-See all writings in this series-
Week one was pretty basic. Basically introduced the course by defining traditions that define America. Had to pick one myself, of course I picked Christianity.
My readings in, In Defense of the West, started off pretty strong. One of the opening statements by Devine was about the Muslim fundamentalists that attacked the united states on 9/11. The battle cry about attacking Iraq is that WMD's were not found. But I think Devine says something interesting (understand this was written soon after 9/11). "In a real sense, it was their values that were the critical weapon."
Fundamental Muslims don't need weapons to cause mass destruction.
An early point Devine made about Christianity is that traditionally it has been seen that the state is a thread to the church, and traditionally if you look at it... he is right. However what has happened in America today is that the church is seen as a threat to the state, which confuses me a bit since the Bible calls us to obey the government rulers over you, as long as they are not in direct contradiction of a Biblical teaching.
Finally chapter one is wrapped up with a few thoughts on the Muslim faith, where three points are made.
* "Most Muslims are non-violent. Because the Quran makes the state holy, however, Islam cannot easily allow non-Muslims to become citizens even under more tolerant regimes and remain true to its doctrine."
* "Islam had the most difficulty living in peace with its neighbors."
* "A religions revival has taken place across the Islamic world, and it is not clear what will be the consequences."
Next I had to do my readings in Western Vision and American Values. I won't cover all the readings of this week, just the ones I want to comment on.
First I had to read, We Are All Related (1992), by Eagle Man which covered the Indian tradition in America. One thing I found interesting in this reading was the following quote:
The way to end wars in this day and age is to do like the Indian: put the chiefs and their sons on the front lines.
Imagine how things would be if we went back to the way war was a few hundred years ago and put our commander in chief in the battle, and expected 'their' commander in chief to do the same.
Next I had to read Tribal Wisdom by David Maybury-Lewis. Two quotes are of interest here.
Modern society is intensely secular. - Yeah... kind of sad.
United States, whose whole history is a determination to avoid despotism, allows more internal chaos than most other industrial nations. It values individual freedom to the point of allowing private citizens to own arsenals of weapons and puts up with a rate of interpersonal violence that would be considered catastrophic in other countries.
I remember during some of the worst moments of the Iraq war it being said that Detroit was more dangerous than Baghdad.
The next reading I will profile is from Mere Christianity by C.S. Leis. The key quote I took from this reading was, "God created things which had free will.... free to be good it is also free to be bad." The crux of the faith is also a big struggle of it.
The last reading I will comment on is Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson. This reading was one that defined a lot of the class for many of the fellow students. The whole thought that, "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind."
A few more relevant quotes:
Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution the only wrong what is against it.
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I suppose no man can violate his nature.
To me this is just unbelievably arrogant that a man, a fallible man can think that they are the source of all wisdom about what is right and wrong.
This was a sample of the readings from week one. A very vast array of readings this week, that touched on many different issues.