FINAL

ALL final exams (without exception) are due: December 15 at midnight.
Make sure you answer EVERY question and make sure you email me DIRECTLY at neuralsurfer@ yahoo.com. Posting on the group does NOT suffice.

1. YOUR NAME: Trung-Hieu Dang
2. YOUR USERNAME: hdang65, xvihieudangxvi
3. List your attendance (how many classes missed? how many classes
were you late to?) I never missed a class, was only late twice.
4. Give me a link to your movie again. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2829997732283805373&hl=en
5. Detail what you read for this class. I read the required readings, but did find some better written than others therefore I did what you told us to do and just “turned the page”. But I did attempt to read all the required readings from Brian Copeland’s book (which my younger brother is now reading because I told him too) and the dreaded reader.

6. What grade did you finally receive on the midterm? I received a B-

7. What grade do you deserve in this class? Substantiate your answer.

An A would be an appropriate grade for me because I truly think I deserve it. I attended every class session, completed all required assignments, and made extra efforts to fully enhance my experience in this class by going on the field trips, doing the extra credit: Brian Copeland’s play.

8. List any extra credit or other circumstances that may help your overall grade.
I went to the Brian Copeland play, which was an incredibly well-put-together play by a single man. Also, due to this class, I have developed a better, more tolerable stance towards religion after seeing the way to put it all into perspective. I used to be an extreme critic, and berate those who would use religion as their main motivation or reason for doing what they do or believing in what they believe. Through this class I learned that religions do have their significant meanings, even though they are filled with flaws and assumptions, but now I am more accepting of different beliefs. Also the required field trips introduced me to Indian cuisine, which is has very similar dishes and ingredients to Vietnamese cuisine.

8a. List all of your postings for this class.

I’m sure I posted more than this, but I can only find these so far:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/14646

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/14679

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/14770

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Here's the "meat" (or, in my case, "tofu") of the test:

9. Write a 1250 word or more autobiography that describes how
religion, gender, or ethnicity has impacted your life.

“I heard so many stories of how people became successful in the United States. America was the land of opportunities and I wanted to experience those opportunities”, Ham Dang states as he remembers how he initially felt about his immigration to the United States. Mr. Ham Dang, my father, served in the Vietnam War in the fight against communism. After the war was lost, all the people who fought against the communist were thrown into labor prisons, including my father. He vividly remembers the day when he was kicked in his left knee by communist prison guards as he was unloading a truck because that left knee still bothers him today. “I was married and had three very young kids when I was imprisoned. Two girls and a boy”, these kids would be my half-siblings. When he was released from prison his wife had moved on and married someone else. Shortly after he met my mom working as a “farmer”, according to legal documents his occupation was a “farmer”; however my father was selling generic medical supplies. His job was unsafe and if he was caught by government officials he would be in serious trouble due to his history. My father married my mom and both worked as “farmers” in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. My father refuses to refer to Saigon as Ho Chi Minh City, for he fought so hard to protect his city and his country. My father considered himself relatively successful, he had a job, a mode of transportation, and was even able to purchase a house; all this without any government subsidy or assistance. In 1987, my parents had their first child together, yours truly; and four years later they had another boy. And around that time my father received news that his application to legally move to the United States had been approved. The United States had dedicated a program to help military officials and their families to come to America and escape the communist rule. Of course my dad jumped at the possibility of moving to the land that he had heard so many great stories about, the abundance of jobs, food, and opportunities. My father detailed his yearn to live in a country without the strict economic pressures of communist rule. With a year’s worth of preparation which included selling nearly all of their possessions, which they worked extremely hard to earn, my parents were ready to leave their homeland. My father detailed that the hardest possession to give up was the green house he managed to buy with my mom.

In the summer of 1992, a family of four left their life behind in the pursuit of a happier and more hopeful life. Our family was able to specifically come to California because my father had a friend in Orange County who volunteered to be our sponsor family. A few months later, with the assistance from friends and the government, my father was able to rent a two room apartment in a less-than-desirable neighborhood. At first my father was convinced that my mom should not get a job because he believed that it was her duty to stay home and care for the children. My father was still under the influences of his initial culture, where the men were seen as the money makers, the providers for the family and women were the ones who stayed home to tend to the children. Also, he felt that he was solely responsible for making all the decisions in the household, even the decisions concerning his wife. During the first six years, my father admitted that he depended heavily on government assistance with housing, job search, food, and other necessities. My father revealed that it was quite difficult for him to have to accept the fact that he needed support in order for him to provide for his family. The mentality that he had of providing for his family was undermined by the fact that he could not do it by himself and that he needed assistance. In the hopes of achieving his goal of independently providing for his family, my father figured that he could get an education. He enrolled in Goldenwest College, a community college located in Huntington Beach. A potential career in cosmetology was my dad’s goal, however when finances at home were not being met, he had to drop out and find a suitable job to support his growing family, which now grew to a family of six with the birth of two more boys. With inadequate English skills, he managed to find a factory job with an aerospace company. He worked as an inspector checking for flammability among airplane parts for C&D Aerospace. In 2001, due to the September 11^th attacks, my father was laid off along with other factory workers.

After being integrated in the American workforce and having been through the experience of some schooling, my father had gained a new perspective. He began to go to holiday parties with his fellow co-workers, took his family on vacation with his classmates, my father began to assimilate into the American lifestyle. He admits that one of the first aspects of American life that he learned was the definition of the middle finger; he used his middle finger to point at objects, scratched his face, or used it as a guide while he was reading. A classmate in class told him the meaning behind the gesture and realized that he might have offended people around him. As he interacted more and more with other Americans, my father explained that he became more comfortable with the new lifestyle. Our family also began to celebrate holidays that we did not before; barbeques on Labor Day, fireworks during Independence Day, turkey on Thanksgiving. Though the food and traditions were altered a bit, the sense of family and happiness were still celebrated with our fellow Americans. My family blended two cultures into one, the definition of syncretism could be found at my house during Thanksgiving. Instead having a baked turkey with mashed potatoes, we had turkey curry with yams, but we did incorporate the delicious desserts of apple and pumpkin pies complemented with a side vanilla ice cream. My father also noticed the change at home, as his sons went to school and spoke English more frequently. His sons were now also bringing new ideals into the household, following the lifestyles that they learned from their education and peers. Fearing that his sons were losing their roots in their heritage, my father sent us to a local Buddhist temple. He took his four sons to temple, to learn about both religion and the Vietnamese language. My father believed so much in this notion that he himself volunteered as a Vietnamese-language teacher as well. I remember a lesson in which my teacher, my father, expressed his dislike for the terms “you, he, she, him, her”, he said never to refer to another Vietnamese adult by these terms because these same terms could be used to refer to a dog. He wanted his students to use the proper, polite diction when speaking to or about an adult figure. This was the traditional, strict Vietnamese side of my father that came out during times of schooling and cultural activities. So there were two sides of my father; the one who had assimilated into American culture, and the other who tried his best to preserve within his sons the customs of Vietnam. So, every Sunday my father would require his four sons to attend temple in hopes of guiding his sons towards the right direction; we would pray in the morning, go to religious class, then Vietnamese class, attend some group activities. The praying ceremony consisted of various chants, none of which I actually understood, while kneeling on our knees in front of a very grandiose statue of Buddha. The ceremony would last for about thirty minutes and at the end of the session we would place incense sticks onto an altar.

