Monday, December 7, 2009

Makeup blog. (for points.)

The Second Crusade was started in 1145. It was the second of the crusades committed by Christians at the time. These Crusades were in efforts to take back their holy city, Jerusalem.
The Second Crusade was launched from Europe. As supported by Pope Eugene III, the soldiers departed after the loss of the county of Edessa to the forces of Zengi. This had occurred in the previous year. This county had been founded in the First Crusade.
This crusade was the first to ever be led by a European kings. Both Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany contributed to the Second Crusade. The two armies of these kings were separated for more fighting power. Some other European nobles were also played a role in this war.
"After crossing Byzantine territory into Anatolia,
both armies were separately defeated by the Seljuk Turks." (source)
"Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus secretly hindered the crusaders' progress,
particularly in Anatolia where he is alleged to have deliberately ordered Turks to attack them.
Louis and Conrad and the remnants of their armies reached Jerusalem and,
in 1148, participated in an ill-advised attack on Damascus.
The crusade in the east was a failure for the crusaders and a great victory for the Muslims."
(same source.)
The Second Crusade, as the quote had explained, was a loss for the Christians. When the armies had divided, the war had spiraled downwards. Being defeated as a whole, it was made easier for the opponent to keep conquering.
Yet, this was not the last of the Crusades in the fight for the holy city. This was merely the second attempt. There were more to come in the hopes that Jerusalem would finally be back in their hands.

Renaissance Art.

Renaissance art, to this day, is the carriage of some renown works. Equppied with artists such as Donatello and Leonardo Da Vinci, it has inspired both artwork and artists. Also, art at this time had a very distinct style.
"The Renaissance patrons wanted art that showed joy in human beauty and life’s pleasures." (source)
Renaissance art was used to portray beauty and is known as life-like Medieval art. The artists at this time were also known to observe perspective. They noticed the different levels, plains, and things like that. When the artists would reflect that on to a canvas, it seems to give the pictures depth. This style was first started by an artist from Florence. His name was Giotto.
One other distinction in art of this time is the mannerisms of the characters painted. They were painted in odd or distinct poses. This caused that figure to be the entire center of the piece. Also, most pieces seemed to have a religious or spiritual aspect to them.
For this reason, churches were the main galleries for art pieces. The church used them to display characteristics such as emotion or passion. (source) Also, in churches, we see alot of Gothic style architecture. Large, grand cathedrals and buildings. They also had certain types of columns they'd use. They would also use pilasters.
We see some of these styles in paintings done today. Also, in modern architecture, some of these styles are recreated. All of these ideas are passed down through time and modified slightly to fit the time period. Even Renaissance art had it's own unique beginning, just as the style before it.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

The First Crusade.

The First Crusade, one of the many, began on November 27, in the year 1095. This became ome of the many Crusades in the name of religion. This also started one of the most popular and widely misunderstood spiritual movements of all history.
Pope Urban II proclaimed this crusade through a document given to the church clergy and lay folk at the time. This took in a field at Clermont in Central France, and we don't exactly know what the pope said.
"There are no records of exactly what Urban said, but it seems he began with a general denouncement of the continual warfare which plagued the Europe of his day. He then described in lurid detail the attacks of the Turks upon the Christian Byzantine Empire, and begged the soldiers present to travel to the east to attack the Muslims, rather than their fellow Christians." (source)
Pope Urban wanted it the expedition to the Eastern region to be as military-like as possible.
"Pope Urban had wanted the expedition to the East to be a military one, undertaken by soldiers and controlled by clerics. But such was the appeal of his call for the liberation of the Eastern Church that soon tens of thousands of ordinary people were on the People's Crusade."
(same source)
There were many true and devoted Christians who were anxious to reclaim Jerusalem. In the name of their religion, they wanted all Muslims to leave their city. The Christians said that the Muslims were committing sins and they would be forgiven as a result of the Crusade. They also told the pope that if they were to be killed, their souls would automatically be sent to Heaven because they were fighting in the name of the Lord. (source)
The journey to the Eastern regions was a very difficult one. The Crusaders were unable to cross by sea, therefore, they were forced to cross by land. They fought through armies, battled weather, and even struggles with diseases. By the year 1097, about 10,000 people had gathered at Constantinople. They were ready for their journey into the Holy Land, Jerusalem, sparking the crusades to come.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Jihad.

One of the worlds most popular religions is Islam. Founded by Muhammad around 620 A.D., Islam contains ideas, rules and concepts different than most. These concepts include the hajj, the Hegira and jihad.
Jihad is literally defined as "struggle in the way of God". This word can sometimes be translated as "holy war". This principle basically says that Muslims are to fight against all people who use idolatry and do not worship Allah. Daniel Pipes wrote an article on jihad for New York Post saying, "It means the legal, compulsory, communal effort to expand the territories ruled by Muslims at the expense of territories ruled by non-Muslims." (source)
The jihad grew out of the Arabic tradition of tribal rampages. Islamic followers would raid certain regions and countries in the name of Allah. These raids went on for over 100 years. It was finally stopped n Tours, France. They would raid these regions attempting convert anyone from another religion to convert to the Islamic religion.
Most Muslims believe that jihad is an everlasting war. They believe that it never ends. They may not be physically fighting for their religion, but they in a religious war to convert other religions to worshiping Allah. The jihad will continue until the end of existence, they believe.
Islam, being the number one religion in the world, is mainly this widespread because of jihad. They forced their ways and converted thousands upon thousands of people to the way of Allah. The jihad is not over, and I personally believe that as time goes on, the Islamic will only get pushed even more and become more widespread through the world.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

