FYS Display Day

While at the FYS Display Day, one of the classes caught my eye. That happened to be The Global Religion of Professional Athletics taught by Dr. Rev. Justin Allen. This class caught my attention because it involved two of the biggest parts of my life, athletics and religion. The main focus of this class is to determine whether a specific sport is considered a religion. Each student at the display day had created a pamphlet on a sport of their choice. They discussed facts about the sport, facts about the religion, similarities between the two, differences, and a conclusion.

Sports and religion have been a huge part of my life growing up. I was a three sport athlete in high school and attended a Catholic church weekly. Religion has always been a part of my athletics because I pray before each game. I never actually thought of my sports being a religion themselves. By reading the different pamphlets, I understand exactly how sports can be considered a religion. I think this would be a really interesting class to take because of my interest in these two topics.

Mayan Cities

This week in class we discussed the greatest Mayan cities. These included Palenque, Tikal, Copan, and Chichen Itza. The architecture in these four cities is phenomenal. It's amazing that these people could build such elaborate temples, staircases, stelae, and ball courts. This just shows you how advanced the Maya were compared to other people of their time.

Traveling to other countries is something I am very fond with. I love to see how other people live and learn about their culture. After discussing these cities in class, I did a little bit of research myself. I would love to take a trip down to see these cities. I would think it would be a great experience to actually get to see what I learned about.

Monotheistic or Polytheistic?

This week we discussed more about the Mayan religion. Were these people monotheistic or polytheistic? This is a very controversial question when it comes to the Maya. All Mayan deities possessed K'uh, a sacredness inherent in all things. This gives them the sense of being monotheistic. The people also have many gods such as; God of Sky, God of Rain and Thunderstorms, The Sun God, and the Lightening God.This perception of distinct qualities represented by distinct beings gives them the quality of polytheism. Polytheism is the worship or belief in multiple deities usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religions and rituals. In my opinion, I believe that the Maya were polytheistic based off of my interpretation of their religion. I think that with more research, we will be able to determine whether they were monotheistic or polytheistic. But for now, researches will consider them to be both.