As his sons got older, my father’s attempts to keep his sons grounded became futile. Our temple attendance dwindled as our skepticism in our religion grew. I remember questioning and undermining many of the lectures that my teachers tried to explain. At one point I was actually asked to leave because I was “disrespectful”, and my father had to come to my specific class to escort me out. My main argument was that everything being taught was so subjective and relied heavily upon the faith of the believer. I contested that I was a skeptic who wanted to believe but needed empirical evidence. My father knew that I was stubborn and would not budge, after that incident our Sunday temple attendance declined severely as did my faith.

10. Provide a first person narrative (750 words plus) describing your
visit to a religious center. Be creative here.

The winding, uphill road to the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights provided a suspenseful prelude. It seemed as though I was a lost soul searching for an answer as I maneuvered around the edge of the road (I know this seems cliché, as if taken out of a movie, but it was really how I felt). And the temple itself did not disappoint; the words grandiose, flamboyant, and mesmerizing immediately came to my mind. The flight of stairs leading up to the golden gateway atop the hill delivered a great entrance to the magnificent temple. Initially I was overwhelmed by the temple’s structural design and its elegant aura, however as I stepped into temple’s courtyard, I was soothed by a sense of peace and serenity. As I stood in the courtyard surveying and inhaling all that the temple had to offer. My attention was instantly directed towards the three shining monumental statues dedicated to Buddha, the manifestations of enlightenment. As I approached the Main Shrine, the sunlight reflected off the golden statues of Buddha provided an even more dreamlike feeling. It was reminiscent of the feeling that flooded me as I entered the Bodhisattva Hall and was humbled as the five Bodhisattvas sat on an elevated mount and gazed down at me. The five polished monuments offered a sense of welcome and prosperity (especially Happy Buddha’s jolly belly). Unfortunately, I had to observe the monuments from afar because the Main Shrine was closed, therefore I could not fully appreciate the spirit of the temple. To compensate for this, I made sure to light an incense and to perform customary three bows before I placed the incense onto the altar. Afterwards, I headed towards the left side of the temple where I was captivated by the bountiful collection of Asian and Buddhist artifacts and artwork. I was especially intrigued as I entered and noticed the sign indicating the price of admittance, not only was it written in English, but there was a second sign written in Vietnamese to address the temple’s international audience of the admission fee. I chuckled to myself thinking that sign was contradictory of one of Buddhism’s most taught and recognized lessons of ridding oneself of greed and possession. I do understand that the Hsi Lai Temple is a not-for-profit public center that generates most of its money through charitable donations, and that was my main concern, its revenues should be from donations, the good will of those who come to cherish and honor the temple, not from obligatory fees. My slight sense of disappointment was soon forgotten as I spotted a rare image of two religions coming into harmony. I forwent the mandatory fee, not because of its outrageous price (it is a mere dollar), but because of my fore mentioned disagreement with the notion, and inspected the portrait of Pope John II baptizing a hand held white Buddha held by Master Hsing Yun. The portrait was an enlarged depiction of a real-life photograph taken of the two religious leaders. I thought it was funny how the Pope blessed the statue of Buddha. It turns out that the portrait was only the beginning of numerous artifacts the Exhibition Hall possessed. As I walked further and further into the hall, I was awestruck by the variety of relics the temple owned. Glass-enclosed, the pieces of art ranged from simple meditation beads to extravagant statues depicting a wide range of different Buddhas. Bronze, pearl, gold sculptures of Buddhist relics were showcased in a manner I have never seen before. This illustrates a point discussed in one of our lectures about how one can trace the history and significance of a specific religion through the objects and materials used to depict the religion. Each detailed sculpture had a short passage to illustrate its origin, meanings, and significance. I found one specific statue to be of most interest due to the message is seemed to convey. There was a figurine of a very feminine Buddhist figure, perhaps carved out of porcelain or some other white ceramic, which was lying on her side with her right arm supporting her neck and head as she looked up. I found this figurine to be somewhat of a sexual nature, just as the way she was laying and the curvature of her body. As I rounded the corner of the Art Exhibit my stomach began to growl and thus I went in seeking of the much talked about vegetarian buffet. When I finally found the Dining Hall, it was too late, I had spent too much time in the Art Exhibit admiring the works. I was devastated, because I am a huge fan of vegetarian food, especially because of my previous Buddhist exposure. After pulling myself away from the Dining Hall’s doors, I walked through temple taking in the sights of the gardens as I head towards home.

For my second field trip, I decided to make sure that there was food involved, thus I took a friend out to a nearby Indian restaurant. We went to Shenai Cuisine of India, an Indian restaurant located in Anaheim near the 91 freeway. As my friend and I walked in we could immediately smell the rich spices and herbs. The restaurant features a casual family scene with a lot of fresh flowers and plants as part of their décor. We enjoyed modern art as we listened to the pleasing background music. I was extremely curious about the restaurant having belly dancers and satisfied my curiosity and asked, but the belly dancers were only available on Friday nights. Among the many Indian dishes of lamb, chicken seafood, and vegetarian, I decided to order the Tandori Chicken for the both of us (because my friend said she was not that hungry, I’m not cheap). The dish was served, and as I began to dig into the very red chicken meat, sweat began dripping down my forehead as it was an extremely spicy entrée. Water and rice helped out a lot! I truly enjoyed this outing because there is no better way to experience another culture than through its food.

11. How does the miracle story surrounding Our Lady of Guadalupe inform and impact the spiritual lives of those who are believers? Clue: select a few limited examples.

“Through popular religiosity, Our Lady of Guadalupe’s presence and message has been able to empower her people as they interact with the society of the United States. The emphasis on family values, the notion of enduring suffering, the ability to hope against all hope, a spontaneous feeling of connection and relationality, the unquestioned sense of God’s providence as it is delivered through Our Lady of Guadalupe, the warm image of conversational sense of the presence of God, respect and love for all beings-- all of these are found in the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.”

This very thoughtful quotation eloquently illustrates the impact of Our Lady of Guadalupe’s presence among the Hispanic community. Our lady of Guadalupe serves as a beacon of hope and unity among her believers, who are usually on the lower tier economically and socially. She identifies not with the “affluent, or the powerful”, but with the oppressed and poor, for she to is a victim of rejection (not accepted by some church officials). In a time when Indians were being uprooted and plague ridden, she appeared to an Indian peasant by the name of Juan Diego, with flowers and ribbons in her hair and a dark maternal complexion with a revolutionary message. And the proof of her sighting was in the miracle of nature as Juan Diego harvests Castilian Roses in the middle of December’s harsh winter, an impossible task. If that did not suffice, the imprint of the Virgin’s image on Diego’s cloak surely convinced skeptics. The origins of Our Lady of Guadalupe have significant influence on her followers. In a time of despair and confusion, Our Lady of Guadalupe revealed herself to not just an Indian, but an Indian who belonged to the lowest social status. Her history of associating herself with the little guy can still be demonstrated in recent Hispanic movements. Cesar Chavez used Our Lady of Guadalupe’s image as a rally point to shine light on the unjust treatment of migrant farm workers. She served as a religious figure in a battle for political cause and recognition.

