Biographies of Beliefs Some of the most interesting parts of

anyone’s life story are to do with what they believe and who influences their beliefs.This presentation looks at how belief and

experience make a difference to each other in the biography of a young atheist and a

young Muslim.These two examples will enable you to write

a ‘biography of belief’ of your own.

An RE Today subscribers’ resource from the RE Today website.

Copyright: for use in the subscriber’s school only

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Sian is 14. This piece of her art work expresses her understanding of questions of belief. She writes about her work:“Where is God?To be honest, nobody really knows. Everyone has their own perceptions and opinions on who God is. My picture is the art form of a humble, open mind attempting to find the answer to this question “Where is God?” Naturally, our way of finding an answer is to ask more questions, seeking a deeper meaning or understanding. I have drawn a phone to symbolize the questions: “Can I ring you?”, “What is your number?” The eye and hand symbolise other questions. The person whose mind this is wants to find God and wants to be guided through life. Sometimes religion is a way of finding emotional support and self-belief.”

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In a group of three...

Take the set of nine cards you have been given, and work out what you think is the right biographical order for them

Several different ways of doing this are possible, none is right.

When you have finished, you will be joining another group, who have looked at a different ‘biography of belief’

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Dawud says: My gran is teaching me to pray every day at the

moment. I always like it: first I watch her, then she gives me her

attention. She is always calm when she prays, but at other times she is a bit of a shouter. I like her best at

prayer times, and this is helping me to trust God.

My parents are strong Muslims. I really admire the way they take their religion seriously, but they also respect other people, and

their different beliefs. I am questioning my own beliefs, and

telling them I might be an agnostic. They tell me I will grow out of it, and I should do my prayers more

often.

I feel like I’m drifting away from God and religion at the moment.

I’ve been a bit lazy with my prayers I guess, but in honest

truth, I’ve hardly missed it at all. Perhaps I’m growing out of

religion. Maybe in a year I won’t even be a believer! Scary thought ~ some people will be very annoyed

if that happens!

When gran died, last month, it was really sudden, and devastating. I cried and I prayed. Some people find death drives them away from

God, but for me, I felt Allah was really guiding me and giving me

comfort. I’ll never forget my gran. She was a good woman.

This was the first year I completely kept Ramadan. I did the fast

properly from sunrise to sunset every day, and I didn’t cheat. This has really helped me to have more

faith and to deepen my commitment to being a good

Muslim. I didn’t even find it hard to give my zakat!

An amazing thing today. I didn’t think I’d bother going to the

mosque for Friday Prayer, but I’m so glad I did. It was packed, and I

felt a real connection to everyone, a real spiritual high from being

there. Felt really near to Allah. Not sure why, but good, and very

interesting.In RE today, there was big

argument about atheists and believers. Lots of the others are

atheists, but I thought I’d better tell them why I believe in Allah. Then I

thought: ‘why do I?’ All I could think of was that I’ve been brought up to believe, which doesn’t sound

very convincing.

Today there was another stupid story in the press about Muslims

and terrorists. I am sick of how my religion is shown on telly. You’d think we were all bombers, but

Islam means peace. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t a Muslim, but it’s not really a choice. I do believe in Allah.

It’s six months since Gran died now. After all my doubts and thoughts of

atheism, I feel I am actually a stronger Muslim and a stronger

believer than I’ve ever been before. I hope she would be pleased with

me.4

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This is one way of putting Dawud’s story in order. There are several different interesting ways. Try it like this, and discuss whether it makes sense.

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What happens next?

• Consider Richard’s biography so far. His last sentences are written at the age of 15. what will happen next?

• Choose four adjectives to describe what sort of person you think Richard is. Compare with a partner.

• Write three more diary entries for Richard, to show where you think his biography of belief might go next. These can continue his story as a teenage person, or be for him when he is 30, 50 or 70 years old.

• What do you think are the major influences on our beliefs as we live?

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For discussion...• “Beliefs are changed by experiences” Can you give two

examples of experiences that challenged the beliefs of Dawud and Richard?

• Can you give an example of how your beliefs have been influenced by experience?

• “Doubt is a part of belief” Richard and Dawud are both ‘believers’ – one in atheism, one in Islam. In what ways does each of them experience doubt?

• “Doubt is a way of testing your beliefs” What does this mean? Do you agree?

• “Influences from our family are the most powerful factors in our beliefs” Do you agree? Give examples from Dawud and Richard’s stories, and form your own experience.

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Write your own biography of belief...I was always brought up to believe...

A big day for me was when...

I used to think... But...

One person who has influenced me is...

I remember changing my mind when...

I admire...

I don’t want to be like...

Maybe in the future my beliefs will change because...

Lately I’ve been through...

Take some time to think about this before you write anything. What moments – up to nine of them – have made you believe what you do believe? This can refer to religious, spiritual, moral or other beliefs.You don’t have to use these prompts, but they may help get you started

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Assessing this work:Criteria: “I can...”

Level 5 Express views about the ways beliefs are shaped and changed for both an atheist and a Muslim

Explain clearly some influences on my own beliefsLevel 6 Use religious and philosophical concepts coherently to

explain beliefs and influences upon them Give informed accounts of influences upon beliefs and the

impact of beliefs, including my own beliefs.Level 7 Use different disciplines (e.g. psychology of religion,

philosophy of religion) to carry out an independent critical enquiry into beliefs

Use sources, evidence, arguments and examples to develop critical analysis of religious, philosophical and spiritual questions about beliefs

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• Termly password inside the back cover of RE Today magazine• Any other use is by written permission only

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