St Jerome is an Italian historian, theologian, priest and also a confessor. He was born at Stridon, which was a neighbouring village of Emona, which lied on the Pannonia and Dalmatia boarder, which is in north-eastern part of Italy (Jerome, Saint, & Philipp, 18). St. Jerome is commonly known for his translation skills, whereby he translated the Bible into Latin, which came to be known as the Vulgate (Jerome, 33). Jerome was also a good teacher, and he taught about Christian morals particularly to the people who lived in the urban areas of Italy. Jerome’s teachings were mainly based on how women who are devoted to Jesus are supposed to live their lives. He is currently remembered by different Christian denominations which commonly refer to him as the Doctor of the church.
Jerome strongly believed in the religion thus making him to lead an ascetic type of life. Due to his strong religious beliefs, Jerome could not entertain any forms of sin and so his life was focused committed to Christianity (Jerome, & Thomas, 68). He believed that Jesus died for the sinners, and people were therefore supposed to lead holy lives. In addition he challenged priests who were not serious with religious lives. He strongly opposed secular Christianity a move which made most priests and other clergy men to hate him (Jerome, 33). Later after the death of his patron Damasus, he was thrown out of Rome by the priests. Furthermore, Jerome highly valued virginity, and would strongly urge women to lead a peaceful life doing according to the teachings of Jesus. This was also not taken positively by the priests, who later alleged that he had an affair with Paula the widow.
St. Jerome was an intellectual, and he therefore understood Hebrew perfectly well, prompting him to start a translation project (Jerome, Saint, & Philipp, 18). He moved to Jerusalem in order to be able to clearly understand and continue writing his Jewish scripture commentary. In Bethlehem he successfully continued writing the commentary and later on completed it. In 382 he embarked on a mission of correcting an already existing New Testament Bible written in the Latin language which was commonly known as the Vulgate. Then he decided to translate the Hebrew Bible from the original Hebrew, and he had also translated some parts of the Septuagint which had come from Alexandria (Jerome, 33).
Jerome also produced commentaries on scriptures, where he would clearly explain his point of view according to certain scriptures. In addition, he would also challenge the work of other writers a thing which was not often taken positively by most authors (Jerome, Saint, & Philipp, 18). On the other hand, he wrote a commentary about the virginity of Mary the mother of Jesus stating that she remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus, and she never sired any children with Joseph. This commentary was not taken positively since most clergy men took it as an obscene way of talking about religious people. Jerome was also a historian, with one of his earliest works being his Chronicle. The chronicle was composed in Constantinople, it was a chronological transition of the tables into Latin, composing the parts of Eusebius and Chronicon. Jerome’s hagiographic works included the following: Vita Pauli Monachi, Vita Hilarionis, Vitae partum and Vita Malchi Monachi captive (Jerome, 34).
Jerome’s philosophy helped Christians to change their lives through educating them and making them to understand how important it is to focus their lives on Christianity (Jerome, Saint, & Philipp, 19). Moreover, through his writings concerning how women should live a life which impresses Jesus Christ, he was able to impact most people thus making them to change their ways of life. Furthermore, his philosophy encouraged Christians to be serious with the religion, thus bringing to an end secular Christianism (Jerome, & Thomas, 68). This therefore saw most people being able to take the religion seriously thus changing their ways of life. Rome which was more of a secular town with most priests advocating for secular christianism, changed and became a holy city. Most towns in Italy and in other parts of the world were impacted positively by Jerome’s philosophy thus changing the perception of Christianity. Christians also became ascetic hence making Christianity to be taken seriously and not to be treated as a way of life (Jerome, 35).
Jerome was mostly influenced by the Jewish philosophy. This is so because, he continued with his study in Jerusalem, where he was able to complete the translation of the New Testament Hebrew Bible (Jerome, Saint, & Philipp, 19). In addition, he was also able to read through a lot Jewish scriptures thus understanding the differences between Judaism and Christianity. He therefore learnt that Judaism was more concentrated on Hellenistic things. This consequently made him to have a better understanding of the bible thus motivating him to work very hard as a theologian. In Jerusalem he learnt more about the life of Jesus, thus making him to lead a very holy life. Jerome was therefore influenced by the Jewish philosophies hence he was able to perceive the religion with the utmost respect (Jerome, 35).
Work Cited
Jerome, Saint, and Philipp Schaff. The Sacred Writings of Saint Jerome. Altenmünster: Jazzybee Verlag, 2012. Internet resource.
Jerome, . Commentary on Isaiah: Including St. Jerome's Translation of Origen's Homilies 1-9 on Isaiah. , 2015. Print.
Jerome, and Thomas P. Scheck. St. Jerome's Commentaries on Galatians, Titus, and Philemon. Notre Dame, Ind: University of Notre Dame Press, 2010. Print.
People are what they believe, what they eat, what norms, custom, and laws governing them, people are their culture. Morality refers to a set of principles or a system of conducts in a society that distinguish between right and wrong or bad and good behaviors. The morality of a society varies with the customs and the belief of the family (Buchanan 6). Therefore, ethical relativism is one of the philosophical theories that assert that the vindication of morality is relative to one’s culture, the fact that whether an action or value is morally upright is dependent on the norm of the society the action is being practiced. Furthermore, the action proven as morally upright in one society can be proven as wrong or right with another. Therefore, this underscores a critical discussion on the theory of ethical relativity according to pojman.
The philosophy around the whole issue of ethical relativism is the fact that all viewpoint are equally valid. The determination of what is real and valid is dependent on the individuals understanding and belief. The theory of relativism ascertains that what is true varies from what person to another. However, it is also true to say that, although truth varies from one culture to the next, some common values and principle systems cut across the cultures and ethnical groups in the world (Mazzoni 26). Since this philosophy refuses status quo, and that it allows the change and evolution of social and moral values respectively, then the most concrete and immediate example to affirm this is the slavery (Buchanan 25). The realization of change and evolution as stated in this theory because of societal change engineered by technological advancement and increase in knowledge. Slavery becomes a good example here because the value of the life of all human beings is recognized the world over. Some actions and values are believed all across the earth because all people are equal and have common social preferences, experience, and rules that bring to benefits.
Cultural relativism explains the plain fact that in the world there exist various distinct culture and that each culture has their unique way of thinking, behavior and feeling as the member learn from previous experience with their predecessors. Some of the concrete proofs articulated to this view include the fact that people eat differently, dress differently, and speak different languages, have different dances and music, different songs and customs (Jhingran 36).
In addition, normative ethical relativism is yet another theory for the concept of relativism that posits that universally valid morals or system of principles do not exist. The theory also stands in for the fact that morally wrongness or rightness of a practice or an action is relative and dependent. Although the theory is not supported by any scientific or cultural anthropological research, the theory’s central claim is that people's thinking about basic principles of morality what is referred to as ethnic differs from one group to another and this will remain and not change year in year out.
In conventional ethical relativism, culture in the supreme authority, it dictates what is considered the moral truth to an individual. It supports the notion that one’s belief and understanding of moral principle is determined the culture from which the person comes from. Conventional ethical relativism places the culture of a social at the core of the whole issue of morality without religion.
An anthropologist has pointed out that some practices that are considered as good and morally accepted in some societies but poorly unaccepted or condemned in other societies include the following. They include practices such as polygamy, sexism, torture, and infanticide. Therefore, this fact support the view or the philosophy of ethical relativism
On the other hand, many critics have been cited against this theory as the majority of ethicists reject the argument. Other philosophers and critics posit that practices regarded as morally upright may vary from one society to another, but the basic underpinning principles that underlay the action do not change. For instance in some culture killing one parent when they attain a certain age was rampant based on the belief that people were in well place the peace of mind and more appropriate for their afterlife when they were still physically vigorous and active.
Although the practice may seem grievous and unbearable to anther society may be based other belief and customs one thing is agreeable. It is clear that society A considered the death of their parent at an early stage while still physically active appropriate because of the underlying fact of care for a parent or the elderly. Therefore, the main concept that is underpinning in this story is the fact that societies may differ in how they carry out to apply their beliefs and feelings but the basic moral principle is the same (Jhingran 22).
Additionally, it is argued that, the fact that some practice being relative to a particular does not make all the other practices relative. Practices such as norms regarding decency and dress may be localized to a given custom since they are dictated by people thoughts and belief. Conversely, other practices such as political repression, torture, and slavery may be judged wrong universally despite the different beliefs that exist among the many different cultures.
Other philosophers claim that if the wrongness or rightness of an action or practice is governed by the norm and customs of society, therefore, it implies that the members of that society are prisoners to the custom (Mazzoni 45). They continue to say that this kind of a scenario enhances social conformity whereas it eliminates moral opinions and social consensus. For instance, in society, people may differ ideologically on what is wrong or right a good example being the lack of social consensus on the topic of abortion.
Most importantly, from what seems to be the strongest critic of ethical relativism is that universal moral standards exist regardless of the difference in the beliefs and moral practices among culture. Meaning, people can still leave to acknowledge the presence, the different beliefs, culture, and their influence and again acknowledge that practices are morally wrong.
Attitudes and arguments were given by Pojman
The philosopher Luis pojma addresses the question of wrongness and rightness in three distinct categories namely, positive morality, moral philosophy and moral ethics. He posits that positive morality is a great and actual constraint to behavior whereas, ethics is combined domain of moral philosophy and positive morality. He explains the moral philosophy as the systematic theoretical reflection on the set of principles that dictates what is right or wrong.
Profoundly, pojman illustrates his point widely by relating his notion of law and governance. He claims that for any prior understanding regarding any authority there will be an agreement over the same if the people that authority depending on their reasons. Meaning people are not always ready to follow precepts or norms due to the mere the fact that they are rules but because of the compelling reasons, they articulate to the same. He criticizes the ethical relativism by saying that the belief that law and morality are connected is necessarily wrong since the two cannot be identical.
Coincidentally, he gives an example of modern day laws of driving in Canada and argues that many practices that are enforced by the law are matters of indifference morally hence coordination problem as a result of the law requirement does not favor etiquette. Luis in most of his argument he refers to the norms and customs of the society as law since on the viewpoint of ethical relativism the customs dictates people morals. Moreover, he asserts that some practices inscribed in the law are literally immoral and he gave an example of the slavery and forced sterilization of the disabled. He also ascertains that the norms and customs that govern people may have conflicting moral and legal duties. In this case, the subjects of a particular cultural group may defy the norm based on social consensus or difference in moral opinions.
Personal argument
Personally, my take on this discussion would be very negative on ethical relativism stating that morality is determined the by the people norms and culture. It is true that people across the globe have cultural differences as specified by the many anthropologists and that this difference makes societies have different perspectives and views on issues. It may also be true that due to this difference such as differences in language, dressing and decency, music and dances, foods and customs and even in beliefs.
However, due to the equality of human beings regardless of race or language or tribe, we share many things. Some of these things are natural, and they include emotions, feelings, thinking, and experiences. These unifying factors make us feel and think the same way and hence force to have similar or agreeing viewpoints in some weighty matters for instance slavery, and care. People may resort to different ways to carry out certain things due to different ideology and reasoning but the motive behind the action what is referred to as the basic moral principle is the same (Mazzoni 63). Therefore, something might be considered wrong with a particular ethnic group, but that does not hinder the same thing to be considered wrong universally hence this is the strongest critic of the philosophy of ethical relativism.
Conclusion
In conclusion, different cultures have their different ways of doing thing based on their cultural customs and beliefs. The morality of a practice id dictated by what a particular ethnic group wrong or right. Moreover, any action or practice or a fact is only considered true if it is within the confines of the community’s customs and norms. Thus, this is what the theory of ethical relativism states. Nonetheless, the theory has faced a lot of critics from different philosophers such as Luis pojman saying that the fact that a practice or an action is considered wrong by an individual ethnic does not hinder the same practice to be declared wrong universally since basic principle applies to all people.