Our Lady of Guadalupe’s physical appearance has also been a catalyst in the preservation of the Hispanic (predominantly Mexican) heritage. As described earlier, her dark complexion was a focal point in Richard Rodriguez’s retelling of her miracle story. Perhaps Rodriguez is reemphasizing a notion taken out of his own book, Hunger for Memory, the Education of Richard Rodriguez, his autobiography in which he frequently stresses the importance of one’s skin color, specifically his own. In his book, he outlines his struggles of being an intelligent and dark Mexican adolescent who was mistaken by his family as being a “gringo”, while at the same time sticking out among the white population. Sharing the commonality of have a darker skin tone with Richard Rodriguez, Our Lady of Guadalupe’s image has been a “guardian of culture, history, and identity”, essentially it has been used as a tool to resist assimilation. Now this may initially have the taste of arrogance, but her image has been used to preserve the traditions of Latinos. And to prove that Our Lady of Guadalupe does not ignite separation, many of her believers follow the doctrine of interdependence; that is everyone is interconnected and thus are “hermanos” and “hermanas”, therefore providing a deep sense of unity.

Also the essence of nature is very detailed in Our Lady of Guadalupe’s origination, as she is seen atop a hill with “ribbons and flowers” in her hair as dawn approaches. Her description is full of nature’s purest stars, rain, and light. This assumption of nature can be reflected in her celebrations today, as flowers, music, and light are important to her fiestas. Also the Mexican-American often view natural chaos as the will of god and phrase it “si Dios quiere”.

Back then she served as a symbol of unity, and still today she stands to highlight the harmony within the Hispanic culture. She especially speaks to the feminine aspect of society as well, for she is a uniting factor for Hispanic women. Her rebellious, yet caring and inclusive nature is indicative of the nature of Hispanic women who endure the most.

12. How is the Latino/a religious experience (as detailed in our Reader) different than the Asian religious experience in NorthAmerica? In what ways are they fundamentally similar? Be specific in your answers.

The following of a religion boils down to proximity; location, location, location. Latino Americans are geographically much closer than Asian Americans. The religions of Latinos shared more similarities than the religions of Asian Americans; this is primarily due to proximity. Therefore the transition process for Asian Americans in the religious sense, had more obstacles. Also, there Spanish and English share the very similar alphabet characters, while the Chinese, Japanese, Korean languages used entirely different writing style than North Americans. I do not want to say that Latinos had an, for the lack of a better word, easier transition process, but Latinos and Asian Americans did have significantly different adaptation experiences. As an Asian-American who was not born here, I do see the differences between the Latino religious experience and the Asian American religious experience. As a young child in elementary, I was asked by my fellow friends what religion I believe in. I said that my family was Buddhist, and thus we believed in Buddha. I was mocked immediately, by my Caucasian friend, David; my Mexican friends, Alejandro and Joel; and my African American friend, Rashad. They all believed in a God, though they were Christians and Catholics. I now had the label of an outcast, simply due to my different religion. Back then, I did not have the mental aptitude to make the connection that Buddha was indeed my God. From then on out, I made up my mind that religion served no purpose except being another barrier between human beings. This personal example is provided evidence that Latinos did have an already built-in commonality with Christianity, which is the dominant religion in America. Therefore, the Latino transition process was not as difficult as the Asian American process. Thus the key difference between the assimilation process between Latinos and Asian Americans is proximity, which leads to an already established common ground between the Latinos and Americans.

Though there is a difference between the religious movements of Latinos and Asian Americans in Northern America, the two experiences do parallel each other with strong correlation. The fundamental connection between the two movements is the fact that both races were strangers in a new land. Religion was not the only difference, skin tone, language, customs, cultures, and traditions were factors that played a crucial role in the assimilation process. Asian Americans had to learn an entirely different language with different characters, while Latino Americans had to overcome the accent barrier. Asian Americans had to endure mistreatment because of their docile, polite manners that were instilled in their culture, while Latinos had fight for their equal treatment as laborers. The message of family and unity was truly enforced, both Latinos and Asian Americans had a strong deep connection to their roots, celebrating their cultures any time they had the chance. Thus there are more similarities between the Latino and Asian American movement than there are differences. Both cultures are still trying to instill more tolerance and understanding in a foreign country which they call home.

13. What role did the Buddhist Church serve in the "ethnic adjustment of Japanese Americans"? (See pages 512 to 526 of the READER).

The Buddhist Church was a crucial part in the “ethnic adjustment of Japanese Americans”, due in part to its multiple functions. Not only did it serve as a place for Japanese Americans to worship, but it doubled as a sanctuary to provide social support as well. “It afford[Ed] them comfort and relief from their economic and social misery”, as well as provided a place to honor their god. “Buddhism provided an important link with Japan” as it provided a tangible connection between the world they left behind and the new world they were in. The church was a gathering of people who shared the same face, the same culture, and most importantly the same experiences. It provided stability and acceptance in a time of war, when the Japanese race was suspect and had all the stigmas of the enemy force. Not only did the Buddhist Church as a sanctuary to unite and aide Japanese Americans, it also provided a comfortable transition towards assimilation. The use of the English language in the Buddhist is the most significant transition within the Buddhist Church as it tries to connect the Japanese Americans with their new environment. This move toward assimilation was instrumental in Japanese-American history, as they progressed in their new lives in a new country. As a sacrifice, some of the literal dictions were lost in the translation process and thus. This can be seen as a dual attempt to preserving the customs of one’s culture and recognizing the importance of understanding the language and culture of one’s new country.

14. Overall, what lessons should we draw from the diversity of religious experiences in America? More specifically, what hurdles or conflicts do Americans still face in trying to practice their respective religions? Can they be overcome? How?

“I am glad you are a supporter of discrimination as we just elected our first Black president,” those were my exact words as I scolded my friend about his thoughts on the controversial proposition eight. He of coursed voted yes, which I am somewhat still unclear on, which basically dictates that marriage can only be between a man and a woman. Similar to you Lane, I like to sit down with my friends and just get our ideas and perspectives across. Also similar to your discussions, we ended up being mortal enemies who happen to be friends. For our lack of political knowledge, we decided to not talk of all the taxation privileges that came along with married couples and just discussed the very notion of marriage, whether gay or straight. My main argument was that if you took the word gay out and substituted it with the world black, it would be an exact replication of the struggles that African Americans endured in order to achieve their rights. My friend went on to express that “gays haven’t earned the rights” to get married. So I questioned him immediately, “What do you mean earn?” He stated that African Americans exerted extreme efforts over a period of 300 years, and that such efforts were rewarded accordingly. My instant response was, “So according to you, there needs to be a time requirement and a mechanism to measure effort, before an oppressed group can be rewarded the rights they are fighting for? What a ridiculous notion!”

