Unit Five Resources
There are
vast resources available to you in the library, on the net, and
in this very neighborhood at a variety of denominations.
I provide here some useful links to get you started and point
out some interesting themes to explore.
Links checked and page modified on Nov 6, 2007
War on Terror: a short essay by Darren
Witwer, and various links to alternative information relating
to the situation in the Middle East and South Asia.
How does Monotheism
differ from other religions?
First of all, recall that most of the world's more developed
religions do have a monotheistic or monistic aspect. (Refer
to the Monism page) The religions
treated on this page have a few common elements that are essential
to understanding them. These elements also serve to distinguish
them from other religions discussed this semester, and to clarify
how Gnosticism differs from them. Here are some illustrative
generalizations and observations:
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They all originated in the Ancient Near East. They
have common and interlaced roots in Egypt, the Fertile
Crescent (Israel, Jordan and Iraq) and Persia (now Iran).
Some 600 years after Christ, the Arabian Peninsula hosted
the next major development, and then another nine hundred
years later, Germany's Martin Luther led the last major
developmental phase. |
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God is described in masculine terms.
In some cases he is denied gendered description, but there
is a strong tendency among all of them to deny female traits,
or to refer to a "goddess." |
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Great emphasis is placed on the Power,
Royalty and Supremacy of their Deity. God's kingly
nature is frequently described. Archeological investigation
suggests that this is connected to the urbanization of the
religious culture. Other characterizations are found,
but these royal metaphors of submission, allegiance and
awe are stressed much more in Monotheistic scripture and
worship than in other religions. The concept/culture
of chivalry seems to be deeply connected to this aspect of
monotheism, and therefore may have its roots in ancient
India, imported to Europe by Muslims. (The Gnostics do
not appear to embrace the chivalric model, except perhaps in
the more romantic and erotic sense of the term.) Refer to:
J. Huizinga's,
Waning of the Middle Ages and D. Rougement's
Love in the Western World |
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The Monotheistic God is both jealous
and merciful. (The Gnostics believed that this
jealous God was an evil God, and a second God was superior
to that one.) |
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God created the universe and all the
creatures in it. (The Gnostics and Manicheans questioned
this, but they are probably best understood as Dualistic
religions rather than Monistic or even Monotheistic.) |
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The scriptures and the religion that
grow out of them are believed to be absolute truth and law.
Heresy, paganism, apostasy, and heterodox scriptures are
generally considered diabolical. All of these religions
have rather dark histories of dealing with deviation and
with other religions. (The Gnostics believed
in personal revelation, which undermined the authority of
the church, thus resulting in their persecution and extermination.
This radical subjectivism undermined the whole notion of
orthodoxy.) |
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Religious experience is mediated--for
Catholics, by the Church. For Protestants, Jews and
Muslims, through the scripture and teachers or pastors.
Gnostics or mystics who teach personal contact with God,
Divine inspiration and revelation are considered highly
dangerous. Experiential religion and personal authority
were harshly persecuted by the Catholics. Martin Luther's
Reformation modified this--personal connection with God
is assumed, but not inspiration and certainly not divergence
from the scriptures. Mormonism is a notable exception
in which new scriptures were added. Some commentators
(Harold Bloom, and myself) place Mormonism in the Gnostic
tradition, though it is doubtful that the Mormons would
accept that. |
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Even though these religions share much
history and scripture, there is a long history of conflict
between the monotheistic religions as well. In the
modern world, five main religious forces are deeply involved
in much of the violence we see in the world today: Judaism,
Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Catholicism, Islam and Protestantism.
Even when the conflicts are not overtly religious, there
are always religious subtexts. |
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Considered together, these monotheistic
religions comprise over half of the world's population.
Catholicism is the largest single religion on the planet,
though I have seen conflicting claims that Islam is the
largest. If this isn't true now, it may be in the
near future if trends continue in Sub-Saharan Africa and
Southeast Asia. Because of its nature, geographical
areas where a monotheistic religion has taken root generally
see strong emphasis on that religion and suppression of
other religions. |
Demographics
Over 50% of the world population belongs to one of the three
major monotheistic religions and their offshoots. Christianity
is the largest religion in the world. According to recent
estimates, 1/3 of the world's 6 billion declare themselves Christian
(~400 million or 7% of world are Protestants, but this number
is increasing rapidly). 1/6 of the world is Muslim, and
about the same number is "non-religious." Another
1/6 of the world is Hindu, and roughly equal numbers of people
are Buddhists, Atheists and Protestants (between 1/4 & 1/2
billion). Jews make up about 18 million (0.3% of world population)
people. Statistics taken from 1994 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Many demographers suggest that Islam is expanding so rapidly,
especially in Africa and the Indonesian area, that it is now overtaking
Christianity. If Islam is not currently the largest religion
in the world, it surely will be very soon.
Earliest
Examples of Monotheism
Pharaoh Akhnaton is attributed with being the first to make monotheism
into a state religion. As part of his campaign to rid Egypt
of polytheism, he destroyed many shrines and statuary from the
older religion, and forced the new religion onto his people.
