Monday, January 27, 2020

Rituals In Religion For Ancient Rome Theology Religion Essay

Rituals In Religion For Ancient Rome Theology Religion Essay Religion can be simplified as a belief or the faith that is believed to aid people in the problems of life. The beliefs are organized in relation to humanity and the spiritual world. In every religion in the world there are narrative, symbols, traditions and even histories that explain the religion belief. Each religion tries to give a meaning to life as well as explain the origin of life and the universe. Religions matters include rituals, sermons and even commemoration which differ from one religion practice to the other (Adkins Roy, 274). They define this through their religious scriptures and holy places. Religion in Ancient Rome was so intense the Romans regarded it, as theirs. They (Romans) also regarded themselves highly in terms of religion. They even attribute their success in the world to the unity and good relation with their gods. Historically, their leaders claimed to be in direct negotiations with their gods. This in turn made religion among Romans to be a hugely significant aspect. They did all they had to be identified religiously. The leaders were supposed to identify in terms of religion, and they mostly used to be the pontiffs. There is acutely much in the religion of the Romans and the way they carried out their religious practices. The Roman religion was something that was termed as practical and contractual. It was mainly based on knowledge, and the practice of prayer rituals and the sacrifices offered and not based on faith. Rome is thought to be the source of the religion particularly the catholic practice. However other communities in the world had their own beliefs and practices not to mention their religions. However, the Roman Empire is thought to have contributed to significant changes in other religions of the world. What is the impact of religion and rituals in the ancient Rome? The godà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s and goddesses of Rome were identified with the cities and lives in each of the cities. The gods lead people as they were consorted before any actions. They were offered sacrifices frequently in order to please them. The roman religious attitudes resulted to the state cult and influence on political as well as military events. Family heads were responsible in overseeing domestic rituals and players. In the Roman Empire, the issues to do with the religion were left in the hands of the state officials and not in the individuals care. During the ancient times in Rome there existed a number of religious posts where each one of them served a pivotal role in the organization (Rupke, 259). The early times in the roman religion, it was based on spirits and the people did not build mythologies like their Greek counterparts as they believed everything had spirit. The spirits were held responsible for any good or evil in the communities. This obliged th e Romans to keep the spirits happy through various worshipping and sacrifice offering to them. Proper performance of the rituals and the sacrifices was believed to keep the gods happy. The Romans had a practical approach to the issue of religion. This explained why they had a number of gods rather than believe in one powerful god. Their religion was not centrally originating or believed but was comprised of a number of rituals, superstitions and taboos. There also contained different traditions which were collected from different sources over time. Their religion was less spiritual but a relationship with external forces that they believed controlled their existence and well being. Various Origins are credited for the roman religion. Several gods and goddesses were bled for several religious influences. Many of these came via the Greek colonies from the southern part of Italy. Other had their origin from the old religions that existed in society. For example, they had a god known as Diana which was believed to originate from Latin. Many of the rituals and the sacrifices made by the Romans were done as per their belief that the gods and the goddesses needed to be pleased. They also prayed for them to have the good fortune in their actions. Therefore, sacrificial offerings were made to the roman gods. These sacrifices were specific and were highly respected in the society as well as highly ritualized. For example, the sex of animal sacrificed was supposed to correspond with the sex of the goddess or the gods to whom the sacrifice was meant for (Browne, 86). The upper gods were offered white animals and the black ones were offered to the underworld gods. There were public, and even private offerings done statues were erected along the streets and market places. Some of the sacrifices made during games, ceremonies, altar among others. The five posts (Vestal virgins, pontiffs, Haruspex, Flamens Augurs) formed the basis for the sacrifices made by the Romans. Each of the post had a meaning in the Roman Empire. Pontiff s were the advisors to the magistrates the Haruspex was a priest who was greatly regarded in the society and he was for predicting the future. The Augars were used to tell whether the gods were in support of any of the government action. The vestal virgins were never to let out the flame as their duty was to guard the sacred fire. They were also supposed to bake the sacred salt cake for use in a number of ceremonies. They were supposed to remain virgins (Browne, 90). The Roman calendar contained months and corresponding festivals. I.e. each month had festivals that were in honor of their gods. They were comprised of sober, joyful and dignified events. For example in the month of February, people were given 9 days to worship their dead ancestors, at this time businesses were closed, and no marriages were allowed as well as closing of the temples. A number of festivals followed where each occasion had a meaning to the Romans. Religion in the ancient roman religion was incorporated together with the state in their belief system. For example, a sacrifice to the gods or an oath was legally binding. Despite the strict following of religion by the Romans, the survival of religion depended on renewal and also affirmation of their beliefs as time changed as also the social and the attitude changes. Their beliefs were on unconnected traditions where many of them came from Greek rather than Italian foundation. As they lacked core basis of their beliefs, other religions found it easy to establish themselves in the Rome. Some of the cults that managed to find their way into Roman Empire are religions such as the goddess Cybele and Isiris and Osiris from Egypt (North, 44). The initial roman religion continued to be undermined by the increasing impact of the Greek philosophy such as the stoicism which in itself taught that there was a single god. As I summarize, it is clear that the issue of religion in the ancient Rome was rather municipal and not personal. When this is compared to todays Christianity, it is different. This is because in Christianity god is worshiped from the peoples love and the trust they have for him rather than fear as shown by the Romans in the ancient times. The roman took part in offerings to their gods as well as making sacrifices. They went ahead and established family religious practices which were carried out in their homes. They had a number of god and goddesses whom they believed were responsible for watching and take care of them if they treated them in accordance. This explains why the Romans performed the rituals and the actions they did. The roman religion was defined by a set of rules and rituals that were performed in the community. As seen, the religion community, tradition and the community prescribed the rituals that were to be performed at any given time. As time moved on there were changes and people could choose the religious group to follow from different groups that existed. The groups came in between the time of Caesar and Augustine who ruled in the 4th and 5th centuries respectively. The impact of religion in the Roman Empire was felt all over the nation. However, from the incoming religious believes the Romans adopted a number of them and followed them. This left the Romans divided as they did into have their own established religion (Warrior, 7). In the ancient times, religion was interconnected with politics, and it is the politicians who taught the religion as it was treated to be a public matter and not at the individual level. In addition to this, they performed rituals, which were a sign of believe rs and dedication to their gods and goddesses. From the case of Roman religion, it is clear that various rituals were performed which were pivotal in the interaction between the people and the gods/goddesses. Rituals were marked by several event celebrations and public events.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Political History and Corruption in Macbeth Essay -- Macbeth essays

