KEVIN, FATE and the Jehovah Witnesses are three totally different groups each with their own independent religious allegiances and policies on diverse issues. KEVIN is an Islamic fundamentalist group while FATE is an animal rights group.
On the other hand, there are the Jehovah Witnesses who do not approve of the research being carried out on Future Mouse and have staunch rooting in their beliefs. The thematic significance that the author brings out is the way that different families of mixed ethnicity actually strive with matters of heritage and legacy and try as they may, escaping from the past is virtually impossible.
Another theme that is depicted is that differences in cultural or religious beliefs do not necessarily mean that unity is elusive in issues that affect all of them in general. This basically shows that groups with diverse interests can form a liaison of sorts when it comes to issues pertaining or infringing on their beliefs or policies.
As the title depicts, the differences are put aside because they all have “white teeth”. When the three organizations congregated on the presentation of Future Mouse by Marcus Chalfen, they each planned their own agendas separately, but with a similar or common intention of protesting against the Future Mouse presentation.
KEVIN is protesting Future Mouse with the help of Millat, as is the case with FATE the animal rights group, who gets help from Joshua. The same is the case with Jehovah Witnesses who are planning to protest and are supported by Ryan.
On the relation of the groups to the event and vice versa, each group is in attendance with the sole purpose of protesting against the research being carried out i.e. the alteration of the genes that makes the mouse develop cancers at different times in its lifespan, and the subsequent presentation on the Future Mouse research.
Ryan and the Jehovah Witness plans to go on a hunger strike as their way of protest. Joshua who is affiliated with FATE plans to humiliate his father and Millat with KEVIN plans to use violence as a form of protest.
They all do not agree with the presentation and they were there to express their concerns regarding the presentation. The three groups all have diverse interests but have all come together to attain a common goal. At the same time each group has individual family members who are part and parcel of the Future Mouse presentation whether as key players or minute roles such as the Jones’s.
They were just out to quench their curiosity. The author’s views which are depicted by her portrayal of them are that the past is inescapable. It shows that history has a way of repeating itself. Some characters will try to reject their past like in the case of Clara who left the Jehovah Witness and would not go back as much as Ryan Topps tried to win her back.
They cannot get away from their pasts which keep coming back to them as was the case with Samad when he went to hush the Jehovah Witnesses and returns only to realize that the founder of the Perret Institute and oldest scientist on the panel of Marcus Chalfen was the Nazi conspirator Dr Perret who he had captured during world war 2 and who Archie was supposed to have killed but apparently did not kill him. This view by the author Zadie Smith is also depicted in the preface where she states that her own personal consideration of the past, are what shape her ideas.
The confessions of Augustine is an autobiographical work of St. Augustine of Hippo which consists of thirteen books. St. Augustine of Hippo was a bishop and a philosopher whose writings had a lot of influence in the development of modern Christianity. The work describes Augustine’s sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity.
It is the first autobiography ever written in the modern world and it has had a great influence on the modern Christian writers for the last one thousand years (Chadwick 25). It is not a complete autobiography but it provides the most complete record of the life of any single person from the forth and fifth centuries. It is theological in nature and Augustine writes about how much he regrets being a sinner and being immoral
Analysis
Augustine gave the autobiography this specific title to show that the work would take two aspects. During the time that Augustine lived, confessions meant both to give an account of one’s mistakes and wrongs to God and also to speak one’s love for God. These two aspects are clearly brought out in the confessions. Augustine believes that by him narrating his change from sinfulness to faithfulness, he does not only give his readers a practical edification but he also believes that the narrative is itself a story of the greatness of God and the love that all things have for God (Chadwick 27).
The confessions was very popular because of its originality. He addressed God directly which is very natural and the natural form was very original because it is only God who can be thanked for such a redemption like the one that Augustine went through where he completely changed from a sinner to a Christian.
In the first paragraph of the confessions, Augustine is saying that the place where God’s mind touches our own is like a light. This means that when we as sinners start to think like God or like then this is the first step of our redemption. According to Augustine, human beings who have led a sinful life should try to go back to God by starting to think like God and to adopt his teachings (Warner 12). At this point they will start to make sense of the greatness of God and they will start to see the greatness of God in them and in other people.
In the confessions, the presence of God is like light. Light in a general context always makes us see things and it drives away fear. God’s presence can be said to be light because when he is present in our lives, we start to see things differently and we lose all the fear that we were having. We start having an essence of courage in us that we did not have before we started knowing God just as Augustine who started seeing a change in his life when he turned back to God.
