Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Talk:Sex

2011-03-04T19:04:45Z

IkeL: /* Intercourse */ new section

What about parents that want to have access to credible information on sex to educate their children? --[[User:Truth is bipartisan|Truth is bipartisan]] 01:01, 15 March 2007 (EDT)

I'm confused as to why this page has been blocked. I am aware that its probably subject to much vandalism, but there is a valid reasoning behind allowing it.--[[User:Elamdri|Elamdri]] 22:47, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

:Even though the page could be an informative article, it is forbidden (currently) under commandment 3 of [[The Conservapedia Commandments]]. It's not "family-friendly". --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 22:48, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Funny, isn't that how families are made? :D --[[User:Gulik|Gulik]] 22:50, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

:Quite XD. --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 22:51, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

:*Leave it missing - that way the intended target audience will be wiped out by either underpopulation, overpopulation and/or rampant STDs, including HIV/AIDs.

::"Target Population" meaning gays, as you imply? Sorry buddy, but most people have sex. Not just gays. --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 19:00, 23 March 2007 (EDT)

Personally, I feel its possible to make a family-friendly page about sex, but I respect the decision.--[[User:Elamdri|Elamdri]] 22:52, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

:I concur. --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 22:53, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

This page is [[Special:Whatlinkshere/Sex|linked to]] from The [[Ninteenth Amendment]] of the US constitution, and from [[Choice]], but not from [[abortion]]. Which of these are "[[family friendly]]"? --[[User:Scott|Scott]] 23:38, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

I too find it interesting that [[abortion]] is considered family friendly but sex itself isn't. [[User:Sulgran|Sulgran]] 23:40, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

:I think this needs to be taken up with Aschlafly. It is clean, can be family-friendly, and is biblically described (we can use the song of Solomon, perhaps?) --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 23:46, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

:I think the general reason is that the page has been targeted by vandals ten times. [[User:MountainDew|MountainDew]] 23:48, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Well, if the page was created it could always be protected, and users could post ideas on this talk page. I really think it needs inclusion; It's awfully important, and doesn't have to be amoral or obscene or anything like that. --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 23:50, 11 March 2007 (EDT)
:Check with Aschlafly first. [[User:Geo.plrd|Geo.]] 00:08, 12 March 2007 (EDT)

::I was planning on it. --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 00:09, 12 March 2007 (EDT)

I just want to ask... does anyone else think the place holder there is sort of funny? Anyways, I hope a page about this gets made, because quite frankly it's silly to pretend it doesn't exist, and I'm sure a family-friendly article can be made, as said before. --[[User:Ronnyreg|Ronnyreg]] 22:13, 12 March 2007 (EDT)

"Male and female created He them." Genesis 1:27
"And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived... 4:1 [[User:DDG|DDG]] 23:23, 12 March 2007 (EDT)

:::The irony here is fantastic!!! [[User:Menkatron|Menkatron]] 11:07, 16 March 2007 (EDT)
:Eh, that's a bit bland. How about some of the hotter quotes from the [[Song of Solomon]]? :D --[[User:Scrap|Scrap]] 01:55, 15 March 2007 (EDT)

== A joke ==

Dont take this offensivly, when I found that this article had been deleted and protected against re-creation, I thought it was a joke. I understand that conservapedia is supposed to be family friendly. By not having an article on it here, it will encourage younger family members to search elsewhere for the information. It would not be hard to create an article, explaining the purpose of sex, perhaps some historical references to it without going into the details of how it is done etc etc. [[User:Chrislk02|Chrislk02]] 10:50, 19 March 2007 (EDT)
: What does sex have to do with families? Oh, wait... :o)
: Seriously, this won't last, I think. You can't have a project with these stated aims and ''not'' discuss sex at some level. Experience on Wikipedia indicates that "ZOMG! No article on ''foo''! The entire project should be deleted!" are spectacularly unpersuasive, the way forward is probably to write a scratch version in your user space that is within policy and then propose that be moved in. If that doesn't work, or if admins won't even discuss it, ''then'' you know the project is doomed. --[[User:JzG|JzG]] 12:01, 19 March 2007 (EDT)
::I figured I would try and discuss it here. I really do think that not having an article here is much more detrimental than having it here. Sure, it is easy to be conservative on some issues. The challenge is writing an controversial article in a tone that is family friendly. Sure it possible, there is alot that does not need to be discussed it and alot of images that should not be included. However, If i were a kid looking for information on it (and lets face it, as some age we all become curious), and it wasent here, that wouldent stop me from searching further. If there was an article, with few details explaining the basics of it, i might accept that and not search further. [[User:Chrislk02|Chrislk02]] 12:06, 19 March 2007 (EDT)
::: It's not ''that'' hard, my kids have books which manage it. [[User:JzG|JzG]] 12:15, 19 March 2007 (EDT)
::::Every schoolkid knows how to use Google. [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sex&btnG=Google+Search Googling for "sex"] yields Wikipedia's "sexual intercourse" article in the second position, and experience tells me it will soon be in the first. That article, BTW, tells those aforementioned kids interesting things about anal sex among other things, and has a long list of links to articles about every possible form of human sexual behavior, including many that your clientele may not consider overly familiy friendly. And you don't want a sex article in your family friendly encyclopedia? Bwahaha. Bwahahahahaaaaaa!
::::: So, looks like it's official policy then? Sex doesn't exist. I'm sure that will stop kids looking elsewhere. --[[User:British_cons|British_cons]] [[User_talk:British_cons|(talk)]] 17:40, 19 March 2007 (EDT)
::::::I came here to learn what "conservatives" think, as they claimed it can't be put in Wikipedia. So far, I'm still confused - sex is taboo, but [[marriage]] includes a wide range of styles with multiple partners, and [[homosexuality]] can be discussed too. I cannot understand a "conservative" position that allows discussion of multiple partners of both sexes, but can't stomach an article about monogamous sex with a spouse. I haven't contributed much, because I just can't get my head around what might be acceptable. The [[divorce]] article is unlikely to help anyone who is going through it, or who's parents or friend's parents are, either! --[[User:Scott|Scott]] 18:00, 19 March 2007 (EDT)
::::::* I'm sure that Wikipedia does not allow an article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_and_sexuality religion and sexuality], since it would offend our liberal sensitivities :o) [[User:JzG|JzG]] 19:09, 21 March 2007 (EDT)

== This article should redirect to [[Abstinence]] ==

Redirecting to [[Gender]] doesn't make that much sense, now that I think about it. Any discussion of s-e-x should begin first and foremost with abstinence.--[[User:Conservateur|Conservateur]] 13:11, 30 May 2007 (EDT)

::Just stick the 'deleted and protected due to vandalism' on the page. We are never going to agree about what would be appropriate. This is conservapedia remember, so there are a number of users here who think a description of the stork making a delivery would be too graphic. - Suricou

::: :-)
::: Redirecting [[sex]] to [[abstinence]] makes exactly as much sense as redirecting [[alcohol]] to abstinence. In context, [[abstinence]] is abstaining from ''something''. It is not possible to describe or advocate abstinence without defining the thing to be abstained from. In both of these cases, it is something discussed in the Bible, and which is good when used properly (how God intended), and bad when abused. --[[User:Scott|Scott]] 10:31, 31 May 2007 (EDT)

==Suggest [[fornication]] be directed here==

Due to vandals it seems, there is no page on fornication, or [[sexual relations]] and the latter term page redirects here, but this issue is now basically covered from the Biblical definition here, and could serve to replace that missing page. By God's grace.[[User:Daniel1212|Daniel1212]] 17:56, 1 August 2009 (EDT)

== Intercourse ==

"Sexual intercourse" redirects here. Clearly this is not a page about sexual intercourse and none exists on Conservapedia. Even the news bar links here today in a blurb about sex (the act). What about creating a separate page for "Sexual intercourse" or "coitus" that explains in family- and Bible-friendly terms what it is? No use at all in pretending it doesn't exist, and this article is pretty clearly someone's bad idea to block the topic from Conservapedia. -[[User:IkeL|IkeL]] 14:04, 4 March 2011 (EST)

Ken Mehlman

2011-01-19T17:07:31Z

IkeL:

'''Ken Mehlman''' (b. 1966) is the former chairman of the [[Republican National Committee]]. He was also the campaign manager for President [[George W. Bush]]'s successful 2004 re-election campaign. After denying it several times to the press, he publicly came out as a [[homosexual]] in August of 2010.<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/aug/26/ken-mehlman-gay-marriage-republican</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/25/ken-mehlman-gay_n_694843.html</ref><ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/08/bush-campaign-chief-and-former-rnc-chair-ken-mehlman-im-gay/62065/</ref>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehlman, Ken}}
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Republican Party]]

Temple Mount

2010-12-30T20:16:42Z

IkeL:

The '''Temple Mount''' ([[Hebrew]]: הר הבית, ''Har ha-Bayit'') is the modern term for the hill in [[Jerusalem]] known as Mount Moriah, the former site of the [[Biblical]] [[Temple of Solomon]] in the [[Old Testament]], and [[Herod]]'s Temple in the [[New Testament]]. Since Herod's time, the mount has been fortified as a large stone platform. The Temple Mount today bears on the site the [[Islamic]] [[Dome of the Rock]] ([[Arabic]]: مسجد قبة الصخرة, ''Masjid Qubbat As-Sakhrah''), built between 687-691 A.D. on the order of [[Abd al-Malik]] (the 9th [[Caliph]]); and the Al-Aqsa Mosque (built c. 710). The Temple Mount is also called in Arabic '''الحرم القدسي الشريف''', ''al-Haram al-Qudsī ash-Sharīf'', the '''Noble Sanctuary'''.

