Q: The tribe has always been an important concept in Arabian and Islamic history, creating divisions among its dwellers and followers. How has this caused problems in the history of Islam?
A: The problem with having many small tribes and then declaring unification under the religion Islam is that tensions between tribes cannot be resolved by a simple declaration of unification under the common ground of religion. Even if every tribe follows Islam, tensions regarding property and such arise. In some cases different views regarding Islam will lead tribes to conflicts. For example when the holy black rock had to be placed back in the Kaaba in Mecca, the four main tribal leaders each wanted to place it themselves. If Muhammad had not intervened and found a solution a major conflict could have started. Another example is, after Muhammad's death tribes began to disagree on matters regarding Muhammad's teaching.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Blog #9: How has the religious history of India influenced India's tradition of non-violence
The way India's religious history has influenced India's tradition of non-violence is because the constant theme of non-violence and peacefulness has run throughout famous and revolutionary Indians. An example of Indian religion that expresses these qualities is Jainism. Jainism teaches the idea of non-violence and I do not think it is a coincidence that Mohandas Gandhi followed Jainism. Religion throughout history, in many cultures has influenced that cultures actions and values. India is a great example of this. One can see India's non-violence tradition influencing its people through Mohandas Gandhi. As said above Gandhi was a Jainist and was one of history's most monumental and influential people. Gandhi defied the British occupation of India by leading a non-violent revolution, a feat unheard of, against the British. Although it led to the deaths of many protestors because they did not fight back when they were attacked by British soldiers and Gandhi almost died from his many hunger strikes, it worked in the end. In conclusion India's religious history has led to Indians such as Mohandas Gandhi who have revolutionized the world by setting examples of living and leading non-violently.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Blog Entry #8
Q: Can migrations have a positive impact on the people and/or land receiving the immigrants?
A: Yes migrations and immigrants can have a positive impact on the people and/or land receiving them and this is proven throughout history. When immigrants meet the people in the country they are immigrating to, a couple ways their meeting could go would be that one becomes mistrustful and attacks the other, or they exchange opinions and explain their backgrounds to one another and the immigrants add to the evolvement of the society of their immigration. An example in history where the former took place was the massacring of the Native Americans by the Pilgrims and then later, America, by making them reservations to live on. This unfortunately led to much of their culture becoming lost. An example of when the latter took place was when the Jews in Europe had enough rights to participate in meaningful work, they contributed greatly to European society even though they were immigrants by being great bankers and sometimes politicians. Another example of when immigrants have had a positive impact on the people/land receiving them were the waves of multi-cultural immigrants to the United States who have contributed to our nation's economy and growth of industries. Immigrants throughout history have had positive impacts on the people and places of their immigration.
A: Yes migrations and immigrants can have a positive impact on the people and/or land receiving them and this is proven throughout history. When immigrants meet the people in the country they are immigrating to, a couple ways their meeting could go would be that one becomes mistrustful and attacks the other, or they exchange opinions and explain their backgrounds to one another and the immigrants add to the evolvement of the society of their immigration. An example in history where the former took place was the massacring of the Native Americans by the Pilgrims and then later, America, by making them reservations to live on. This unfortunately led to much of their culture becoming lost. An example of when the latter took place was when the Jews in Europe had enough rights to participate in meaningful work, they contributed greatly to European society even though they were immigrants by being great bankers and sometimes politicians. Another example of when immigrants have had a positive impact on the people/land receiving them were the waves of multi-cultural immigrants to the United States who have contributed to our nation's economy and growth of industries. Immigrants throughout history have had positive impacts on the people and places of their immigration.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Greece Day 5 Blog Entry
1) I agree with Socrates' words: "Wisdom begins in wonder." The reason I agree with this is because it is impossible to obtain knowledge without seeking it. For example, one can be forced into memorizing facts regarding a topic, yet in my opinion and in Socrates', they will not have become any wiser. To become wise one must remember the information they have learned. If one is forced into learning something, they will not remember it for the rest of their lives. I believe the best way to obtain knowledge is to seek it.
2) In Plato's book "The Republic" justice is defined as being whatever the almighty and smart ruler decides.
3) One positive element of Plato's republic is that only the "smart" are rulers. I believe an important element to a functioning republic is having good intelligent leaders who can pronounce nuclear correctly:-). This is the case in Plato's republic because no other people are given the chance to become rulers unless they are deemed smart. This leads me to my next point which is a negative aspect to Plato's republic. I believe it is a bad decision to deem people intelligent or stupid and then assign them to an according job. I think more factors should be taken into account when determining a job for someone. For example, I believe the person's background should be taken into account. If they grew up not going to school due to finances but they were very smart, yet they seemed stupid to the person deciding what they should do, then the state would be missing out on a bright mind.
