aleah’s blog
Just another WordPress.com weblogCivil Religion
Before I get into my post on Civil Religion, I would just like to point out that this is (I think my 5th repost) of this blog entry! The reason is because after I posted it, I realized all of my dates on my blogs are wrong! Turns out, the time is about a day ahead of the time it really is. So when I read my entry over, I looked at the date and noticed that it said April 29th at like 2 in the morning. That’s wrong and even when I fix the time on my post, I cannot fix the a.m. p.m. section, so it still looks like the wrong time/day! So what I wanted to point out is that right now, at this very moment as I’m typing, it’s 10:54 and it is Apr. 28th (Monday night). All assignments are due by tomorrow and I have successfully completed all of them, so I wanted to make sure I pointed that out so it didn’t look like I was passed the deadline, which I’m not. I wish I’d have noticed it before. Anyway, I fixed the time but it still says a.m. but it’s really p.m. right now and I can’t fix it, I am so sorry!
From our talk on Civil Religion, I actually came to a lot of new realizations. I realized mostly that all religion has basically the same function, to give people faith, to give people hope, to give people orderly lives, etc. I realized that every religion has their own rituals, beliefs, texts/manuscripts, and rules. For example, the Native Americans gather around a fire to do the eagle dance to praise their Gods, whereas Christians gather in church and sometimes have a choir. Another example would be the Ten Commandments in the Bible and the list of set rules that the Hindu’s go by (I forget the name…sorry!). Mostly every religion has belief in some kind of higher power, like God. This is not true for all religions, though. There are Atheists, who don’t accept God at all and Agnostics who really haven’t come to a decision yet and are content with it. Some religions believe in more than one God, like the Hindus and the Greeks. Religions like Christianity praise God and the Buddhists praise Buddha.
I took a humanities class in high school that helped me explore other religions, kind of like this activity. But with all the information I learned, I never took the time to really think about how interesting it is that although every religion has its differences, they all serve the same purpose. The purpose of religion is to give an individual some sort of closure and I think that closure can be found whether they choose to believe in a higher power or not. I was raised Christian, but my parents never really stressed religion on me at all. I think I have been to Church about four times in my entire life and I only went with my aunt’s and uncle’s. This could have something to do with my personal feelings on religion, but I’m torn in between. I’m confident in what I say, yet on the inside, I don’t think it makes much sense. It feels right though. My person belief is that there is no “God” sitting in the sky on a fancy chair, calling all of the shots. No way, I think God exists, but I think that we are God. Every individual, every animal, every plant, every organism in our universe is God. I say this because only WE have the power to change the world. God doesn’t wave his hand over the globe and make a tornado or natural disaster occur. Pollutants, global warming, etc. make those sorts of things happen and they are caused by man. Purposely? probably not, but it is definitely a fact. Another example: when people pray at night; when I pray at night, I pray for my family, my friends, people I don’t know, people who have hurt me, you could say I have a routine. I always make sure, though, that I ask God for strength, but I know full well that I am the only one who can find strength and take on each day.
My idea sounds silly, but I think it’s true. I think the power of God and the ability to make a difference can be found inside of all of us. I think the problem might be that people aren’t comfortable searching that deep within themselves. I believe that heaven is not a place you go to and exist in after death, I think that perhaps it is a never-ending euphoria of every good moment in your life. It’s some kind of combination between every happy, life changing moment, every tear, every accomplishment, etc. I think it’s a state of mind that stays stagnated in joy for the rest of eternity. And as for Hell, the exact opposite: a never-ending state of mind with every guilty feeling, hurtful action and off-beat emotion haunts your mind for the rest of eternity.
I think that the Bible is also really interesting. I meet a lot of people who believe the events that happened in the Bible, and also, many who believe what I believe, which is that every story in the Bible is just like a metaphor. It’s just a way of making understanding the acceptable ways of living life easier. If you’ve got a story or some kind of example or metaphor to assist you in understanding a new concept, it can be very helpful! I do believe that Jesus existed, I mean, it IS a fact, I have no doubt about that. But as far as Adam and Eve and the burning bush, I think those are the beautiful metaphorical stories that were told to express and spread awareness of what a civilization should be like.