Work cited
Buchanan, Elizabeth A. Readings in Virtual Research Ethics: and Controversies. Hershey, Pa. [u.a.: Information Science Publ, 2004. Print.
Mazzoni, John. Ethics: The Basics. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Print.
Ochieng'-Odhiambo, F. Foundations of Ethics: A Critical Reader in Moral and Social Philosophy. Nairobi: University of Nairobi Press, 2009. Print.
Pojman, Louis P. How Should We Live: An Introduction to Ethics. Australia: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005. Print.
Sobel, Jordan H. Walls, and Vaults: A Natural Science of Morals (Virtue Ethics According to David Hume). Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. Internet resource.
In the early days, Jesus’s disciples and many other Christ followers struggled and fought for the thriving and existence of Judeo-Christianity. However, some pessimistic and opportunistic heathens who do not believe in Christianity have taken advantage of the freedom of worship and have emerged with new religions base on scientific research, for instance, Heaven’s Gate. Heaven’s gate was a UFO religious group headquartered in San Diego, California United States of America (Chryssides, 2011). The religion was founded and led by one Marshall Applewhite between the years 1931- 1997 and later managed by Bonny Nettle from the year 1927-1985). The religious group has a ceremony or a ritual they call Extraterrestrial spacecraft where on March 26, 1997police discovered about 39 bodies of members of the group had committed mass suicide to fulfill their rituals. Therefore, this paper discusses the historical background, structure, belief system, as well as the ritual, involves in the UFO cult, heaven’s gate.
Belief system
According to their belief, the cultic group members believed that the earth was about to undergo rejuvenation, recycling, refurbishing, renewal and the only opportunity to life or survival to evacuate it as fast as possible (Zeller, 2014). The cult members though were against suicide; they were then compelled to redefine to fit their belief and mission. Subsequently, to execute their plan, the cultic group defined suicide in their version to mean, “Turning to the next level or step when the offer still last.” They also convinced themselves that their bodies in this circumstance were just vessels intended to assist them to accomplish their mission, which is their proposed journey. The members of heaven’s gate were so much into their belief to the extent that when they are conversing, they refer to a person’s body or a person as a vehicle.
In addition, the members of the cultic group to show their level of seriousness and to distinguish them from the rest added suffix –ody to their names, which they adopted in exchange for their original names. The names were to exclude them from the rest and give then an impression that they were the children of the next level.
Moreover, the cultic group based on their doctrine believed in the eligibility of membership in the next level and so they do not belong to the planet earth. Therefore, they were to abandon and shed every attachment to the planet earth and give the human-like characteristics such as friends, sexuality, family, jobs, individuality, possessions, and money (Zeller, 2014).
The members believed in the doctrine of TELAH, which in their context they defined as the evolutionary level above human beings. The above place refers physical, corporeal place meaning another world in our universe where they believed that residents nourish themselves with by absorbing pure sunlight. In that location there is no sexual intercourse, dying or eating meaning that human beings in that featured land will not indulge in the thing that classifies them as mammalians (Chryssides, 2011). Surprisingly, the heaven’s gates believed that the God of the Christian was a highly developed Extraterrestrial, meaning a life that does not originate from the earth and revolves around a complex individual.
Another version of their belief and doctrine posits that the evil space aliens who they called Luciferians represented themselves on the earth as “God” falsely. They went further to claim that the aliens have impeded human from developing and that the aliens themselves have space-time travel, increased longevity, and telepathy. In their viewpoint, they claim that the aliens and that have corrupted the entire earth by using holograms to perform fake miracles (Fersch, 2006).
One peculiar thing about the cultic group was that during their time of preparation for their envisioned journey or the suicide their basic beliefs remained consistent, nonetheless, the content of their ideology was subject to alteration and could undergo some changes if so demanded by anyone with a new idea. Some of the critical thought that was subject to change was, for instance, the ways one can use to enter the next level (Milhorn, 2005).
Some days before the suicide, the pioneers Applewhite and Nettles were forced to alter some element in their doctrine due to the introduction of the age of a new subculture and come up with as new concept of extraterrestrial walk-ins. In my viewpoint, the change in the doctrine was a strategy to win the loyalty and honor of their audience and followers as they could see them as supernatural beings because the concept of walk-ins is the same, as being filled by a spirit. Furthermore, the term extraterrestrial walk-ins can be defined as an entity that has its physical body has been evacuated by the original soul (Chryssides, 2011). The concept or the whole idea of walk-ins was to elevate the two pioneers to the clean slates. By so doing the heaven’s gate member will not consider them as the ordinary men thy initially known as they banked on this as a stepping-stone to erase their past personal human stories.
Apart from the introduction of the new concepts to their beliefs, the group also adopted the new age belief, which is known as the ancient astronaut hypothesis, meaning various kinds or types of the concept that explore the visitation of the extraterrestrial son the planet earth (Gallagher, 2004). Applewhite and his colleague Nettle adopted the content of the concept, taught and preached the that only a selected few members who have embraced humility will advance to the transhuman state since they are supposed to embrace the aliens seed of humility planted a million years ago. They also asserted in their teachings that the sowers of the ancient seed of humility would come back again to reap the long awaited harvest in the form of spiritually transformed individuals who will fight to join the flying crew rank. The two pioneers also informed their listeners that, only a handful of people who choose to join Heaven’s Gate religious group and harken to the doctrine of Applewhite and Nettle and their belief system.
Historical background of the cultic religion
The son of a Presbyterian minister who also happened to be a former soldier Marshall Applewhite founded the UFO cultic group in the early 1970s. The founder began the religious group after being fired from the University of St. Thomas where he was alleged to have a homosexual relationship with one of his students in the premise (Fersch, 2006). Later in the midst of his cultic mission, he ran into one by the name Bonnie Nettle, who by that time was aged 44 years, a nurse, married, and had interest biblical prophecy and theosophy. Applewhite in his writings posits that the two of them met in a hospital premise where Nettle was working in during her stay in the town.
Applewhite being a pioneer and a staunch believer of the heaven’s gate believes that his meeting with Nettle has been foretold by the Extraterrestrials, and claimed to have felt as if he had known her before. On the other hand, Nettle also argues that the meeting not only planned but also foretold by the extraterrestrials, she claimed she has always heard her she had a divine assignment (Milhorn, 2005).
In the early times during the begging of their mission, the two pioneers ponder about people lives such as St. Francis of assisting and in the process read as many books as possible by different authors such as Richard Bach, R.D, Laing (Zeller, 2014). Among the books, they also studied the Holy Bible kept a King James Version with them and in the process studied many passages mainly from the new testament as they needed quality information and knowledge on eschatology and Christology. In their quest to build, affirm foundation and doctrine the pioneers read wide even into the science fictions including the works by Arthur c. clerk and after a thorough research, the Applewhite and Nettle’s religion group solidified into an outline belief system (Gallagher, 2004).
In 1975, Applewhite and Nettle had accomplished the mission of establishing their religion and were busy selling their ideas through organizing events, organize experimental setups to prove their claims of extraterrestrials and seek like-minded believers to join them. Still, in the same year, they held a meeting at Joan Culpepper studios where they shared with over 80 audiences that they were the two witness quoted in the Bible in the Book of Revelation (Fersch, 2006).
Later, they converged in Waldport in a motel as the crew assembly the name that they adopted before changing to Heaven’s gate. Moreover, that night, it was all over in the News; CBS Evening News reported the sudden disappearance of the group members since earlier in the day they had a farewell meeting with their loved ones. Stern and wonder befell the loved ones and relatives whether they have been taken to what they referred to as the eternal trip. In reality, at this time the Applewhite has summoned all his followers to go underground, and from some days the group led by the Do and Ti as they called themselves hid sleeping bags and tents to evade detection from the authorities. By so doing, they claimed they had reached a higher evolutionary level that the human beings and they were making progress to their destination (Chryssides, 2011).
Following the death of Nettle in 1985, Applewhite performed a revision of the group’s doctrine and changed the crew reputation to cyberculture and subsequently calling themselves with a business name of the higher source since they went digital and wee recruiting recruits via the Internet.
In 1996, the crew advanced their technical savviness and internet recruitment to the net level in a home they called “Monastery,” and in 2016, the website is still in place and responds to people questions about the cult.
Techniques to enter the next level in heaven’s gate cult and their structure
The cultic group requires that an individual has to perfect his or herself through a four-method process to get to the next level or the graduate level. Firstly, one must pass through the rapture a physical pickup into TELAH what they refer to as transfer to the next level. The groups are made to believe that a spacecraft will come to collect them and their two leaders and that their bodies will be transformed (Milhorn, 2005). Secondly, that a follower leaves the human body to join the perfect next level bodies through natural death, random violence or accidental death. Thirdly, the persecution death that leads to the death of one of them by the American government inflicted fear in Applewhite and declared a hidden strike which becomes one of the processes in the religion to advance to a unique evolutionary body. Finally, following a dignified exit of one of them, Applewhite resolve that earth evacuation was the solution to all mess and hence to a mass suicide as believe to enter the next generation or graduation on March 22 and 23.
The cult’s religion had a well-established structure and could only allow in adults over the age of eighteen. Due to their belief, the crew abandoned their material possession and lived in a highly ascetic life separated from worldly pleasure (Zeller, 2014). The group’s activities were communal as they used to share their thing communally due to strong bond and cohesion that existed between them. Some male members approximately eight in number in the cultic group including Applewhite underwent a castration in Mexico as a sure sign to stick to the doctrines ascetic lifestyle (Fersch, 2006). After revision of the group, it was termed cyber-sect due to its heavy reliance on the computer-mediated communications and group earned revenue offering professional website development.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Applewhite and Nettle founded a religious group is surely a cultic group if one had to draw conclusion following the above discussion. The team in the first place believes in a concoction of human knowledge of research of both religious and science books. Furthermore, the doctrine and beliefs are subject to discussion meaning there are not self-sustaining or self-satisfactory. The provision that the doctrine of the group keeps changing with time and that only members must be eighteen years and above overrules its existence since the question is what will happen to the once outside the age bracket.
Reference list
Chryssides, G. D. (2011). Heaven's Gate: Postmodernity and Popular Culture in a Suicide group. Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate.
Fersch, E. A. (2006). Thinking about psychopaths and psychopathy: Answers to frequently asked questions with case examples. New York: Universe.
Gallagher, E. V. (2004). The new religious movements experience in America. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Greenwood Press.
Milhorn, H. T. (2005). Crime: Computer Viruses to Twin Towers. Boca Raton, FL: Universal Publishers.
Zeller, B. E. (2014). Heaven's Gate: America's UFO religion. New York: New York University Press, [2014]
Christmas celebrations and traditions amidst social challenges
The Latino community in United States are a deeply religious group that forms the larger part of the immigrant populations and are mostly drawn from those country that mostly use the Spanish language. For this community Christmas is perceived as a religious holiday or festive occasion that has to be celebrated together with family members. Throughout this festive season, the Latina families tend to integrate their traditions that preserve and indicate their values, language and culture with the ones in United States society (Warren, 2016, 1). Many of the Latino families identify themselves with Christian Faith and they participate in church activities in the United States more than they did back in their native countries. Major factors which can be used explain this tendency is the feeling of isolation and loneliness. Such a feeling results from the social struggles they have to face in United States while trying to be included in this society. Moreover, these families leave their extended families and social circles back in their native countries and hence, tend to depend on church participation for social support where they can also get a sense of belonging as they are experiencing transition, change or loss (Warren, 2016, 1). For many Latino’s , Christmas celebrations start before the actual Christmas day and may at times last into the beginning of January (Becerra, 2014,1).
