Religious Studies: October 2008

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.

Religious Studies

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

My Midterm

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

MLK's Words

Expelled

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

religion is racist, literally racism=religion

religion is racist, literally racism=religion

the advertising of religion

Monday, October 6, 2008

Stereotyping

Blog Archive

About Me