Religion and Politics, a Weapon of Mass Destruction

Through history Religion and Politics have always been together. It’s been this way until very lately and still has a great influence on politics. Fear has always been the greatest weapon of religion, the fear that you will not receive salvation when you die. In medieval times it might have been a good idea to control people with fear of eternal punishment if they didn’t do as the king said. In a certain way it was an interdependent relationship in which the state made religion obligatory and religion told the people the state was good. Yet this did have consequences on the way of thought and on the control the state had over its people. When religion started to become more independent from the state (In the sense that the majority of people already believed and the state was no longer necessary for the existence of religion) it started to go bellow religion and when god is the master of all that exists on the kingdom problems occur. Everything that went against the Catholic Church would be destroyed and the people behind it killed. Scientific discoveries were paused completely. Yet not all was bad for the royalty. Christianity offered salvation to the poor; to those who had nothing at all and this calmed people down, revolutions which could’ve happened never did because of this. "Religion is the opiate of the people." Karl Marx In a certain way this is what King James wanted to achieve. To use religion in a way to control those who might want to change the way things were. Maybe the king wouldn’t have been able to convince them; after all he didn’t have such a powerful entity as the Catholic Church to back him up. This might be the reason why the translation of the bible was so important, to maintain order in a country of which the king was losing control. Proof of this can be found with the attack done on the king. This made it only clearer that this translation of the bible would have to give control to the king, to tell the people that things were supposed to be this way. Poor people were supposed to suffer, rich people were to suppose to enjoy life as they did and after this everyone would obtain salvation. The purpose of this translation was to make sure things on the way chapter one showed them. Everyone was happy to be on the role they were.

But why would politics and religion together make such a deadly combination? Well because together they put people to sleep. They neutralize most thoughts of a better world. With this society stops to evolve and become something that eventually will need to change. Now in a normal situation not many people would die but the change would occur gradually at least in an ideal manner. With church and religion together people won’t realize they are falling until they hit the ground. In that moment they will raise angrier than ever and things won’t be solved in a peaceful manner. Maybe the kings who were supposed to be above this never really liked thinking of what would happen. Maybe religion had finally gotten to them and didn’t allow them to see these terrible consequences. What makes this even worse is that if things weren’t changed on time when the people did rise together and neutralized those who governed them, they will fight between themselves to decide who should have the power, they would divide in groups of people with similar ideas and something similar to the war between the Liberal and Conservative Parties here could happen. 

When We Read What Happens to us?

Through this first chapter we see what was the historical context in which this bible was translated. But through this we have to see the reasons behind reading parts of the holy book. When we read a book or basically anything it changes us. Although we might not notice it and this change happens at a deeper level when it is something as profound as the bible and all the meaning it has if you read it with attention and with the intention of discovering this meaning behind what’s written can change the way you think about Christianity and what the bible might truly mean. It is incredible that a book can do something so incredible as to change the way a person thinks but it does. Now as neutrals as this bible is there must be some sort of bias in some way, an attempt to express the situation of the time through the book. At some parts it mentions kingdoms which could be taken as proof of this. Since this was a king that climbed up into the throne of England he could have tried to force his translator to attempt and show some of the beauty of Britain but there is no way to know if this really did happen.

I believe books can have a greater impact on your way of thinking than movies. I say this because they are open to interpretation and you have to imagine you are in the book. This can drag you in to a new world. Similar to a movie but because you created what you see through the interpretation of the book it creates a stronger and deeper bond. Because of this reading is so important and although a movie can change the way you think for some time a book can do the same thing for a greater period. What I believes happens today is that people have decided to go the easy way, it is much easier to go the way of television and movies. You don’t have to think at all, analyze or anything similar to that. All you do is watch reality as is presented to you without having much interaction with it. Even with videogames which was a new way to interact with that reality it still submerges you into a world given and not one created by you through your interpretation. It is possible that because of this government or companies can have more power over people since they decide what we watch. Basically books although simple and with little whole to fill with imagination have a magic that can’t be replaced because as we fill them we create a new world and learn from it or at least entertain ourselves with it.

Although we might not know aIl books have a great influence on us because they have formed a great part of what we are. Even when we are children the books our parents read to us like “Little Red Riding hood” and similar to that have shaped us in unsuspected ways. Sadly is very plausible that with time books will be replaced by Television and movies. When this comes to happen all that we watch and listen to will be programmed by someone and we might miss books. It is something simple yet with our brain we can turn it in to a work of art comparable only with a real life experience.

The Context and What We Write

Every book we read every movie we see and song we listen has a context and is therefore affected by it. Gilgamesh was affected by the context of Uruk and how life there was. Don Quixote was affected by the context in which Miguel de Cervantes had lived in and finally the bible was affected by, not only the context it had been written in but also the context in which it had been translated.

James was a king from Scotland, a poor country with not as much support of the church as he would have wanted. Then he was to go in to the land of riches and civilization that was England. This change I believe would have marked any human being for life. The context in which this Bible was translate I believe was a period of change, of renewal for the country. Although a translation is supposed to be objective and try to express the same thing the author of the original language did those who translated it were influenced and couldn’t be completely objective for no human can. “Can there be a book without there being interpretation?” I believe the answer to this question is now and because of this James’s bible has a point of view although slightly hidden and not very straight out. I believe this because the translator team wouldn’t want it to be a new bible according to James and although they would make sure that none would go too subjective this still exists. It is a bible written under the point of view of British people of the time. Now this is assuming that there was no direct pressure from the king to the team of people who worked on this. Since I don’t speak Hebrew nor have I read the original version of this, there is no way for me to know how they have changed it.