As shown in the Home Alone films, this holiday comes with large parties where the cultural foods from a major part of the celebrations. These Latino celebrations are big with friends, families and in some cases the whole neighborhoods gather to sing, dance, eat and drink until late into the night. However, such holiday celebrations differ from household to household and even so, one true aspect of across the entire population is that Christmas holiday festivities and traditions acts as gifts that are always giving. Nochebuena is such festive and is celebrated with La Sangre de Navidad on Christmas Eve by the Cuban families in United States and especially in Florida State (Sheets, 2014, 1). For the cultures that have Spanish influence, the Nochebuena is the most essential celebration to commemorate the birth of Jesus. In many Latino households, the Christmastime feast involves a dinner that features lechon, Spanish for roast pork as the main part of the meal (Sheets, 2014, 1). In the families with Mexican origin, dinner may include various homemade dishes comprising of atole, tomatoes, bacalao and so on. The celebration is also done through many nativity scenes which serve as a reminder to the population about the religious background and this last into the night as people catch up with loved ones who include friends and relatives. The Christians with Spanish origin, the Christmas celebrations see people coming together to feast on various dishes such as seafood and soup with households after participating in church activities and services. Those with Puerto Rican origin traditionally participate in playing dominos and cooking the whole pig using a Caja China Box on top of burning goals. Among the Latino America families who are Catholics, they at times share various dishes after attending Misa de Gallo mass. This mass commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ and is then translated to Roosters Mass and this tradition arise from a tale about crowing rooter that herald this occasion (Sheets, 2014, 1).
A common tradition practiced among the Latino community is the Three kings’ tradition which includes giving gifts, singing holiday carols (aguinaldos) door-to-door caroling (parrandas) and sharing food which embody the spirit. Such customs vary from household to household depending on the country of origin. However, the custom of sharing among the family and friends is commonly celebrated across all whole community in similar festive and rich ways (Latimer, 2017, 1). Even though many of the people of belonging to the Latino community have adopted the United States tradition of exchanging gifts during Christmas, many of them still preserve some gifts which they open on Three King’s Day after twelve days. Such days are eagerly anticipated by children as they wait to be given gifts by ‘the kings’, friends, parents and families. The Three Kings Day is also held dearly by adults and their children where they engage in gatherings and parties where they feast on various foods or drinks. Hence visiting with friends, family and neighbors is significantly central in these traditions and happens before, during or after the holday for the Three King’s Day. However, there are varieties of festivals and parades hosted on this day by the United States Latino communities which date back to around 1884 from countries such as Puerto Rico. There have also been efforts among these communities to hold public and educational programming that are aimed at maintain these festivities. Through such programs aspects such as colorful costumes, lively music, floats, animals are included with the participation of community members and even students (Latimer, 2017, 1). The end of this celebration involves distribution of gifts to children who have participated in parade marching sponsored by some donors. Various Three Kings are nominated by El Museo and community leaders’ committee and who preside of the said parade. To be chosen as one of the kings marks outstanding political or cultural achievements within Latino people residing in New York (Latimer, 2017, 1). Such tradition is also persevered through artistic works in form of gigantic puppets that reflect the kings, and which are paraded with decorations and pops. This aligns with a popular Christian culture where the Three Kings are depicted entering Jerusalem to participate in celebration of Jesus birth (Latimer, 2017, 1). Legend has it that every king brought with him an offering from their respective homes.
In the midst of such celebrations, the Latino community has to adapt to the American lifestyles and a domestic culture whose influence extends to the Christmas celebrations. The community has integrated its foreign culture with the western culture even as it encounters various challenges. This community faces a lot of challenges in the society and they have to find refuge in their Christian background in order to feel at home or accommodated while undergoing a cultural transition. While facing the discrimination challenges in major sectors such as education due to lack of policy addressing the needs of immigrants, the Latino people seeks refuge in church practices and festivities especially Christmas. In this celebration, the population finds relief in interacting with others undergoing similar challenges (Vega, 2015, 24). By participating in various festive organized at the family or community level, the Latino people are able to identify with their religious background which serves as an important aspect in ensuing that they do not lose touch with their Christian faith. Celebrating the birth of Christ forms a central part of their religious conviction and in the middle of myriad of social challenges especially for the immigrants; they are able to find peace. Another obstacle they face is the desperate efforts by some public figures to try to weaken the religious significance attached to Christmas while misinterpreting laws and the constitution (Warren, 2016, 1). This can be attributed to the community living in pluralistic society where every religion should be celebrated and embraced but for the Christians to appear politically correct, they are expected to be accommodative of others even if it means through weaken the religiosity of Christmas holidays. Moreover, those individuals who are fighting the true meaning of Christmas holidays are increasing in numbers, especially the officials who claim to be removing religious Christmas ornaments, such as those seen in Home Alone films, in their efforts not to be seen as offending anybody.
Through their efforts to protect a small minority of offended Americans, but such endeavors are insults to the majorities especially among the Latino community who are determined to keep Christ within Christmas celebrations. Such efforts may not present a big problem to the Latino community where Christmas religious significance is rekindled during Nochebuena where Christ is still the reason the celebrations are carried out (Sheets, 2014, 1). The major threat to celebration of this holiday is an age that tends to profess diversity and tolerance in expressing ones’ opinions but with single expression of Christian origins or principals being disfavored. The secular agenda seems to diminish the significance of Christmas origin whereas other non – Christian holidays are not being suppressed by secularism. This is n attempt to suppress a single religion to the benefit of others and the origin of their holidays. The Latino community desire to continue the celebration of Christmas freely is threatened and this is forbidden through the establishment of the First Amendment and the Clauses on Free Exercise. However, there is religious liberty which has been brought by Christianity to the civilization of the modern world. This religious liberty was the base for tolerance and diversity ideas and which should form the basis of Christmas celebration in a secular society (Aniol, 2015,1).The Christianity faith has an important principle of not forcing religion on anybody and the need to grant everyone opportunity, knowledge and freedom to choose whether to believe or not to believe for themselves. In fact, Christ whose birth is celebrated on Christmas never forced religion on anyone. On the basis of such constitutional backing and religious conviction is the freedom granted to the Latino community to continue with the Christmas celebrations and traditions in United States secularized society. The constitutions grants religious liberty that creates a conducive environment in which the Latino Community can freely celebrate their Christmas traditions in a diverse culture and where some individuals may feel the need to suppress the significance of such festivities (Vega, 2015, 27).
While Christmas traditions are becoming incorrect politically in the many American Society segments, the traditions are carried on among the Latino community as they proudly put out a display of Jesus Christ faith. The efforts to quash any display of public nativity and to sensor any reference to Christmas is perceived as quite ridiculous. This is because many of the families still display the Nativity scenes and other religious traditions which serve as a reminder of what Navidad really means. In a society where the Christmas festive have been commercialized by the business community , so that the true meaning of Christmas is watered down , many among the Latino community adhere to the true meaning of the holiday(Aniol, 2015,1). Christmas cannot be meaningful if it is not celebrated from a Christianity point of view and any efforts to do so have lead to its commoditization and the majority of American society has no religious connection with it. The celebration of Christmas is one area in which Hispanic community, even more than many Americans maintain their traditional religious and family values. Furthermore, more than a shopping period or gift giving time, more than a period for greed and commercialization, the Christmas celebration is a time for homeland and religious traditions (Aniol, 2015, 1).
Secularization of charismas has seen serve an entirely different purpose in the post modern period especially among the business community especially among the retailers who capitalize on the spending boom during this season. There is an increasing tendency for consumerism driven by the emphasis on giving out gifts which has in turn led to redefinition of this holiday and various Christian groups have been fighting what they perceive to be an encroachment on a day that is expressly religious. The groups have been rallying against the tendency to replace Merry Christmas greetings with Happy Holidays (U.S.NEWS, 2011,1). Though such tendencies can be observed among some members of Latino community as they become assimilated into the secular culture, majority in the community regard highly this tradition. They regard as a time for reaching into their souls and reflecting on their lives, faith in Christ, heritage and the importance of being with their loved ones. No matter where they are, many Latinos have a longing to be with their family to share dinner on Dec.24 and take part in family reunion which equals a thanks giving moment. What this means that rather than dreaming of white Christmas , many Latinos longing is for tropical , greener and religious Nativity , similar to the ne they are familiar with back in native homelands. While other memorable times can face as time goes by, the Nochebuena family reunions reserves the past Christmas memories so that they remain clear. During this time, past family stories are narrated, family members who have been apart are invited and those who have passed on are mourned through meal sharing. While sharing this dinner, various discussions normally focus on passed Nochebuenas, enjoying good times and offer thanks for the various obstacles that have been overcome (Sheets, 2014, 1). This how Christian religion is embraced and values passed on to younger generations among the Latino community. As aforementioned, the traditions may differ among the millions of Latinos in United States especially when it comes to the family feast dishes but their essence doesn’t change. It is perceived as a moment where by individuals can dig out the foundations of their Christian faith and values and the culture so that they can be taught practically to the younger children.
In fact, such religious views and family traditions can be compared to the events and festivities shown in the movie Home Alone. The films are relevant to the Latino community in terms of the themes shown in the content. The scenes in the films elicit nostalgia as the Christmas holidays a pegged on remembering traditions and the past. The films serve a great job by hitting on the holiday traditions points which are brought out by the kid staff memories (Kincheloe, n.d, 1). The movie goes long way to remind the viewers what it felt to be a young person back in the homeland countries. The Christmas holidays in the film use nostalgia to elicit emotions by showing how Christmas is valued among the Latino community and it is relevant to the conventional Christmas traditions among this population. A major value depicted among the Latino community during Christmas is the value of giving which is also represented in this film. It is also an important value for those who profess to be follower of Christ and giving out gifts during the Christmas holiday related much to it. The spirit of the biblical saying that “it’s better to give than to receive” is well depicted in the Christmas traditions maintained among the Latino community. In the film, Kevin meets Marley an old man who he avoids at first but eventually realizes that he is a good neighbor who has not been in contact with his family (Kincheloe, n.d, 1). The 8 year old boy offers advice to the old man to reconnect with his relatives and this lead to happy ending for the man. This simple sign or message resonates with Latino community Christmas holiday spirit of connecting with other family members. Eventually, after Kevin has tried to distance himself emotionally from his family, he starts missing them and wishes they were home for the Christmas holiday and he starts believing that he was the reason they disappeared. However, he now realizes how important the family is to him and even goes to visit Santa to get help. This shows content whose theme is bringing families together and that builds strong emotional bond that have them stick together as portrayed in the Home alone films.
Furthermore, this Latino community culture shows a collective approach to the development of family relations and it is important for generational continuity and human development. The celebration of Christmas and its significance as presented in the films shows a culture with strong family values, religious beliefs and the desire to be involved with the personal life of each member of the community (Eakins, 2001, 3). While the Latino are growing and migrating, they bring with them a culture that upholds collectivisms evidenced in Home Alone Christmas celebrations, which can be considered to enhance the individualism culture in the United States. The framework of a given culture can act as a catalysis that induces collective human endeavors and build an integrative system that is dynamic and which interconnects various cultural aspects which comprises of culture, religion and cohesiveness economic wise. This integrative process is demonstrated among the Latino community and which offers a significant effect on the cultural psychic among the American culture (Eakins, 2001, 4). A psychological approach to cross-culture with an aim of understanding human behavior is achieved after realizing that human behavior is influenced by culture. Though some members in the community may appear to be detached from their religious values and culture , the bigger number serves as an example that exemplify the greatest kind of family cohesiveness (U.S Department of State, 2008,1).
The Home Alone films show that members of Latino family operate as a very close unit. The integration of culture with Christianity is well depicted by the Christmas festivities, so that it serves as a central cohesion theme among the community members. There is also the sense that family cohesion has its advantages and disadvantages. Apart from bringing the joy of togetherness and sense of belonging, it can also be a source of pain for some individuals who may feel that they have been left out of family activities (Eakins, 2001, 3). In the Home Alone films, Kevin feels that his siblings are isolating him and looking down upon him because of his naivety which makes him to grow cold feet towards. He relates their relationship with the family to his parents forgetting him while they went visiting for the Christmas holidays (Eakins, 2001, 3). This clearly shows how the cohesion between family members in the Latino culture can leave some members feeling ignored or left out in the major Christmas festivities, and hence this serves as the negative side of it. However, the parents do not abandon Kevin intentionally, but the forgetfulness makes them lose track of him on the day they were to fly to France. His mother is feels very guilty and her worry is that she is a bad parent. After enjoying the absence for a short while, Kevin realizes how importance and valuable the love and protection of his parent are to him. His mother makes up for this by emphatically going back to his son and doing everything she could for their reunion. This shows that the Latino culture is fully ingrained in the families so that any break on this cohesiveness makes people very uncomfortable.