I enjoyed the conversation on Civil Religion. Like I said, I learned/realized a lot of what I think almost seems obvious, I just had to put it in the right perspective! I remember, I left class that day feeling really good!
The Constitution
After reading up on the Constitution, I relearned a lot of what I learned in government class. For example, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and such. It was pretty interesting. Since we got to choose, I decided to just analyze the Constitution’s impact on our life today, how it impacted the colonies, some of the signers and comparing it to other constitutions. The Constitution is the legal document that pretty much holds all of society together. It is a long list of rules and/or laws to abide by, focusing on everyone’s well being. The Constitution gives us our feedoms and things like the separation of church and state which is in effect today. It started in September, 1786, when commissioners from five states met in the Annapolis Convention to discuss adjustments to the Articles of Confederation that would improve commerce and life. They invited state representatives to meet in Philidelphia to discuss improvements to the federal government. After discussing it, the Congress of the Confederation and endorsed a plan to revise the Articles of Confederation on Feb. 21st, 1787. Twelve states, with the exception of Rhode Island, accepted the invitation and sent delegates to meet in May 1787. The Convention’s purpose was to propose amendments to the Articles, but the Convention decided to propose a rewritten Constitution. The Philidelphia Convention voted to keep the debates secret, so that the delegates could speak freely. They also decided to draft a new fundamental government design, which eventually stipulated that only nine of the thirteen states would have to ratify for the new government to go into effect. Our knowledge of the drafting and construction of the United States Constitution comes primarily from the diaries left by James Madison, who kept a complete record of the proceedings at the Constitutional Convention. It was a positive impact on the colonies, in my opinion because it restored order within communities. People had expectations to meet and they worked very hard to meet them, resulting in the work force today- a strong, wide range network of people who conform to the norms of society and living within a society to survive, without forcing them to believe a certain religion, or way of life and always granting someone their freedoms. Speech, Assembly, Religion, Press, and the right to bear arms.
Some of the signers included John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, Rufus King, Dan Carroll, John Blair, and Charles Pinckney. I think that yes, in a way, these gentlemen (along with the many other who signed the document) can be considered heroes in a way. They provided America with a foundation and guidelines to follow. They gave us rules and ways to become successful and it’s my opinion that it has blossomed into a really beautiful thing today. Without the Constitution, I don’t know where the U.S. would be on any terms of political grounds and I definitely couldn’t imagine what society might be like. We should praise the Constitution for giving us our freedoms and our protection.
Purtian poem (reposted)
I deleted the original post of my poem because I noticed a typo that I wanted to fix. I hate presenting things with errors. So here is my puritan poem, typo completely fixed. I had fun with this assignment. I couldn’t really get out my ideas the right way in the puritan language but it just wasn’t working out for me. I attempted several poems in that kind of language and so I decided to try it in our everyday northern U.S. vernacular, haha, I hope that is acceptable! But I honestly do like what I wrote. It’s of course no masterpiece, but for my first attempted poem of this kind, I am thankful for how it came out. I am a bit of a Christian myself, or I’d like to think so, although I am still unsure and I do not follow the bible. I just believe in a higher power who gives us strength. So when I saw that many poems were about the Lord and how thankful they were, I decided to kind of go with that same theme, while applying how I really felt about the Lord that I appreciate, myself. So my poem is very religious, but I’m impressed with it. I didn’t think it would be this long but once I started talking about the Lord, I just kept going and rhyming. The words kept flowing!
I wasn’t sure if it needed a title or anything, so to be safe, I’ve entitled it:
“The Lord will take you”
I thank the lord for the bed that I lay in every night
I thank him greatly for the bread my children eat with such delight
Soup is cooking over the fire
And as I continue to stir, I am praying to my Lord who is higher
Above me, he sees and he loves me
He grants my children’s wishes
He gives me water to clean my dishes
The Lord has blessed me with love and with care
Which runs so deep. He blessed my fingertips
And my aching feet.
