These should be more personal essays than research assignments. Feel free to use whatever resources you care to, and cite your sources if you are of a mind to do so. But I am looking more for personal reflection than for research techniques.
Good luck to one and all.
1) You MUST answer this question for a maximum of twenty (20) points.
In a Required Reading for our study of Buddhism, author Alan Altany, in an article entitled The Thomas Merton Connection, writes this: After his conversion and transformation into a monk, Merton was a triumphalistic Christian with little regard for other forms of Christianity besides Catholicism and little concern for other religions. What do you think Prof. Altany means by this assertion? How did Merton evolve from such a position into someone who held Buddhism in high regard? Does Altanys characterization of Merton have implications for our study of world religions?
