Project report (Reflecting the course)

Some futurists claim that future world is the world where man is able to control his or her environment, body and even evolution. This refers to design baby, artificial intelligence, genome engineering etc. which human beings and science technology are combined. Due to technological advancement, it became possible for human beings to take control over their health and environment. Also, technology that can fully control oneself’s intelligence and evolution is on the process of its development. Some argues that these scientific evolution will improve quality of human life, while some philosophers believe that technology will eventually destroy the purpose an quality of human life.

I believe humans will be able to control most, if not all, of their body, environment and their evolution (children) in next 300 years. Humans will control their own physical status, appearance, and intelligence. Humans might be able to change their race and skin color using scientific surgery. Furthermore, humans will systemize their child even before they are born. Control of evolution, known as design baby, is a technology that enables parents to control their baby’s body including their physical status and intelligence through genome engineering. I believe human’s passion on science will lead us to such world in next 300 years.

The most important question is ‘Will these advancement of science improve the quality of human life?’ Some will say ‘yes’ considering the convenience of our life. However, what we truly should consider is ‘What is the true quality if human life?’ Theravada Buddhism, according to Smith’s world religions, said ‘Human beings are emancipated by self’effort.’ This quote shows what humans beings truly are. Humans are special and different from animals because we have high level of intelligence and we seek to find out who we are and what we are. Various religions and philosophies which claim different values exist because each individual has different virtue and purpose of their life. Humans are special because we challenge to know and develop ourselves. This process is called ‘history of human’.

Then, what is true quality of human life? Will science technology improve it? I believe the answer to this question is ‘Science will not improve the quality of human life’. We do not need to imagine the future, we can see that humans are being slaves of science just by looking around us-maybe ourselves. We used to talk verbally while spending time together in the past, however, most of modern people are now isolated in their smart phones. people are sending text messages even they are right next to each other. Over-developed science technology is eliminating the true virtue of humanity. We are losing love and Jung (정), and we need to find the way to keep them.

Multi-tasking is important skill in modern society, but I believe respect is more important than any other virtues. In order to solve such problem, it is crucial for us to change our mindset. Using profanity or sexually insulting others or playing computer games during the class time is not respecting others. These are backlashes of modern science such as social media and the Internet games. We need to change our attitude. To be honest, I used to play games during class. Also, I used to swear in front of others. I thoughts that is my freedom and they will make me cool. However, I realized that these behaviors are degrading my personality and image. I hope the people of the world including my friends, family, and so on, to realize the importance of ‘respect’ and learn through realizing.

Our school is proceeding some policies to rescue us from the dark shadow of science technology. In order to provide more opportunities for us to ‘feel’ each other, we made ‘no smart phone day’. Many other schools are doing the same, too. We are not able to use smart phone during the no-smart-phone day. We should visit our friends when we have something to say or ask. I believe this policy led us to improve our friendship and skill of managing our relationship with others.

Buddhism’s key virtue, according to our text book, is ‘wisdom’. We should use our intelligence. If we become slaves of science technology, humans are no longer special. If science takes over our life, we are not different from robots or computers. I wish people are able to learn the value of respect and become true owners of their own lives.

(Unofficial)Group project-reflecting my high school life

This Project is done with Hyun je, June Choi, Kang won and Jisoo Yum.

Hund je produced the music, June wrote a lyrics an also sang the song. Kang won and Jisoo Yum did fulfilled their role as singers. I contributed my effort as an editor.

This song is based on the song ‘Empire State of Mind’. We tried to express our memory we share during last 3 years. We changed the original lyrics into sincere and heart-warming lessons.

The music will be uploaded to Youtube soon.

Empire State of CheongShim- Clean Version

Yea, yea I’m out of CheongShim, now I’m down in Seorak
Right next to AeChunkwan, but I’ll be the ones forever
I was a new student, and, on my first day
I was on the elevator, yea, Nunas kicked my ass out I used to live in office
All of my strong~ teachers right there up to scold me
Pull me back to VIP room, we all played a game there, four weeks of school missin’
Catch me if you can to make another Meijer quiz missin’
Comeback in two months, the six all fck up
No one to trust, but CJ had has thumbs up
Me, I used to hate all, wanted to kill y’all
Now I live with a clean mind and I brought some love mind
Say whattup to CJ, still admiring KJ
Sittin’ in class, every one ignores the CJ
Nunas I will trust you, I could ditch the oppas
Tell by my attitude that I’m most definitely from
In CheongShim,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There’s nothin’ you can’t do
Now your’re in CheongShim,
These class will make you feel brand new
Big CJ will inspire you
Let’s hear it for CheongShim, CheongShim, CheongShim

