Problem 1

Assume that you are the President of the United States. The country is facing the prospect of a serious war, and the President wishes to prepare a new draft bill that would require young men to enter the Armed Forces. In accord with the traditional practice of past draft laws, the newly proposed law will allow exemption for people who object to all wars because of religious belief. The President wonders whether or not the newly proposed law should also allow atheists (those who do not believe in God) and agnostics (those who neither believe nor disbelieve in God) to be exempted from serving as soldiers if they object to war because of their profound respect for human life. What decision would you make?

_____ 1..Atheists and agnostics who object to war:

Using the below responses, please answer questions 2 - 8 based on how much importance should the President give to the following factors.

1. great; b. much; c. some; d. little; e. none

_____ 2. That the draft laws of past wars worked well.

_____ 3. That the manpower needs of the army can be met so that the nation can be defended.

_____ 4. That individuals should be forced to do something which is against their personal beliefs.

_____ 5. That religious believers should command greater respect than atheists and agnostics.

_____ 6. That atheists and agnostics have graduated from college.

_____ 7. That only those who believe in the One, True God should be allowed exemption for religious reasons.

_____ 8. That the personal desires of individuals should take precedence over the needs of society.

Problem 2

Read the following case about Martina Martin. Martina's father was recently killed in a hit and run accident, probably by a drunk driver. Martina has always believed in God, but this is the first time anything so tragic has ever happened to her family. Martina is very upset about her father's death and wonders whether or not she should examine her belief in God.

9. If you were Martina Martin, what would you do?

Using the below responses, please answer questions 10 - 16 based on how much importance should be given to the following factors.

_____10. That my religion holds that it is blasphemous to question God's existence.

_____11. That only I can clarify my problem and the facts involved in it.

_____12. That the drunk driver should be held responsible more than God for an accident.

_____13. That Martina Martin had American citizenship.

_____14. That things like this accident happen to people because they did bad things in their past.

_____15. That the accident which seems bad to my family is really good from another point of view.

_____16. That God as a loving parent should allow people to be free to make choices if God wants them to be able to choose to love.

Problem 3

Read the following case of Peter Pace who has just returned from two years of service in the Peace Corps with people barely out of the Stone Age. These people believe in magic. For example, they hold that a person becomes ill because another person in the tribe has cast a spell over them. Peter Pace said that at first he didn't believe in magic; but when he saw a sick person get well after the medicine man worked a magic ritual to counteract the evil spell, Peter began to wonder whether Western science constitutes a more rational way to explain natural events than magic. If you were Peter Pace, how would you decide your view about science and magic?

_____17. What is your view of science, and what factors would you consider in explaining and defending your view?

1. Science is a more rational way of explaining natural events than magic.
2. Can't decide whether science is better than magic in explaining natural events.
3. Science is not a more rational way of explaining natural events than magic.

Using the below responses, please answer questions 18 - 24 based on how much importance should be given to the following factors.

_____18. That one (magic or science) is more effective than the other in controlling natural events.

_____19. That I as an individual can have a good reason for believing in magic even if no one can accept the rationale behind my reasoning.

_____ 20. Whether the word magic should be listed in elementary spelling books.

_____ 21. Whether beliefs that underlie the practice of one discipline (magic or science) have more consistency (that is, no contradiction amongst the various beliefs) than beliefs that underlie the practice of the other discipline.

_____22. Whether the practice of either discipline (magic or science) leads to results that are better than chance occurrence.

_____23. That science should be acceptable in one culture and magic in another culture.

_____24. That a believer in one practice (magic or science) could reason from the other's perspective.

Problem 4

Read the following case of Lee Quest. Lee lives in a country which greatly restricts freedom of speech and inquiry. Lee has been condemned to death for teaching freedom of inquiry to college students. Lee has taught them to question the religious and moral traditions of their society. Consequently, Lee has been judged guilty of blasphemy against the state religion and guilty of scandalizing the youth. Lee has received an offer friends to escape and to go to another country.

_____25. If you were Lee, what would be your decision and what factors would you consider in making your decision?

1. I would escape from prison and go to another country.
2. Can't decide whether or not I would escape from prison.
3. I would not escape from prison.

Using the below responses, please answer questions 26 - 32 based on how much importance should be given to the following factors.

_____26. That I should be primarily devoted to the needs of my spouse and children.

_____27.That no one else can advise me in this situation.

_____28.That I should preserve my own life as the most important value.

_____29.That giving up my life in witness to the value of freedom of inquiry for all citizens of my country is more important than merely staying alive.

_____30. That my escape from prison, if it became violent and harmed other people, would violate the freedom of other people.

_____31. That I had not yet graduated from college.

_____ 32. That I should consider the desires of the friends who want me to continue living.

Problem 5

Read the following case of Regina Sampson who has been a devout member of a religious group that teaches that only those people who accept the fundamental beliefs of that group will receive eternal salvation. Regina has recently resumed from two years in the Peace Corps in a country with a religion very different from her own. This other religion teaches many of the moral values that her religion does. However, this other religion believes that God can become human not just once as her religion teaches but many times according to the needs of history. Regina tells you that she met many people in this religion and that they were of high moral character and even seemed to be in closer contact spiritually with God than she was. She had never realized until this moment that people could seem just as loving with others and just as devout in their prayer the as the members of her religion. She wonders if she should continue to think that these moral and devout people of other religions are not going to receive eternal salvation.

