Introduction to 'Religion' (World Religions: A Whirlwind Tour)

The Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life offers a series of short classes this spring designed to teach participants about the origins, beliefs and practices of various faith traditions.

LD Russell, in the Department of Religious Studies, leads this weekly Monday program to teach the concepts, ideas and practices of several of the world's biggest religions.

In this first session, Russell gives an Introduction to Religion.

[debashispurkait]

Sir., Watched Your Speeches in Chirstianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam apart from this. I think you should have received many success and acknowledgements regarding your teachings as your passion and deep thoughts going deeper in every moments, taking beautiful turns, filled with your own unique interpretation, living us in blissful awe about amazing sentences filled with meaningful words. I can listen you everytime talking about anything on any given day.. Greetings, Compliments and Namaste.., I bow to the divine in your goodself..

[GururajBN]

Why are people religious? Why have the religions survived for millennia? Who needs religion? Great questions with baffling answers. Grateful to Prof Russel for opening our eyes. Stepping back and critically looking at one’s own religion is most difficult task. Like a consummate teacher he points out the direction, doesn’t spoon feed the listeners. Respects from India.🙏

[debashisbanerjee]

Watched your video on "Hinduism" . Beautifully explained . Have become a fan of yours, sir ! Best wishes from India

[freddiepoman]

Great video, as I have studied world religions and moral philosophies for many years. It is the story of the soul and forms people's relative reality. It's a way for people to view the world and make sense of humanity beyond the tangible and materialistic world. Religions were and still abre present in all societies for this reason. We have seen time and again, specifically in Russia and china the legal "banning of religion " during the Soviet union and the cultural revolution, but the result was consistent; it strengthened their ties to the divine and people were willing to be martyrs of their faith. Religion has been used for the purpose of uniting people and dividing g people, as it all is determined upon how people choose to use their free will. Some people have ulterior motives, while other people not. We must remember this before we generalize a specific group of people or religion as a whole and create misconceptions. Karl Marx and emile Durkheim both are correct, in different circumstances. Religion, at it's core is intended to promote morality and community, through a more enlightened manner of thinking and behaving. We then apply our intuition within our life to make humanity a better and more peaceful place. The goal of all religions is precisely that, no religion is more superior to one another. This leads to ethnocentrism and therefore xenophobia which causes wars and destruction. All religions and moral philosophies are equal. Plus, there is no need to engage in dogmatic behaviours, as if a god/gods truly exist, doesn't it surely know our intentions. Doesn't that god dwell in our hearts? So why do we need to engage in these dogmatic rituals and practices. At the end of the day, who you are is determined by how you think and act within this world towards other people and nature as a whole, not by what you claim to be based on rituals. Rituals are good, but at times many people believe they are "the righteous" because they attend religious ceremonies and claim that they have somehow won God. This is essentially the reason why christianity was established, as Jesus saw many faults in the covenant with yahweh. The Jews believed that obeying god was the priority through ritualistic behaviours, while Jesus believed it was the interactions from sole to soul, the emotions and experiences. This example was conveyed to reinforce my argument.

[vernessa]

Really truly wonderful the first video I looked at and shared was Hinduism and now I am looking at all his videos

[sanjt]

Thank you very much for posting those videos online, they were turned out to be very helpful for me. I especially like the way he teaches. It was such a pleasure to learn from him about the different religions.

[adalbertoruiz]

I found and watched your talk on hinduism, now I watched this and will certainly watch the others. People really should learn that their beliefs and way of life are all constructed and not an absolute truth, meaning that everyone has the right to express their religion and spirituality and that nobody has the right to force their ideas on anyone, let alone killing in the name of religion. Thank you! 🙏

[ppradhan]

I like you teaching very much. Watched all your videos on world religions. Best wishes from a Hindu.

[prostholecs]

great talk, its very similar to what Swami Vivekanand has spoken a century ago!

[kalavipanchi]

Namaste Sir 🙏 Your explaining of Hinduism as Universal Religion was really Great nd complete....Hope your lectures help world understand Hinduism better and help remove the negative impact of systematic anti Hinduism propaganda...May PARAMATHMA Bless you with Spiritual nd worldly Abundance and give you more opportunities to spread Truth about Hinduism.

[raisa_cherry]

His lecture is clear and to the point, needless to say better than my own religion lecturer 👏 he went into the depths of religion and very effortlessly outlined without making it too complex.I really like it.

[edithburgio]

A broader perspective on the universe and our part in it

[rebecaestefania]

39:03 I CAN'T!!! How he looks when he's one with the divine!

[wanderingbiku]

I am thoroughly enjoying this series of lectures. Your delivery, explanation and wonder just at the concept of religion is contagious. Having shunned religion myself for so many years, extolling the virtues of modernism, I am slowly re-growing my spiritual roots. Thank you for making these talks public and look forward to following your work.

[joshs]

This was pretty amazing. Thank you for posting and I look forward to watching the rest of your available lectures.

[DeepakYadav-hzuq]

You are really a great person, the way you explain the Hinduism, till now I have seen many one attempting, but you are best. In small time period you have tried to explain at best. Thank you.

[jayantito]

About Hinduism...perfect sir.Thanks sir

[mezidvemastromy]

Damn, this guy rocks, I actually have a tendency to learn more about all this. So I have to say, thank you sir.

[parmanandmakhija]

Thank you Sir🙏🏻 it was very nice lecture on Hinduism - very very knowledgeable! We are Sanatanies Hindu! Respect to every religion - one more great thing of Hinduism is “Ahinsa Parmo Dharmaha” it means not to kill anyone- it’s the main base of Hinduism- Love and Namaste from India 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Shiva also call a SHAKTI (Power)
There’s no word of DIVORCE in Sanatan Hindu Dharma- it means you have to live your life with one Life Partner!

[uditprabhakar]

watched you video about sanatana dharma/ hinduism. Just loved it. So sorry that the comments there have to be disabled.
best wishes to you from india.
IBOW DOWN TO THE DIVINE IN YOU