The Just War Theory

"True religion looks upon peaceful wars that are waged,
not for the motives of anggrandisement, or cruelty,
but with the object of securing peace, punishing those who do evil,
and supporting the good." Saint Augustine. (source)
Saint Augustine, referred to as the theologian of war, really pushed the Just War theory in his time. The principle of Just War basically deals with justifying why we fight wars and the way we fight, or should fight, them.
Saint Augustine was given a false title. In reality, he should be called the theologian of peace. He was not unfamiliar with violence, but he mourned the cruelty of war. He wrote letters against such cruelty. He hoped that this principle of justice would be adopted. One time, he even wrote, "it is better to kill war with words than human beings with swords." (source)
This theory basically says that war is fair and just when executed with right intentions, a just cause, and based on the military of both. All of these requirements are listed in the Jus ad bellum of the Just War theory. Once a war has begun, this theory also outlines how it shoud play out. These requirements are stated in what is called the Jus in bello. Last is the end of the war. There must a be a just cause to why the war is ending and good intentions in ending the war are required. Even truth and reconciliation can play a role in the end of the war. The full list is called the Jus post bellum.
Just War is pretty much the keeping of peace through controlled and fair fighting. Without a principle like this, wars would have destroyed us a long time ago. Civilizations would have been crushed. Without Just War, our world would be chaos.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Current Events blog-Islam Day (Hawaii)

On the islands of Hawaii, the Hawaiian legislature decided to declare September 24th of every year, Islam Day. Despite being a small slam to other religions, is this a clear breech of the First Constitutional Amendment? Or just appreciation for a favored religion?

Islam Day clearly is appreciation for a certain religion. What's wrong with that? To answer that question, it's wrong because they do not have a "Christianity Day", a "Buddhist Day", or a "Zoroastrianism Day." If they are going to tolerate this religion, they need to tolerate all of the others. They take Christianity out of schools and give the Muslim religion it's own holiday?

This also goes against the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. This Amendment reads;
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Notice the first fragment. Islam Day is a clear establishment of a religion. Yes, appreciation surely is okay but this move seems to be the establishment of a certain religion in the Hawaiian government and among it's civilization.

I certainly can appreciate that they have respect for this religion. Even if I personally believe that it is false, I will respect it and it's followers. Yet, this is crossing a line. If you are going to respect one, you should respect all. Religious tolerance is not religious favoritism.

Not only is this one person's opinion but it's fact. The First Amendment clearly states that their can be no establishment of a certain religion among a state. Yet, this favoritism seems to be that way. Just as we have days for our leaders, Hawaii now has a day for it's religion. This may not be true, but it certainly has come across that way.


Thursday, March 5, 2009

Roman and Greek Pantheon

in progress

Greek mythology is full of gods and goddessses. These divine creatures were constantly intervening the lives of the humans they governed. They were all unique and had different aspects of life that they governed. Some controlled the air, the sun and the ocean, while others were in control of things like love, fertility, marriage and harvest.
The Roman gods/goddesses were no different. They had some of the same exact gods just different names. Here are a few examples;

Greek name: Zeus. Roman name: Jove. He was the king of all gods and ruler of the sky and human destiny.
Greek name: Hera. Roman name: Juno. Queen of the gods, goddess of marriage.
Greek name: Ares. Roman name: Mars. One of the most famous gods, god of war and son of Zeus (Jove).
Last one. Greek name: Artemis. Roman name: Diana.

These are just a few of the gods and goddesses that are shared by both Greek and Roman religions. Despit their many similarities, there are alot of differences. In Greek mythology, things such as The Iliad and The Odyssey, the epic poems written by Homer. Greek gods were much more aggressive and intervended in different ways than the Roman gods. Take the Odyssey for example, Athena is constantly with Oddysseus on his journey home, in a human form. Also, the gods of Greece constantly picked favorites to bless and motal enemies to curse.
The Roman gods were much different. They did less intervening and play the Favorites Game a little less. They did things such as send thunderstorms or floods upon the humans. Signs like these would show the mortals that they were doing something wrong or impeech/gove more power to a ruler.
The differences and similarities are not so vast between the two. It seems as if they adopted their prinicples off of eachother. Both religions are polytheistic and both seems kind of seem like nothing but mythology.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Compare/Contrast Roman and Greek gods.

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Art of Ancient Rome - 3/01/09






in progress.

Roman art, the type that was used in ancient times, is still practiced today. We see the basic principles of their art in our architecture, our statuary, all forms of art.
Roman art came from Etruscan art. It is also closely related to Greek art. One difference is that Greek art was interested in ideals; perfection, proportions, and beauty. Whereas Roman art and sculpture was kind of like painting a portrait. Meaning, they were interested in making it look exactly like the person, especially if they were famous or help some sort of power.
Pottery was another form of art. Britishmuseum.org says that Rome developed a very unique style of pottery. Most pottery had a shiny, reddish finish to it. This finish was called "terra sigillata", which literally means "sealed or slipped clay." Some pottery ranged in color. Such as; black, grey, yellow, brown and, as mentioned, red.
Another form of art was their friezes. Friezes are wall decorations, in a sense. They are carve directly into stone. At that time, they usually them in ancient ruins of important government buildings.
were portraits of great leaders. Sometimes they were portraits of battles and wars. They are usually carved into great temples or we can find The accurate and unique beauty of Roman art is what makes it a lasting pleasure. Today, we can find find remainders of Roman art in Ancient Rome's ruins, places such as the Colosseum, and even in museums. Yet, the true beauty of Roman art lies in its last architecture.