Losing my Balance

So as my religious studies class progresses I have noticed that I have began to study myself and what I believe in. I don’t believe that I am examining my religion per say but I do believe that I have had more introspective thoughts on my core values and morals. We have been researching and examining the Rastafari way of life and culture. This culture has really made me think deeper about the society I live in versus those that I might have, once in my life thought down upon. During class we watched a video on  Bob Marley and why he smokes ganja. What he said really had an impact on me. It wasn’t the part about ganja that really inspired me rather it was his statement on why he gets upset when other people and other societies do not let him live his life in peace. The small subtly of wanting to restrict ganja opened up a door for why should any other culture of societal influence be allowed to enforce provisions or laws that prohibit another cultures attitudes. So with that said it made realize certain aspects of my life have been determined for me before I could even judge whether I like the consequences of the prior. It made me want to think outside of the bubble whether that be the Lawrence bubble, or the social constructions that have been imposed on society due to what I would call a media revolution. Think about it and start making your own decisions and not the ones that would be deemed as normal if that’s not your thang. Peace and love.

Life, Liberty, and DANCE baby!!!

In religious studies we have begun to discuss and thus learn about the Rastafarian culture. Through analyzing two different sources, “Rastafari: From Outcast to Culture Bearers” written by Ennis Barrington Edmonds and a brief documentary titled “Orden Boboshanti- Creecias Rastas”. Both of these sources help shed light on the Rastafarian way of life and culture. These sources show us how group organization and routines lead to a feeling of legitimization within the culture. Like we discussed in class the logic behind the religious culture of the Rastafari stem from

1)      Ideas- Where oppression and social stratification allow for a disruption in society

2)      Charismatic leader- A leader or prophet who can persuade a division within society to believe and stand under one understanding and way of life

This leads to institutionalization or routinization where, eventually the charisma of the leader becomes imbedded within the fabric of that new society.   Thus the culture becomes tradition and society deems it rational and begins to follow its structure and authority. The Rastafarian religion failed to become established, however the ideals of it were so imbedded in society that many people believed Rastafari created a promise land, Ethiopia, and deemed Jamaica as Babylon.

                In both of the above mentioned sources we can see a clear system of symbols that,  in many respects, creates order within the society. In the documentary the Rastafari society that livesin that remote village call themselves the Boboshanti. A key symbol that they participate in is within the use of their reggae. The Boboshanti prey five times daily. In each prayer they use reggae and dance to demonstrate their efforts in the fight for a better society. Reggae becomes this routine that they can unite themselves under and helps  to  illustrate their struggles and how to  overcome them. In the monograph mentioned above it states that reggae is a medium of sorts in which society may be restored and regain self awareness it is also a way in which people learn what they believe to be the truth within society. We can clearly see that the Boboshanti wish to do this through reggae in seconds 49 and minute 2:32 within the documentary.

The All Time Diva... Queen Sheba Body Like Beyonce and a Voice like Riba, huh?

           This week for our religious studies class we had to analyze the Kebra Negast reading. It was titled “The Queen of Sheba and her only Son Menyelek”. We can clearly see that this reading was going to be related to King Solomon and Ethiopia. The reading basically shows the connection between Queen Sheba and her relation to the Israelites and to Christianity. One of the themes that I noticed has been a motif throughout the course of the class and was also most certainly part of the reading was how religious articles and readings may be taken as propaganda. This may be a different form of propaganda than what is usually seen as propaganda. In this case it deals with the Kebra Negast reading as a vehicle of nationalistic unity by using a very literal way of translating the bible to fit Ethiopia and its belief in being the “new Israel”. Many may say that this is a farfetched assumption and that we should take the Kebra Negast reading for what it is, However using the article “ The Role of Religion in Constructing National Unity”, we can clearly see that religion can be used to propagate a sense of national unity throughout a nation. https://lumail.lawrence.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=7b79f7ea20b248599e42d083a30c4f5e&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.landofsixpeoples.com%2fnews401%2fnc40119.htm. The article states, “ In developing national unity, a nations fundamental values need to be considered as well. Although modern nations aim for religious neutrality, the religious values embraced by the majority are central to the life of the entire society. People often find in religion the answers to essential questions regarding life, death, human values, and the meaning of living together”, showing that nations use religion to feel unity and to believe in the same moral values. It is important to note that the propaganda behind the reading only tries to unite Ethiopia under one sense of ideals.
 

