Religion is an "institution" of sorts and based on formalities and rituals established by man it is more public with organized doctrines. The formalities are meant to exert control and instill morality. In my religion you confess your sins to a clergy member, go to superbly adorned churches to worship and there is a script of prayers that you pray certain prayers at certain times.

Spirituality is something that is found deep within oneself it cannot be found and does not come from a church or by believing in a certain thing or way, this is more personal and private.

When people ask me about my religion or whether I am religious my response is that I am spiritual.

Identify three surprising concepts that you learned about religion in this course, and explain why they surprised you.

The most recent surprise for me was that on the world map depicting the locations of the major world religions that Protestant is the major religion for the United States and Canada. I always thought Roman Catholic was the major religion in these regions.  Glad to be corrected and to always be learning.

I was surprised how much I really related to the Sikhism religion because of its realistic views and I learned of my own ignorance of perhaps looking at the turban as Islamic and evil.  I really liked how God should be in one's daily life not just when you need him and that Sikhs believe everyone is born good as we age we might weaken to temptation, our spirit is strong and will have to deal with all the bad things in order to stay pure you must be able to resist evil.  I was most happy to learn the meaning and belief behind the 5 k's, their symbols such as not shaving, and the turban.  In the Sikhism religion cleanliness is next to Godliness. More importantly I enjoyed learning and could definitely belong to a religion with beliefs such as one that do not consider their faith as the only way to God but that there are many ways to God. Sikhism is but one of those ways.  The three major beliefs to the paths to God that really struck me are: working hard in society to earn one's own living, sharing one's wealth with the poor and needy and remembering that God is the only Doer, the only Giver, and we should remember his name at all times.  Praying is a very important part of Sikhism they pray two hours before beginning their day.

and finally, I was surprised that it was talked about and that I was pleasantly reaffirmed through Dr. Meg Rink's video that I do not see salvation as a rescue from sins or the human conditions and that it comes from the outside as if the Gods are reaching down offering a way to heaven or a better life here on earth.

Regards and best wishes to you all, Kate