The light is seen to be the truth because what is seen in the light is very true it cannot hide. In our lives, what usually comes to light is always considered as the truth. When Augustine came back to God and started believing in his word and his teachings, he was more truthful and was more honest and truthful with himself and with others (Warner 17).
The light in this sense is usually unchangeable in many aspects. Augustine was referring to God as the light in the confessions. God does not change whether you die, whether you live Him and become a sinner or whether you come back to Him redeemed.
He will always be the same. This therefore shows that the light does not change. When Augustine was a sinner, God was the same and when he was redeemed, God was still the same, he had not changed. This is because once you have a good relationship with the light, it will never change. You will never experience darkness. According to Augustine, everything usually goes back to God. The whole universe tends back to God in its constant source and ideal form (Chadwick 31). This means that God does not change even though his creations change.
God is an eternal essence to which we owe our existence. His eternity means He cannot change and since he is the light, it means that the light is unchangeable. All things created by God have a relationship with God.
Charity and Love also know the Light because of the relationship that they have. Once you have the light or know the light, then it shines upon you good deeds and values such as love and charity. The light can be inside our minds at the same time it is above us. The light according to Augustine is above us because it shines over us to kip us safe and to guide us.
It is also inside our minds because it penetrates our minds through its rays. In this case God penetrates our minds through His teachings and through the doings of others for example when He does something good through our friends it remains in our minds. Augustine is therefore opening up to God and to his readers and praising God for being his light and salvation in the confessions.
Works Cited
Chadwick, H. Saint Augustine: confessions. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2008
Warner, R. The confessions of St. Augustine. New York: Penguin Books. 1963
The Bible is the book where the answers to all people’s questions are hidden. If looking closer at the wisdom that the book is filled with one can learn to read between the lines. Although the path of the reader of the Bible is steep and hard, the results can be extremely inspiring.
Speaking of the things that one can learn from the Bible and enhance one’s personal development with, the one to speak about first is the aspect of foundational faith. Indeed, is must be admitted that those believing in Christ know that the real belief, genuine and sincere, can remove mountains. It is enough to take some examples form the Bible to realize that there is practically nothing impossible for believers.
To be figural, the faith in Christ is the wind beneath people’s wings, the one and only way to cognize the world and oneself and reach the balance between the two. Moreover, the belief in God is the support that one can never lose; God will never leave His children in need and suffering – as long as people keep believing in the miracles of Christ, their faith will work miracles as well.
Another valuable lesson to learn from the Bible is the power principles as the foundation of justice and peace in the entire world. It is truly striking that the principles described in Bible can provide the ones that can bring the entire world in harmony.
Reading the Biblical ideas of power, one can understand that, once these are followed, there will be no other means to ensure safety needed, for the Law of God means bringing people together and helping them to reconcile with each other and with their own selves.
Tracking the way in which the Law of God is described in the Bible, one can claim with certainty that the basis of this Law is the love to God and to the people around. Basing on the aspect of forgiveness, this law can teach people to be more tolerable and help them understand the true nature of their actions.
There are no possible doubts that the biblical Law is the basis of the virtuous and happy life without any discords and conflicts. Therefore, it must be admitted that the biblical ideas of justice are another valuable lesson to take from the Book of Books.
What is the most amazing about the Law of the Bible is that it is absolutely stable and indestructible. It seems that no matter how much time passes, these principles will remain as valuable as they have always been. Once established in the Bible, these rules will always remain the means to stay just and fair even in the most corrupted environments and among the most vicious species of the mankind.
The last, but not the least among the ideas that the Bible can give is the idea of spiritual strategic warfare. Finding out how demons can possess a human being, one can take all necessary measures to remain safe and sound. Fighting the demons of temptation, one starts understanding that the war is far from being over, yet each of the warriors can contribute to the victory.
With help of the Bible, it becomes absolutely clear that there are numerous threats and obstacles for the true believers to overcome, yet these ordeals make one realize whether one has enough strength to walk all the road long to the Kingdom of Truth.
