Diluting 10th week stress

So I was reading a blog about how a student was able to use meditation as a form of relaxation from her 9th week stress. I really enjoyed this idea because diverting your mind to a place of peace and tranquility is something that could be very useful in the final push towards the end of the year. With finals, my voice qualifying exam, finding plane tickets, and organizing my job this summer all piling up, I think finding a peaceful state of mind would be ridiculously helpful. Being able to recognize that everything will be alright if you just keep your head on straight will ultimately keep me more sane in this coming week. So my goal for 10th week is to work hard, stay sane, and enjoy being at Lawrence for spring term. I would advice others to do so as well. It's been great blogging!

What it takes to make a new religion

When reading the the chapters on the Bahai, I realized that "creating" a new religion goes beyond believing in a higher power. The chapter outlines a number of aesthetics that are essential in organizing and maintaining a religious sect.

One of these aspects involves history. In order for a religion to hold legitimacy, the origin of the religion must be present. For example, the reading describes the story of Baha'ulla and his journey over present day Iran, Iraq, and other middle eastern countries and the influence of Islam on the Bahai people.

The community aspect is another large component of creating a religion. The "chosen" people of a faith also play to the legitimacy of the religion. Having followers of a faith from the culture is essential in influencing other to possibly join and follow the newly created faith.

These are only two of the many aesthetics needed to create a religion. When reading the Bahai text I was very interested in the story of Baha'ullah and the branching off from Islam. When I say branching off, I mean taking most of the Islamic tendencies and traditions, but using them in different ways. Throughout religious studies I have begun to notice a particular trends when it comes to different relgions. Most religions are based off of the same historical figures and facts that have happened. It is people's own interpretations which have caused the "differences" in seperate faiths. Some examples include the Shiites and Sunnis in Islam, not to mention all the different sects of Christianity...point proven.

Community

So this blog is a little late coming, sorry about this. But anyway over the course of the term I've been very intrigued by the meaning of religion and the general populations definition of religion. It's very hard to classify religion as one individual thing. My own personal view on religion has changed. My spiritual life is very personal and does not involve a community type aspect. I would much rather focus on my own personal relationship with God before I am able to focus on others' spiritual relationships. However, I had no idea how powerful the community aspect of religion is like. That being said I think it's very interesting that people find strength in others in regards to a higher power. In many of the faiths we have focused on, people find a connection within a community in the physical realm in order to connect with the spiritual realm. This is ultimately a fascinating phenomenon.

Don't worry, 'bout a thing

There are many symbols that we discussed in class that were evidently present in the video. The one main group of symbols were the colors. Red, Green, Black, and Yellow were all visually present in the Bobo camp. Rastafarian followers decorated their homes with these colors. It was quite a stunning image when I watched this video. Also the clothing that the Rastafarian people wore also bared these symbolic colors. Both men and women represented with this religion by the articles of clothing they wore. For example, I noticed men wearing a lot of red head raps, especially the designated "tribe leaders".
After watching the video I was very surprised by the amount of insight and research every member that was interviewed had on their culture. Every Rastafarian in the video really seemed to internalize their faith and believe whole heartedly in their ideals. After watching and listening to Bob Marley's music I was surprised at how relevant Bob Marley's music was to the Rastafarian culture.

Here's a link to the rastafarian website!!! pretty cool stuff

http://www.rastafarian.net/

I wish Bob Marley taught at the Con...

So this week, I've been practicing extensively for my sophomore qualifying voice examination for my vocal performance degree in the Conservatory. As I was practicing, I became very tired of the pieces I was singing. It seemed like I had no motivation to sing the pieces, nor was I truly thinking about what I was trying to portray both musically and affectually. I then thought about Bob Marley and the Rastafarian ideals. Bob Marley was such a huge influence for Rastafari. His music and what he was singing about as well as the ideals he stood for (freedom, etc.) is able to move an entire body of people. The Bob Marley craze and the community of followers of his music is very religion-esque. This both inspired me to practice in a different way, but also motivate me to move an audience through the musical ideas expressed in the music I sing and perform.

Ethiopia steals...

So after reading the "history" of Ethiopian religion, I was very interested on the outlook that I have on the Ethiopian culture. I really found the story of the sun very interesting. When the text described how the sun of Israel left and permenantly found its true home in Ethiopia. It's peculiar that Ethiopia somewhat "claimed" the original spiritual force as their own when it "left" Israel. The story also goes onto describe how a second sun descends upon Israel. The Israelites cast out this sun until it rises to illuminate the world (aka....HUGE JESUS METAPHORE!) I don't know what to think about Ethiopians. To me it sounds like they jacked a story from another religion and also claimed the Queen of Sheba as their own. It's great that they consider themselves the royal blood line of Soloman, but the way the culture comes to that conclusion is a little skewed and/or questionable.

Metaphorically speaking...

Hooray for metaphors! I think the article that was read for the assignment does relate to what we have been discussing for most of the term thus far. Let's take a look at what we've read thus far. In regards to the mounds of the native americans, is it possible that these people looked at these symbols to depict, metaphorically and physically, what they believe? Do the Psalms depict literally what we should do in our lives to reach God, or do they depict metaphores that aren't to be taken literally? These are the questions we need to be asking ourselves when we study the works of religion. The metaphorical ideas expressed in all the works we studied could be interpreted an infinite number of ways (well....some of them at least). The video we watched of the atheist stated that "many passages in the Bible can't be interpreted any other way and there is no room for interpretation". I don't really believe that to be true. Whether you would like to admit it or not, everything could be looked at as a metaphor. I am not saying, however, that everything should be looked at as a metaphor, but simply to understand that many people could interpret religious writings differently.