He gives me a heart of gold and soul, full of glee
He says, “Live by my words
And I will take you with me”
He keeps our family at peace
He has blessed us with clean, warm sheets
I know he looks down upon me
And sees that I am not perfect, but I am kind
He grants me with great strength to work
And an analytical mind
Without my Lord, I might as well be blind
And even if I were, I wouldn’t mind
Because the Lord knows best
I am blessed with a vest of great dignity and honor
For a woman that has sinned, I will not look down upon her
I will help her from the ground, I will tell her to stand high
And to look into the sky and tell the Lord just how she feels
With the spinning of the carriage wheels, she will be blessed
Like all of the rest and he will give her a vest to protect her
Like mine, he will assure her not to indulge too much in wine
Like she did before
I will open my door and take her in, as if she were my own
And when she is no longer ill, I will tell her to go
To take the Lord with her, and to remember and know
That he blessed you with love and care, which runs so deep
He will bless your fingertips and your aching feet.
He will give you a heart of gold and soul, full of glee
Then he’ll tell you, “Live by my words
And I will take you with me”
Ancient Buddhist statues
For Thursday, we attended a talk on ancient Buddhist statues. I believe the speakers name was James Robsin, but I am unsure to be safe, I’ll call him Mr. Robsin. He spoke about a lot of Chinese and some Japanese traditions and rituals, a lot of which were linked to these little figures. Most of them resembled an early Buddha, others were just numerous different onces that were made. Mr. Robsin said that some citizens that look at the statues claim that they are relatives, so some of the statues were very detailed. One picture that he showed even had hair on the face of the statue and very detailed features. I thought this was a pretty neat exhibit. Mr. Robsin says that these statues are hard to find but sometimes, they’re right in front of people and the people have no idea the meaning that it carries or its value! Most of these little figures are carved out of wood and can be found in museums or the homes of individuals that collect them, purposefully or unintentionally. Mr. Robsin did a very nice job on his presentation. He was detailed and clear and very articulate and he answered everyone’s questions and even his own with full, elaborate answers, which I found to be a great characteristic about him. I enjoyed this exhibit very much.
random update
So, I just finished my paper. Well, the manuscript or (first draft). I decided (after doing more research about African Americans and more recent events, that I would change my papers title from African Americans in Early New York to…African Americans in Early New York and Gradual Success. I added “gradual success” because it took an extremely long time for African Americans to achieve equal freedom and rights. At first, I focused on early New York because I was interested in how it started but I was also interested in how it ended. So today, I added some information about Martin Luther King in my paper and kind of wrapped it up with the idea that African Americans have achieved success in this country and they are no different than the rest of us. Most of the nation doesn’t look down upon African Americans anymore, but I read one article where the author expressed his belief that racism and prejudice still happen today, but it’s not public. I guess no one is perfect and maybe not every one will except the thought that we are all equal, but I think if they did, they’d probably feel a lot better. It’s just nice to have a good attitude and except everyone for who they are, you feel good about yourself because you meet so many people and experience so many new things when you open your eyes to different cultures and backgrounds. So I hope my paper is a good one. I basically just outlined events and situations dealing with slavery from the 1600′s, all the way up to the 1900′s and I talk about in the end how much progression has been made by the African American people and how they are allowed equal rights today. It sounds silly, but I love learning. I had to say it. I had to, haha. Doing this paper was really interesting for me, as well as educational. That’s always a bonus, in my eyes!
