Chicago Groupings

In general, most areas of Chicago according to these maps were heavily racially grouped. This is most noticeable with the Italians, African Americans, and the "Bohemians" (a nationality I'm a bit unfamiliar with). There seems to be some correlation with wealth as well- there are several streets in which the Americans own the outward homes, and in general wealth increases as you move toward the street on the map. A few things surprised me- by and large the italians seem to be very poor, though they often lived in neighborhoods with the English-speaking Irish and Americans. Contrastingly, only half of the "colored" areas were poor- half seemed quite affluent, which is surprising given my understanding of the prejudices and circumstances of the time.

In the attached readings, there are several ways described in which people stay seperate and intermingle. Religious practices often set cultures apart, such as the greek easter procession and the simple street shrines of the italians. Groupings prevented a lot of intermingling, as did work schedules- the main time for social interaction would have been at the end of the factory shifts, and most workers were content to head straight for home. The children of these workers had plenty of time for interaction, as during the day the streets were packed with children of all nationalities, playing with a freedom unbounded by social constraints and nationality- who probably had to be around each other either way due to the lack of open space.

Jane Adam's Spirituality

Jane Adam's social work is not, I believe, religiously motivated. Spiritually motivated, perhaps. But more than that her desire to do good seems to stem from a very deep, strong sense of simple human morality- that all humanity has worth in itself with or without that worth being assigned by god. We should take care of each other as people because- I think we can all agree- that we would like others to take care of us.

One example I will cite of Jane Adam's resistance towards religion was her refusal to be converted into the "missionary field" despite every attempt of her superior's at school. The influence of her father- who she admired greatly and was not part of any church- and the solidarity and intellectual rationality of her peer group kept her from becoming more than interested in religion. Her interest, even, is more intellectual than spiritual. She describes being fascinated with the texts of the religion, and with the history of the catacombs later on.

This is not to say she is against the practice of religion at all- her prolonged study of it confirms her belief in at least a partial usefullness. In chapter 4 she describes her desire for an "outward symbol of fellowship"- though when she considers christianity as an option its appeal lies mostly in its connection to democracy. She spent much of her time traveling to locations of great religious import, but again she is searching for a sense of a more philosophical than religious ideal- the "universal comity" and "supreme humanity" of the positivists.

What I can safely say is that she believed religion was a good way of systemizing and solidifying otherwise stratified moral/philosophical ideas. What she hopes for is a "cathedral of humanity" "capacious enough to house a fellowship of common purpose", with a "vision of human solidarity". If a religion were approximating this, or moving towards it, I would assume that she would be all for it, if not particularly attached to its poetic, spiritual aspects herself.

Week 8 Rasta video

There are several crucial differences between the boboshanti community shown here and the rastafarian culture and community described in the book- though they clearly share the same basic values and principles. The first thing I noticed is the fact that it is a seperate community- much of the Rastafarian way of life is about defying the "babylonian" culture that surrounds you- here there is no oppressive force to struggle against. This calls into question whether Rastafari is dependent on this- once the struggle is won, once repatriation is successful and there is nothing to fight against, would you still call it Rastafari?

You can see this reflected in smaller ways in the video as well- I particularly noticed the turbans which covered the boboshanti's symbolic dreads. These turbans are inspired by african headwear, and thus are consistent with the return to African roots, but they defeat the symbolic purpose of the dreads- traditionally a bold statement of courage and defiance. How can one shake one's dreads to destroy babylon if they are wrapped up? Wouldn't the cloth interrupt the link between the Rastas and Jah?

Another thing which seemed odd was the ritualistic prayer every 6 hours- this is abnormally realistic for Rastafari, it seems almost church-inspired (as do the bible quotes, of course- it is still not clear to me how much of Rastafari is Afro-Christian and how much is purely African). Rastafari seems to me to have a more freeform spirituality- not that it is taken any less seriously, but that it is more run by feeling than by schedule. Again, it simply seems this way, I may be jumping to conclusions.

Kebra Negast

The Kebra Negast seems to both give and take power and stature from Ethiopia, in that the old culture of Ethiopia (pre-solomon) seems to be seen in an inferior light. The fact that the child of King Solomon will now rule seems to be a "good" thing- it provides a connection between the country and such a powerful, wise, and clearly influential man. This and the conversion of Ethiopia to Christianity (through the influence of Solomon and Sheba) sort of allies the country with Israel- as any potential future conflict would therefore be between family members. It also lends spiritual significance (from a christian viewpoint) to Ethiopia- this is spelled out in the metaphorical dream solomon has in which the sun leaves Israel and goes to Ethiopa. The sun seems to represent a spiritual goodness and divine favor which Sheba will carry with her back to Ethiopia.

At the same time, the Kebra Negast does not give much credit to pre-solomon ethiopia. Sheba, as the main representative of Ethiopia, seems to grovel at his feet throughout- at his suggestion she is converted to his religion without hesitation. When she bears his child, she overrules the traditional form of government to ensure that Solomon's superior influence will remain concrete within Ethiopia. Her behavior in general with Solomon (perhaps because of the time the text was written and how women were often portrayed then) seems to be somewhat weak- although she does seem to get what she wants- and this reflects on the relationship between Ethiopia and Israel.