It may be something like Don Quixote which is a reflection of Cervantes’s life and opinion not only about knight’s books but also reflects parts of what he lived. This may be partially the case of this translation. Because of the anonymity of those who did the work it is impossible to know how it was written and if the time affected what they did.

The political time where changing constantly and this most likely affected them. The new religious politics and the attempted union of the two countries were very stormy times especially if all of this was made by a new king. We can’t really understand the situation each of the people that did this were living only an approximation based on what the general public had to go through. They weren’t bad time in fact it was the other way around. England was going through some of their best times with the hope that a new reign brought. Because of this we can determine that there was some sort of extra support towards the king. Because it was probably him who set them to the task (It’s a guess but very plausible I believe) they were most likely in his favor and because the bible is one of the books that are sold the most they may have tried to do some slight changes to favor him and to include him in some sort of way even if it were very subtle.

Because there is not one impartial way to look at a situation and everything we see we do by a window with limited range of sight it is very likely that this is what happened to the translators and what we see there isn’t really anything other than a version of the bible adapted to the time and seen through the eyes of people who lived the situation. Unless we actually live the story there is no way we will know exactly what happened. The only story that remains is written under points of view and we can only interpret based on that. Because of this no matter how holy the bible is it is still written by humans and therefore can’t be expected to be perfect. 

Greek Complex

When we decided to classify the mental illness some of us have we decided to look on Greek mythology to name them. Not surprisingly there were great coincidences between what Freud had discovered and what was shown on Greek mythology. This is very interesting, because we knew Greek people were outstanding in medicine, the arts and other similar things. It is possible that through these two stories (The sphinx with Oedipus’s complex and Agamemnon, Orestes, and Electra with Electra’s complex )were some way of classifying anomalies in human conduct that they had noticed too? It’s possible that Greeks had discovered this but the actual knowledge had been lost during medieval times and all that were left are these stories. Because science is contently renewing itself and as we changed psychoanalysis as a method of curing a mental disease for the fact that we now know that its chemical misbalances that cause us to behave that way. Maybe this part of Greek knowledge was lost during the dark ages where god was supposed to be the explanation for everything. It is interesting how it takes us so much time to learn anything. This is because we discarded at first if it goes against the believes of the time and then we rediscover it and then we discard it in a cycle. It is interesting how hard it is for us to learn anything as a community.

It is interesting how many root words in medicine are related to Greeks. The reason for this might be that they made some of the greatest advances in this area. These were continued my Romans which also explains Latin in such names. Now it is funny but wherever you go there will always be some sort of classical allusion either you see it or not. In fact it’s something similar to what Ishmael said. Mother culture’s whisper is not too loud and can be hard to listen but it is there talking all the time. Now Romans and Greeks had different cultures that what we have today. Although there is no one enacting the story they meant to make people enact so many years ago we can still hear them talking it just takes extra attention to listen. After all our society’s ideas are knew it’s more like a collection of other cultures and what we think works best for us. Of course we still have a long way to go and there are other voices we have to listen to other than Romans and Greeks.

In a certain way the fact that our civilization is based on such ideas makes it advance at a slower pace. The reason for this could be that we believe that becouse it worked for them for such a long time why would it not do the same great job for us. Yet others where there before us and gave it up. It was because they saw what the end of the road looked like and decided that wasn’t the best path for them. It was clear though, that it is only a matter of time that either we realize this or our society will just collapse. Maybe it is because we listen too much of the wrong people that things are the way they are. Just because something worked for Greeks and Romans it doesn’t mean the same thing will work for us. Our context is different and we either have to be creative now or assume the consequences in time.  

Cliché in Greek Mythology?

As I have begun to introduce myself to these classic stories I have realized that the basic structure seems to be the same. Usually mortals offend the gods in some way and therefore have to pay. Love is either the man following the woman or vice versa. In some cases there is a happy ending had sometimes a change in names but after a while it seems to stop changing. The characters are new most of the times and are given new powers but they never really enact a different story. What this has caused in me has been a hard time trying to find a new blog theme.

Above this the reason for this same type of basic structure seems interesting. Greeks were very creative people and could have made every story a new experience. Let’s say Atlas became in to what he was because of his offense to the gods. Medusa became what she was because of her offense to the gods and there are other similar examples. Nymphs have this strange habit all the time of becoming plants and in some cases animals like deers. I find it interesting that nymphs never really become a flying creature up to what I have read. Now these structures can have slight changes like instead of doing something bad they do something good and get a reward from it. Kind of what happened in Andromeda and the sea monster. Because they satisfied the will of one god they got what they wanted. For some reason every story has something to do with satisfying the will of a god or going against it. Maybe the lesson here is that your purpose in life is to be good with anyone because they can all be a god hidden that can hurt you for not doing as he wishes. Maybe that is what Greeks thought their purpose in life was, talking it from a religious perspective was to serve the gods. I believe that this is the answer to yet another of the QUESTions.

I also realize that because there is a great amount of classical allusion in the text today’s it may seem a cliché some of these stories. Because these are the originals it is clear that when they were written none of this was being thought of. Even though there is repetition like in Gilgamesh it may be a way to get the message through to the people.

Cliche and Similar words excecise

Titles

Live free die hard, Mission Impossible, James Bond, Rocky and Star Trek.

Plot Lines

If there is a monster following you in the woods you will always fall.