Political History and Corruption in Macbeth      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To understand many of William Shakespeare's plays, one must understand the history of the time period. A.L. Rowse gives a history of William Shakespeare's time, the late sixteenth to the early seventeenth century and how the government of the time was authoritarian but popular. The person of the Monarch (derived from the Greek "monorchia", the rule of one), the Crown, was something even the lowest character could understand. The monarchs have many different titles, including king, queens, sultan, emperors, empresses, tsars, and kaisers, depending on the type of governments and the location of the state he or she rules.    Oftentimes, the monarch was based on the need for a strong ruler who could gather the countries best men to form and command a military that was used to defend the country. The monarch was absolute and only responsible to God and was considered to be God's representative in all worldly and royal matters. A strong central government was needed to maintain order and provided a stable atmosphere in which trade could flourish. Productive leadership qualities were very noticeable in Henry the VIII, and even more so in his daughter, Elizabeth (Rowse 226-263). Furthermore, "There is no doubt that she regarded herself as appointed by God to rule over her subjects" (Rowse 264). Henry the VIII inherited a kingdom from Henry the VII which lacked natural recourses yet it was surrounded on three sides by water. Even though Henry's kingdom was protected by water, the Scots lived to the north and were allied with France. The Scots were England's ancient and bitter enemy.    Henry's chief concerns had been to control the independence of the nobility and to ... ... "History of the Monarchy." Kings and Queens of England. 21 Mar. 2002. Online. Available. <http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page10.asp.26> Mar. 2002 Swisher, Clarice, ed. Readings on Macbeth. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rowse, A.L. The England of Elizabeth: The Structure of Society. New York: Macmillan Company, 1950. Shakespeare, William. "The Tragedy of Macbeth." Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes. The British Tradition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall 1999. Streatfeild, Noel. The First Book of England. New York: Franklin Watts, 1958. Wadsworth, Frank W. "Shakespeare, William." World Book Online American Edition. Online Edition. Online. Netzero. 26 Mar 2002. "William Shakespeare." BBC Homepage. Online. Available <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/culture/shakespeare.shtml>. 26 Mar. 2002.   

