Week 9 Blog: Jane Addams

Jane Addams' lifelong commitment to service and philanthropy was motivated by a couple of important figures and the ideas and values they embodied. Her service seems to be driven by spiritual desire, but does not seem to be a part of a larger religious framework.
Jane Addams felt a unique connection to President Lincoln that she attributed mostly to her childhood environment. She was motivated by his values and ideals and admired his ability to "dig channels" for the society to flow through. Her connection to Lincoln was made stronger by the symbolic ties she embedded in "Old Abe", an old War Eagle she frequently visited when younger.
Addams motivation from her father and his teachings also shaped her later goals. Many of the major moral pillars that Addams stood behind and founded the Hull House on were ones that her father had taught and emphasized to her as a child.

Addams describes the need for settlement houses with an undeniable zeal and does claim to be progressing Christianity. However, the fact that she mentions this motivation briefly, as an afterthought, and that her attitude towards to progress seems to be one of necessary change stemming from discontent with the status quo. I would argue that Addams progressiveness is her underlying ideology, because she seems to apply it to other potential thought systems including Christianity.

Week 8 Free Blog: Rasta vid.

I have really enjoyed the use of video and music to learn about Rastafarian culture. Each new piece of media seems to paint a slightly different picture of Rastafarianiam, resulting in a complexly interwoven culture and system of beliefs. I found another video on youtube.com (it’s actually two parts) that features a lone Rastafarian’s ideas on several issues that concern Rastas, primarily repatriation.

The speaker introduces the video by discussing the noticeable cultural and theological sides to Rastafarianism. How he separates the two ideas is reflective of separation we observed earlier, in which Jamaica borrowed some aspects of Rasta culture, while denying the theological principles.

The speaker preceded his talk about repatriation by explaining several of the cultural ties Rastas have to Africa, including the performance of many similar ceremonies including deification. He also notes how people like him are judged much more kindly in Africa than in America, in his words “comfortable and loved for who he us.”

The speaker explains how repatriation of family back to Africa costs about $30,000. After taking the opportunity to crack a ganja joke, the speaker gets serious about the need to break from Babylon culture in America and save money for repatriation. I find it particular how he describes the fancy cars and big houses that often typify the American dream, and make them a negative temptation of Babylon. The speaker goes so far as to suggest that the families and banks which benefited off slavery need to create a fund to pay for repatriation.

The speaker concludes by describing how Africa is a different kind of world, and after repatriation Africa needs to build itself up and modernize in order to be able to defend itself against enemies.

This video shows a much more serious and concerned kind of Rasta than we were able to observe on the secluded commune. Former Rastas-in-America, like the speaker, show a side of Rasta that is active, passionate, and most important, urgent for movement and a change of the homeland itself.

The link for this video is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiZPNMAy0HI

Week 8 Prompt Blog: Rasta Video Clip

This film captured and confirms the depiction of Rasta life in Edmonds’ Rastafari. However, the extent of the system of symbols surrounding a “movement to Africa” at play in Rasta culture was surprisingly a much more driving force in the video clip.

Many of the specific behaviors and traditions Edmonds describes are seen in the video. The scheduled ceremonies throughout the day, the Ethiopian dress, and the separateness of the culture are all confirmed in the clip.

What Edmonds doesn’t emphasize as much is the pervasive of the system of symbols that underlies these traditions. In the video, the Boboshanti derive their name from “bobo” meaning African children. The scheduled ceremonies are described by one Rasta in the video as symbolic of being “on the move” to Africa. Their Ethiopian dress is also described in the clip as the Rasta’s “creation image”, their true image an identity. Even the location of the community, alone on a mountaintop over the sea is symbolic of the movement to Africa.

This underlying system of symbols provides some insight into Rastafarian tradition and culture, tying them to the core values.

Week 7 Free Blog: Rastafarian roots to the Kebra Negast

I missed the class discussion on Friday, but I would like to examine how Edmonds portrayal of the social context behind the birth of Rastafarianism embodies principles or ideals seen in the Kebra Negast.
Edmonds describes the similarities between Rastafarianism and other Afro-Christian traditions by rooting them both in unifying systems of befliefs. Both groups lack the structural organizations of other religious groups, but possessed very unified systems of beliefs.
Parallelism to Jewish and ancient Egyptian traditions and themes is prevalent in Rastafarianism. Life in Jamaica is compared to the Babylonian exile of the Jews, and the crowned king Haile Selasse to the coming messiah. The African exile to Jamaica from slavery is seen as an African diaspora, and that Selassie is the savior that will renew Ethiopia (representing Africa as a whole) back to power.
The embodiment of these Afro-christian traditions in Rastafarianism was the result of quest for identity of generations of slaves taken from their homeland. Facing the same struggles as the exiled Jews and the Ethiopians facing cultural pressure, the Rastafarians created stories about their leaders (Howell and Selassie) and even created myalism, a system of symbols and practices applying Ethiopian spiritual practices to the hardship of slave-life.
It appears clear the foundation of Rastafarianism is rooted in the biblical symbolism of Ethiopia.