When there is a soldier that shows a photo of his sweetheart to another he dies.

In an adventure typo of movie characters are killed until only two are left, usually a man and a woman.

After a couple of minutes of being hit at the hero rises madder to hit the villain hard enough to kill him or at least knock him out. No matter how hard you hit they never die.

In a science fiction movie the containment facility for some weird thing never does the job.

Humility What the Gods Lack

There has been another part of these Greek stories that seem to have special importance and its humility. All mortals who don’t follow this rule are killed or somehow suffer a horrible fate. Gods on the other hand don’t have to be humble in most cases because they are the only true masters of something at which no one else can defeat them. This is very interesting because in some way it tries to tell us that we are to stay in our place and never try to occupy the place of a god for you shall suffer of that god’s envy and therefore suffer. This also proves my point that gods in Greek mythology are but men and women with super powers. They can’t accept that a mortal is superior at them on anything. This is of course a weakness and I hope that as I read on this will eventually consume them.

 What makes this story even more complex is that although gods can fight between each other and can attempt to do harm there is always some sort of code which can’t be broken. Like cupid couldn’t directly face Venus for some reason. Now it makes sense for them no to fight, a war between gods would mean death to the earth and all the mortals in it. What makes this a theme worth being analyzed so deeply is the contradiction that lies in it. Human nature has always included violence in some way or another. These gods were made in the image of us and therefore are violent. We also very much lack respect for rules in many cases. Just like these gods yet there hasn’t been a god war yet. Does this happen because they are family? Or because their hatred for humanity is much greater and therefore has them united in a single line against us.

It seems like gods are more of an example of what not to be. Something you would never want to be but of course praise them for the fear of their powers. They are gods who maintain worshipers not by the usual salvation but in most cases by the threat of death, by fear. This would mean that Greek mythology would’ve had a hard time adapting to anyone for fear isn’t something to take lightly especially when it runs a religion and a life style. I believe that although these gods are very good it should also be made clear that they have to learn the lessons they teach and apply them otherwise a disastrous end will be something inevitable. A way to star would be to take accident more lightly and finally to become humble and honest accepting what you have and yet not bragging about it like they do.

Ap student contract

I, ________Ivan Dario Jimenez____________________________, hereby understand and will abide by the Pre-AP/AP 

(Print your name)
Academy’s expectations, obligations, and admission/drop policy outlined below with respect to my 

admission status and standing in the Pre-AP/AP Course, _____English prepap_________________________________.
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Pre-AP/AP Academy Expectations;
• Maintain Acceptable GPA,
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• Responsible and Dedicated Work Ethic,
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• First Progress Report with Teacher’s Signed Approval…receive no course credit,
• End of First Semester with Teacher’s Signed Approval…receive only partial course credit for grade of 6.0+. No partial credit will be awarded for any grade below 6.0,
• Students who Drop Pre-AP/AP Courses or who Do Not take the College Board AP Exam will have the Pre-AP/AP Designation for that course removed from their transcript and they will not receive any grade or GPA enhancement awarded for taking that Pre-AP/AP course.

Please note that at any time during the school year if the teacher deems that you are not meeting the expectations above for any or all reasons, then that teacher will require that you sign an additional academic probation contract. Your admission status and/or removal from the above identified Pre-AP Course will then be re-assessed based on your abiding by the academic probation contract signed and agreed to by you and the respective Pre-AP/AP Teacher.

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Ivan Dario Jimenez
__________________________________________ Date: ________23/09/2008_______________________

In the Search for Happiness

In the story of Pandora we see that the two people were good worshipers of Jupiter and hardworking. Now being a hardwiring person is that you give your effort on something to do it well, and you do things well to attempt to reach happiness. This is something that we all do to this day and sadly we sometimes feel like we never really achieve this. Something similar to what happened to Leander one day he crossed the sea. We are always half way to reach happiness but never really get there. First a definition of happiness could be to fulfill all of our needs. This sadly leads us to be unfulfilled because it is basically impossible. We will always need something either if it’s emotional or if it’s physical. Our society tells us that we have to seek happiness in object so that we can keep it running. This will never make us happy or at least not in a permanent state. Greeks apparently talk in an indirect way of happiness and make it look like something very easy to achieve. Every time in a story when a god falls in love they get married and they are never heard from again. I am very sure that there is no other action that is worth telling and therefore happiness is reached for the couple. Of course it is more complicated for us today. This is something which shows that Greek gods were humans with very powerful abilities but more important they had found a way to obtain happiness.

We can also say that finding all your needs in other people isn’t good for that makes you dependant on those people and you will suffer when they aren’t there for you. I believe that the only place where true happiness lies, is in yourself. It is more of a state of mind, rather than love and all the things we believe that come with it. You will have rough times and good times but in either case if you truly feel fulfilled you will get over it and still be happy. Because of our society today, which tells us to buy and find happiness not in the spirit but on the material it is hard to fill completely fulfilled no matter which way you choose. In one you will have to buy endless amounts of things and you will still feel like something is missing inside you. If you go on the spiritual way the constant whisper of mother culture will keep you that you aren’t fulfilled that you need to buy and eventually you might end up believing it or at least you are missing of something. Both don’t have to contradict themselves necessarily we can buy things and still be spiritual basically find a balance between those two to be in peace with yourself. It is very hard to do this because most of the times people who appreciate the spirit do this because they didn’t have the option of buying in order to do as culture says. People with a greater wealth and therefore buy capacity can do as culture says and have a hard time finding the other side. It is neither right or wrong , it is just a possibility and an opinion about happiness. Now isn’t this the purpose of the gods? Aren’t they supposed to tell us how to live (or not live)? How to be happy? 