Augustine’s years can be recapitulated greatly like the chapters of a book, which is the set-up he used himself in his “spiritual biography” ‘confession’. Augustine instituted the church of his days in so many ways that we ought to go back to his birth to start comprehending his life as well as our narrative. (Cliffsnotes)
In his ‘confession’ Augustine starts on talking of his babyhood and the understanding impiety of a juvenile man as he summons up. He memorizes in chapter two of the book, “the stealing pears from a tree, not for food, but just to be evil and nothing else”. (Augustine, 24)
He remembers how he had mostly wanted following the reading Cicero’s ‘hortensius’ to be a great rhetorician and he finally studied at carthage, trained oratory there and then was called to Milan in 383 to instruct.
Augustine was born in thagaste, Numidia of Berber stock on thirteenth of November 354. By this time, his father was not a worshipper and he remembers it following the demise of his mother in chapter three of ‘confession’ that he was “drinking from God’s grace even from his mother’s breast”. (Augustine,35)
Even though his father was not a worshipper in Christ, his mother prayed ardently and with lots of tears of her son’s salvation. As he kept on growing, he looked like parting more away from the “truth” of his youth. (Wills)
In chapter four of ‘confession’ Augustine remembers being engrossed to Manichaeism focusing on astrology, way of life, and the means of unfolding and defining life, he found gorgeous. (Augustine, 48) When Faustus, a great instructor of Manichaeism as mentioned in chapter five entered to Carthage, Augustine disillusioned in his wish for concrete manifestation of the fact of Manichean doctrine.
Faustus chose to flee from his plight at Carthage to Rome. Faustus skills at Rome demonstrated unsatisfactory and he applied for an instructing post at Milan.
In Milan, Faustus met Ambrose, who confronted him as an imposing bystander for Catholic Christianity and opened out the potential of the figurative reading of Scripture. This gave Augustine the morale and decided to turn out to be a Christian catechumen. (Augustine, 66)
It is in chapter six where Monica followed Augustine to Milan to discover that he was a committed servant in a Catholic Church. In cooperation, they respected Ambrose though Augustine acquired no assistance from him on his own problems. Aspiration goads by Alypius and Nebridius united him in a perplexed quest for the cheerful life.
Augustine turned out to be busy, tossed away his first mistress, acquired a new one, and carried on his ineffective search for truth. (Augustine, 85) Augustine’s perceptive of Neo-Platonic in chapter seven thought would go on with him all through his great interpretation of religious studies, way of life, and yet to his death bed.
He had been sitting in the instruction of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (d. 397) and he was spellbound by his figurative understanding of Scripture, especially assisting Augustine to conquer his disbelieve of the Old Testament. (Augustine, 103)
Conclusion
Augustine’s years can be recapitulated greatly like the chapters of a book, which is the set-up he used himself in his “spiritual biography” ‘confession’. Augustine instituted the church of his days in so many ways that we ought to go back to his birth to commence to comprehend his life and commence our story.
Works Cited
Augustine, Saint .The Confessions of Saint Augustine.Ed, 1st World Publishing, 2006.22-108.
America has had fair share of challenges pertaining to how minority groups are treated. This has run throughout the history of modern America dating back to the 1850’s when Irish and German Catholics were vilified by underground movements that openly opposed their coming to America. Italians who came visiting in 1890 were neither spared.
They were subjected to the most inhuman treatments that included lynching. The Jews were subjected to harrowing treatments at the beginning of the 20th Century in the hands of Klansmen and other anti Jew personalities that included Henry Ford and his ilk.
In modern history and currently, the people who have born the brunt of discrimination perhaps because of the religion they subscribe to are the Muslims. Their predicaments soured after the infamous September 11th terrorist attack in the United States that claimed lives of many innocent people. The more than 2.6 million Muslims living in the US have faced severe hostility.
It is for fact that those who perpetrated terrorist attack at the World Trade Center were Muslims and that people who subscribe to faiths that encourage extremism have to be treated with a lot of caution, but branding all Muslims as fundamental Islamists whose source of joy is to claim life under pretence of assured eternal peace is a wrong precedence. Many Muslims have unfairly borne the burden of prejudice that is wrongly apportioned to them.
That Muslims are resilient is in fact evidenced by the number of them who still chose to come to America despite of the fact that they are wrongly treated. Their numbers have kept plummeting as evidenced by studies that show that the number of Muslims that were granted permanent resident visas increased from 66, 000 at the beginning of the 21st Century to 115, 000 in 2009. A fundamental question to be asked is ‘Why do they keep coming to the United States where they receive hostile treatment?’