HS3 life we all call it a thug life.
Shit, I spent the whole month forgettin CJ’s homework
You should know we love ya, but we just don’t tell ya
But I got a gang of nunas follow my VIP path
Welcome to the 8th wave, students where we graduate
So many haters, home of the thug life
Namu girl, HB girl, lefty girl, sucks em’ all
For haters the girls are/ just a bunch of retarded minds
Fourty eight students, out there in it ready
College is a pity, doesn’t matter if you make it
Me, I am a top, and say “ he goes to college, jay”
If Jesus payin’ the top, I’m payin the down low.
three year high school, three hundred memories
When the song ends, rest in peace Dr. Tre Kim
Statue of moon sun myeong, visiting the Cheonjeon goong
Long live the school yo, We’re from the CheongShim St. that’s
In CheongShim,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There’s nothin’ you can’t do
Now your’re in CheongShim,
This class will make you feel brand new
Big CJ will inspire you
Let’s hear it for CheongShim, CheongShim, CheongShim
Hearts are beating, Drumrolls beating
So she can say the six absued, the real thing is
Covered with for‘feit’, just like her counter’feit’
Score in the SAT, don’t be cheated with the numbers
Caught up in the HB, now you’re all blind
What you see ain’t real, real things are heart-felt
School of sin, a school for college prep
Good students gone bad, the school’s filled with them
Stoertz regret the students, now they’re insensible
Everybody lack love, just like a cold war
Doesn’t mean I got love, I lack it too
And her story is a fiction, a bad fabrication
Came here for school, graduating competition
AP’s, SAT’s, all addicted to numbers
ISEF got you feelin’ like a champion
The school never dies, and the school lives forever
In CheongShim,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There’s nothin’ you can’t do
Now your’re in CheongShim,
These class will make you feel brand new
Big CJ will inspire you
Let’s hear it for CheongShim, CheongShim, CheongShim
One hand in the air for the big school
Big Gym, big dreams, all lookin pretty
No place in the world that could compare
Put your lighters in the air everybody say yeah, yeah,
Yea, yea
In CheongShim,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There’s nothin’ you can’t do
Now your’re in CheongShim,
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big CJ will inspire you
Let’s hear it for CheongShim, CheongShim, CheongShim

Give and take, and the world

Everything is about give and take. From family, friends, school, work, the world, environment and the people in it, we all need to give and take. It could be favors, or just nice gestures, work or play, borrowing or loaning, it doesn’t matter what it is, all that matters is that, it is.

If there were no give and no take then everyone would sit lazy and selfish only caring about themselves and nothing would get done. Not one person wants to do everything, but someone has to do something. There are many people who take many parts that make this world a whole. You cannot have one without the other because with missing pieces the picture falls apart, the world falls apart. For example there are administrators and secretaries, to help the nurses, and nurses to help the doctors, and doctors to help the sick people, and teachers to teach skills and students to learn them, the system can go on and on. Like people who produce and the people who pick it, and the people who ship it and truck it to a store, and then the people buy it as merchandise and eat it. You have to have all the steps or the whole system falls apart.

Sacred Authority’s influence on temporal power

In order to fully express my opinion and feelings, I decided to write the essay in Korean. The essay is about love, respect and peace. It talks about Korea and our role as leaders.

사랑, 배려, 봉사 그리고 평화

“사랑은 평화를 낳는다.” 나는 ‘평화를 사랑하는 세계인으로’라는 고 문선명 선생의 일대기를 담은 책에서, 사랑을 통해 모두를 이해하고, 사랑으로 갈등을 풀어 나감으로써 진정한 세계 평화를 이루자는 교훈에 큰 공감을 얻었다. 현대 사회는 사람들의 이기심과 개인주의로 지구촌 곳곳에서 전쟁, 기아, 인종 차별, 범죄 등 수많은 부작용에 신음하고 있다. 탈레반과 알-카에다와 같은 무력단체는 세계 평화를 위협하고 있고, 아프리카에서는 극심한 기아와 의식주의 결핍으로 많은 어린 아이들이 목숨을 잃고 있는 실정이다.

