Response to Dave

Dave commented on the poem ‘On the Road Home’ and speculated about the lines
“It was when you said
The idols have seen lots of poverty,
Snakes and gold and lice,
But not the truth";
Dave thought that the lines might mean, “that religion have had various effects or perhaps that religion is a tool for amassing inequality as the idols, here, have seen both poverty and gold.” I thought that the lines might mean that the idols have seen many different types of religion and to them all of it was wrong ‘poverty’ that none of it was the truth. The different types of religion were classified and compared to snakes (sneaky, swindling), gold (of false value), and lice (infestations of peoples minds but in the end, of little real value).

Sunday Mornings

I thought the Wallace Stevens poems were very interesting. His comments on death and beauty were thought provoking. In paragraph V of ‘Sunday Morning’ he comments that ‘Death is the mother of beauty’ and in section VI questions ‘Is there no change of death in paradise? Does the ripe fruit never fall?’ I think that there are two meanings to ‘death is the mother of beauty.’ The first meaning is that following death there is rebirth. There is rebirth of nature every spring following the ‘death’ of the plants, flowers, and leaves in late fall. The new plants that grow in the spring are aesthetically beautiful. I think that he also means that death makes us appreciate what is around us. When we have a life threatening experience our one of our first responses is to start bargaining for our life. We are naturally somewhat afraid of death and therefore want to stay alive. When we feel like our life is going to be taken away from us we value what we have and our want for life is increased. After we survive the threatening experience, at least for a little while, we take in everything around us and appreciate it for what it is. The grass that was once seen as ‘just grass’ suddenly becomes a fabulous green field that smells and appears to be fantastic as is blows in the wind. In that way we find beauty through the threat of death upon our own lives. In response to Stevens’ question ‘Is there no change of death in paradise? Does the ripe fruit never fall?’ I would say if there is no death there could be aesthetic beauty of the ‘ripe fruit that never falls’ but the praise and obsession over the beauty of the fruit will never be reached. It’s hard to notice static things that are unchanging but just because something’s beauty isn’t noticed, it doesn’t mean that it’s beauty does not exist.

Adam and Eve

Catrina makes an interesting observation noting the irony about the then and now view of clothing from the time of Adam and Eve to now. God looked down at Adam and Eve when they began to cover themselves and now the Queen of England is scolding today’s youth for not covering themselves enough. I notice the lack of the leader’s control in both of these situations rather than the leaders’ objection to the extent of how clothed his or her people are. I find the ‘Adam and Eve scolding’ from God the beginning of the unspoken social rules. Adam and Eve never told God they were going to start wearing clothes but together started a change in the way the society (Adam and Eve) did things. This is the way that human beings interact socially with one another. People are very socially in-tune with one another and when they encounter a situation in which they are unsure of how to behave they look to what the other people around them are doing. In this way a group of people can sometimes change under their leaders nose. It seems that sometimes people need something more tangible to rely on for support and acceptance rather than a leader who is far away or a God that they cannot touch.

I was reading Oliver’s latest post and what caught my attention was that he referenced the 5 points that responded to a critic (See Oliver’s post). Those 5 points also stood out to me while I was reading “Paths to the Absolute” and in particular the second point: 2) This world of the imagination is fancy-free and violently opposed to reason. To me this point doesn’t make much sense the way it is written. I would think that what is meant by the statement is that art is to be expressed and created through the experience of the creation of the piece. There are no rules to how the piece is created but rather the creation of the piece is an extension of the artist’s thoughts and feelings at the time of the creation. If the statement is intended to be interpreted this way I can see the creation of the piece of art as religion because the artist is creating his or her own world and expressing this world within their mind through their production. However, the point still makes me feel like there is a contradiction within the statement because in order to be opposed to something isn’t it necessary to oppose due to reason?

I thought Catrina's blog on Red was very thought provoking. Catrina said in her blog two things that I found very interesting; "The family survives on self deceit, as clearly the daughter knows about her father's affair. They choose to live life ignoring its imperfections, so to undermine that structure would be wrong. " and "No situation is straight forward, no person is as they seem, and there can be no single truth." These were very powerful statements to me and I feel like everyone can take these messages in and see how they fit within humanity and their own lives. To choose to live a life that ignores its imperfections is in a way a perfect life. As it is commonly said ignorance is bliss. If someone chooses to live their life in a way that ignores everything that would be an imperfection to them and get them down or feel anything less than positive would be a very uplifting way to live life. If all of the imperfections could actually be ignored life and the world around us would be 'bliss.' The other remark that Catrina made "No situation is straight forward, no person is as they seem, and there can be no single truth" is scary but true. The fact that there may be no single truth keeps this world more open minded and it keeps people from being what they seem. Without a single truth people can always be deceitful and not as they seem because they don't have to be one way or another, they can do whatever they want and get away with it. So is the price that we pay for freethinking and no right answer is that we can trust no one?