Love Rule Number 36

It seems that the concept of love is important to Saint Augustine. He was an avid proposer of self love. This is the idea that one should love themselves as they do their neighbor. He also believed in what is known as the eternal principle. This is the belief that one should have love for god and love for oneself. He also believed in the concept that there is no such thing as disordered love. He believes that when reading the bible and scriptures love is the overarching theme that the individual should use in their interpretation of the bible. I can come to terms with his understanding but in all respects love is not always a positive feeling or emotion. I feel as if love has been in many regards a reason for many negative emotions and actions that have taken place in my life. These actions that were direct results of the feeling of love has led me to, what I personally believe is sinning. Love has lead myself and probably many others to sin. The extent of that sin varies from one to another, nevertheless, a sin no doubt. If love is supposed to be this image that we should perpetuate throughout the bible why does it bring society so much chaos and anarchy. I believe that love and interpreting scripture through love is just bologna. When interpreting aspects of life or those that pertain to religion should we not try to steer free from love and rather interpret scripture free of all bias and especially that of love.  

I Say, You Say, Who Said?

                In this blog I will be discussing and comparing two intellectuals, Saint Augustine and J. Todd Billings, and their works, “On Christian Teaching” and “How to Read the Bible.” Both works deal with the Bible and how to interpret it. It is simple to note the main idea found in both works, which is, that society should do more than just read the bible. They should try to grasp and understand the historical context within the scriptures while also questioning certain interpretations. I believe that both intellectuals want religious believers to do more than just understand scriptures; they want them to be scrutinized. It’s one thing to read the bible but it is another to truly understand the meaning behind the scriptures and the meanings behind interpreting them.
                Saint Augustine, using the theme of numbers as signs, believes that people should not take any sign for what it is worth in society at the moment but to break it down and realize the meaning behind it. He believed that it was one thing to know what the number nine was but why is it nine or who created that and for what reason. I believe that he wanted society to really dive into the bible and realize that some interpretations of scriptures have been used as forms of manipulation while others have been used to define Christianity. Interpretation of the scriptures should be scrutinized but left to the individual to define for themselves.

                J. Todd Billings also believes that society should read scriptures and the bible. I do believe that he agrees with Saint Augustine in the sense that he believes that society should scrutinize interpretations of the bible but it seems as if Billings feels that interpretation of scriptures no longer mean anything. I think he believes that society has lost track of the Christian beliefs in the scriptures and have only used them and interpreted them for  certain aspects in life and not for its full worth, at least in the eyes of the creator. I believe that both intellectuals see the bible in a positive light, however they seem to be disappointed with how society has bended it to fit every aspect of life and not that of Christianity.

I- Living

In class we briefly spoke about Steve Jobs and his legacy. An important theme that I picked up from this conversation in class and the article “ Apple is a new religion, and Steve Jobs  was its high priest”, found athttp://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/apple-is-a-new-religion-and-steve-jobs-was-its-high-priest/2011/10/07/gIQAjYlgTL_story.html,  was the relationship between religion and culture. Throughout this conversation Professor Smith had said  “Don’t fall into someone’s religion but create your own” while he was elaborating on the products made by Steve Jobs and the Apple corporation. This quote has stayed with me and really helped me understand religion. I am slowly beginning to understand religion as a belief and way of life that somebody follows in order to feel some sort of accomplishment with life or to help facilitate a person’s life. A mesh and blur with reality, culture, and religion may be in many aspects the way of life for many people. Why do people follow religions that were established years ago when the culture of those times were nowhere near that of today’s culture. Are people using religion to find purpose in life, are they using it to define themselves, or are they just lost and want to understand themselves? It seems that the idea and principles of religions have been lost in translation and throughout time. I feel that creating your own religion or creating your own path and principles to govern your life is what people should consider as religion. Why would you follow in someone else’s footsteps or rules to govern your life when you can easily appease your cravings by applying certain codes and regulations, made up by and for you,  to your own life. Religions may simply be theories of how to live and prosper but why not make up your own theory so that you can dance to the beat of your own drum. Steve Jobs and his products have helped many individuals to customize their life the way they want to. By allowing individuals to create their own lives with these products it allowed for a sort of personal spirituality. 