The aforementioned dialogue was a synopsis of the hurdles we still have yet to overcome. It would be incorrect to make the assumption that my friend’s dialog is representative of America’s overall opinion. But it is hard to ignore, especially in the wake of the passage of proposition eight. This example can be stretched across all aspects in which differences arise among human beings. Race, religion, sexual orientations are all areas where much controversy and disagreement arise. Even though we, as a country, perhaps even as a world, have made significant movements towards tolerance and acceptance, there still exists a cloud of ignorance which directly leads to misunderstandings and intolerance. The main combatant of ignorance is education. If one does not know much about biology, one seeks to learn. If one does not know the answer to an engineering question, one seeks data. Therefore, if one does not know the main teachings of Buddha or Muhammad, one must seek information. Through libraries, resource centers, and the all encompassing internet, there are ample sources of information available. However the problem lies in the fact that there are limited incentives or will to actually dig up the information and to learn about one’s neighbors’ beliefs or one’s coworkers’ traditions. The difficulty will be hard to overcome, due to the fact that it will be hard to ignite people to go out and actually learn about different customs. However, as more people go through the college education process and are exposed to such classes as Religious Diversity 302I or similar classes that provide more insight and information. Therefore, not only do the upper division classes provide an escape from a student’s regular major courses, they provide an opportunity to further enhance a student’s horizon and knowledge.

15. Describe how one new religious movement (founded in America) has transformed American life in unexpected ways? Clue: choose one group and trace any specific influences.

Through its dominant celebrity figurehead, Scientology has emerged as one of the new dominant religious movements founded in America. It spans across the minds of average Americans because so much emphasis has been place upon it by the news media networks. Perhaps its popularity is due in part to having a very recognized follower like the highly celebrated Tom Cruise. Scientology was created by a writer by the name of L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 with the initial intentions of improve spiritual rehabilitation. Scientology insists that its followers to make their own conclusions about the religion through their own personal experiences. Perhaps Scientology faces much criticism due to its revolutionary school of thought of not accepting certain assumptions. Scientology also advocates that people are immortal spiritual beings. This can be seen as contrary belief to other religious perspectives where the human species is mortal and thus can be destroyed. Seeing as how humans are immortal, basically having the status of a god, Scientology essentially asserts that human beings are gods. Of course this would be condemned by other accepted religions, whose main point is that humans are subjects who should praise a higher being. Of course change will bring about its share of nay sayers, and Scientology has definitely faced such obstacles. However, as it gains momentum through its celebrity figurehead, its impact will be measured later on as its foundation grows. One can see definitely see the early impacts of Scientology, however its potential impact shadows its current position.

My Midterm

Due Date: October 29th (no later than midnight) be sure to EMAIL me a copy of your WEBSITE which should contain a copy to your midterm. Be sure to place your entire midterm exam on YOUR website. You can also just give me a direct link to your midterm or copy and paste it as an email if you have any difficulty.NAME: Trung-Hieu Dang, ID: 004379010USERNAME: xvihieudangxviWEBSITE ADDRESS: http://hieudang65.blogspot.com/1. LIST ALL OF YOUR POSTINGS (copy and paste them or provide direct links to each specific post)
I know I posted more than just these posts on the yahoo.groups page, but I can’t seem to find all of them, so this is just a depiction of the ones I that managed to copy and paste to my website on www.blogspot.com.
MLK's Words
As I am finishing up the midterm for the class and reading MLK's letter, I have noticed how majestic and sophisticated the man was. Merely through his words anyone can see that the man had total command of any situation he faced. He was extremely confident in his abilities, though had a sense of humility as if to assure him as a human being. I am in utter admiration of MLK's rhetoric.
Expelled
The movie "Expelled", by Ben Stein, seemed to know how to use propaganda to influence its viewers perspective very well. It sarcastically cuts to black and white film to mock or emphasize certain points. I'm still not very sure about the notion of intelligent design, but from what I gathered from the movie and from very little research reading, intelligent design states that certain features of the universe and of living things, are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." This to me is just another way of cleverly trying to blend the beliefs of creationism with some science. Again, I have yet to done thorough research and full understand the 'scientific' research behind this perspective. Therefore I will hold my judgment because in the field of science, any theory should have the opportunity to be disproved.
As I was reading the rubric/assignment sheet for our videos, I figuredwe could help each others out by posting some websites that havesounds or video clips through this group. So I'll be the first one todo so and hopefully everyone will get on board and soon start to postadditional sites that they used. Here are some of the sites I'vefound and played around with:Freeplaymusic.comA1freesoundeffects.comFlamingtext.comDailywav.comAnimationfactory.comhttp://barrysclipart.com/http://noeticart.com/
religion is racist, literally racism=religion
This is somewhat of a random rant, but I just remembered a heated conversation I had with a fellow friend. We were discussing the topic of religion, specifically Christianity. We were discussing the fact that Christians had the belief that those who do not believe in jesus christ would eventually go to hell when they die. I was shocked when I learned of that notion. I was taken away by the fact that christians could not tolerate other people's beliefs and they even took it one step further to CONDEMN those who didn't believe to hell. That notion is comparable to the bigotry displayed during the1940's and 50's. Back then white people had their own bathrooms, restaurants, and other facilities. They basically declared that because they were white they were superior and therefore deserved the right to eat, drink, and pee at different establishments than their counter parts. Now lets replace race with religion, thus making christians the ones who disrespectful and ignorant. Actually, if you really consider who was more considerate between the racist whites of the 1940's and 50's or the current christians, at least the racist whites back then had the decency to build separate restaurants and bathrooms for their counterparts. Is there a separate hell for those who don't follow the christian doctrine? No! There isn't a separate heaven for the non-believers, instead it's the fires of hell. Therefore religion, just like race serves as another barrier between human beings.
the advertising of religion
When I was younger and still under the 'control' of my parents, myfamily and I would attend temple every Sunday from 8 in the morningto 2 in the afternoon. Later on at home around 5 o'clock there wouldbe two white middle-aged-heavy-set women with bible pamphlets at ourfront door. They would try to entice me by say, "We have a story totell you, a story about a great man who did great deeds". InitiallyI made the mistake of being very polite to these women, because Iknew that they were not getting paid to come to our doors. Howeverafter several weeks of this pattern, I was getting annoyed. Maybe itwas because I had already experienced six hours of religion and wantnothing more to do with another religion. But I was even moreannoyed because these ladies were so incredibly oblivious about myfeelings towards their views. I had already told them I was buddhist, my they still insisted on telling their stories. It wasalmost as if they didn't care or respect my views, and just wanted tocontinue their rants hoping to some how convert me.Now as I am older and looking back, I do not recall any attempts bymy Buddhist temple to further enhance their attendance. Those whocame to temple chose to come on their own. Which leads me to theconclusion that some religions are more subtle than others. On onehand we have Christanity which seems to shove its beliefs downpeople's throats while less aggressive religions such as Buddhismunderstand the concept of personal belief. And let me just premise bysaying that I do not think one religion is 'better' than another.But it seems to me that Christianity as a whole is rather aggressivemaybe even hostile to other religions. Case in point, whenever I amintroduced to people who are of the Christianity and the topic ofreligion comes up and I tell them that I am Buddhist, I get an oddreaction. They would look, smirk, and nod almost in a condescending,I'm-better-than-you manner. As if they are saying to themselves, "Uhhuh, yea you need to change that."
Stereotyping
I really enjoyed the conversation about stereotyping and how EVERYONEdoes it. Lets face it, as humans we like to shorten and classifyEVERYTHING into specific categories. It makes our lives easier.There's even a multi-billion dollar industry dedicated to makingcategories (databases). I especially agree with the notion thateveryone is racist, sexist, or prejudice, and it is just a matter ofhow much they choose to show. In essence, we're all bias, it is justa matter of our degree of prejudice. I have been thinking the exactsame notion for such a long time now. For example, if a person were towalk into the same room as you, the first the you would notice wouldbe their physical features. Their skin tone, hair color, shape, allof which would be categorized immediately: white, blonde, skinny.
Religious Studies Blog 9/17/08
So Lane's discussion of near death experiences (nde's) are biology'slast ditch effort to keep us alive. My question is, what if we do notget the chance to have these near death experiences? How come somepeople experience these nde's, while others don't. Do only 'religious'people get these nde's? Well, Lane did explain that the object at theend of the tunnel, whether it is god or a bicycle, is what draws usback to life. Almost as though we had some unfinished business and theobject at the end of the tunnel reminded us of that. But let me setup a scenario, there are two populations of people. Population 1 is100 percent deeply religious, consisting of Christians, Buddhists,Hindus. Population 2 consists of people who take no part in any formof religion. Statistically speaking, will the two populationsexperience the same number of nde's?
Near Death Experience Research
I've found an article online that discusses Near Death Experiences. And along the lines of the direction of the class, the article talks about a scientifci approach to understanding Near Death Experiences, much like how Lane speaks of physics and chemistry being foundation of religous diversity. Here's the link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20080923/hl_time/whathappenswhenwedie

