Friday, January 24, 2020
Ancient Religions Essay -- essays research papers fc
Religions of the Ancient World      Religions of the ancient world were in a state of constant flux. Karl Jaspers states that between the eighth and fourth centuries B.C.E, â€Å"great changes took place in all the civilized world†(qtd. in Basham 36), and the great thinkers of these times began thinking independently and individually. Moreover, â€Å"after these great thinkers the world was never the same again†(qtd. in Basham 36-37). These times were dubbed the â€Å"axial period†(qtd. in Basham 37). The axial religions that emerged during this period were profound and lasting. In fact, the religions discussed in this paperâ€â€Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianityâ€â€are considered the most practiced religions to do this day. Although these religions have changed over time, their underlying structure remains intact.      Ancient Hebrew Religion      Richard Hooker states that there are four main periods in the Hebrew Religion, they are: the Pre-Mosaic Stage (1950 - 1300 B.C.E.), the National Monolatry and Monotheism (1300-1000 B.C.E.), the Prophetic Revolution (800-600 B.C.E.), and the Post-Exile Revolution (538 B.C.E., and beyond) (Hooker n. pag.). Little is known about the Pre-Mosaic stage, but some scholars have formed four main conclusions drawn from the text of Genesis. The first conclusion states that the beginning of Hebrew religion was polytheistic, involving several gods. This conclusion is formed from the â€Å"plural form of the name of God, Elohim rather than El†(Hooker n. pag.). The second conclusions is that early â€Å"Hebrew religion was animistic...and as a result...had a number of practices that fall into the category of magic†(Hooker n. pag.).      In the Monolatry period, the most significant event was the flight from Egypt. The great migration led by Moses unified the Hebrew people. They began to refer to themselves as â€Å"bene yisrael†or â€Å"children of Israelâ€Å". Also at this time, Moses instructed the Israelites to worship one God, Yahweh, and to follow his laws (Torah). The Israelites looked up to Yahweh as their God and chief ruler. Towards the end of this period the Kingdom of Israel was in a state of turmoil. They longed for a â€Å"unified state under a single monarch†(Hooker n. pag.) and they forged ahead with this notion in mind.    ... ...ite their difficulties, these religions only strengthened throughout time. Works Cited Basham, A.L. The Origins and Developments of Classical Hinduism. Ed. Kenneth G. Zysk. Boston: Beacon, 1989. Brummett, Palmira, et all. Civilizations Past & Present. Ed. Priscilla McGeehon Longman, 2000.                         Dumoulin, Heinrich. Zen Enlightenment: Origins and Meaning. Trans.      Maraldo, John C. New York: Weatherhill 1979. Finegan, Jack. The Archeology of World Religions. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press 1952. Hooker, Richard. The Hebrews. 1996: n. pag. Online. Internet. 10 Oct. 2000. Available http://www.edu:8080/~dee/HEBREWS/RELIGION.HTM. Kashyap, J. et al. The Path of the Buddha. Ed. Morgan, Kenneth W. New York: The Ronald Press Co., 1956. Scheck, Frank Reainer, Manfred Gà ¶rgens. Buddhism: An Historical Overview. Baron's: 1999. From Jesus to Christ: the First Christians. PBS and WGBH/FRONTLINE 1998: n. pag. Online. Internet. 2 Nov. 2000. Available http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/.
