The Christian Crusades

In reading chapters 8-10, I found the portion written on expansion via crusade or "holy war" to be most interesting, or "eye opening," to be more accurate. As a young child in Catholic school we read stories of the bravery and valor of the crusaders, hearing stories of the likes of Joan of Arc, who fought bravely and courageously in the face of danger in the name of the Lord.

Now of course, the stories read to those in elementary school are often sugar-coated and watered down in order to protect young, innocent minds; however, I unfortunately can't help but see parallels in the "holy wars" of the past and those that wage "holy war" in the name of whomever (God, Allah, etc.) today. Our book states, "In European thinking and practice, the Crusades were was undertaken at God's command and authorized by the pope as the Vicar of Chris on earth. They required participants to swear a vow and in return offered an indulgence, which removed penalties for any confessed sins, as well as various material debts. Any number of political, economic, and social motives underlay the Crusades, but at their core they were religious wars" (Strayer, 286). Clearly, the idea of "trading" or "selling" indulgences to those who are willing to fight for God is immoral and not Christian. To essentially say, "If you come fight or us it doesn't matter what you've done or did, you'll be saved a seat in Heaven" is pretty ridiculous. After reading and taking notes on Chapter 10 it made me think long and hard about if these crusades were going on today - what would we say? Who would be the bad guys? What would be reported on the news?

All interesting food for thought...

Chapter 5 Summary

Discussion Questions

1.)    Why do you think all of the cultural traditions discussed in Chapter 5 emerged around the same time?

2.)    Compare and contrast Jesus & Buddha.

Chapter 5: Eurasian Cultural Traditions (500 BC – 500 AD)

I.                   Cultural Traditions: China, India, Middle East, Greece

1.)    China

a.       Confucianism and Daoism on the rise

2.)    India

a.       Upanishads (religious writings) gave expression to Hinduism

b.      Siddhartha Gautama set Buddhism in motion

3.)    Middle East

a.       Zoroastrianism

                                                                                                  i.      Derived from Persian prophet Zarathustra

                                                                                                ii.      Monotheistic

b.      Judaism in Israel

4.)    Greece

a.       Philosophers

                                                                                                  i.      Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, etc.

                                                                                                ii.      Rational & humanistic tradition

5.)    Chinese & Greek focused on affairs of the world & said human rationality could understand that reality.

6.)    Indian, Persian, & Jewish thinkers were more religious, focusing on the divine.

a.       Alternatives to earlier polytheism

7.)    Why did these traditions emerge at the same time?

a.       Historians have noted huge social changes that accompanied the emergence of these new teachings

                                                                                                  i.      Iron-age technology allowed for productive economies & deadlier warfare

                                                                                                ii.      Growing cities increased trade

                                                                                              iii.      New states & empires

                                                                                              iv.      New contact among civilizations

1.      All of the above led thinkers to questions such as:

a.       What’s the purpose of life? Etc.

II.                China & The Search For Order

1.)    The Legalist Answer

a.       Solution to China’s problems laid in rules/laws

b.      Pessimistic about human nature

c.       Called for harsh reunification

2.)    The Confucian Answer

a.       Confucius (551 – 479 BC)

                                                                                      i.      Born to a wealthy family

                                                                                    ii.      Ambitious learner

b.      Moral example of superiors was key to social harmony

c.       Emphasized education focusing on liberal arts

d.      Great importance on history and reform

e.       Believed strongly in family

3.)    The Daoist Answer

a.       Associated with Laozi who was a sixth-century archivisit

b.      Differed from Confucianism

                                                                                      i.      Thought moral improvement, good gov’t, and education generally made things worse

c.       Encouraged spontaneous, individualistic, and natural behavior

d.      Dao

                                                                                      i.      Elusive notion that refers to the way of nature

                                                                                    ii.      Underlying principle that governs all natural phenomena

e.       Called for the withdrawal from social and political activism

f.       Chinese elite thought it contemplated, not contradicted, Confucian values

III.             Cultural Traditions of Classical India

1.)    South Asian Religion: From Ritual Sacrifice to Philosophical Speculation

a.       Vedas

                                                              i.      Collection of poems, hymns, prayers, rituals

                                                            ii.      Brahmins (priests) were the authors

                                                          iii.      The Vedas tell various stories

1.      Competing kingdoms

2.      Sacred sounds and fires

3.      Numerous gods

4.      Elaborate ritual sacrifices

b.      Rituals generated criticism because Brahmins required heavy fees to perform them.