[[Category:Israel]]

Dome of the Rock

2010-12-30T20:13:46Z

IkeL:

[[File:Mosque.jpg|right|200px]]
The '''Dome of the Rock''' is an [[Islamic]] shrine rather than a [[mosque]]; it is considered the oldest extant Islamic building in the world and is adjacent to [[Al-Aqsa Mosque]], in [[Jerusalem]].

The Dome of the Rock houses the rock upon which [[Mohammed]] is said to have ascended to heaven, coincidentally the same rock upon which [[Abraham]] offered up his son [[Isaac]] to God to prove his faith and, in the Jewish tradition, the Foundation Stone, said to be the first part of the world that came into being at the creation. It is also on the site of the inner sanctum of the [[Second Temple]] of Jerusalem (the Holiest of Holies) on the platform known as the [[Temple Mount]], which Muslims refer to as the "Noble Sanctuary." The holiness of the site to the three Abrahamic faiths is intense, to say the least.

After the Second Temple was destroyed in the Roman years, leaving Jerusalem in [[Roman Empire|Roman]] and later [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] hands, the Temple Mount became an empty site, used alternately as empty space, or as a city dump. According to legend, when the first Muslim conquerors took [[Jerusalem]], they approached the Temple Mount. There, the conqueror Umar (or Omar) called the Christian [[Patriarch]] Sophronius of the city before him to answer for the derelict state of the holy site. Insisting that such a site, sacred to all three religions, deserved respect, Umar insisted that the Patriarch himself begin cleaning the Mount.

The Dome was built shortly thereafter, first in a primitive, wooden state between 687 and 691 by caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwān as a placeholder, and in its final spectacular version somewhat later. It has suffered several earthquakes (746, 1033, 1927). ''This shrine was covered by a lead dome from 691 until it was replaced with a gold-colored covering in 1965. Because of rust, the anodized aluminum cover was again replaced in 1993 with a gold covering''. [http://www.greatdreams.com/sacred/rev-19.htm]

At present the Muslim Waqf has the authority to manage the Temple Mount-Haram al-Sharif and consecuently the Dome of the Rock

<center>
<gallery perrow="6">
File:Dome of the Rock 2.jpg
File:Temple mount WC.jpg
File:Dome of the Rock Jerusalem.jpg
File:Dome of the Rock. .jpg
File:Dome of the Rock and Chain Dome.jpg|Dome of the Rock and Dome of the Chain.
</gallery>

[[File:Dome of the Rock interior.jpg]]

Interior of the Dome.
</center>

== See also ==

*[[Israel]]
*[[Judaism]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/168491/Dome-of-the-Rock Dome of the Rock.]
*[http://www.shvoong.com/humanities/1678680-caliph-umar-brings-peace-justice/ Caliph Umar Brings Peace and Justice to Palestine.]
*[http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-dome-of-the-chain.htm Dome of the Chain, Temple Mount, Jerusalem.]
*[http://sites.google.com/a/ithaca.edu/jerusalem-fall-2009/Home/islamic-jerusalem/dome-of-the-chain Dome of the Chain.]

[[Category:Islam]]

Western Wall

2010-12-30T20:09:59Z

IkeL:

The '''Western Wall''' is one of the most holy places in [[Judaism]]. It is a remnant of Herod's Temple (or more specifically the Temple Mount) dating from the destruction of [[Jerusalem]] during the First Jewish-Roman War, in 70 AD. It is also referred to as the Wailing Wall for the anguish that the Jews felt at the destruction of the temple. In the absence of a temple, Jewish sacrificial worship could not continue and the religion slowly evolved into the primarily Rabbinic form it exists in today. Though remnants of other walls of the Temple Mount exist, the western one holds particular importance because it is the closest to the location of the Holiest of Holies, the temple's inner sanctum where God was said to live. The [[Islamic]] [[Dome of the Rock]] currently sits on the previous site of the Holiest of Holies. Until very recently Jews were forbidden from entering the Dome of the Rock, thus the Western Wall was as close as they could get; Jews can now visit the Dome of the Rock on certain days, but many religious Jews will not because it is forbidden of anyone who is not a high priest to enter the Holiest of Holies. There is one particular spot inside the wall accessible by certain tunnels that some Ultra-Orthodox Jews pray at because it is almost under the Dome of the Rock.

When visiting the Western Wall, it is now a popular custom to write down some kind of wish or desire on a slip of paper and wedge it into a crack in the wall. The visiting area is segregated by gender because it is still used as a site of Orthodox Jewish worship, though it's a popular tourist spot nonetheless. Tours are offered of the archaeological excavation of that area of the Temple Mount.

[[Image:Western wall jerusalem night.jpg|center|400px]]

==External Links==
*[http://www.mmdfactory.com/webcam/Israel/Western_Wall__Jerusalem_Webcam.html Live images of the ''Western Wall'' in Jerusalem]

[[Category:Judaism]]
[[Category:Places of Worship]]

Western Wall

2010-12-30T20:04:25Z

IkeL:

The '''Western Wall''' is one of the most holy places in [[Judaism]]. It is a remnant of Herod's Temple (or more specifically the Temple Mount) dating from the destruction of [[Jerusalem]] during the First Jewish-Roman War, in 70 AD. It is also referred to as the Wailing Wall for the anguish that the Jews felt at the destruction of the temple. In the absence of a temple, Jewish sacrificial worship could not continue and the religion slowly evolved into the primarily Rabbinic form it exists in today. Though remnants of other walls of the Temple Mount exist, the western one holds particular importance because it is the closest to the location of the Holiest of Holies, the temple's inner sanctum where God was said to live. The [[Islamic]] [[Dome of the Rock]] currently sits on the previous site of the Holiest of Holies. Until very recently Jews were forbidden from entering the Dome of the Rock, thus the Western Wall was as close as they could get; Jews can now visit the Dome of the Rock on certain days, but many religious Jews will not because it is forbidden of anyone who is not a high priest to enter the Holiest of Holies. There is one particular spot inside the wall accessible by certain tunnels that some Ultra-Orthodox Jews pray at because it is almost under the Dome of the Rock.

[[Image:Western wall jerusalem night.jpg|center|400px]]

==External Links==
*[http://www.mmdfactory.com/webcam/Israel/Western_Wall__Jerusalem_Webcam.html Live images of the ''Western Wall'' in Jerusalem]

[[Category:Judaism]]
[[Category:Places of Worship]]

Jehovah

2010-12-30T19:49:40Z

IkeL: Factual stuff; corrected "Adonai" and "Elohim" to how they are represented in virtually all modern academic discourse.

'''Jehovah''' is the personal name of [[God]] used in the [[Bible]].

It is the best known English pronunciation of the Divine Name, although many Hebrew scholars prefer “Yahweh.” The oldest Hebrew manuscripts represent the Divine Name by the four consonants יהוה (read right to left), also known as the Tetragrammaton (from Greek ''tetra-'', meaning “four” and ''gram’ma'', meaning “letter”). They have been transliterated into English as JHVH or YHWH.

Although the consonants are known, the vowels associated with the Divine Name are not thus rendering the original pronunciation uncertain. In most Bible translations the titles [[GOD]] or LORD (note both are in all capitals) are used whenever the Divine Name appears in the original Hebrew text.

The Divine Name appears over 6,000 times in the Hebrew-Aramaic portion of the Holy Scriptures, but until the destruction of the [[Second Temple]] it was only pronounced by the Jewish high priest on Yom Kippur. Over time, the practice of substituting "Adonai" (Sovereign Lord) or "Elohim" (God) to avoid accidentally profaning the Name became Rabbinic tradition, and the name's true pronunciation was lost. The pronunciation "Jehovah" comes from inserting the Hebrew vowels of the word "Adonai" into the Latinized tetragrammaton ("JHVH") and likely bears little resemblance to how the Name was originally pronounced.

==Meaning==

Rooted in the imperfect state of the causative form of the Hebrew verb הוה (''ha•wah'', "to become"), the Divine Name indicates progressive action. This can be seen by the context of Exodus 3:14, 15. Moses inquires who he said say has sent him to the captive Israelites. Where some translations render God's response as, "I am who I am" (King James), other translations show the dynamic nature of the Divine Name by rendering the Hebrew text as "I Will Be What I Will Be" (The Torah) or "I Shall Prove To Be What I Shall Prove To Be" (New World Translation) indicating that rather than a simple statement acknowledging His existence, He indicates that He can do whatever is necessary to accomplish His purposes.

