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After watching episode 1 of ‘Holy Switch’, comment on the following in your blog:
What are some of the 9 Aspects (eg, rituals, Gods, worship etc) that you saw when you watched the Holy Switch?
What are some of the advantages/opportunities that each of the ‘Holy Switchers’ gained in the experience?
What were some of the challenges that each faced?
What was your overall reaction/thoughts after watching the episode?
The episodes of holy switch show people's different perspectives on different religions and compare the similarities and differences of their own. In the first episode, an Anglican Kim and a Hindu Akash swapped. Akash struggled to ease into an Anglican lifestyle and kept thinking of his Hindu religion which was a small barrier for him. Kim was very accepting of the Hindu culture, she enjoyed participating in many of their practices. However, Kim was very worried about the Hindu’s souls and claimed that they might go to “hell” for not believing in Jesus. Her opinion was very based on her christianity and did not accept the Hindu beliefs. Although Hinduism because it is very cultural, does typically accept other beliefs.
ReplyDeleteIn the second episode Freeman a buddhist adapted Maronite catholicism. He was very open to the experience and enjoyed learning other traditions such as attending masses and being responsive throughout. Anthony was a Maronite Catholic who was adapting to Buddhism and was not open minded to the experience. He was holding onto his catholic beliefs which really disrupted his visit.
Hi Emily,
DeleteI Thoroughly enjoyed your summary of this episode, you explained what had occurred throughout extremely well and showed your own perspective of the situations that occurred. Its great to see have religion affects so many different peoples lives in so many varying ways
Regards Olivia.
ReplyDeleteEpisode 2
Anthony
Maronite catholic
Very closed, wasn’t open to the idea of embracing the experience of Buddhism
He imposed his faith onto others
Was very pessimistic in his approach
Freeman
Was a Buddhist monk
Very open and positive about the experience
Focused on the positives and similarities between the two faiths
He immersed himself into the rituals
Hi Mai Ly, I really like your recap of this episode as it is a good summary of the episode with good detail. by reading this i have though about what it is like for them and how they live.
DeleteHINDU + ANGLICAN
ReplyDelete-Anglican, Kim, was open to the culture and experience of an Indian/Hindu lifestyle although she was unable to accept that the people she was surrounded by did not believe in Jesus. She believed that even as good people, those who follow other faiths will not go to heaven after death.
-Akash tried to be open to the experience but was presented with many challenges and people dismissing his beliefs
BUDDHIST + MARONITE CATHOLIC
-During his stay at the Tibetan buddhist monastery, Anthony shut himself off from the experiences offered, and couldn’t put his own beliefs aside in attempts to understand a different way of life.
-Anthony tended to focus on the differences between catholicism and buddhism and openly claimed that his religion was superior to any other.
-Freeman fully immersed himself into a catholic lifestyle and allowed himself to be touched by the similarities
After watching both episode 1 and 2 of Holy Switch, it was interesting to see how people of different faiths engaged in other people’s faiths for the two weeks.
ReplyDeleteIn episode 1, an Evangelical Anglican woman and a Hindu man swapped their lives and had the opportunity of experiencing different faiths. Moreover, Kim seemed to enjoy the cultural aspect of Hinduism but she struggled with how in her own belief, the Hindu family would go to hell. It was evident that she found it difficult to comprehend this, and she felt sorry for the family. Whereas, going into this Akash wanted to immerse himself in the Anglican faith, but was shut down by Kim’s friends because they bluntly told him that he would go to hell. It would have been hard for him so see past that, and therefore his experience was kind of shut down.
In episode 2, a Maronite Catholic and a Tibetan Buddhist swapped their lives and had the chance to experience each others faiths. Furthermore, Freeman seemed to fully immerse himself in Catholicism and even found similarities between the Buddhist faith and the Catholic faith. At the shrine, he said that it resonated with him and touched him deeply. On the other hand, Anthony was reluctant to experience the Buddhist faith, and even gave worshipers the Catechism of the Catholic Church. On Sunday, he wanted to leave the Buddhist monastery and go to the nearest Catholic Church. You could get a sense that he didn’t want to willingly partake in the Buddhist rituals, and he states that this experience has brought him closer to God and his own faith.
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ReplyDeleteIn the Holy Switch episodes, it's evident that people are loyal to their faith and rituals in particular Anthony (Maronite Catholic) whom decided to leave during the experience to go to Church. Although this shows how commited he is to his faith and only allowing those beliefs to exist in his world. It's questionable as to why he vocalised a few disrespectful things that led us to believe he didn’t fully immerse into the experience for what it was e.g left to go to Church, yawned during ceremonies.This as opposed to Freeman (Tibhetan Buddhist) although was out of his element altogether and was used to more quiet practises, he still seemed more enthused to learn and immerse himself into learning Catholic practices and seemed to enjoy his time learning about a culture other than his own.
