Review

I have been reviewing most of my classes the last couple days, what I like, what I don't like, that sort of thing. Personally, I really enjoyed my religion class, and it was probably the one I learned the most from this semester. (Now I just hope that my test reflects that). The class started with defining religion, which was really good because I didn't realize how one sided my definition was. I also like that it can be defined as worshiping anything, not just a god, but a team or group. People are considered a bit eccentric for worshiping a football team, but they can do it. We then went on to discuss what a pilgrimage is and the different common religions that include pilgrimage. I liked how the class was taught. I thought it was very interactive, which is helpful to most students. I really like the idea of blogging instead of writing formal papers, and I think it has less pressure for both the teacher and the student. For me, watching videos and relating a pilgrimage to myself as well as pop-culture helped further my understanding of some of the terms in the class. It was also very entertaining to see what other people came up with for their own projects, and even differing views on similar things, like the same book. I would say the one thing I didn’t like about this course is the reading of Siddhartha, not that it wasn’t a good book. It just didn’t capture my attention very quickly and I was pushing to read it the entire time. However, I’m glad I read it because it helped me understand some of the course material, but I somewhat wish it could have been a different book that I would have enjoyed more. That does often happen with classes and its to be expected.

Elvis' Graceland

Recently I have been doing some research on Elvis, and his property, Graceland. I have learned many things, like that Graceland is named after the previous owners' daughter, Grace. For those of you who don’t actually know who Elvis is, I am speaking of the "King" of Rock'n'Roll, Elvis Presley. He became famous after singing some songs like Hound Dog, Blue Suede Shoes, and Heartbreak Hotel. But that isn’t even how he got his start. Originally, Elvis was a teen-heartthrob actor in some adolescent oriented movies. When his producer realized that the girls went after the singing better than the movies, they asked if Elvis would be willing to make the switch from acting to singing. Elvis of course said yes, and the rest is history.
Graceland is the name that Elvis gave to his home before he died. Like I stated before, he named it after the former owners' daughter, but the name has become a common proper noun in America. It is located in Memphis, Tennessee, along with Elvis' hotel, the Heartbreak Hotel. It is also a common tourist destination, and I'm sure a source of income in Memphis. Some people go as far as to pilgrimage to Graceland, and I personally think some of these people are nuts.
There are two types of pilgrims that go to Graceland, the immigrant and the transient pilgrims. The immigrant pilgrims come from all over, to be where they can be loved and accepted by others who feel the same way about Elvis. “Everyone loves Elvis, and everyone who loves Elvis is loved.” I personally think that the immigrant pilgrims are a little crazy. The transient pilgrims believe that going to Graceland is like coming home, and it gives them a feeling of closeness with Elvis. I believe that these people may be different, but still just as crazy as the immigrant pilgrims.
The final group that goes to Graceland is the tourists. They tend to go to see what it was like, and out of curiosity. They do not believe that it brings them closer to Elvis, and are not crazy. If I went to Memphis, Tennessee I would probably go to Graceland like most tourists out of curiosity. And I would not mind going sometime in my life, just to see what Graceland is really like, he was, after all, the “King” of Rock’n’Roll.

Dr. Jane Caputi

Yesterday evening Doctor Jane Caputi, a professor at Florida Atlantic University, came to Morningside College to speak about her movie, Pornography in Everyday Life. She said pornography is being aroused by the use, overpowering or abuse of a person, commonly a girl. Her movie showed a series of images and clips where women were treated as sex objects, toys, and slaves to their master. Other images showed men dominating women, or comparing them to some thing to be controlled; a car is one example of this. There were also clips of Dr. Caputi speaking about the images and how these images came to be “accepted.” After viewing the movie Pornography in Everyday Life, we had a discussion on thoughts and feelings from the audience.
Overall I felt that this was an extremely interesting topic, and not something I had thought long about in the past. It really made me wonder how many people feel they should be over powered, or over powering, their partner, or even other people in their life. It was also fascinating to hear what reactions were of some of the audience members. I believe by the way some people spoke after watching the movie that they don’t see how deeply they have been influenced by some of these pictures that they have been seeing their whole life. Most people tend to not pay close attention to what is shown in an advertisement, other than the product(s) being advertised. This is were subliminal messaging and product placement become normal, and ethically tolerable.
Personally, I really like subliminal messaging, but it is almost always found as being used in a bad way. Often it shows how drugs or alcohol is marketed to children, or violence is shown in video games and movies. I don’t normally hear about how porn and even ads subliminally say that overpowering and dominating women is not only all right, but something that we should actually do. Something that women should enjoy being dominated and men should enjoy using women as objects. I hadn’t actually heard of this as a problem before, but after watching Pornography in Everyday Life I relized just how common this really is. And in some ways I have even been affected by these messages. I frequently read postsecret, an online blog where people send their secrets on post cards, and they are posted every week. Last week one caught my eye, and it ties directly into this discussion.
Also, when asked during the discussion if Dr. Caputi thought that men and women shouldn’t like the slave and master domination, she said to each their own, but it should be their choice. This made me feel better about how I view some aspects of how life is portrayed in the media. I honestly think that it was very good for her to mention that sex is still something that can be done in the slave and master idea, but it should be up to the partners, not a forced thing.

X

The other day (like last week) Jessica had us do a reading on Malcolm X, and his pilgrimage to Mecca. I really enjoyed this reading, even though it was a little long. I like the writing style of this chapter and kind of want to read the rest of the book. At first I was like, “yay,” another reading for class...but once I started reading I really got into the story and how everyone was trying to help X. It started with people, some of his friends and co-workers encouraging him to go to Mecca. Then his sister paid his way with money she had saved up for herself. Once he started his journey it seemed as though X didn't have problems making friends very quickly, although he only spoke English and most everyone else didn't speak English. One thing I noticed is that he kept referring to his race, and the race of others. It made me wonder how he was treated previously, obviously poorly, and why he was treated that way. Was it really because he is black and living in America? It also made me think, because he seemed rather racist against white people, in the way he spoke of the people he met on his pilgrimage to Mecca.