The Hispanic Christianity and the related Christian worship is influenced by various factors which includes the cultural background from their country of origin, the influence from the western Christianity culture and practices and the denominational affiliation. The diversity of this influence is depicted by the various religious groupings that have influenced on Latino Christians and their beliefs. While many Latino profess the catholic faith, there has been a major shift where many Hispanic people are joining the Protestants and evangelical churches (Rodriguez, 2008, 1). Many Protestants and evangelical Christians and churches have continued to place a lot of importance in indigenous cultural practices or traditions like Santeria. However, there have been varying tenets between the mainstream Protestants and the evangelical denominations regarding Christmas. In the past, the Latino Protestants and evangelicals have had to bear the challenge of being the minority among the Latino American Catholics and Anglo-American Protestants. The celebration of Christmas especially among these evangelicals and Protestants has been influenced greatly by the western Christian culture. Just like the whole society has blended the secular customs with religious customs on Christmas, the Latino community Christian festivals especially the Christmas celebration has seen the incorporation of various decorations, rituals and foods into their own (Rodriguez, 2008, 1)
The celebrations presented in the film Home Alone is not purely Hispanic but involves a mixture with Christmas celebration traditions among the western culture. This can majorly be related to the major shift being experienced in the Christian culture in western world with a lot of influence from the secular society. The changes can also be seen in commercialized Christmas with new custom of gift purchases in measures that border consumerism (U.S.NEWS, 2011, 1). In addition, various Latino Protestants and evangelicals have also adopted traditions such as Santa Claus that was not found among the Latino Christian celebration of Christmas holiday. This also includes the adoption of Christmas trees whose origin is credited to German churches, but later became popularized in the United States. Currently, many American evangelical churches and protestant churches have adopted this tradition including the Latino Christians as seen in the in the Christmas pop and celebrations shown in the Home Alone films. In this sense, Christianity among the Latino community has expanded to embrace other traditions practiced by the western Christian denominations (Eakins, 2001, 4). These contemporary observances have included the various foods that form part of American dishes and desserts like the Crostli and Pfeffernuesse. In other instances, the Latino Christians have adopted some non-Christian traditions so that in a secularized society, the spirit of consumerism has lead to increased buying activities that cannot be related to the previous celebrations. Such integrations of traditions appears inevitable given that even other religions like Muslims and Jews have members who have been influence into the Christmas holiday celebrations.
In conclusion, the celebration of Christmas holidays among the Latino American community involves gathering of families or friends and neighbors in line with the traditions that encourage cohesiveness. These traditions can be traced back to the homelands where Christmas has been observed as a major Christian holiday especially among the Catholics. This community has intended to maintain this holiday with its original styles of celebrations in the midst of social life that does not encourage cohesiveness so that to have a sense of belonging. However, these traditions have maintained the religious sense although there is a lot of influence by secularism and western Christian culture.
References
Sheets, C.A., (2014).What is Nochebuena? All about the Hispanic Christmas Eve Tradition. Retrieved from: http://www.ibtimes.com/what-nochebuena-all-about-hispanic-christmas-eve-tradition-1763858Vega, S. (2015). Latino heartland: Of borders and belonging in the midwest.24-29
Eakins, P., (2001).For Hispanics, Christmas festivities can be a mix of cultures. The TOPEKA Capital Journal.
According to Zacharias, Mohamed was born in 570AD and was raised by his uncle who took custody after his father passed on three months before his birth while his mother passed on while he was six years. His uncle later died and while he was twenty five years of age, he married an older and widowed wife of forty years and was wealthy and they all lived in a happy marriage. At thirty years he started experiencing dreams as he was in a cave. At that time he would visit the cave and get revelations that were given to him (Kindred 2:49). In making comparisons between the Muslim founder, Mohamed and Joseph is as great as most of them lived a lived a life similar. Mohamed received a lot encouragement from his wife as he wanted to commit suicide as most believed that he was crazy (Kindred 5:20). Mohamed and the Islamic religion believe in Allah which means recite (Kindred 3:49). Most of scholars believe that Mohamed was illiterate and that Koran was the only miracle that occurred to Mohamed. Her wife became her first convert and they all believed there is only one God who created heaven and earth (Kindred 5:30). Allah comes from the same foundation as elohim and the concept of the eternity is in all the two (Kindred 6:19). Allah is in singular while elohim is in plural. Unity in diversity that usually unites humanity and religion begins with man while theology begins with God. Christianity is the only religion that can be able to explain the concept of diversity through their belief in the Holy trinity as compared to the Muslim religion (Kindred 8:20). Concept of communication and love is found in the doctrine of the trinity as supported by the Christians (Kindred 9:25). In Muslim religion, it is hard to explain the whole life of a person and thus they are not able to explain the unity of diversity.
Islam is one of the religions where secular cannot survive it and not the other way round. The Islamic religion are faithful in their time of prayer as they find spots to pray at any time with all the hard circumstances and they are committed to make their prayers. Christians believe that they have a relationship with their creator and this is witnessed in the way they pray (Kindred 16:20).
However, according to Jesus Christ in the Christian faith, he advocated for love and this is the same gospel that we all should preach regardless of our diversities in the religion. Thus we all should pray for one another even against our enemies a God himself does not want any one of the humanity to perish but rather to have eternity life and this is one thing that these two religions agree on about eternity. Thus we should basically focus on the fight against any form of ideology o wars so that we may be able to witness to all our enemies and share the love as well as kindness. We should thus change our attitude towards all the other religions being gentle with one another and this is what is important and not the justification of the religion that is right than the other.
References
Kindred M. Ravi Zacharias – Islam. Retrieved from:
The mission is a standard for every church organization across the world. The paradigmatic attitude is basically founded under the attitude of evangelization and proclamation of the gospel of Christ. Most of the Christians argue out that for the grace of God to be experienced in the heart of each and every human being and lead them towards God, is the core responsibility for missions. They, therefore, believe that missions are not an optional thing but rather it is a mandate for each and every Christian. The core responsibilities of missions are to spread salvation unto all nations, to resolve most of the social problems, to proclaim hope, encourage others and advocate for what is right and not controversial.
Of Gods and men film focus more on the nobility of the monks in choosing to stay with their job and their duty towards the probable death. However, according to them, it was the realistic thing to do but in real sense, they failed to make the right choice. This is because they had the ability to help as many people as they could. Therefore Christians should have humility character while carrying out missions (Kiser 2013). On the other hand, the mission movie is a challenging one that looks at both the spiritual and the temporal connection between them but in a provoking way. Thus the movie uses images of desolation, forfeit, and redemption which are most suggestive (Berrigan 1986). Thus it can be viewed as a positive depiction that tries to show us that the missions of the Catholics are basically selfless and the missionaries are defenders of the inhabitants in their culture (Ebert 2012).
It is therefore important to note that each and every Christian despite the differences in the faiths, they are called to go out for missions and in so doing they will be able to practice love, charity and peace sharing in a way that is in relation to Gods vocation and the degree of influence that God’s word has on people. Thus, commitment to a greater common good is worthwhile as compared to the simple secular political stand they would have. This action paves way for eternity as man’s actions on earth are inspired and persistent in regards to the charity work and thus it builds on the universal city of the Lord. Through these missions, a proclamation and a system of an authentic vision of the love of God that leaps from God’s own heart (Borthwick 2000). It is through this love that the dignity of humans is protected and in this life is promoted. These missions encourage relationships that are founded in mutual self-giving as well as creating a civilization that helps them fulfill their obligation towards each other. In undertaking these missions, the church is able to help each and every person in fulfilling and meeting their destiny which thus allows for a complete loving union between God and each human being. It is thus the mission of each and every one to ensure that those that are in need are shown love and compassion as this is the only way that the church can be able to unite all the people through Christ.
References
Berrigan, D. (1986). The Mission: A film journal.
Borthwick, P. (2000). Missions: God's heart for the world: 9 studies for individuals or groups. Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press.
Ebert, R. (2012). Roger Ebert's movie yearbook 2013. Kansas City, Mo: Andrews McMeel Pub.
Kiser, J. (2013). The monks of tibhirine: Faith, love, and terror in algeria. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Piper, J. (2010). Let the nations be glad!: The supremacy of god in missions. Grand Rapids: Baker Pub. Group.
This myth puts a lot of focus on the theme of birth as being the beginning of creation .it represents the few stories of creation originating from cultures where birth is an indication of new life or even the genesis of life on this earth. In addition, a relationship is between animals and human is seen in the Iroquois myth, where role animals had a key role to play, and were perceived to be equal with humans. The story seems to tell an idea of a time when men and animals were living together with no social or economic tension existing. The water animals – turtle – in this story save the woman from falling into the water which had covered the earth and then built an island for her (Murtagh, 1). In this story, the theme of a supreme being does not appear and such there is no elaboration of the onset of creation. In addition, the story considers the creation of humans as having been from above and was only brought to the earth in their mother’s womb and was later born.
In many well known creation stories, there is an appearance of a supreme being who was always omnipresent. Infact, the stories involves many supernatural beings who were either gods or goddesses. While the woman in the Iroquois is seen as a Sky Woman, she is not presented as a supernatural being. Unlike the Iroquois myth, animals were just creatures like human in other stories like in Greek and played no role in creation. While the Iroquois story the world is shown to have existed prior to human life, the biblical creation story indicates the earth as having been formless (Kennedy, Leland and Person, 24).
Omni means all while potent means power. This attributes the nature of God as omniscience and omnipresence which makes God sovereign. This means that He has power over everything in all given ways during all times. The premises of the argument implies that God is omnipotent it true. This is supported by the definition of omnipotent (Keller, 2007). God can be seen as omnipotent during creation when He said that “Let there be” and it was so (Keller, 2007). When a person needs to create something or any material they need tools in order to carry out their job which is not the case to God as He simply spoke through the power of his word. God also managed to create everything from nothing (Keller, 2007). It is also true to say that no people in his/her own right mind would doubt that because God power can also be seen through His preservation of creation. God provision of the people basic needs and the renewable resources are sustained by His power. God also did proscribe the large waters that cover the earth.
Go can never do evil because His purpose to the people is to give them hope and a future. Plans to make His people prosper and not to ruin them. However, God has power is not limited as he can do whatever pleases Him. God has also put into the people's heart to carry out His purpose until His will is fulfilled. Evil deeds are meant to harm another person which is not the plan of God (Keller, 2007). In conclusion, it is true to say that the argument is true because God is powerful as he able to do all things that are consistent with His holy character.
Reference
Keller, J. A. (2007). Problems of evil and the power of God. Aldershot, England: Ashgate.
God is the source of every good thing on earth and beyond. God has been my help and guide in my study and this far is by His power. His love and forgiveness are never ending as he will always be. Appreciation comes from Him who honors everything and shows the same amount of love to everything. From him, gratitude and compassion can be attained by every human based on His everlasting love. God has enabled me work hard since He has given me good health. I have not been admitted in hospital since I started my education. A friend of mine was admitted in hospital and has not left the hospital but we are still praying that God gives him the healing power. I thank God since he has provided financial support to my parents since I have never lacked anything and my school life has been successful. I pray to God every day that He may continue supporting not only my family but all people globally so that people can enjoy living in peace. My parents have encouraged me to keep praying because God rewards a praying heart. They have taught me on how to forgive people who do wrong things to me because God asks us to forgive one another. I know that God has good plans for me and this motivates me to keep working hard so that I can have a successful life in future just like my parents.