With gods is there really free will?

There has always been something in common on all these stories, the will of the gods. These have done everything they please with humanity and have been careless of whether we like it or not. Because cupid fell in love with Psyche she had to suffer all kinds of harsh tests. Although all gods but Venus favored her it was clear that because someone went against Venus’ will they shall pay. Even when she was beautiful and because of that Venus’ altars were emptied she had to pay. Her beauty was no one’s responsibility not even hers she couldn’t choose whether or not to be beautiful.

It may have been a reason why this religion was replaced like this by Christianity. Before it became the official religion it started to gain believers because not only was it simpler to worship a single god but because this one god was forgiving and he wouldn’t get angry at you for tiny things like those. This god was impartial and doesn’t do the exact opposite of what morals’ tell you to do.

As we approach Venus and Cupid love is an unavoidable subject. Love seems to be present in all stories and I have talked about it in previous blogs. What I want to interpret is what love meant to Greeks. It wasn’t just arrows and suddenly you are in love. It goes much deeper than that. Some way or another in most cases (Unless the gods are all against it and yet most times it keeps on going somehow.) love ends in eternity. This is interesting because today love only lasts months and then it would go on to eternity. This is a very dramatic drop in time. It’s a very beautiful idea to follow and although sometimes one of the lovers makes a mistake the other on forgives him, Juno and Jupiter and an example of this. Jupiter goes around with all the nymphs and maids he wants yet Juno still loves him, she only channels all that anger towards the lover’s of his husband. Love was forgiveness and patience to them. Love could bloom when it was given a chance and where there was no chance it would be avenged like Narcissus. Even for mortals this was granted and death wasn’t the end of the road for love. Yet there was a warning for love. If it were to be used in a way to manipulate another like Phaeton did with Apollo. He manipulated his father to promise him something which ended up being using the carriage of the sun. Of course he failed in his attempt which might also mean that when you manipulate others with love you not only hurt yourself but those who surround you too just like he did when he started to burn the world. 

Finally, if we have all of these teachings and wisdom close to us why don’t we listen? Why do we keep going the way we are? Are these gods an actual religion? or could they be a metaphor to show what humans do wrong and what happens if we don’t do the right thing which was misinterpreted.

Death, The end of An Illusion

To most of us Death can be the end of the road. Because we see nothing ahead we firmly believe that is the end. Although many religions tell us that there is something happy after, since we can’t see it is hard for us to believe in it. We as humans don’t like to suffer and we are so scared of eternal punishment for our sins or crimes in life that we do our best to be a good person. Not that this is bad in most cases but with extremists the message can be interpreted in a different way which can cause harm to others. Now up to what we have seen Death has been the answer to the questions where are we going and I believe this? Our society encourages us to forget about death, to ignore it and live our life happily until it’s too late. This may seem like something bad but it has worked so far even in the times of the leavers. If we were to think about death all the time we would completely forget about the present and that really isn’t a good thing. What seems interesting in these stories is that death never seems to be the end (in most cases).

Apparently death in those times was viewed differently. In Gilgamesh we see that through other we live after death, Gilgamesh is still alive because of what he wrote and because of the city he built. Now time does consume it all in time but what we can live through memories is much greater than what we live as physical beings. It is interesting that death was presented as an illusion in Ceyx and Halcyone: Or, the Halcyon Birds. The husband did return after his time at sea when even the gods though him dead. Of  course, the physical being that you can see and touch dies in a relatively short time. Our life is but a second, but what we live behind lives on. What actually comes after death will always remain a mystery to us, the living. What is more important is whether death is really relevant in our lives? I think not really unless you want it to be. It is a fact that we will all die like Gilgamesh had to face and eventually you and I will too. The fear we feel before dying can be compared like what you feel when you are to go in to a roller coaster the first time only much stronger. When it happens it might even seem fun at least for a second. The moment the brain senses it’s about to die it realizes great amounts of endorphins making it a much more pleasant sensation, at least for a second. As long as what is said, is told by the living we can debate and fight over it. What really matters is to live your life in the way you believe is best and make sure that the part of you that will stay here for a little more time is good and won’t be forgotten for when it is, we cease to exist.

9a-c: Love, Madness or Need

In these stories there is a factor in common, love. What makes this the most interesting is that it´s not love in a normal way as we see it today. Here love is taken to the extreme. Either there is too much or it lacks. It can be present and control the actions of someone to the point of Narcissus who drowned in love of his reflection in the water. We can also see that madness is in some way linked to love. The way I see it you have to be mad to give in your parents’ empire trying to marry your enemy. What I believe is the most incredible about the story of Scylla is that she barely knew the person. There might have been some physical attraction but above this there was no real love. This of course from a modern point of view, at the time this was written the parameters of love might have been different. We can also see that Scylla lacked love for herself, she sold her kingdom and herself to a man she didn’t know. After seeing this we can see that her punishment was what she deserved. In the case of Narcissus his love for himself took him to his own death. If you have as much ego as he had it is possible that you stop growing, stop seeing your flaws. Here is when you stop growing and stop being a better person. This could take part of our purpose here.

There is also another thing I noticed here. These stories are full of beautiful women and yet Narcissus was apparently the only one beautiful enough to match them. What is most shocking is that being the only man whose beauty outstands, this ends up killing him. Now is it because women were the only ones who deserved beauty according to the gods? Or could it be possible that this is written from a man’s point of view and therefore this is a subjective view of how things came to be this way. This is of course something to consider while reading this.

