“See the darkness, hold onto the light” is the philosophy LCC instructor Clif Trolin implements in teaching Religions of The Middle East. The class covers Judaism, Christianity and Islam “from the perspective of the religion rather than outsiders,” Trolin said, “which is a steep thing to ask.”
Trolin wants students to understand their own limitations. To explain, Trolin quoted Meister Eckhart, a medieval Dominican monk who said, “God save us from god.”
“He was saying we all have tendencies where we limit God into a box we formulate from our own traditions,” Trolin said, meaning that if everyone frames God within the limits of their own perceptions, it becomes harder to see common ground across the other religions and other concepts of God.
Political science major Krista Gray said the class “offers a broad understanding of the three religions.”
She said Trolin is very knowledgeable, “and I love his enthusiasm in class.”
Trolin’s said his approach is to neither hide nor focus on the darker, controversial aspects in covering the religions, such as religiously motivated terrorists and other extremist groups.
“I’m not going to deny things about these religions, although they are very often presented by others falsely,” Trolin said. “It is important not only about presenting them factually but also showing their beauty. All these religions are children of Abraham.”
“They all contributed too many other (religions) and among themselves, they all share philosophical traditions of Aristotle,” he said.
The goal of the class is to teach students how to appreciate the basics of all three religions covered.
“This is a survey class — that means three religions in ten weeks,” Trolin said. “It is important for the students to understand what is Judaism, what is a certain religion.”
“LCC is a perfect place for an introductory class and very appropriate for the first two years of a student’s education in college,” Trolin says.
“Clif is not a teacher, but a game show host,” said LCC student Barry Sommer, who plans to transfer to Northwest Christian University.
With a chuckle, he added, “He gets us to let loose and laugh, which gets us thinking, which leads to good questions being asked in class.”
Trolin has a background in religious studies from the Graduate Theological Union at University of California, Berkeley, “where prayer was considered to be an art form, although my art form was actually pantomime,” Trolin said.
“In my undergrad at Brandeis Uiversity I had a class where I experienced 10 different religion services, which pushed me to see I wanted to teach this stuff,” Trolin said.