==Origins==

Originally Biblical Hebrew was written without vowels, the reader having been educated to know the appropriate vowels to insert when reading. As the proper pronunciation of Hebrew was being lost through lack of fluency a group of Hebrew copyists, the [[Masoretes]] invented signs to be placed around consonants to indicate accents and proper pronunciation of vowels.

When it came to copying the Divine Name, the Masoretes provided vowel points for יהוה so that it now appeared as יְהוָה, following the accepted tradition of using "Adonai" (Sovereign Lord) or "Elohim" (God) in place of the Divine Name.

According to the [[Catholic Encyclopedia]], some scholars hold Jehovah dates only from the year 1520. However, writers of the sixteenth century, regardless of religious background, were familiar with the word. The name has been found as early as the 13th century in the "Pugio fidei" of Raymund Martin, a work written about 1270 (ed. Paris, 1651, pt. III, dist. ii, cap. iii, p. 448, and Note, p. 745).

With the publication of the [[King James Bible|King James]] or Authorized Version of the Bible in 1611 AD, the name Jehovah would become widely known; it appears at [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] 6:3; Psalm 83:18; [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] 12:2; 26:4.

==Translations Featuring==

The following translations use Jehovah, either directly or in references:

* The King James Bible (1611)
* The Living Bible (Tyndale House Publishers, 1971)
* The Bible In Living English (translated by Steven T. Byington, published by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 1972)
* The Oxford Annotated Bible - Revised Standard Version (Oxford University Press, 1962)
* American Standard Version (International Council of Religious Education, 1929)
* The New American Bible - Michaelangelo Edition (Catholic Press, 1970)
* The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 1984)
* Young's Literal Translation
* Darby's Translation

*'''Psalm 83:18'''
** That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth. (King James Version)
** And they know that Thou -- (Thy name [is] Jehovah -- by Thyself,) [Art] the Most High over all the earth! (Young’s Literal Translation)
** That they may know that thou alone, whose name is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth. (Darby Translation)

==References==

* Catholic Encyclopedia (1917 edition) - [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08329a.htm]
* The Divine Name That Will Endure Forever (1984) - [http://www.watchtower.org/e/na/index.htm?article=article_03.htm]
*Angel Fire ''Yahweh'' [http://www.angelfire.com/ok3/chester/imagedir/yahweh.htm],[http://www.angelfire.com/ok3/chester/imagedir/bibleinfo.htm]
*Encyclopedia Judaica ''Names of God'' [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=52&letter=N]

'''External Links:'''

* Bible Online – [http://bibleresources.bible.com]
*Hebrew-English Interlinear [http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/Hebrew_Index.htm]

[[Category:Bible]]

Ten Commandments

2010-12-21T23:23:52Z

IkeL: /* The Ten Commandments in US law */ Corrected some false information.

{{Christianity}}
[[Image:Bdytey.jpg|right|thumb|[[Moses]] with the Ten Commandments by Rembrandt (1659)]]
The '''Ten Commandments,''' or the ''Decalogue,'' are a set of laws which were given to [[Moses]] by [[God]].

There are [[Alleged Bible contradictions|two versions]], generally similar but somewhat different in wording: [[Exodus]] 20:2-17<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus%2020:2-17&version=9 Exodus 20:2-17 (KJV)]</ref> and [[Deuteronomy]] 5:6-21<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deuteronomy%205:6-21;&version=9; Deuteronomy 5:6-21 (KJV)]</ref>. The version in Deuteronomy adds the detail of Moses saying that [[Yahweh|God]] "delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God." (KJV)

The Bible itself refers to there being "''ten'' commandments" in Exodus 34:28<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus%2034:10-28;&version=9; Exodus 34:10-28 (KJV)]</ref> and Deuteronomy 4:13<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deuteronomy%204:13;&version=9; Deuteronomy 4:13 (KJV)]</ref>, but it is not clear how to parcel out the fifteen or sixteen verses into ten commandments, and different religious groups have done this in different ways.

The Protestant Ten Commandments, stressing their opposition to statues, contain "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" as the 2nd commandment. The Catholic Ten Commandments omit this, shifting the Commandments up while splitting "Thou shalt not covet" into "...thy neighbor's wife" (9th) and "...thy neighbor's goods" (10th).<ref>An atheistic website provides a comparison among faiths with respect to the Ten Commandments, and many sources: http://www.positiveatheism.org/crt/whichcom.htm</ref>

The Jewish Ten Commandments contain "I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" as the 1st commandment, with their 2nd commandment combining the first two Protestant commandments, and the remainder following the Protestant listing.<ref>Ibid. http://www.positiveatheism.org/crt/whichcom.htm</ref>

However, as Jewish people would also recognize, the ''[[Torah]]'', or [[Law]] (the first five books of the Old Testament) actually contains not ten, but [[Mosaic Law|613 positive and negative commandments]]. Thus, when [[Jesus]] is asked (at [[Matthew]] 22:34-36) which is the greatest commandment in the Law, he picks two of the other 603: 'You shall love the Lord thy God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength' (Deuteronomy 6:5) and 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself' ([[Leviticus]] 19:18).

== Text of the Ten Commandments (King James Version, KJV) ==

#I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
#Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
#Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
#Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
#Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
#Thou shalt not kill. <ref>(The Hebrew term, ''ratsach'', can mean to kill, slay or to murder)</ref>
#Thou shalt not commit [[adultery]].
#Thou shalt not steal.
#Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
#Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.

==The Ten Commandments in US law==

In several controversies over the legality of displaying the Ten Commandments on government property, and especially outside courthouses, the influence of the Ten Commandments on US law (and western law in general) becomes relevant as proponents of the displays argue that these commandments form part of the foundation of the US legal system.

# Some official U.S. documents accept the existence of God, although there is no specifics in U.S. law as to who this God is, and the [[First Amendment]] to the Constitution is interpreted as opposing any attempt to impose the belief or non-belief in God.
# Similarly, the First Amendment forbids any legal means of enforcing the commandment about not worshiping idols.
# Nothing in current state or federal law specifically prohibits the taking in vain of God's name in general, but it may be in violation of broadcast decency laws if shown on television or radio.
# Past state laws have enforced the [[sabbath]] by forbidding various activities, such as the sale of specific goods, on Sundays. These, however, are all almost now repealed or struck down. Closure of shops on Sundays is by convention, but not legally enforced. However, some states still restrict the sale of alcohol on Sundays. The seven-day week, however, is accepted world-wide, and most people observe at least one day free from work.
# No law enforces the commandment about honoring parents, and it is doubtful that it could be enforced. Liberals are currently attempting to undermine this commandment, by trying to make disciplining children illegal. In contrast, the Bible tells us the correct way to bring up a child and teach him to respect his parents: '''"He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him."''' (Proverbs 13:24)
# The commandment against murder is enforced by U.S. law.
# Criminal laws against adultery<ref>[http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-365 Virginia Code § 18.2-365]</ref> are largely unenforced and of doubtful enforceability, but a showing of adultery will influence civil [[divorce]] proceedings and affect the distribution of assets. Jesus clarified the definition of adultery, for instance in Matthew 8:27-32, to include remarriage after divorce in most cases. Until recently, it was difficult to get a divorce in most states other than Nevada for this reason; previously one had to prove fault with one's spouse, but since the 1950s that has changed in every state except [[New York]]. Today all states and many Christian denominations define adultery by the modern English definition<ref>adultery, n.
Second edition, 1989; online version November 2010. <http://www.oed.com:80/Entry/2845>; accessed 21 December 2010. Earlier version first published in New English Dictionary, 1884.</ref> to allow remarriage after divorce. Many Christians believe that this commandment, which forbids adultery,<ref>"voluntary sexual intercourse by a married man with another than his wife or by a married woman with another than her husband"—Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition, Unabridged, 1934</ref> also forbids fornication.<ref>"illicit sexual intercourse on the part of an unmarried person; the act of such illicit sexual intercourse between a man and a woman as does not by law amount to adultery" [op. cit.]</ref>
# The commandment against stealing is enforced by U.S. law.
# When used during litigation, or otherwise spoken under oath (see [[perjury]]), the commandment against bearing false witness is enforced by U.S. law. For someone to bear false witness against a neighbor in a less formal setting (e.g. lying to a third party about a neighbor in the course of private conversation) could, in some circumstances, be a [[tort]], but rarely a crime.
# As a prohibition on a form of thought, the commandment against coveting what belongs to another cannot be enforced by legal means.

==Controversies about displaying the Ten Commandments==
In recent years, [[liberal]] attorneys and judges have opposed the display of the Ten Commandments on public property by exploiting the judicial system.

