Reflections on the Term

With our Intro to Religious Studies course nearly over, I would say that the most interesting and all-encompassing (meaning it is a characteristic of seemingly every religion) concept that we have talked about is the so-called "perception of convenience". This concept also relates to the idea that religion and culture are dynamic systems that form an inter-causal relationship; in other words, the two are continually influencing each other. I think that many people, including myself at one time, regard religions as universal and fixed institutions. Throughout the term, however, I think that I have learned how much religions change over time, and how they are originally created in order to provide a rationale for the universe, and as such are more or less simply a convenient way of viewing the world. We have seen this through the Psalms, which portray a sometimes violent world in which one can supplicate God for the destruction of one's enemies. Although this seems to us today a somewhat savage teaching, it was a necessary way of life for the Jews at a time when they were often subject to war. We also saw a convenient perception in the Bay Psalm Book translation of Psalm 2, giving a very old Psalm a modern, New World spin. And finally we saw this in the Kebra Negast, which gives a convenient but false legitimization for Christianity in Ethiopia.

This leads to the notion that religions and cultures are continually influencing one another. To me, this notion seemed somewhat contradictory to the concept of religion, which I viewed as claiming to be absolute, universal, divinely inspired, etc. But when these characteristics of religion are cast aside, the innumerable ways in which religion is shaped by and shapes culture become clear. For instance, the Rastafarian's beliefs were born out of the poverty and oppression that they faced from the Babylon culture, and yet now the Rastas are respected and have begun to influence Jamaican politics. This in turn affects how the Rastas view themselves, their desire for repatriation to Africa, and their place in Jamaica. In addition, we looked at Jane Addams and her work at Hull House, which was also a direct response to social conditions, in this case the extreme poverty faced by many (particularly immigrants) in urban Chicago. This may not have been a religion exactly, but Addams's efforts were certainly influenced by religious ideas, and she held her humanitarian ideals religiously. Her efforts have certainly made a large and lingering impact on social life at the very least in Chicago.

As our course is nearing its end, I feel that these characteristics are fundamentally linked to religion, and are perhaps the most profound additions to the way that I view religion.

The 19th Ward

According to the linked material, the streets surrounding Hull House are extremely densely populated with immigrants of various nationalities. Although these nationalities are relatively interspersed, probably having to resort to housing wherever it can be afforded, some have grouped into ghetto-like communities. This is particularly true of the Italian immigrants, who are particularly crouded into the northeast corner of map 1, and the Bohemian immigrants, who are clustered in the southern half of this section. Other than the Italian section, which has significantly lower wages, there seem to be no patterns to wage and nationality. Most of the nationalities seem to have their own trades and traditions that they bring from their homeland and try to implement in their new home, and they become separated from the other groups in this way. For instance, Greeks tend to have their own restaurants, grocery stores, and saloons; Jews often become brokers or contractors; Italian women often gather on the sidewalks on chairs and gossip (from "Chicago's Melting Pot - Neighborhoods Around Hull House). There are also many brothels, particularly in map 4, but these are mostly occupied by English speakers. People of a common nationality also often set up their own religious institutions based on the traditions of their homeland. Nationalities can be distinguished by all these characteristics. The public space is limited to streets and alleys, and though groups are interspersed throughout, there seems to be little social mingling. These streets and alleys, littered with trash (as seen in the linked photos) are the only areas for children to play.

Twenty Years at Hull House

In reading the text by Jane Addams, I find that there is indeed a religious content in the nature of the humanitarian work done by the volunteers at Hull House. In my opinion, the issue is not whether Addams was religiously motivated, because the social work seems to take the place of religion. For instance, although there is no deity or worship involved in the social work, the act of striving to help people, in itself gives the volunteers a sense of meaning and purpose such as a religion would provide. In a sense, it is a structure or framework in which they can make sense of the world, and provides an object - relieving the suffering of others - that, to them, is an end in itself. Whereas in religion, the object of life is often to prepare for the afterlife, which is the end for which a believer strives, in Jane Addams's humanitarian work, the work is the end: "for many people without church affiliations the vague humanitarianism the Settlement represented was the nearest approach they could find to an expression of their religious sentiments" (p.152). In this sense, it resembles a sort of secular religion (having no afterlife), in which the workers strive to make earth a more 'heavenly' place: "this dream that men shall cease to waste strength in competition and shall come to pool their powers of production is coming to pass all over the face of the earth" (p. 142). From reading Addams's own words, you get the sense that she holds the humanitarian ideals for which she strives, such as equality and democracy, on a higher, almost religious plane. In fact, she even once refers to Hull House as "a Cathedral of Humanity" (p. 149). It also seems to me that Addams strives to be as 'God-like' as possible, in that she strives to love all men equally and actively carry out that ethic: "the things that make men alike are finer and better than the things that keep them apart, and these basic likenesses, if they are properly accentuated, easily transcend the less essential differences of race, language, creed, and tradition" (p. 111-12). Ultimately, I think that the work done at the Hull House was religious in nature, not because it was done in the name of God, but because the ideals were held by the social workers as universal truths, in which they put their faith to make a better earth.

In class on Friday, we were discussing whether Rastafarianism could exist without the conditions of political oppression from which it was born. It seems to me to be a complicated question, but I feel that were the Rastas to escape oppression (which to some extent they have), their beliefs would have to evolve in order to address a new set of challenges and issues. Rastafarianism grew out of the specific conditions in Jamaica, and the environment that the Rastas viewed as Babylon. If the Rastas somehow achieved a successful repatriation movement, many of their beliefs would no longer apply to their new environment. Probably, the Rastas would find that Africa did not live up to the perfect ideal that it is in their minds. An example of this is the group of repatriated Rastas who have yet to even achieve citizenship in Ethiopia. In this sense, the Rastafarian movement would inevitably evolve to deal with their new circumstances and goals, and though it would still be the same movement with many of the same symbols and core beliefs intact, within a few generations it would probably be different in many ways, too.