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ReplyDeleteIn the two Holy Switch Episodes, we watched an Anglican and a Hindu switch lives, as well as a Catholic and a Buddhist. In watching the episodes, we see those of a Christian faith to be much more close minded, only accepting their own beliefs, and not being very willing to open their mind to new ideas and experiences to deepen their faith and understanding of their own religion as somebody else’s. However, Freeman and Akaash, a Buddhist and Hindu respectively were a lot more open minded and enjoyed taking part in other people’s beliefs. However, Akaash felt a little bit cornered by the Anglican people he encountered, who told him we would not enter the after life, something he found confronting as they were so adamant that you could only enter the afterlife you have found and have all trust in Jesus. Whereas, Freeman found his experience within the Catholic Church to deepen his own faith, but also was able to make similarities between his own church and the Catholic one. Whereas, Anthony, whom he switched with wanted to shut out his opportunities, and wouldn't fully immerse himself in the experience for fear of losing his connection with God-something none of the other switches had difficulty with. Perhaps this is because they all have different figures of leadership within their Church, or just that as a general faith, Christianity is very close minded in comparison to other faiths.
ReplyDeleteAnthony was a Maronite catholic who wasn't open to the idea of welcoming Buddhism. He also wasn't open to trying new experiences and was focused on his own beliefs so couldn't understand life in a different way. Freeman was a Buddhist monk who was completely different to Anthony as he was completely open and positive about the entire experience. He also focused on the similarities of the different faiths and the positives about them.
ReplyDeleteHi ALice,
DeleteI find it very interesting how people can react so differently to similar experiences of venturing into other's faiths. Have you ever thought that people have different approaches to Holy Switch due to how orthodox or traditional they are in their approach to their faith.
Freeman was so much more open to learning about other faiths such as catholisism compared to Anthy, who seemed very closed minded and felt asthough his faith was being threated by the Buddhist community.
DeleteI found the first two Holy Switch episodes quite interesting to watch and to see how others view their own faith and view other faiths. Watching an Anglican switch with someone who was Hindu, and watching a Maronite Catholic switch with someone who is Buddhist was very fascinating to see as they were all put out of their comfort zones and placed into completely different faiths. It was also interesting to see how some people were more open to the ideas of other people's religions and living in different faiths and some people were a lot more close-minded to this idea even though that was what they had signed up for. Akash was quite open to the idea of going into the Anglican community although he got shut down by the community quite quickly by telling him he would go to hell because he didn’t believe in Jesus Christ. This shows the difference in people’s ideas of religion and their faith.
ReplyDeleteHi Alicia,
DeleteI really like how you were able to expand on what you watched in the Holy Switch episodes and was able to explain what you found interesting from each person's life. It allowed me to build up my understanding of how someone's religion and faith may differ their views on certain things e.g beliefs
In Episode 1 the Christian girl began to practice Hinduism. Whilst she was very appreciative of the experience she did express concern that the Hindu did not believe in Jesus, as this would mean she would not go to heaven. She believed that all good people, even if they do believe in different religions, would ultimately go to heaven. Arkarsh was a Hindu man who attempted to embrace Christianity. His transition was less smooth, as many Christians told him that due to his homosexuality, he would be going to hell. He did not have an enjoyable or fulfilling experience of Christianity as they were extremely patronizing.
ReplyDeleteIn episode two, a Catholic and a Buddhist swapped lives. In the episode, Anthony (The Catholic) was unable to fully immerse himself in the Buddhist culture and seemed as if he didn’t really want to take part in the swap. He almost seemed to be critical of the Buddhist religion, as he had a problem with taking part in rituals, and instead wanted to go find a Catholic church, perhaps because he feared that if he did immerse himself entirely, he would lose his connection with God. Although he didn’t really end up embracing Buddhism, he did say that the experience has brought him closer to God. The Buddhist, however, seemed fully invested in the experience. He took a lot of meaning out of the swap, as he even discovered many similarities between the religions, that he will carry with him in his life. When he visited the shrine, he was extremely respectful and said that it did mean a lot to him.
Ultimately both episodes demonstrated that some Christians can be very exclusive and closed-minded to other religions. Also, Hinduism seems to be much more open-minded than Christianity.
Holy switch
ReplyDeleteAnglican Christian- Buddhist Monk
The Holy Switch is a tv show that follows two completely different religious people as they swap with one another. The first episode followed a anglican christian, kim and a hindu, ankash. Both were very open to the religious swap and showed interest in each of the rituals and traditions, ankash did experience disinclusion from the christian people as he was gay and this is extremely and uncommon and often frowned upon so he was told he would go to hell for not only being a different religion but for also being a gay man. Kim was excepting and went into the hindu religion with an open mindset yet did mention at the end that she felt bad for them as they wont be going to heaven because they aren't christian, somewhat degrading them for being hindu, even though they were very accepting of her.