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Religion in “To Kill a Mockingbird†by Harper Lee Essay
The theme of religion in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is an extremely important one. It stands as a crucial point for other themes in the novel such as racism, sexism and discrimination. The community of Maycomb County all believe themselves to be devout, wholesome people; we discover that they are using their religion to indulge in other criticisms. Although they listen to the sermons about their religion and pretend that they practise it outside of church on a Sunday, the rest of their time, their beliefs on social harmony are far from the perfect Christian morals they believe themselves to have. This is evident in Chapter twenty-four, the scene that involves the ‘ladies of the missionary tea circle’. Here the majority of women believe themselves to be utterly perfect ‘southern-belles’, who devote their life to discussing the works of Jesus .One thing is apparent, though, the women in the group hold diverse viewpoints and represent the various liberal, conservative, and hypocritical viewpoints found in the general population of Maycomb county. We see how shallow they actually are when they go into discussion about the â€Å"Mrunas†and how awful it would be to have people such as this living in their community, with â€Å"lots of children running round†â€Å"all dirty†and â€Å"flea ridden†. Here we see the uncanny irony because, these women have these type of people living amongst them; the Ewell family. But although they may see this similarity, they may refuse to accept it because as â€Å"Ladies†, they cannot accept such atrocities in their own town. Although the theme of religion is though to be taken seriously by every member of the community, it is only really practised by the black community. Indeed, the white people practise it. But, in measures such as when Miss Maudie is condemned for looking after her garden when she could be reading the bible. In methods such as enforcement of religion, people will never take it as seriously than if they would have had the chance to learn about Methodists, rather than having it drummed into them at birth. Phrases from the Bible such as â€Å"Do unto others as you would like done unto you†and â€Å"Love your neighbour as you love yourself†are not given a second thought as the community continues to be a hypocritical, racist and unjust society. No though for other people’s feelings is given in Maycomb county, no thought for how someone may be feeling, especially if they are black. For the community of Maycomb, does not believe the black people to have any feelings whatsoever. Just as long as the white people still feel they are a perfect community, full of devout, God-fearing people, they do not care who is put to death and who suffers. The Bible does not say anything about the ill treatment of black people. It does not commend or apprehend racial or sexist discrimination. So, if these people base their lives on the teachings of the Bible, why is their discrimination in their society? Historical reasons. Discrimination and racism had nothing to do with their religious beliefs; it was because of a long history of conflict, starting way before Civil War. So, wouldn’t you have thought that in the nineteen hundreds, people would have woken up to the fact that colour of skin has no preference on a person? But, the people of Maycomb County are so fixed in their ways of social class that their racist ways will never change. Black people occupy the lowest class level in the Maycomb society. Not because of their deprivation or the way they speak, it was because of the colour of their skin. In conclusion, religion plays an extremely important part in To Kill a Mockingbird. It forms a stem for other morals and beliefs such as discrimination; both racism and sexism and shows the reader what an unjust community Maycomb County is. On the surface of the communities personalities are holy, devout people. But, as we study their religion along with their morals, the realisation is in fact that theses people use their religion as an excuse to discriminate, not only against black members of the society, but in some cases women. Religion will always play a big part in society and culture, even in present day, but in the early nineteen hundreds, it was treated properly only by a few people. The rest, use it as a basis to form other such like beliefs and ethics, going so far away from the holy life Jesus intended, by being evil, self-centred human beings.
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
The Opinion Of Justice Binderoff - 1177 Words
The opinion of Justice BINDEROFF: According to Article I, Section 8(3) of the United States Constitution, Congress is granted the power â€Å"to regulate commerce with foreign countries, as well as among the several states†¦;†this enumerated power is what the Commerce Clause describes. This Article has been used to justify many instances in which Congress has exercised its power to regulate commerce, especially among states. In this regard, there has been a myriad of instances in which such exercise of this congressional power has been challenged. The first instance, was in the case of Gibbons v Ogden (1984), where two men who had been given exclusive licenses by the state of New York to carry passengers to Elizabeth Town from New York, filed a suit in court to block another steamship operator, Gibbons, who had been newly granted a license to carry passengers on that very route, from competing with them. In this case, the Chief Justice found out that Congress was right within its powers – granted by the Commerce Clause - to grant the ferrying license to Mr. Gibbons. The Chief Justice, Marshal, argued that commerce was more than just the selling and purchase of goods, but included other parts of the commercial intercourse between states, such as transport. The argument by the Chief Justice in this context is important in understanding the extent of commerce that falls under the Commerce Clause as intended by the framers. In order to understand why Congress was within its powers
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