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Essay

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close encourages us to closely examine the time we have in our lives. We never know when the last time we will be seeing someone will be, we must be responsible with how we spend our time and we are responsible for the way we treat people. The message that is conveyed to me an abundance of times is to not take advantage of the time you have, because it ï ¬â€šies. This is represented on the pages with red ink (pages 208-216). The commas are circled as if they are a mistake. Commas represent a pause in the sentence, and with most of them circled it infers that time moves very quickly. The red pen pages, also represent looking closely at something. The circled red pen means that there is an error there and we must look closely to ï ¬ x it. Therefore the author wants us to closely look at the way we distribute time in our lives. 3) The unique narrative style in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is chosen to further prove certain themes throughout the book. One way that this book is unique is the fact that it is ï ¬ lled with symbolic pages. The blank pages are a very strong way to express the themes in the novel. These pages thoroughly express points that Foer is trying to make throughout the novel. Page 121 is an example of a blank page, conveying the constant theme of emptiness. The blank pages represents Oskar’s grandmothers mind. She does not want to think about anything, she is suffering from loss and emptiness inside. The photos scattered throughout the book of doorknobs conveys another big message in the book. This message is one door closes, another door opens. Even though the protagonist is faced with a loss and is looking for closure, eventually he obtains the closure by meeting many new people to ï ¬ ll the empty space within him by literally opening new doors. This narrative style creates a more interesting thought provoking reading experience and that is why I believe Foer has chosen to include these symbolic pages. 4) Oskar, his grandmother, and the renter all have loss in common. They all have a feeling of emptiness inside them. Oskar’s father â€Å"died the most horrible death that anyone could ever invent† (201). Grandmother and the renter have both lost a son, and Anna. Grandmother’s husband â€Å"the next  morning he went to the airport† (185.) He had left her, she had lost him. Besides the common loss that they share, they all have issues involving thinking. The renter and Oskar have the problem of overthinking everything in their lives. The overloaded pages, like page 282 express the renters thoughts clouding up his head. The renter used thought as a reminder to let him know he was alive during the bombings of Dresden. He just would think and think to know that he was alive, his brain was overloaded. Oskar is similar with the fact that he could never stop his thoughts. Oskar expresses that â€Å"all [he] wanted was to fall asleep at night but all [he] could do was invent† (258). Oskar invents many different things, like â€Å"a teakettle that reads in Dad’s voice†(1) and many other things that just keep going through his mind.. Grandmother differed from them in thought, Grandmother would try not to think. She would write blank pages so that she did not have to think about a single thing like everything that has gone bad in her life. Although Grandmother relates to thinking in the opposite way, she still has thought in common with them.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Essay about Disability Rights - 1774 Words

Disability Rights Movement In 1817, the American School for Deaf was founded in Hartford Connecticut. This was the first school for disabled children in the Western Hemisphere. Although this was not the beginning of the Disability Rights Movement, it was a start to society, making it possible for people to realize that there were those with disabilities out there in the world and something had to be done. The Disability Rights Movement fought for equal access, opportunity, consideration, and basic human respect along with dignity for those born blind, deaf, or anyone with other forms of physical or mental disability. The purpose of social movements is to provide social change regarding a specific issue in which a particular group of†¦show more content†¦People with disabilities were also forced to enter institutions and asylums. Society hid people with disabilities from a mean, fearful, and biased world. This continued until the Civil War and World War I when our veterans returned in a disabled state expecting the US government to provide some sort of help or rehabilitation in exchange for their service in the nation. Although President Roosevelt was the first president with a disability to take office was a great advocate for the rehabilitation of people with disabilities, the nation was still operated under the assumption that being disabled was and abnormal condition and needed to be medically cured. In the 1940s and 1950s, World War II veterans started placing pressure on the government for rehabilitation for their disabilities. The veterans made it more visible to a country filled with thankful citizens who were concerned about the well-being of the men who sacrificed their lives for their country. By the 1960s, the civil rights movement began to take place and disabled citizens saw this as an opportunity to join forces along with the minority groups to demand equal treatment, equal access, and equal opportunity for people with disabilities. The Disability Rights Movement j ust like the others faced negative attitudes and stereotypes. In the 1970s, disability rights activists lobbied congress and marched on Washington to include civil rights language for people with disabilities into the 1972 RehabilitationShow MoreRelatedChildren With Disabilities : Right Vs Wrong1105 Words   |  5 PagesTierra West Children with Disabilities: Right Vs Wrong Tennessee State University â€Æ' Proposed research Topic- Children with disabilities and their education: Right Vs Wrong Research Question-Should children with learning disabilities be allowed in classrooms or should they have their own class with professionally trained special needs teachers Introduction It was stated that not everyone including teachers and students are excited about disabled students being in the mainstream classroom. 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