Traditional African Religion
The Religious Sphere
There is widespread belief in a supreme God, unique and transcendent. Africans have a sense of the sacred and sense of mystery; there is high reverence for sacred places, persons and objects; sacred times are celebrated. Belief in the after life is incorporated in myths and in funeral ceremonies. Religion enfolds the whole of life; there is a difference between life and religion. Ancestors mediate between God and men. It is believed that sin harms the public good; hence there are periodical purification rites in order to promote public welfare. Worship requires a fundamental attitude of strict discipline and reverence.
The Ritual Sphere
Rites form and essential part of social life. Rites invoke ancestors and the dead. The whole person, body, and soul are totally involved in worship. There are many rites of purification of individuals and communities. Religious sacredness is preserved in ritual, in dress and the arrangements of the places of worship. The sick are healed in rites, which involve their families and the community. Some of the traditional blessings are rich and very meaningful. In worship and sacrifice there is co-responsibility each person contributes his share in a spirit of participation. Symbols bridge the spheres of the sacred and secular and so make possible a balanced and unified view of reality.
An important part of the African traditional religion is the presence of spirits.
The Spiritual Sphere
In the African world spirits are everywhere in persons, trees, rivers, animals, rocks, mountains and ever automobiles and other personal effects. The presence of these spirits in the African society offers a serious challenge to the behavior patterns of the people on the continent and elsewhere because traditional religious practices permeates every aspect of life on the continent. These spirits in many ways act as moral entrepreneurs of the African society. They abhor crimes like adultery, stealing, cheating and suicide. These spirits communicate their wishes, demands and prescriptions to the larger society through the traditional priests. The traditional priests are able to satisfy their clients through the performance of rituals.
These beliefs help us make analyses about this ritual, interpretations not strictly bound to earthly or worldly things.
Gatsby 's failure of his financial and social stature obliges him ignore his own particular moral quality to pick up the fortune of a tycoon who he worked for, and transform into a well off and respectable man “ working for a millionaire made him dedicate his life to the achievement of wealth” (Spark Notes 5 with the sole motivating regaining the affection of his darling Daisy Buchanan “Gatsby cannot take Daisy from Tom with money, but without money he could not even have tried to take him from him” (Tredell 52).
Experiencing new worlds and encountering new dilemmas, magic, wisdom, truth: all of these elements characterizes the context of the book Of Water and Spirit by Malidona Patrice Some. Here, magic and everyday life come to an affinity, and respect and rituals are necessary tools to survive. The author portrays the Dagara culture in a very specific way. This culture makes no differentiation between what is natural, or "normal", and what is supernatural, or magical. Ancestors compound the core of communities and individuals. These higher beings are present in ordinary life activities and actions. They constitute the connection between this world and another.
The article equips the reader with the tools needed to better understand other cultures, in terms of their own beliefs and rituals. Miner’s original approach does create a certain level of confusion that forces the reader to critically evaluate his purpose. “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner ultimately brings people together, by illuminating the eccentricities present in all
Another reason Socrates did not escape prison was his obligation to his city. Again, this ties to Socrates need for consistency, when manhood is reached in the city of Athens the citizens comply with the laws of Athens, and if they do not they are to leave the city. So, given this, Socrates must assent to the laws of Athens because he agreed they were just, whether he was wrongly accused or not. Socrates also towards the end of his life becomes certain of the afterlife, that it either must end in eternal sleep or you pass into a spiritual Transcension. Given the dilemma of a planned death, Socrates is given the opportunity to die a good person knowing he has committed no wrong, which is likely why he is content at the end of his life.
Illegal immigration has become a controversial topic in politics within the US. Some believe that undocumented immigrants are vital to the U.S. economy because they take the jobs Americans do not want. Others however, have the opinion that undocumented immigrants should be punished for doing things illegally, arguing that undocumented immigrants are taking the jobs of the American people and taking abusing it by not paying taxes. Although there are speculations that support the claim that immigrants should be punished, there are several counterarguments that state why they should be allowed to stay. Undocumented immigrants are an important factor to the development of the United States of America, immigrants have supplied a widespread example
Ordinary religion shows people how to live well within boundaries, and concern themselves with living well in this current world, not in another. Ordinary religion promotes cultures, traditions, values, and common social acts. In contrast, extraordinary religion helps people to transcend beyond their ordinary culture and concerns, crosses the borders of life as we used to know it and seeks to new better place. It is also believed that people have chance to contact God through spiritual ceremonies and get helped by supernatural power. For instance, ceremonies and rituals of baptism and circumcision for infants, and conformations for adolescents, marriage, and funerals for the dead. Through these spiritual ceremonies, people are crossing the physical boundaries and reaching something supernatural that they believe will give them power to encounter challenges and difficulties during stages of life. There are three elements in religious belief developing most religions in America, which are fundamental, ritual, and tradition. The first element is the fundamental structures which are defined with a myth, philosophy, or theology and limited by the boundaries that create the basic ways in which people, cultures and communities imagine, define, and accept how things are and what they mean. A second essential element of religion is ritual. Rituals are a representative set of
The United States of America’s national immigration problem has sparked many bitter altercations and deliberations among the political spectrum of the United States government. Approximately thirteen million illegal immigrants are currently residing within United States borders. The processes involved in both legal and illegal immigration needs to be reformed and become more restrictive towards those illegal immigrants.
