Abraham, A Triangle of Faith

What is the significance of Abraham in the history of the world? I wouldn’t necessarily say, that it's Abraham himself who is significant with his impact on history, but instead, I’d say that its the relationship between him and his two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, that has had the most significance. Through his sons, be it, Isaac or Ishmael, people most belonging to Judaism or Islamic faiths have tried to claim their link to Abraham as the strongest. In the pod cast, it was mentioned how in the biblical scriptures(?) it says that all are children of Abraham, and in the Christian bible, it is said that gentiles can also become children of Abraham. This confused me. How can that happen, people who are neither can still become it? I think it's interesting how depending from what religion's perspective you see it through, the story of Abraham and his two sons changes, and they inspire different emotions. In 'Speaking of Faith' they mention something about the original story of Abraham, but how do they know what that story is? Is based on which one can be traced back farthest? Because if so, there is not prove that it is the original, it could have been modified.

Somewhere along the story, Sarah asks Abraham for the servant and his son, Ishmael, to leave, and god basically tells him, Listen to Sarah because your offspring will continue through Isaac. I will make a nation of Ishmael too, so don’t worry. The significance of the rivalry between the brothers, Isaac and Ishmael, is important when contrasting the history that the faiths that claim to have developed through them, Muslims through Ishmael and Jews through Isaac, have had. This is because although at one point, Muhammad, and the Islamic values, was open to the various interpretations on the story, once Judaism shifted the story to better suit them, Islam did the same. From what I came to understand, Abraham is presented in the religions as the ideal believer, in Judaism, they make modifications to better present him, example, they make him kosher. In Islam, Abraham is a Muslim, and carries the values out very well, while in Christianity, the story is just used as an example to show how Abraham did not kill his son Isaac, therefore did not love enough, but on the other hand, God allowed Jesus crucifixion, meaning he favored him.  But then the Jewish faith change it's story and said that in actuality, he did die. But this doesn’t make sense to me. Maybe if one takes the saying if you love set them free, but I don’t really think it applies to this either way. I also don’t understand how in the story of Abraham, when he has to take Isaac and sacrifice him, an angel comes down and tells him not to because he has now shown that he fears god. Why would it be necessary for him to prove that he fears god? Why does he need to fear god? Couldn’t it be out of respect and not fear? In pod cast, it's mentioned how Abraham achieved in death what he did not achieve in life. In his death funeral, Isaac and Ishmael stand side by side to morn his death. They are rivals, opposing leaders, and have a dislike for one another, but at that moment, they are not any of the above but are brothers. They have Abraham in common. Maybe this is the significance of Abraham and his sons; they represent hope and unity, and existence in harmony, because although Ishmael and Isaac were different from one another, in the end, they came together.

Akhenaten

In my mind, Akhenaten is a visionary. Although his attempt at a monotheistic faith partially failed, the attempt itself left a huge mark. Even with all that we have talked about in class as to why he might have had decided to switch the faith, it still puzzles me and I still do not understand. It is hard for me to imagine how the idea of going from many gods, to only one could appear, and a man, a very powerful man, a pharaoh, but nonetheless, one, could have come up with the idea that had not yet been presented. To me it seems that some people were ready for a change, you know because the world is always changing... But clearly, not enough people were because the monotheistic religion where Aten, a sort of kind of, derivate of Amen-re, was the all mighty one god. So what would have happened if Akhenaten's reign had lasted a bit longer? I mean, from what I found, he was pharaoh for approximately only 17 years... that’s not much time. So if it took only 17 years for the belief in a monotheistic faith to settle and although minimal, stay around, what could have happened if his reign would have lasted a little longer? There are many ways it could have gone, but that’s not what this post is about.

This post is about the ways that the small time it did last, impacted the spread of it. So back to what I found out, 17 years of reign under Akhenaten and his new religion, 17 years also happens to be the time that one whole new generation takes to develop almost all of their basic ways of thinking. So, I'm guessing that after the death of Akhenaten, things slowly went back to normal, normal being worshipping all the old gods, and embracing once again the former way of thinking and worshipping, and praying and living... But the generation, as I would guess could have been against this change considering they had grown up with Akhenaten's religion, not all of them, or course because even during Akhenaten's reign, there were people that stuck to their old ways. Anyway, with most of the young generation being rebellious to the change, something was bound to happen.

So as we discussed in class, the link between Egypt and Judaism is clear. And not too long before the whole Moses story and migration from Egypt thing, what happened? Yes, the Akhenaten religious reign occurred! So Judaism derivates from the monotheistic religion involving Aten, but interestingly enough, Christianity is said to be sprung from Judaism, all in all, the three mayor monotheistic faiths we have now are all in some way connected to one another, and with this being, they are then all existent and connected to the first one, the one Akhenaten created. Weird is it not, that everything seems to connect in history? I think so. But it’s also interesting. I can barely image what life would be like now if we had never moved away from paganism/ polytheistic faiths.