His wife Nefertiti achieved more fame than he did. Freud
presented the theory that Akhnaton inspired Moses, who carried
the idea from Egypt with the Israelites. After his death,
Egypt went back to polytheistic ways, and returned the favor by
destroying many of the remnants of his faith. Some have
suggested that he was Hermes Trismegistus of Hermetic Lore.
Others say that he was the source of Oedipus. Whatever the
case, this romantic and mysterious figure of religious history
is a popular target of a host of interesting theories and stories
that underlie many religions.
Zoroastrianism & Proto-Gnosticism
Heterodoxy and Early Contemporaries of
Judaism & Christianity
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Gnosticism
doctrinal introduction/summary by Stephen A. Hoeller, a modern
Gnostic Bishop. Best for understanding the modern manifestations
of Gnosticism. |
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Nag
Hammadi Library On-line.
This is the most important set of sacred writings from the
Gnostics: Introduction,
Elaine
Pagels intro Three of the
most popular and famous of the Gnostic scriptures are included
below.
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Thunder
Perfect Mind: Famous Gnostic hymn to the Goddess
Sophia. Highly Recommended for study of the feminine
archetype in Ancient European and North African religion.
Very recent translation by Anne McGuire. |
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The
Hypostasis of the Archons.
The reversed story of the Garden of Eden, where the
Serpent rescues Adam & Eve by awakening them to
their imprisonment in the Demiurge's seductive creation. |
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The
Gospel of Thomas
A collection of the sayings of Jesus--some familiar,
others quite obscure and mystical. A
few experts believe that this may be the lost "Q"
document from which the sayings of Jesus were taken
to write the traditional four Gospels. If so,
a great deal was left out for doctrinal reasons. The
Gospel of Philip and the Gospel
of Truth are also quite readable and interesting
for Christians. |
Valentinus--the
most popular of the Gnostic movements. North African
theologian who almost became a Pope.
The Writings of Valentinus Probably the single most
important and heretical idea he promoted is that something is
wrong with Creation. Rather than accepting the notion of
Original Sin or human weakness (disobedience to God) as the
source of evil, he exalts the redemptive power of the soul and
condemns the "wrongness" of Creation. Humans are not
born guilty of Sin.
His
system is surprisingly psychological in nature. We
are not sinful, but sick and deluded. The creator God
(Demiurge) is responsible for this mess, but in
the words of Gnostic scholar Stephan Hoeller,
We need not worry overmuch about whether Valentinus
insults Jehovah by calling him a demiurge. What matters is
that we act as our own psychic demiurges by first creating
and the inhabiting a flawed kosmos created in the image and
likeness of our own flaws...The ignorance of the agencies
that create the false system is thus undone and rectified by
the spiritual Gnosis of the human being. The defect can be
removed from being by Gnosis. There is no need whatsoever
for guilt, for repentance from so-called sin, neither is
there a need for a blind belief in a vicarious salvation by
way of the death of Jesus. We don't need to be saved; we
need to be transformed by Gnosis.
This idea is strikingly similar to Buddhism and some
Hinduism. All forms of desire and materialism are frowned
upon. Even the mental/emotional faculties are suspect.
Only the transcendent Spirit, pneuma, is pure and only
Gnosis can heal our sickness. We are to overcome our dualities
in a a mystic state reminiscent to that spoken of in the
Upanishads. In spite of the obvious heresy of his ideas,
he was apparently not persecuted during his life, and actually
had close relationships with more orthodox patriarchs like
Origen.
Basilides--2nd most popular Gnostic movement.
Because there are no extant writings of Basilides, we depend
upon the Roman Catholic critics for most of what we know about
them. The link I have here is to the Catholic
Encyclopedia article. Keep in mind that the primary
sources are negatively biased, and the Church is interested in
asserting the moral depravity of the Gnostics in general in
order to justify their exterminations and torturing of
Gnostics. With those things in mind, I think that the
article is quite good.
The few fragments of his writings that we do have are
available at Early Christian Writings.com Basilides
promoted an anti-Jewish form of Gnostic Christianity, so many
of his doctrines diverge radically from Jewish religion, and
are more close to various pagan religions of the time.
Priscillian and Priscillianism--another popular Gnostic
heresy in Spain. Like Calvin, he believed in the
predestination of souls to salvation or damnation--some people
could not be saved. This was especially troubling to St.
Augustine. Women were given much higher status in his
churches than in other churches. The Gnostic dualism
that he taught led to a number of heterodox ideas, including a
radical asceticism inspired by the belief that our souls were
a divine creation while our bodies are created by Satan.
The imprisoning of souls in bodies is a punishment for our
sins. A Synod in Bordeaux in 384 CE led to his execution for
the charge of magic, but this only turned him into a martyr,
and inspired even more conversions to Priscillianism. The
heresy did not disappear until 563 CE, but there are some who
think that the pilgrimage destination of Santiago de
Compostela is actually the tomb of Priscillian rather than
Santiago, and his martyr's legacy continued in Galicia
(Northwestern Spain)
This article is from the Catholic Encyclopedia, so it is
biased, but very informative.