Others Reflection
During my St. Mary’s tenure, my appreciation has changed. This is that I have learned that it is my duty to respect others dignity in whom the image of the creator is reflected. This means in significance that an individual can never be inclined of at wish. In addition, my interaction with others has changed as I have learned to accept individual’s beliefs as well as culture. Nobody is superior to the other since every man is mutually noble in regard to natural dignity. Every individual has got their rights despite the fact that they hold distinct beliefs or culture they are all human who requires respect. Those that hold greater power which may either be economical, technical or political are not supposed to utilize that authority in violating the rights of others who are characterized with less fortune. I, therefore, learned to accept everybody’s view in regard to the position I hold in the particular ground because peace is grounded on respecting the rights of others. I have learnt that respect is the key theme that ensures people live in peace, unity and harmony. Learning this has enabled me respect people regardless of their age, social class and gender since all people are created in the image of God. Respect is earned thus if I respect others they will too respect me. I have learnt that respecting my superiors will ensure I get more blessings from God since we are taught that respect adds more blessings. All people are equal thus nobody should mistreat others or think they are better since we were all created in the likeness of God and God loves all people regardless of their physical composition.
Nature’s Reflection
My appreciation of nature has transformed since my St. Mary’s tenure. I have learned to accept the fact that it is my responsibility to take care of Mother Nature. Engineers are responsible for ensuring that they uphold safety, welfare, and health of the public through sustainable developments. Nature is very important since without the environment we cannot exist. We exist since the environment exists and thus it is my responsibility to take care of the environment and encourage other people to protect the environment. It is my task to ensure that available resources are well utilized so that they can be used by future generations and this promotes sustainability. It is my duty to educate people who do not have knowledge on the importance of environment since some people do not know and understand the value of the environment. It is my duty to ensure that the environment is well managed and that all wastes are collected and properly managed rather than allowing wastes to pollute the environment. I should protest against environmental pollution since I have acquired knowledge on the value of the environment. I should create awareness to all people urging them to protect Mother Nature because they will benefit from the environment. If the environment remains polluted, the people will suffer from diseases that will cut short their lives. Therefore protecting the environment should be a daily routine. I should ensure that different habitats for wildlife are not destroyed as a result of urbanization since we need wildlife in our countries. Vegetation cover ensures that the country remains green and beautiful thus I should encourage people to plant more vegetation.
Self-reflection
As an engineer, my perception has transformed through developing numerous virtues such as compassion, confidence, contentment, consideration, caring, dignity and gratitude. I have learned to appreciate others as well as nature in any given condition. Self is related to others god and nature in that humanity is described as God’s relation as his general likeness. Being in the image of God is relevant to others which are also a relation with nature. I can make a difference by developing a good relation with nature, other people and even myself. I have learnt a lot in life and have added some values I did not have in life such as patience and confidence. I am now able to face different people and advocate for certain issues to be addressed such as protecting the environment. As an engineer I have interacted with other engineers and have gained more skills in my field. In addition, I have also interacted with other people who are not engineers such as environmentalist who have taught me that the environment is crucial. Urbanization should be carried out but in a sustainable manner since the environment is of equal importance. I have leant many things I did not know and through Gods help I am able to understand all things since I have good health. Being an engineer has been the best thing in my life since I have come to understand people, nature and interacted with nature and people as well. I am grateful to nature for teaching me various things I did not know and things I thought were not important. I have learnt to appreciate people, nature and all things that exist since they are all important. I have developed skills in life such as compassion that enabled me relate well with all people.
Coptic is used to describe the Egyptian Christian as an expression of their faith. The Coptic Church teaching was brought during the reign of Roman Emperor around 200 A.D by Saint Mark who brought Christianity in Egypt. Upon the arrival of Saint Mark, Christianity was spread throughout Egypt in the first half of the 1st century in Alexandria, Saint Mark found The New Testament writings in Middle Egypt Bahnasa around 200 A.D which were written in Coptic Language. The ancient Egypt was not fully integrated as the gospel had not gained a strong momentum the religion but the Copts have been able to survive due to its strong religious status which makes them pride themselves as the greatest contributors to the Christian world through the numerous writings and theological studies that protected it from the Gnostics. It is considered to be a strong defendant of the Christian Church with the famous one being the Nicene Creed which was written in the first half of the 2nd century through the Gospel of Saint John recited in all churches around the world.
Positive Effects
The Coptic Catholic Church had a positive and a negative impact on the Islam religion in Egypt. Both religions were brought by outside influences. The Islamic religion believed in Allah while the Coptic Church believed in God. The positive impact was brought about by the compatibility of the Christian and the Islam religion. First, the native Egyptians had compatible beliefs with the Christians that prepared the Egyptians to accept the Christian message in an easier way[1]. There was an attraction of the Islam religion. The fundamental teachings of the Holy Book of the Christian religion were similar to that of the Islamic religion as they were both sacred about a supreme being. The traditional of the two religions was similar in the uniting power between members of the religion and of the nation in order to create harmony between the two religions. They were referred as a community of believers who have converted Berbers a community of descendants in the Northern part of Egypt of pre-Arab inhabitants. The Islam took into consideration some of Christian’s rituals as they were beneficial to them such as spiritual intercessory, baptism of the new born and confession. This marked a new chapter of their life making them adherence to the religion teachings.
Habasha a land sought by the Muslims for the refugees and the Negus who was the Emperor brought a positive effect. The Christian king Negus gave protection for the early Muslim community for Prophet Muhammad’s the ruler of the Islam community mission of protecting his people. As the Muslim sought refuge in Habasha after torture and salvation in the hands of polytheistic Makkans who worshiped traditional gods they were there after welcomed in the Christian land[2]. This was because Prophet Muhammad refused to worship the traditional tribal deities. This led to a flourish of peace that was beneficial to Christians as they were found Muslims who believe in their teaching of a scared being. Christians refused to take bribes from Makkans in order to release the Muslims under their protection because they shared on the same values and their lives were at risk which is an indication of the early victory for positive Christians-Muslims relations[3]. Makkans did not give up easily and they were required in court in order to explain the Islam position in which King Negus said that By God he will not hand over the Muslims to them.
Jerusalem a Middle East town was sacred to Christians and Muslims and Umar ibn al-Khattab a companion of Muhammad was a positive impact between the two religions. Jerusalem and its territories were holy and remain holy to the Muslims, Jews, and Christians as they adhered to the teaching. At the time of Omar a powerful and influential Muslim gained leadership of the territory which was entered the town of Jerusalem with humbleness respecting the practices of the Christians. During this time Omar declined the plea of Christians to pray in church. This made the Christians give their Church key to the Muslims so that they could be responsible for its safety. This is positive as it encouraged relationship between the Christians and the Muslims. The Christians were unable to protect themselves due to the powerful influence Omar had. It is a symbol and a sign of mutual trust as the Muslims still have the key up to date.
The crusades who were the Christians and the Saladin the head of the Muslim troops were another positive impact. The result of a positive impact was from a horrifying oppression on the hands of the crusaders. Saladin treated the crusaders with great kindness as a result of tecahing and still made sure that both Muslims and non-Muslims lived in harmony and peace with each other[4]. As a result of the great kindness, many Christians were seeking shelter especially a young couple who wanted to get married but were inconvenienced as a result of the fight. As Saladin was in charge of the Muslim troops during this time he ordered the troops not to attack the castle as the young couple who were to get married was staying in it so that they could enjoy a fairly place and peace[5]. As a way of showing gratitude, the bride mother sent some food that Saladin and his troops accepted. It was a positive impact as justice and peace was experienced in Jerusalem for the longest period.
Negative Effects
However, there were negative results from the Muslim and Christians in the Egypt religion. This was attributed to the differences observed in the two religions. Their practices differed considerably at the bases of the foundation. Social stratification was important in the Islamic religion and the ethnic distinctions caused a major division in the believers. This made the teaching of the Christian gospel very difficult as it could result in conflicts[6]. Despite the teachings of equality of men and women in the eyes of Islam religion, there was a heavy fine imposed on women than men especial on moral ground. This went against the teaching of Christian teaching such as thou shall not kill or judge that led to conflicts. There was also great law disparity in the practices of the religion that led to up to pain reforms such as abolishing the killing act that did not come easily.
The crusades attacked, oppressed the Muslims and occupied their holy land by killing over 2000 innocent civilians. This affected religion as a whole in Egypt as the Christian crusades spreading the Christian gospel were going against their teachings[7]. The period was characterized by bloodshed, violence, and hostility in Egypt making many Christian believers fear for their life. The crusades were against the Muslims to the extent that they were ready to harm the Christians who lived along them because they would be forced out and be killed.
The Egyptian Jewish religion was affected negatively by Muslim and the Christian Spain where Christianity began was filled with pride as they were the pioneers. Spain was the center of civilization which Islam’s embraced while the Christians were free to live as they understood and practiced according to their Christian teachings[8]. This created enmity in Egypt where the Muslims were oppressed by the Christians. This is because they were forced to convert into Christian in the 2nd century. This was as a result of there was civilization in other countries such as Turkey that threatened the stability of the Christian religion. The slaughter of Armenia at the hands of the Muslims led to many deaths and many people were forced out creating the biggest disaster in Egyptian religion of the pro-Christians. This prompted the Christians to revenge due to betrayal of the Christians that lead to many killings[9].
The European colonialism in Asia, Africa and America in 1500s negatively impacted the Coptic religion in Egypt. This is because they were seen to favor Christianity over the Islamic religion. The initially Muslim land was ruined resulting to Christian forced education[10]. The native Americans were subjected to negative forces with some being mentally colonized making many Muslims flee their initial land in search of a peaceful land. Christopher a European explorer ended up in North America bringing destruction to millions of Natives in America and other were refined to customs of the Europeans.
The Coptic Church misunderstanding in which the Coptic Church was accused of considering the teachings of Eutyches who believed in Monophysis played a role the Egyptian religion in the 5th century. However, the misunderstanding was seen as a plan to wipe out the church in Egypt, isolate or abolish it. The council of Chalcedon who were the fourth council of the Christian church represented a minority Christian group who did not agree with the council teachings in 451 A.D maintained that the state and the church should be a completely different entity from each other[11]. This destabilized the peace in Egypt making the Muslims who were ruling the state and the Christians lose faith in each other so that the teaching may not conflict. This is a factor that has continued to be affected both religions in today as the process of gaining trust is slow.
The acceptance process of the Muslims to the Coptic Catholic was not an easy process. It was characterized with hardship and the Muslims had to see the positive side of the Coptic Church in order to accept them. The acceptance process was characterized by some of the Christian rituals that the Muslim considered to be of benefit to their religion[12]. This was an indication that the two religions had a slightly common agenda. Building a coalition between the Christians and the Muslim democrats gripped the national spirit of pride among the Muslim compelling them to believe in Christianity and the catholic especially the church as it was a holy ground for them. The coalition resulted to harmony as the Christians and the Muslims were ready to work together enhancing their interreligious Dialogue resulted to respect amongst them.
Saint Benedict of Nursia was the founder of Benedictine monastery has a vision of caring and pursuit played an important role in the Muslim-Christian relations as he laid outreach message across the interfaith religion of peace, tolerance, and faith. He has a special appeal for both religions especially to the Muslims that encouraged their leaders to reject violence through intrinsic relationships of reason and faith[13]. This came up with the alliance of civilization that encouraged Muslims on human rights and religious freedom. The sociological footprint of the Christians played a role on how the Muslims accepted them. The Christian theology was consistent and it advocated for rights and equality of the believers as well as discrimination was a laid ground work that the Muslims could refer to. This assured the Muslims of what the Christianity goal was[14].
In conclusion Muslim-Christian relationship has continued to evolve with time. During the ancient time in 1st century, Egypt religion had two religions the Islam and the Christian that were against each other in many ways. Despite that, there were positive effects and well as negative effects which were as a result of the relationship formed between the two. With the continued civilization Muslims have seen the Christianity religion as a partner rather than a threat. Therefore I believe it was possible for Copts and Muslims to have the Mutual Acceptance between them during the ancient time as there were many practices that could have been emulated from both sides.