In some respects, I think that the Rastas are faced with this question, of being forced to evolve because of a change in the environmental conditions, now in Jamaica. This is caused by the overall acceptance and commercial exploitation of the Rastafarian image and symbols. The result of this dilution of Rasta culture into the broader Jamaican and even international culture, is that Rastas are no longer looked upon as lazy, violent drug-peddlers, but as bearers of the counter-culture. As Edmonds points out in chapter 5 of his book, many Rasta symbols and ideas were used by politicians in the 1972 elections in Jamaica. However, it may be the case that these tactics were merely political ploys, more examples of 'polytricks'. Because of these changes to the general view of Rastas, the Babylonian system has seemingly accomodated the Rastas, however the overall conditions for the Rastas have changed little. In other words, Babylon has appeased the Rastas somewhat by changing the general cultural view of them, making them feel like valued members of the culture, but the essential goals of the Rastas, such as reducing poverty and achieving repatriation, have not been reached. Now, the Rastas are faced with the task of evolving their beliefs and methods within Jamaican culture to truly achieve their goals.

Boboshanti Documentary

There seemed to be many things that confirmed our image of Rastafarians in the video, and a few things that stood out as being different. One of the first things that I noticed was the language that the Rastafarians spoke. Rather than the Patois that we learned about, these people spoke relatively good English, seemingly without their additional verbal idiosyncracies. Many characteristics seemed familiar from our reading, though. The Rastafarian community was full of the traditional Rasta colors (red, green, and yellow), particularly in the colors of the houses and Rastas' dress. The Rasta spiritual leader also spoke about their required use of dreadlocks (a symbol we commonly associate with Rastas), but in addition he described how in the Boboshanti community the dreadlocks must be wrapped in a turban as a symbol of the ancient Ethiopian dress. In the beginning of the video, they spoke about the most dedicated spiritual leaders preparing to cross the Atlantic to go to Ethiopia, confirming their desire for repatriation that we read about. In fact, I believe that one Rasta mentioned that Bobo means 'African children'. The community also showed a devout biblicism. Many signs were shown in the village containing biblical passages or messages. The Boboshanti community is also unique in that they celebrate the sabbath. This community also attempts to live off the land, taking great care of their fields. In fact, many villages have no electricity or running water, so they must use the land to make up for these comforts. I also think I saw one brief clip of a Rasta smoking a Ganja joint. One last thing that I noticed as confirming out discussion in class was that the Boboshantis did not have traditional jobs, but instead had only little side jobs such as manufacturing brooms and selling them inside. This is characteristic of their negative view of Babylon, which they associate with the "system", so they attempt to refrain from participating in the "system" by making money by their own means.

Symbols in Religion

http://l.yimg.com/www.flickr.com/images/spaceball.gif

I think that this picture offers many good examples of symbols in religion. It is a photograph of a Buddhist Temple in Chinatown in New York City. Both the black robes worn by those in the foreground and the orange robes worn by the monks in the background are symbols of the Buddhist religion. This is true of many religions, in which a certain type of clothing represents one's faith to their particular religion. Other examples of this type of religious garb are the Fez that was once worn in the mediterranean region and the Hijab worn by Muslims. The Fez was directly connected to the religion of those who wore it in that it was a brimless hat that allowed the wearer to touch his forehead to the ground during prayer. The Hajib is also directly related to Islam in that it is required by the Quran.

Other symbols depicted here include the three statues located above the dais. The figure is shown in a cross-legged position that is commonly associated as the Buddhist meditative stance. This figure may also be a representation of the Buddha, which would add another layer of symbolic meaning to the statue.

The reddish pads before which the figures are kneeling may also be symbols associated with prayer or meditation. There are likely other symbols depicted in the photo, though they are hard to make out exactly, but probably include the smaller statues or ikons located on the dais and on the shelves on the left side of the photo. These objects likely have symbolic meaning within the Buddhist religion, probably representing various qualities, concepts, or figures from Buddhist history.

Free post - On Christian Teaching

In this post, I would like to examine what Saint Augustine describes as "necessary before all else" in order to understand the Scripture, fear of God (Book 2, 16). Augustine states that this fear will inspire us to reflect on our mortality and impending death. However, fear of God begins to sound like faith by force. It seems counter-productive for a beneficent God to find it necessary to frighten his followers into their faith. This fear seems to imply that God is capable of punishing the unfaithful, which in turn seems to lead to many having faith simply because they have been intimidated by the fear of a wrathful or punishing God. I think that a faith based on awe of God's goodness and justness rather than one based on fear of God's power would be much more effective because the esteemed quality would be a more positive one.

Another aspect of Augustine's views that I take issue with is his belief that an interpretation of Scripture is correct if it is in line with "the great majority of catholic churches" (Book 2, 24). I think that this way of thinking can lead to trouble because the churches' views are subject to change with time. I am not particularly knowledgeable about the views of particular churches, but as a very general example, it would seem that at times of Inquisition movements within the catholic church, the church's views on what constitutes heresy and how to treat heresiarchs could change. This could lead a reader of Scripture to interprate a passage based on the church's intolerant view of heresy, and lead them to favor persecution of people simply expressing their beliefs. This is just an example of what I feel to be the problem with judging an interpretation's correctness or truthfulness based on whether it corresponds to the views of the majority of churches.