우리나라도 예외는 아니다. 백의민족으로 역사를 같이하고 생활했던 민족이 남북으로 분단되어 무려 한 세기가 다 되도록 이별의 한을 가슴에 묻은 채 살아가고 있다. 그리고 수많은 사회문제와 극심한 스트레스로 청소년들의 일탈행동이 잦아지고 있고, 성범죄의 두려움에 많은 사람들이 정신적으로 시달리고 있다. 나는 이 책을 읽으며 민족의 분단은 과연 언제 해소될 수 있을까? 우리나라가 겪고 있는 사회 문제를 어떻게 하면 풀어나갈 수 있을까?, ‘인간의 진정한 삶의 질 향상과 안전이 보장된 사회 속에서 누구라도 마음의 짐 없이 하루하루를 평화롭게 살 수 있는 방법은 없을까?’를 고민했고, 스스로에게 많은 질문을 던져 보았다. 그리고 내가 바라본 사회의 모습과 비교해 봄으로써, 지금 현대 사회가 겪고 있는 문제점을 해결할 수 있는 근본적인 해결 방법을 생각하게 되었다. 전 세계는 지금 국가의 권익과 자신들의 공동체만을 생각하며 정신없이 앞만 보고 쉬지 않고 달려가고 있다. 세계의 모든 국가들은 과학 기술의 발전, 물질적으로 풍족한 삶, 복지, 교육 등의 많은 분야에서 다른 나라보다 앞서고, 국가의 위상을 드높이기 위해 노력하고 있다. 그런데 우리의 인격과 세계의 평화는 과학 발전으로 얻은 높은 삶의 질과 편리해진 생활과는 반대로 왜 점점 악화 되어 가며 사회 문제를 증폭시키고 있는 것일까? 왜, 지구촌은 정신적으로 평화를 누리지 못하고, 서로 상처를 주고 고통을 받게 하는가? 나는 이 책을 통해 이러한 문제의 해답을 얻을 수 있게 되었다.

지금 지구촌과 현대 사회에서 겪고 있는 모든 문제의 근본적인 원인은 바로 ‘사랑의 결핍‘이다. 비록 우리는 물질적 풍요를 누리며 안락한 삶을 살고 있지만, 타인과의 소통은 줄어들고 각자가 개인적인 영달만을 위해 살아가고 있다. 그 결과 우리는 상대방을 진정으로 사랑하는 방법을 제대로 터득하지 못하고 살아가고 있다. 이는 과학 기술이 우리에게 안겨준 풍요로운 삶의 역기능이다. 현재 가장 많은 문명의 혜택을 누리고 있는 대한민국 청소년들을 예를 들어 보자. 카카오톡을 이용한 가상 채팅을 통해 친구와 대화를 하고, 페이스북과 카카오 스토리를 통해 서로의 정보와 생활을 공유한다. 이를 보며 청소년들은 마치 자신이 친구의 속마음까지 모두 알고 있는 것으로 오해를 한다. 과학이 발전하면 할수록 인간 대 인간으로 얼굴을 맞대고 서로의 마음에 공감하며 이해하는 진솔한 대화를 나눌 수 있는 기회가 줄어들게 됐다. 서로 마주보고 있지 않다보니 마음속의 깊이 있는 감정을 이야기 하지 못하게 되었고, 이는 결국 상대방에 대한 믿음이나 존중이 부족한 인간관계를 형성하게 했다. 그리고 이처럼 믿음이나 존중이 없고, 사랑이 부족한 인간관계가 모여 사회를 이루게 되면, 그 사회는 정신적으로 점점 병들어 가게 되는 것이다. 우리는 서로 사랑해야만 한다. 사랑을 통해 타인을 존중하고, 나라를 아끼며, 사랑을 기본으로 우리 사회, 우리 국가를 발전시키기 위해 노력해야 한다. 그러면 우리 사회가 서로를 사랑하는 마음을 배우고, 물질적 및 정신적 평화를 실현가기 위한 해결책은 무엇인가?

