Jean Zaru, who identifies herself as, “. . . a Christian, a Palestinian, a woman, an Arab, and a Quaker. . .” (Zaru 124), has acted as a longtime activist for peace and justice in Palestine, served on numerous community boards in Palestine, and authored two books on Palestinian life as a Christian. Zaru’s article in Hope Abundant, presents and argues for a theology of liberation from oppression (123), rooted in peace, and accomplished through loving your neighbor as yourself through embracing the differences and similarities of each other (137). Zaru begins the article by addressing the oppression she has faced throughout life. As a Christian Palestinian woman, she experienced judgement in Christianity due to her nationality, oppression …show more content…
Lastly, regarding women, Zaru presents that the …show more content…
The personal insight and experience Zaru brings to the article provides an insightful perspective into the subject of oppression and liberation. The author states her argument clearly, but with obvious presuppositions deriving from her life as a Quaker (Zaru 123), thus making her argument slightly confusing at times. For example, as a Quaker, Zaru calls for justice, peace, and nonviolence in all situations, but fails to account for how justice should be sought, and simply acknowledges that a tension exists between peace and justice (135). Additionally, Zaru paints a relatively bleak picture of Old Testament accounts, even claiming that “the God of that portion of the biblical account is the God of people’s consciousness and perception rather than the God who really is” (125). This claim proves incredibly bold and seems to suggest inconsistency between the God of the Old Testament and the New Testament, a claim quite abrasive to those who, like myself, view the Bible as authoritative. Additionally, throughout the article, the author read her own experience into several Biblical accounts (Zaru 127), a practice that can provide clarity into one’s own experience, but should carefully avoid presentism. Despite these few critiques, Zaru offer incredible insight and perspective into the life of someone often viewed as “unchosen” and oppressed due to such views. In her
Howard Thurman in his book, “Jesus and the Disinherited” presented Jesus as a role model for the oppressed on how to find strength, freedom and peace within God and oneself. Thurman shares the story of how Jesus offered an alternative to accepting the Roman rules, like the Sadducees did in hope of being allowed to maintain their Jewish traditions; A solution to remaining silently obedient, like the Pharisees, as hatred and resentment destroyed them from within. Jesus provided an alternative solution to the Zealots of his day who resorted to physical force to advance their justified cause, often paying the ultimate cost, their life. Jesus taught love. Love of God, self, neighbor and especially your enemy. Thurman stresses that Jesus know that “it is man’s reaction to things that determines their ability to exercise power over them”.(Thurman, 18) Jesus taught and modeled the art of strength through humility. He
Dave Eggers’ novel Zeitoun is labeled as a work of non-fiction. It tells the story of a Syrian-American man named Abdulrahman Zeitoun, also known as Zeitoun, who chose to stay in New Orleans to ride out one of the worst natural disasters in American history, Hurricane Katrina. Zeitoun, a family man and devoted to his business stayed in the city as the hurricane approached to protect not only his home and business, but also his neighbors’ and friends’ properties. After the storm he traveled the flooded city in a secondhand canoe rescuing neighbors, caring for abandoned pets and distributing fresh water. Soon after the storm, Zeitoun and three others were arrested without reason or explanation at one of his rental houses by a mixed group of U.S. Army National Guard soldiers and local police officers. In the novel Eggers created an accurate portrayal of the events of racial profiling and looting this becomes apparent if one views the documentary by Spike Lee, When the Levees Broke.
For centuries religion has played a huge role in the black community. From slavery to freedom, religion has help black folk deal with their anger, pain, oppression, sadness, fear, and dread. Recognizing the said importance of religion in the black community, Black poets and writers like Phillis Wheatley and Richard Wright, use religion as an important motif in their literature. Wheatley uses religion as a way to convince her mostly white audience of how religious conversion validates the humanity of herself and others. Wright on the other hand, uses religion in order to demonstrate how religion, as uplifting as it is can fail the black community. Thinking through, both Wheatley and Wright’s writings it becomes apparent that religion is so complex,
In Miguel A. De La Torre’s Liberation Theology for Armchair Theologians the subject of liberation theology was explored. De La Torre biblically expressed Liberation theology by using the main point of the poor being followers of God and God himself is the leader of the poor, who will not let them down. Besides De La Torre, using the underrepresented society as an example of how Liberation Theology works, he uses a world view which taps into different theologies such as Black Theology, U.S. Feminist Theologies, Hispanic Theologies and many more. Although De La Torre lists different theologies from different groups they all tie in together melting into the pot of Liberation Theology.
After centuries of oral storytelling, thirty percent of the world’s population now adopts a benevolent god that blesses those who follow him. In these followers’ eyes, this god of Christianity, YHWH, has shown himself graceful and powerful through His miraculous works throughout the Bible and everyday life. While these traits are prominent, parts of the Old Testament shine a negative light on YHWH that may depict him as a temperamental creator that continually seeks justice at any cost, including the destruction of His own creations. The Old Testament develops a character of YHWH that is sometimes parallel but other times contradictory to the “real God” of the Christian belief.
The book The Upside Down Kingdom by Donald B. Kraybill does an analysis of the bible in a different approach taken by readers. The main point of the book is to help readers understand Gods kingdom in a world that is turned upside down. Kraybill shows how upside down and radical the kingdom was in the first century Palestine and how it is the same in today’s society. In other words Kraybill illustrated the image that people who are at the top of the pyramids, the wealthy and the powerful, will be at the bottom of the pyramid in Gods kingdom if they are not humbled towards the poor and hungry. The book also clarifies the importance of practicing religious principle through the teachings of Christ in relation to the poor and suffering. In more detail one is not to seek the kingdom of heaven from above but rather find salvation of Christ through active compassion and empathy for those who are in need.