There is also the detail of what is taken back to Ethiopia by Sheba- it is written that she took treasures away carried by six thousand camels and wagons, a sea-vessel, and apparently some kind of flying vessel as well- though it gives no details on this. This seems to indicate some transfer of power (though given Solomon's wealth it is likely more charity than an actual shift) from Israel to Ethiopia.

Provocative Imagery

If a little risque, this was one of the most provocative images I came across:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whoisthisanyway/2326017667/

This is a very obviously symbolic picture- nothing is really included which is not representative of something. The woman's body- only partially clothed- represents sexuality (human sexuality in general, and not just this woman's, since we do not see her face). The cross clearly represents christianity- but there is meaning embedded in the construction of the cross at well. The black board which lies vertically is symbolic of chastisty and religious repression/protection of sexuality (I see /protection because the board seems placed almost defensively, and itself does not denote a negative attitude towards sexuality). The piece of tape lying horizontally completes the cross while binding it to her- representing the firm grip of faith, and implying an intimate relationship with spirituality. The scissors are where the politics of the photo come more clearly into view- the fastening of the religion to the person carries with it a sense of danger. The scissors are closed, but still clearly representing the potential for harm.

What are these dangers? Perhaps it refers to the emotional/psychological issues that may come with sexual repression. Peraps the tape is not applied by the woman but is making a statement about cultures in which religion is not a choice- and thus this repression is almost always negative. The picture invokes the issue of abortion- one thing that usually comes with religious repression of sexuality is an even greater disapproval of abortion. For some, particularly in non-secular countries, not having the right to choose can be dangerous (when birth complications could be involved) and unfair (in the case of rape). The blog attached to the photo confirms this idea- it is making a statement about Christian efforts (obviously not by all demoninations) to make abortion illegal or difficult, and to in general restrict reproductive rights (including education and healthcare).

Week 5: Augustine is Full of it.

As I found with the Republic, On Christian Teaching contains what I see as logical flaws throughout which make it difficult to accept anything which is built upon previously established concepts. Since his writing is more advice than a proof or argument for how one ought to examine Christianity, the holes in his reasoning don't detract much from the value of his arguments, but they do affect the extent to which I can respect what he says in general. A few instances stuck out to me as I was reading, and for this blog post I shall examine them further.

On page 45, Augustine examines the significance of the fourty-day fast. He claims that the number originates  from the days of creation (7) plus the number of the holy trinity (3), adding up to ten, conveyed to us temporally- as there are four seasons, four sections of the day, etc. the number 10 is multiplied by 4. First of all, the implications of this are entirely unclear (what do the days of creation plus the trinity add up to, why are they conveyed temporally, and how should this affect the way we think of the 40-day fast?). Secondly, the mathematical logic he uses here (and even more so in the examples following) shows that he could likely have made spiritual "sense" out of any random number given. When he continues on to apply these mathematical principles to various stringed instruments- conjecturing that the number of strings should have some spiritual significance- he comes across as being desperate to link everything together even if it was not intended to be. This desperation colors the way I view the rest of his arguments.

He also uses somewhat faulty logic in his condemnation of other schools of thought. Referring to the practice of augury (53), he says "both before and fter making their observations, (they) deliberately avoid seeing birds in flight or hearing their cries, because these signs are null and void unless accompanied by the observers agreement." Is this not reminiscent of the way he supports searching for meaning in text with a meaning already in mind? Also, he has not considered the possibility (not being a participant in augury) that this is a principle of the practice- augury is based on the idea that the predictions are to be made in a specific time frame and from a certain perspective, otherwise every movement of every bird would contain omens of the future.

Week 5: On Christian Teaching

Augustine's first step, in interpreting the psalms, would be to first learn the original Hebrew that the text was written in, so that he could understand it directly without the danger of losing any meaning in translation. Then he would proceed to read and memorize the entirety of the psalms. By reading them, he would get a sense of them as a whole; by memorizing them he would create a network of connections between interrelated and referential psalms, making the later stages of understanding easier.

His first task of analysis would be to find the most obvious and direct passages of the psalms, and interpret them. He could easily disover by this that god punishes the wicked and rewards the just. Next he would attempt to interpret the more unclear passages- when he encountered enemies saying "hurrah hurrah" of the speaker of the prayer, he might be initially confused. But by referencing this to the body of the work, he would find that this is a traditional thing for enemies to say when their foe (the prayer reader) is faltering. Thus it would be clarified that these enemies are not, in fact, counter-intuitively celebrating their enemy.

He would also in this same manner resolve conflicting ideas within the text. For example, when he reads in psalm 60 that god made his people "drink poison wine", or the entirety of psalm 44, he might reference to psalm 66, wherein this phenomenon is explained- "For You tested us, God, You refined us as silver refined". Thus, all instances of god causing suffering for his people can be interpreted as testing and refining.