Encyclopedia Britannica offers a nice article too through the
school library databases. Interestingly, some of his
writings slipped through into canonical texts still used today
after some editing. "They contain a strong call to a
life of personal piety and asceticism, including
vegetarianism, teetotalism, and celibacy. Slavery and sexual
differences are abolished in Jesus Christ, and the charismatic
gifts of all believers affirmed. The elect were called to
combat the devil and his evil powers, and to enter into a
knowledge of the deep mysteries of God." (Believe:
Religious Information Source) |
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Druze
religion--a Middle Eastern variant that blends Ismaili
Shi'a Islam with the Greek philosophical traditions of
Gnosticism and Christianity.
Yazidi or Yezidi
religion--a Kurdish tradition that is also influenced by
Gnosticism, centered in Mosul, Iraq.
The Mandeans--rare, continuous surviving group
of real Christian Gnostics in Southern Iraq. Here are a
few useful links:
Encyclopedia of the Orient,
PHILTAR , Mandaean
Writings |
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Manichaean
Writings |
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Terje
Bergerson's -- outspoken internet Gnostic from Norway.
Fascinating site, especially as an example of the bridge between
ancient Gnosticism and the new generation of tech-gnostics. |
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The
Gnostic Friends Network
Very interesting and controversial web site dedicated to modern
Gnosticism. Not recommended for the squeamish or easily
offended. This is a promotional & political
site with rather graphic images. |
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A
Catholic discussion of the Cathars/Albigenses, a group
of Neo-Gnostics that were exterminated by the Church in the
Middle Ages. The page represents a Catholic defense
of their action. |
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The
Cosmic Mysteries of Mithras Really nice site by David
Ulansey, the author of a scholarly book on the subject published
by Oxford Univ. Press. |
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Dead Sea
Scrolls useful resource page at Rutgers University |
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The
Essenes theory of the Dead Sea Scrolls (controversial
because it raises important questions about the identity of
Christ) |
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More on the identity of the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls |
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Techniques of
the World Saviors: Jesus and the Resurrection--interesting
essay on Jesus & Avalokatishvara (useful for Gnostic studies
and heterodox views of the nature of Jesus) by Toby Johnson.
The perspective is Jungian/J. Campbell. |
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Dominion Theology--the
latest trend in radical Christian politics (extensive links,
bios and bibliography.) Warning: This
page contains disturbing and controversial information. |
Due to the
widespread nature of the following religions, I am assuming that
you will be able to find plenty of resources on your own.
I provide only a few useful links to get you started.
Judaism
Kabbalah & Mysticism
This is an area of special, personal interest for me. It
represents the confluence of Dualistic (Gnostic) thought
and Monistic (Neoplatonic) thought in a mystical context. Gershom
Scholem's Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism is the
foundational scholarly text for this topic. I
recommend all of his writings, as well as Neil Asher
Silberman's Heavenly Powers and Moshe Idel's
Kabbalah: New Perspectives.
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The
Name of G-d: Fundamentals of the Hebrew language
from a religious-symbolic perspective. I recommend
looking at this page by Tracey Rich at the Judaism
101 site, especially if you are going to look at
Mysticism in Judaism. There is also a nice
page of Jewish Theology called The
Nature of God and the Shema
(popular Jewish prayer of devotion) with Hebrew,
transliterated Hebrew and English translation.
There is also a page on the Kabbalah
that provides a good introduction. |
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Jewish
Mysticism
(Kabbalah, Merkabah, Hassidism) at the University
of Calgary. Excellent site. |
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Gershom Scholem--info on one of the foremost
scholars of Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah |
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Sefer
Yezirah--the foundational,
ancient text of Jewish mysticism
based on the alphabet.
Commentary,
Wikipedia
The Zohar the most important text of the
Kabbalistic tradition, written by
Moses de León in Medieval Spain.
Wikipedia on Zohar,
Wikipedia on Moses de León.
The controversial Rav Berg (Phillip
Berg) of the
Kabbalah Centre provides an on-line edition of
the first full English translation of this central
text of this mystic tradition in Judaism.The
Zohar
Kabbalah Unveiled: first translation into Latin,
then English of a portion of the Zohar. These
excerpts are interesting for their rather peculiar
mystical-metaphorical analyses of the body of
God.
Isaac Luria, perhaps the most
broadly influential of the Kabbalists.
Jewish Virtual Library
Wikipedia |
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The
story of the Golem
(a magical folktale from the Kabbalah) |
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Climax of History: and
Exile and Redemption: the apocalyptic predictions of the Zohar. Fascinating presentation by Rabbi Pinchas
Winston that ties together this Medieval book with
the events in the Middle East. Part of
the Kabbalah
101 section of Aish.com |
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Judaica Resources--Hellenistic
historical backgrounds of this interesting mystical
tradition--great for early history. |
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Psyche.com:--similar
to the previous site, containing both traditional
and non-Jewish/Hermetic Kabbalah resources.
