Comparative Religion

Written by: Patrick Dougherty

Throughout the world, there are many well-established religions with a variance of how they are practiced; however, out of all the religions, there are five that are widely practiced. The religions are as follows: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism. There have always been arguments as to which religion is the correct path, but when one takes an objective look, it becomes clear that all five of these religions strive to attain the same result. While these five religions have their own unique differences, they also share many common traits that create a strong foundation for their beliefs. 

The number one trait the five religions share is that they all believe in a deity or deities. Religions that only worship one god are referred to as monotheistic. Hinduism has belief in many gods, but the focus is on one god called Brahman, the world spirit who is supreme power. In Islam, they worship Allah and follow Muhammad’s teachings or instructions on how to live life. Christianity and Judaism both hold belief in the same god, but have different views on the form he can take. In Buddhism, they try to achieve enlightenment, which is similar to becoming a divine being. Buddhist do not worship a so-called god, yet when enlightenment is achieved, it is considered god like. The second characteristic is that all five of these religions teach salvation. Each religion has their own path to salvation, yet the end result is the same. For example, in Christianity, one must seek salvation to go to heaven and achieve eternal happiness and if not he or she will be punished in hell for eternity. In Buddhism and Hinduism, it is often worldly desires one must stray from, but instead of heaven or hell, they believe in reincarnation with no knowledge of the past life. The third trait is a code of conduct or having moral standards. While all religions have different teachings, they all teach morals. The best example is the golden rule, which states treat others as you would want to be treated. Even if one is not religious, having a set of morals is instilled at a very young age. Lastly, the major religions all have scriptures or teachings that are held sacred. Christians and the Jewish use some of the same text or gospels, yet they conceive of these books in very different ways. The scriptures are used to reaffirm the faith and teachings of each religion and are used to emphasize the importance of each religion.

Those four characteristics are the backbone of the five major religions, and there are many more traits that intertwine the religions together. They all have sacred places for pilgrimages, they have holy and sacred days, and also prayer and worship. Religion is a key component in keeping peoples moral compasses pointing in the right direction, by teaching morality, equality, and unity. All religions believe their path is the right path to god, but ultimately all paths lead to the same place.

Mythology goes to Hollywood

Written by: Timothy Arrington

The continual reemergence of mythology and/or iconography is a fact and is best seen through its continual recurrence as the forefront of Hollywood’s focus. We have the blatant; in-your-face “mythology” movies such as “Clash of the Titans” and “Hercules”, along with the “we won’t tell you it is based on a myth until you research it” such as “Immortals”. However, there are other movies that the mythological presence may not be as in the forefront as those three films yet it is still quite prevalent.

 In the movie, “Count of Monte Cristo”, Dante is imprisoned and assumed dead but escapes to come back and gain revenge on those who sought to wrong him. Similarly, In Homer’s “Odyssey”,   Odysseus arrives home after a ten year journey and being assumed dead, to do kill those who are trying to marry his wife, and helping themselves to her hospitality. At first glance, one might say that neither of these two works of art have anything to do with each other, but ultimately both works of art use the basis of the “Odyssey”, which is human intelligence versus strength in order to right an unjust wrong.

 Multiple movies have used the Trojan horse story as a way of expressing how one group of warriors got past the defenses of its enemies in order to accomplish their mission. In both “Robin hood: Men in Tights” and “The Scorpion King”, the film’s heroes ended up disguised as women in order to sneak in and utilize a sneak attack against their enemies. This battle tactic is based on the Trojan horse maneuver and is still in use today. 

Mythology can be broken up into gods or people in power or those who are on a quest for a greater good. The quests could range from a war or a simple journey that can only be accomplished through a succession of deeds. Modern cinemas’ use of elements that are prevalent in mythology can appear almost anywhere. I think that the “Chronicles of Narnia” based on the C.S. Lewis books shows a prime example of how mythology can be blatantly and subtlety inserted into a film to enhance the watchability and mystery of it. The blatant examples are the characters that exist in both the mythological realm and in Narnia.

Whether it is giants, fauns, or centaurs, all exist in one form or another in the mythological world.  When talking about the Chronicles of Narnia, I prefer to look at it as a series rather than a single solitary movie.  These movies take on the mythological viewpoint of vengeance and it shines through a realm where the children are the most powerful. In the “Voyage of the Dawn Treader”, the theme takes elements from the story of Jason and the Argonauts. Both deal with missions in a quest to get back the land and titles that were stolen from their families.  While some may argue that there are more upfront and in your face movies that reflect the use of mythology in a modern media, to that I would say stop looking at what is obvious about the movie, but try to delve into it and devein the story the writes are truly trying to present to you.

Science and Reason

Written by: Davian Jones

I think it would not be wise to put limits on how much we know. Knowledge will always be the key somehow in everything and everywhere. I say this for various reasons. It is only natural for us as humans to study the world that surrounds us. Although we as human beings as a species have come a long way, we are still ignorant to many things around us. For example, the life expectancy centuries back was very young. One would be lucky to make it to 30. As time moved on, humans as a whole began to gain knowledge and study medicine and health. This is a very good reason why the life expectancy is much higher. If it wasn’t legal or wise for humans to think outside the box and gain knowledge or life expectancy would have not evolved. To add on to that would be our knowledge of health also. Because humans have acquired knowledge on disease and bacteria; unlike the old days it wouldn’t be common to die from something as simple as the common cold today. 

Imagine the present day world without any modern cars or transportation. Humans have come a long way with transportation and there is no telling what kind of automobile will be created in our near future. If knowledge was something to put a limit on, we would still be horseback riding and walking. We live in a world that is based on the social, mind and physical of our society. Because of this I think that we do not even know half of our own understanding. There is just so much the human race still does not know about. If the process of knowing and discovering was made illegal, then we would not evolve as humans. Imagine an evolving world but we as humans don’t evolve with our surroundings. It would be impossible to live. 

Knowledge is the key to survival. Living in a constantly changing environment we as human beings, have to adapt to our surroundings. Without knowledge and the ability to learn, it would be impossible to do that. As human beings we only have knowledge by what we observe from naturally occurring things.  Putting the limitations on knowledge would also not be wise for our survival state. For example if knowledge and the curiosity to know were not allowed in the past. A lot of things we use today wouldn’t be created; affecting our population. I mean you never know something as simple as the flu could have wiped us all off the face of the earth. 

Knowledge is something we must have. I think without Knowledge we would not be the same. The way we learn and gain knowledge is by observing the world around us. Philosophers even said that humans are creatures born with a blank thought of logic and knowledge is how we have survived. Putting limits on how much humans should know is not a good idea.