Do Versus Do-Not

Based on reading this article, I found interesting the actual change that is still taking place in many different religions. I also learned how Gandhi changed the religion system, from it being a set of rules showing how an individual should live their lives to him emphasising the use of good behavior and social justice in the world. Additionally, I think it's called "Do versus Do Not" because of the fact that people still believe religion as a set of rules as compared to  those who see religion as demonstrated through good actions. Based on the reading I analyzed, it shows how Religion sets as an example for ethics. It supports the fact that religion also serves as the basis for good and bad morale. The example that is used is how a plant needs roots in order to grow.

Religion as an agent of the Powerful and Powerless

Based on doing this activity, the thesis is "As time progressed, religion has gone from being used by the powerful to keep their power to being used by the powerless to fight for equality for minorities."Examples of how this is true is how All four agents of the powerless used non-violence to spread their message but violence ended up creeping into their lives. Martin Luther King said in his speech, quoting his daughter, "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?" This is an example of violence being used against non-violent groups. The Dalai Lama wanted peace for his country and used non-violent ideas to show his message, “As you know, my own country - Tibet - is undergoing a very difficult period.  The Tibetans -particularly those who live under Chinese occupation - yearn for freedom and justice and a self-determined future, so that they are able to fully preserve their unique identity and live in peace with their neighbours.” Additionally, Oscar Romero used religion to push for for social and political change. He says “Each week I go about the country listening to the cries of the people, their pain from so much crime, and the ignominy of so much violence.” Gandhi used religion in order to bring equality for minorities. He states “Non-violence is the first article of my faith.  It is the last article of my faith”. On the other hand, Pope Urban used his significant power in the religious community to manipulate and persuade his followers to fight for something that would increase his power. He states “And when this speech had already begun to be noised abroad, little by little, through all the regions and countries of Gaul, the Franks, upon hearing such reports, forthwith caused crosses to be sewed on their right shoulders, saying that they followed with one accord the footsteps of Christ, by which they had been redeemed from the hand of hell.” The themes that can be made are "Equality for All vs. Segregation: The powerful used religion as the platform of the Caste System, making the system holy, and preventing rebellion." Also, "Expanding and Gaining Power. The powerful used religion to expand and maintain their power, while the powerless used religion as a tool to gain power in order to ultimately achieve justice for all." The last theme is Violence and nonviolence: The powerful used violence to gain more power and to be feared by the powerless. The powerless did not use violence and mainly used peace as their way of advertising.

Gandhi As An Agent Of The Powerless

• Based on the articles on Gandhi, I found out how it's mainly about how h

is nonviolent ethics as evidenced in the biography show his usage of religion as an agent of the powerless, because he both believed in nonviolence and also needed to use it because the authority was not on his side and he could not have protested if he was violent. The social activism of Mohandas Gandhi is important because it helped to fight racial discrimination against Indians and anybody who was discriminated. It gave a voice to the ones who did not have one, the minority, and used religion to promote the flaws of the world. The important facts I found out about Gandhi was how he came from a vending background, and as he grew older he tried to be a lawyer but failed since he was shy. Something that foreshadowed his interest in being an activist of religion was his desire of wanting to represent something larger than him. Later on he became a spokesman for a minority of Indian laborers and the Indian indentured servants, who suffered from discrimination based on their race. This was where he started to develop his skills as a leader, as an advocate who supported minorities, and how to argue with a group more powerful than his. Additionally, it shows how in 1919, he organized a protest against the Rowlatt Act, which proposed to use wartime legislation during peacetime, and add other laws that Gandhi didn't approve of. And the way they protested wasn't through violence, but through not working. Gandhi became a theoretical leader of the Indian National congress, which aimed to achieve independence for India through nonviolent means. Because he had various experiences with the action regarding spreading ideas upon something bigger, he had a good understanding of how to lead and a good idea on when to continue or abandon something. He was imprisoned in 1930 and 1933 for his campaign of civil disobedience, in which during this he performed a hunger strike. He wasn't actively doing anything with a real misdemeanor, yet he was put in prison multiple times during this campaign. Lastly, it shows how he was murdered by a Hindu fanatic, who feared Gandhi's radical ideas. But to conclude, the intent I found by the author was to show that Gandhi made a big influence in the world and how people think of non violence, even though he didn't have money or political power. He demonstrated this by inspiring others to protest with him, in a non violent way.