Religion in Art

I feel like it is hard to decipher specific religious views of an artist. So much of the art we have been looking at lately is vague to the viewer. There are little to no signs of distinctive religious symbols and even if there were, the other objects in the artwork don’t clearly show an action or state of being. I think that the religion in the artwork is found in its creation. The artist has a religious experience when creating the artwork. An experience that is so personal that final images within the artwork have great meaning and symbolism that evoke certain feelings for the artist but not for the viewers. A religious experience can be retold but the listener will never feel the full strength of the experience like the person to whom it happened. I think that the experience of making art can be religious in that the artist can devote themselves to the work and discover new ideas about themselves in the course of the project and let their thoughts and feelings about religion be expressed through each brush stroke or line drawn. The religion in the artwork can be very difficult to see as an outsider looking into the artwork but the piece is still a bundle of religious experience and meaning tied together through color, brush strokes, and the artists mind all displayed on one piece of canvas. Art can be interpreted by each individual viewer and the interpretation may be similar to the ideas of the artist but the artwork and it’s meaning will carry exactly the same meaning to someone else. I also think that a viewer may find an understandable idea within the artwork and interpret its importance and meaning according to the artist, incorrectly. In this way, I believe that art is not created for others for it’s aesthetic value, but rather art is created in order for the artist to capture their experience and give them a window through which to return to that idea later on.

Red

Outside of class I ran into Dave and we briefly discussed the movie Red. Dave shared with me his ideas of how he saw the movie as religious. He mentioned that he saw the old Judge as God because he was omniscient (by listening to everyone’s phone calls), a judge (makes the final judgment on people), and can see the future (dream about Valentine’s future happiness). I had not thought that the movie was strikingly religious in any way before talking with Dave. The points that Dave argues make sense to me that the judge could be seen as God, however, there were some very humanistic qualities that the judge had that I thought were not like God at all. The judge felt remorse for spying on his neighbors after meeting Valentine and turned himself in to the police. As far as we know God is the highest power and no one shows God that he made a blunder. In the scene where Valentine first meets the judge he is indifferent about the return of his dog and he says that he cares about nothing and Valentine suggests that he stop breathing. As we see later in the movie, one of the reasons the judge is so unfeeling is because he lost the woman he loved and he never got over it. Of what I know about God, God is both caring and forgiving neither of which the judge appears to be in this scene. I liked Dave’s argument for the judge to be seen as God but I think there is too much evidence that the judge has faults and cannot meet the criteria of God.

Response to Tammi

Tammi wrote that she did not see Jane Addams’ mission with the Hull House as religious but more aimed towards teaching women ‘how to live life to the fullest and basic survival skills.’ I would agree with this argument. I think that the website was set up in a way that allows for a person to interpret the website as religious but I don’t think Jane Addams’ mission was religious. Addams was raised as a Quaker and more nondenominational which to me keeps an open mind towards the thoughts of others but in no way pushes certain beliefs unto others. Aside from the caption of a photo in the time line describing that Addams was wearing a cross no other strikingly religious ideas are conveyed from what we can see about Jane Addams. I would think that she was pushing a feminist movement in teaching the women skills they would not otherwise have the opportunity to experience such as sewing, and singing as a group as pictured in the time line with the women gathered around a piano. She was giving support to women rather than showing them a religious path.

The timeline of Jane Addam’s life on the website ‘Urban Experience in Chicago’ stood out as religious to me as I was browsing along. The use of pictures with little text captions reminded me of the Stations of the Cross. This timeline is an image-based journey that shows Jane Addam’s road to saving the poor in Chicago through the development of her Hull House and her acquired fame for such a humane act. This is like the Stations of the Cross in that the stations depict Jesus’ journey to saving all people by his death on the cross through images of his struggle. Although, Jane Addam’s timeline also includes pictures of people that influenced her life and helped her along on her mission and her earlier family life is also described whereas Jesus’ stations focus only on his greatest effort to save humanity. The timeline shows Jane Addams as a hero and celebrity figure, similar to Jesus, by picturing Jane in almost every photo and when using photos that include other people set Addams as the spotlight figure, one in which everyone is looking to and listening to. One photo in particular that illustrates Addams’ popularity and distinction is the photo taken in 1934 near the end of her life picturing Jane Addams’ at the foot of the steps outside what looks to be the Hull House, in front of a crowd of children all intently listening to Addams speak. Another photo that showed her importance and status in the community was a picture taken at her wake. The picture is an aerial photo that shows a portion of a street in Chicago crowded with people wanting to say a last good bye to their hero, Jane Addams. The crowded street shows Addams’ impact on the entire city as one of importance and worthy of a gathering after her death.

