Throughout centuries, humans have expressed different perspectives toward a single idea. The subject of religion invites challenging discussions from skeptical minds because religion is diversely interpreted based on personal faith. The authoress sets her novel in a fictional town, Cold Sassy, where religion plays a predominant role in people’s lives. Through Will Tweedy’s narration she explores the religious opinions of the town’s most prominent citizen Rucker Blakeslee, Will’s grandpa. Although Blakeslee spent his whole life in a religiously conservative town, he has a radical approach toward religious concepts such as predestination, suicide, funerals, faith, and God’s will, thus forcing him to challenge the traditional views of organized religion.
Granted that according to Will, the Southern Presbyterians believe that “what is to be is to be,” this belief on predestination becomes evident when Cretia and Looly, a covey of Presbyterian ladies, visit Will after his survival in the train- trestle incident and begin to express their predestination, saying that God spared Will because it was not his time to die, and it was God’s will that this boy should be alive. This expression makes Will puzzle with a question: is he alive because of God’s will? When he puts forth this question to his Grandpa, Rucker Blakeslee, Rucker replies Will that God gave him a brain that he could use wisely; therefore, he lied down betwixt the tracks to save himself. Eager to know more about predestination and God’s will, Will further asks his Grandpa whether it was God’s will that Bluford Jackson should die of Tetanus. On hearing Will’s question, Rucker explains that Bluford’s carelessness while bursting crackers was not God’s fault in anywa...
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... up in Hell for committing suicide, he replied that many people in the world have committed worse sins that God needs to attend to. He also conceded that Camp was not hateful or evil as those people. So, his lecture concludes saying that God would not refuse Camp into heaven because he unhappily chose suicide as an unavoidable option. (334)
In all the above religious concepts, Grandpa has always contradicted his views with the organized religion of Cold Sassy. Grandpa’s reason for this contradiction is that Grandpa likes to hear about the loving, caring and forgiving God, instead of hearing about a threatening Lord from the preachers in his town. He also discloses to Miss Love that the only reason he went to church was to please his first wife, Miss Mattie Lou. This disclosure means that Grandpa did not ever agree with the traditional beliefs of his town.
In life, people crave guidance. At some point, everyone needs a helping hand. Some people turn to one another, while other turn to great forces of power, such as God. Many people live accordingly to the rules of God, and in turn are directed in leading a better life. In the brilliant novel Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Ann Burns, Grandpa Blakeslee is such a person. Whenever Grandpa faces an obstacle, he turns to God.
Cold Sassy Tree In life, people look for direction. Everyone in the world needs a helping hand. Some people turn to one another while others turn to forces, which are of great power. People turn to great forces such as God. There are many people who live according to the rules of God, out of the bible or whatever book they consider holy. So therefore, these people are directed in leading a better life. In the brilliant novel Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Ann Burns, Grandpa is such a person. Whenever Grandpa faces an obstacle, he turns to God.
The primary theme of Inherit the Wind is clearly the broad conflict of fundamentalism on the side of religion as well as freedom of thought. The trial a...
Religion has been a controversial topic among philosophers and in this paper I am focusing
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,
Throughout this essay I will demonstrate how religion has played a role in the lives of humans as well as explicate the reasoning behind the true nature of the creation of religion by a psychopath.
All in all, Neal Shusterman has written a riveting book that can be brought to light through different lenses. When looking at it through the socio-economic lens, one can see how those with power should choose how they use their power wisely. With the psychological lens, the book can be used to effectively support the fact that everyone acts differently due to the things they know and have learned. Lastly, with the spiritual lens, the book really leads up to the idea that religion is a choice best made for oneself, and no one else. Lenses help to show different aspects of a book that people don’t always notice.
There are many branches and different understandings of the Christian faith. Some believe that Jesus is not the son of God, some honor and pray to the Virgin Mary, and some branches of Christianity will go as far as diminishing certain things from their lives to honor God. The American society’s view on religion have changed drastically over the years. The small percentage of North Americans are some of the only types of people that have been staying true to their religious beliefs; that being the Amish. Although the Amish hold such a small percentage in North America, (an estimated 250,784 people identify themselves as Amish in the United States and in Ontario) (Gannon, 2012), they have been one of the numerous religions that encounter negative energy from the outside world. Some of the main stereotypes about the Amish include that they are non-materialistic, very simple, they have no connection to the real world and that they are extremely strict. Although some of these stereotypes are true, it is always wrong to make false assumptions about another group of people. The purpose of this report is to clear all the assumptions made about the Amish. The Amish religion will be further dissected in this report through the understanding of the history, experience of the sacred, sacred writing, beliefs, morality, symbols and traditions and the family and gender roles of this religion.
...be taken to the extent of life or death due to the importance religion has in one’s life. The use of secrets to protect harmful truths or opposing powers that create harm the prestige of a religion is also a common action that is believed to be necessary to keep balance within a community. The constant influential attributes that religion possess can dictate the actions that somebody with perform. It is viewed solely as a positive system that creates peace between beings, however religion obtains negative factors that also negatively influence believers. People tend to turn to religion as the answer for the unknown as well as allowing it to dictate the majority of aspects in a human’s life. This prevents people from deciding their own unique path in life and disabling them from further educating themselves about available answers to questions they are unaware of.
Twain shows that there can be moral confusion in a society. Cohen Ralph said, "... in Huckleberry Finn, by which the characters arrive at the most profound moral decisions." Twain has shown that it is more important for Huck to live his life freely rather than to be closed in by religion.
Hitchens, Christopher. God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. New York: Twelve, 2007. Print.
Geertz defines religion as ‘(1) a system of symbols which acts to (2) establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by (3) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that (5) the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic.’ In this essay, I will focus on the Geertz’s idea, and Asad’s subsequent critique, of symbols. (Geertz, Clifford, and Michael Banton. "Religion as a cultural system." (1966).)
Throughout history most religions have been primarily based around putting their God above all others, and showing love and acceptance, however in today’s society religion appears to be the fuel to a fire of hate. Religion as a whole has become the most controversial and the most violent cause behind some of the most world breaking news, from wars in the Middle East, to death threats to doctors in my home town. This violent mentality of religion first is demonstrated in the short story A Father by Bharati Mukherjee. In this short story the main character, Mr Bhowmick, creates a miserable life for himself based on what his religion says is acceptable. His family, however, lived life and cherished the freedoms of living in America by creating happiness and accomplishment in their lives. The jealousy of Mr. Bhowmick for a more joyful existence is demonstrated when his religion drives him to an act of violence out of anger and hate.
Eastman, Roger. The Ways of Religion: An Introduction to the Major Traditions. Third Edition. Oxford University Press. N.Y. 1999
Two characters that are blinded by their own version of living a religious life are Mr. Hines and Mr. McEachern. I will argue that the obsession with their religion and their belief of how it should be followed is an ideology that fails each of these characters in their purpose. Consequently, the more these characters are faced by failure the more they try to embody God and take actions as if they are the Almighty Himself. Ironically, while using religion as a shield these characters fail to see their own sins. These characters see their sins instead, as the most essential and virtuous deeds and the work of God.