Reference
Ha, Hyun Jeong. 2017. "Emotions of the weak: violence and ethnic boundaries among Coptic Christians in Egypt." Ethnic & Racial Studies 40, no. 1: 133-151. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
Haddad, Yvonne. 2013. "Good Copt, Bad Copt: Competing Narratives on Coptic Identity in Egypt and the United States." Studies In World Christianity 19, no. 3: 208-232. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
Hedstrom, Darlene L. Brooks. "treading on antiquity: anglo-american missionaries and the religious landscape of nineteenth-century coptic egypt." Material Religion 8, no. 2 (July 2012): 128-153. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
Nurdoğan, Arzu M. "The Landing of CMS Missionaries to an Ottoman Dominion: Missionary Education in Egypt (1825-1862)." Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice 16, no. 2 (April 2016): 399-438. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
[1] Haddad, Yvonne. 2013. "Good Copt, Bad Copt: Competing Narratives on Coptic Identity in Egypt and the United States." Studies In World Christianity 19, no. 3: 208-232. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
[2] Haddad, Yvonne. 2013. "Good Copt, Bad Copt: Competing Narratives on Coptic Identity in Egypt and the United States." Studies In World Christianity 19, no. 3: 208-232. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
[3] Nurdoğan, Arzu M. "The Landing of CMS Missionaries to an Ottoman Dominion: Missionary Education in Egypt (1825-1862)." Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice 16, no. 2 (April 2016): 399-438. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
[4] Hedstrom, Darlene L. Brooks. "treading on antiquity: anglo-american missionaries and the religious landscape of nineteenth-century coptic egypt." Material Religion 8, no. 2 (July 2012): 128-153. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
[5] Haddad, Yvonne. 2013. "Good Copt, Bad Copt: Competing Narratives on Coptic Identity in Egypt and the United States." Studies In World Christianity 19, no. 3: 208-232. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
[6] Haddad, Yvonne. 2013. "Good Copt, Bad Copt: Competing Narratives on Coptic Identity in Egypt and the United States." Studies In World Christianity 19, no. 3: 208-232. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
[7] Haddad, Yvonne. 2013. "Good Copt, Bad Copt: Competing Narratives on Coptic Identity in Egypt and the United States." Studies In World Christianity 19, no. 3: 208-232. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
[8] Nurdoğan, Arzu M. "The Landing of CMS Missionaries to an Ottoman Dominion: Missionary Education in Egypt (1825-1862)." Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice 16, no. 2 (April 2016): 399-438. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
[9] Haddad, Yvonne. 2013. "Good Copt, Bad Copt: Competing Narratives on Coptic Identity in Egypt and the United States." Studies In World Christianity 19, no. 3: 208-232. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
[10] Ha, Hyun Jeong. 2017. "Emotions of the weak: violence and ethnic boundaries among Coptic Christians in Egypt." Ethnic & Racial Studies 40, no. 1: 133-151. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
[11] Haddad, Yvonne. 2013. "Good Copt, Bad Copt: Competing Narratives on Coptic Identity in Egypt and the United States." Studies In World Christianity 19, no. 3: 208-232. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
[12] Hedstrom, Darlene L. Brooks. "treading on antiquity: anglo-american missionaries and the religious landscape of nineteenth-century coptic egypt." Material Religion 8, no. 2 (July 2012): 128-153. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
[13] Haddad, Yvonne. 2013. "Good Copt, Bad Copt: Competing Narratives on Coptic Identity in Egypt and the United States." Studies In World Christianity 19, no. 3: 208-232. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
[14] Ha, Hyun Jeong. 2017. "Emotions of the weak: violence and ethnic boundaries among Coptic Christians in Egypt." Ethnic & Racial Studies 40, no. 1: 133-151. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2016).
An experience means encountering an objective reality or a sign that will move someone towards their destiny. Experience is a major principle of one’s thought and is helpful in closing the gap that may exist between faith and reason. Christian experience is the most fulfilling experience that humanity can have and cannot be compared to any other. This is because it is a lived experience that involves the present immersion of one’s personality and all the aspects that make up his being. A lived experience makes sense only if it can have a fulfilling impact on the humanity and because Christian experience is a religious one influencing the behavior, perception and beliefs of a person it offers such kind of fulfillment. The experience can only be limited if the humanity understanding of it is reductive or inadequate and his faith in God will continue to be irrelevant. In such irrelevance, his belief will be detached from the Christological origin and will just be reduced to a theory. The Christian life through experience cannot even compare to the commonsense ethics and its influence reaches far from this and is normally a permanent dimension of the entire human existence. Basing from the teachings of the church, the experience may not guarantee elimination of human trial or provide total human freedom physically but it calls upon the humans to “the depths of all the questions, to his own fundamental structure, to his own fundamental structure, to his own real situation” (Giussani & Hewitt, 2001).
Therefore, a lived experience through Christianity is a true religiosity without which all claims and efforts to offer solution to human suffering are in vain. Originality is the true basis through which any experience especially a religious one can be understood. Religious and human experiences are founded on original experience and such originality can only be found in a lived Christian experience. As such there is a need for humanity to have a personal experience of God as represented in the true church doctrine. Such an experience fulfills the original experience of humanity and at the same time preserves it. It is an experience that even the modernity and post modernity whose experience may seem to be getting the upper hand cannot offer. The modern philosophical explanation of experience shows its incapacity in accounting for the unity-in-difference which exist between the world and God. The result is that been the inability to show the status of truth, and subsequent generation of systematic vagueness about the nature and character of God, human and the world. These inadequacies form part of the reasons why the world experience, apart from the church, cannot offer a comprehensive explanation on the meaning of life and its divinity. Any experience detached from the Christianity will try in vain to seek the meaning of life in factors that make up human self. The inability to discover that a fulfilling human experience will only be achieved through personal knowledge of God brings about all the theories that try to link the meaning of life to mortality rather than immortality.
Truth and Beauty
The beauty in truth can be evidenced in personal and present experience. This truth is not an illusion but it is not the ultimate reality but they serve as a pointer towards God. Truth and beauty are embodied in the uniqueness shared by human beings having the commonness in one God. For humanity, truth and beauty tells more about God and whenever there is truth, the beauty about God will be experienced through a person Christian experience. The personal experience enables one to encounter the beauty of truth and realize that such truth will be an illusion if it fails to point towards a God who is universal and common to all the human beings (Giussani & Hewitt, 2001). Truth and beauty are embodied perfectly in the Lord and cannot be defined precisely when one does not have a personal experience of Christianity through a relationship with God. Then one will be able to know that Christian truth is understood through an affirmation of this religion as corresponding with objective reality. It is a structure of inner Christian experience, namely the relationship a personal believer will have with God. Such a relationship will only be experienced through Christ and other religious practices that are involved in a Christian experience. Through a personal experience one is able to perceive truth, reason and reality as an organic whole. One is able to come to contact with what is true when a proposition of truth is presented in their mind since truth is something whose existence is beyond the material things. This could be the reason why some believe truth to be an illusion since their minds have not been open to receive the beauty of it.
In the beauty of truth, a believer comes into contact with the divine through an experience they have had in have received in new realism. When truth is revealed, one is able to get into the world of rational ideas and perceive the world which corresponds to the real appearance of things. It gives some the ability to think about a thing that doesn’t involve the immediate and the ability to be ability to be nonfigurative. This is remarkable since it enables a person to perceive things in a way that they can recognize the beauty in truth, but it can be unhealthy if one uses it as an escape. Hence, if one is not in line with the revelation of a universal God, they cannot have a full view of this beauty in truth. Sin and prejudice make them biased so that they are not objective in what they experience and, therefore, are limited by space and time to see the entire truth at a glance. They are only able to make comments corresponding with a certain level of truthfulness about the appearance of things. The truth and beauty in a common God is perceived through reason, conscience and imaginations. These are the receptors that enable humanity to learn from experience, differentiate themselves from animals and enable one to come into contact with a supernatural and divine world. The reasoning and conscience enables those who encounter Christ two thousand years after vanishing from the world to realize that he corresponds to the truth which he claims to have. Therefore for anyone who comes into contact with God through Christian message, it is crucial that they be certain about the reality of this message given that it will be a critical issue for their lives and for life they will lead in the world. Beauty in truth, beauty and truth are illusionary if one has not had an experience that enabled them to perceive them in reality. The experience dispels the notion that truth is illusionary the individuals are able to understand that living in church can be a way of experiencing the reality of a universal God.
Church and human fulfillment
The human fulfillment provided by the church is normally attained from the basis of personal awareness through an understanding that unity of life’s conception has a connection with the idea of a living God, a message that is passed on to Christianity. The church has attempted to impart a meaning in human life from the point of view of a Christian experience. The claim by the church on its capacity to provide personal awareness can be attributed to the fact that it enables humanity to realize that there is a meaning in life. This meaning is understood by those who belief the message that there is a goal in life that can only be attained by people who seriously get involved with life its encounters, events and problems. This is possible to those who understand the holiness of life as taught by the church as the preventative of God in the earthly undertakings. Holiness of life is upheld by the church and that is why it gets involved in various activities that are directed to the fulfillment of the needs in the society and in this way the human fulfillment is achieved. Human fulfillment comprises of the spiritual and physical aspects that are linked sustainability of life. The spiritual and physical aspects of human life are influenced by the environment in which one is living in, which can explain the stand that the church can impact on how life is perceived and lived. The environment is an indication of the fabric of influences that are human experience and is normally a reaction between the originality of human and an array of circumstances.
The support offered by the church includes the upholding the dignity or holiness of human and various activities that are geared towards alleviating the unconducive living conditions. The notion that all humanity from conception to a natural death has an inherent right to life and which is consistent with their dignity forms the beginning of personal fulfillment. At every stage in the development of human, the church gets involved so that it can impart the sense of belonging, purpose and a meaning beyond what this life can offer. The church therefore stands firm on the belief and truth of afterlife as a factor that can bring about human fulfillment in the activities human undertake. Such activities when based on associating oneself with the welfare of others build a deep sense of personal fulfillment. This is a basic teaching of the church, that a selfless act will have more satisfaction than one intended for personal gain. The individuals who choose to associate themselves with church embrace the principle of participation in the society while seeking the common well-being of everyone more so those who are disadvantaged. Through this principle, the church is able to steer the human efforts towards achieving humanity fulfillment and the upholding of the knowledge that God intend for everyone to be content in His divinity through Jesus Christ who was actively involved in caring for humanity.
Reference
Giussani, L., & Hewitt, V. (2001). Why the church?. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.
Wong, E. (2011). Taoism: An essential guide. Boston: Shambhala.
In ancient China, Shamanism developed a sedentary society in 20th century. During this period, the kings of Chou dynasty employed Shamans to conduct certain functions such as inviting the spirits, interpreting dreams, rainmaking, reading omens and healing. The books asserts that Shamans in Chou dynasty failed to use their ability in carrying out their duties, because they lacked the power of Yu or in other words the power of animal spirit. The decline of shamanism in Chou dynasty made the shamanism to be practiced in areas which were occupied by Ch’U, Wu and Yueh.
Lindgren A. Linda (2010) Shamanism and Chinese Goddesses ~Xi wangmu and Nugua~
The author asserts that ancient China practiced ecstatic religion which involved shamanic character in Neolithic period. Shamanist practices played a significant role in Chinese religion in shaping shamanistic beliefs and culture. The article asserts that Wu was the Chinese Shaman and the Chinese culture interpreted the meaning of Wu differently. Some believed that Wu character was visible on a scapula bone in 1500 BC and other believed that the character was in Shandong. In Chinese history, Wu symbolized males and female but later Ching concluded that Wu was a female shaman.
