Final Project

The podcast discusses the reasons why Christians are good to others and why they continue in the path of goodness. The host interviews a priest and includes insights from secondary sources. Christianity is seen as providing a new perspective on life and leading to happiness through grace. Religion plays a big role in providing a sense of origin, destiny, and purpose. Religious people showcase goodness to be a light in the world and demonstrate the goodness of God. Good ethics can be innate but can also be learned and influenced by religion. Religion and good ethics are similar in promoting happiness and being revealed through faith. The podcast encourages acceptance, sharing the good news, and open discussion about religion to create a positive ripple effect in the world. Hello, my name is Sophia Cook and let's get right into the podcast today. First off, the purpose of my podcast is to show why Christians are good to the people they meet and why they feel led to continue in the path of good. In this podcast there will be calming background music and my approach will be casual. My person that I chose to interview was my priest, Father Matt. The different segments in this podcast will be my interview and secondary sources. Now we will hear my interview with Father Matt. How is a person who has faith in their life different from someone who doesn't have faith in their life? Well, I guess faith would give you a new perspective of depth, a height, and a breadth, a supernatural vision. Okay. From my source, Practicing the Presence by Barbara Brown Taylor, she sees how people view God and the meaning God gives them in their life. This source goes well with my interview question since everyone sees things differently because they choose a different approach. It is good for someone to choose a different approach because then you can see other people's thought process and how they view and handle things differently. How can Christianity lead to happiness? Well, because we're aiming for ultimate bliss and that can already be getting here by grace. Okay. Happiness can be all around us. There doesn't need to be a specific source you have to get it from. You just have to try and remain positive no matter what life throws at you. From one of my main talking points, I'm showing people that no matter what's going on in your life, there will be people trying to find good in the situation so that way you're not being too negative or down about something. This talking point relates to my question because there will be people helping others show that there can always be something positive happen so that the days aren't always filled with negativity. When you try and find the good in life, you'll be able to see things in a whole different light because when something was considered negative, you can now see it as a learning opportunity. How can religion play a big role in someone's life? Well, it gives us our sense of origin, where we come from, our destiny, where we're going, and how we're going to get there. It's like a map of our life. My source, The Rationality of Faith and the Benefits of Religion by Brian Ballard, talks about how people might have a hard time in their life and it takes them a while to go to faith and let that community help them through their struggles. This source is useful for my interview questions because it talks about how people came to God and the meaning it gave them. Everyone goes through a hard time and needs people there to help them cope with what is going on. Sometimes you need a friend or just have a way to vent your frustrations. Being welcomed into a church helps you let go of the burdens and fully understand the reason why this happened so that when something good happens in your life, you're ready for it. Why do you think there are religious people showing goodness? Can you say it again? Why do you think there are religious people showcasing goodness? I think that the reason people showcase goodness is because they are trying to be a light in the world to people, showing how good God can be in your life. This will help people understand the importance of choosing kindness when approaching someone or talking with someone. If someone comes up to talk to you and they're talking a positive light, you might be more able to start up a conversation like a chat for a bit before getting into the reason you want to talk to them. If you don't approach someone nicely and start talking about whatever it is you're talking about, they might not be that forthcoming to answer and just walk away from you. How does religion show good in the people? Well, only God is good, so the extent that we find our Lord in people, then there's goodness there. People are taught in church how continuing to show good in the world is very beneficial and gives someone a long-lasting impression of you, because would you rather be remembered as someone who is so kind and easily approachable to talk to or someone who is mean and you should steer clear of them? Do you think people are born with good ethics or do they have to produce good ethics? That's a great question. And I would say yes and yes. When we say that we were born in original sin, so we have a tendency to not choose our human flourishing, but yet we're not totally corrupted, so we can be heroisms of our own story, heroes and heroines of our own story, but then with race, then add a person from the same story. Going off one of my main points about being the light in the world, this question talks about that no matter what, being a good person mainly starts with you and how you want to go about your day-to-day life. It also talks about how you don't need anything to be a good person. You just have to choose to be good. So many people are good in this world, and when you meet a good person, you feel better. So why not make others feel better by your kindness and positivity? What kind of role does religion play in a person's life to make them happy? Well, I think we mentioned that how it gives them purpose, direction, a sense of meaning. I mean, when we're in love, we don't need a lot of things to be happy, but we need parts of our own love. Going back to my source, The Rationality of Faith and the Benefits of Religion by Brian Ballard, this source talks about how your religion can be very eye-opening to some people if it is their first time going to a church. It also talks about how you can choose your own happiness, and if religion makes you happy, then have religion in your life. Now, I know no one has to go to church to be happy, but when someone is usually happy, there's a root cause, like I passed my test, I hung out with my best friend, etc. Sometimes that happiness is because of church, and a lot of people want to share what they've learned or why they're happy. Why do people believe in showing other people the good in life? Maybe this is what we were saying earlier, that, well, love... You know, when you receive some good news, you want to share with somebody. You know, like I work with a lot of couples, and when they get engaged, they want to tell everybody. So, like, when we know goodness, we want to share that. Okay? This question ties into my main point, because some people choose to be the light in the world to them, and by not letting their bad deeds affect how they speak or handle situations. People show good to one another because they believe that is the right thing to do, and because they do not want to reflect their actions poorly on people, and those people did nothing wrong. Everyone should try and be nice to people, because you don't know what that person's going through, and they also don't know what you're going through. You just don't want there to be miscommunication, so a friendly wave or a smile can go a long way in someone's life. How does one's religion show them how to be good to one another? Well, I guess it would depend upon the religion. Okay. Religions follow a sort of guideline on why you should act this way or continue in the same path. Having that guideline is very helpful for some, because they'll know the best way to handle someone or something or even a situation. And then, how are religion and good ethics similar? That's another good question. I mean, ethics purely on a natural level exists. But, like, to love one's enemy, like that you can't know just by nature. So, you need a revelation to know that that's what we ought to do to receive and love our enemies. I think ethics can take you far, but revelation and the ethics and the morals of that live for happiness, and that has to be revealed, I think. Okay. Religion shows you how good is all around us, and good ethics show that you can produce what you are taught and learned. Good ethics is all around us. You just have to show it more clearly, because same as religion. There are a lot of people who consider a religion but might not show it. When more people show good ethics in them and their religion, it pours out into them and into the world, so the world might be a better place, because there's more positivity than negativity. Throughout this whole podcast, I have learned about Christianity and how people view religion and treat religion. I know from conducting my research about Christianity, it's that most people want to know if God is real or not and why so many people show acceptance to one another. From learning more about Christianity, I realized that this religion is more about understanding why people worship and try to be good in the world than not. What I think I can take away from my topic is how to be more accepting of people and not be worried about sharing the good news and talking to people about God and what religion can do to you. From being more accepting and talking openly about it, I feel like more people are able to share their thoughts and actions, because they might be too worried to talk about how they feel about a certain subject, but if more people are openly willing to talk about their experiences, then it might create this ripple effect. It's like, okay, you're talking about it, I can talk about it, and then just more and more good comes throughout the world, and you understand how many people are changed by a religion or by the good ethics that they have seen. I hope that my podcast has been very insightful for you, and that you've learned a lot or what you've already known, you have a deeper understanding of it, and I really hope that you can take something away from this podcast. We have come to an end in this podcast. I am Sophia Cook. Have a great day, everyone.