사랑을 배우기 위한 첫 걸음은 타인에 대한 봉사이다. 책에 의하면 고 문선명 선생은 세계를 향한 자신의 사랑을 기르고, 표현하기 위해 파키스탄과 같이 도움을 필요로 하는 국가에 직접 가서 봉사 활동을 하셨다고 한다. 나는 봉사는 봉사를 받는 사람뿐만 아니라, 봉사자 자신에게도 엄청난 긍정적 변화를 준다고 생각한다. 봉사를 받는 사람들은 물질적, 경제적 도움과 함께 더욱 소중한 미래의 목표와 희망을 배우게 된다. 그들은 학생의 입장이 되어 봉사자로부터 많은 것을 배우고, 세상을 보는 시야를 넓혀 나간다. 그리고 그 넓어진 시야를 바탕으로 배운 세상을 목표 삼아, 자신의 사회와 국가를 발전시키겠다는 굳은 의지를 가질 수 있게 된다. 현재 개발도상국이나 경제적 어려움을 겪고 있는 국가들은 큰 꿈과 희망을 가지게 된 사람들의 열정을 바탕으로 성장해 나가고 있다. 그리고 봉사는 봉사자에게 자신의 가치에 대한 소중함과 타인에 대한 배려 심을 배우게 해준다. 봉사자들은 자신보다 못한 처지에 있는 사람들을 도와주며 자신이 얼마나 축복받은 존재인지, 이 세상에 도움이 필요한 사람들이 얼마나 많은지 깨닫게 해준다. 이와 같은 배려를 통해 봉사자들은 따뜻한 마음을 가지고, 평화를 실천할 수 있는 ‘사랑’의 마음을 갖게 될 것이다.

나는 이 책의 저자이자 종교 지도자이신 고 문선명 선생의 봉사에 대한 믿음과 노력은 종교적인 차원 이상의 가치를 갖는다고 생각한다. 모든 사람들이 평화롭게 살아갈 수 있는 사회를 만드는 것은 결국 전 세계인 모두의 과제이다. 고 문선명 선생은 이 과제를 풀고, 인류가 세계 평화에 한 발자국 더 낳아가기 위해 사랑이라는 해결책을 제시했고, 자신의 믿음을 실천으로 옮기셨다. 이는 자신의 가치관, 종교, 국적, 인종, 경제적 여건 등에 상관없이 평화의 실현을 위해 누구나 당연히 실천해야 할 일들이다. 나는 앞으로 평화를 실천하는 세계인이 되기 위해, 또 세계인이 되어서 타인을 사랑하기 위해 노력할 것을 다짐한다. 그리고 지금 우리 사회가 이룬 기술적 발전이 진정한 빛을 발하기 위해서는 우리 모두가 사랑을 실천함으로써 평화로운 삶을 구현해야 한다는 것을 명심할 것이다. 그럼으로써 지구촌의 다양한 사람들을 만나 평화로운 드넓은 세계를 이해하고, 봉사를 통해 모두가 서로를 존중하며 정신적으로 편안한 삶을 살 수 있도록 노력할 것이다.

 

Project of this course

The video is https://youtu.be/YOCEoI7X3O8

This video is about our high school life. The memories of last 3 years cannot be fully expressed in any words. It was wonderful.

The video will explain everything about us. It shows who we are and what we have done during high school years.

P.S. It is sad to say goodbye to everybody. Our high school life is almost finished. But, remember, ending point is the starting point of another challenge.

Panel for Islam

Basic articles of faith

Muslims have six main beliefs.

• Belief in Allah as the one and only God
• Belief in angels
• Belief in the holy books
• Belief in the Prophets…
  • e.g. Adam, Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), Dawud (David), Isa(Jesus).
  • Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the final prophet.
• Belief in the Day of Judgement…
  • The day when the life of every human being will be assessed to decide whether they go to heaven or hell.
• Belief in Predestination…
  • That Allah has the knowlege of all that will happen.
  • Muslims believe that this doesn’t stop human beings making free choices.

Allah

Allah is the name Muslims use for the supreme and unique God, who created and rules everything.

The heart of faith for all Muslims is obedience to Allah’s will.

• Allah is eternal, omniscient, and omnipotent…
  • Allah has always existed and will always exist.
  • Allah knows everything that can be known.
  • Allah can do anything that can be done.
• Allah has no shape or form…
  • Allah can’t be seen.
  • Allah can’t be heard.
  • Allah is neither male nor female.
• Allah is just…
  • Allah rewards and punishes fairly.
  • But Allah is also merciful.
• A believer can approach Allah by praying, and by reciting the Qur’an.
• Muslims worship only Allah…
  • because only Allah is worthy of worship.