The articles critique will first endeavor to give an outline or summary of the whole articles after comprehensive reading of the articles. A critical thought about the articles will be entertained where questions relating to the audience the articles are addressing will be asked, the purpose for which the authors decided to write the article, and whether the authors did manage to achieve this purpose. Of importance will be focus on what the articles similarly do and what they do differently.
Summary of Lorraine Adams Work
Muslims who migrate to America are a minority group comprising only 0.8 per cent of the entire American population. As evidenced by story narrated by Sharif Zaheer, after the September 11thincident, many Muslim children who went to school all over the United States were subjected to very harsh treatments by their fellow students including being called Osama Bin Laden.
American citizens who come from non-friendly nations like Iran have to undergo what somebody would call economic sabotage. The services and goods they sell do not find easy way to the market where they are treated with a lot of suspicion. Some Muslims are arbitrarily arrested and dragged through protracted police investigations. Studies also point out that hard working Muslim Americans are rewarded by American government. These category of people attests that they have never been subjected to discrimination.
Studies also indicate that Muslim women are treated well in America than in their native countries. Adams supposes that such category of people should be given a hearing instead taking radical position by anti-sharia movements and the ilk (Adams, 2011).
Summary of Sheler Jeffery’s ‘Muslim in America’
Jeffery (2011) reports having seen a handful of men saying their prayers facing Mecca in West Warren Avenue, Michigan. They bow, sit, and prostrate in turns on colourful rags. The men are reciting their salat, a prayer that has been there for more than 1400 years.
A group of women with covered faces is also reciting their prayers in a separate compartment. These faithful trace their decent from Iran that they still want to connect with. The purpose of reciting their prayers according the Imam is to thank God because they have managed to come to America. The faithful are however still homesick and constantly think about their kinsmen whom they think are still suffering.
Prayers are also conducted in Ohio cornfields 68 miles away by the upper middle class who come from 20 different countries with the majority of them being American citizens and others second or third generation Americans. An outstanding contrast is that few of the women in these gathering hardly cover their heads outside the prayer hall. However, the women and men are still separated by a partition.
These are progressive Muslims who are very much comfortable in America. Islam in America is very diverse characterized by modern Islamic center of greater Toledo and Karbala Islamic Education. Islam is the fastest growing faith in America evidenced by the number of faithful that have doubled from a decade ago.
Despite of this, Sheler report that Islam has greatly been misunderstood in America as it is still viewed as foreign, mysterious, and threatening to other Abrahamic faiths that it shares some practices with like monotheism and acceptance of Hebrew bible. Islam also elevates Jesus to the level of a prophet.
Audience of the two articles
The two articles target the general American population that has taken to discriminate against Muslims because of the faith they subscribe to. Sheler attests that dispute the fact that Islam Share common roots with both Judaism and Christianity it is still considered by Americans as a threat to Judeo-Christian heritage.
Lorraine laments that anti-sharia movements and other anti-Islamic organizations in America should reconsider their view on Islam instead of undertaking to engage in heinous acts like burning of Koran that only fuel animosity.
The purpose for writing articles
Lorraine’s intention for writing the article is changing the mindset of Americans towards Islam and Muslims. The laments that the fact that the September 11th attack was carried out by Islamic extremist does not imply that everybody who subscribes to Islam is a terrorist.
She appeals to security agencies and the general American population to stop vilifying people because they are Moslem’s as Zaheer Sharif son was treated at school and an Afghan teenager who was maltreated by New York Police Department because he came from a Taliban hotspot (Lorraine, 2011).
Jeffery (2011) on her part tries to encourage American citizens to treat Islamic religion as any other religions like Judaism and Christianity since the religions share certain doctrines. The writer tells readers that Islam in America has wide ranging diversity characterized by modern Islamic center of Greater Toledo and the Karbala Islamic Education Center.
Have the authors achieved their purpose for writing these articles
Lorraine has not achieved the purpose for which she wrote the article. Hostilities towards Muslims is still at its level high but people professing Islamic faith still keep coming to America under permanent residency. This prompts Lorraine to ask why the numbers keep increasing despite the glaring discrimination they face. This shows Lorraine has resigned to fate.
Sheler is not likely to achieve her purpose of writing because Islamic teachings cannot be married to Christian beliefs especially in capitalist countries like America. Islam is against interest rates on loans or saving accounts, which is the backbone of the revenue of the banks.
Similarity and Differences in the two articles
The two articles are similar in the aspect of where they try to appeal for tolerance towards Muslims. However, there is no outstanding difference between the articles.
