Monotheism: No offspring allowed

Muhammad did not agree with as many sexual notions that, for example, the Greeks did.  Muhammad did not agree with the existence of Jesus because Jesus is believed to be the offspring of God.  Being the offspring of God? Not likely, according to Muhammad.  Even after claiming the three most famous goddess as Allah's daughters, Muhammad took it back instantly.  His disagreement with grand holy figures having offspring help a high value.  Is this because God is too mighty to have children or because he lacks the power to?

Working with Societies and the present

We spoke in  class about Muhammad's attempt at woman equality and how the movement carried a lot of weight.  Although Muhammad did agree with equality for woman and did support his wife's attempts at more equality, there is more to the situation.  The society in which the movement was attempting to take off in did not agree at all and would  most certainly revolt against Muhammad's views as a whole if this woman equality movement was taken further.  This entire scenario holds, what I think, an important point.  Muhammad did not continue to enforce these ideals, however he did continue to support them.   Although this issue is dear to my heart, woman's rights, I believe Muhammad's reaction was reasonable.  Rather than losing a large amount of the audience over one issue, keep the issue as  a personal ideal and make a large effort to ensure all other ideas are practiced and effective.

Racial Profiling

Soon after the tragic explosion at Boston Marathon took place, there was an explosion of questioning, who did it and why would they do such a thing? Many of the theories that people were jumping to immediately concerned those of a different ethnicity. Because of the war occurring in the middle east, many have made theories based on middle eastern terrorists.  Although there have been events that were at fault by foreign terrorists, is it right to base all acts of terror on those of the middle east? I don't agree with some individuals tendencies to put all blame immediately on other countries.  When enough people do this, it offends those who are part of those countries. I believe it's important to keep an open mind in times like these.  Fault could  be over an ocean or in our backyard, however it's all equally possible.

Evil Stereo Type on Islam

We've opened the discussion in class of how many individuals around the world have viewed Islam as an evil religion.  Although there have been individuals that follow the faith that have done their evil actions because they believe it was for their faith, these actions were not carried out by the faith.  I agree with Professor Silliman, that because of the high amount of population that follows this faith, it's smarter to seek what is positive about the religion, rather than negative.  Although some societies that are not driven my the same ideals as Islam societies, in order to calm the differences, emphasizing the wrongs will do no justice.  Especially, when blaming an entire religion on a group's actions. 

However, another part of the battle is the disagreements within the religion. Some groups disagree with others about their practice under the same umbrella of Islam.  I wonder, if in order to erase this wide notion of evil on Islam, will Islam followers need to try to seek more of a common ground?

Universal Understanding

In class, we discussed how universal understanding was the most vibrant when society wasn't deeply involved with technology and therefore had the power to search and find millions of different interests at the click of a button.  Most people went to the same movie, had their hands on the same novel, or attended the same concerts.  There were more things that people could talk about and more things people had deep understanding of a common subject.  I believe religion is a timeless universal understanding.  It has been centuries yet those involved in the same religion are all aware of same subjects and can engage in deep conversation about them.  I believe this is a very positive benefit of religion. Those who follow the practice have the opportunity to engage conversations about subjects that are both meaningful to both parties and are known well by both parties.

The similarity between the sky and heaven

As we've discussed in class, the sky and heaven seem to be associated as the similar terms or used to describe both terms.  However, thinking deeper into the idea of sky and heaven being the same, I've come across a question; Is heaven really in the sky?
It seems odd to think of heaven as this place above the clouds, the home of this all mighty power.  Yet, it's referenced as just that.  As if we can fly a plane above the clouds and find all of this immortal power.
On the other hand, it does paint this pretty picture for heaven, a place so calm and beautiful above the clouds.  It is just a metaphor, but strange when taken literally.

Common theme: Who's the author?

I think it's both disappointing and interesting that a lot of the true authors of these religious works are questionable.  We have the names of a lot of the authors in Christianity but not all of the exact information of their lives.  There are multiple authors of  the bible because they couldn't decide one just one single author's text.  Here, in the beginning of the Confucius text, the translator explains how some scholars question if the text was actually written by "Confucius" or if he was a character a group of authors created to preach their ideas.  It's disappointing because, personally, I enjoy learning about the authors of the literature I read, it helps me interpret the text deeper and understand where the text derived from. On the other hand, it's interesting because we have multiple ways of looking at where this text grew from.  For example, the Jesus text we have just finished displays all of the texts and stories behind the life and lessons of Jesus.  We aren't  left with just one text, we are left with multiple texts and can decide which we believe is closest to the  truth.