Pilgrimage /Christian, Muslim A Study of the Christian Pilgrimage to the Holy Land And the Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca SSC 231 Cultural Conflict and Human Solidarity University College Utrecht May 2001 Introduction A French folklorist and ethnographer, Arnold Van Gennep (1908-1960) gave us the first clues about how ancient and tribal societies conceptualized and symbolized the transitions men have to make between states a statuses . He demonstrated that all rites of passage are marked by three phases: separation, limen or margin, and aggregation. By identifying liminality Van Gennep discovered a major innovative, transformative dimension of the social. He is credited for paving the way for future studies of all processes of spatiotemporal social or individual change. Various researchers have studied the study focus of this paper, the pilgrimage, yet Van Gennep led us to recognizing the significance in such cultural, religious behavior. The two religious pilgrimages to be discussed in this paper are both the Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. Although these religions differ, they are none the less the two largest religions in the world and both take part in pilgrimages which demonstrate how close the two religions may be in their general beliefs and actions. Moreover, the pilgrimage ultimately serves as a channel for ‘communitas’ and brings people to an end goal after a journey, which highly represents life. The end goal for both religions is salvation from their almighty God. Because Christianity is very familiar in the West, I will use it as a starting block for comparisons. To begin with, we should grasp an underlying image and idea of the pilgrimage. Firstly, there is an undoubtedly initiatory quality in the pilgrimage. A pilgrim enters into a new, deeper level of existence than he has previously known. Furthermore, the pilgrims’ goal is salvation or release from the sins and evils of the structural world and he prepares himself for participation in afterlife bliss. Through the power of ritual, sacrifice and use of symbols in pilgrimages, a likeness and common intention is converted into commonness of feeling, into “communitas”. Therefore, the pilgrimage has attributes of liminality in passage rites: release from mundane structure; homogenization of status; simplicity of dress or behavior; communita... ... middle of paper ... ... is one, which is of utmost significant importance in their lives. In fact it is that journey which should indeed represent their life. As far as the importance of pilgrimage in being granted access to the after-life I have not made any firm conclusions or theological debates. Belief in the after life is something I shall leave to the reader. However, even if a pilgrimage to Mecca or the Holy Land does not ensure admittance to ‘heaven’ through the pilgrimage it is still essential for the spiritual life of a person who immerses himself in a religion. The most striking characteristics of the two pilgrimages, and admittedly, what I hoped to find, was that despite the fact that they are different religions, blooming from different regions of the world, despite the fact that conflict may even arise between Muslims and Christians (strictly because of their differences in beliefs), this essay has proven that they are incredibly similar. The Christian and the Muslim pilgrim are searching for the same thing, they go through similar processes, transitions and rites all to attain an incredible sense of solidarity and a feeling of euphoria, which is believed to have brought them closer to God.
The spiritual development of a community is a component absent in western formulations of modernity. For Deeb’s interlocutors the process of spiritual modernity is manifested in public piety and “authenticated Islam.” Deeb argues that women are essential participants in the construction of piety and “authenticated Islam” within the enchanted modern. Forms of public piety and social participation, including veiling, community service, and hosting Ashura majlis are necessary components in shaping this enchanted modern. Deeb further examines women’s roles in shifting away from a perceived religious backwardness towards a modern society throughout the second part of her book. Her discussion of the Ashura festival commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Husayn illustrates the shift from a traditional (taqlidi) form of religious worship to “authenticated Islam.” Deeb discusses how latam- self-flagellation- is considered backwards and according to pious Shi’i women the authenticated practice involves learning the lessons from Ashura and applying them to everyday life. The differences in traditional verses authenticated Islamic practices of Ashura reflect the increased participation and roles of women in the commemoration, and in the process of developing public piety and “authenticated
If you are ready to leave father and mother, and brother and sister, and wife and child and friend, and never see them again… then you are ready for a walk. -Henry David Thoreau (Haberman 12)
The art piece chosen for analyzing in this essay is from Claude Monet, The Windmill on the Onbekende Gracht Amsterdam oil on canvas painting from 1874. Claude Monet was born on November 14 in 1840 in Paris, French, and he death on December 5 in 1926 in Giverny, France. He was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement 's philosophy of expressing one 's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plain air landscape painting. According with the information next to the painting in the museum of art in Houston “on one of his visits to Holland, Monet was intrigued by this charming windmill situated on the small “unknown quayside” in Amsterdam. The mill, built in 1656, produced textile dyes and was demolished in 1876.
The main difference between introverts and extroverts is where they draw their energy from. Extroverts are generally considered as an expressive individual who seem to be energized by outgoing and social activities whereas introverts prefer the solitary pursuits -often embroiled in their own imagination- and may sometimes find the company of others draining. Introvert tend to recharge by reflection over ideas or by enjoying the solitude; they lose energy when they are near the crowd or large group of people.