                                                              i.      The Upanishads

1.      Arose from dissatisfaction of heavy fees required by Brahmins to perform rituals

2.      Composed largely by anonymous thinkers

3.      Mystical/highly philosophical

4.      Emphasized introspective thinking over ritual

c.       Hinduism

                                                              i.      The individual human soul (atman) was part of the Brahman

1.      The goal of humankind was total unity with the Brahman

2.      Ends an illusory perception of our separate existence from the Brahman

d.      Karma

                                                              i.      Pure action appropriate to one’s station in life resulted in rebirth to a higher social grouping

                                                            ii.      Good karma vs. bad karma

2.  The Buddhist Challenge

            a. took place around the same time as Hinduism

            b. Sidhadhartha Gautama

                        i. prince from a small north Indian state

                        ii. set out on a six year spiritual quest seeking englihtment

                        iii. sought nirvana

                                    1. hard to describe

2. basically extinguished individual identity along with greed, hatred, and delusion

                        c. egalitarian message

                        d. once Buddhism spread differences in understanding soon emerged

IV. Moving toward Monotheism: The Search for God in the Middle East

            1. Zoroastrianism

                        a. Persian prophet of the 6^th or 7^th century

                        b. single god: Ahura Mazda

                                    i.) ruled the world and was the source of all truth light and goodness

c. never spread outside of Persia, Mesopotamia and Anatolia, and Egypt because it wasn’t a active missionary religion

i.) some ideas of Zoroastrianism can be seen in the Jewish faith of those areas

            2. Judaism

                        a. born amongst the Hebrews

                        b. tradition recorded in the Old Testament

                        c. uniqure history of exodus from Egypt

                        d. called their god Yaweh

                        e. 10 Commandments

                                    i.) rules to live by

V. The Cultural Tradition of Classical Greece: the Search for a Rational Order

            1. The Greek Way of Knowing

a. Greeks seldom agreed with each other – the important thing was the questions they asked.

b. ancient philosophers such as Socrates

            2. The Greek Legacy

                        a. gods of Mt. Olympus was a reality for many people even though irrational

b. Greek legacy is found in other religions such as Islam and the foundations of Christianity

VI. Comparing Jesus and Buddha

            1. Jesus of Nazareth

                        a. often compared to Buddha

            2. Lives of the Founders

                        a. Jesus and Buddha had very different backgrounds

                        b. Buddha – prince

                        c. Jesus – son of a carpenter

                        d. both “wisdom teachers”

                        e. Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights in the desert, Buddha spent 6 years seeking enlightenment

            3. Establishing New Religions

a. seems that neither Jesus nor Buddha wanted to establish a new religion, rather they wanted to reform tradition

                        b. threatening to the Roman empire because it was exclusively monotheistic

Chapters 1 - 3 (Women in Paleolithic times)

After reading through the first three chapters of our text, "Ways of the World," I was reminded of subject matter that I haven't touched on for several years. I've become accustomed to highlighting and taking notes or outlines from history books, but reflecting on the reading (in a History course) is something that's fairly new to me. With that being said, I'll do my best. I will also try and keep an open mind as the way History textbooks (ours included) oftentimes write about the "beginning of time," contradicts with the way I choose to think about the "beginning of time." (I choose a more biblically based, Catholic standpoint, while still trying to keep in mind the laws of science.) Either way, here goes nothing...

What I found most interesting about the first three chapters is that the first human societies were much more egalitarian (or equal) than what is typically portrayed in the media. When I think back to cartoons or books I read as a child about "cavemen" I immediately picture a big, ape-like looking man, clubbing a harmless woman over her head and dragging her by her ponytail back to the cave where she'd cater to him. The book debunks this myth by stating that, within Paleolithic societies, "Relationships between women and men were far more equal than in later societies. As the primary food gatherers, women provided the bulk of the family 'income.' One study of a modern gathering and hunting society in southern Africa found that plants, normally gathered by women, provided 70 percent of the diet, while meat, hunted by men, accounted for just 30 percent" (Strayer, 20).

So what does this mean? It means that in contrast to my once ignorant view of cavemen and "Me Tarzan, You Jane" societies, Paleolithic societies largely relied on the role of the women for sustenance, quite possibly even more so than the men of the societies! Not only did I find this interesting, I also found it inspiring. If women were able to "pull their weight" in such a way so many, many years ago, then it makes me hopeful that we will come full circle as a society and there will be a day where there is no glass ceiling for women for corporate America, or other forms of much worse sexist oppression placed upon women in America and in other parts of this world. I definitely found this as "food for thought."