Religion in the World Final PaperDisclaimer: This is the first time I am assigning this paper; I am assigning and then seeing how things play out.
❖ Link to the video explanation HERE:
❖ Context and Review:
➢ I started the semester off with two rules or restrictions: No coercion and No hypocrisy.
▪ Remember those? Seems like a long while ago, ay?
➢ A free society with no restrictions is governed by responsibility, liability, and consequences.
▪ This means polluting other people’s property results in fines.
▪ This means killing others may result in your own death or imprisonment/banishment.
▪ This means people are more likely to be more careful before acting on a decision.
➢ I asked you to write about your real religion.
▪ No two people have the same religion in this class.
▪ Imagine what kind of society we would need for everyone to live in peace together.
➢ I described the mental “box” a person can have.
▪ Evidence of living or thinking in a box is anger over the choices and beliefs of others.
▪ More evidence is proposing the same policies over and over again, in spite of constant failure.
Saying people didn’t do it correctly the last time is also “in the box” thinking.
▪ Out of (your own mental) box ideas, frighten people, but that’s where the hope for positive
solutions is.
➢ There is a saying which I will paraphrase, “Coercion is never on the side of right.”
➢ Finally, yesterday’s “hippies” and liberals often become today’s conservatives.
▪ People settle on ideas which they believe are good, even after they no longer are viable and
proven to be wasteful (e.g., constant war, solar panels, windmills, etc.).
▪ As I pointed out in Chapter 5, the future of sustainable energy is more likely in thorium based
nuclear power plants and the artificial leaf.
❖ WHAT:
➢ Examine a coercive phenomenon in our society today. You just need to pick one AND you are
NOT limited to things on this list below.
➢ Explain how your choice functions as a religion and explain what makes it “coercive” in the
USA.
▪ Try to include who are “oppressed” by the phenomenon you chose.
➢ Then explain, how to resolve the situation by making it a NON-coercive phenomenon.
▪ This is the easiest part of the whole essay, but it might be difficult at first because of the walls
of your mental box.
▪ Hit me with an email if you need help with this.
❖ HOW:
➢ Coercion is recognized by a threat of “violence” if one does not comply.
▪ If you don’t do this, then you will be fired, arrested, fined, punched, excluded, relocated, etc.
▪ Legislation is generally coercive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Coercion is generally found in legislation and so, one CANNOT propose even more
legislation to resolve coercion.
➢ You may be tempted to pick a traditional religion like one we studied this semester. However,
you are NOT forced to go to church, temple, synagogue, etc., by the government. You are forced
to do and believe many other things by the government.
➢ Some examples:
▪ Vaccine mandates
▪ Government protected monopolies such as public-school education, SEPTA, unions…
▪
▪
Government agencies: the Federal Reserve (bank), police and fire departments, FDA, EPA,
FBI, IRS, etc.
You may NOT do: Abortion. I have my reasons.
❖ DETAILS:
➢ DO NOT EXCEED 2 pages double-spaced typed. I mean it.
➢ Format: I have no expectations. Citations are not required unless one is citing stats or some
variety.
➢ Completed papers are to be uploaded to Canvas which will have PLAGIARISM detection
software in operation.
➢ DO NOT UPLOAD APPLE PAGES FILES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE.
➢ This paper is due December 11.
❖ Grading Breakdown:
➢ Coercive Phenomenon Level of difficulty – 30%
➢ Explanation of coercive nature – 40%
➢ Explanation of resolving the coercion – 30%