The one and only God

All Muslims believe that God is one alone:

• There is only one God.
• God has no children, no parents, and no partners.
• God was not created by a being.
• There are no equal, superior, or lesser Gods.

Information from the BBC Religion-Islam

Entry #8- Islam

Since ISIS is an issue of modern society, I researched about the belief of Islam that ISIS distorted.

Jihad

The literal meaning of Jihad is struggle or effort, and it means much more than holy war.

Muslims use the word Jihad to describe three different kinds of struggle:

• A believer’s internal struggle to live out the Muslim faith as well as possible
• The struggle to build a good Muslim society
• Holy war: the struggle to defend Islam, with force if necessary

Many modern writers claim that the main meaning of Jihad is the internal spiritual struggle, and this is accepted by many Muslims.

However there are so many references to Jihad as a military struggle in Islamic writings that it is incorrect to claim that the interpretation of Jihad as holy war is wrong.

Jihad and the Prophet

The internal Jihad is the one that Prophet Muhammad is said to have called the greater Jihad.

But the quotation in which the Prophet says this is regarded as coming from an unreliable source by some scholars. They regard the use of Jihad to mean holy war as the more important.

• Information from BBC religions- Islam

Entry #7- Christianity

God

Christians believe that there is only one God, whom they call Father as Jesus Christ taught them.

Jesus

Christians recognise Jesus as the Son of God who was sent to save mankind from death and sin.

Jesus Christ taught that he was Son of God. His teachings can be summarised, briefly as the love of God and love of one’s neighbour.

Jesus said that he had come to fulfil God’s law rather than teach it.

Justification by faith

Christians believe in justification by faith – that through their belief in Jesus as the Son of God, and in his death and resurrection, they can have a right relationship with God whose forgiveness was made once and for all through the death of Jesus Christ.

The Trinity

Christians believe in the Trinity – that is, in God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Some confuse this and think that Christians believe in three separate gods, which they don’t.

Christians believe that God took human form as Jesus Christ and that God is present today through the work of the Holy Spirit and evident in the actions of believers.

Life after death

Christians believe that there is a life after earthly death.

While the actual nature of this life is not known, Christians believe that many spiritual experiences in this life help to give them some idea of what eternal life will be like.

The Saints

These days, the word saint is most commonly used to refer to a Christian who has lived a particularly good and holy life on earth, and with whom miracles are claimed to have been associated after their death.

The formal title of Saint is conferred by the Roman Catholicand Orthodox Churches through a process called canonisation.

Members of these Churches also believe that Saints created in this way can intercede with God on behalf of people who are alive today. This is not accepted by most Protestants.

In the Bible, however, the word saint is used as a description of anyone who is a committed believer, particularly by St. Paulin the New Testament (e.g. Ephesians 1.1. and 1.15).

• Information from BBC religions- Christianity

Panel for Daoism

It is one of the goals that our class should fulfill.

It is founded and researched by Lao tzu. Daoism emphasizedd about the balance between yin and yang. Usually those two values are expressed by negative and positive, male and female, darkness and brightness. Those are opposite values but they contain each other.

It was interesting to study how two values are different but also at the same time, share some similarities.

Entry #6- Judism

Unlike other ancient Near Eastern gods, the Hebrew God is portrayed as unitary and solitary; consequently, the Hebrew God’s principal relationships are not with other gods, but with the world, and more specifically, with the people he created. Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism: the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of humankind. According to the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), God promised Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation. Many generations later, he commanded the nation of Israel to love and worship only one God; that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate God’s concern for the world. He also commanded the Jewish people to love one another; that is, Jews are to imitate God’s love for people. These commandments are but two of a large corpus of commandments and laws that constitute this covenant, which is the substance of Judaism.

Thus, although there is an esoteric tradition in Judaism (Kabbalah), Rabbinic scholar Max Kadushin has characterized normative Judaism as “normal mysticism”, because it involves everyday personal experiences of God through ways or modes that are common to all Jews. This is played out through the observance of the Halakha and given verbal expression in the Birkat Ha-Mizvot, the short blessings that are spoken every time a positive commandment is to be fulfilled.

• information from wikipedia