outstanding. Emphasis on the writings of Carlos
Suarès. |
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Colin's
Hermetic Kabbalah--Much more emphasis on the
non-Jewish Kabbalah. Not at all appropriate for
understanding the Jewish tradition, but it is extremely
useful for those who wish to examine how the Kabbalah
has been co-opted and modified by hermetic occultists
and mystics in the New Age and Masonic movements. |
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For
more extensive information on the developments of
Kabbalah in non-Jewish contexts, look at this
links
collection for Western Esotericism |
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Aristotelian Thinkers (in chronological order):
Averroes
(Muslim)
(1126-1198), who argued against the
Ash'arite theologians (Mutakallimun), led by
al-Ghazali (d. 1111) see
Muslim
Philosophy site,
On the
Harmony of Religion and Philosophy (Faith & Reason)
Maimonides (Jewish) (1135-1204)
Maimonides
Resource Page
St Thomas
Aquinas (Christian) 1227-1274
Summa Theologica
on-line
Mortimer
Adler (American non-Christian) 1902-2001
Christianity
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Christian
Sacred Texts
A New Approach to the Chronology of Biblical History --
Biblical Chronologist web site |
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Ontario
Consultants on Religious Freedom: Christianity Main page.
This is an excellent resource for historical background
and denominational descriptions. Recommended
as an impartial starting point. |
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Bible
History.com I have only begun to look through this vast
site. This is the main links page to a variety of
excellent sites for studying early Church history (from
the time of the New Testament to late Roman Empire. |
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Perseus
Tufts digital library of Greek & Roman documents.
Outstanding resource (Homer to Plato & Hesiod to Cicero,
Ovid. Links also to art museums on-line. |
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Early Church Fathers (The Patristics).
These writers have left important texts that not only give
us a clear picture of the context and doctrines of the early
Christians, but also of the competing religions and
Christian "heresies" of the time. Important writers
include:
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Vatican
Web Site |
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Catholic
On-Line |
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Catholicism
at About.com
This is a good starting point for investigating all branches
of Christianity. There are lots of associated links
on this page. |
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Western
Orthodoxy--Orthodox Catholics in America--links to information
about the history of Orthodoxy in general. |
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Father
Demetrios Serfe's Greek Orthodox site. |
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As I
Am, Thou Shalt Be: Interesting site covering the art,
legends, religious and philosophical ideas that arose during
the Bubonic Plague epidemics of the Middle Ages. Examines
such themes as the Danse Macabre, Death and the Maiden, etc. |
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Fundamentalism
discussed on the Dualism page of this site. |
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Biblical
Evidence for Catholicism: by Dave Armstrong. A
Catholic Fundamentalist page. There are lots of resources
and history of Catholic Vs Protestant squabbles. He
keeps a page of attacks
on the Church, and another page
on Anti-Catholicism, which indicates a healthy sense
of humor on his part. This is a huge, deeply researched
site, but be advised that it is highly biased in its perspective.
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For
links to extremist and hate groups within the Judeo-Christian
tradition, see the General
Links page section on religious persecution and extremism.
Dominion Theology--a
growing cluster of divergent movements within Evangelical
Christianity which aims to create a Theocracy in America,
and then the world. Ironically, many of its proponents
are extreme right wing conservatives who rant and rail
against "internationalism" and "one world government."
Obviously, their gripe is not against one world government,
but rather against all governments that don't stand up to
their standards of extremely conservative Evangelical
Christianity.
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Gender issues in the Bible:
Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance on New
Testament.
New Testament Gateway |
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There
are vast resources available in libraries, bookstores, and
on-line. |
If you are interested in religious extremism,
alleged persecution of Christians by the government, and the conflicts
between Christianity and new religions like Wicca, click
here.
Roman
Catholic Monastic Orders
It is my opinion that a general knowledge of these monastic orders
is highly useful for a deeper understanding of historical processes
in European and Colonial experience. See the Medieval
Sourcebook for general resources. Except for the Jesuits
and Templars, most of these orders included convents for nuns
as well as monasteries for monks. There are far too
many monastic orders in Catholicism to discuss them all.
I chose these for their historical importance.
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The
Rule of St. Augustine. The earliest description
of Christian religious life. Highly recommended, short
and many of his instructions are still used today as a model
of good Christian behavior, even for those not living in a
monastery. A sub-page Professor
James O'Donnell's web site. |
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The Rule of St. Benedict. in the Sixth Century this book
extended the groundwork laid by Augustine, thus influencing
a long line of others: St. Francis, St. Dominic, Sta
Theresa, and many others. Rule
of St. Benedict at the St. Benedict order website,
Cistercians (Trappists).
Dr Deborah Vess resources on Cistercians
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The
Time Line of the Inquisition --
breve biografía de Torquemada,
Torquemada in English (Catholic perspective) |
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Franciscans,
founded by St. Francis, were important in the Conquista
of Latin America and the Inquisition. |
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The
Order of Preachers: The Dominicans The Spaniard Dominic
de Guzmán founded this order, which came to have
close ties to the Inquisition. Now they are activists
against the death penalty and poverty--proof that the
Catholicism has learned from its mistakes. For an
extensive library of documents and biographies, click here.
Meister
Eckhart was one of the more famous Dominicans--a strongly
monistic mystic with leftist ideas, which got him in some trouble. |
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The
Carmelites were home to the famous Spanish mystics St.
John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Avila. (more
resources available here) |
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The Jesuit
Order, founded by the Spaniard St. Ignatius de Loyola.
