Why do people believe in God? What do they believe about God? Does it annoy God when people spoil the world?
This challenge raises the following key question:
• What and why do people believe in God?
• If God made the world, does it annoy God when humans spoil it?
• What do Christians, Jews and Muslims hold in common about their beliefs in God and how do they differ?
• What questions do you have about believing in God?
The Characters
You will need to talk to the characters all the way through, without walking away in the middle, in order to progress.
You will come across the following people:
Television Director
The television director asks, if God created such a beautiful world, why do such terrible things happen? How do such events affect people's relationship with God? Why do people believe in God?
Cameraman (Christian)
This character believes that God has made the world, and that human beings often spoil it. They have to learn to make good use of the natural world and its resources. He believes that when they recognise the error of their ways, they may ask God's forgiveness, which God always gives if they are truly sorry.
Botanist (Jew)
This character accepts that this world is essentially benign. How does God react? Who knows? He believes that what is important is that humans live the best and most responsible life they can. They should leave the world a better place than they found it.
Journalist (Muslim)
This character accepts that the world is a result of the creation by Allah and that there are imperfect aspects in human experience. Human beings do spoil Allah's beautiful creation and they will have to answer for their actions. She believes that a person is judged at the end of life and will go to paradise or hell depending on the actions performed in their lifetime.
Television Presenter
Soundman
Beaver
These three characters are 'distractor' characters. Talking to them will not help you to complete the challenge, but they may raise connected questions of how people respond to or are affected by human mistreatment of the world, which you may want to consider.
Examples of conversations featured in Truailleadh sa Bhaile.
Download the 'Truailleadh sa Bhaile' printout
Hints and Tips
Visit the characters in the following order:
1. the TV director - to find out what his question is
2. the cameraman, the journalist sitting on the bench and the botanist standing in the water (in any order)
3. the TV director again - they need to give the TV director the correct answers to his questions in order to get the reward
4. the gatekeeper, standing by the house.
Once you have the reward, if you complete the conversation with the gatekeeper he can let you cross the river and you can return to the menu.