Prompt Blog week 7: Kebra Negast and the Position of Ethiopia

The selected passage of the Kebra Negast focusing on the Queen demonstrates a clear attempt to establish the importance of Ethiopia within the Christian world.
As early as the title we see a reference to the departure of God and his ark to Ethiopia. This establishes Ethiopia as religiously significant country and a key part of the "story of Israel" painted in the rest of the Old Testament and Psalms. This depiction of Ethiopia is also evident when describing Jesus' prophesizing of the "Queen of the south" rising up.
From here the depictions of and stories about the queen carry the significant portrayl of Ethiopia. Page 17 describes how the Gueen is favored by God. The stories about her portray her as an intellectual near equal to the wise King Solomon, and as someone important enough to draw significant attention from him. These portayals symbolically mirror the more subtle suggestion of Ethiopia as a significant part of religious life.
Considering Ethiopia's location and history, this sort of value or significance appears necessary for survival as a Christian state.

Week 6 Blog: Symbolism in Photography

This picture is entitled Turbine Trinity and can be found at flickr.com (URL provdided under picture). I really liked this picture when I came across it because it demonstrates how pervasive and strong the system of symbols surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus is. This photo is simply three windmills on a hilly landscape and yet it brings up images of the three crosses (Jesus and the two criminals) from Christian tradition. These sorts of connections show how deeply rooted Christian symbolism is, and also make clear the necessity of knowledge of Christian doctrine in order to understand these more subtle sorts of symbolism in art. http://www.flickr.com/photos/macgbegins/2379276116/

Week 5 Free Blog: St. Augustine and Evolution

Today in class we discussed at length St. Augustine's interesting and eccepting view of other practices and ideas. I thought it would be interesting to speculate on what his take would be of an idea that came about long after his time, specifically evolution.
A very controversial issue for social, religious, and even political debate, evolution has been both accepted and rejected by different Christian groups. I would like to investigate, using his own words and opinions expressed in "On Christian Teaching", St. Augustine's take on theist evolutionism. Theistic evolutionism is, at its core, the belief that evolution is God's tool for creating the world. This viewpoint has been rejected by many Christian denominations who favor Creationism or Intelligent Design, but has also been accepted by such figures and bodies as Pope John Paul II and the Catholic Church.
First, I think Augustine's opinion on science leaves room for theistic evolutionism. On page 47 he describes two kinds of learning, human instituted and divinely instituted. I would argue that theistic evolutionism could be viewed as divinely instituted because it is an attempt to understand and appreciate God's creation. Furthermore, thestic evolution doesn't wander into the dangerous territory that Augustine warns about on page 54, that is, it doesn't become an obstacle to more important things, because the focus is on creation, and God's method for bringing the immense biodiversity of our world about. Finally, the approach to studying evolution (including theistic evolution) would be considered science by Augustine, especially considering his differentiation between science and superstitition on page 56 where he contrasts orally ingesting some types of plants to wearing them around your neck. The systematic approach used in evolutionary biology is consistent with the logic-based reason that Augustine defends here.
I think theistic evolution would bypass (at least to Augustine) the main hurdle that it has faced from the modern Christian groups, biblical reference to creation. My reasoning for this assertion is as follows. First, on pages 75 and 76, Augustine says that anything not pertaining to good morals or true faith can be taken as figurative. He goes on to describe that this "true faith" can be accounted for as long as one's conscience sees progress being made towards understanding the love of God. I would argue that theistic evolution could and does legitimately pursue this goal, by increasing our understanding of the incredible care and masterful power God would need to have to create such an incredibly complex living world. Second, but related, this idea is further supported within the context of Augustine's statements on page 79, where he describes acts being evaluated within their cultural context. I would argue that he would acept the act of believing and supporting theistic evolution ESPECIALLY considering the overwhelming body of evidence and broad support for evolution. Finally, because belief in theistic evolution would not comprimise the the major foundations and goals of a Christian life, it would be a valid biblical interpretation considering Augustine's acceptance of such interpretations on page 87.
For these reasons I believe that St. Augustine would accept this interpretation that has been considered so heretic by many modern Christian groups.