Reference List
Adams, L. (2011). Being Muslim in America.The New Republic.
Jeffery, S. (2011). Muslim in America: What is Islam? In this country, there are many answers to that question. Web.
The literal meaning of the word Sikh is ‘disciple’. It is often used to mean a follower and in this case a follower of the Guru. According to (Singh, 12), a Sikh is a person who believes in the existence of One Immortal Being and also the teachings of all ten Gurus in history. He or she must also not belong to any other religion. Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak back in the 15th century in the greater Punjab region of what is modern day Pakistan.
The word Sikh is appropriate since it defines the followers of Sikhism as individuals who live by the teachings of Sikh Gurus. These are individuals who obtain spiritual guidance from these Gurus and his or her life is defined by their teachings.
They revere the Guru Granth Sahib as their teacher and prime guide throughout their lives since it is a literal transcript of the nine Gurus’ teachings that came before it. Sikhs or in this case disciples fully pledge their lives to the Guru and they are expected to sacrifice everything for their cause by ensuring of the welfare and safety of all humanity irrespective of their religion.
The Sikhs believe that the Guru is dedicated to them hence they are obliged to diligently follow his or her teachings. They believe that, their spiritual father is the tenth Guru and the others are his or her spiritual brothers and their commitment to all of them is equal.
The Gurus in this case are not believed to be sons of God and Sikhs believe that we are all sons of God. They believe that any one is received warmly to follow the teachings of their Gurus and people of all religions can visit their temples. They follow their Gurus teachings of multilevel approach to the achievement of one’s target as a disciple of the Sikh faith.
Giving the examples of ‘sahajdhari’ who are Sikhs who do not follow the five Ks, but are still regarded to be Sikhs. The five Ks in this case include: kesh (un-cut hair); kanga (a small comb); kara (a steel band); kirpan (a small sword); kacha (specially made under shorts). Under the command of the Kalsa, the Sikhs make an oath to always carry these articles of their faith and the persona formally declares them to be saint soldiers of the Almighty Being.
Among the duties of a Sikh include the following: the acceptance of the Guru Granth Sahib and the teachings of the ten Gurus as their spiritual leaders. They should also regularly read and mediate on the Guru Granth Sahib and have faith in God and the Guru; they should know their responsibilities as instructed by the Guru and honour them while living a simple, honest and family oriented life.
They should selflessly contribute to the well-being of the society by serving society without expecting any payment and giving to charity; they should treat all people equally; they should speak politely; they should avoid the five thieves pride, greed and anger.
They should avoid lust and attachment to worldly possessions; the ones who are baptised should always wear the five Ks; they should always have a positive outlook towards life and shun cruelty; they should not practise any superstitions or fast and finally they should always approach problems in life logically and scientifically.
Works Cited
Singh Sardar Harjeet. Faith & philosophy of Sikhism: Volume 4 of Indian religions series. Gyan Publishing House: New Delhi. 2009. Print.
The eight Wicca celebrations of the year make up what is symbolically known as the eight-spoke wagon wheel. Each of the wheels spoke stand for one of the eight regular rites. The celebrations are also called the Sabbats., with each of the Sabbat ritual being built on the legend or myth of deities that each season is related with. The eigtht celebrations are Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Laughnasadh and mabon (Grimassi 42).
Samhain marks the beginning of the year on October. It is the period before the birth of the god. The myth of the ritual is that the goddess in this period is mourning the death of the god who sacrificed himself so that people can enjoy a bountiful harvest of the grain. She prepares herself to give birth to the Child of the God.
Yule is celebrated mostly on December 21. It marks birth of the new light, which is birth of the god and he symbolizes the new sun for years to come. The idea is that of rebirth and renewal. Belief associated with this day is that it is the shortest in the year. From this day, the days become longer and lighter.
The new sun comes to save the earth from the darkness. This is because the god symbolizes the daylight, and just like how the daylight uncovers everything for us to see. It is associated with things that are common, practical and tangible (Grimassi 47).
Imbolc on the other hand takes place in the month of February. It marks time for preparation and purification. In this period, the born sun is held back by winter. The goddess is introduced here as the flame that starts to melt and attract the god. Goddess is actually the night in this mythos of light and shadows.
She is associated with hidden magic and secret, just like the night hides things from being seen. Today, this festival that in the past used to be celebrated on the eve of February takes place either exactly on second of February or before this.
