Saturday, June 6, 2009
Final Project: The Lion of Judah
Due to an issue with uploading this, Please play the song as close to the start of the video as possible.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Baha'i Temple in Chicago
Thursday, May 28, 2009
What happened, NY Times?
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Founding a New Religion
The first thing to know about the Bahi faith is that it isn't entirely original. Although it breaks away from traditional Islam, it still contains many of the religious elements of that faith. In a sense, it's a tweaking of the Islamic faith to fit a new order. And what is this new order? Well, starting off with Baba and moving onto Baha'u'llah himself, the new order was the announcement that Baha'u'llah was the chosen one.
Which brings me to the second part of founding a new religion: Change. Once the basics of a new movement/religion are set in place, the next step is to start changing things and creating a new message that people want to believe in. But in order for this message to be heard, you have to have a leader that can draw people in. Which brings me to the third element of any successful religion: a charismatic leader. Choose any religion you like, and you'll find some type of leader leading the way...Jesus, Marcus Garvey, Baha'u'llah, etc. Whether they are the founder of a religion or one of its advocates, the importance of a leader cannot be overlooked...for they are the voice that speaks to the people. Remember what happened when Baha'u'llah went away for 10 years and wasn't leading the people? The number of his followers dwindled drastically and his faith was almost extinct!
So mix it all together and what do you have? A new religion that needs but one more element: time. In the case of the Bahi faith, it took a long time for it to blossom and get a large following. This is partially because Baha'u'llah took his time and didn't force a movement on his followers right away, and also because of political walls blocking his path. Like any strong religion, however, it prevailed and today we can see it flourishing.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
My Mennonite Experience
One totally awesome thing about the Mennonites is this store in Kalona called Stringtown Grocery. Every Wednesday and Saturday they open up the store at 8am to all people, and it's like a madhouse! The Mennonites get damaged and/or outdated merchandise from surrounding stores in Iowa City and then they sell them a discounted price. A very discounted price. I remember going when I was a kid and having to get to the store at 6am to wait in line with about 40 other people--2 hours before it opened! Nowadays, it gotten to the point where they've set up a system where you get a ticket number so you can leave and come back in a couple of hours instead of having to wait outside for a long time. Then they call out your number to let you in the store...otherwise people storm in and crash carts. It's really competive! But that's because the prices are so cheap...where else can you get a jar of peanut butter for 50 cents or a box of Frosted Flakes for a dollar? And it's first come first serve, so once it's off the shelf, it's gone.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Rastafari in Jamaica
Above is the video about the most "spiritually committed Rastafarians" in the mountains of Jamaica. Not surprisingly, many of the symbols and practices we read and talked about in class can be found in these people. One of the most obvious of these symbols are the colors that the people dress themselves in and paint their houses with. Reds, yellows, greens, and blacks play important roles in their lives because those are the colors of the Ethiopian flag (which the Rastafarians adopted as their own symbol). Almost all the houses on the hillside are painted in these colors, and the Rastas wear clothing and turbans of these colors as well (most noticeably the color red...that appears to be the most popular color to wear, especially for turbans).
Other symbols include the rebellious hairstyle of the dreadlocks and wearing turbans as crowns, the 'ital' way of living (little or no electricity, with the only water source coming from a small stream), and the music of the people (heard throughout the video).
I think this version of Rasta life--though at the extreme end of the spectrum--is similar to what Bob Marley and his music represents. There's something that seems to transcend all of the followers of Rastafari, and even though Marley himself isn't living on a mountain to be closer to heaven, he still dresses, speaks, and evokes the powerful feelings of the Rasta way of life through his music and presence. So even though Marley is separate from the more orthodox Rastas, his music and message are true to the Rastafarian religion.
I think it's interesting that this rather unorganized religion has the most united group of followers. Walking down a random street, I could easily point out anyone who was a Rastafarian based on the way they dressed or spoke. I think that's why it I'm not surprised by the more religious Jamaicans in the video...I expected to see something like this because that's how Marley portrayed it.