<hr/><div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/KB91EMd.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Bridgette Desjardins<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Ms. Desjardins’ Psychology Classroom -<strong>COMPARATIVE RELIGIONS</strong><br/><strong>Date/Time:</strong>Wednesday September 10th - 1:30 PM<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Danika Kincaid, Wakana Hana, Kitty Pryde<br/><strong>Content:</strong>Bridgette has given everyone a chance to discuss the similarities and comparisons between Buddhism and Christianity. There is a small diagram on the board to help both players and characters. She watches from her desk, keeping an eye on people's tempers. Once the talking amongst each other is over, she plans to lead a discussion.<br/><hr/><br/>Bridgette’s schedule in this class was lax. Students seemed to dictate the material more than most other courses she taught. It was a fun class to teach, and she’d enjoyed it more than most of her other classes in previous quarters. It was only the second week, and they were still at the beginning of the syllabus. The first step to understanding the difference between religions was to separate the classic western ideologies like Islam, Catholicism, Judaism, and Christianity from the less secular Eastern philosophies like Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.<br/><br/>Ms. Desjardins preferred to stick to these religions, and tended to avoid obscure religions that were for more advanced study. These included Zoroastrianism, Asatru, Mazdakism, and Jainism among many others. She also avoided recent religions like Mormonism and Falun gong.<br/><br/>Once the students started to move past the differences of the religions and started to understand that there were similar themes being gestured, the real lessons could begin. The class appeared to be agnostic at best from the surface level. The name itself suggested that the religions were something to be studied, which was a blasphemous approach to anything they were talking about, as most modern religions tended to deny the possibilities of the others. But Bridges liked the comparison of Christianity and Buddhism quite a lot.<br/><br/>The chalkboard that she used for her class had a display to help lead the students. She’d put it together as soon as she opened conversation. It had taken her about four or five minutes to chalk the words on to the board in her scratchy handwriting.<br/><br/><div align="center"><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Chalkboard</div><div class="spoiler_body"><div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/ZDwqDaZ.jpg)</div><div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/gYsyG6m.jpg)</div><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><span class="bbc_u">Buddhism vs. Christianity</span></span></div>Both founded by great spiritual leaders<br/>Both offer a path to salvation<br/>Neither Buddha or Jesus wrote down their own teachings<br/>Both Egalitarian beliefs (all are allowed to engage)<br/>Shared values, no killing, no lying, no stealing<br/>Buddhism's 'infinite light' 'Nirvana'   -   Christianity's idea of God <br/>Buddhism lacks 'divine justice'    -    Christianity lacks reincarnation<br/>Meditation and Prayer - similar? different?<br/>Which is better? damnation to hell? or the fact that life is Hell?<br/></div></div></div>That’s how this class had worked so far, and it felt less like school, and more like a jurors discussion room. Ms. Desjardins would take roll, she would give the students something to discuss as a class, and then she would give them some guidance silently with the chalk as they worked among eachother. She was sitting at her desk now, leaning back, drinking coffee and listening to the students mingle openly.<br/><br/>Like all of her classes, she did not use rows and columns for seating. Instead, there were two circular tables, each table had a group of five. That was something Bridgette very much appreciated about Xavier’s school, the class sizes were small. The most she’d ever had was twenty-one in an introductory French class last year. And it had been astoundingly more difficult than the 8-15 student size she’d gotten used to.<br/><br/>Table one was seating Fiona, Marcus, Danika, Hana, and Jason.<br/><br/>Table two was seating Victoria, Kitty, Parker, Scott, and Owen.<br/><br/>"I don't understand what you're getting at Scott?" Owen was feeling heated. He'd been raised christian and this topic was something he didn't like going into. Scott was being pushy, an atheist and proud, he liked Goading the christian kids around the school into existential crisis'. It was fun for him. Owen's anger was starting to surface, Bridgett could hear his choppy expressions as he was having them. His face was twitching, and his jaw was far too tight. Bridgette focused and leaned forward.<br/><br/>Scott was laughing, his music was sinister, she did not like it. He was trying to say that there was no God and that Buddhism was probably the better belief structure with that in mind. 'Divine Justice' didn't exist to him, and neither did the karmaic reality that buddhism favored for it's justice system. "I'm just saying that-"<br/><br/><strong>"No."</strong>Ms. Desjardins was loud, both in volume and in broadcast. She wasn't upset, but her stern decision to stop scott was unquestionable.<strong>"We're not going to go there Scott. This isn't a fight, and you're making it personal."</strong>She put a finger up to address the whole class. It was the first time this group had gotten hostile with each other.<strong>"We have to remember zat people's beliefs vary. Zat's what Zis class is about. We are not interested in proving anybody wrong, or anybody right." </strong>The class murmered a bit. Owen was still fuming, Bridgette could hear it, Scott was acting like a spoiled child. she looked at the aethiest boy with an insisting expression, eyes wide, brows up, head tilted.<strong>"Apologize. You were being rude to Owen."</strong><br/><br/>Scott looked over to his peer and then to the ground. He brought his gaze back up and offered a sincere apology with a gesture of his left hand, "I'm sorry, man. Teacher's right. I was out of line." It didn't fix everything but Owen was nodding. Bridgette felt things steady out again.<br/><br/><strong>"Continue, and be respectful of each ozah as well as zee subject matter. It is older zahn us all."</strong>