Ostara follows suit in the month of March. It is also known as spring Equinox. It involves fertility stirring and awakening of the seed. The Goddess becomes young again due to underworld mortal realm and she rekindles the promise of renewed life.
From this, they celebrate Beltane in the month of May. The ritual involves mating between male and female forces, which is nature impregnation. It is the period when the God begins courtship with the Goddess. Together with Samhain, these two are celebrated at night.
Litha or Summer Solstice on June follows Beltane. It is a period of nature being filled with abundance. This period is celebrated as the period when the two come together or get married.
In the month of August, people enjoy the abundance and celebrate it in the ritual called Lughnasadh. This timing for this celebration has changed to daytime on first august in the modern era (Grimassi 47). This harvesting period is celebrated the world over with some parts of it involving offering thanksgiving during the period. In ancient times, it was marked by pagans as a period of hope and fear.
Finally on September, they celebrate Mabon or Autum Equinox. In this period, there is decline of powers of life as God disappears into shadow. The Sun God dies in this period and Goddess go down to the underworld to get back her lover. The God is said to sacrifice himself for the sake of the people.
Work Cited
Grimassi, Raven. Crafting Wiccan Traditions: Creating a Foundation for Your Spiritual Beliefs & Practices. Woodbury: Llewellyn. 2008. Print.
Religion is a very important part of the society as it guides the moral boundaries upon which someone should limit themselves. It also acts as a point of reference to the social situations and the spiritual well being of a person.
Religion in India and how it structured the society
India has many religious groups but Hinduism is the major religion. At the helm of this religion was the priest. Locals’ referred to him as the Brahmin. Under the recognition of the priest as the social head, the Indian society was divided into different status groups or Caste. Under the caste groups there were classes of merchants to conduct the businesses, warriors to protect the community and the laborers
All the above groups looked upon the Brahmin for advice and spiritual guidance. Before the encroachment of the British colonization and culture into the Indian society, the wealth was shared among the status group in the society. The Brahmin had the power to oversee any of the wealth sharing and management as well as give his perspective on the appropriate management.
The Indian social group did not believe in one god, they worshipped many gods each having its significance or purpose in the society. Apart from gods, physical features (the sun, moon and stars) also served an important social aspect. They had to be referred as divine features. Therefore it was the duty of the Brahmin to oversee that the gods were well respected. During different seasons, the Brahmin had to lead a pilgrimage or harvest season.
Any form of social unity or marriage had to be blessed by the Brahmin. Other major ceremonies that he had to be involved were death, birth and ritual cleansing. From the above information it is evident that the Brahmin is at the helm of the society. All other people looked upon him.
Religion in china and how it structured the society
China is diverse and has the largest of the world population. Is also had many religions that shaped how people lived. People here were divided into two major religious beliefs. There were those that believed in a god or Supreme Being and those that believed their source of divinity was in magic.
In china the three major religions were Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. All three had the major aim of ensuring proper coexistence of people in the society. Buddhism involved religious heads who like in India ran most of the social activities. This leader had the sole responsibility of ensuring that people followed all the ceremonies and paid their due respects to god. Ceremonies were many and involved their sacred places called temples.
Taoism was different from Buddhism in that the religion did not involve much of religious leaders to run the everyday life. People themselves believed in the family ties of the chosen emperors or rulers. People co existed in the major cities through mutual consent and togetherness.
Responsibilities of leading were passed down from one generation to another in the chosen family. A central leader here was not the overall authoritative being like in Buddhism. In the Taoism and Buddhism, festivals had to be observed to commemorate important events in the past.
Confucianism was considered as the religion of the elite or educated. It was not based on a super natural being. People believed in moral responsibility of improving the society and properly co existing. This was a simpler religion orientation.
Religion was a major tool for outlining how the society could be run in the two countries. Religion provided a guideline and restrictions which people could follow. It also provided a system to resolve disputes or punish wrong doers. Most importantly, there was the need to live peacefully and develop.
“In The Presence Of Mystery” is a book authored by Michael Horace Barnes addressing the concept of human religiousness. The author tries to trace the diverse forms of religious behaviors where he deeply focuses on the role of human beings in spreading religion (Barnes 2). He notes that religion has been transformed from the most primitive form to a more advanced state through use of anecdotes, myths, fork tales and literal illustrations (Barnes 4).
This paper will critically reflect on the author’s contribution towards the understanding of religion and examine whether his thinking is beneficial or harmful to the society. Moreover, the paper will incorporate a discussion to defend the analysis made in response to the thinker’s perspective.