Finally! =)
Well after much tedious research, I think I am finally ready to put the finishing touches on my paper! I have it all written out on Word, I just have to wrap up the end and create my Works Cited page with KnightCite. I am really excited. I don’t know if it’s going to be considered a well-written paper or not, but I am pretty proud of it. I like writing, I’ve always been really good at it, or so I am told, so I hope it showed in this paper! I have always been best at writing on what I am interested and/or educated in, as most people, I write what I know. So I wanted to make sure I knew what I was talking about before I wrote it, that makes what your saying more believable and educational for your audience AND yourself. I really liked my topic too. The title of my paper is simply “African Americans in Early New York” but if I had to describe what my paper was really about and what I learned from it…it’s pretty much about how and when slaves first came to New York and their emergence as citizens throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Although slavery first started in the world as early as 1400, I wanted to focus on New York because that was the major city for African emergence in the U.S. I read (and stated in my paper) that at one point in time, New York has the highest count of slaves out of all the Northern States. African American history has always interested me because, as I said in class, I do have a mixed African American cousin who had a hard time growing up and since we were so close, it always bothered me. See, I never saw a problem with the color of anyones skin, sexual preference, clothes, hair, etc. My parents raised me to love and accept everyone, despite what they look and sound like, I was taught that everyone was equal. So growing up with that kind of outlook and growing older with my cousin and watching him struggle with friendships was really confusing for me. The white children didn’t want to play with him, and neither did the black children. He had one other mixed friend who didn’t even attend school with him. I remember, he was named D.j. and he was about four years younger than us. That didn’t bother my cousin, though. He just wanted friends. One of the first things our class did together was attend the Jim Crowe exhibit at the Vista Tech center and I think that sparked some old emotions from the past with my cousin and I think that’s what really motivated me to write my paper on this particular subject. I’m pretty happy with it, so I’m hoping for the best! I hope all of your papers turned out well, too! Good luck to everyone. I’ll see you all on Tuesday.
The Multi-cultural Fair
The fair was really awesome, in my opinion. I liked all of the posters we looked at, especially Chinese Etiquette. There were two on Chinese Etiquette and they distributed an equal and similar amount of information. I think it’s neat that at business meetings (as well as other meetings) it’s considered proper to give gifts, usually a nice pen. I guess you have to be careful what you give the other party because it could be considered inappropriate and they could be insulted. Anyway, the posters were all very interesting and neatly put together. When I entered the fair itself, it was like the biggest graduation party ever! I mean, squeezing in between people and such. That’s probably because this fair was really awesome. All kinds of tables from different cultures all around the world with all kinds of information, customs, histories, recipes, and even samples of food! They had life waters and vitamin waters (which is always a good thing) and even dancers! This was definitely one of the most interesting school activities that I have attended within my short time here at Schoolcraft College. I liked it, though. I was invited to join a student peace group, I tried different kinds of foods, checked out the displays and got my stamps. I was so bummed when I realized I didn’t have any money, though. I’m not sure if all of the items on display were for sale or not, but I know some were. There were these GORGEOUS handbags at the Indian display, I mean the embroidery and colors were so beautiful. The Mexicans and Native Americans also had some very interesting things on display, and of course, if I had the money, I would have been asking about them. I love shopping! I’m glad our class attended this fair, I think it was a fun way to learn about different cultures, interact with more new people at our school, while having fun at the same time. And when I say fun – I mean it from the bottom of my heart. I give the fair two thumbs up! If only I had more thumbs!
