over view and some fun

For my last post I wanted to post something interesting and after reading Catrina’s post on the hands of God it reminded me of a few things. The first thing that sprung into my head was something on Ebay about biding on a grill cheese sandwich with the face of the Virgin Mary on it. The sandwich ended up selling for about $18,000 which seems kind of preposterous to me. The only thing it made me think of was that someone had to be on drugs or very rich. Then I remembered some instances when I was on curtain substances and I most definitely saw images, if they were the Virgin Mary or not can’t say. These images seemed very real at the time and I still today think they truly were there. I would like to add to Chris’s post about his trip on salvia, he say images of a wolf den and ran and hid just as Catrina had mentioned should happen.

I learned a lot from this class and enjoyed a different approach to the traditional arguing over religion. I also thought it was great to have a diverse population of religions in the class to get more points of view. Over all great class and lots of individual ideas tossed around that were logical. See Link for Salvia Trip.

The Quote “The Tomb in Palestine is not the porch of spirits lingering. It is the grave of Jesus, where he lay” from the poem struck me at first as a mockery of Jesus and his final resting place. Because I am catholic I took offence to this and thought it was wrong. I then thought that this is just one example of a holy place that he doesn’t believe is spiritual. Many religions have holy or sacred places, were major events have happened, that are praised.

I took notice that I personally as a catholic shouldn’t be the only person upset when I heir this because he is dismissing all holy places of all time. All religions have a starting place and at that location is usually kept sacred and made into a homage point. For example Muslims have to make the homage to Mecca once in there life time. This is characteristic of almost all religions; Christians and Jews to Jerusalem … The list could go on and on for holy sites around the world.

Many wars have been fought over places such as these that Stevens explains as simply just anther place on our beautiful earth. After thinking about it for a while Stevens makes more sense than I had first thought. I don’t agree with him completely that religion should be dismissed altogether but these specific holy places are kept very high on many peoples priority list which isn’t rite. I don’t believe this is rite because God is in every thing and can be seen anywhere; he is not only present at Jesus’ tomb but in all places.

Response to Oliver

After considering Oliver’s new view on religion I thought some of his points have legitimacy. I do agree that religion is a set of ideas and beliefs within an individual that they think are “right” or correct. Oliver states that “religious institutions are communities that are formed around similar sets of religious beliefs in individuals” which I don’t believe is correct. Oliver omits the fact that most individuals learned the beliefs from the Religious community around them not the other way around. I do agree that most individuals in the community share the same or close to the same beliefs which lead him to make the point about the “avid group of Packer Fans.” This statement is not strong because we spent a lot of time in class talking about how many other groups and organizations have the same natural basic human components that compose Religion. Lastly I think there still is some confusion about the large arch. The same problems that arose in class are still there and I don’t think that going with the individual theory has to necessarily eliminate the largest arch.

Abstract

The class on Wednesday consisted of talking about what we thought the paintings are and how they can mean things to different people. This was the same topic in my Gender Studies class and we also came to the conclusion that art, especially abstract, can be interpreted in many ways that are individual. This idea was turned around when I read the quote “It is our function as artists to make the spectator see our way, not his.” This struck me as surprising because abstract art doesn’t have a strict path that it leads you to think about like other art. I thought the point of abstract art was to make the mind wonder and have personal meaning that everyone would interpret it differently. This statement from the painter himself kind of ruins what abstract art was for me.

Tattoos

I thought it was interesting that a tattoo was inspiration and indirectly related to one of his paintings. This struck me because we studied about tattoos and what they represent in Gender Studies. The article states “The Haida tattoo of the woman in the moon used by Jung, for example, relates indirectly to Moon Woman Cuts the Circle. He also discussed the Hiawatcha legend at length. Hiawatha, for Jung an archetype of the mythical hero, had a grandmother who had lived in the moon.” This shows that the tattoo that was of inspiration to him has mythical decent and is based on some sort of religion. Religion, as we learned in gender studies, is a major theme for the bases of many tattoos. Many kinds of crosses and praying hands can be found in tattooing along with devils and other symbols showing the rejection of religion or faith. I took special interest in the tattoo theme because I myself have a tattoo and incorporated religion into it. A first look at my tattoo would not show any religious meaning but to me a three leaf clover is a symbol of the holy trinity of the Christian faith that will be with me forever. Many others have the same thought about having their faith with them at all times and for eternity. There are even many websites and things about religious tattoos, check the link out.