Pilgrimage

I am the type of person that gets bored and fidgety when we have to sit still and listen to a teacher lecture for hours, or more than 15 minutes. I like when we move around and when class is interactive, so I really enjoy Jessica's teaching style and the way our religion class is taught. Last week on Thursday we took a mini-pilgrimage around campus for class, and I really remember more that way. We started with the ritual cleaning of the body, by washing our hands just outside our classroom door. Next, we found that the first and last part of a Hajj is the Kaaba, and we walked around it counter-clockwise, seven times; just like they do on an actual Hajj. We walked to our school's learning center to run between the hills looking for water, just as Hagar had done for Ishmael in the desert. Then Jessica provided us with bottled water to make it more accurate. After that, in a normal Hajj they go to the top of Hira, a mountain near Mecca. We went to the science center, the highest point on campus. This is where the Muslims go for judgment, and some believe that what you are wearing when you go to Hira is what you will be wearing at the end of the world. After standing on the mountain all day the Muslims look for 49 stones to throw at three pillars, symbolic of the meetings with the devil and temptation. We had ping-pong balls and the oblisic in front of the learning center, but it was the same concept. Last, they sacrifice a lamb, but we ate chocolate instead, and I liked that better. I don't want to sacrifice an animal, and I know we have vegetarians in our class who really wouldn't want to do that. Overall, it was a fun experience and I learned a lot from it.

Siddhartha

I want to start by saying that I didn't really like this reading, but I did actually read the book anyway. I think part of the reason I didn't like it is because I had no clue what it was about and how true to life the story was until we discussed it in class. I fell I probably would have learned more from the book if I had known some background before I started reading. I thought when I started the book that the story was a written version of the story of The Buddha, and for a while I thought I was right. When in the story Siddhartha meets The Buddha, I thought that it was actually the story of how Hinduism started. (As you can tell I don't actually know that much about either religion.) Other than being confused on how realistic the story was, I actually liked the story itself pretty well.
The story started with Siddhartha leaving his home and parents to learn how to fast, think, wait, and find inner peace. After he tried this for a few years and realizing that this was not for him, Siddhartha went to hear The Buddha speak. He listened intently and watched how The Buddha acted, walked, talked, and went about his business. He also saw that this since of inner peace could not fully be taught or preached to him, so he moved on. He went to a town, Samsara, which I realized later that is a form of Hell, or more, the town he lived in before he was reborn. Here Siddhartha learned how to gamble, earn and lose money, eat and drink fine foods, and make love to a woman. He made himself sick of life, of this form of living, so he left. In spending time in Samsara, Siddhartha forgot how to fast, think, and wait; and he still did not find inner peace. He walked a short way to a river, and asked the Ferryman if he could be an apprentice. This is where Siddhartha found his inner peace, through the Ferryman and the river; though he never really could explain it to another person, it’s something that one must find on their own. This confused me slightly because even if only one person finds enlightenment, they still try to preach ways to find enlightenment to everyone else who might listen. That is true in most every religion.
Last, I would like to state that I wish more of the people I talked to had actually read the book. I know a lot of people just read spark notes, or something similar. I guess it is their choice, but I'm wondering if more people actually read the book then just skimmed or read spark notes. I believe spark notes is a great thing, along with the book, but not instead.

Moral Philosophy

The other day Jessica had us read a piece she had written on moral philosophy, in which she called a "crash course." In this reading there are some questions posed and some thoughts discussed. I would like to elaborate on the things that I noticed.
First, she poses the question, "what is truth?" I think to the best of one’s knowledge, truth is how people perceive things to be. I wondered how my definition of truth matched up to that of others, and according to answers.com, truth is a statement proven or accepted to be as true. Not an exact match, but similar. Truth is also one of three things. Something believed by the self, something that one chooses to believe that is already set by an authority or religion, or something pushed upon a person by an authority or religion.
This might leave one asking; well what is an authority then. I believe authority to be given to people because they have some knowledge of the topic in question. Someone who has studied or been educated in the topic. Often, that would mean someone who also questions what really could have or did happen, like a philosopher (connection?). Again, according to answers.com, authority is an accepted source of expert information or advice, or power to influence or persuade resulting from knowledge or experience. Similar to my personal definition, but I did not include influencing and persuading people, or giving advice. I did not include these because one does not need to be an authority to give advice, influence, or persuade people. They just have to act like they know what they are talking about.
Next, in the moral philosophy reading Jessica tells of four theories of origin, and asks of our thoughts. These origins are as follows; Divine Command, Natural Law, Culture Realism, and Subjectivism. First, I want to say that in Subjectivism, it is like a five year old mentality. "I like it so it is good." That doesn't solve anything, and it doesn't prove anything. It is just a very immature way of thinking. Second, most Christians and a majority of our culture, including me, believe in Divine Command. I find this interesting because who is to say that Divine Command is more or less corrected than any of the others, and why do they have that authority? I have considered other possibilities recently though, because at this point in my life, I am trying to learn the meaning of life and why I am here.
I feel that this is an interesting topic and may need further exploring by myself in the future, but for now I would like some comments. Thoughts, options, questions, suggestions? Everything is accepted and appreciated. Thank you!
~Elizabeth

Pre-posting

This is a test post, I will later post reflections and reactions to class assigned reading.

~Elizabeth