How to use a Guideline

Religion, past and present, has always had a big impact in human life. Just think about it, strong devotees to strong disbelievers, and still, its impact has not changed. Why is this? Why has religion become such a big part of our lives, even those who claim not to belong to any? Is it necessary? Can we as humans, live without believing in some kind of higher person, deity, energy, force, call it what you may, and still interact the way we do now? Religion plays a large part of life in society. Depending on your group's overall ideology, the way your beliefs are expressed highly influence the way in which you are seen inside that group. Even among non-believers, one cant help know of other religions and some of their main ideas, values, or morals, and base judgment on that knowledge, sometimes such occurrences when this knowledge comes out, can be viewed on badly but isn’t that what religion is for? At least the way I see it, religion is a set of guidelines on how to behave and basically on how to live one’s life. Through the passage of time, decades and centuries, we as conscious beings have indulged ourselves in religions both polytheistic and monotheistic. We have gone from strong believers to questionnaire-ees and some deny- ers. Why could this be?

First of all, what is the ultimate goal of a guideline? The goal of a guideline is to set up a successful way in which to begin making decisions. From there, it provides basic steps to continue moving towards whatever that something may be. Guidelines are not meant to be followed line by line, word by word, but instead, are meant to inspire ways to make good choices that would lead to success. But while much of our population does believe religions serve as a kind of guideline, there are those that disagree. Such that disagree are usually the most devoted, the extremist, they interpret their religion almost close to literally. But the fact that these kind of believers have diminished in number leads me to think, if we take into account the idea of religions serving as guidelines, and guidelines being used to help start off something, could it be that we are slowly moving away from it like a child moves away to college? Could it be that this means that we are now ready to leave religion, and if so, where would we go? I mean, this makes me go back to the question, is possible for us humans to ever stop believing in a higher power, completely?

Human Interactions

Honestly, I am not sure in what I believe, or even if I do believe in anything. So in this blog post, I don't want to sound like an atheist and I don't want to bash other people's beliefs. But if I were to take the sort of non-believer way of thinking, I would have to say that religion is and was basically an invention of humans. Yes, many can debate this, but many can also support this. I think that to some point, it is true. Through out history, there have existed many religions, with various differentiating beliefs. Somebody must have created religion, right? Or discovered? But it must have come somehow. The way I see it, religion is admiration at a higher level. It is both devotion and praise. From what I have noticed, most religions revolve around human emotions and decisions. So religion itself must have been based upon the ideas created by someone or some people..? These ideals were then compacted together and given names, and a form. I don’t understand how religions came to be so influential in history. I mean, yes religions have many sublevels to it, etc, etc. but even so, if it was to be summed up, one could say it is the belief in a higher power. But this belief in gods and goddesses, or god, how can it be any different from the belief in something like oxygen. We can see it, but we still believe it, we know it exists. The oxygen atom was discovered somewhere around 1774, but its not like before that date oxygen did not exist.  You do not hear of people creating scriptures or historical sightings, or anything of that type on oxygen, its just there. So why are deities different? Why is it that it has survived so long? Yes, deities are more than just something that is there, but that is now, after we created religion to go along with it, after we gave that "thing" a title, and along with it/ them some level of power.

So in reality, how much of religion is shaped by human interaction? Well, I would say the majority of it is shaped by human interactions. Values are constantly changing, many things that are considered acceptable now, were not considered acceptable decades ago. How do these values change? These values most commonly change through interaction between different cultures. When ideas merge and cultural diffusion occurs. A great example of merging cultures, ideals, and values, is the United States. People immigrate to the United States, as do many to other countries, but the diverse quantity that exist here and in places like the United States allow for cultural diffusion to occur at a large scale. Values also change through discoveries, made by humans, whose knowledge is them spread via... human interactions!  And what are values? Values are similar to morals. According to an online dictionary, values are a person's principles or standards of behavior, or one's judgment of what is important in life. In other words, values are not something divine, they are what humans have and use, as guidance to what is right and what is wrong.

Maddie, Dora, I and death

The average person now days, sees religion no longer as a necessity, but rather as a gift, or a bonus. There are still some that do see it as necessity and as a way that all should live life but even those (the extremists, radicals, or orthodox) have boundaries with the topic of God and on what is the best method used to getting near God. In class yesterday, Maddie and I both got into a conservation debate that was brought on by Dora. We discussed the validity of after life and the concept of being conscious of oneself, even after death. We thought of all the possible ways our "lives" could continue after we died, could it be faintly loosing once self in the abyss, being rewarded for good done, or disappearing completely into nothingness. In the conversation, I learned things about both Maddie and Dora that I otherwise might not have come to meet, or know about.