In sub-Saharan Africa, thousands of languages, cultures, and geographical regions helped influence our African society. The ways in which we produce our artwork, spiritual ideals, and ritual performances are organic and raw. From the tropical regions of Congo and Ghana, to the arid regions of Mali; I pass through the global gateway into a domain where the Western world lost its roots and artistic imagination and grandeur. Africa appeals most to me for its ability to create a realm where the living, dead, and artistic ideals come into a single unit of tranquil philosophy.
Gatsby point this notion out when he says, “Daisy is money”. She is the parallel that Fitzgerald sets up to demonstrate that the quest for money is inevitable to fail. Before Gatsby became enamored by her limitless possibilities and defined himself by her he could have had the world. But instead he dedicated his life to getting her as his own. His longing for Daisy is an unhealthy obsession that gears everything Gatsby does. The ostentatious parties were thrown in hopes of her attending. Gatsby buys a huge house and fills it with pretentious things in order to solicit attention from the thing he most desires. The irony is that all of this is a failure. When Daisy finally goes to one of Gatsby’s parties she despises everything about it. No matter what he does Daisy is unobtainable. Nothing is ever enough because Gatsby can never be satisfied. Fitzgerald proves that the blind pursuit of perfection and money, as the 1920’s were to some people, is predestined to fail. When Nick first sees Gatsby he is staring wistfully at a money-colored light in the distance. This is the light on Daisy’s dock. It is just across the lake that separates East and West egg from each other. It seems so close but at the same time can never be
Hugh Hefner once said, “I looked back on the roaring Twenties, with its jazz, 'Great Gatsby' and the pre-Code films as a party I had somehow managed to miss.” The parties of the Roaring Twenties were used to symbolize wealth and power in a society that was focused more on materialism and gossip than the important things in life, like family, security, and friends. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan as the epitome of the era. The reader sees these characters acting selfishly and trying to meddle with others’ lives. On the other hand, Nick Carraway, the narrator, acts more to help others and act honestly. Initially the reader sees Carraway’s views towards Jay Gatsby as negative as Gatsby’s actions are perceived as being like the Buchanan’s. As the novel moves forward, the reader notices a change in Carraway’s attitude towards Gatsby. Carraway sees Gatsby for whom he truly is, and that is a loving person who only became rich to win Daisy’s heart. But in this the reader also sees how corrupt and hurtful Gatsby’s actions were to the love of his life. Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy reveals that just as Gatsby’s dream of wooing Daisy is corrupted by illegalities and dishonesty, the “American Dream” of friendship and individualism has disintegrated into the simple pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure.
What is culture, one might ask? According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, culture is the “customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group or the characteristic features of everyday existence (as diversions or a way of life} shared by people in a place or time” (Culture). Five major characteristics that define a culture include culture is learned, culture is shared, culture is symbolic, culture is all-encompassing, and culture is integrated. Culture depends on the human capacity for cultural learning that encompasses shared rules for conduct and that are dependent upon symbols. Cultures can be integrated by using “social and economic forces, core values, and key symbols” (Mirror for Humanity, 2002). This essay will elaborate on the physical geography and military history of Sub-Saharan Africa, an analysis of its weather, and an overview of the ASCOPE acronym.
As species we are all born human, yet the journey we take on the passage of life defines us as individuals. Our lives are an array of moments of secular and spiritual change. Regardless of their importance, in both contexts, these occurrences represent a transition from one stage of life to another. People formalized these important moments of physical or social change by ritualization, or also known as ‘rite of passage’. The rites of passage play an important role in society. They are an efficient tool in restoring and maintaining balance within the social environment. At the same time, through rituals, they lead the initiate to social transformation. Rites of passage characteristically give assurance of mastery of the new roles and often include instruction in the new roles.
...’s depictions of both traditional and modern beliefs in varying degrees illustrate the importance of both in contemporary Nigerian culture, as well as the greater Africa as a whole, and how both are intertwined and cannot exist without the other. In effect, she skillfully subverts stereotypes or single perceptions of Africa as backward and traditional, proving instead, the multifaceted culture of Africa. She further illustrates that neither traditional African nor western culture is necessarily detrimental. It is the stark contrast of the fundamental cultures that inevitably leads to clashes and disagreements. In the end, what holds African countries such as Nigeria together is their shared pride. Modern, western influences can bring positive changes to society, but new cultures cannot completely eradicate the foundational cultures to which a society is founded on.
Kaduna: Baraka Press, 2004. Magesa, Laurenti. A. African Religion: The Moral Tradition of Abundant Life. Nairobi: Pauline Pub., Africa, 1998. Mbiti, John S. Introduction to African Religion.