In 2003, [[Alabama]] Supreme Court justice [[Roy Moore]] was removed from office because he refused to take down a copy of the Ten Commandments in his office.

==The movie==
''The Ten Commandments'' is also the title of a famous 1956 motion picture, produced and directed by [[Cecil B. DeMille]] and starring [[Charlton Heston]] as Moses. It tells the story of Moses essentially as told in the Book of Exodus, with a few changes.

As publicity for the film, and in conjunction with a project of the [[Fraternal Order of Eagles]], Paramount helped finance the placement of hundreds of stone tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments. These were placed at courthouse squares, at city halls and in public parks, and became a controversy, particularly in recent years, as to whether they violate the separation of Church and State<ref>''Ten Commandments Monoliths'', from the [March 2002 issue of ''Eagle Magazine'' http://www.foe.com/tencommandments/mar_2002_ten_commandments.html]</ref>

==Notes==
<references/>

[[Category:Judaism]]
[[Category:Religion and Politics]]

Don't ask, don't tell

2010-12-01T02:28:33Z

IkeL:

'''Don't ask, don't tell''' (Pub.L. 103-160 (10 U.S.C. § 654)) is the common name given to the military policy adopted early in the first term of President [[Bill Clinton]] against allowing homosexual soldiers in the military (They must not bring up their orientation, however). It has been upheld in the court system against legal challenge even though a Department of Defense study determined that soldiers wouldn't mind the repeal, with 92% reporting that their units could easily work with gay people.<ref>http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2010/0610_gatesdadt/DADTReport_FINAL_20101130(secure-hires).pdf</ref>

The premise of the policy is that a gay person will not be dismissed from active duty if he does not bring up his sexuality. At the same time, the military is legally enjoined from "asking" about a soldier's sexuality, or (in the oft forgotten third part of the phrase, "don't pursue") to investigate rumors of a soldier's sexuality. However, if a soldier does "come out", or if, without investigation, evidence is found of a soldier's sexuality, that soldier can be and generally is dismissed from active duty. This policy also changed the dismissal from "Dishonorably discharged", to "Honorably discharged" or simply "discharged" as the situation warrants, depending on the merits of the soldier's service.

Its repeal has been called for during the [[2008 Presidential Campaign]] by both Senators [[Hillary Clinton]] and [[Barack Obama]] although [[John McCain]] supports its continued implementation.

{{reflist}}
{{homosexualityb}}
[[category:military]]
[[Category:Homosexuality]]

Ethnic religion

2010-11-25T02:00:28Z

IkeL: /* List of Ethnic Religions */

In the study of [[human geography]], an ''ethnic religion'' is one that appeals primarily to a specific group of people from a specific place, compared to a [[universalizing religion]] which attempts to appeal to a wide number of people throughout the world.<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref> Some ethnic religions have different denominations, but most don't. By far the most practiced ethnic religions in terms of the sheer number of adherents is [[Hinduism]], but the most geographically widespread ethnic religion is [[Judaism]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref> About 24% of the world's population adheres to an ethnic religion, while about 62% belong to a universalizing religion and 14% belong to no particular religion at all.<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref>

==Characteristics==

===Foundation and Age===
All ethnic religions are several thousand years old, which most being of an unknown age because they stem from indigenous religions practiced in prehistory. The notable exceptions to this are [[Confucianism]] and [[Daoism]] (or Taoism), which both have specific founders ([[Confucius]] and [[Lao Tzu]], respectively) yet are still considered to be ethnic religions because they are practiced by a very small number of people primarily located in [[China]] (where they are actually illegal but still practiced) and [[Taiwan]] and are based on the traditional values and philosophies of that region. The ages of prehistoric religions like Hinduism, [[Shintoism]], and Judaism cannot be accurately measured because their histories are not as well documented as those established within the scope of recorded history.

===Ceremonies===
As opposed to the ceremonies in universalizing religions, which are primarily based around the lives of the founders, the ceremonies in ethnic religions tend to be based on the cycle of the harvest.<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref> For example, the Jewish holidays of [[Purim]] and [[Hanukkah]], even though they have elaborate origin stories, can be traced back to being celebrations of the stages of a harvest in the same vain as [[Celtic]] celebrations like Samhain (today better known and celebrated as [[Halloween]]). Because of this, the calendars of most ethnic religions are lunar (as opposed to the common Gregorian Solar calendar) and begin in the [[autumn]] with harvest celebrations akin to the American tradition of [[Thanksgiving]], which itself can partly be traced to a [[Native American]] harvest feast.

===Conversion===
While it is relatively easy to convert to a universalizing religion, it is often very difficult to convert to an ethnic religion. For example, Jewish [[Rabbi]]s are traditionally supposed to reject a potential convert unless he or she comes back three times as a sign of their dedication, after which the convert usually must endure rigorous training in Hebrew scripture akin to what a young Jewish person might go through in preparation for a [[Bar Mitzvah]].

===Pantheon===
A vast majority of ethnic religions are [[polytheistic]] or [[animism|animistic]], including Hinduism, Shintoism, indigenous Celtic religions, indigenous Native American religions, and indigenous African religions. The most notable exception to this is Judaism, which is not only [[monotheistic]] but is also one of the three [[Abrahamic religions]]. It is the only Abrahamic religion to be considered an ethnic religion, with the other two ([[Christianity]] and [[Islam]]) being considered universalizing.

==List of Ethnic Religions==
Because every indigenous religion is considered to be an ethnic religion, it is impossible to list them all; after all, there may yet be indigenous religions that have yet to be discovered and are practiced by the few remaining members of an ancient culture living isolated from the rest of the world. There are literally thousands of ethnic religions, but here are a few of the major ones.<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref>

*[[Hinduism]]
*[[Confucianism]]
*[[Daoism]] (or Taoism)
*[[Shintoism]]
*[[Judaism]]

It should also be noted that some modern religions like [[Wicca]] and [[Neopaganism]] root their beliefs in ethnic religions, but are more properly classified as universalizing religions because they don't have a specific, ethnically linked group of people that they appeal to, rather appealing to a diverse group of people throughout the world.

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Religion]]

Athenian democracy

2009-09-17T19:28:10Z

IkeL:

The world's first democracy, '''Athenian democracy''' consisted of an assembly open to all non-enslaved land-owning males in [[Athens]] over the age of 18. All members could speak out at the assembly (the ''[[agora]]'') and it decided policy issues for Athens, and passed legislation. [[Cleisthenes]], who died in 508 B.C., established this [[democracy]].

Democracy as a word derives from the Greek Demokratia, meaning ‘rule by the people’. It is formed by Demos (The People) and Kratos (Rule, or power).

==Background to Athenian Democratic City State==

Athens was founded atop the [[Acropolis]] in the Third millennium BC, most likely as a hill fort by Neolithic men. By 1400 BC Athens was an important center of the [[Mycenaean]] civilization. Unlike other powerful centers of that civilization it was not sacked and abandoned during the Doric invasion (circa 1200 BC) Athens declined with the decline of the Mycenaean’s.

By the 8th century BC Athens had re-emerged as a result of its central location in the Hellenistic world, its strong natural defensive position and its access to the sea, giving it several foundational advantages over rivals such as [[Thebes]] or [[Sparta]].

From early in the first Millennium Athens was ruled by kings, who were at the head of a land owning aristocracy called the [[Eupatridae]] (the well born) whose instrument of government was a Council which met on the Hill of Ares called the [[Areopagus]]. This body appointed the chief city officials – the archons and the polemarch (Commander in Chief). Four tribes based on family affiliations dominated the area and had their own specific burial, marriage and adoption rights.

During this pre-Democratic period Athens succeeded in bringing several Attican towns into its domain. This process of synoikismos (Greek for ‘bringing together in one home’) made Athens the largest and wealthiest state on the Greek mainland. It has also created wide social unrest by the seventh century BC because it created a larger class of people excluded from political life by the nobility. As a result the Areopagus appointed [[Draco]] to create a strict new law code (hence "draconian"). When this failed they appointed Solon to draft a new constitution.

==Population==

On average during the fifth century, Athens and its home territory of Attica had a rough population of 250,000. Of those, around 30,000 were full free citizens. Around 5,000 of those would regularly attend one or more meetings of the popular assembly. 6,000 citizens were selected fill the juryman courts (A typical jury size being 501).

==Criticism==

Even though it was a democracy, the government was known to come down hard on its critics. Perhaps the most famous critic is the enigmatic philosopher [[Socrates]]; just about the only thing we know for sure about his life (since there are no historical records that mention him, just the writings of other philosophers) was that in his time he was a very vocal critic of Athenian democracy and was executed because of it.