2. Attendance: How many times late? How many classes missed? (Be accurate)

I was late once because I twisted my ankle and that caused me to be a little late because I had difficulty walking through campus. Other than that I never missed a class.3. 1st Digital Film: Name and Describe (how long? how did you edit it? in what format? on what day did you show it?) Provide your youtube or google video link here.
I am still working on it and I will post it soon.
4. To read or not to read, that is the question: Be honest. How much of the following book did you read? Not a Genuine Black Man? Required readings from the Reader?
I completely finished Brian Copeland’s book, it was an extremely interesting and easy reading. As for the readings from the Reader I did try to read every single reading, however I followed your advice and when I got tired of what I was reading I flipped the page and continued on thereafter like that.

5. Give an example of a "consilience" explanation to one specific religious phenomenon (e.g., why do people worship snakes, etc.). Be sure to choose your own example.

Exorcism, which is practiced in Catholicism, can be seen as an example of consilience, where one set of actions can correlate with another set of actions. Exorcism involves raising spirits that reside within an individual causing the individual to be “possessed”. Therefore theoretically, exorcism is trying to evict an evil spirit through religious chants and prayers. On a social level, it is usually practiced on a person who is deemed to be under control of an evil spirit. Thus that person requires the help of the clergy in order to return to a normal state. Psychologically, this is essentially determined by the “possessed”, because that person may think he is “possessed” rather than contemplating he is suffering from other mental problems. Biologically and chemically speaking this can be reduced to a medical symptom such as depression or anxiety rather than a demon spirit taking over one’s body, an imbalance of chemicals. On the basis of physics, exorcism can be seen as an attempt to remove a spirit from a physical human being.

6. How can the theory of memetics help in understanding WHY certain religions are more successful than others (in terms of popularity) in the USA? Be sure to explain how memes are different than genes.

A meme is an idea or behavior that passes from person to person through learning or imitation; memes can be dances, fashions, songs, or religions. Memes travel from person to person and for those memes who seem to catch on and cause the most influence and survive to be passed on even further. And as the successful memes are passed on and gain greater impact they attain a certain connotation. The success of memes is dependent upon its ability to survive competition from other memes. The meme theory can be applied to the spread of certain religions. One of the most prevalent religions in the United States today is Christianity. For the most part, the United States of America is said to be a Christian nation. It has been said many times that the nation was founded on Christian beliefs. This is the direct result of meme theory and a bit of clever advertising. Christianity is one of the religions that try to expand itself thoroughly through the art of advertising. Compared to other religions, Christianity is more aggressive in its attempt to extend its reach. One example is the conversion of the Native American Indian population during the first years of California. Catholic priests would successfully integrate the Native Americans into Catholicism and almost eradicate the Native Americans’ way of life, their religion, traditions, and beliefs. This is a great demonstration of meme theory; a meme consisting of the Native American lifestyle is replaced with a new, perhaps dominant meme. This new meme then is accepted and replicates itself throughout the Native American population throughout California. As the new meme (Christianity-Catholicism) replicates and strengthens, its support base increases, it gains more followers. Just as Kleenex took advantage of aggressive marketing, Christianity did the same. So when someone has a running nose, that person would ask for a “Kleenex” rather than a tissue. Similarly, when someone one mentions God, many assume that they refer to the Christian god.

Memes do in fact share some of the characteristics of genes, they go through competition, variation, mutation just like genes do; the meme theory was inspired from the genealogical evolutionary theory. However, the substantial difference is that the gene pertains to biological traits and conditions whereas meme theory is concerned with cultural traits, that is traits that are learned rather than inherited.

7. Describe how evolutionary theory (via natural selection as first presented by Charles Darwin and later by Richard Dawkins) helps in understanding human migration, cultural development, and social identity. (Think of evolutionary psychology).

Charles Darwin and Richard Dawkins described the process of natural selection and how this notion involved the evolution of the strongest and most adaptive. This theory can also be applied culturally, in respects to the understanding of human migration, cultural development, and social identity. Basic survival instincts would lead one to live in a surrounding where one can at the very least withstand. Living in a barren environment where the simplest necessities are hard to come by would not be a suitable location to for survival. And for that reasons humans have made historic movements to ensure survival and even prosperity. Whether it is fleeing one’s homeland because of religious persecution or finding more favorable conditions to dwell in, migration is a part of understanding human behavior when it comes to survival. Once the basic survival condition of location has been decided and humans begin to thrive, the next desire is to develop culturally. A new entire culture can begin or more frequently, adaptation to existing cultures happen. Humans will assimilate into existing cultures within a certain environment. The new comers will not entirely throw their established methods away, but they would integrate multiple cultures. “Spanglish” is direct result of such integration; Spanish-speaking populations have blended their language to the language of Americans in the United States. After such adaptation has occurred, a social identity will arise. Many will identify with specific groups within a society and thus bond together. With commonalities ranging from speech, race, traditions; people will want to associate with those who share common backgrounds.