(Brief
history of Jesuits) They played a pivotal role in the
Conquista, both as missionaries, and perhaps more importantly
as the first ethnographers of the indigenous peoples of the
Americas. The
Spiritual Exercises presented a unique set of spiritual
exercises intended to create a monk-warrior for the Catholic
Church. |
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Knights
of Templar were an order of military monks who were essential
to the Crusades. After the end of the wars, the Templars
came under attack by the Church and monarchy of France as
a result of their vast wealth and alleged heretical ideas
assimilated from contact with the Muslims. They were
persecuted and exterminated, and were later adopted by the
Protestant Freemasons as martyrs for the anti-clerical, anti-monarchical
cause. The Templars are the subject of many questionable
theories from mystics in Catholic Europe, occultists (especially
Thelemites), and right wing conservative anti-masons.
For a general presentation of the Mystic
Templars, click here. |
Islam
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Islam
notes for quiz-- See D2L site (Content) |
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Islamic
Sacred Texts |
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1995 Map of Muslim
distribution in the world |
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Go on
a Virtual Hajj at PBS web site |
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Muslim
Student Association page at the University of Southern
California. Ample resources, including searchable
databases of the Sunnah (ahadith or sayings of the prophet
and subsequent scholars). |
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Islamic
Studies academic
website of Dr. Alan Godlas, professor of Religion at the
University of Georgia. |
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Introduction
to Islam--by Muslims for non-Muslims. Lots of
information summarized here. Highly recommended. |
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Center
for Christian-Muslim Understanding: Resources on the
Islamic World at
Georgetown University¹s School of Foreign Service |
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Zawaj.com:
interesting site that is mostly commercial, and partly
informative, dedicated to weddings. There are personal
ads here, and photo essays of regional marriage customs from
all over the Muslim world. This is not a scholarly,
academic site, but might be of interest for those interested
in the customs surrounding marriage.
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Brief
History of Islam (esp. Sunnah/Shi'ite split)
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Martin Kramer's on-line texts--alternative readings on
Islam, Islamic nationalism, etc. The self-confident
Kramer is among the more well-known and academically
accepted critics of Islamic culture. To balance all
the more positive offerings I have on this page, I provide
you this link to a large amount of negativity. For
those who wish to engage a more thorough and multifaceted
look at Islam, you may want to look at these materials as
well, but keep in mind that the author has a strong bias
against his subject matter.. |
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Islamic Eschatology and Perspectives on Jesus at Wikipedia
“That they rejected faith:
that they uttered against Mary a grave false charge. That
they said (in boast) "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary
the Apostle of Allah"; but they killed him not nor crucified
him but so it was made to appear to them and those who
differ therein are full of doubts with no (certain)
knowledge but only conjecture to follow for of a surety they
killed him not. Nay Allah raised him up unto Himself; and
Allah is Exalted in Power Wise. And there is none of the
People of the Book but must believe in him before his death;
and on the Day of Judgment He will be a witness against
them.” Qur'an surah 4, vv. 156-159
See also
The
Muslim Jesus: Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature
ed. Tarif Khalidi, Harvard University Press
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Somalia
& Islam: The Twin Cities
is host to the largest population of immigrant Somalis
in the United States. As such, it is important and
useful for us to learn more about their culture in particular.
It is unique in comparison to other Muslim countries.
Here are some useful links for you:
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The
Somali Culture and Beliefs Minnesota Dept. of
Human Rights |
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Detailed
information on Somali history, religion, culture,
economics, geography, and lots lots more at
the Library of Congress "American Memory"
web site. |
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Somalia's history of racism and
slavery are not widely known among Americans, or
even among the Somali regugee population. I
recommend the following works:
Besteman, Catherine,
Unravelling Somalia; Race, Violence, and the
Legacy of Slavery (Philadelphia, 1999)
available in our school library.
Report on Minority Groups in Somalia,
Amnesty International article,
Who are the Somali Bantu?
BBC article |
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Images
of Somalia in a slide show |
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War on Terror:
a short essay by Darren Witwer, and various links to alternative
information relating to the situation in the Middle East
and South Asia. |
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Speaking of Faith: Violence and Crisis in
Islam This weekly radio show
examines the current crisis in Islam under the critical
scrutiny of the world. Vincent Cornell, a Muslim
convert and Professor of History and Director of the King
Fahd Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies at the
University of Arkansas, is the center of the discussion.
He presents some very interesting criticisms of the modern
trend toward violence and "radical superficiality" in Islam.
Listen to the entire show. On this page are also
links to other shows dedicated to examining current issues
in Islam. |
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The
Crusades: A brief story with emphasis on the contrast
of Christian and Muslim perspectives |
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The
Crusades: Medieval Sourcebook The Crusades were an important
impetus for culture interaction between the Muslims and
Christians, both negative and positive. Undertanding the
Crusades helps explain why Christians and Muslims are still
killing each other, and why Middle Eastern people distrust
the presence of Christian soldiers in their land. |
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What
is a Kaafir and a Mushrik? The greatest religious
intolerance in Islam is reserved for the religions that
assign partners to God. No social contact is to be
made with these (Hindus, for example). Click
here. Therefore, even though Muslims consider
Trinitarian doctrine to be a polytheistic belief, they do
not officially consider Christians Mushrik (roughly
translated as pagan), and therefore
not to be considered unworthy of respect. This
explains how previous to the Crusades and Inquisition there
was much more intercultural understanding and communication
between Jews, Christians and Muslims. Spain was home
to this incredible stew of monotheism, then suddenly opted
to purify itself of all but Catholics. Muslims and
Jews were expelled. In Hinduism gods are almost
always understood as having sexual partners, so there is a
profound difference in their social interaction. This
explains to some extent the hostility between India and
Pakistan. |
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In my news section I have links to articles
about the cartoons of Mohammed controversy in Denmark.