Later Gater

When reading my peers blogs some of their free post elaborate on themselves and why they are taking the course. I will like to explain why I am in this course in this blog. I decided to participate in this course due to the passing of my father this summer. Since that moment I have yet to view life in the way I did before the incident. With that said I have not viewed religion in the same light as well. I have contemplated whether or not there is a God or if religion as a staple of my life was worth even the slightest of my time. I took this class so I could hopefully figure out whether I should believe in a nonexistent idea or if I should follow what is known as religion. I do not believe that the idea of religions should be a way of life for certain people nor do I believe in a lot if the gibber jabber that is found in text that support that religion but what I do believe in is the idea of an afterlife. While reading through the Psalms I realized that they deal with broad concepts that could be interpreted many different ways to suit many different people. So personally the Psalms are really more of a historical piece than one of religion. However, I do believe in the existence of an afterlife. This is in no part due to the Psalms but in many regards to my own accounts. See many people don’t and will never believe in a spiritual world, one in which deceased may contact the living. I personally believe in the spiritual world because of a run in I had with my father’s spirit. Call me crazy or something but I believe that my father reached across to me from the spiritual world. I had a conversation with him for two hours in my room. Many ideas and words were exchanged and that was the last of that. I thought for a second that somebody had slipped acid or something in my water. This was not the case though. Hopefully as the class rolls on I may find that religion in many regards should be worth the time but for now I believe in some sort of spiritual world but that doesn’t mean that I have to follow any one in order to believe in it. 

Cross listing

Throughout the study of history and many other fields of study it is important to note the bias behind any piece of work prepared in regards to that discipline. Many products that have been placed in the hands of society have been stained with the opinions of other so that the creation may prosper in a better light depending on the situation that the piece is introduced in. The beginning point of one design is usually altered in many respects by the end point of the operation. With this said it is important to scrutinize many products that have been reiterated and reproduced throughout time. In this blog I will use the “Book of Psalms”, translated by Robert Alter, and the “Bay Psalm Book”, translated by Stephen Daye, in order to show how reproductions and translations of the beginning products can be manipulated to profit the social context of one time period.

                Using two texts from each of the Psalm translations I will show the difference between translations and how these differences play a role in understanding the psalms. The second psalm in both translations deals with God and how anyone who opposes his rule and religion will be smited while those who follow may reap benefits that come with the religion or way of life. A line that stands out in the text of both translations is verse eleven. In the Bay of Psalms book it is translated as so:

         In the Book of Psalms it is translated like this: “Worship the Lord in fear, and exult in trembling”. The first translation it seems as if the translator is trying to show that if a follower truly follows and serves God then there is nothing to fear. However, if you do not serve the lord then one must expect to fear the consequences. The second translation explains, at least to me, something quite different. It reveals what I believe as the opposite. This translation makes the Lord seem darker and more intimidating. This translation states that you must worship the Lord in fear and be scared indefinitely for fear of doing something wrong. Verse five in both translations deals with David telling the lord to exile all who do not follow him and the Lords wishes. Verse eleven in the first translation is as such:. In the second translation it is seen as such: “ Let them fall by their counsels for their many sins. Cast them off, for they have rebelled against you”. In the first translation it seems as if sins is more directly for the lord and in the second translation the word sin is not used. Instead it is made to seem more of stopping the rebels from rebelling against David and not the Lord himself. Translations in either text will help to serve one party over another as is in many different products that range from religion to simple theories.