Just as in the raw world, where survival is the main objective and death is the ultimate consequence, the ultimate failure on the social level is to be deemed socially un-adaptive or socially dead.

8. Why is the notion of "race" biologically obsolete, yet culturally viable? (Hint: difference between "nature” and "nurture"... or biology vs. sociology)

The notion of “race” being biologically obsolete is due to the fact that there are no such things as a ‘Black’ gene or an ‘Asian’ gene. Biologically speaking, within the Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) coding of human beings there are no distinctions among race. Therefore race is a product of a society’s culture. Race was coined for convenience, the human species uses race as a means to generalize and therefore to reduce and truncate complex concepts into simpler forms or categories. Race serves as a tool to help categorize the vast population of people in such a way that we do not have to deal with the complexities of differences. Ockham's razor theory illustrates this, it states that for any given problem there is a complex explanation and an easy, watered-down explanation. Many would choose the latter. For example, a young female is dating a young man. When the female’s mother asks her to describe the boyfriend, it is much easier for the young female to simply say that her boyfriend is Black, Asian, White rather than specifically detailing his hair color, height, personality, likes and dislikes. There are certain connotations and stigmas that come with each racial category. Had the young female said Black, the mom would think tall, athletic, masculine; Asian: the mom would think smart, mild-tempered, and shy; and the list continues for other races. Therefore the notion of race has no foundations in biology, but it is socially constructed as a means of convenience.

9. Explain how a religious idea/ritual/practice gets transformed in American soil. For ex: I described how circumcision evolved from a religious ritual (from Egyptian to Judaic to Islamic) into a routinely performed medical procedure. This is a tougher question than you might suspect. Think before you leap. You want to describe how a religious idea/ritual/practice CHANGES in a North American environment. You can draw from ANY religion for your developmental example. Be sure, though, that it is YOUR example.

Since Halloween is just a couple of days away and many do partake in its festivities, yet do not know the religious history behind the holiday. Halloween originates from the Gaelic culture’s festival of Samhain. Samhain celebrated the end of a harvest season where people would stock supplies and food for winter use. Gaels held the belief that on October 31, the deceased caused problems to their and their crops. To combat this, they would disguises such as masks and costumes to appease the spirits of the deceased. Al Hallows’ Even, which is now known as Halloween, was a European religious day when pagan traditions would celebrate and honor their beloved saints. As time progressed, this holiday has transformed from a religious celebration to a commercial holiday. Now the holiday still holds the costumes and masks, but the religious aspects of the holiday have disappeared, harvesting crops has been replaced with the ultimate pursuit to gather candy.

14. How would Nietzsche describe the "death" of God and the rise of new religions?

There are over six billion people on this planet, each person has his or her own thoughts, beliefs, principles, perhaps even religion. No one person follows all the doctrines of an established religion to the t, one can pick and choose some insights that she believes in. Therefore a person can pick parts of Buddhism that he deems noteworthy and at the same time may connect on some level with the concepts of Christianity. Plus that person may also feel strongly about certain teachings of Islam. How would we “define” this religion, perhaps the term “Chrilamism” would encompass all three religions. With this in mind, one can see that there are billions upon billions of combinations in the world, thus each human being can have his or her own religion. And when people die, new people are born, as a result new religions are replacing dead religions in a continuous cycle.
In essence, Nietzsche is correct when he states that “God is dead”, because with each human death, that particular religion and god has died too. But turning it around, with each new human being born, a new potential god and religion is born as well.

15. How does Stephen Wolfram's "new kind of science" support Stephen Jay Gould's notion of spandrels or unintended consequences/complexities? Hint: think of how complexity is the result of simpler computational-like programs.
Stephen Jay Gould simply stated that certain aspects of biology, just like the space between arches, are there as a side consequence rather than deliberate design. Gould is basically stating that some features of the human biology or other aspects of the world are unintended consequences accidents. This notion is further explored by Stephen Wolfram, who states that very simple concepts can evolve into complex intricacies. This can then be applied to religions or cultures worldwide today, where some rituals or customs may seem extravagant or just plain odd. The dot in the middle of the forehead which is adorned by some Indian cultures can be one example. There are possibly endless complicated accounts as to why and when the tradition started. But one reason is perhaps it just looks good, which is simple and straight to the point. But in comparison to some of the more multifaceted, fluffy reasons, it just gets overlooked. In computer science, several different coders can write very different codes to solve the same problem. Some coders can have complex arrays, if-statements, and line after line of coding, while other coders can solve the problem in a just a few lines of coding. Wolfram and Gould both agreed that sometimes a complex consequence can arise out of accident; this can be applied to computer science, biology, religions or cultural rituals.

16. Why does religious "diversity" almost always start with its founder? Explain in detail your answer.

The primary reason that religious “diversity” almost always start with its founder is the fact that no one can precisely identify every specific meaning of the original creator. In this sense the word diversity would refer to the diverse interpretations of the writings or beliefs of the founder. One example is the Constitution; strict constructionists argue that the Constitution is written as a mandate that should be followed and has little to no room for change. On the other side, opponents of constructionists think the Constitution serves as an outline and that changes should be made to accommodate to the needs of the current people and the current time. This just goes to prove that there can be many perspectives and angles that can be taken when only one issue is at hand. Therefore each side or each proponent takes a stab at trying to best estimate the will and vision of the creator. So many factors play a part in the analysis of a religion’s doctrine. Perhaps the doctrine can be misinterpreted or that one can place extra weight on certain aspects over others. Thus, it would be extremely difficult to state that one has completely understood the initial wishes of the originator.

17. What was the tipping point in Brian Copeland's life which prompted him to want to commit suicide?

Many would say that Brian Copeland’s tipping point would be his failed suicide attempt, but I disagree. When he was in the garage, Brian had control of the situation, he knew what he was doing and knew of the consequences therefore he never actually followed through with the suicide attempt. The day Brian and his four year old son went to the hobby shop, however, was when Brian had no control. He could not control what other people said to his son, he could not control how his son was being treated, he could not control the fact that his son believed that ‘brown people are bad’. And in that situation he felt hopeless and vulnerable. So hopeless that he could not control his own reaction to what his son had told him, Copeland ‘had to throw up’. At this point Copeland realized that the racism and bigotry he encountered as a boy was still infecting his life, and now it was infecting his son’s life. He realized that the racism was cyclical and could not be avoided. He felt hurt, especially now that the racism was beginning to take its toll on his son. Brian knew that he himself could handle it, because he had been handling the crude racist remarks and stereotypes throughout his whole life, but now, now the racism had spread to his son. “He was FOUR YEARS OLD FOR GOD’S SAKE”.18. What were the more "subtle" forms of racism that Brian encountered when growing up in San Leandro?

There were countless acts of racism towards Brian and his family, some were more subtle than others, but none the less, they were harmful towards Brian’s psyche. When Brian needed a haircut so he can return to school, he and his grandmother had trouble finding a barbershop in San Leandro that would cut his hair. Barbers would say, “We don’t cut that kind of hair here”, and others would follow suit stating that they simply did not know ‘how’ to cut his type of hair.