[[Category:Ancient Greece]]

Socrates

2009-09-17T19:23:42Z

IkeL: /* The question of the historical Socrates */

[[Image:Socrates.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The Greek philosopher Socrates]]

'''Socrates''' was an ancient [[Greek]] philosopher, who lived between approximately 470 and 399 BC. He is best known for his method of argument (''elenchus''), which poses questions that may expose logical errors underlying an opponent's argument, though he usually stated that his purpose was not to argue but to pursue the truth in alliance with his opponent. Socrates had served in the army in his youth, like all Greek men of his time. To modern readers he is most familiar as a character in many books by his disciple [[Plato]] or his contemporary [[Xenophon]]. If Socrates wrote any books himself they are lost. Eventually the courts of [[Athens]] found him guilty on charges of [[impiety]] and corrupting the youth, and sentenced him to drink hemlock, a poison that took his life. Socrates had an opportunity to escape from prison, but declined to do so. <ref>http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/socrates/socratesbio.html</ref>

==The question of the historical Socrates==

The major problem in studying the thought of Socrates is that we have to rely on the writings and reports of others since Socrates himself wrote nothing. There is also no historical record of anybody named Socrates ever existing; a vast majority of what we know of the man comes from his pupils, especially [[Plato]], who wrote more about Socrates than anybody else.

[[Aristotle]] examines Socrates in his ''Metaphysics'', and [[Xenophon]] provides some additional information. But [[Plato]], who was Socrates' pupil, is our principal source of information. He (Plato) wrote numerous dialogues in which Socrates figures either as the main speaker or as a secondary character. The problem is separating out from these dialogues what is Socrates and what is Plato. And the chief question is the origin of Plato's "Forms Theory".

[[Frederick Copleston|Coopleston]], in his ''History of Philosophy'', takes the traditional view, largely accepting Aristotle who stated that Socrates did not "separate" the Forms. On this view, although the historical Socrates is presented, especially in the early dialogues, the fully developed theory of Plato's is an elaboration or development of Socrates' views and, especially in his later writings, Plato has used the character of Socrates to expound these views.

There are two aspects of the historic Socrates' life that can be reasonably assumed to be true because they appear to be consistent among most accounts: that he was a critic of [[Athenian democracy]] and that he was executed by the state because of it.

==Some famous Socrates quotes<ref>http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Socrates</ref>==
*The unexamined life is not worth living.
*Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.
*Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others.
*Having the fewest wants, I am nearest to the gods.
*I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.

== See also ==
*[[Xantippe]]
*[[Euthyphro]]
*[[Apology of Socrates]]
*[[Phaedo]]

== References ==
<references/>

Plato, Christopher Gill, ''The Symposium''. London: Penguin Books, 1999

[[Category:Ancient Greek Philosophers]]

Pineal gland

2009-09-13T20:20:51Z

IkeL:

==Pineal Gland==

The pineal gland is a central gland that rests squarely above the [[superior colliculous]]. [[Descartes]] believed that the soul communicated with the body by using the pineal gland to pump [[cerebrospinal fluid]]; however, this assertion was based on Descartes' mistaken belief that only humans had pineal glands. In fact, many animals do as well.

[[category:anatomy]]

Brain

2009-09-13T20:18:08Z

IkeL:

[[Image:Cerebellum.png|right|thumb|200px|A human brain]]

The '''brain''' is a major part of the [[central nervous system]]. It is located in front of the other major part, the [[spinal cord]]. In simpler [[Nervous system | nervous systems]] the brain can be as simple as a single or small collection of [[neurons]] called [[ganglia]]. In the [[vertebrate]]s, the brain is much more complex and is divided into three separate areas, the [[forebrain]], the [[midbrain]], and the [[hindbrain]]. The brain is involved in higher functioning such as decision-making, speech, and processing of the [[senses]].

Investigations using new techniques such as [[fMRI]] are expanding knowledge on the relationship between the brain and behavior.

==Free Will==
Many [[liberal]] scientists believe that modern [[neuroscience]] is a subversion of [[free will]], and that the brain is all there is to personality. This is to the direct exclusion of the [[soul]] and [[God]]'s will. For instance, if someone was to commit a crime, that person could be exonerated on the basis of his neurological abnormalities, which are not his fault. [[Descartes]] attempted to avoid this issue by placing the soul at the helm of the individual, stating that it was our spirits that truly drive us. The soul attached to the brain via the [[pineal gland]], communicating with the corporeal matter by squeazing the central gland, and pumping cerebrospinal fluid through the body. However, his [[atheism]] left no place for communion of the soul with God, and Descartes was also mistaken in the belief that only humans have pineal glands. Many conservative scientists are now taking into account the soul, when they factor in free will, which allows for much more variation among individuals.

==References==

* Martin, JH (2003). Neuroanatomy text and atlas 3rd ed., New York: McGraw-Hill.
* Kandel, ER; Schwartz JH, Jessell TM (2000). Principles of Neural Science, 4th ed., New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-8385-7701-6.

[[Category:Anatomy]]
[[Category:Neuroscience]]

Central Park

2009-08-27T05:08:54Z

IkeL:

'''Central Park''' is a park in [[Manhattan]], [[New York City]]. It covers 843 acres (341 hectares) bounded by 110th Street to the north, Fifth Avenue to the east, Central Park South (59th Street) to the south, and Central Park West (Eighth Avenue) to the west.<ref>http://www.centralpark.com/pages/general-info.html</ref>

The park was established by act of the New York state legislature in 1853 and opened to the public in 1859. It was designed by [[Frederick Law Olmsted]] and [[Calvert Vaux]] in the English romantic style of landscape design<ref>http://www.centralpark.com/pages/history.html</ref>.

Central Park is visited by 25 million people each year<ref>http://www.centralpark.com/pages/faq.html</ref>.

The Great Lawn in Central Park has been the location of major concerts and events in the past, including those of [[Garth Brooks]], [[Pope John Paul II]], and [[Elton John]].

One of the more locally known features of the park is the [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis]] Reservoir, around which is an extensive jogging/cycling trial favored by residents and tourists alike.

Central Park is also known for its multitude of annual summer events, including the theater production ''[[Shakespeare]] in the Park''.

==External links==
*[http://www.centralpark.com/ CentralPark.com]
*[http://www.centralparknyc.org/site/PageServer Central Park Conservancy]
*[http://www.centralpark2000.com/products/map/map_home.html Central Park maps]
==Further reading==
* Jackson, Kenneth, ed. ''The Encyclopedia of New York City'' (1995), [http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-New-York-City/dp/0300055366/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240594479&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[category:New York City]]
[[Category:Landmarks]]

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

2009-08-27T05:05:45Z

IkeL:

'''Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis''' (''July 28, 1929 - May 19, 1994'') was the wife of President [[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]]. [[Image:JacquelineKennedy.jpg|right|thumb?|300px|]]

==Early Life==

She was born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, daughter of John Vernon Bouvier III and Janet Norton Lee. <ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/jk35.html</ref>
Jacqueline also had a younger sister, Caroline Lee Bouvier, born March 3, 1933, who married and now uses the name Lee Radziwill. The family was Roman Catholic. Her mother later remarried, to Hugh D. Auchincloss. <ref>http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=36</ref>

==Education==

Jackie was educated at Vassar College, [[New York]] and abroad at the University of Grenoble and Sorbonne, Paris, [[France]], and in 1951 received a BA in French Literature from [[George Washington University]], Washington, D.C. She spoke fluent French, her interests were literature and the arts. <ref>http://hoover.archives.gov/exhibits/AmericanWomen/11%20women/kennedy.html</ref>

==Marriage & Family==

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier and John F. Kennedy were married in 1953, <ref>http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Wedding+Details.htm</ref>. They had two children, a daughter, [[Caroline Kennedy|Caroline Bouvier Kennedy]] born November 27, 1957, and a son, [[John Kennedy Jr|John F. Kennedy Jr.]] born November 25, 1960. They also had a stillborn child and a son, Patrick who lived only 2 days after his birth. John Kennedy Jr. died while piloting a plane on July 16,1999, along with his wife, Carolyn Bessette and her sister.

As the wife of the President, Jackie Kennedy was known for her grace, intelligence and sense of style.

==Later Life==

After the assasination of President Kennedy in 1963, Jackie moved to [[New York]] and 5 years later, in October 1968, at the age of 36, married [[Aristotle Onassis]], (born June 15, 1906) a wealthy Greek shipping magnate and businessman. Jackie was married to Mr. Onassis, who was more than 20 years older than she, until his death in March 1975.

After the death of Aristotle Onassis, from 1978 until 1994, Mrs. Onassis worked as an editor, first for [[Viking Press]] and then [[Doubleday]] Book Publishing Company. Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis died on May 19, 1994, in [[New York City]] at the age of 64. She is buried at [[Arlington National Cemetery]], in Arlington, [[Virginia]]. <ref>http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/jbk.htm</ref> Upon her death, the large and infamous [[Central Park]] Reservoir in New York City was renamed the "Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir" in honor of the former First Lady's morning ritual of jogging around it.

