet, you much list these as workable links.
  Let me give you guidance and advice as you build the page.
• �The State of My Faith�
  Reflect for a while on the state of your faith. Some questions to consider -- How is your faith life? It faith an important part of life? Is your spirituality/faith a dimension of life that you seldom think about? You can do this on two levels but both need to be reflecteded upon. � Are you a man who has faith? On the human level can you have faith in others, in communities, in life, in yourself? � What about religious faith? Do you have faith in God? Are you grappling with particular questions about God, your faith, or religion in general? Is the sacramental life of the Church (esp. the community of believers and the Eucharist) a significant part of your life?
• An essay on the movie we saw in class The Mission in RB.
• Create a web on an "Organization of Faith." Choose one group that dedicates much of their time, talents and treasure to help others.

• An intellectual essay Explain why Fr. Kavanaugh worries that advertising is shaping our cultural values, our images of what it means to a person, of what hapiness is all about. Then summarize the message of "The Merchants of Cool" about the meaning of life, about morality, about reason, about what it means to be human. Does it support what Kavanaugh said twenty years ago?
• A personal reflection What are the major challenges to your faith? You�ve seen many from the Readings and video and I�m sure you have heard many from teachers over your first two years at St. Louis U. High. This could be about faith (your ability to have faith in others, yourself, life) or Faith (your ability to have faith in God).
  What are the biggest challenges to faith in your life here and now? What are the biggest challenges to Faith in your life here and now? This must show a lot of reflection upon the content of this section. You MUST address the issues of atheism (practical atheism if it applies), scientism and dehumanization through our consumerist culture.
• A media assignment Listen to a Speaking of Doubt from Speaking of Faith radio program and write a summary of it. Show which key ideas it illustrates, especially note if these ideas were mentioned in our Readings.

• Person of Jesus web assignment