The Scarlett Letter
On Tuesday, we watched The Scarlett Letter, which I thought was a pretty good movie. I don’t know what I would do if I lived back then, though. They were so strict about everything! I would assume, though, that if I had lived during that time, it wouldn’t matter much to me because it would be what I was raised with. Watching that movie was really influential in a way because it made me appreciate the things I have! I thought Pearl, the little girl was adorable and when the other children were picking on her, I got really sad because it kind of reminded me of when I was a little girl. I was the one always getting picked on, so I could kind of relate with her sadness. I thought it was sweet how Hester always found a way to comfort her and cheer her up. She seemed like a very good mother to me, which is why I was so frustrated when everyone would talk bad about her throughout the film because of one simple act, which I don’t think should be considered wrong. I know in that time, rules were a bit different, especially to the Puritans because they were so religious, but her husband was gone for a long time and when that sort of thing happens, it’s only natural to move on. I don’t think Hester meant any harm and I certainly don’t think she deserved that kind of treatment. I was happy when I saw that she only had to wear the letter ‘A’ on her chest (even though that was considered a bad thing) because I thought it was a light sentence. But even then, the way people treated her AND her child probably hurt much more than having to wear that letter. No matter what Hester’s punishment would have been, I think the treatment and rumors would hurt her even worse. I was impressed throughout the film, though, because even when people were so cruel to her, she still seemed to hold her head up high and be sort of optimistic. That is the sort of thing I admire in people so I was glad to see that she was able to overcome people’s comments and bad treatment. The ending, I didn’t like, only because it was sad. It was not what I would call a “bad” ending but it was just really sad. I know they had planned to run away together and the very next day, which was the ending scene, he died of what I’m almost sure was heart failure. This is sad for a few reasons; it is never sad when anyone passes away, his daughter never got to know or understand that he was her father, the father she always wanted, and last but not least, right after he admitted what he had done, he passed away so he pretty much left Hester with another open wound, right when the other one was pretty much healing. By getting up on that platform and bringing up the subject again and then confessing, in my opinion, would only remind people and they would become infatuated with talking about it all over again. Since he was a priest, I can only imagine that after the movie ended (if this were a true story) that Hester would have an even worse reputation for having relations with a priest. I think to myself, poor Hester, because she seems so kind-hearted and sweet.
Overall, even though it didn’t end the way I wanted it to, I really liked the movie. It also helped me get a better idea of what Puritan life was like, especially since Dr. Berg had us take notes. It’s always interesting to me to learn about different cultures and different points in time. I love that sort of thing- differences among different groups. It’s amazing how many different groups and different people are alive in this world, past and present!
research update & proposal
So, after doing some research on what I thought was my original topic (The Atlantic Slave Trade) Dr. Berg suggested that I might want to narrow it down to slaves in New York. I think he is right because that is a more narrow topic and I should be able to find plenty of information on it. When browsing through the databases, I came across this fantastic article on African Americans and slavery in New York, which I shared in class today. I had twelve articles printed, and I wrote notes that I thought stuck out down in ink, like notes! My information, though, was very broad, only because I haven’t begun to dig deep yet, which I think I might do over break with my free time. What I did find was interesting, though. I was researching the Slave Trade and the article I mentioned earlier popped up. It went into detail about how African American’s were forced to work on European ships. Different European ships would seize each other and capture the staff (mostly all African Americans) and it said that those captured were either killed or sold to areas in the West Indies and South America. New York became one of the major cities where slave labor was common. This article said that almost anything you bought was either grown, produced or manufactured by African Americans. After sharing this information, I was happy that Dr. Berg suggest me doing African Americans in New York because I had kind of already wanted/planned to do that. So it looks like this is my subject! Dr. Berg also told me about a book where I could find information and I’m rather excited to read it because I am very interested in my subject and I love books. Two positives equals a positive! I will continue researching throughout break and update briefly on information that I find. If there is anyone in our class that has the same subject or something similar, go ahead and give me a comment 
Maybe we can exchange ideas and information and make this as fun as it can be. If not, I wish you luck with all of your topics!
2-19-08
Today, Dr. Berg was talking about getting into our research topics and finding something that we are really interested in. Something that has always interested me since I was young, since I had an African American cousin whom I was really close to, is the Slave Trade. I remember learning about it in history classes and it has always sparked curiosity in me. I think that will probably be what I choose for my research paper. I am really interested in how and when the Slave Trade began, how they were treated, and their other hardships. I want to know more about the boat trips overseas. I know that the conditions were horrible but I am interested in how horrible they were to a detail. I want to know what it was like for them right when they arrived to the U.S. and what they endured when they settled. Hopefully, this will make for a good research paper. I think that I should find a good amount of information on it and I know that I am most definitely interested in it enough to learn as much as I can and apply it, so we will see how it goes!