Weekly Worship

I found it interesting that the Hull House sets one day aside and “give it up to music, dancing, conversation, games and reading aloud.” This struck me as coming from a religious background because most religions including Jewish, Catholic, and Muslim have one specific day a week to worship. During weekly worship many religions include such things as music, conversation, and reading aloud. The only differences between the weekly gatherings is the games and dancing which are used by the Hull House as a means of getting people to come to these events. The reason church’s don’t encompass theses acts is because they already have loyalty.

Reading aloud is the most important thing that connects the religious services to the Saturday’s at Hull House. Reading aloud on a Saturday night struck me as surprising because the other aspects of the night seem to be more for the sake of social entertainment. The reading aloud seems to be more of a teaching method within the community gathering just like readings in religion are used.

Other aspects of the Hull night are also seen in religion such as music and conversation. Almost all religions have a music component to their weekly services and some, as Oliver mentioned in class, are concentrated mostly on music. Conversation is also intertwined into services because before and after gatherings members have conversations among themselves. The conversations are not limited to religion but just as the members of the Hull community they talk about any similarities that they may share. Any group of people needs to gather on a regular basis overtime to build community and to get things accomplished.

Quiet Response

After reading about silence in Cate Frazier Cate Frazier's Blog I thought about my experiences in nature, especially hunting. I know it sounds opposite to what she was talking about, but don’t worry I am a bad hunter and don’t accomplish the goal of the sport very often. Even though I don’t take much meat home I still go out in the woods for the hunt but not for the specific reason of killing a deer but for the same sort of thing that Cate felt in the green house. The silence and wonders of how nature works and continues without our human input is what keeps me interested. I feel a strong connection to God in the silence of nature and this is the reason I now take time to go out in the woods or by the river to escape reality and experience God in prayer.

One more thing hit me after reading “we feel less than life when we feel unimportant, unaccomplished, and depressed.” This thought made me think of what non-religious people would do in a situation where they feel unimportant or depressed, and figured most would talk or go to their significant other. Then I remembered the saying you know you have a good relationship when you can sit for hours with your significant other and not say a word. This is the same idea with the higher power or God; we talk or pray when we have problems and just sit in silence and feel completely comfortable other times. This all just shows that what we said in class, religion doesn’t have presences in everything but religion is just another simple cognitive output to fill voids in our live, is true.

Adult Educattion

Everyone knows the famous quote “learn something new everyday” that applies strongly to the Hull house objectives. Even though they started with a day care they quickly learned that “it was absurd to suppose that grown people would not respond to opportunities for education and social life.” This is a common theme for many organizations including religions.

Most religions start teaching their specific religion to young kids at an early age to provide a strong base. Creating a strong base was the first goal of the House that worked very well for the children and community. After the base was set they realized that adults also needed to be educated and provided basic information that they have ether forgotten or never learned. The same sort of situation happens with religion; after a period of time people loose there connection to the church so the church has to reeducate them.

One simple example of this is adult bible study groups that many Christian religions and churches conduct. Other religions such as Judaism also stress the importance of adult education (see link). The adult education groups aren’t only a place to continually learn but also to discuses individual knowledge with others. These occurrences where the focal point in the education of the adults that went to Hull House when everyone worked together.

Meditation

After the experiment and discussion in class today I found there are three specific things need for an effective meditation session. I concluded a bias response because the way Catholic’s pray or self meditate in church is very effective.

The first thing need for excellent meditation or prayer is to have a calm quite atmosphere. It can’t be too quite and completely motionless because most people get board, just as we witnessed in class. Mr. Smith discussed the same sort of problem when he mentioned that some Quaker members became detached and uninterested during gatherings. During the Catholic mass the two times of personal refection are directly in between standing and knelling which keeps one moving and engaged.