Finally the way see it doesn’t matter whether there is love or not, but there is always madness. In a certain way this is a constant. When Scylla gave herself to her father’s enemy she didn’t think of anyone but herself and only justified her actions with things she thought would be good for everyone. She did also not love herself for she didn’t think if that was the best for her of if he was really worth it. In all these three stories love or lack of love are taken to the extreme, yet this isn’t the way it really is. (Most of the times) We as humans need love but the way that is shown in these stories it’s just not rational. We must love enough so that its flame will warm us but not passionately enough for it to consume us.

Covetousness a Sickness or a Value

Being a covetous person can be seen in different ways. If you are greedy for knowledge then it’s not too bad. Life is about gathering experiences and parts of these are knowledge. If you are greedy it’s either good or bad depending on the context. If you are poor it is but natural that you want to keep every cent you have but if you’re rich and are as greedy as that poor person then it’s going on the dark side. In a certain way being greedy for knowledge and wisdom can’t be bad. If you seek wisdom and knowledge through life it’s but the normal way of life. You do this unconsciously and don’t harm anyone (unless you kill your teacher because of some sort of information he didn’t give you). I seek knowledge all the time, and I will always want more. If I were the one to invent some type of knew operative system that would outrun in performance anything that we see today I wouldn’t give that information for free. I would charge for it all I could and still give it away in pain for it being so valuable and it is. I would do this still even if I knew that it might lead us in to a new era.
But back to the more literal meaning of the world it goes more to the tendency of material objects. Although it is true that they might bring temporary joy to some it isn’t really fulfilling. Seeking always some knew rare object doesn’t really give you what you need as a human being. Although this is one of the things we experience in life our mind and soul are more important. The story of Midas shows this sort of attitude in a shorter way. A man that is given all the wealth he can have in the world and see that t isn’t fulfilling. In a literary way he might be unable to eat but if we see deeper we can analyze the truth which is that although he was happy for a short period of time his soul started to die. It starved for other more valuable things as love and other feelings that were overwhelmed by the joy of always being able to gain a new greater amount of wealth. Sadly our society is based upon human greed and it depends on its capacity to obtain new objects. The more people can buy the better the country is. Unfortunately this is in a certain way what our society tells us we are here for. He are tiny little pieces of a greater picture which tells us that in order to obtain happiness we must buy and our purpose in life is to be happy.
In to what the Greek gods are it seems like they were very greedy with the knowledge they posses. There was very little wisdom and information about the secrets of the world and life that leaked through them in this stories. One might say that the reason why these stories are so incredible is because the gods gave away some information, either of the extent of their powers or some really important information. We live in an agonizing civilization that has taken the world down with it. We wait for a god to talk but there is no one to listen what they have been trying to tell us all along. There is world hunger; there are more natural disasters than before and so on. These are the gods telling us what will come if we are not to open our eyes and see what lies beyond. We still allow our greed consume us. Letting this emotion make some of the important decisions for us like how much are we to grow is bad. We will always want more land, more money, food and so on. The gods are slowly awakening and when they finally do and stop this we will regret not listening to their warnings. When there is no food, drinkable water or even clean air to breath then we will see the mistake we were in my letting this emotion consumes us. This is why although greed for some things can be good in some cases most of the time it will lead to death. It’s like a tumor that fooled your body making it feel with more energy while growing inside, and then one day we will suddenly die. This is why I believe that being greedy, covetous, grasp or whatever you want to call it is a disease that is consuming us all little by little and if we don’t act now when we realize it will be too late.

Parts 3 a-c and 4 a-c: Humans Made Into Gods?

Here we see one thing in common with all the gods, they all feel human emotions. Gods are supposed to be very powerful and to be able to be above all that which is mortal and dies. It makes no sense for them to feel love, pain or anything as such. This would even make it a none sense of why there were have gods or anything as such. This would be explained if it were us humans who created gods on our image. In the Greek mythology most gods commit human mistakes, like Juno who hurt all those that took his husbands attention from her, or feel things like love as Apollo did when he fell in love with Daphne because of Cupid’s arrow. In that time it is possible that people didn’t use gods as a way to make death easier but also to explain natures’ phenomenon too. What I believe to be the most interesting is that they use human emotions on these gods as well. It isn’t just something like god made it happen but more like Zeus is angry and therefore there is an electric storm happening. Such things did complicate worshiping much more. It could have been one of the many reasons why it would’ve been replaced by Christianity. (The roman’s did take over but only did some minor changes to the religion in order to make it their won, mainly just changes in the gods’ names.)
Another thing that we see as a constant here is that gods like Diana were human in almost every way. Although they had superpowers their way of acting was basically the same. As humans they bathed, looked revenge and hunted.(A lot like our modern day super heroes, like batman, superman, etc.) This proves that those kind of gods might have been extraordinary humans but human none the less whose story spread from ear to ear and eventually lost a great amount of its original meaning and details. At some point maybe someone decided to write this stories which were lore known by many. The writer of this might have seen the people in these stories as gods due to their incredible powers and therefore said it to be this way.
Finally above all their human emotions, all the lore and story there is always some sort of teaching behind them. A teaching of the right way to live and the right way to behave towards others. The jealousy of Juno was inspired by the acts of her husband who had no control of himself and would go after any Nymph, maiden or woman he could. This was of course punished by Juno but it showed both how bad jealousy is and how bad it is to be cheat on your loved one. This was also showed by the story of Cephalus and Pocris. This all show some flaw of human behavior on which we have to work on and to be able to try and better ourselves as humans. I believe that the reason for why gods are so important to us is that they show us in some way or another a good way to live without harming those who surround you.

