Today in class we took the test. I didn't do well. I studied very hard but I did not get a good grade. I asked Mr. Schick what a failing grade would do to an A but he didn't answer! I am very disappointed with myself. I should've been more prepared. I still can't stand the fact that I failed. I will try my best for the exam and the 2 weeks following.

Today was Mr. Schicks B-Day!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. SCHICK!!!!

He had something to do after school today, so Mr. Kimble filled in today. During class time I finished some HW I wanted to get done. Today, I tried to get as much work done, because I want to study for my exams.

Buddhism Continued-

Four Noble Truths:

There is suffering

Attachment to desire is the origin of suffering

There is a cessation of suffering

The Eightfold Path will lead to the cessation of suffering


THE EIGHTFOLD PATH

1. Right view
2. Right intention
3. Right speech
4. Right action
5. Right livelihood
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness 
8. Right dedication

Judaism

Number of adherents: 14-18 million (ninth)

Call them: Jews

Geographic Location: Israel

Founder: Abraham (?) 

Holy Book: Talmud - Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)

Beliefs: ethical monotheism - God is one, and concerned with the actions of humankind.

Ten Commandments -- 13 Principles of Faith

More Notes!!


Spatial Divisions                    

• Political Alliances

- North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

- Commonwealth of Nations

- Organization of American States (OAS)

  _________________________________________________________________________________

Religion

• Number of adherents: around 2.2 billion (largest in the world).
• Call them: Christians
• Geographic Nation: Europe, the Americas, Southern Africa.
• Denominations: Baptists, Methodists... 

More on Christianity 

• Founder: Jesus Christ (it's Abraham in origin).
• Holy book: The Bible, especially the New Testament
• Beliefs: Jesus is both human and divine - the Son of God; he led a virtuous life; he was crucified, died, buried, and resurrected; descended into heaven where he reigns with God the Father. 
• Clergy: Pope, priests, etc.

Islam         

• Number of adherents: 1.5 billion (second largest). 
• Call them: Muslims
• Geographic Nation: Indonesia, Middle East, North Africa.
• Denominations: Sunnis (75-90%), Shittes (10-20%)

• Founder: Muhammad (570-632).
• Holy Book: Qur'an
• Beliefs: Monotheistic, Abrahamic
• Five Pillars (testimony, prayer, alms-giving, fasting, pilgrimage)
• Muslims see their purpose in life as serving and submitting to Allah (God), and observing Islamic law. 

Hinduism

• Number of adherents: 1.1 billion (third largest) 
• Call them: Hindus
• Geographic Location: India, Nepal
• Holy Book: The Vedas - eternal truths revealed to ancient sages; composed in verse form (meant to be sung and easily memorized). 

• Founder: No distinct founder - it is a series of intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid, strict set of beliefs - probably the oldest religion, although Hinduism is less religion than a way of life, or faith. 
• Example: " As a person puts on new clothes and discards old and torn clothes, similarly an embodied soul enters new matrials bodies, leaving the old bodies." 
• In other words :: re-incarnation. 

Buddhism

• Number of adherents: 500 million to 1.5 billion (estimates vary quite a bit)
• Call them: Buddhists
• Geographic Location: Southeast Asia, China, Nepal, Japan (there are 1.2 million Buddhists in the US). 

• Founder: Siddhartha Gautama
• Denominations: Tibetan. Zen, Theravada, Amidist

Notes Continued...

Notes:

Religion

• There are 5 major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. 
• They have millions of followers all believing the same thing. 

Religion can also be a dividing force around the world.

• Hindus and Muslims fight in India (Hindu) and Pakistan (Muslim)
• There are conflicts between Catholics and Protestants (two forms of Christianity) in Northern Ireland. 
• Jews, Christians and Muslims all claim Jerusalem as their religions holy site. They are constantly fighting over the land.

Spatial Divisions

• Spatial divisions are how we divide the livable space found on the earth by established social, economic, and political control. 
• You can be a member of more than one spatial group.
• Spatial divisions can also cause conflicts or cooperation. 

Examples of Spatial Divisions: -----> 

• Countries
• Economic alliances

- European Union (EU)

- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Today in class, we continued to take note on Cultural Geography:

Language- Ex.) of cultural characteristics:

- Arabic unites the Arab world
- Spanish unites the Hispanic world

• Brazil is the only South American nation which does not speak Spanish. It speaks Portuguesse.
• Canada is a bilingual nation. French and English are their official languages. 
• American has no official language.

Example: 

• Switzerland is a country that has multiple languages. There is very little conflict between the groups.
• English is now considered the world language and is used for most business transactions around the world. 

Example: 

• In Yugoslavia many ethnic groups were made into one country (Serbs, Croats, Boshians, Albanians).
• When strong leadership died out the different groups fought a very bloody civil and how they all have separate countries. 

Example:

• In the countries of Rwanda and Burundi in Africa, Two ethnic groups are dominant in the other. - the Tutsis and the Hutus
• The Hutus are dominant in one and they persecute the Tutsis and the Tutsis are dominant in the other. 
• The US and Switzerland have peacefully merged multiple ethnic groups in their countries.

- Korea and Japan have primarily one ethnic group. 

- On the island of Cyprus the Greeks and the Turks try to gain control. 

Today in class we watched the rest of our movie, Slum Dog Millionare. I really enjoyed the movie, and I hope we can talk about it more in class. It really taught me about the culture of India.