The second part of a meditation that makes it successful is to have an idea or thought to ponder and wonder about. We saw the lack of this in class when we were instructed to just sit and do anything we wanted; the session was not focused. The Quakers we talked about have a moderate focal point to contemplate which is their inner light. This leads to random thoughts and insights but not a continual thought. The Catholic Church gives its followers a different Homily to consider each week which keeps things focused.

The last thing needed in a session of meditation would be a time period adequate for the intended goal. Class accomplished this well because if one was truly contemplating something they had just enough time to clarify an idea and then determine something about it. I believe this can not be measured with the Quakers because they don’t have one specific idea to ponder. Again Catholics do this well by first clarifying an idea for you and then giving someone a shorter period of time to relate it to thier personal life.

Over all the three things needed for a solid meditation are calm and quite, a thought, and a particular time line. I believe that Catholics do this well and the test in class encompassed some of the ideas well as were the Quakers meditate poorly. Because it is difficult to be in the situation the Quakers expect meditation to occur they don’t have a vary large group of followers. Lastly meditation is an important part of any religion.

Women souldn't speak

This article seems to be at the same level of Sam Harris in credibility. Just as Harris does Fell only uses parts of the bible and not the overall idea to support her argument that women should be allowed to speak in church. Further more, some of the points she makes such as “and thus the spirit of truth, and the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, hath been quite lost among them” only state that men are not good so women should be allowed to talk. Fell also uses things such as “he appeared first unto Mary Magdalene” trying to show that the Power of Jesus was bestowed to a women. It does prove Jesus trusted women but how does it have anything to do with being able to talk in the church. I just want to mention that I do think women should be able to talk in church (and other wise) but the way it was put across was not the best way to go about things. And the title was just to intise some readers in the class.

Dreadlocks

The dreadlocks of the Rastafarians may seem unique, unclean, or most commonly known as a sign for smoking ganja but are truly representative of the Rastafarian religion. Like many religions the dreadlocks are part of a physical appearance to distinguish themselves from others. Physical characteristics, mostly shown on the head or face, have been used by religions for many years, each religion using them for similar reasons.

The first and most clear reason for the members of a certain religion to have a unique appearance is to distinguish themselves from other religions. The Rasta’s expression “was to contrast the kinky hair of black men with the straighter hair of whites.” Other religions, like Judaism, have “peyos,” or sideburn curls, to signify “Jewish Identification”(Rabbi Simmons). Another example seen in our class of a religious marking (that distinguishes Ethiopians) is to have a tattoo of a cross on the forehead to represent Christianity.

Another common reason for religious followers to grow hair or show a symbol of their faith is to prove the strength of their faith. The Rasta’s dreads, and more importantly the length of the dreads, serve as a “measure of wisdom, maturity, and knowledge in that it can indicate not only the Rasta's age, but also his time as a Rasta.” In accordance, the Jews grow “peyos long as a way of emphasizing the commitment”(Rabbi Simmons). Physical representation is a central way of showing commitment to a religion or group. The concept of physical representation can also be applied beyond religion to any social group of people with the same identity, such as a gang who gets tattoos in order to distinguish members from non-members.

With the concept of commitment, we must also remember that not all Jews have peyos and not all Rasta’s support dreadlocks. It is necessary to keep in mind that this way of showing commitment is not exclusive, and that specifically the Rasta’s teach that “it is not deemed necessary for, or equivalent to, true faith.” Other religions have the belief that spiritual representation through physicality that is not the only way to demonstrate true faith.

“It is taught that patience is the key to growing dreadlocks, a journey of the mind, soul and spirituality.” Lastly, a lesson drawn form an action, such as the pain of getting a tattoo or the patience of growing dreadlocks, is a reason a group or religion would show a unique appearance. The processes of gaining a certain physical appearance may also draw group members closer and contribute to stronger unity. The Rasta’s are not the only religion to be proud of their faith or to use physical appearance to enhance their religious experience.