Gilgamesh The final chapter: With or against nature

Gilgamesh and Enkidu have both proven to show their different ways acting towards nature. Gilgamesh is a city person who really doesn’t know much of this and build the city walls to keep nature out of his city. Enkidu grew up with nature and he knows how to channel the good things in it towards its benefit. Since the fall of Enkidu’s innocence he stopped being part of nature and began t act more like Gilgamesh. This change in attitude might be seen as his conversion from a leaver in to a taker but there is another way to look at it.

The gods created the world and therefore nature. If this is so then by serving the gods you could be serving nature as well. It may seem contradictory that the gods would order the death of Huwawa the guardian of the forest since he was protecting his forest which most likely was a task given by the gods. Unless the guardian of the forest was the taker in the sense that he believed that the forest and everything in it was his and that because of this nature would have to take control of it again. There is a problem to this theory and it has to do with the fact that if Huwawa were the leaver in this story then why cut the greatest tree in the forest and make a door from it as a symbol of victory? If they were the leaver it would make no sense to put the cedar tree like a trophy and as a way of telling the world that they killed the guardian of the forest and therefore the forest is theirs. Yet this is still one way to interpret their relationship.

Yet there is a third possibility. Maybe the gods weren’t really the creators of Earth. Maybe we were the creators of the gods. There isn’t culture in the world that doesn’t believe in a superior being, an entity which with its great power created us and the whole world. It almost seems that it is part of human nature to believe in this kind of things. As I have said in previous blogs, gods could be but an illusion created by us to make death much easier as well as having someone to blame for the natural disasters that happen and are out of our control.

We can see with all of this that Enkidu’s and Gilgamesh’s relationship with nature was either good or bad. In one they are only trying to protect nature and in the other they are trying to control it. Although there is now way of knowing what caused either their hate or love against nature these are some of the possibilities. The one that seems most likely is that gods were something that they believed in and that they created to feel supported in some of the actions they did that didn’t seem right. Although Enkidu was brought up by nature since he lost his innocence everything changed and the knowledge he had of own to live in nature he used to help Gilgamesh but never to just survive. He used his leaver knowledge in a taker way.  

Gilgamesh Tablets X and XI: Mother Culture and Religion, the Endless Contradictions

Here we see a story similar to that of Noah’s Ark. The world was put under a huge flood that killed all life. These are two different books and yet they talk about a very similar event. This would prove that either two things happened, or the flood actually happened or the bible isn’t so original. It is possible that those who wrote the bible might have written about this event as well when they saw it on the tablet. It is a possibility and very plausible. What makes no sense is why the gods would like to destroy all of their creations. Did they want to press the reset button once they saw which way the story was taking? Fortunately for us they failed for a pair of people were saved.
Here we see the human quest for immortality. Everyone has wanted immortality since the beginning of man. There has been no way of doing this yet we keep looking. Even know we want immortality through since and medicine. As humans we want to be young and healthy for the rest of our lives. This is of course isn’t possible and unless we find a cure to aging and then we would end up with the earth unless we stop having children. IN a certain way our success in the quest for immortality has always been linked to the speed at which we consume the earth. This is because people live longer, can have more children and therefore eat more food. As leavers this would mean less people but as takers it means more acres of land being farmed.
Here we can see clear proof that Gilgamesh is a taker. Although he was forced to live under the will of the gods he wanted to become one. He wanted to be a full immortal and be able to rule the world or at least his kingdom eternally. This is one of the ultimate goals of the takers. Although we have religion and beliefs that tell us that death isn’t bad, we have fear. Although we are told to not fear death we still do. I think that this is due to the fact that we don’t truly have faith in our religion. Most of what this teaches us goes against mother culture. Religion says don’t get anything more than what you need, mother culture on the other hand says have everything you can have for consumerism is the basis of our society. Because there are so many contradictions between religion and mother culture we end up knowing the beliefs but no truly having faith in them. I am pretty sure that this is what happened to Gilgamesh in that time. He knew what came after but he had been told so many times the contrary by the culture he was raised in that he lost faith.

Adjectives for Enkidu

Stormy-Hearted: “Out of earth clay and divine spittle the double, the stormy-hearted other, Enkidu”(p.5)
Powerful: “I saw a hairy-bodied man today at the watering place, powerful as Ninurta the god of war.”(p.6)
Innocent: “For seven days Enkidu in his wonder lay with her in pleasure, and then at last went to seek out the company of the creatures whose hearts delight in feeding upon the grasslands, and visiting the watering places and ranging the hills. But seeing him, they fled.”(p.8)
Big: “He is like Gilgamesh, twice the size of ordinary men, stronger and taller than a battlement.”(p.12)
Trustworthy: “Let Enkidu the companion will not forsake you. Let him go first to find the way through the passes.”(p.18)