It is apparent that most of the topics in the book are quite interesting since they make the reader to have a grasp of what religion is all about and the major landmarks that have shaped it to present moment. For instance, in chapter one that is titled An Enchanted World, the author discusses the aspects that define a primitive religion (Barnes 10). He explains that people sympathetically forms some beliefs that are closer to truth without tasting the real scenario of a particular matter.
This implies that some people tend to believe in some things which they are less informed of how much power they possess and associated with divinity (35). In this case, people have some misinformed perceptions that are connected to some cultural accumulations thus creating a society of individuals with archaic minds. Another interesting topic is that of The Human Quest where the author uses theories to explain how humans seek to believe in gods and spirits (42).
The author argues that culture make people comfortable to believe in the divinities irrespective of whether they are archaic or not. Moreover, A Supreme and Awesome Unity is a topic that addresses the fact that human beings are able to unify their belief in God and other historic deities. In line with this, the author confirms that man has an endless hunger for belief in divinity as portrayed in the topic, The Endless Quest.
From a careful analysis literature, I am convinced that the author’s ideas are beneficial to the society. To a greater extent, his thoughts act as a mid opener to the society by questioning the basis of various religions. In fact, the author enlightens the society on the need to belief on a religion which they are most informed.
This implies that they need to carefully scrutinize some of the religious beliefs in order to identify those that are real or false (Barnes 87). The author’s perspective helps the society to face some of the religious mysteries and adopt those which influence their lives positively. For instance, the society should examine the impacts of some of the beliefs especially those that govern friendship and social interactions.
In this case, the author gives a reflection that people should embark on beliefs that will foster social success, bring satisfaction and make people helpful to others (Barnes 87). The other benefit that can be derived from the thinker’s perspective is that he sensitizes the society to adopt fundamental religion and beliefs that make people develop a positive sense of life.
To recap it all, the author’s multifaceted approaches toward numerous religions help society to realize that every individual has an entitlement to believe in what they perceive as right.
This has also fostering respect for other people’s religion thus providing a room for freedom, commitment and appreciation of societal humanness. The discussion of ancient religious denominations such as Buddhism, Judaism, Taoism, Islam and Christianity makes the society appreciate diverse human civilizations and the basics of diverse human beliefs.
Works Cited
Barnes, Michael. In the Presence of Mystery: An Introduction to the Story of Human Religiousness. Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 2003. Print.
Religion can be described as a belief in a certain superhuman that a group of people uphold and worship for various reasons. The world has so many different religious practices and religions that people belong to, which are acceptable to all since they bring differences to people in society.
The world today is a melting pot of culture because people from different places now find themselves living together in a mixture of coexistent cultures. Upon getting a chance to interview a catholic faithful, I realized many misconceptions I had about the Catholic religion.
My Misconceptions about Catholics
Personally, I have also had several misconceptions about other religions around me. One of those religions is the Catholic Church. Based on its practice of Catholicism, the greatest misconception I had about the Catholic religion is that its members believed that their priests and other clergy members could forgive their sins.
Catholics have a confession box within the church where members go to confess their sins before the clergy as a way of seeking forgiveness. My view of this was that only God can forgive men of their sins and that no man has the ability of forgiving the other.
All human beings are sinful in one way or the other l. There is no perfect man. Therefore, it beats sense to claim that one man can forgive the other of his sin. This misconception has also been informed by my observations on the Catholic clergy people in their daily lives.
They are not a perfect lot. They have been accused of so many despicable sins in religion and in general the society in that they cannot offer forgiveness if they are sinners. My misconception of this has been taken away through an explanation by a Catholic believer who informed me that a priest only guides a person through the confession with the belief that God will forgive his or her sins after confessing them.
Another misconception I have had about the Catholic Church and Catholicism in general is the need for the clergy to practice celibacy. My view of this was that it was a forced practice imposed by the church on anybody who wanted to serve the church as a clergy thus making me view it as a form of neo-slavery in a way that ones notions have to be suppressed for him or her to work for the church.
This misconception was explained to me by a Catholic faithful whose view was that working for the Lord required one to be devoid of many forms of worldly distractions, which can take his or her attention from the work (Harvey, 2012, p. 3). It is also explained that it is a practice adopted from the apostles. The clergy people are viewed as successors to the apostles who therefore have to follow their footsteps.