Exercising Religious Power

• This article basically explains about a judge who had been torturing people to the point of their confession of being a witch learned many things about witchcraft.  He discusses it with a man named Peter of Gruyeres, who had much experience in persecuting witches.  They converse about the severity of a witch’s death. Once you are accused of being a witch, you are stuck as a witch. You’re going to be murdered, but there are ways to make your death less cruel. If you admit to your sins and being a witch, you’ll be murdered, but in the least severe way possible. However, if you don’t admit to being a witch, you’re death will be as cruel as can be imagined. Additionally, from what we learned about the other article, t
  he event is that the priests are creating a system of interrogating citizens who were thought to be participating in other beliefs that could pose as a threat to the church. What I was able to find similar between these two events is the fact that the targets are the civilians believed to have distinct beliefs from their religion. Whoever is against them are considered their enemy, since they pose a threat to their religion and the only way to solve this problem is through death, so the other citizens won't choose to do what the other's did, in order to have a faith like that.

Missionaries

Based on reading this, what was significant about this article was the fact of how missionaries that arrived into other countries and had a great impact in other people's lives. To start of, Missionaries set off on journeys in order to recruit new followers for their religion, and in some cases, they were accompanied with government officials. By converting other people, in which were indigenous people of either Africa, the Americas, or Asia, their religion would become more superior and other's will follow them. Later on, they weren't considered any good by the indigenous due to the fact that along with their journeys, they were involved with slave trading, which became more frequent each time. But whatever happened, missionaries should be considered important because of the thousands of individuals they converted to their religion. I guess the world would be distinct if they didn't ever convert these people. Missionaries of Buddhism and Christianity have had their differences. For example, they are different with the fact that Buddhist missionaries used non-violence, unlike the Christians, who caused violence in order to get people to convert based on the reality they lived in. Additionally, Christians felt as if it was their duty to create a better world by converting Christians, while Buddhism taught those willing to listen. The difference is that Christianity has advanced farther than Buddhism has.

The Crusades

Based on reading this article, What I found most significant is how this event was able to affect both Islam and Christianity. To begin with, Islam was created in the 600's B.C., by Mohammad. There were similar things that Islam had with Christianity. For example, both of these religions are monotheistic, or believe in one god. This being the fact, they both needed to work in order to bring as much people to their religion as possible to make it stronger, and the way they accomplished this was through missionary work. The significant places where Christianity managed to spread were east of Europe, while Islam spread through the middle east, Africa, and parts of Spain. Being Monotheistic, they had disagreements, and each religion attempted to be more successful than the other. Christianity was able to be an agent of the powerful, due to the fact that in 1095, Pope Urban, the pope of the Christian church at that time, gave a speech to all the Christians, motivating them to join a Crusade to end the growth of Islam, since it's harming their church and holy land. Additionally, he stated that for all the people that joined this, they would earn a free ticket to heaven, in which many people desired, because of the image of Heaven being the most beautiful place in the world. People would also believe him since they're assuming whatever the pope says comes directly from God. As stated in the text, this would also relate to the speech Osama Bin Laden gave, since they each had the same motives for people to join them. Then, there were many wars fought between the Muslims and the Christians, where not only did each religion fight, but had an opportunity to get to share each other's religion, so cultural diffusion was established, where each religion took part of the other, through trade and brought it back with them. However, they didn't achieve their goal, since Islam continues to grow.

South Asia Project

Islam:

1) Islam was revealed in the year 570 CE when the prophet Muhammad was born, it’s a monotheistic religion worshipping Allah (Muslim word for God) by praying 5 times a day and other main beliefs or pillars which all have to do with worship and social justice. Similar beliefs about interactions with God to Sikhism. Muhammad, the final Muslim prophet, is highly praised, much of Islam is based on his migration from Medina to the holiest city of Mecca. Centered in Mecca, where Muslims must make a pilgramige to every year. Early growth of Islam is the result of violent, militaristic conquests. Created a distinct political reputation for Muslims, that they fought for religion but were motivated by greed.