I felt as if each one of us represented a level found in believe. For example Dora represents the vast majority of people. She is afraid of dying and fears the unknown. If she could, she would live on forever. Maddie represents the minority of people who do not feel fear, who are open to whatever comes, and would be fine if nothing ever came. My way of thinking is one found in the other majority of people, but expressed out load in only a few.  I fear death and the unknown but am willing to face it, I also claim to know more than I actually do know, so i am actually stuck in between Maddie and Dora. But that’s the thing about religion, you can’t classify it into levels and say that is all there is to it because its always changing. Even though we do classify people into such categories, there are also so many sub levels to those, and then more to those sub levels... In my mind, its just something that should not be done because it could go on for a long time. 
But religion it self is so easily split, as was mentioned in class, it isnt just a way of thinking, its a way of reasoning, its a way of analyzing things that are hard to understand, its the way humans have for centuries bonded, connected, and also disperced, split, and died. Maybe its the power religion has, something that many devote themselves to with both fear and love. Maybe that is why we nowadays have shifted away from that because while it has the potential to help mantain order, it also can create too much at a level where it is no longer okay. Death is a very important point in religion because I think that the way death is viewed in ones mind, connects strongly to the way life is lived. So in the end of the conversation, we had gotten nowhere that we could agree on completely.

War on Stars

The things one discovers when topics are explored, and ordinary things are turned around so as to show a hidden side you had never even thought of, is a very curious and interesting thing. Art has in itself encoded so many different points of views, and while sometimes there are undoubtedly some that appear to have no real importantly critical points, they always have some type. I think this because art is a form of expression and in it, one's morals, values, ideologies, analysis of topics, and dislikes, are all very well reflected.

Although I had never watched all the Star Wars movies, or in fact, have ever even watched on entire movie of it, I feel as if I should have noticed the connection of religion to it, or at least should have formed some kind of idea concerning its message. It worries me that such things can pass by unnoticed and yet be so present, so as to seem so obvious when it is realized. 


Out of all movies, Star Wars was definitely not a movie that I expected to watch in History class to explore and get our first glimpse into what this new theme on Religion and it's effects on us throughout history has to offer. I was extremely surprised at the realization of the message in the movie, relating religion and mixing different views we have now, both monotheism and polytheism views.

The realization that Star Wars caused me made me want to further explore everyday media and the way such topics as religion are represented in it, and presented to us. I suppose that most of these representations of religion, must be either minimal, or extremely well designed so as to be able to avoid hurt feelings, accusations concerning religious freedom, and etc. I wonder if such media also has on effect on the way we view religion, therefore also affecting the way in which we think and make decisions? 
Religion is mostly difficult for one to understand which is why it is hard to describe. Even for the religious, religion is a uneasy target to explore because no one has any concrete idea as to where or hoe the idea of it originated but the effects it has been very impacting to all, even now.

The Extremes in Beliefs

 How does religion shape the way people understand and respond to the worlds around them? Religion takes many shapes in daily life, from decision making to generating ideas, from stereotyping to creating first impressions to attaching emotion to memories. I think that most of us, even though we might not notice, are constantly influenced by religion, whichever religion that might be, and whether you identify yourself with the belief or not. Although I do not consider myself a catholic, or identify myself with any type of Christian faith, or any other, I cannot deny that the religious lessons I had come across in my young childhood, do affect my way of thinking now, not always, but every now and then.  I do not choose for it to be so, but one cannot help thinking a certain way when it has become a part of your reasoning, and as long as you have some knowledge of it, it will be used to analyze the world around you.

But every mind is different; people view religion in different ways. There are those who believe that their religion is one and only, so it must be followed word by word, these are typically radicals, or the orthodox. There are also the most common ones, these range in intensity, they believe that as a part of the religion, they must believe, embrace, accept, and practice, the main idea of what the religion is. Then there are those who believe that their religion serves as a guideline to life from which's values are vast in amount, but are not entirely necessary; therefore offer them with the opportunity to choose in what to have faith in.

Some people believe that those with strong religious ties have stronger values, a more defined sense of respect, morality, and a better developed judgement… I disagree. The mentality that an individual has when referring to their faith, or lack of faith, highly impacts not necessarily the values they have but more of the way in which those values are applied. An agnostic or atheist can have just as good values as an orthodox, I don’t think that the severity and strength of religion in an individual specifically affects their persona, but what if affected, is the way its interpreted and applied.

When I was young, my grandmother basically raised me until I was four. Her being a devote Catholic did not specifically affect me. Her teachings reflected her form of thinking, and were therefore transmitted to me. I did not question her teachings until I had turned seven, slightly forming my own opinion on religion, maybe it was the absence of her devotedness when being taught, or perhaps it was my own father’s lack of faith that drove me to declaring myself free of religion when I turned twelve. But me at twelve no longer is me, now. Although I do not consider myself a Catholic, when asked, I sometimes say I am. Is it that maybe I fear rejection due to my lack of belief or is it me just searching for a title to suit me? Could religion be possibly abolished completely, and have future generations never know about it? Or is the need to believe in something, just part of being human? It’s the baby steps in the development from child to adolescent to adult that best help see how religion affects and shapes the way people act in response to the world.

A small observation I have made in my life, concerning religion, is that most of those who seem the most devote are those who’ve suffered a great deal. Could it possibly be that it is because they seek safety or a better chance?  Does social class affect the level of devotedness/ faith?