Buddhist monk- maronite catholic
In the second episode t follows a Buddhist monk, freeman and a maronite catholic, anthony. Freeman was extremely open minded and ready to take on the catholic traditions and open himself up to a different viewpoint still keeping his faith in buddhism. Despite Freeman being open, Anthony wasn't as convinced in fulfilling his time at the buddhist house. Anthony was not open minded when compared to Freeman and did even try and convert other buddhists while he was there during that time. Although he did spend the full week there he didn't exactly show any appreciation towards being there.
hey Olivia,
Deletewow I also really enjoyed the holy switch episode and found it to be a great insight into the different religions and how faith plays a large role in peoples lives. good job on your blog post found it very interesting to read
Tilly
The series of Holy Switch encounters 2 people from different faiths and they have to swap religions. In episode 1 of Holy switch, We had a christian named Kim who swapped religions with a Hindu name Akash. It was very interesting to see how the both people being put out of their comfort zones and having to practise two completely different faiths which they were not used to. The Christian lady was much more not open to the idea of practising another faith other than hers. However, Akash the Hindu, was much more open minded and enjoyed taking part in another faith. Although Alkash was very open minded to the idea of going into the anglican community, he found it difficult to become apart of the community as he was told that we would not enter the afterlife as he didnt believe in Jesus Christ. He also found it difficult to ‘fit in’ because he was told because of his sexuality he would go to hell. Kim was very accepting of the hindu culture however, she did say that she felt sorry for them as they weren't going to heaven because they aren't christian.
ReplyDeleteHoly Switch Episode 1
ReplyDeleteThe show holy switch shows different peoples thoughts and views on different religions and individuals switch religions to try and experience new religious traditions. Throughout the first episode, an Anglican women named Kim and a Hindu religious man Akash had swapped their religions. Kim, who was the Anglican women and from the beginning, she was very accepting of their religion and she had participated in their practices whereas Akash had really struggled to ease into the Anglican lifestyle. Although Kim was very accepting of their culture, she was quite worried about the Hindus souls as she had claimed that they might go to hell for not believing in Jesus, which is very hypocritical. She had believed that even good people will go to hell as they don’t follow her faith. Overall, this episode was very interesting and showed the many differences that these faiths have.
Episode 1
ReplyDeleteAnglican [evangelical]
Kim
Was open to experiencing another culture
Very critical and felt sad that Hindus were not going to go to heaven because they don't practice the catholic faith.
Naive and very arrogant about other Religions
Hindu
Akash
Shoes off before entering house/Home
Vegan. Lots of spices in their food
He was gay which the catholics he was staying with him believes send people to hell
Believe in reincarnation/ rebirth
Demonstrated that Hinduism is more open to sexuality and other cultures.
Anthony was a Maronite catholic who wasn't very open to the experience and idea of welcoming Buddhist or people of other faiths into his home. He also wasn't open to trying anything new he was to solely focused on his own religion and beliefs so he struggled to fully understand how people would live their life in a different way. Freeman was a Buddhist monk he was open, positive and welcoming of the holy switch experience. He also identified the similarities and differences of all faiths.
ReplyDeleteIn an episode of Holy Switch we saw a Buddhist and a Catholic individual switch places. Throughout the experiences we discover how the 9 aspects of religion are interwoven into their religion. Buddhism shows that they believe there is no creator God compared to the Catholic belief that there is one God, Jesus was God and they find salvation only through Jesus. Buddhists have sacred stories of the buddha compared to the Catholics who have the creation stories of Jesus and God. The spaces, places and artifacts held close by Buddhists and Catholics are quite different such as how Buddhists have prayer wheels, the temple and specific clothing whereas Catholics have relics of saints, the church, the Vatican, the crucifix and Sabbath on sunday. Each religion also has their own text as Buddhists have the Bhagavad Gita and Catholics have the Bible and Encyclicals. The rituals of each religion are very contrast and take different forms. Buddhists meditate as a ritual. Catholics have the sign of the cross when participating in prayer, fasting on specific days and participation in communion. Statues, Prayer wheels and the lotus flower are key symbols of the Buddhist faith. The cross, wine and bread, grapes and wheat and water are few of the many symbols related to and used by the Catholic faith. The buddhist faith has no hierarchy in comparison to the Catholic church who have the Pope, Priest, Bishops, Nuns and Lay people. They share similarities in their ethics as Buddhists say to not kill, no lying and no stealing and catholics have the 10 commandments, beatitudes, and they know that they must love one another as God does them. Buddhist have spiritual experiences in Nirvana and Catholics have spiritual experiences in miracles. Overall there are many similarities and differences in the faith of Buddhism and Catholicism when looking at the aspects of their religion.
ReplyDeleteNaomi T
Hi Naomi, I really enjoyed reading the ways you explored the range of similarities and differences between the different religions. I like how you really went into depth with what each religion incorporates such as how each religion has different sacred stories, what they are and who they are based off.
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ReplyDelete