4) My idea for an ideal state or republic would involve many city-states. Each city-state would rule under whatever governing system they wanted to, whether it be a capitalistic, a socialistic society, a social-democracy or other. The reason this would be ideal is because I realize each person has their own individual idea of what kind if society they want to be apart of. Since each city-state would be governed in different ways, people could choose to live in which ever one they wanted to be apart of.
5) What the Allegory of the Cave means when it says the only thing standing in the way of knowledge is our insistence that the visual universe is reality is that our perception of reality is what reality is. Plato argued that every has their own individual reality and that things may be perceived differently by two different such as colors. He says that there is no reality and that our insistence of saying there really is a reality is standing in the way of obtaining true knowledge.
2) In Plato's book "The Republic" justice is defined as being whatever the almighty and smart ruler decides.
3) One positive element of Plato's republic is that only the "smart" are rulers. I believe an important element to a functioning republic is having good intelligent leaders who can pronounce nuclear correctly:-). This is the case in Plato's republic because no other people are given the chance to become rulers unless they are deemed smart. This leads me to my next point which is a negative aspect to Plato's republic. I believe it is a bad decision to deem people intelligent or stupid and then assign them to an according job. I think more factors should be taken into account when determining a job for someone. For example, I believe the person's background should be taken into account. If they grew up not going to school due to finances but they were very smart, yet they seemed stupid to the person deciding what they should do, then the state would be missing out on a bright mind.
4) My idea for an ideal state or republic would involve many city-states. Each city-state would rule under whatever governing system they wanted to, whether it be a capitalistic, a socialistic society, a social-democracy or other. The reason this would be ideal is because I realize each person has their own individual idea of what kind if society they want to be apart of. Since each city-state would be governed in different ways, people could choose to live in which ever one they wanted to be apart of.
5) What the Allegory of the Cave means when it says the only thing standing in the way of knowledge is our insistence that the visual universe is reality is that our perception of reality is what reality is. Plato argued that every has their own individual reality and that things may be perceived differently by two different such as colors. He says that there is no reality and that our insistence of saying there really is a reality is standing in the way of obtaining true knowledge.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Sparta vs. Athens or Greece vs. the U.S.
1) If I was a young teenage girl of the citizen class I would have preferred to live in Sparta. Not only would I have been educated from the age of seven in reading, writing, gymnastics, athletics and survival skills, I would have been treated more like an equal than in Athens. I would be able to participate in sports. I could own and control my own property as well as being expected to oversee and protect it while my husband was at war.
2) If I was a slave I would rather have lived in Athens. Although I was a slave and had no rights I would have been treated less harshly than in many other places in Greece. I would have had opportunities to be something of importance such as a policeman.
3) If I was a boy of the citizen class I would rather have lived in Athens. In Athens I would have received a good education from the age of five until I was fourteen or eighteen (depending on my family's wealth). In Sparta however I would have been taken from my parents at the age of seven and trained in the art of warfare. I would be expected to stay in good physical shape until I was sixty. Although I would be educated in reading and writing as well, my life would mainly revolve around the military.
4) If I were a soldier I would rather have lived in Sparta. Spartan warriors were trained from the age of seven and were expected to serve in the army until the age of sixty and I would have received extensive militaristic training. The Spartan military was the best and most feared on land.
5) I f I was an aristocrat I would rather have lived in Athens. Although Athens was one of the first city-states to establish a democracy, the aristocrats were the ones who ruled from behind the scenes and controlled what went on in the democracy. Elected officials were usually aristocrats.
6) Athens was the better place to live. Although controlled by somewhat of a corrupt democracy Athens encouraged exotic culture such as athletics, art and music as opposed to Sparta, where everyone's lives revolved around the military. From the age of seven boys were taken from their parents and trained to become warriors. When the men went off to fight, women would take care of the land and protect it from invaders. Women's roles were to produce strong warriors. In Athens boys were given a good education in reading, writing, math, music, poetry, sports and gymnastics from the age of five to fourteen or eighteen depending on family wealth. Sometimes boys even went to academies in their twenties where they studied philosophy, ethics and rhetoric. Only after their education were boys expected to serve in the military. In conclusion Athens encourage culture where Sparta encouraged a militaristic lifestyle.
2) If I was a slave I would rather have lived in Athens. Although I was a slave and had no rights I would have been treated less harshly than in many other places in Greece. I would have had opportunities to be something of importance such as a policeman.
