I was born in Seattle in March 1993, and lived most of my life on the West Coast in Washington, California, and Alaska before attending West Point after high school. Although none of my experiences are extraordinary in themselves, collectively they have led me to develop a deep sense of intellectual curiosity, respect for different perspectives,
Raised as a committed protestant, I read through the entire Bible twice in middle school. Although I am no longer religious, I retain memories of sermons and church retreats that inspired powerful feelings of faith and purpose within me. When I now watch videos of passionate congregants enjoying a sermon from a preacher or imam, I know exactly what they are feeling. My experiences in the Church have left me with a vivid understanding of the influences of Christianity on Western society, as well as a sense of empathy for people of faith. As a result I am well-equipped to understand different points of view, and always make an effort to understand other people’s
…show more content…
The scene of the rally was chaotic, with a line of riot police stoically separating about 80 Hitler-saluting franquistas from 200 protesting college students. I slowly walked through the line of police and spent the next two hours asking the fascists questions about their ideology and motivations. The fascists raised reasonable-sounding complaints about taxes, low employment, and government corruption. Unfortunately, they also suggested that the solution to these problems involved removing Jews and immigrants from Spain. In this case I chose not to enter into a pointless argument with the fascists, but rather spent time learning what I could from them. At the end of the conversation I had a much greater understanding of fascist ideology, as well as the legitimate grievances that aggravated their bigotry and
Everybody who has gone to church has the same question once in a while, how to take Jesus real teachings into daily life? That is what Shane Clairborne, the author of this book try to find as he experienced “spiritual bulimia” as he explains, “I developed the spiritual form of it where I did my devotions, read all the new Christian books and saw the Christian movies, and then vomited up information up to friends, small groups, and pastors” (Clairborne 39). Motivated to find an answer, Clairborne tries to understand one of Jesus teachings, “to become the greatest you should become the least” he began by reading the Scriptures, going to church but that raised more questions until he went with some friends to stay on Philadelphia streets, there
1. The ratification of the 13th amendment to the U.S. constitution marked a historical achievement for the freedom of African slaves in America. Even with this amendment freed slaves, especially in the south, endured many hardships. Many freed slaves in the south still dealt with horrific conditions that existed during the Civil War. Also, slavery by another name was introduced by the state level with legal and prison systems leasing black convicts to corporations for work. Lastly, Africans received much backlash from their white counterparts with many different acts of violence occurring because of this new amendment. The passing of the 13th amendment can be seen as just paperwork, and the true nature of this country can still be seen
No doubt, you are aware the Church is in decline—both in membership and in its influence in the world, for the past several decades. Several key elements are missing in the lives of most Christians, which are rarely addressed in our church pulpits or in the books we read. How We Christians Miss The Boat unabashedly addresses these issues, with dead-on solutions, which will change and revolutionize the lives’ of all its readers.
My faith and how I lived in my faith made serves as a lasting example to believers in Christ (Lindslay, 3). In life, I believed that all work that I did was spiritual work for the betterment of the Lord’s kingdom. Whether I was writing, ministering, eating out, or simply talking with friends, all work, all things, all I did was for the advancement of the Lord’s kingdom. For the work of “a Beethoven” or the work of a “charwoman” were all the same in my eyes; for both the workers, their work should be “offered to God” and done “humbly” “as to the Lord” (Eshlemen, 2). Although I struggled with cynicism, this way of living life challenged and brought new meaning to my life (Lindslay, 3). This idea on the life I lived and how I lived the life I was given serves as an example of Colossians 3:17 for Christians who wish to live and long to live in similar fashions (The Holy, 237). This way of living my faith truly required me to be quite public and open with my thoughts and beliefs. My faith was not always outright and public. When I was young, my family was my first spiritual influence (Eshlemen, 5). My faith started when I was young, but was shattered with the death of my mother when I was ten years of age (Lindslay, 1). This tragedy shook who I thought God is. The death of my mother affected me deeply. In fact, in college, I denounced the protestant
For my Meet the Believers assignment, I focused on Catholicism and Nondenominational Christianity. My Catholic interviewee, who I’ll refer to as John, is middle aged and was raised Catholic. My Christian interviewee, who I’ll refer to as Jane, is a young adult and was similarly raised Christian. From my interviews and attendance of worship services of both groups, several themes and concepts came to the forefront: the tensions between fundamentalism and modernism, the important conversation of gender and ethnicity, and the “true” good understood by both believers through their respective religious groups.
In recent days I had the opportunity to go back to North Carolina for a few short days. There, with a heavy heart from a loss in the family, I had nothing else to look towards. I’ve always heard of individuals finding peace, faith, blessings, and love of Christ from attending church. I’ve never been a person who put their faith into a higher power. As I was growing up my parents never wanted to force me into any religion without me knowing everything about it and choosing which route to take on my own. As the years treaded on, I never bothered myself to learn about the many different religions and what each stands for. So I used this opportunity as mine to attend church for the very first time. I attended the Roman Catholic services held
God calls us to serve and to do everything with love (1 Peter 4:10, 1 Corinthians 16:14). As a Student Affairs (SA) professional, my main goal is to help students discover their calling and equip them to better serve the world while integrating their faith. Smith (2004), states why it is important to serve as a mentor during a critical adult faith development stage. In The Council for the Advancement of Standards and Higher Education (CAS), CAS has incorporated faith, spirituality and religion into the standards and competencies that they advocate for individuals working as educators in the student affairs field ( Smith, 2004). In the CAS masters-level graduate program for student affairs standards (2004) the authors spoke to the essential need to incorporate spirituality.