2) Sunni and Shi’a are two main groups in Islam, they both agree on the fundamental beliefs and practices of Islam, but have mostly political, social, or ethnic differences. These differences started when Muslims needed to figure out who would lead Islam after Muhammad died in 632 CE. Sunnis believe that Muhammad chose Abu Bakr, a close friend of his, to lead the Islamic state and community. Shi’as believe that he chose Ali, his son-in-law and cousin to succeed him. Abu Bakr ended up succeeding him. They both have evidential claims to why they think their respective leaders should have been the successor.

3) Sufism is a section of Islam. Sufis are not actually mentioned by Muhammad, but they practice currently. They can be found in Sunni and Shi’a groups, but they are the highest order of Islam. They are the people that dedicate all of their time to worshipping Allah. They are formed into Tariqas, or orders. Some Tariqas say that they can trace their roots back to the teachers of Muhammad. Sufis have contributed a lot to Islam, many of their teachings come from Sufis.

4) Akbar was the third ruler of the Indian Mughal Empire from 1558 to 1603. He was a Muslim as were his predesessors, however the majority of their subjects were Hindus. He was strongly influenced and interested by Sufism. He had experienced the true oneness of God or in his case Allah, as referenced in all monotheistic faiths, including Sufism. He had debates with Hindu, Christian, and other religious scholars, he was very tolerant of all religious. He insitituted a number of policies to make his subjects completely allowed and encouraged to practice their faith, this also encouraged them to be more loyal to him. He even showed an example by letting his Hindu wives continually practice their religion. He also repealed various taxes on non-Muslims. Eventually, he declared himself a new religion he created which was a blend between Islam, Hinduism, and Zoroastrianism. His religion never grew, because some Muslim official were never very tolerant of different religions.

*5) The Ottoman empire was based on the practices of Islam, and it was one of the largest empires throughout all of history. It took rule in 1301 and fell in 1922, but was at first very instable. It grew substantially because there were fighters who forced Christians to convert to Islam. The Ottoman empire replaced the Byzantine empire, so the former Byzantine capital, Constantinople, became the Ottoman capital. The success of this empire is due to many factors including centralized government, unity under one religion, and the same family ruling for generations and generations.

Buddhism:

1) Buddhism is based on Siddhartha Gautama’s journey to spritual enlightenment. Siddhartha Gautama was a Hindu in Lumbini, present day Nepal. He lived in India when he was older, where Hinduism comes from. He was born in 490 BCE to an upper class home and was sheltered from the sufferings in life. He was strongly affected by seeing suffering old men on the streets, he saw a religious elderly man who was not in pain like the rest. From this, he was inspired to search for the path to enlightenment or understanding. He traveled and tested out different philosohpies, but was most satisfied when he pursued, “The Middle Way”, the middle way does not involve strict self-restriction of goods, nor does it require a person to be ignorant and gluttonous. One day meditating under a tree, Siddhartha Gautama achieved enlightenment and became the Buddha.

2) Critical aspect of Indian philosophy is attaining enlightment or liberation, also known as nirvana.

there is no self. One self is an illusion created by the interactions of the five aggregates or elements.

Buddha emphasized that nirvana is neither eternal life or annihilation because of the idea that there isn't a self to be destroyed or given eternal life. Illusion is seen as knowledge of the mode of existence. There is no god in Buddhism. Buddhism is based on teachings or dharma, not about deities. Buddha is another meaning for the awakened one. Buddhism is established in present day Cambodia in 100 b.c and in Vietnam in 150 b.c. in the 3rd century Buddhism spreads through Persia through trade.

*3) Shakya Muni is a Hindu god but was a Buddhist, similar to Jesus Christ being Jewish. Shakya Muni preached Buddhist sayings, not new things but things that the Buddha already taught. There is the ceremonial and the spiritual part of Hinduism, in the spiritual part there is no caste system so everybody is equal which very much emmulates Buddhist philosophy. Hinduism and Buddhism are very similar in both their locations and part of their beliefs.

4) During 250 B.C and forward, people of southeast Asia knew about Buddhism due to the fact that they had increased contact with Indian merchants who came to the region for trade. They had established trading centers in that region, bringing their culture and religion with them. Through cultural diffusion, people began to have a mixture of Buddhism and Hinduism. But during the 11th century, the significant way that Buddhism expanded was through rulers and monks. When the Chines moved to Northern Thailand for trade, there was a ruler named Khmer King, and he ruled the northern Thai. However, there came the time that another ruler, named Rama Kamheng, who freed the kingdom from Khmer’s power. After taking control, Rama encouraged people to practice Buddhism. After that, in the 8th century, another ruler named Saliendra adopted Buddhism in the Java Island, building monuments, and temples. However, after 5 years, Islam came to the Island, soon after being the predominant religion, although there are still few Buddhists living there.