Yesterday evening I spent some time in the greenhouse while a friend watered the plants. As I walked up and down the isles of the greenhouse visiting different beds of plants I felt at peace. The silence of the greenhouse reminded me of our demonstration of the traditional Quaker meeting we conducted in class. Obviously the plants weren’t ever going to break the silence and discuss an epiphany about God, but the presence of the plants kept me from feeling alone in the greenhouse. More than anything the presence of the plants that surrounded me made me feel a connection with nature and with life. As silly as it sounds I felt like I was having a religious experience just by taking a moment to be at peace with the plants. The lively existence of the plants reminded me of a higher power that has brought life into existence on this planet. I think that the Quaker meetings serve a religious purpose in two ways, to bring living things together for a shared moment, and to feel the presence of God or a higher divine being. I shared a moment with the plants in the greenhouse and felt a connection to life. The importance of the connection I felt towards life serves as a reminder that as human beings here on earth we have the ability to feel greater than life and all powerful when we create new inventions and materialistic luxuries but also less than life when we feel unimportant, unaccomplished, and depressed. What is most important though is that we remember that we are living creatures. Life is a gift that we should not take advantage of or neglect. The silence also generates a feeling of the presence of something bigger than our selves because in our daily lives we are always trying to work on something, accomplish something. To sit in silence is not a typical way of accomplishing anything so I think that our brains justify and feel that as we are sitting in silence something greater is coming upon us and in that way we imagine that we feel the presence of God.

I really enjoyed reading Thomas' post about the 'sweat' ritual of the Indians of South Dakota. The sweat ritual sounds really different and exciting. During our meditation today I thought about the purpose of prayer other than for personal requests or repentance. I think that the 'quiet time' used for prayer further solidifies the idea that God is real. In our busy lives we try not to waste time and we like to feel like we are always accomplishing something important. When taking the time to be quite and peaceful it makes sense that we would be justifying this moment with a connection with something bigger than ourselves or feeling the presence of God. I think that prayer as a ritual and routine definitely strengthens faith or belief in God because we maintain a relationship with the idea that we are connecting with something bigger on a regular basis.

As much as I would call myself a feminist and 100% in favor of women’s rights and activism I have to disagree with most of the points that Margaret Fell makes for the favorable rights, respect, and importance of women in the bible. Some of the examples she uses to indicate the presence and importance of women from passages in the bible are of little value or far fetched. She argues:

That ‘Jesus owned the Love and Grace that appeared in Women, and did not despise it: and by what is recorded in the Scriptures, he received as much Love, Kindness, Compassion, and tender Dealing towards him from Women, as he did from any others.’

“Also, there was many Women which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him, and stood afar off when he was Crucified… Yea even the Women of Jerusalem wept for him, insomuch that he said unto them, Weep not for me. Ye Daughters of Jerusalem but weep for your selves, and for your Children.”

To me this is a pointless argument for women’s importance in Jesus’ life. Of course women are going to be mentioned in the bible because they existed. Lots of other life forms are mentioned in the bible because they existed at the time. Does mentioning camels in the bible mean that camels are very important and respected and sent from God to be mentioned in the bible so that later on in life someone can interpret the bible in a way that says, ‘camels were mentioned in the bible, we should probably give them the right to vote’

In another passage Fell argues that women are as important as men according to the bible because they were blessed ‘out of their Tenderness, and Bowels of Love, who had received Mercy, and Grace, and Forgiveness of Sins, and Vertue, and Healing from him’ because they got to carry the message regarding Jesus’ burial and resurrection to the other people. In the passage that Fell uses to make these claims is :

Jesus said unto them, Be not afraid, go tell my Brethren that they go into Galilee, and there they shall see me. (3)

Jesus used the women to send a message to the people. He did not seek out women to deliver this message to the people, he told them to deliver the message because they were the only ones there and he wanted the message delivered. It had nothing to do with the fact that he wanted this message to be specifically delivered to the rest of the people by women.

Religion Culture Connection

Daniel makes a comment about the relationship between culture and religion of Etheopia that argues that the religion in Etheopia developed out of the culture. I would agree with this in that the rules established through the religion serve the purpose of justifying and further solidifying the legitimacy of the way of life in Etheopia. I think that the relationship between religion and culture should be strongly connected in almost any society. The way that people live their lives is never going to be correct to everybody but people can feel ok about the things that they do by turning to the 'book' that they follow. Every religion has its own rules and guidelines as to what is morally right and good, as does every society guided by its government. The more closely related the government/culture and the religion followed by the people within the government, the better the people of the society get along and more smoothly the society runs.

Some Records...

I thought "Some Records of Ethiopia" gave a very negative view of the Ethiopian culture. As we discussed in class I am sure there are more positive aspects to their culture but those shown make me want to stay away from Ethiopia. The citizens were presented in a way that made them look very untrustworthy and acting in a way that benefits them most at the time (selfish and conniving). These feelings towards the culture steam from sections in the text describing characteristics of their personalities:
"Nevertheless their are ordinarily changeable and inconsistent and so today they are with the lord and tomorrow will leave him and take another. They readily swear to any agreement and then break it as if they had not sworn. Hence arises incessant rebellions and most often, if things go badly for the rebel and his followers, they ask the Emperor's pardon and obtain it. They are soon admitted to honorable posts at court, even some who have lapsed into the crime of treason two or three times." (58)
The Ethiopians seem to me to be people who do what they want when they want to do it and always get away with it. In another section of the reading cheating in marriage is discussed and to make up for the infidelity things of monetary value are exchanged. In our culture even to the smallest degree of a promise is broken people get upset with one another and forgiveness does not come instantly even with bribery. I would imagine that the peoples of Ethiopia would be more compassionate and feel a sense of moral obligation to aspects of their life although the author does not seem to present them this way.