_____33. What decision would you make, if you were Regina; and what factors would you consider in giving your advice?

Using the below responses, please answer questions 34 - 40 based on how much importance should be given to the following factors.

_____ 34. That the sacred scriptures of my religion explicitly say that a person must be a member of that religion in order to receive eternal salvation.

_____35. That God would be neither just nor fair if God were to condemn a moral, devout member of another religion.

_____36. That I should consider myself a heretic and rejected by my religious community if I were to believe that God would grant eternal salvation to moral, devout members of other religions.

_____37. That I should follow the advice of my pastor who tells me that although I do not understand the mysterious ways of God now, I will understand the correctness of God's rejection of other religions when I am united with God in heaven.

_____38. That I have a fear of flying in airplanes.

_____39. That I should follow my feelings regardless of what the sacred scriptures say and regardless of what rational discussion with members of other religions might lead me to accept.

_____40. That God would not be loving if God were to condemn a moral, devout member of another religion.

_____41. That I could not listen to advice from another person on this difficult religious matter because it is so personal.

Problem 6

Assume that you are governor of a state in the year 2020 whose legislature has just passed a bill reinstituting the death penalty for those individuals convicted of killing a police officer. The governor has been strongly opposed to any use of the death penalty, but she wishes to give this matter serious thought again.

_____42. What decision would you make, and what factors would you consider in making your recommendation?

Using the below responses, please answer questions 43 - 50 based on how much importance should be given to the following factors.

_____43. That my signing the bill reinstituting the death penalty will help me get reelected. -

_____44. That the legislature favors tax increases.

_____45. That I should consider that an innocent person might mistakenly be condemned to death and executed for allegedly killing a police officer.

_____46. That the evidence should be considered which shows that all the states in the year 2020 without a death penalty have significantly fewer murders of police officers.

_____47. That I would go against the overwhelming vote of the legislature and suffer political humiliation when the legislature would vote to override my veto.

_____48. That I should maintain the belief that no person, even one convicted of a horrible murder, is irredeemably evil.

_____49. That no one can reasonably advise me about a personal decision such as voting for or against new legislation on the death penalty.

_____50. That I should consider that the political party to which I belong strongly favored the death penalty in the last Presidential election.

_____51. That the family of a slain police officer should be able to get even with the murderer.

Problem 7

Read the following case of Abraham. "After these things, God tempted Abraham, and said to him, ·Abraham, Abraham. And he answered, Here I am." He said to him, "Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of vision, and here thou shalt offer him for an holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will show thee." So Abraham rising up in the night, saddled his ass, and took with him two young men, and Isaac his son, and when he had cut wood for the holocaust he went his way to the place which God had commanded him. And on the third day, lifting up his eyes, he saw the place afar off. And he said to his young men, "Stay you here with the ass, I and the boy will go with speed as far as yonder, and after we have worshipped, will return to your And he took the wood for the holocaust, and laid it upon Isaac his son, and he himself carried in his hands fire and a sword. And as the two went on together, Isaac said to his father, "My father. And he answered, 'What wilt thou, son? "Behold," saith he, "fire and wood, where is the victim for the holocaust?" And Abraham said, "God will provide himself a victim for a holocaust, my song So they went on together. And they came to the place which God had strewn him, where he built an altar, and laid the wood in order upon it, and when he had bound Isaac his son, he laid him on the altar upon the pile of wood. And he put forth his hand and took the sword, to sacrifice his son. And behold an angel of the Lord from heaven called to him, saying, "Abraham, Abraham. And he answered, "Here I am." And he said to him, Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither do thou anything to him, now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake.. Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw behind his back a ram amongst the briers sticking fast by the horns, which he took and offered for a holocaust instead of his son. And he called the name of the place, The Lord provideth. Whereupon even to this day it is said, In the mountain the Lord will provide. And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven saying, By my own self have I sworn, saith the Lord, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake, I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea shore, thy seed shall possess the gates of their enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice."

_____52. If you had been Abraham in that situation before he actually attempted to carry out that request, what would have been your decision?

Using the below responses, please answer questions 53 - 57 based on how much weight should be given to the following factors.

_____ 53. Religious faith is so personal that no one can advise me in this problem.

_____ 54. Whatever God commands an individual to do is right for that person to do.

_____ 55. God would be contradicting the nature of divine love if God were to ask that a person to kill one's son in order to prove one's faith in God.

_____ 56. As the supreme author of life, God has the moral right to order the sacrifice of Isaac.

_____ 57. When religious belief contradicts a reasonable moral command such as that parents should love their children, then that religious belief should be seriously examined.

Draw upon the following material below to reflect upon your answers to all the questions above in order to answer the following question:

Write an essay in which you show your growth in:

1. a child's way of valuing which emphasizes the effect upon the self independently of others,
2. to an adolescent's way of valuing which emphasizes the effect upon the self as one who shares the same values as one's local family, group, or nation,
3. to a more mature way of valuing the self as one who share values that transcend one's individual, familial, or national identity because one has moved towards being a member of a universal community of all humanity?

and three different ways of moral or religious valuing from

1. a child's way of valuing which emphasizes the effect upon the self independently of others,
2. to an adolescent's way of valuing which emphasizes the effect upon the self as one who shares the same values as one's local family, group, or nation,
3. to a more mature way of valuing the self as one who share values that transcend one's individual, familial, or national identity because one has moved towards being a member of a universal community of all humanity?

 Let me assume that all students can progress through the following stages of development in their cognitive, ethical, religious, and aesthetic growth (in the fine arts and literature):