==See Also==

*[[John F. Kennedy]]
*[[Robert Kennedy]]
*[[Caroline Kennedy]]

==External Links==
[http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/jk35.html The White House Autobiography of Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy]

==References==

<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Jacqueline}}
[[Category:First Ladies]]

Norma McCorvey

2009-07-14T21:48:43Z

IkeL:

'''Norma McCorvey''' is the woman most commonly known as Jane Roe from her role in the [[Roe v. Wade]] [[abortion]] lawsuit in 1973. McCorvey claimed that she was raped in the case, a claim that she later recanted, and has since been [[baptized]] into the [[Christian]] faith. McCorvey claims she was the pawn of two overzealous attorneys, and now has supported [[pro-life]] causes, and requested that the [[Supreme Court]] overturn the case. She was arrested in May of 2009 at the [[University of Notre Dame]] protesting the speech by and bestowing of an honorary degree upon [[abortion]] promoter President [[Barack Hussein Obama]]. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/17/protests-build-ahead-obamas-notre-dame-speech/ Obama Arrives at Notre Dame Commencement, as Protests Build] Fox News, May 17, 2009</ref> In July of 2009 she was thrown out of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of [[Sonia Sotomayor]] several times for interrupting the hearing along with several other pro-life protestors.<ref>http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/07/norma-mccorvey-the-jane-roe-of-roe-v-wade-fame-is-among-antiabortion-protesters-tossed-at-sotomayor-.html</ref>
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCorvey, Norma}}

[[Category:Abortion]]
[[Category:Women]]
[[Category:Right to Life Movement]]
== References ==
<references/>

User:IkeL

2009-06-06T21:54:20Z

IkeL:

''The editor formerly known as '''ilikecake'''.''

If you have any issues with any edits that I've made, feel free to contact me through my talk page. I'm happy to discuss and work out any disputes you may have.

Also, please don't edit what others have posted onto my talk page without my express permission (which I probably won't give you). I consider it to be a sacred space of discussion that I don't want affected in any way by any member of the community; it should be on display for all who care to see.

==Pages I Created==
(From oldest to newest)
*[[Sufjan Stevens]]
*[[Bedford-Stuyvesant]]
*[[Queens]]
*[[Jingoism]]
*[[Brooklyn-Queens Expressway]]
*[[Handedness]]
*[[Universalizing religion]]
*[[Ethnic religion]]
*[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]

Also, it's worth noting that while I didn't technically create the page, I converted [[globalization]] from a redirect to an actual article.

User:IkeL

2009-06-06T04:29:15Z

IkeL:

I like to think of myself as a progressive conservative--I'm open to a little bit of anything. I support people for the choices they make and who they are, and I don't hold anything against people ''except'' for narrow-mindedness.

I consider myself to be politically conservative, much like most people on this site, I'd imagine. I lean slightly toward the libertarian persuasion (I believe in plenty of civil liberties and laissez-faire capitalism), but I would by no means consider myself a libertarian at all--I think too much freedom can be dangerous.

If you have any issues with any edits that I've made, feel free to contact me through my talk page. I'm happy to discuss and work out any disputes you may have.

Also, please don't edit what others have posted onto my talk page without my express permission (which I probably won't give you). I consider it to be a sacred space of discussion that I don't want affected in any way by any member of the community; it should be on display for all who care to see.

==Pages I Created==
(From oldest to newest)
*[[Sufjan Stevens]]
*[[Bedford-Stuyvesant]]
*[[Queens]]
*[[Jingoism]]
*[[Brooklyn-Queens Expressway]]
*[[Handedness]]
*[[Universalizing religion]]
*[[Ethnic religion]]
*[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]

Also, it's worth noting that while I didn't technically create the page, I converted [[globalization]] from a redirect to an actual article.

User talk:IkeL

2009-06-05T23:42:51Z

IkeL: /* Thank */

Hello! If you want to contact me, this is definitely the place to do it. Please don't edit or alter what other people have written without my express permission (which I probably won't give you), as I consider talk pages to be places of free discussion. If you contact me, I'll probably respond on your page (unless you'd rather me respond here, in which case I'll happily oblige).

==Username==
*I approve of your user name. Mmm . . . cake . . . -[[User:CSGuy|CSGuy]] 20:51, 14 November 2008 (EST)

== ATTENTION! ==

'''I responded to your question where you asked it, as is appropriate here at CP.''' --[[User:TK|'''ṬK''']]/Admin[[User_Talk:TK|/Talk]] 01:37, 5 June 2009 (EDT)

== Thank ==

YOU for your help with painters. --[[User:Joaquín Martínez|Joaquín Martínez]] 18:47, 5 June 2009 (EDT)
: You're very welcome! -[[User:Ilikecake|Ilikecake]] 19:42, 5 June 2009 (EDT)

Talk:Jacques-Louis David

2009-06-05T22:04:15Z

IkeL: /* Rename */ new section

Portrait de Madame Récamier ou Portrait de Juliette Récamier '''(Restored)'''

[[Image:David Recamier.jpg]]

--[[User:Joaquín Martínez|Joaquín Martínez]] 00:11, 30 March 2009 (EDT)

== Rename ==

The correct title of this article should be [[Jacques-Louis David]]. The hyphen is a part of the name and should not be left out. Virtually every major art museum spells it with the hyphen ([[The Metropolitan Museum of Art]]: [http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/european_paintings/antoine_laurent_lavoisier_1743_1794_and_his_wife_jacques_louis_david/objectview.aspx?OID=110000544&collID=11&dd1=11], [[The Los Angeles County Museum of Art]]: [http://www.lacma.org/art/Delahaye.aspx], [[The Getty Museum]]: [http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=544], and more), as well as virtually every reputable art history textbook (I'm tired of typing, so just look at the argument I made for spelling [[Paul Cezanne]] as [[Paul Cézanne]] on the talk page for the former). -[[User:Ilikecake|Ilikecake]] 18:04, 5 June 2009 (EDT)

Jacques-Louis David

2009-06-05T21:56:39Z

IkeL:

[[Image:JLDavid.jpg|right|thumb|Self portrait, 1794.]]
'''Jacques-Louis David''' ([[Paris]] 1748 - [[Brussels]] 1825) was a French painter. He was one of the most prominent painters and the leader in [[France]] of the [[Neoclassical|Neo-Classical]] movement. The earliest Neoclassical painters were [[Joseph Marie Vien]], [[Anton Raphael Mengs]], Pompeo Batoni, Angelica Kauffmann, and Gavin Hamilton, David's contemporaries included Jean-Germain Drouais.

David painted in [[Rome]] is famous ''Oath of the Horatii''.

[[Image:David OathHoratti.jpg|left]]

He was dictator of the arts after the execution of Louis XVI. During [[Napoleon]] I's regimen he developed an Empire style. At this time David painted ''Napoleon Crossing the Alps'' and became the official court painter of the regime. He was then commissioned for painting ''The Coronation of Napoleon in Notre Dame''.

David's composition, caracterized by the predominence of verticals and horizontals suggests stability. His economy of details projects austerity, yet his sense of color and light give light to his work. His last masterpiece was ''Mars Disarmed by Venus and the Three Graces.''

 

== "Petit" Gallery ==

[[Image:Marat-David.jpg|left]]

[[Image:David - Napoleon.jpg|right]]

[[Image:Recamier David g.jpg|center]]

<center>
Madame Récamier painted in 1800. </center>

== See also ==
[[Image:David. Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon I.jpg|right|thumb|The Coronation of Napoleon in Notre Dame]]
*[[Painting Masterpieces]]
*[[Painting Schools]]
*[[Philosopher]]
*[[French Revolution]]
*[[Gallery of French Masterpieces]]
 

== External links ==

*[http://www.all-art.org/neoclasscism/david1.html J. L. David at all-art.org] HISTORY OF ART.
*[http://www.answers.com/topic/jacques-louis-david Jacques-Louis David] Answers.com
*[http://www.thecaveonline.com/APEH/horatti.html OATH OF THE HORATTI]
*[http://instruct.westvalley.edu/grisham/1b_neo.html Neo-Classicism]

{{DEFAULTSORT:David, Jacques-Louis}}

[[Category:French Painters]]

Boston, Massachusetts

2009-06-05T21:17:33Z

IkeL:

''This article is about the U.S. city in [[Massachusetts]]. For other places named Boston or other uses of the name, please see [[Boston (disambiguation)]].''
[[Image:Boston.jpg|thumb|Boston in a rainy day]]
'''Boston''' is the largest city and capital of [[Massachusetts]], a state in the [[United States]]. It is the economic hub and educational center of the [[New England]] region.

Boston was settled in 1630 by the [[United Kingdom|English]] [[Puritan]]s seeking freedom to practice their strict version of [[Protestantism]]. The city's fine harbor led it to become the main port of the New England colonies, and in the last quarter of the 18th century, it was a center of the movement for independence from England that led to the [[American Revolution]].

