Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Jesus and his views

Jesus vs. Zoroastrian
-both believed in goodness and goods and after life.
-zoroastrians were not as strict monotheistics unlike Jesus and his followers.

Jesus vs. Confucian
-both believed in goodness in beliefs and actions.
-Confucius was strict in that he did not bother with religion and he did not preach religion.

Jesus vs. Daoist
-both promoted peace
-Jesus focused on the number one as God but Daoism also strongly believed in nature

Jesus vs. Buddhist
-both Jesus and buddhists ignored mearilistic items
-Buddhism believed in rincarnation whereas Jesus preached about heaven.

Jesus vs. Hindu
-both believed in the idea of giving to the less fortunate.
-Hindu had strong structure with social and the caste system where as Jesus did not agree with that

Jesus vs. Socratic
-both value honor
-Socrates did not teach on a religious where as Jesus did.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Empires

In my opinion empires form because of a lack or organization or leadership allowing a new powerful person to come to power.  For example in China, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty was Qin Shihuangdi who was able to gain power over the people because of the problems in society at the time.  It was the period of the Warring States and there was a lot of political and societal turmoil giving a perfect opportunity to try and build an empire.  The example in India was after they were invaded the people needed someone to step up and help India back into a powerful nation and to spread that power.  The large and powerful Roman Empire came in order to be able to keep getting more land and spreading so the republic was changed into and Empire with an emperor.   

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Wikipedia Vs. The Textbook

In my opinion I think that overall Wikipedia does a better job of covering information.  In class my group was assigned Jainism to go over.  Compared to the textbook, Wikipedia does a better job of covering all the information because it gives many details and examples of things about the religion.  The textbook only gives you the basic things you need to know in order to understand it but Wikipedia goes beyond that.  The only negative thing I noticed in regard to Wikipedia is that when we were trying to find the origin story of the religion the book had more of a story behind what happened and how it started whereas Wikipedia just had more of the location where it is began.  My preference is definitely still Wikipedia though because it is set up in a way that makes it easier to read and understand.  On the page it has an organized outline which makes it easier to follow.  That being said I don't know if I would like a class completely based off Wikipedia because it would make me question if all the information is 100% accurate.  A mix between Wikipedia and the textbook is an ideal situation for me if I had to pick. 

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Caste Duties According to the Bhagavad Gita

How do these reflections on caste duties and  detachment in the Bhagavad Gita compare and contrast with the moral and ethical teachings of Zarathustra and Confucius discussed in earlier chapters?

When you compare the reflections in the Bhagavad Gita to the ideas of Zarathustra and Confucius the main similarity is that they all promote niceness and goodness in people.  For the teachings of Zoroastrianism and the Bhagavad Gita they reward this goodness and kindness with Heaven or an afterlife giving people hope where as in the teachings of Confucianism there is no salvation.  When it comes to achieving this salvation it is different for the teachings of Zarathustra and the Bhagavad Gita.  In the reflections it tells of the importance of fighting and performance in a battle and keeping your honor whereas in Zoroastrianism it is about doing good deeds and keeping an honest and compassionate way of life to earn a spot in the after life.
The main difference between the teachings of Confucius and the Bhagavad Gita is the importance of religion.  Confucius did not focus his teachings on religion whereas the Bhagavad Gita is all about religion. These are the main similarities and differences of these three different teachings and ideas.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Grading Blogs

After reading some of my classmates posts I realized that they were all good but not all necessarily grammatically correct. I can see why it might be frustrating reading so many of the same thing with poorly written grammar (hopefully there are no grammar mistakes in this post!). So when it comes to grading I think it would be a good idea to have peer grading to save one person having to do it all. As much as I like the sounds of a peer grading process I don't necessarily think it is a good idea because it might not work out fairly or correctly. The reason I think this is because, not to say people aren't honest, but people can be biased so depending if they are grading someone's blog who they like or don't like the grade could be skewed. Overall I don't think that would be a big problem but just something to think about. When it comes to the actual grading of the blog posts (regardless of who is doing the grading) I think it should be focused on the quality and the ideas of the post rather than the length. Also to answer the question if someone can receive a 0 even if they posted something I don't think that should happen unless someone gave an answer that clearly was not thought out or copied from someone else's ideas.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

The Analects

Book XII. 14   Tzu-chang asked about government.  The Master said, "Over daily routine do not show weariness, and when there is action to be taken, give of your best."

This idea on leadership by Confucius is a helpful concept for modern American Politicians.  What this is saying is that no matter what happens the leader of society cannot show weakness of weariness in everyday life because they need to be strong for the rest of the country.  For example as president now Obama has to be strong for the rest of the country even in this bad economy.  Even if he struggles with his daily life as President he still needs to appear strong for the country and always has to give his best effort all the time.  This is good advice for a politician because it shows how much you need to give for the people you represent.