5) Today, China is governing Tibet. This had become possible since in 1949, the Chinese government captured Tibet. The major affect that this had was that there were many riots and uproars occurring. As this continued to occur, the government officials of Tibet fled to Dharamsala,India. For those that weren’t able to flee, they were killed. Tibet’s leader today, Dalai Lama, is also in India, and because of this, the Chinese want to kill him. From the riots, a total of 1.2 million civilians of Tibet were killed and 6,200 monasteries were demolished.

Sikhism:

1) Founded in the Punjab by Guru Nanak (born 1469 death 1539) in the 15th Century CE and is a monotheistic religion.  Sikhs think religion should be practiced by living in the world and coping with life's everyday problems, which is a similar concept to Buddhism.  Some major beliefs are that: everyone has a direct connection to god, there is one god, everyone is equal before god, god is neutral in appearance and gender, being part of a community and being helpful to others is important, no religious ceremonies or rituals. Sikhists believe in karma and reincarnation.  Guru Nanak grow up in a Hindu household and had Islamic friends. When he was an adult he had a revelation and learned that there wasn’t Hinduism and Islam for they were worshiping the same god.  He tried to blend the cultures to appeal to those of the other faiths and allow his massage to be heard.

2.  Diwali, the festival of lights also a hindu holiday late october or early november

symbolises the release of Guru Hargobind and 52 princes from prison in 1619

It goes that when asked the emporer said he would release Guru, but when he was asked to also release the 52 princes he said he would only allow them to leave if they held up his cape made up of exactly 52 strings so each prince held exactly one.  In celebration the lights of the Golden Temple were lit in celebration and are lit in celebration of this every year.  The holiday is a time to light lanterns and lights along with exchanging gifts and cleaning up your house.  (Mostly it’s almost exactly like Christmas)

*3.  Amritsar Massacre in April 1919 General E H Dyer ordered troops to fire at 10,000 Indians killing 400 and injuring 1000.  The British promoted him, but forced him to immediately forced him to retire added to Indian independence movement.  Some historians regard this as the start of the British rule’s decline.

4. 1947 Indian Independence Sikhs too few for own state between India and Pakistan.  Sikhs joined with India to keep part of Punjab their home area but were badly treated. Islamics broke off to create Pakistan and go off from India. They lost land and rights as a result of all this.

1966 After a lot of push from the Sikhs India divided Punjab into 3 and gave Sikhs a majority and made it a state.  Although the Sikhs found the state lines unfairly drawn and although happy for the state they still demanded more from the government.

5.  The fifth guru, Guru Arjan (1563-1606), built the Golden Temple and Adi Ganth (“original collection”).  The Golden Temple became the religious monument for Sikhism and was surrounded by a pond for protection.  The Adi Ganth became the major book for Sikhism and was created from the writings of holy saints, himself and other gurus he collected the hymns for the book.  After which the Islam emperor demanded he convert, and resisting he eventually died from torture. The Adi Ganth is divided into two sections, first the Japji, a decently long poem by Guru Nanak describing the religion and how god is indescribable. The second is 39 rags (“tunes”) by Guru Nanak and later gurus. The third piece is a collection of works, including hymns and poems from Hindu, Muslim and Sikh gurus and saints.

Hinduism:

1) Hinduism: Hinduism is known as the worlds oldest religion. It is traced from 5000-10000 b.c. It originated in India and is based on teachings from the Veda. Hindus believe in one god named Braham, however, they view other gods as manifestations from him. their main goal in this religion is seeking salvation. Buddhism plays an important role in influencing Hinduism due to the way the parables and stories were used as religious instruction, Indian art, sculpture, and education. Additionally, when Aryans began to travel southward towards India in 1500 B.C., they conquested the land. Since their nature is warlike, this is still preserved in the Vedic religion, the foundation of Hinduism. The mode of worship that is still preserved in Hinduism is marriage, prayer for abundance of children, rain, cattle, and long life.