Gilles Boileau (2002). Wu and Shaman
The article asserts that there has been confrontation between Shamanism and Chinese religion. The confrontation has rooted from the idea that that Shang king acted as Wu in religious activities. During the dawn of civilization, Shung king followed the art practices of Wu in his religious activities. In oracular inscriptions, Shang king practiced the Wu activities such as dances, rainmaking, invocation and healing. Despite the fact that Shang king followed the Wu activities, the term was also seen in character wang. This created a separate entitity but it was concluded that the king was Shang as he followed the Wu’s activities. The article plays a significant role of comparing the religious activities of the two characters.
Klein F. Cecelia, Guzman Eulogio, Mandell C. Elisa & Mazzi-Stanfield Maya (2002). The Role of Shamanism in Mesoamerican Art. A Reassessment.
The article is very import rant as it provides credible information regarding the Western art and its application in Mesoamerican Art. Klein et al (2002) asserts that for many years, Mesoamericanists have followed the shamanism activities in their artwork. Many scholars in their artworks have focused on socioscientific literature from ethnographic sources. Mesoamericans art introduced the concepts of shamanism in 1960s. The artwork has been reflected on spiritual and it has been focusing on issues based on ahistorical and apolitical.
Hutton, R. (2007). Shamans: Siberian spirituality and the Western imagination. London: Hambledon Continuum.
From 1970s, many scholars have presented the word ‘shamanism’ in their anthropology and religious work. Given that shamanism originated from Siberia, many scholars apply beliefs and activities which are interconnected with activities in Siberia. However, there a confrontation in defining the term as some scholars defines it as spiritual activities from state of consciousness. Second, it is a practice where practitioners interact with the spirit of world. Third, many scholars applies this definition in their work by trying to assert that there is no relationship between shaman and with doctors or prophets.They belief that shaman has power over other spirits. Finally, some people belief that shamanism means practical convenience.
Stuckard Von Kocku (2002). Reenchjanting Nature: Modern Western Shamanims and Nineteenth-Century Thought
In 1920th century, North America and Europe developed neoshamanism through integrating in anthropology, science and New Age. Neoshamanim concept has introduced the resacralization of the world. There a notable transition of modernity following that there a division between sacred and material realms. Nonindustrial societies are being symbolized by ‘sacramental view of reality. Scholars’ asserts that modernity is made up by self-referential reflexivity which means culture is newly ordered and thing are changed from primitive image to rational cognition.
Meadows, K., & Meadows, K. (2004). Shamanic spirit: A practical guide to personal fulfillment. Rochester, Vt: Bear & Co.
In modernity, there is a renewal on shamanism where there eternal principles which are connected human with nature. Shamanism explains how people in modern world will gain new perceptions which will change the way of living by improving creativity, emotions and reinforce the inner powers. In modernity, Shamanics stands for ancient wisdom which was used by benevolent shamans through oral tradition and mysteries. Thus, the mysteries are hidden truths which are now revealed in modernity so that whoever complies with the truth will gain harmony.
Chinese Shamanic Society
Outline
Introduction
Background information
In 20th century, the ancient China developed the Shamanism and shamans were employed to conduct various functions such as healing, rainmaking, divination and interpreting dream
2. Chinese shamanism was also known as Wuism or the religious traditions which were related with Neolithic cultures.
3. Chinese shamanism introduced the ritual traditions and masters who were involved in Chinese rituals were known as Wu.
4. In modern world, many scholars are following the shamanism practices in their work art. They are connecting the practices with nature in creating new ways of living.
5. In Chinese Shamanic society, Shang king was viewed by outsiders as artist and wang viewed himself as a shaman.
6. The two had different practices since Shang king in conducting religious practices followed Wu’s activities.
Thesis; In Chinese shamanism society, Wu were used as the spirit mediums in shamanism activities where Shang kings and wang were Wu-shamans though their religious practices differed and their difference practice marked the history of shamanism in modern world.
Body
Topic Sentences
-Chinese shamanism practices led to the development of Taoism in Han dynasty.
Toaism was the ancient Chinese philosophy based on religious piety.
Taoism marked the history of Classical period.
3 Taoism (Tao-te ching) created a division between Taoism teaching and Confucius teachings.
-During the spring and autumn period, Taoism was transformed into an organized religion known as Taoism religion in the golden age.
Golden age was the period of chaos where three kingdoms were formed.
2. There was rise of Mystical Taoism
3. There wasan establishment of Alchemical Taoism
Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism combined.
- Shamanism and Chinese religion
1. In oracular inscriptions, Shang king as Wu
2. In oracular inscription, Wu was named as Wang
-Shang king and Wush inChinese shamanism religion
The Chinese Shaman
Different meaning of Wu
3. China divination
-The role of Western in shaping shamanism
1. Shamanism in MesoAmerican Art
2. Implication of Siberian spirituality in religious work
3. Implication of 19th century thought in modern shamanism
4. Implication of shamanic spirit in creating new ways of living
-Closing statement
Chinese shamanism and Wu masters play a significant role in modern Chinese culture.
-Restate thesis
Chinese shamans followed the Wu activities and modern religious practices follow the role shaman as artist in their artwork and religious practices.
References
Wong, E. (2011). Taoism: An essential guide. Boston: Shambhala.
Lindgren A. Linda (2010) Shamanism and Chinese Goddesses ~Xi wangmu and Nugua~
Gilles Boileau (2002). Wu and Shaman
Klein F. Cecelia, Guzman Eulogio, Mandell C. Elisa & Mazzi-Stanfield Maya (2002). The Role of Shamanism in Mesoamerican Art. A Reassessment.
Hutton, R. (2007). Shamans: Siberian spirituality and the Western imagination. London: Hambledon Continuum.
Stuckard Von Kocku (2002). Reenchjanting Nature: Modern Western Shamanims and Nineteenth-Century Thought
Meadows, K., & Meadows, K. (2004). Shamanic spirit: A practical guide to personal fulfillment. Rochester, Vt: Bear & Co.
Chinese Shamanic Society
Introduction
In ancient China, many years ago, Chinese did not have their national or religious identity. In 20th century, Chiou dynasty developed shamans who conducted certain functions. Their major tasks were inviting the spirit and providing them with permanent places where they could dwell. Shamans also played the role of interpreting dreams as a way of revealing the message which the spirit had for the realm. Shamans were also creating the healing ceremonies where they could remove out the malevolent spirits and restore the life. However the history of Chou dynasty period concluded that shamans failed to fulfill their roles since they did have the sacred powers of Yu. Given that shamans in Chou dynasty was declined, shamanism religion activities were practiced by Ch’u, Wu and Yueh. In Chinese shamanism, shamans were referred to as Wu- which means a male mediator during Shang dynasty and later a female shaman was introduced in Zhou dynasty. The religions from the two dynasties (Shang and Zhou) performed different religious activities in that Shang believed in ancestors, Wu practices and oracle bones while Zhou opposed the ancestors. Chinese religion was developed from Shang and Zhou period and shamans in the two periods had different religious beliefs. In Chinese shamanism society, Wu were used as the spirit mediums in shamanism activities where Shang kings and Wang were Wu-shamans though their religious practices differed and their difference practice marked the history of shamanism in modern world.
Shamanism became popular in ancient China through the development of Taoism in Han dynasty-which was the Chinese philosophy of religion. Taoist magicians’ practices were based on removing out malevolent spirits and destructive forces. A thousand years after the development of Taoist, Chinese tribes achieved the national identity and families were given lands (Wong, 2011). During this period, Yu the Great and other kings were participating in spring and autumn ceremonies while shamanism was practiced by professionals. There was effectiveness in the feudal kingdoms and the emperor was strong. In 770 BCE, there was sociopolitical turmoil in Chou Empire as a result of powerful feudal kingdoms of Chou (Wong, 2011). The classical period occurred during the spring and autumn period when the feudal states were more powerful and created the Five Warlords of this period. The feudal lords expanded the territories and used their military strength in building other powerful states. The classical period was developed during the Tao-te ching. At this period, Tao-te ching taught that all things in the universal derive its power from Tao. Note that the Tao teachings differ with shaman’s animistic views as Tao beliefs on benevolent power (Wong, 2011).
After the warring period, Taoism developed an organized religion during the golden age and sacred ceremonies were initiated. Ch’in dynasty eliminated the mercenary statesmen and political adverse and this led to unification in China. The Han emperors created a centralized government to prevent mercenary statesmen in advising feudal lords (Wong, 2011). Han dynasties created a social class and trained political advisers in art of healing and divination. The social class-fang-shih- played different roles based on healing and divination and others were trained on longevity and immortality. Taoism was also transformed into an organized religion in order to create the hierarchy of spirits as well as the honoring practices. The transformation of philosophy to an organized religion led to the Mystical Taoism in (300-600 CE (Wong, 2011). Mystical Taoism developed the beliefs that the cosmic powers live in human body. The mystical had both mysticism and shamanism concepts were rooted from Chin dynasty. The Shang-ch’ing Taoism (Mystical) taught that the internal universe which is the human body is guarded by spirits and deities and the two lives in the body. Thus, the guardians should be maintained so that they can sustain life. In addition, the teachings of Mystical Taoism taught that the external universe is the celestial bodies and the starts, sun and moon strengths the immortal fetus as well as the body guardians (Wong, 2011).
In Chinese shamanism society, Wu was the shaman but the term was defined differently. First, Wu character was found on scapula bone in 1500 BC. Other argues that Wu character was found in Eastern Zhou period (Gilles, 2002).In Chinese history, Wu is defined as male and female from Shang and Zhou periods. The traditional culture of Chinese was created from divination which is found in form of Scapulimancy. The culture used oracle bones for divination which was developed during the Shang period. Bones of sacrificed animals were used in divination as it was believed that the animal spirit interacted with other spirits. During Neolithic period, Chinese worshiped the Ancestors as they believed that the ancestors’ spirit dominated life (Gilles, 2002). They assert that the art of Wu developed the Shang religion and through the Oracle bone, Wu designed an image of a person who performed ritual activities. Dancing and divination from Wu arts represented the shamanism practices. The practices between Shang King and Zhou differed in that Shang king followed the Wu’s religious practices in performing the duties (Lindgren, 2010). In addition, Shang king demonstrated his political power in religious activities. He worshiped Di, royal ancestors and other deities. It is important to note in Shang religion, shamans were not artists but they acted as artist in performing religious function such as divination. They acted as Wu and followed the Wushu arts and in Shang divination, Wu art played a significant role in healing and making rain (Gilles, 2002).
The Zhou dynasty rejected the Shang religion and believed on ancestors and nature deities. Zhou religion believed in Tian whom they referred to as the impersonal deity. In other words, Tian acted as the ancestral spirit and in Zhou practices, shamanism practices declined and female shamans was less usual (Lindgren, 2010). Unlike in Shang religion where Wu was seen as an art and religion followed the art in practicing, Zhou viewed Wu as a person who came from untamed nature and was involved in unfortunate events. Wu was connected with impurity and had the malevolent power in conducting religious activities. In comparing the religious acts between Wu (shaman as artist) and Zhou (artist as a shaman), the former during the Zhou period was not recognized and it was believed that the female shaman did not reach the spirit through religious acts (Lindgren, 2010). Chinese believed that animal were to be involved in shamanistic rituals and secular duties increased during this period. In ancient China, humans and spirits existed but they could not come into contact. Wu and Xi were single-minded and they could understand the spirit. Zhu acted as invocators as they could find the spirit during the ceremonies, understand the principle of ancestors, enforce respect and control trust (Lindgren, 2010). This shows that Wu and Zhou had different roles as one could understand the upper world and the other could understand the lower world.
From traditional to modern times, divination has been viewed as an important feature. Scapulimancy and oracle bones were used and the phenomena are still applied in North America and the central parts of Asia (Lindgren, 2010). During the Shang period, the art of divination and writing were developed and it is believed that bones of sacred animals were used in the divination ceremony. In comparing Shang and Zhou dynasty, there is difference in their religious activities following that during Shang dynasty, Shang king valued the divination and the act marked the Chinese shamanist history (Lindgren, 2010). In the divination ceremony, shaman played the role of presenting bones which was used for writing the questions which Shang king could ask. In Zhou and Shang period, religion were quite different following that Shang believed in spirits, good and evil while Zhou was more transcendental. Shang religion concentrated on ancestral rituals but Zhou concentrated on poetry and writing. The difference changed the people’s mind and religion was centered on both nature and humanism. Mankind, ancestors and heave as well as determined the way of life (Lindgren, 2010).