Boston remained an economic center through the 19th century, both as a financial hub and as a port through which manufactured goods such as shoes and textiles were shipped. At the onset of the 20th century, the availability of cheaper labor in the Southern states led to a decline in New England manufacturing industries, and hard times for Boston as well. It continued however to be a center for advanced education, the city and its surrounding towns home to dozens of colleges and universities, allowing greater Boston to become a vital center of the technology industries that burgeoned in the last half of the 20th century.

== See also ==
[[Image:Fenway.jpg|thumb|Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox.]]
*[[Boston Red Sox]]
*[[Boston Celtics]]
*[[New England Patriots]]
*[[Boston Bruins]]
*[[Boston Tea Party]]
*[[Boston Massacre]]
*[[Boston Massachusetts Temple]]

== External links ==
*[http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ The Boston Globe]
*[http://www.bostonherald.com/news/ Boston Herald]

[[Category:Massachusetts Cities and Towns]]
[[Category:US State Capitals]]
[[Category:Boston]]

Talk:Paul Cézanne

2009-06-05T20:57:10Z

IkeL: /* Rename */

[[Image:Cézanne Still Life with Onions.jpg]]

Still Life with Onions

The article needs a DEFAULTSORT [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 20:57, 28 September 2007 (EDT)

== Rename ==

Can somebody rename this page as [[Paul Cézanne]]? The last name is correctly spelled with with an accent on the "e" and the Conservapedia tradition seems to be to spell European artists' names with correct punctuation (see [[Albrecht Dürer]]). Virtually every major American and international museum spells the name with the accented "e" ([[The Metropolitan Museum of Art]]: [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pcez/hd_pcez.htm], [[The Art Institute of Chicago]]: [http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/search/citi/artist_id:191], among others), as well as most other websites ([http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cezanne/bio.html], [http://www.abcgallery.com/C/cezanne/cezanne.html]) and Art History textbooks (like <ref>{{cite book |title= Gardner's Art Through the Ages: A Concise Global History |last= Kleiner |first= Fred S. |year= 2009 |publisher= Wadswroth Cengage Learning |location= [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]] |isbn= 0-495-50346-0}}</ref> or <ref>{{cite book |title= Barron's AP Art History |last= Nici |first= John B. |year= 2008 |publisher= Barron's Educational Series, Inc. |location= [[Hauppauge, New York]] |isbn= 0-7641-3737-9}}</ref>).

{{reflist}}

-[[User:Ilikecake|Ilikecake]] 15:18, 5 June 2009 (EDT)

Metropolitan Museum of Art

2009-06-05T20:56:06Z

IkeL:

'''The Metropolitan Museum of Art''' (sometimes abbreviated as "the Met," though this is also often used for [[The Metropolitan Opera]]), located on the edge of [[Central Park]] in the [[Upper East Side]] of [[New York City]], [[New York]], is one of the largest and most extensive art museums in the United States and even the world, with more than 2 million works of art in its permanent collection<ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/index.asp</ref> and more than 2 million square feet of floorspace<ref>.http://www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=a&a=i&ID=1138</ref> The art is organized into twenty-two "curatorial departments."<ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/curatorial_departments</ref> The first work ever to be acquired by the museum is a marble Roman sarcophagus listed as "Asiatic garland sarcophagus";<ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rsar/ho_70.1.htm</ref> it is given the categorization number "70.1" because it was acquired in the year 1870 (the same year that the museum itself was founded) and because it was the first piece of art acquired.<ref>http://www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=a&a=i&ID=1138</ref>

Notable works of art on display at the museum include a print of [[Hokusai]]'s ''[[The Great Wave off Kanagawa]]'', a print of [[Albrecht Dürer]]'s ''[[Melencolia]]'', five paintings by [[Johannes Vermeer]] (the largest collection anywhere in the world), thirty-seven paintings by [[Monet]], twenty-one oil paintings by [[Cezanne|Cézanne]], eighteen paintings by [[Rembrandt]], [[El Greco]]'s ''A View of Toledo'', [[Jacques-Louis David]]'s ''[[The Death of Socrates]]'', and [[Duccio]]'s ''[[Madonna and Child]]'', among many, many more. Relatively unique to the museum is an extensive collection of about five thousand musical instruments from all over the world and throughout history.

The museum also operates a satellite institution known as "[[The Cloisters]]"<ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/the_cloisters</ref> to house many works from its [[Medieval art]] collection. The Cloisters are located in Fort Tyron Park on the northern tip of [[Manhattan]] Island, just a few miles away from the main building.

==References==
{{reflist}}

Talk:Paul Cézanne

2009-06-05T19:18:33Z

IkeL: /* Rename */

[[Image:Cézanne Still Life with Onions.jpg]]

Still Life with Onions

The article needs a DEFAULTSORT [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 20:57, 28 September 2007 (EDT)

== Rename ==

Can somebody rename this page as [[Paul Cézanne]]? The last name is correctly spelled with with an accent on the "e" and the Conservapedia tradition seems to be to spell European artists' names with correct punctuation (see [[Albrecht Dürer]]). Virtually every major American and international museum spells the name with the accented "e" ([[The Metropolitan Museum of Art]]: [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pcez/hd_pcez.htm], [[The Art Institute of Chicago]]: [http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/search/citi/artist_id:191], among others), as well as most other websites ([http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cezanne/bio.html], [http://www.abcgallery.com/C/cezanne/cezanne.html]) and Art History textbooks (like <ref>{{cite book |title= Gardner's Art Through the Ages: A Concise GLobal History |last= Kleiner |first= Fred S. |year= 2009 |publisher= Wadswroth Cengage Learning |location= [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]] |isbn= 0-495-50346-0}}</ref> or <ref>{{cite book |title= Barron's AP Art History |last= Nici |first= John B. |year= 2008 |publisher= Barron's Educational Series, Inc. |location= [[Hauppauge, New York]] |isbn= 0-7641-3737-9}}</ref>).

{{reflist}}

-[[User:Ilikecake|Ilikecake]] 15:18, 5 June 2009 (EDT)

Talk:Paul Cézanne

2009-06-05T19:17:29Z

IkeL: /* Rename */ new section

[[Image:Cézanne Still Life with Onions.jpg]]

Still Life with Onions

The article needs a DEFAULTSORT [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 20:57, 28 September 2007 (EDT)

== Rename ==

Can somebody rename this page as [[Paul Cézanne]]? The last name is correctly spelled with with an accent on the "e" and the Conservapedia tradition seems to be to spell European artists' names with correct punctuation (see [[Albrecht Dürer]]). Virtually every major American and international museum spells the name with the accented "e" ([[The Metropolitan Museum of Art]]: [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pcez/hd_pcez.htm], [[The Art Institute of Chicago]]: [http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/search/citi/artist_id:191], among others), as well as most other websites ([http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cezanne/bio.html], [http://www.abcgallery.com/C/cezanne/cezanne.html]) and Art History textbooks (like {{cite book |title= Gardner's Art Through the Ages: A Concise GLobal History |last= Kleiner |first= Fred S. |year= 2009 |publisher= Wadswroth Cengage Learning |location= [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]] |isbn= 0-495-50346-0}} or {{cite book |title= Barron's AP Art History |last= Nici |first= John B. |year= 2008 |publisher= Barron's Educational Series, Inc. |location= [[Hauppauge, New York]] |isbn= 0-7641-3737-9}}). -[[User:Ilikecake|Ilikecake]] 15:17, 5 June 2009 (EDT)

Metropolitan Museum of Art

2009-06-05T19:02:27Z

IkeL:

'''The Metropolitan Museum of Art''' (sometimes abbreviated as "the Met," though this is also often used for [[The Metropolitan Opera]]), located on the edge of [[Central Park]] in the [[Upper East Side]] of [[New York City]], [[New York]], is one of the largest and most extensive art museums in the United States and even the world, with more than 2 million works of art in its permanent collection<ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/index.asp</ref> and more than 2 million square feet of floorspace<ref>http://www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=a&a=i&ID=1138</ref>. The art is organized into twenty-two "curatorial departments."<ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/curatorial_departments</ref> The first work ever to be acquired by the museum is a marble Roman sarcophagus listed as "Asiatic garland sarcophagus"<ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rsar/ho_70.1.htm</ref>; it is given the categorization number "70.1" because it was acquired in the year 1870 (the same year that the museum itself was founded) and because it was the first piece of art acquired.<ref>http://www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=a&a=i&ID=1138</ref>

Notable works of art on display at the museum include a print of [[Hokusai]]'s ''[[The Great Wave off Kanagawa]]'', a print of [[Albrecht Dürer]]'s ''[[Melencolia]]'', five paintings by [[Johannes Vermeer]] (the largest collection anywhere in the world), thirty-seven paintings by [[Monet]], twenty-one oil paintings by [[Cezanne|Cézanne]], eighteen paintings by [[Rembrandt]], [[El Greco]]'s [[Vista de Toledo]], [[Jacques-Louis David]]'s [[The Death of Socrates]], and [[Duccio]]'s [[Madonna and Child]], among many, many more. Relatively unique to the museum is an extensive collection of about five thousand musical instruments from all over the world and throughout history.