3) If I was a boy of the citizen class I would rather have lived in Athens. In Athens I would have received a good education from the age of five until I was fourteen or eighteen (depending on my family's wealth). In Sparta however I would have been taken from my parents at the age of seven and trained in the art of warfare. I would be expected to stay in good physical shape until I was sixty. Although I would be educated in reading and writing as well, my life would mainly revolve around the military.
4) If I were a soldier I would rather have lived in Sparta. Spartan warriors were trained from the age of seven and were expected to serve in the army until the age of sixty and I would have received extensive militaristic training. The Spartan military was the best and most feared on land.
5) I f I was an aristocrat I would rather have lived in Athens. Although Athens was one of the first city-states to establish a democracy, the aristocrats were the ones who ruled from behind the scenes and controlled what went on in the democracy. Elected officials were usually aristocrats.
6) Athens was the better place to live. Although controlled by somewhat of a corrupt democracy Athens encouraged exotic culture such as athletics, art and music as opposed to Sparta, where everyone's lives revolved around the military. From the age of seven boys were taken from their parents and trained to become warriors. When the men went off to fight, women would take care of the land and protect it from invaders. Women's roles were to produce strong warriors. In Athens boys were given a good education in reading, writing, math, music, poetry, sports and gymnastics from the age of five to fourteen or eighteen depending on family wealth. Sometimes boys even went to academies in their twenties where they studied philosophy, ethics and rhetoric. Only after their education were boys expected to serve in the military. In conclusion Athens encourage culture where Sparta encouraged a militaristic lifestyle.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Blog Entry #4
New ideas in politics and philosophy tend to emerge in times of social, political, and/or economic stress? How can this be explained?
The reason that new ideas in politics and philosophy tend to emerge in times of social political and/or economic stress is because people believe that with new policies or ideas, their society will be better. The reason people think this is because they are being logical. They are saying that since the present political leader and his/her philosophy, are not working, they need change. This can be seen today in the presidential campaigns. Since President Bush’s leadership policies have not been working to America’s benefits (i.e. the economy crisis, relief work for Hurricane Katrina etc.), the two candidates are calling for change. They each have their own ideas and philosophies about how they will change America for the better. Another example of when a time of stress led to political change and new philosophies emerging was during the Qin dynasty. The Qin ruled under a Legalistic way, which sent the population into an uproar. Their dynasty was so short because their policies made the population upset and wanting a changed political government with better philosophies of how to rule. The Han became such a successful dynasty after the Qin because they answered the people’s call of a changed government and more humane philosophy of ruling. In conclusion the reason one can see in history and the modern day how political, social and/or economic stress leads to a change in political governing and way of ruling is because the population realizes that the original way does not work and that they need a new one.
The reason that new ideas in politics and philosophy tend to emerge in times of social political and/or economic stress is because people believe that with new policies or ideas, their society will be better. The reason people think this is because they are being logical. They are saying that since the present political leader and his/her philosophy, are not working, they need change. This can be seen today in the presidential campaigns. Since President Bush’s leadership policies have not been working to America’s benefits (i.e. the economy crisis, relief work for Hurricane Katrina etc.), the two candidates are calling for change. They each have their own ideas and philosophies about how they will change America for the better. Another example of when a time of stress led to political change and new philosophies emerging was during the Qin dynasty. The Qin ruled under a Legalistic way, which sent the population into an uproar. Their dynasty was so short because their policies made the population upset and wanting a changed political government with better philosophies of how to rule. The Han became such a successful dynasty after the Qin because they answered the people’s call of a changed government and more humane philosophy of ruling. In conclusion the reason one can see in history and the modern day how political, social and/or economic stress leads to a change in political governing and way of ruling is because the population realizes that the original way does not work and that they need a new one.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
After learning more about the Classical Period and listening to lectures about the many developments made in its time, I believe that population growth was the most important development of the Classical Period. The Classical Period has been given this name because it is looked back in history as an all-around good and successful period in time. Why was it such an abundant time though? It was defiantly not due to the technological advancements, considering there were barley any made. I believe the secret to the Classical Period’s time of prosperity was due to the growth in population. Neil Diamond said that a big reason for the unfairness in terms of development around the world is due to the fact that some regions have bigger populations than others. This leaves opportunities for other people in that region to have time to work on technological advancements. This theory also applies to the Classical Period situation. With a bigger population there was enough people to become acquainted in different professions, such as merchants. With a larger population, the world began to experience trade. New ideas were brought from the Far East to the far West on roads such as the Silk Road or Roman roads. Larger Populations meant larger armies, the military is what lead to major roads being built and these roads are what merchants used to travel on. In conclusion without the surge of population growth, the Classical Period would not have been worthy of such a name.
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