2) In 1320, french missionaries began to arrive in India. One significant missionary, named Jordanus Catalania arrived in Surat in 1323. He changed religion in India since he revived Christianity and brought thousands of Christians with him. Not only that, but when Portugese missionaries, which were mainly Roman catholic, arrived, they expanded their bases on the west coast. They had the determination of converting all Indians to their religion. They succeeded, since they converted most of them. Additionally, in Bombay, High class Hindus were converted by the Portugese in the 16th century. Most of the Hindus were descendants of the Christian community formed by St. Barthmolew and are considered as Portugese Christians.However, the changes that occured was that beginning in the 18th century, Protestant missionaries were in India, building different Christian communities.

3) In 1984 Hindus and Sikhs became at war with one another.  Discontent on each side went into politics and came to violence.  In June Preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale became a leader of the most angry Sikhs.  He was commonly falsely thought of as a representative of all Sikhs.  Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers took refuge in the Golden Temple Complex. The Hindus then had operation “Blue Star” sending in troops killing Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s Sikhs and severely damaging the temple, the most holy Sikh location.  When the Sikhs heard this they found that the Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi had order this and found it completely against their religion and community, so in October 1984 she was killed by two Sikh bodyguards.  The next four days was anti India rioting and the government said 2,700 people died primarily Sikhs even though the newspapers and human rights groups said 10-17 thousand died.

4.) In 1947, during the post Indian independence, thousands of people were attending mass ceremonies where Hindu Dalits were converting to Buddhism and Christianity. The events occurring in Nagpur were part of a protest against the injustice of the Caste system. The dalits, who were once known as untouchables, wanted to escape the prejudice and discrimination they were facing at the time. Most laws that were created in order to protect the Dalit’s rights were ineffective. Although the Caste system was outlawed after India gained it’s independence in 1947, Dalit’s say that people’s attitude towards them are still the same. Many of the ways they are still treated based on the Caste system is that they are often expected to do many menial jobs. Additionally, in many villages they aren’t allowed to drink water from the wells used by the high caste Hindus.

5.) In 2002, there was Gujarat violence or riots between Hindu and Muslim communities in Gujarat. According to official figures, 1044 people were killed during the riots. Of those people, 497 were Muslim and 790 were Muslim. All of this violence erupted after the Godhra train burning, where a train carrying Hindu fundamentalists was burned near the train station of Godhra by a Muslim mob. The riots began the very next day after that and continued for several months. These riots had been controversial due to the fact that there were a number of human rights groups accusing the Hindu government of active complicity in the violence, and failing to bring justice upon the state of Guajarat. However, in 2004, it was found that the fire was actually accidental.

Battle of Tours

What I learned based on this article was the significance between this battle, which occurred on October 10, 732, in which the people involved were the "Franks"and the invading Islamic army. The outcome of this battle is that the Islamic army was defeated, in which this had been significant since it not only stopped the northward advance of Islam, but all Islamic conquests. Christianity, in turn, grew more as a religion, surviving the point where it almost never existed. However, we must recognize how devastating the world would've been if the Islamic group won the battle. If this happened, in other words, Christianity probably wouldn't exist, and the Muslim's would've taken conquest over Italy and all of Europe. Many of the significant events that have occurred because of religion would've changed in favor of Islam, not Christianity. I am surprised at the fact that Muslims didn't win even if it had more men. I believed strategy was vital in how each army fought, determining how dominant it can be.

Islam: Empire of Faith

Based on watching this film, I found interesting the new things I found about this religion. For example, what I learned was more about Mohammad, who was born in 570 A.D., and based on his personality, he was a trustworthy individual, solved disputes, and was also a merchant. Additionally, what was significant in Islam history was that an angel came to Mohammad in the form of a human in a mountain in Mecca. What this angel told him was that there is only one god in the world. The Kaaba, played a role with new cultures due to the fact that it served to not only spark trade, but more interactions with new cultures, so cultural diffusion.  Also, when it talk about edit, distinct groups had been united since in the desert, people needed water and fields for their food. The conflict that Muslim face is Monotheism vs. Polytheism. Islam, which is basically based on faith, wasn't accepted in Mecca, so Muhammad moved to Medina, where he later returned to Mecca, taking control of the entire region. However, after Muhammad died in 632, his father took control of Islam, conquering Syria, Egypt, and Northern Africa. Lastly, as time slowly passes by, Islam soon spreads to Arabia and Central Asia.