... of the chapter focuses on a pair of hip hop vocalists performing under the nickname Poetic Pilgrimage, using not just their fashion but their songs to move from “being Muslim” to “being visibly Muslim” (Tarlo, 2010)
Love has been around since the beginning of time and for as long as romantic relationships have been around; people have tried various ways of meeting one another. The mid-1990s marked the start of online dating and since then has evolved into a much more common method of dating. Online dating is typically taken advantage of in one of two ways. Some people prefer to create their own profile and rely on themselves to choose their mate choice, while others allow the online dating services to create matches between the online subscribers. In a recent study conducted by Pew Research Center they found that one in ten American’s are using an online dating site to help them locate a spouse or a long term partner (Smith 1). Due to the advances in technology in recent years, online dating has developed into a resource that has become culturally accepted and has advanced in many ways, but with that comes mate choice, safety concerns, and the outlook on online dating.
Smart, Ninian. "Blackboard, Religion 100." 6 March 2014. Seven Dimensions of Religion. Electronic Document. 6 March 2014.
Have you ever wondered if being an introvert or an extrovert actually has an affect on how your life will turn out? Although the difference between being introverted and extroverted is somewhat ambiguous, most experts on human behavior agree that it is mainly determined through the source in which one obtains his or her energy. The scientists were eager to conduct more research related to this concept in order to find a possible correlation between personality traits and one’s biological fitness and quantifiable success.
Cownie, F and Bradney, A. (2002) English Legal System in Context, London, Butterworths, pp. 293-4.
The English legal system is ostensibly embedded on a foundation of a ‘high degree of certainty with adaptability’ based on a steady ‘mode’ of legal reasoning. This rests on four propositions
The Internet has always seemed like a completely separate world, very different from reality. There seemed to be so many endless possibilities. One is the new online dating craze, which has caught my attention a number of times. One rainy afternoon, curled up in a blanket at my computer chair, I decided to investigate it. I learned that as many of the baby-boomers start to become widowed or divorced, many are looking for mates, along with many others who are looking for companionship. With the new Internet-Age, many of these individuals turn to their computer to find someone. Online relationships are a growing phenomenon in the United States as well as internationally. After doing some research I could not develop an opinion on how I felt about this new trend. I found a group of specialists who had devoted some researching to it and I invited them over for dinner to find what their opinions were and why.
At the first glance, Islam and Christianity appear to have nothing in common, however; as you go beyond the surface, they appear to have many similarities such as their beliefs of God, their beliefs of life after death, their holy scriptures, and their prayers. These religions, although two entirely different beliefs, share a similar origin. Like many other religions, they both claim to be the one and only true way to God. In order to truly see and understand their similarities, one must date back to the rise and birth of Christianity and Islam. Throughout the course of this essay, I will compare the many facets that show the alikeness between these two growing religions.
The rainforests are the world’s oldest ecosystems dating back to almost 100 million years. The largest rainforests are located around the Amazon in South America, around the Equator in Africa, and in South Asia. Smaller rainforests thrive in Central America, Islands on the Pacific and Caribbean, and Mexico. Rainforests maintain a temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit and get between 160 to 400 inches of rain per year. The conditions that the Rainforests have are exemplary for life to grow and flourish. The area where the rainforests are located saves them from natural disasters and saved them from the loss of life during the ice ages. Due to these conditions the Rainforest is home to 50-70 million species (Facts about Rainforests). The rainforest’s resources began to be favored by the economy in the early 1990’s.
Online dating is not a recent phenomenon. Ever since the internet became widespread, it has improved and expanded the scope of human communication and this lead to the ability to selectively connect to people near and far for specific purposes. Online Dating, and it’s outlets, have become an arguably effective tool in finding viable partners for romantic relationships. The activity is so widespread that, in 2015 according to Rosette Pambakian, each day, there were at least 1.5 billion ratings on Tinder alone, which resulted in more than 22 million matches worldwide in the span of 24 hours (Loresco, 2015). Considering the nature
In a US study, there are 66% of Internet users thoughts that online dating was dangerous. For those people who used online dating, 43% thought that it was risky, but 52% of people think it was safe activity. (Madden and Lenhart 2006). There are some different types of risks, for example, sexual risks, emotional risks, and Internet risks. The most important risk is deceit. Internet is full of lies and cheat, because people can use other’s profile to be their own use. There is an experiment from an article named “What are the real and perceived risks and dangers of online dating? Perspectives from online daters” shows the conceptual understanding about online dating risks. This experiment has 29 participants aged between 18 years and 70 years. Twelve participants are females and others are males. The method of this experiment is that interview the participants with theme list. The interviews were in-depth interviews and used a theme list to guide the interviews. The theme list included demographics, general internet usage, online dating usage, perceived benefits and risk of online dating, strategies to manage risks, processes for moving from online to offline meeting and sexual outcomes from online dating. A 38 years old participant said that she want more honesty in her encounters: people lies in the most of time. Lots of men say they are looking for a relationship when in fact they