Click here (in case the
book mark shortcut doesn't take you right to that link,
scroll down the page until you find it) |
Islamic Law
The two primary sources of Law among Muslims are the
Qur'an and the Sunnah:
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The
Qur'an, or Koran Jews & Christian might want
to look specifically at the suras "The
Heights" and "Joseph",
which summarize important elements contained in the
Old Testament. |
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Hear
the Qur'an (RealAudio) no longer a free service.
Sorry |
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Sunnah, (Sunni versions)which signifies "The Way"
Mohamed led his life, is composed of the sayings
of Mohamed, and reporters of his life. The Hadith (plural is Ahadith) are used as a guide to
moral behavior and source of much of Shari'ah. Its
function mirrors the Talmud in Judaism. HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED
The website also contains discussions of women in
Islam.
On
the dangers of misreading or abusing the Hadith
literature.
Al-Bukhari—biography of the Iranian-Persian
author of the main Sunni Hadith collection
Janaat al-Baqi--biography of the Saudi 5th Imam
of the Shi'a, who composed the most important of
their "Hadiths", known as "akhbar"
The graves of Shi'ite Imams in Saudi Arabia--very
interesting..
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In
terms of cultural interaction between Muslims and
non-Muslims in America, one area of ignorance, and
a point of frequent cultural interaction between
the two cultures relates to customs and beliefs
surrounding the bathroom. It's difficult in
Western culture to discuss the topic without getting
uncomfortable giggles. Within modern Western
culture, the bodily processes carried out in a bathroom
are generally seen as private, and behavioral rules
center on cleanliness. However, for Muslims,
there are much deeper issues involved, and extensive
commentary is provided to Muslims in the Sunnah,
(and
this page too). |
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The
Islam Page |
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a
new page has been added to my site on the Shi'ite-Sunni
split--written by a former student, Ali Miramadi. |
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A
Shi'ite Encylopedia
on the Al'Islam
Website
Shi'as in Iraq at Global Security.com |
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Sufi Links: a general collection of web sites on Sufism.
Haqqani--American sufi order, traditional.
Tariqat-Ul-Muridiyya |
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Rumi's
Poetry: Medieval Islamic romantic-mystic poet.
Definitely worth a look |
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Themes of the Erotic in Sufi mysticism. |
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Druze
religion--a Middle Eastern variant that blends Ismaili
Shi'a Islam with the Greek philosophical traditions of
Gnosticism and Christianity.
Yazidi or
Yezidi religion--a Kurdish tradition that is also
influenced by Gnosticism, centered in Mosul, Iraq.
The Mandeans--rare, continuous surviving group
of real Christian Gnostics in Southern Iraq. Here are a
few useful links:
Encyclopedia of the Orient,
PHILTAR , Mandaean
Writings |
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History
of Medieval Islam |
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Links
to Various sects of Islam Ismaili, Nation of Islam,
Druze, Salafy, Wahabbi, Quadiyani |
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Philosophy in Islam
-- there is considerably more divergence
and "heresy" within the broader tradition of Islam
than might first meet the eye. Introduction
to Mysticism in Islam |
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Introduction
to Ismailism--a sect of Shi'ite Islam by Dr. Sheikh
Khodr Hamawi |
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Kashmir
Information--site dedicated to disseminating information
about the Pakistan-India conflict (Hindus vs Muslims). |
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Qur'an
and Sunnah Society of North America |
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Homoeroticism in Islamic culture:
Fordham Univ.,
Wikipedia,
Globalgayz I present this information primarily because
there is a great deal of denial & suppression of this
information by conservative Muslims. |
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The
Jinn according to Sunnah and Hadiths discussion of the
nature of Angels, demons, jinn and Satan. |
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Jinn
from a scientific (?) standpoint--peculiar article that
links together UFO's and Muslim legends about the Jinn drawn
from the pre-Islamic pagan tradition of Arabia in the 1,001
Arabian Nights. Although the attempts to explain UFOs
and other strange phenomena are dubious, there is some interesting
factual information about the traditional folk conceptions
of the Jinn. It's a rare example of New Age Neo-Gnosticism
in an Islamic context. There is very little content
like this on the Internet. |
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Ibn Rushd (Averroës), 1126-1198 CE:
On the Harmony of Religions and Philosophy,
in Arabic Kitab fasl al-maqal, in which Averroes
discusses the inherent compatibility of faith and reason. |
Protestant Reformation & Subsequent Development
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Encarta
article on Protestantism |
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Luther's
95 Theses against the Catholic Church (kind of like
the Declaration of Independence for Germany against the
Vatican.) |
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Selected
Works of Martin Luther on-line (includes his writings
and secondary works about him) |
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History
of various Protestant religious movements (Links to
web resources). Again, I stress that due to the predominance
and plurality of these religions in America, I have not
provided a lot of web resources. What I have provided
are things that I have observed are not well-known issues
of Protestant past and current beliefs and practices. |
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Medieval
Sourcebook: Proto-protestantism and later. Great
resource for Reformation history. |
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More
Reformation Resources at Hanover College |
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Max
Weber's book
Protestantism and the Spirit of Capitalism On-line |
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Chinese
conversion to evangelical Christianity: the importance
of social and cultural contexts. |
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Guatemala's
new evangelists. |
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The
Amish at the Religious Tolerance Site--contains a brief
history of the Mennonites and the Amish. |
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Focus on the
Family Dr. James Dobson has been a powerful and
influential voice for the conservative Evangelical movement
that supports George Bush and the GOP. His radio show
and web site created a strong grassroots movement to unite
Christians in defeating Kerry and other liberal politicians.