Gilgamesh Chapters VIII-IX: FEAR

This chapter is all about the mourning of Enkidu and what this did to Gilgamesh. Without his companion he was afraid to go alone on a journey but over all without him he was afraid of death. Now, our religion is all about salvation. We don’t want death to be something sad or painful. We have ideas of paradise to make death an easier thing to take in. Gilgamesh was afraid of death. He was a two thirds god. I am pretty sure that he knew what lied beyond yet he was still afraid of death. Why fear death if you know what comes next? It made no sense to me. Then I thought, maybe he fears death because he knows that there is suffering, pain, hunger and solitude. If what came after death were all of these things then maybe death was something to be feared and life something to be praised and kept to the last second. If you fear death even if you know what comes after then it must be pretty bad.
Another thing that I noticed on this chapter is what Gilgamesh felt without his companion. He had lost his confidence greatly, he was afraid to be for he had lost a part of him. Maybe he knew that he was weak without his helper, he had none of the knowledge of the wild Enkidu had and so he feared for his life. Of course the trip he did wasn’t to bring this precious companion back but instead he wanted immortality, he wanted to live forever and yet didn’t think that maybe his great companion Enkidu wanted this too. This was a very selfish act but it might show that Gilgamesh might have been more of a taker than a leaver. On class I had a conversation of why Gilgamesh was a taker or leaver as I said on a previous blog. I came to the conclusion that he wasn’t any of those. He had mixed Qualities of both. Gilgamesh was under the mercy of the god yet he ruled Uruk and I believe that he though as a taker that the world was made for him. This might seem contradictory but it isn’t. He believed that although the world was made for him, it was still god territory and therefore these being’s whims where to be done. Could this mean that the pass from Leaver to taker was gradual like evolution? If there are such beings as god why haven’t they talked and said anything of how we destroy creation like they did on the past? Why was Gilgamesh so afraid to be alone if he was so strong and powerful?

Comma Excercies

Exercise 1
He left the scene of the accident and tried to forget that it had happened.

Oil, which is lighter than water, rises to the surface.

Madame de Stael was an attractive, gracious lady.

Nice is a word with many meanings, and some of them are contradictory.

The contractor testified that the house was completed and that the work had been done properly.

Some people refuse to go to the zoo because of pity for creatures that must live in small cages.

Taxicabs that are dirty are illegal in some cities.

The closet contained worn clothes, old shoes, and dirty hats.

The uninvited guest wore a dark, blue, tweed suit.

After surviving this ordeal, the trapper felt relieved.

Mark Twain's early novels, I believe, stand the test of time.

December 7, 1941, will never be forgotten.

The field was safe enough, wasn't it?

Write the editor of the Atlantic 8, Arlington Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02116.

He replied, "I have no idea what you mean."

After a good washing and grooming, the pup looked like a new dog.

Because of their opposition to institutions that force creatures to live in captivity, some people refuse to go to the zoo.

Men who are bald are frequently the ones who are the most authoritative on the subject of baldness.

Vests which were once popular have been out of vogue for several years.

As a celestial goddess, she regulated the course of the heavenly bodies and controlled the alternating seasons.

I hope that some day, he will learn how to be polite.

Exercise 2
1. There was no question that John's painting, a huge, colorful, and ugly mural, was the worst entry in the art exhibit.

2. Werner von Braun, Willy Ley, and Edward Teller noted authorities in the field of rocket development, have done much to guide the missile program of the United States.

3. Mr. Cready's ability to say the wrong thing at the wrong time is, I believe, amazing.

4. Running around, the house the dog was abruptly stopped by a fence.

5. If the opposition should win, our candidate would never have any political future.

6. Gracefully, lightly, and daintily, the ballerina moved across the stage.

7. Glamour, the woman's fashion magazine, recently incorporated with Charm, another fashion journal.

8. Joe was born on May 7, 1955, and his best friend was born exactly two months later, on July 7, 1955.

9. Mr. and Mrs. Kwon, my parents' best friends, sat in front of us at the football game.

10. November 11, 1918, the armistice ending World War I was signed.

Exercise 3
1. The problems involved in this operation are, I think, numerous.

2. Celene, who does not usually tell anyone what she feels, said she didn't want to go to the dance.

3. To get tickets for some Broadway musicals, one has to order three months in advance.

4. Listening to the radio, Jun heard an announcement that Spangler, his own dog, was lost.

5. I used to live at 16689 Sutton Avenue, Milpitas, California, but we have since moved to 1895 Holland Way, Dubuque, Iowa.

6. The Valley of the Moon, the name of a section in Napa County, California, is the heart of the state's wine producing area.

7. Chris did not see how he could organize, write, and proofread this paper in only two hours.

8. By the pilings of the old pier, I found four starfish, a clam, and a sea anemone.

9. Yes, Helen did mention that all three of you were coming for lunch.

10. I believe, therefore, that fraternities are good influences on a college campus.

Excercises

Sentence Fragments: Exercise 2
These paragraphs need proofreading for possible fragments. Use the space below each paragraph for revising.
1. How can a person find patriotism in a local night club? Well, it did not take me too long, about four weeks ago in a little night club in Louisville, Kentucky, a couple of my friends, Rick and Lon, the duo who were providing the entertainment that night for the club.
about four weeks ago in a little night club in Louisville, Kentucky, a couple of my friends, Rick and Lon, the duo who were providing the entertainment that night for the club. (This is a dependent clause.)
2. For the past twenty years, the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan has been measuring the level of Americans' trust and confidence in their politicians and quasi-political trust and confidence in their political institutions and their leaders. "Political" being all levels of government, and "quasi-political" churches, labor unions, large professional/business associations, educational institutions, and the like. The result is that a very sharp decline has taken place every year since 1964.