Winthrop outlines three detailed reasons to reform in his sermon that include glorifying God, manifesting in the work of the spirit, and providing Christian fellowship and helping others (Winthrop 1). He provides thorough questions and answers to why and how people should live wholesome Christian lives that include lending money and forgiving (Winthrop 2). He provides not only simple ways to live a charitable life of honoring God, but detailed reasons why. This is effective because it is easy to understand for people and encourages them to want to live this lifestyle. In “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God,” Edwards only talks about God’s wrath, hell, and how all people are “damned from birth” (Edwards 1). These frightening subjects do not promote a Christian lifestyle change, only a rude awakening. Edwards even specifially states that his sermon is intende to be an “awakening for unconverted persons” (Edwards 1). This is less effective than Winthrop’s sermon because it may scare people into the Christian faith, but it gives little detail of living a changed Christian life. Also, Edwards approach is so extreme, it may have an opposite effect on some listeners and scare them out of Christianity due to the harsh way he describes God and his anger. Edwards provides a frightening awakening message that proves less potent than Winthrop’s positive description of becoming a Christian
Social movements exist amongst various areas of people’s everyday life. For example, the world has been introduced to social movements such as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, in which people are challenged to dump a bucket of ice on their heads in support of an ALS charity. Another example includes the shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, to which an African American man by the name of Michael Brown was shot by a Caucasian police officer; this sparked Americans to use various support methods to generate awareness to racism and policy brutality. Both of these scenarios exemplifies the power social movements possess in society today. The purpose of this paper is to explain how to social movement of Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign has affected the
Stephen Prothero’s Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know – and Doesn’t, is not suggested for audiences who are easily offended by different viewpoints of religion. This is also not recommended as a light quick read due the complexity and confusion of the author’s argument.
Sitting in a classroom filled with several maps of the world, vast spines of colorful books, and watching the clock hit the next hour, there is nothing more that a seven-year-old would rather do than be stuck sitting in a desk for eight hours of the day. Looking back to when I was young and learning about the history and background of the church, I was illiterate. According to Bud Heckman’s definition, “religious literacy is the understanding of the profound role that religions plays in human social, cultural, and political life in both contemporary and historical contexts” (2). Learning about religion seemed
Growing up I always lived in a religious household. We always prayed before we ate, prayed before we went to bed, and always went to church on Sunday and Wednesday night. While I never questioned these actions and never tried to rebel against them, I still didn’t understand the importance of them either. I was merely walking in my parents footsteps, doing what my parents told me, singing along to the children’s songs in Sunday school, gave a tithing of my allowance every Sunday, but my life was void of the real meanings of my actions. This went on for years. Because I had not yet read through the Bible to understand why these actions had any meaning, they were just things I did all the time and I thought that was normal and that was what it meant to be a Christian.
In examining my experience during the recent Cohort Intensives held at Payne Theological Seminary (PTS) in Wilberforce, Ohio; I was quite intrigued with how all of the scholars and guest speakers reinforced many of the initiatives I have already implemented in the context of my own ministry. Likewise, my time spent in class with my Cohort mentors Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie and Rev. Dr. Kenneth S. Robinson was both scholastically and spiritually invaluable. During the week-long Intensive class sessions with my mentors, I learned a number of new things about myself that I was not previously willing to address. In short, I had a moment of self-actualization that required some personal omissions on my part regarding my faith and yes some internalized oppression as labeled by author Gayraud S. Wilmore. Opening up in class and admitting a few of my own short-comings was nothing short of liberating. Suddenly, I felt as though I had an epiphany; that has given birth to a renewed zeal, mind, and spirit. For the first time in years I am certain that I am now moving closer to the apex of excellence where God intended me to be.
Humans have depended on fossil fuel energy for a long time, however, with climate change and national security becoming a major focal point we need to pursuit other energy sources besides fossils fuel. Therefore, many nations are looking for greener and safe alternatives energy. Furthermore, with the threat of terrorism, countries are now motivated to looking for energy sources, which do not come from oil rich countries that sponsors terrorism. This is the reason the nuclear power alternatives has made a significant come back in the energy discussion. When one speaks of nuclear most people only can think of the negative aspect of nuclear energy, such as safety issue. I will discuss are the pros
In the world we live in today, experiences shape and mold a person. Our unique passions, our different cultures, and our individual experiences create a beautiful and distinct story that is purely our own. For me, this experience has been the constant presence of the United States Coast Guard in my life. My father has been serving in the Coast Guard for twenty years, and because of this experience, I will never be able to answer the seemingly simple question “Where are you from?”. However, I feel so grateful for this lifelong experience, for it has taught me to be patient and open minded, responsible, adaptive, and excited for change and has deepened my love for travel and adventure.