In terms of scholarship and reliable sources, this site ranks
quite low. Its use lies mainly in its popularity and
influence on the political landscape. |
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I have written two off-site web essays with
links that are highly critical of certain aspects of the
recent developments in Conservative and extreme right wing
Christianity. The first, which is more of a rant, is a
criticism of Apocalyptic philosophy:
Prophecy as Policy. The second is a link-based
examination of the
Christian Reconstructionist/Dominion Theology movement.
In particular, it looks at Christian groups that have
explicitly racist and violent tendencies, as well as corporate
anti-socialist forces that are carefully manipulating
Christian doctrine to suit their neocolonial agenda. Dr.
James Dobson, mentioned above, is an important bridge
figure--representing the new anti-socialist, Christian
Reconstructionist, Apocalyptic branch of Christianity which
currently feels quite optimistic about the possibility of
turning America into a Christian empire. In particular,
his ministry provides important Pro-War propaganda. There will always
be war and rumors of war. Focus your attention and
prayers on
stopping abortion and
gay marriage. I for one think that it is extremely
important to reflect on this specific propaganda machine in
light of the actual sayings of Jesus in the Gospels.
A pro-war theological discussion,
an anti-war theological discussion,
and another,
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Protestantism
is characterized by the continued schisms and splits that
have produced endless numbers of sub-groups that are directly
or marginally connected to this movement. Some of the
Protestant offshoots include: Baptists, Amish/Mennonites,
Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians/Anglicans, all of
the self-proclaimed Fundamentalist/Evangelical movements,
Calvinists. |
Minor Religions and Modern Heretics
All of these derive from the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions.
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Mormonism
is another interesting manifestation of Gnostic ideas in modern
times. |
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Unification
Church at the Religious Tolerance site. Rev.
Sun Myung Moon's offshoot of Christianity. Unification
Church official web site. |
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Gnostic
Friends Network.
Modern Gnosticism--an interesting, informative and rather
odd web site. |
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Process
Church a Christian-Psychotherapy cult that worshipped
Jesus and loved Satan. Much misinformation was spread
about them, including apparently false allegations that
Charles Manson was a member. Apparently the group is
pretty much non-existent now, but is interesting as an example
of the sort of radical divergence from orthodox doctrines
are seen in recent times. |
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Unitarian
Universalists: at the Religious Tolerance Site.
Encarta
article on Unitarianism |
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Deism (Monotheisitic--Modern).
This foregrounds the notion of God as the architect
of a mechanical universe with finite, determinable laws
of "nature."
God as a rational principle is considerably less
ominous than the traditional Hebraic Yahweh.
Hence, it becomes easier to lead a wholly secular
life and capitalism is at least partially vindicated.
This form of theology was instrumental in the formulation
of the United States and the French republic.
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For
links to extremist and hate groups within the Judeo-Christian
tradition, see the General
Links page section on religious persecution and extremism. |
Baha'i
Charismatic-Ecstatic
Protestant Religions
A variety of groups exist in this category. You should
be able to find them on your own by searching for the specific
denomination name. The library is a better source for historical
information.
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Pentecostals A
rapidly growing sect of proselytizing, charismatic Christians
who are widely dispersed throughout the world. |
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Quakers
not really
an ecstatic religion, but rather a quietist tradition of mysticism
and social activism. This is a fascinating offshoot
of the Protestant reformation. |
Mystics
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Gene
R. Thursby's Mysticism Resources PageThis
is an excellent link for mystics in general. |
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Who's
Who in Western Mysticism
Bruce B. Janz's essay/links on Gene R. Thursby's mysticism
resources site. Useful for Christian, Jewish, Islamic
and Occult mystics. |
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Study
Guide for Poetry of Mystical Love Paul Brians at Washington
State University |
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A couple of good links
to Baruch Spinoza, the Jewish monist mystic: Biography
at Blupete.com and a more philosophical
summary at the Philosophy Pages. |
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Biographies of
St. John of
the Cross, Sta.
Theresa of Avila and St.
