This is the question
1) Symbols
Find an examples of sacred religious symbols (try to find a symbol attached to the religion you will be doing your second and third paper on), do some research about the meaning that is stored in that symbol. Based on your research and reflecting on your own experiences with religion, how is each generation socialized to respect and value symbols?
and one of the classmate responded below:
I selected a religious symbol from the Mormon church, formally called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. One symbol is the CTR ring. The ring is a prime example of how the young generation are socialized to respect values. The ring was conceptualized in the 1970s by Primary leaders (Primary:church for children run by the women). The rings were originally presented to Primary students at the age of six years old as part of a two year curriculum leading up to eight years old when a child is baptized and held accountable for their own sins. It has since become Mormon pop culture and teens and young adults wear the rings too, which now are available in many different styles beyond the original, simple adjustable ones that used to cost $0.44. Read more here
The ring symbolizes a larger Mormon concept ‘Choose the Right’ (CTR). It is a sentiment to guide moral behavior derived from the idea that Mormons live a righteous life to reach the Hereafter. That includes making choices that would please the Lord. The concept is encapsulated in a church hymn. One particular chorus sums up the idea:
Choose the right! There is peace in righteous doing.
Choose the right! There’s safety for the soul.
Choose the right in all labors you’re pursuing;
Let God and heaven be your goal.
(see it sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir here)
The ring serves as a reminder and commitment to recently baptized children to ‘Choose the Right.’
I found this concept parallels my own religion of Islam as we too have the concept of ‘choosing the right path’ or following a ‘straight path’ to the get us to the Hereafter. This concept for us is not repeated through a hymn or reinforced through a symbol such as a ring, but it is spoken about in Friday khutbahs often and in the Holy Quran as well. Almost every khutbah (Friday sermon) ends with the supplication “We ask that Allah guide us all and keep us on the straight path, it is from him alone that we seek help.” In Quran we have the verse:
“We have certainly sent down distinct verses. And Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path” (24:46 An-Nūr ‘The Light’).
This concept is also contained in lessons and books for children as well as the path we must choose and/or walk to return to Allah. In both religions the concept of the straight path serves to “encapsulate the worldview and ethos of a people” and “help to reinforce a general worldview.” Further the textbook explains “in the process of socialization, a child learns to think in terms of categories of language and in terms of theories or explanations extant in a culture. When new information is received, it is interpreted in terms of those accepted categories of thought.” Therefore, the concept and the ring serve as a reinforcing reminder in the process of socialization. When a child encounters new or even adverse or conflicting information via broader cultural influence (especially as a Mormon or Muslim child who exist in a sub culture of broader American society) they can process it in comparison to their religious reinforcing concepts. As “many people believe, for example, that life is actually a testing ground in which God determines one’s fitness to live in the heavenly kingdom,” these reinforcing reminders will assist children to ideally reject cultural influence and conflicting information that will not keep them on the right path back to God.
Then now I have to discuss to her response for a page:
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