Didn’t Find anything wrong with this one.
3. For 200 years Americans believed in better jobs, better homes, a better life for one's children, this confidence no longer exists. Polls now indicate that there are fewer Americans who feel they are better off today than they were five years ago. A public-opinion analysis group has found that large numbers of Americans, at some times and in some places, see themselves as lower on the ladder. Adding worse living conditions and anticipation of further decline over the next five years.
This confidence no longer exists. (dependent Clause)
4. Well, in looking at the picture at the left you see an old lady, she has a very funny look on her face. As if she's lonely and just wants to be left alone. She also looks as if she has seen a lot and experienced lots of things.
has a very funny look on her face.(Dependent Clause)
5. A president is an appointed leader. Someone who is a decision maker in the executive branch of our government. This doesn't necessarily mean that the person the people elect is capable, just hopefully assumes, through his past record as a politician, over the years' buildup of experience and handling situations.

This doesn't necessarily mean that the person the people elect is capable, just hopefully assumes, through his past record as a politician, over the years' buildup of experience and handling situations. (Dependent clauses)
Exercise 3
My brother was always my best friend when I was a child, especially as we two were almost alone in the world. We lived with our old grandmother in a little house, almost a shack, in the country whenever I think of him now I see a solemn, responsible boy a boy too old for his years who looked out for me no matter what. Once there was a bully John Anson who looked enormous to me though he was probably an average twelve-year-old, John had it in for me because he liked Littice Grant who liked me, he decided to beat me up right before her eyes. I was lucky my brother came by he didn't interfere, he just stood there somehow though his presence gave me confidence, I licked the stuffing out of John Anson. If my brother hadn't been there, I don't think I could have done it.

Gilgamesh Tablets 6-7: Evolution of the gods

Gilgamesh has now to suffer the wrath of the gods because of his insult to Ishtar. Although he couldn’t die for he was the gifted one he still had to pay. Now alone this wouldn’t have been enough but when Gilgamesh became slayer the Bull of Heaven Enkidu’s fate was sealed.
Now this part alone has a lot to it. First the insult to Ishtar was that he basically thought all she had loved had suffered. What really shows here is why it is that a goddess would want to be with only a two thirds god when she had other who was much more powerful to be with? Why would one want something less valuable than a diamond when you could have something better than this precious item itself? This makes no sense, but then, she was acting upon a whim. This is an interesting thing for a god. If these beings are meant to be perfect what would make Ishmael make them seem so human? Even though this tale speaks of god’s maybe they were just humans. Slightly wiser or had knew tricks of how to control the minds of the weak and ignorant. This may be a long shot but its possible. At the time tales like this were passed from person to person and the picture we see might have been blurred, exaggerated, taken out of proportion to make it seem even more fantastic. Although the beginning of the story says that it was Gilgamesh who wrote the tablet maybe they didn’t mean the actual thing but it was he who did all the great things written on it, he might have been the one who inspired and made it obligatory to write this tablet.
What I say here is but a reflection upon what I see in this book but of course as a Catholic the good I see is perfect, flawless and without feelings to blur his sight. What might have made man change this image of human gods to this omnipresent all knowing being that Jewish, Christians and Muslims see? Even in Greek Mythology it’s all of these gods that are almost humans with feelings and flaws. What I believe to be the answer to this is that worshiping one god is easier to do. Also the laws and the way these religions were presented was more flexible than those of multiple gods that required sacrifices and were very strict. Finally the main purpose of religion, salvation was much easier to achieve in this new monotheistic religions. And this salvation wasn’t the underworld of Greek mythology but heaven which in case of Christianity through my eyes is more a place of mental peace and happiness. Muslims see it as a more physical paradise but in all it seems like a happy ending.

Gilgamesh tablets 4 and 5: The eternal quest against evil

In this book Gilgamesh began the search and destruction of evil in the world. Yet this is of course guided by a god or some sort of vision of it. Although his intentions are good what he may be doing might not be so. If we go back to Ishmael and see this with his point of view it is clear that Gilgamesh is a taker. He knows good and evil and he believes that the Huwawa is evil, but really is he? If we take this from another perspective maybe Huwawa isn’t evil at all. He was guardian of the cedar forest and his mission was to protect it against invaders. Although he wasn’t really hurting anyone in his isolated place Gilgamesh went out to hunt it. This might have been the beginning of the end for the cedar forest, without protector what will stop us from taking it down? Maybe what he did was good under his point of view but on the long run it is very bad for the development of our civilization.
Now this god that gave him strength to keep on going with the battle might have been his own mind telling him to stay on track and to not give up. Maybe the god he though to give him straight and to weaken his enemy was but this desire to accomplish what he had proposed himself to do for his people. Although Enkidu and Gilgamesh are present as tow different characters maybe they are one. Just as we have several layers of complexity Gilgamesh did too. It is possible that maybe part of him entered in conflict and that is what is showed by Enkidu and him fighting. What still makes me wonder is why was Enkidu so necessary to maintain the balance of Uruk. Everything seemed finding before he arrived and there seemed to be peace and happiness. Why was he such an essential piece to this if no mayor defect in the city is said? This maybe because Gigamesh had started to lose his way. He might have started to become something different than what he was. Because of this came Enkidu to balance things with in Gilgamesh and show him the right path. A part of him might have awakened to show him what his purpose was and propelled him o fight evil. Why did Gilgamesh believe so firmly that Huwawa went against the will of his god? Why did the demon have to die? Was it a demon? Could it have been the representation of evil in Gilgamesh’s mind? If all we see is under our point of view why do we want things that are “evil” to die? How do we know that they truly are evil?