How my Prior Understanding has been Altered
My prior understanding of the catholic religion was altered to some extent after this encounter though there remained so many unanswered questions. Just like many other religions, which have inherited their traditions and practices from the past, the Catholic Church and Catholicism are guided by traditional practices inherited from so many generations thus making up a substantial part of what defines them.
My view of this was also informed by my own beliefs in my own religion, which I cannot explain why I have followed it so much. An interaction with a Catholic faithful opened my eyes when the person I was interviewing asked me the same questions I was asking the servant of God.
I could not answer some of them thus bringing out the reality that criticism without trying to find the foundations of something can be misleading. My prior understanding of this religion was informed from a point of misinformation and lack of information.
My realization was brought by the new information I was able to get from a Catholic person. Catholics believe that the Catholic Church is the original church that was left behind by Jesus Christ when he died. They believe that their priests are the day-to-day saints who took over from Jesus’ Disciples. This argument is true in a way because the Catholic Church lineage traces it to the original church.
Catholics always try to uphold their practices as they were done before by keeping their priest and nuns celibate to work for the church. Williams (2012) reveals, “The truth is that the clergy members of the church are not denied a right to marry, but they are married to the church and service of the church” (p.370).
From this point of view, I was able to understand why it makes so much sense for them based on how it is easily acceptable to them. A previous understanding of something is dependent on the information one has about the thing. If one is misinformed form the start, he or she will not know that it is misinformation until he or she finds the right information.
Thus, I attribute this to the misconceptions I had about the church previously. Though information about other people’s religions can make one understand their practices, it is not one hundred percent convincing. One comes into this conclusion with deep-rooted convictions that can never go away. Thus, it only serves to allow one to coexist with others. It does not to make one give it the same credence the way he or she gave to other religions.
Why I believe Misconceptions are Prevalent
Misconceptions concerning other individual’s religious beliefs are prevalent in the society that people live in due to the aggressive way they tend to identify with their own religions and or the way people hold on to their religions. This claim is simply due to the view that their faiths are higher-ranking relative to the others. People tend to view other religions as foreign to them.
When children grow up, they are usually indoctrinated into certain religious beliefs at a remarkably young age, and the values of that religion imparted into them. This form of brainwashing tends to stick into a person’s mind in a way that changing it is difficult. Therefore, when people are introduced to or exposed to other religions, they tend to notice the difference in beliefs and practices as the first things.
Therefore, forming the first line of resistance eventually leads to misconceptions. Misconceptions about religions that are different from ours are common everywhere on this earth. In some places, they take an ultra form of misconception and resistance. The biggest reason for this can be attributed to the fact that most people in society do not have information about other religions.
Thus, they tend to form their reasoning based on what other people say about the other religions. Therefore, just the way people have been made to believe in their religion, in the same way, they have been misinformed about other religions thus making others either dislike them or hate them unconditionally (Gleason, 2011, p. 440).
Misconceptions about other faiths are prevalent due to the need for self-preservation by most religions. Most religions in society have an expansionist approach. Thus, they employ predatory skills in their quest to get more members to join them. This therefore creates a sense of danger to which other religions will always try to resist. Thus, in their resistance, they paint the other religions with colors that are not so attractive.
This picture is then transferred to their members and children thus creating a misconception that will keep their religion away from any form of poaching or tapping. Therefore, misconceptions about other people’s faiths are prevalent in society. They seem like a thing that will never end in the near future. However, they will escalate due to the ability of society to pass information.
Conclusion
Misconceptions of other people’s religion are a thing in the society they live in that may not go away soon. As much as the society is informed on different religions, the new challenge that has come up is the radicalization of religion, which further sets up the bar for accommodation of other people’s religions (Pink, 2012, p. 48).
An example to this claim is the American society’s approach to Islam by associating it with terrorism and loathing of the American presidency ever being taken by a Muslim. This remains a tremendous challenge towards the taking away of misconceptions because every day comes with new challenges that need to be solved thus making it a cycle that runs repeatedly.
Reference List
Gleason, P. (2011). Working in a Tradition. Historical Review, 97(3), 435-460.
Harvey, C. (2012). Bishops, Kings & Queens: Church History. History Today, 62(10), 3-4.
Pink, T. (2012). Conscience and Coercion. First Things: A monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, 225(1), 45-51.
Williams, D. (2012). Unity and Exclusion in the Roman Catholic Priesthood. Journal of Religious History, 36(3), 368-385.