Shamanism activities have played a great role in Mesoamerican Art given that in the past decade, Mesoamericanists have been using shamanism concepts in their artworks (Klein et al, 2002). Many scholars such as anthropologists, art historians and others have been using the social scientific literature in dealing with complex questions and issues related with religion and politics. Shamanism and art have brought an importance contribution in helping the Mesoamerican artworks focus on ‘the spiritual’. Since 1960s, during the methodological crisis, the pre-Columbian art was taught in Yale and Columbia University which concentrated on diffusionism (Klein et al, 2002). The latter played a big role in this period in focusing on ancient transpacific maritime, Asian and Latin America resemblance. Since 19th century, U.S anthropologists have used the diffusionism in understanding the evolution of human history. They have also used the shamanism activity in understanding ‘the spiritual’ which has contributed to the idea of ahistorical and apolitical. The Shamanism activities have shaped the humanistic anthropology and through studying art, many scholars have characterized the religion as ideation (Klein et al, 2002).
Anthropology and religious scholars have relied in shamanism concept since 1970s. Shamanism in modern western has created a complex adversarial connection between traditional and modernity. In 20th century, shamanism concepts were re-evaluated and America introduced new data in explain shamanism but a patent truth has remained to be derived from Siberia (Hutton, 2007). Russian and other western nations have presented the shamanic practices in modern ages. In 16th and 17th century, Russians colonized Siberia and since this period, Siberia religion was established in the middle Ages and shamanism beliefs were practices in northern Scandinavia. In 20th century, historians started studying comparative religions of Siberian shamanism (Hutton, 2007). Modern scholars follow the shamanism practices and elements in European prehistory and South African artworks. Shamanism practices are found in Neolithic art and Siberians are practicing neoshamanism and are developing Neoshamanic movement.
The 19th century notions have shaped the modern shamanism activities and have contributed to an enchanting nature. In modern times, it is noticed that there is a division between the sacred and material world where the culture is newly ordered. Shamanism activities have created the ‘New Age religion’ and diachronic development which both has caused the neoshamanism (Stuckard, 2002). The important concept in western contemporary shamanism is nature. Modern western shamanism derived some important features of nature from 20th century and the concept of nature has shaped the western mysticism. The nature and art in Europe and North America is derived from 18th and 19th century philosophy. The old philosophy is explicit in modern times following authors are applying Schelling philosophy, esoteric traditions and others views them as romantic lineage in conducting shamanism activities (Stuckard, 2002). In modernity, shamanisms activities are related with nature hence provide a great understanding of ecology and spiritual practices. Deep ecology has been used since 1972 to understand the ethics and politics and nature teleology in modern world. In shamanism practices, the deep ecology is used to understand the earth and the cosmos and provides metaphysical explanation of interpreting the reality. Thus, the 19th century though provides a philosophy of nature in creating western esotericism and ‘New Age Science’ (Stuckard, 2002).
Religions and philosophies are using shamanism in understanding the eternal principle which connects humanity with nature. In modern times, people with religious believes are defining shamanism as a way of understanding one’s life, a way of improving inner powers, vitality as well as creativity (Meadows, 2004). It is used as an ancient wisdom which through following the shamanism activity, one can become connected with nature and gain harmony. Thu, shamanism is used as a practical guide in connecting humanity with nature and helping people in fulfilling their spiritual needs. The western art in modern times is shaping the shamanism activities by connected shamanism spirit with humanity and allowing people to understand the physical body, the mind, the soul and the spirit (Meadows, 2004). In meeting personal fulfillment, people understand that all people are spirits and the spirit is made of body, mind and soul. The spirit here stands for the life and also it is the original being. The spirit has the freedom to share its life-energies with other beings and create mutual understanding, harmony and control own existence and identity. Shamanism spirit plays a great role in people’s life in teaching that people are wonderfully made and everyone has a purpose here on earth (Meadows, 2004).
In western world, shamans are valued for their great role of understanding the spirit of nature, the spirit of ancestors and others transpersonal forces by using the visionary ability. In modern Chinese society, shamans are used as the spirit mediums where different practices such as healing, self-cultivation and exorcism are performed (Buxton, 2004). In modern China, Chinese artists apply theories, forms and ideas related with religion in trying to shape shamanism activity. For example, Lu Dadong has applied the Japanese Zen painting in carrying out his activities such as perfuming art and teaching academic of art. In exploring the modern art, shamanism play fundamental role in modern Chinese society. The practices are practiced by shaman or by individuals for purpose of understanding the path of life (Buxton, 2004). People pay interest in forming connection with the spirit in order to get guidance of life experience. Since in tradition people used to consult shaman practitioners, in modern days the same case happens and people seeks solution of their problems from the practitioners. Shamanism in modernity is closely examined in order to implemented classical period phenomenon in contemporary societies. Western observes view shamanism practices as a way of connecting people with their traditional religion and understanding the nature of life (Buxton, 2004).
The western art in China is shaping shamanism practices in different ways. The traditional ideas of Chinese culture are remembered in Xu Ma’s healing. The ideas are related with the notion that the ancestral spirits provides harmony which then creates a good health and fortune. Modern society understands the sickness as a result of human negligence towards the world’s spirit and the spirit causes the evil to affect life (Miller, 2006). The western art provides solution as people understands that spirits must be given offerings in order to maintain harmony and free away from evil things. In tradition, shamanism practices were being practices by diverse practitioners and these practices remained to be the local traditions even during the Confucianism hierarchy. Modern shamanism practices play a great role of transforming the society in unique way through referring to traditional dialogue with shamanism spirit (Miller, 2006). The practices focus on historical condition in creating social, economic and political change. In recent phenomenon, the principles are tied with shamanism in performing actions. Particular in the popular media and films, knowledge of possessing spirits are explicit with the purpose of showing Chinese traditional beliefs and its application in popular culture. Modern Chinese society is presenting shamanistic practices and more important they are addressing the functions which the practices play in economic and political arena (Miller, 2006).
Objects of art are seen in the arctic artists. Individuals in Arctic regions put much interest in national culture and they apply the old ways of life in creating spiritual and material culture. Many artists apply the mythology in learning the old and presenting characters of ethnic culture. For example in 1993, International Exhibition which was represented by Art Arctica showed the native individuals from different places like Finland and Alaska (Lagerwey et al, 2015). Ethnocultural traditions were also applied in Soviet Union in 1980s and during this period, the art concentrated on the spiritual and material life. The historical-ethnographic themes presented the national qualities by the use of shamanism activities.
In contemporary Chinese societies, the Western art represents shamanism activities in Chinese religions (Lagerwey et al, 2015). Western art present the shamanism activity in Mongolian shamanism activity. Shamans in Mongolia used to wear ceremonial dresses and long strips which could hang on the clothing. The symbols in the clothing has unique and significance meaning.
Generally, western art have presented shamanism in modern world and there is an awakening in the shamanic practices. Individuals are putting concern on ancient practices in order to understand the nature of shamanism and its role in shaping the culture (Lagerwey et al, 2015). In post-modern era, the important thing with shamanism is the shamanic healing and the reflection on nature-based spirituality. In 1980s, there was a new movement of understanding culture identity and during this period, Taiwanese art scene was development by the use of ideas from western art. For example, Pop Art, Fluxux and others implemented art activities which shaped the Taiwan art. In addition, the period of 1980s a marked western art development in that art museum known as Taipei Fine was developed in 1983 (Lagerwey et al, 2015). The museum served many purposes as the art competition could be done in this place.
In contemporary society, shamanism is used in the art and it provides a therapeutic benefit. In performing rituals, shamans use shamanism activities in conveying different meaning to different individuals (Lagerwey et al, 2015). Shamanism activities are used in expressive arts for example in art medicine. In modernity, archaeological evident reveals that shamans are using shamanism activities such as spiritual practices from western practitioners. In 21century, many societies are employing neo-Shamanism forms in having a connection with the world (Lagerwey et al, 2015). In contemporary China, many Chinese cultures practice art in understanding the life as well as the world in general. Modernity in Chinese culture is characterized with the interest of understanding rational world and modern western society. In addition, the western art has contributed to re-enchantment which gives individuals the urge to understand the natural world (Lagerwey et al, 2015).
Conclusion
Shamanism was a religious tradition which were practiced in China and mainly the activities were practiced by Neolithic and Hongshan culture. Chinese defined their shaman as Wu and different cultures could define Wu as a female and others as a male. Zhou and Shang dynasty defined Wu differently and their difference perceptions develop diverse shamanism practices. Generally, Wu was powerful and played the role of connecting supernatural forces, healing, making rain, divination and other religious practices. Wu in Shang and Wu in Zhou practiced different practices where the former believed that Wu was a sacrifice, a spirit and a human being. The latter believed that Wu was not a spirit but she was a person from untamed nature. The Western Art has shaped the shamanism activity as many scholars have applied shamanism activities in their artwork. Recent phenomena are used in Mesoamerican art in trying to understand the human history, religion and politics.
References
Wong, E. (2011). Taoism: An essential guide. Boston: Shambhala.
Lindgren A. Linda (2010) Shamanism and Chinese Goddesses ~Xi wangmu and Nugua~
Gilles Boileau (2002). Wu and Shaman
Klein F. Cecelia, Guzman Eulogio, Mandell C. Elisa & Mazzi-Stanfield Maya (2002). The Role
of Shamanism in Mesoamerican Art. A Reassessment.
Hutton, R. (2007). Shamans: Siberian spirituality and the Western imagination. London:
Hambledon Continuum.
Stuckard Von Kocku (2002). Reenchjanting Nature: Modern Western Shamanims and
Nineteenth-Century Thought.
Meadows, K., & Meadows, K. (2004). Shamanic spirit: A practical guide to personal fulfillment.
Rochester, Vt: Bear & Co.
Buxton, S. (2004). The Shamanic way of the bee: Ancient wisdom and healing practices of the bee
masters. Rochester, Vt: Destiny Books.
Miller, J. (2006). Chinese religions in contemporary societies. Santa Barbara, Calif. [u.a.: ABC-CLIO.
Lagerwey, J., Marsone, P., Teiser, S. F., Kern, M., Brook, T., & Conference. (2015). Handbook of Oriental
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With regard to the general statistics, Buddhism is perceived as being a remarkable human being who out of boundless compassion or love has resolved to offer guidance to any sentient beings so as to deliver mankind from suffering. Personal mortality is usually followed by reincarnations after better or worse rebirths and depending on the merit attained in pervious lives. The goal of Buddhism is the attainment of Nirvana- a state in which craving and desire cease due to the associated merit that is one can opt to be freed from endless chain of rebirth into suffering lives (Netland & Yandell, 2009). Considering the Buddhist and Christianity followers, the following graph below shows the rising arbitrary figures of Buddhist followers to date;
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Christianity is also a monotheistic religion which is based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ- the ostensible savior in the Bible’s New Testament. The reason for this is because humans are trapped in a repetitive cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth although each rebirth might be better or worse depending on the merits and sins which had accumulated during the previous and present lives (Cioccolanti, 2010). Once this is attained, a person experiences complete liberation, freedom, and non-attachment as Christian perceive it. Otherwise there are many Christianity followers than Buddhist as stipulated by the figure below;
Y-axis
100
80
60
20 X-axis
10 20 30 40 50 60 70
References
Netland, H. A., & Yandell, K. E. (2009). Buddhism: A Christian exploration and appraisal. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Academic.
Cioccolanti, S. (2010). From Buddha to Jesus: An insider's view of Buddhism and Christianity. Oxford: Monarch.
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