Though her life is a mystery to many academics, her only recovered works “Secret and “The Negro Laughs Back”, like Wilson’s, Hurston’s and Johnson’s explore the deep seated feelings of frustration with the ongoing fight for equality. However, unlike them, she explores ideas of spirituality which suggest that God lives within her. Mary Jenness’s work “Secret” is the exemplification of these ideas, she speaks directly to the heart of the African American struggle for equality within the United States. More assertive than her counterparts who proceed her, Jenness speaks directly to her oppressor, “Oh you that strike will never flinch/from hearts you cannot feel”, a line that suggests a lack of empathy from her oppressor. Using terms of aggression, such as strike and flinch to provoke an image of uncaring hatred (Jenness 82). She compares her plight, and the plight of all African American women to the same difficulties faced by Jesus Christ. Jenness creates this juxtaposition, by alluding to the Bible, best evidenced in the third line of the poem, “Though I that turn the cheek may hide/a wound that does not heal”, an allusion to Bible scripture Mathew 5:39, when Jesus instructs his followers to turn the other cheek. Yet, unlike Jesus, her wounds, and the wounds of African American women are often without healing. Jenness continues the work stating, “Yet something in you has to die/And something in me live” the “something Jenness refers to is humanity, noting that the cruelty exercised by her oppressors is hurting them more than her, as they are relinquishing their own souls and connection with mankind. The thought of this allows Jenness to end the work with a renewed sense of hope and thanks her enemies “for the gift of hate/ that keeps me sensitive” (Jenness 82). Throughout the poem, there is the familiar tone of anger and pain found in much of the writings of
In Western Christianity, the “theology” of Dispensationalism is achieving unheard of popularity. However with examination one can see the many cultural and biblical problems this theology has. Ultimately this theology isn’t just unbiblical, it is dangerous.
The narrative of Olaudah Equiano is truly a magnificent one. Not only does the reader get to see the world through Equiano's own personal experiences, we get to read a major autobiography that combined the form of a slave narrative with that of a spiritual conversion autobiography. Religion may be viewed as at the heart of the matter in Equiano's long, remarkable journey. Through Equiano's own experiences, the reader uncovers just how massive a role religion played in the part of his Narrative and in that of his own life. More specifically, we learn of how his religious conversion meant a type of freedom as momentous as his own independence from slavery. As one reads his tale, one learns just how dedicated he his to that of his Christian faith; from his constant narration of the scriptures to the way that Equiano feels a growing sense of empowerment from the biblical texts for the oppressed community. However, at the same time, one may question Equiano's own Christian piety. Did Equiano really seek to tell the tale of his soul's spiritual journey, did he really believe God would set him free or was he simply using religion as a ways of manipulating British and American readers to accept him as a credible narrator. Regardless of which of these facts is true, religion is quite possibly the defining feature of his life story.
Slave-owners forced a perverse form of Christianity, one that condoned slavery, upon slaves. According to this false Christianity the enslavement of “black Africans is justified because they are the descendants of Ham, one of Noah's sons; in one Biblical story, Noah cursed Ham's descendants to be slaves” (Tolson 272). Slavery was further validated by the numerous examples of it within the bible. It was reasoned that these examples were confirmation that God condoned slavery. Douglass’s master...
John Wallach’s values created the platform for change in 1993, when he founded Seeds of Peace. John Wallach’s prominent career in journalism along with his background as a foreign editor for Hearst Newspapers for many years, gave him first-hand knowledge and insight on the type of program that needed to be put into action to help bring peace between nations divided by conflict. Wallach knew he couldn’t initiate change without the help of a few key people. John recruited Barbara Gottschalk, an experienced social worker and program developer, to be the first executive director of the project and recruited Timothy Wilson, a veteran educator and camp director, to run the Seeds of Peace Camp in Maine. The organization has affected many people worldwide through the many programs and projects it has developed to build bridges between people unlikely to have met otherwise. “Seeds of Peace gave me hope that one day we’ll be able to live in peace—a just peace based on the elements of respect, dignity, and basic human rights and values for every Israeli and Palestinian,” Adham a Palestinian Seed says. Adham and many others through Seeds of Peace have been given hope amid the plentiful headlines full of despair, a hope that can empower them to take action and teach others to do the
...map of proper behavior for the new society that has been liberated from slavery. Within the context of history, the myth offers future generations a glimpse of a new religions beginnings. As the new code of laws is set into place, a new and more powerful god emerges – a god of great strength, a god that supersedes all other gods, one god above all others.
Throughout time, readers have learned many different lessons from their favourite books. In The Chrysalids, John Wyndam used his story to teach his readers valuable, lifelong lessons. He makes it evident to his readers that prejudging certain people is not right. Also, he relates how change is possible, but hard to achieve. More specifically, religion often influences one’s point of view. John Wyndam’s, The Chrysalids was written with a purpose that teaches his readers about discrimination, about how change is possible, and how religion often influences one’s point of view.
Hope theory defines Hope as; an individual’s perceived capacity to apply agential thinking and find motivation to implement strategies for achieving goals. Snyder’s research investigated cognitive thinking and the brain’s purpose of anticipating and comprehending causal sequences, proposing that cognition forms the foundation of hope; a way of thinking, including important contributions from emotions. Goals, agency and pathways are central concepts in Hope theory, emphasizing enduring, cross-situational, situational goal-directed thoughts, or a combination of the three. Goals include positive “approach” goals and goals that may prevent or delay negative goal outcomes, varying in duration, from short to long term. Agency thinking, a motivational
Class notes. Man’s Desperate Need of Righteousness and God’s Glorious Provision of Righteousness. Faith Christian University. Orlando, Florida. August 2011.