His young teacher, Lisa Carrion, singling him out to ‘help’ Brian was another form of subtle racism. She made ‘extra efforts to include’ Brian in the classroom, treated him differently in a good way, “…like, well, an adult. Almost like a peer”. This was a genuinely nice and understanding teacher that Brian had, and her intentions meant well, however by treated him differently from the rest of his classmates she acknowledged the fact that he was different. I understand that she was trying to make Brian feel less of an outsider, however the fact that she singled him out made him even more of an outsider. Now the other kids had another reason to continue to carry out their vendetta against Brian.

Mr. Wentworth singling out his family and trying to evict them based on the premise that they had too many people for a 3 bedroom house. Brian comes to the rescue and tells his mom about the other families that live in the apartment complex, such as the Ingalls who have seven family members. This may seem like a more blatant form of racism, but the fact that Mr. Wentworth tried to hide his racism behind the mere notion that Brian’s family of six couldn’t possible live in an apartment of three bedrooms makes the situation seem as a ‘subtle’ form or racism.

Mr. Richards who was supposed to teach Brian about the intricacies of fishing, but he just came out politely and signed Brian’s merit-badge card for completion records. Initially Mr. Richards thought Brian was white because of Brian’s mannerisms on the phone, but once Mr. Richards realized that Brian was black, he didn’t want anything to do with Brian.

19. How does Brian's experience of racism dovetail with the experiences of Malcolm X? How are they different?

According to Malcolm X, Brian Copeland’s experience is the epitome of what the Whiteman wants to accomplish. Some of Malcolm X’s theories and statements do intersect with the episodes of Copeland’s life. Copeland was brought up in a world where the Blackman was the inferior to the Whiteman, and he was a victim of this notion multiple times. Copeland is downtrodden and depressed as all of his encounters of racism and hatred at such a young age lead him think to that Black is bad, and that White is right. Self-deprivation and self-condemnation became part of Copeland’s life at an early age. So much so that the mere adjective of ‘Black’ took on new meanings to Brian, it carried negative stigmas; it described everything and anything that was bad in the world, “every time I heard the word ‘black it was in a negative context”: “Black Tuesday, black days in our nation’s history, funeral processions, black clouds coming in, Black Panthers, black Muslims”. While black was the condemned color, white was the glorified color, “Jesus Christ himself, was white”. Copeland states that the thesaurus even defined white as “innocent, pure, unsullied, stainless, unblemished, spotless, immaculate, virtuous, undefiled, and chaste”. Malcolm X, on the other hand, would laugh at notion of white supremacy. Malcolm X’ believes the exact opposite, that white is the weaker of the two colors, and that the black race “is in destructible”. Here we see the distinct contrast between Copeland’s perception of black and Malcolm X’s picture of black. Malcolm X asserts a very radical historical tale, a tale in which the black man is the first human being to be on Earth 66 trillion years ago. The story continues to say that the white race only came about through a rouge black scientist who somehow managed to separate the ‘brown germ’, which is the weaker germ, from the ‘black germ’. After which, the ‘yellow germ’ was removed from the ‘brown germ’, and finally after that, the ‘white germ’ could be extracted and made into the white race that plagues the Earth today. It would seem that Copeland and Malcolm X were on two different ends of spectrum; Copeland suffered from depression and isolation because of his race, while Malcolm X made self-righteous proclamations and self-complimenting statements about the black race. It is the tale of two very different men, who share the one significant common denominator: their race.

The black population in America was ‘childish’ according to Malcolm X; by childish he deemed that the blacks were allowing the whites to take charge of the lives of black people. X continued to say that “anytime you let another man set up your” factories, schools, or businesses you are letting him (white people) dictate the way you work, learn, and think. Therefore, the white man has determined the identity of the Blackman because the Blackman is dependent on the Whiteman. This correlates to Copeland’s childhood, when his mother would scold him for doing what young boys do. “Act your age, not your color,” she said as Copeland behaved as young boys do. This expression was to say that “immaturity, rambunctiousness, and negative behavior were ‘black’ things”. Copeland lived under the awareness of the white authority and under scrutiny, while Malcolm X tried to, in his opinion, resurrects the black race to its divine state. These two black men probably faced similar experiences of racism, but they took two very different methods to cope. Copeland used humor and sarcasm, while Malcolm X used hate and propaganda to fuel his message.

21. In Laverne Jacobs' narrative he speaks about how he felt conflicted about his Native American religious identity and his newfound faith in Christianity. How did he attempt to reconcile the two beliefs?

To overcome his confusion about his native heritage and his new found Christian beliefs, Jacobs allowed himself to interact and experience both worlds. Initially, I thought his main reason to convert to Christianity was a bit naïve. It seemed that Jacob was under the impression that by he changing his religious beliefs, then that would lead him to a new life. He wanted to escape the stereotype of the “lazy, drunken, irresponsible Indian. By converting to Christianity he became “a child of God”, thus elevated his social status. I found this to be disturbing because instead of facing his stereotypes he basically just conformed in order to achieve a new sense of belonging. However, his life journey eventually brings him back to his roots. During his journey, Jacobs hesitated and resisted fearing that his yearning for his native customs would conflict with his Christian doctrines. Once Jacobs finally let simply let himself go, and experience Native American rituals without feeling guilty or as if he betrayed his Christian beliefs. Jacobs himself put it best when he states, “this is you- both Native and Christian.”23. Detail Frederick Douglass' critique of slavery by via his autobiography? In what specific ways is it a critique of conventional religion?

Frederick Douglass distinguishes Christianity as two types: ‘Christianity of the land’, the conventional religion, which the slaveholders follow and the ‘Christianity of Christ’ which is the pure form of the religion. Douglass details the hypocrisy that ensues as the ‘noble’ slaveholders follow the teachings of God. The slaveholders’ actions are directly against the very principles they follow as Douglass portrays,

“The man who robs me of my earnings at the end of each week meets me as a class-leader on Sunday morning, to show me the way of life, and the path of salvation. He who sells my sister, for purposes of prostitution, stands forth as the pious advocate of purity. He who proclaims it a religious duty to read the Bible denies me the right of learning to read the name of the God who made me… The warm defender of sacredness of the family relation is the same that scatters whole families,-sundering husbands and wives, parents and children, sisters and brothers,-leaving the hut vacant, and the hearth desolate.”

Douglass states that the concept of religion has been skewed by the slaveholders. In essence, Christianity, the ‘Christianity of the land’, goes hand in hand with slavery. Reverends Daniel Weeden and Rigby Hopkins illustrate these hypocrisies to the fullest extent. According to Douglass, these men of god are by far the ‘most cruel and cowardly, of all others’. These Reverends find any means to punish and degrade their slaves at every possibility; they would resort to “whipping slaves in advance of deserving it” to “remind him of his master’s authority”. Douglass did not despise Christianity, actually he wanted to embrace it, and he loathed the hypocrisy that was taking place; the distortion of Christianity that led to the acceptance of slavery.