Ignatius of Loyola provide several distinct versions
of Catholic mysticism. At the Christian Classics Ethereal
Library. |
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Haqqani--American sufi order, traditional.
Tariqat-Ul-Muridiyya |
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Rumi's
Poetry: b. 1207 Islamic romantic-mystic poet.
Definitely worth a look |
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Jewish
Mysticism
(Kabbalah, Merkabah, Hassidism) at the University of Calgary.
Excellent site. |
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The
story of the Golem
(a magical folktale from the Kabbalah) |
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Meister
Eckhart: b 1260 d 1326 AD A Dominican monk, Eckhart
was one of the most profound and inspiring of Christian
mystics. His beliefs can be interpreted
as pantheism, which caused him some serious trouble
with the church. |
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Jakob
Boehme b 1575 d 1624 Hermetic mystic, bridging the Christian,
Kabbalistic and Hermetic traditions. |
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Emmanuel Swedenborg b 1688 d 1772 Mystic visionary
who spent the first 2/3 of his life as a talented scientist
and philosopher. The last third of his life he
dedicated to his mystic visions of the spiritual world, life
after death and Christianity. |
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Thomas
Merton: b 1915 d 1968 famous Trappist monk and
mystic. |
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William
Blake: b. 1757 d 1827 Mystic poet from the Protestant
tradition. Poetry,
Multimedia
Presentation (not recommended for slow internet connections)
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Liberal,
Left-Wing Religion
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A
Concise History of Liberation Theology and Land Reform |
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Christian
Revolution in Latin America: Liberation Theology--an Evangelical
perspective. I skimmed this piece, and it looks like
an honest engagement and informed examination of this controversial
issue. Keep in mind the potential bias. |
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National
Catholic Reporter |
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Monastic
Catholicism--Although it is common to criticize the Christianity
on its social record, Catholic monks have a long history of
fighting for the rights of the poor, defending indigenous
people from the greed of the conquistadores, standing up against
the Vatican, and a number of other activities that undermine
simplistic attacks. I provided a set of useful links above
to these monastic orders. |
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Evangelicals
for Social Action |
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Liberals
Like Christ a very polemic web site promoting a leftist
reading of the Bible, and criticizing the prevalent right
wing interpretations. [an
informed discussion of the political/economic intents of Jesus] |
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Al Franken's Supply Side Jesus -- a parody of the
pro-business, capitalistic interpretation of the Bible.
Franken is not a Christian, but this extended comic gives a
really effective criticism of the model of Christian ideology
promoted by
Grover Norquist,
Jerry Falwell,
Tom DeLay and George W. Bush. Although this piece is
political satire, I personally feel that it does an excellent
job of highlighting the irony of the pro-business fervor of
the Bush administration. (Just to make clear my own
political bias, in case you hadn't picked up on it yet) |
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Liberation
Theology: Basis, Past, Present & Future by Manfred
Davidmann. Informative article on this movement. |
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Liberation
Theology: another nice essay--Father John
Risley, O.P. of the Social Pastoral Office of the archdiocese
of Cochabamba, Bolivia |
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Mainstream
Baptists: A Christian movement organized against the Fundamentalist
movement. |
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Quakers
not really
an ecstatic religion, but rather a quietist tradition of mysticism
and social activism. This is a fascinating offshoot
of the Protestant reformation. |
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Friends
for a Non-Violent World (Quaker) |
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Diotima--non-religious
site dedicated to gender and women's themes & Biblical
Studies in the Ancient World. Contains an excellent library
of primary texts. |
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A
Catholic account of the political assassination of Archbishop
Romero in El Salvador, during the violent war of the 1980's. |
Perhaps the most disturbing is the story
of what is happening in the remote jungles of Amazonia where mineral
resources are attracting multinational corporations.
There is a common and repeating pattern of protestant missionaries
sent in first to placate the natives, followed soon by the oil
rigs and mining equipment. Resistance to the "progress"
is met with violence. The novel and epic film At
Play in the Fields of the Lord portrays such events.
The U'wa people in Colombia represent one of the few (temporary)
success stories in this battle against deforestation, modernization,
oil drilling and religious conversion. Their success has
depended heavily on two things: a public relations campaign and
strong devotion to their native religion. The battle against
environmental destruction is not yet won. See these links:
Clearly, Christian missionaries are working
on both sides of this political divide. What is clear is
that anyone working for human rights, land reform or indigenous
self-determination is risking their life, and it is also pretty
clear that multinational corporations and covert government activity
are connected to this suppression. Guatemala and Chiapas
are also witnessing the rise of conflicts between Protestants
and Catholics. The anti-Zapatista
death
squads have been connected to anti-communist Evangelical groups
working there. There are many opinions on this matter.
Another interesting review
of Hellman's book on Real & Virtual Chiapas. This
is an extremely complex situation, and cannot be reduced to simplistic
notions of religious conflict. However, since religion defines
many of the conflicts, it is an integral issue to be examined. Conflicts
over religion, politics and narcotrafficing provide convenient
smoke screens that hide the land and resource consumption by the
multinational corporations, while simultaneously "justifying"
the use of American military force to support them.
[click
here to visit my Spanish language links collection]
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