24. What are the major differences between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., when it comes to liberating blacks from oppression?

There are noticeably significant differences between the approaches of King and Malcolm X took as they tackled racism. King’s letter from Birmingham jail displays a non-threatening and hope inspiring. King preaches non-violent protests in the quest for equality, unity, and peace. King iterates that the Blackman does own a sense of belonging to this country which is contradicting to the beliefs of Malcolm X. King’s message displays a tone of unity, while Malcolm X emphasizes isolation and separation in his statement, “We are strangers here. We are not in a country where we are made to feel at home.” King wants to rid the nation of segregation, yet Malcolm X seems to further extend the disconnect between the Whites and the Blacks. King creates a welcoming and peaceful atmosphere where he calls Whites he fellow brethren, while Malcolm X instantly condemns Whites as “evil”. Where King stressed equivalence, Malcolm X highlighted inequality, “black men have always been the wisest beings in the universe.” King wanted to bring the Black race to the same level of dignity and respect of the White race, while Malcolm X wanted to overthrow the White race because in his mind Blacks were fundamentally superior.

Another significant difference between the two is the audience in which they address. King is not only spreading his word of tranquility within the black community, he is also reaching out to the White community. He speaks to the likes of White religious leaders, community leaders, political advocates, while Malcolm X’s main audience is predominantly, if not, all black. King’s reaches a vastly wider audience while Malcolm X’s is narrower. A reason that one may be more supportive of King’s message rather than that of Malcolm X’s message is perhaps the strong foundation it has in facts. King cites specific dates, names, titles, of the people or the events that has had an impact on his crusade. This is to be taken with more approval than a fairy-tale-like story that is told by Malcolm X. King speaks in a logically-controlled manner, while Malcolm X speaks in a condescending and almost irritated fashion. All in all, the two methods of the leaders were, for the lack of a better comparison, truly black and white.25. Why is genealogical dissociation a key factor in understanding the emergence of new religions in America?

Genealogical disassociation works to the advantage of new emerging religions because the new religions try to distinguish themselves from other religions. New religions have a need to portray themselves as a unique, never-before-thought-of ideology in order to attract attention and merit. For example, Christianity has deep origins in Judaism, Jesus is a Jew, yet Christianity repeatedly overlooks its roots and strongly emphasizes that it is the sole religion to be worshipped. Therefore one can take this example and apply to any new emerging religion: a new religion is not going to parallel itself with existing religions, it wants to stand out as an exceptional, exclusive entity.

27. Compare and contrast one reading from the American Indian section with the African American section. Be sure to illustrate the differences and the commonalities.

It is interesting to note Malcolm X’s mindset and the mindset of Laverne Jacobs. Malcolm X’s parents were Christian, and he later rejected Christianity and converted to Islam, while Laverne Jacobs converted to Christianity because he was ashamed of his Native American stereotypes. Both rejected their initial religion, and found a new religion, which in their eyes would bring a welcomed change in his life. Malcolm X had tunnel vision, perhaps this was due to the fact that he was dealt with so much hatred. However one difference between the two is the fact that Laverne Jacobs actually allows himself to be part of two cultures that exist in one world. On the other hand, Malcolm X is primarily focused on continuing his very narrow perspective. Jacobs embraced his native customs as well as his beliefs in Christianity, while Malcolm X would not accept anything but Islam. Two these people were faced with similar identity conflicts, yet both took extremely different approaches.

MLK's Words

As I am finishing up the midterm for the class and reading MLK's letter, I have noticed how majestic and sophisticated the man was. Merely through his words anyone can see that the man had total command of any situation he faced. He was extremely confident in his abilities, though had a sense of humility as if to assure him as a human being. I am in utter admiration of MLK's rhetoric.

Expelled

The movie "Expelled", by Ben Stein, seemed to know how to use propaganda to influence its viewers perspective very well. It sarcastically cuts to black and white film to mock or emphasize certain points. I'm still not very sure about the notion of intelligent design, but from what I gathered from the movie and from very little research reading, intelligent design states that certain features of the universe and of living things, are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." This to me is just another way of cleverly trying to blend the beliefs of creationism with some science. Again, I have yet to done thorough research and full understand the 'scientific' research behind this perspective. Therefore I will hold my judgment because in the field of science, any theory should have the opportunity to be disproved.

As I was reading the rubric/assignment sheet for our videos, I figured
we could help each others out by posting some websites that have
sounds or video clips through this group. So I'll be the first one to
do so and hopefully everyone will get on board and soon start to post
additional sites that they used. Here are some of the sites I've
found and played around with:

Freeplaymusic.com

A1freesoundeffects.com

Flamingtext.com

Dailywav.com

Animationfactory.com

http://barrysclipart.com/

http://noeticart.com/

religion is racist, literally racism=religion

This is somewhat of a random rant, but I just remembered a heatedconversation I had with a fellow friend. We were discussing thetopic of religion, specifically Christianity. We were discussing thefact that Christians had the belief that those who do not believe injesus christ would eventually go to hell when they die. I wasshocked when I learned of that notion. I was taken away by the factthat christians could not tolerate other people's beliefs and theyeven took it one step further to CONDEMN those who didn't believe tohell. That notion is comparable to the bigotry displayed during the1940's and 50's. Back then white people had their own bathrooms,restaurants, and other facilities. They basically declared thatbecause they were white they were superior and therefore deserved theright to eat, drink, and pee at different establishments than theircounterparts. Now lets replace race with religion, thus makingchristians the ones who disrepectful and ignorant. Actually, if youreally consider who was more considerate between the racist whites ofthe 1940's and 50's or the current christians, at least the racistwhites back then had the decency to build separate restaurants andbathrooms for their counterparts. Is there a separate hell for thosewho don't follow the christian doctrine? No! There isn't a separateheaven for the non-believers, instead it's the fires of hell.Therefore religion, just like race serves as another barrier betweenhuman beings.

religion is racist, literally racism=religion

This is somewhat of a random rant, but I just remembered a heatedconversation I had with a fellow friend. We were discussing thetopic of religion, specifically Christianity. We were discussing thefact that Christians had the belief that those who do not believe injesus christ would eventually go to hell when they die. I wasshocked when I learned of that notion. I was taken away by the factthat christians could not tolerate other people's beliefs and theyeven took it one step further to CONDEMN those who didn't believe tohell. That notion is comparable to the bigotry displayed during the1940's and 50's. Back then white people had their own bathrooms,restaurants, and other facilities. They basically declared thatbecause they were white they were superior and therefore deserved theright to eat, drink, and pee at different establishments than theircounterparts. Now lets replace race with religion, thus makingchristians the ones who disrepectful and ignorant. Actually, if youreally consider who was more considerate between the racist whites ofthe 1940's and 50's or the current christians, at least the racistwhites back then had the decency to build separate restaurants andbathrooms for their counterparts. Is there a separate hell for thosewho don't follow the christian doctrine? No! There isn't a separateheaven for the non-believers, instead it's the fires of hell.Therefore religion, just like race serves as another barrier betweenhuman beings.