The museum also operates a satellite institution known as "[[The Cloisters]]"<ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/the_cloisters</ref> to house many works from its [[Medieval art]] collection. The Cloisters are located in Fort Tyron Park on the northern tip of [[Manhattan]] Island, just a few miles away from the main building.

==References==
{{reflist}}

Metropolitan Museum of Art

2009-06-05T19:01:44Z

IkeL:

'''The Metropolitan Museum of Art''' (sometimes abbreviated as "the Met," though this is also often used for [[The Metropolitan Opera]]), located on the edge of [[Central Park]] in the [[Upper East Side]] of [[New York City]], [[New York]], is one of the largest and most extensive art museums in the United States and even the world, with more than 2 million works of art in its permanent collection<ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/index.asp</ref> and more than 2 million square feet of floorspace<ref>http://www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=a&a=i&ID=1138</ref>. The art is organized into twenty-two "curatorial departments."<ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/curatorial_departments</ref> The first work ever to be acquired by the museum is a marble Roman sarcophagus listed as "Asiatic garland sarcophagus"<ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rsar/ho_70.1.htm</ref>; it is given the categorization number "70.1" because it was acquired in the year 1870 (the same year that the museum itself was founded) and because it was the first piece of art acquired.<ref>http://www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=a&a=i&ID=1138</ref>

Notable works of art on display at the museum include a print of [[Hokusai]]'s ''[[The Great Wave off Kanagawa]]'', a print of [[Albrecht Dürer]]'s ''[[Melencolia]]'', five paintings by [[Johannes Vermeer]] (the largest collection anywhere in the world), thirty-seven paintings by [[Monet]], twenty-one oil paintings by [[Cézanne]], eighteen paintings by [[Rembrandt]], [[El Greco]]'s [[Vista de Toledo]], [[Jacques-Louis David]]'s [[The Death of Socrates]], and [[Duccio]]'s [[Madonna and Child]], among many, many more. Relatively unique to the museum is an extensive collection of about five thousand musical instruments from all over the world and throughout history.

The museum also operates a satellite institution known as "[[The Cloisters]]"<ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/the_cloisters</ref> to house many works from its [[Medieval art]] collection. The Cloisters are located in Fort Tyron Park on the northern tip of [[Manhattan]] Island, just a few miles away from the main building.

==References==
{{reflist}}

Metropolitan Museum of Art

2009-06-05T19:01:27Z

IkeL: Created page with ''''The Metropolitan Museum of Art''' (sometimes abbreviated as "the Met," though this is also often used for The Metropolitan Opera), located on the edge of Central Park ...'

'''The Metropolitan Museum of Art''' (sometimes abbreviated as "the Met," though this is also often used for [[The Metropolitan Opera]]), located on the edge of [[Central Park]] in the [[Upper East Side]] of [[New York City]], [[New York]], is one of the largest and most extensive art museums in the United States and even the world, with more than 2 million works of art in its permanent collection<ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/index.asp</ref> and more than 2 million square feet of floorspace<ref>http://www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=a&a=i&ID=1138</ref>. The art is organized into twenty-two "curatorial departments."<ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/curatorial_departments</ref> The first work ever to be acquired by the museum is a marble Roman sarcophagus listed as "Asiatic garland sarcophagus"<ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rsar/ho_70.1.htm</ref>; it is given the categorization number "70.1" because it was acquired in the year 1870 (the same year that the museum itself was founded) and because it was the first piece of art acquired.<ref>http://www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=a&a=i&ID=1138</ref>

Notable works of art on display at the museum include a print of [[Hokusai]]'s ''[[The Great Wave off Kanagawa]]'', a print of [[Albrecht Dürer]]'s ''[[Melencolia]]'', five paintings by [[Johannes Vermeer]] (the largest collection anywhere in the world), thirty-seven paintings by [[Monet]], twenty-one oil paintings by [[Cézanne]], eighteen paintings by [[Rembrandt]], [[El Greco]]'s [[Vista de Toledo]], [[Jacques-Louis David]]'s [[The Death of Socrates]], and [[Duccio]]'s [[Madonna and Child]], among many, many more. Relatively unique to the museum is an extensive collection of about five thousand musical instruments from all over the world and throughout history.

The museum also operates a satellite institution known as "[[The Cloisters]]"<ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/the_cloisters</ref> to house many works from its [[Medieval art]] collection. The Cloisters are located in Fort Tyron Park on the northern tip of [[Manhattan]] Island, just a few miles away from the main building.

{{reflist}}

Claude Monet

2009-06-05T18:36:17Z

IkeL: /* Decline and Death */

[[Image:Monet.jpg|right|thumb|Claude Monet by [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]]]]
'''Claude Monet''' (1840-1926) was a [[French]] painter and the "founder of [[impressionism]]" who became known for his landscapes and for series of paintings showing changes under different aspects of light and atmosphere during different times of day and year. Some of the most well known of the series are "Water Lilies" and "Haystacks".

== Childhood ==

Oscar-Claude Monet was born November 14, 1840, in [[Paris]], France, the second son of Claude-Adolphe and Louise-Justine Aubrée Monet. <ref> http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_bio_165.html </ref>
When he was five years old his family moved to the Normandy coastal town of [[Le Havre]], where he spent his childhood. His father worked as a grocer and ship chandler. Monet's mother died in 1857 when he was 17 years old. <ref> http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=Monet_Selden_MS_05 </ref>

== Adulthood ==

[[Image:Claude Monet.jpg|thumb|left|Claude Monet by [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]]]]
In 1856 at Le Havre, Monet met an artist named [[Eugene Boudin]] who encouraged him to paint outdoors, and make nature his subject. Monet entered Atelier Suisse in Paris where he first studied painting. In 1860 he spent two years in compulsory military service in [[Algiers]], until he became ill and returned to France. <ref> http://www.artofmonet.com </ref>

== Artistic Career ==
[[Image:Monet Impressionsunrise.jpg|right|thumb|280px|Impression Sunrise]]
In 1862 he entered the studio of Gleyre in Paris where he became friends with painters who would also become known as impressionists, [[Camille Pissarro]], [[Paul Cezanne]], [[Renoir]], [[Edgar Degas|Degas]], [[Alfred Sisley|Sisley]], and [[Bazille]].

In 1867 his first child, a son named Jean, was born to Monet and his girlfriend Camille-Léonie Doncieux. They were married 3 years later, in 1870. Their second child, a son, Michel, was born in 1878.

Monet formed a group of artists in 1974 who called themselves the Société Anonyme des Artistes. Monet displayed his painting "'''Impression, Sunrise'''", at the group's first exhibition, and the name impressionist was first used for his style of painting, and was applied to his group of painters as well, who became known as "impressionists". <ref> http://academic.scranton.edu/student/KOSINSKIK2/Life.html </ref>

{{cquote|
Je suis à merveille pour peindre; c'est tout ce que l'on peut trouver de plus amusant, des maisons de toutes les couleurs, des moulins par centaines, des bateaux ravissants.}}
{{cquote|
I am marvellously well to paint; it is the funniest you can find, houses of all colors, mills by hundreds, delightful boats.}}
[[Image:Monet garden.jpg|right|frame|Jeanne-Marquerite Lecadre au jardin]]
In 1878 Monet and his wife faced continuing financial difficulties and moved in with his former patron Ernest Hoschedé. Monet's wife Camille died of tuberculosis in 1879, and Monet and his children continued to live in the Hoschedé household.

Monet continued to paint and his work became well known and popular, and by 1890, Monet had accumulated enough funds to buy his own house in Giverny, and added a water-lily garden and Japanese bridge that became the subject of several of his paintings.

In 1892, after Ernest Hoschedé died, Monet and his widow Alice Hoschedé married.
{{Clear}}

== Decline and Death==
[[Image:Monet 1890.jpg|left|Monet ca. 1890.]]
During his later years, Monet's vision declined, and over time he became almost blind, but still continued to paint.

In 1918 Monet decided to donate twelve large canvasses of "Waterlilies" to France. He finishes them in 1926 at the end of his life.

Claude Monet died in his house at Giverny on Dec. 5, 1926 at the age of 86. He was burried in his family grave at Giverny, in the presence of [[Georges Clémenceau]].

His paintings are shown in large galleries including the Louvre, the Marmottan, the National Gallery in London, and in the United States, at the Art Institute of Chicago and the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in [[New York City]].
{{Clear}}

== See also ==
[[Image:Monet La Corniche.jpg|thumb|La Corniche, 1884.]]
*[[Painting Schools]]
*[[Painting Masterpieces ]]
*[[Francisco Goya]]
*[[Gallery of French Masterpieces]]
*[[The world’s most famous paintings]]
{{Clear}}
== External links ==
[[Image:Monet's garden.jpg|thumb|240px|Monet's garden in Giverny]]
*[http://www.intermonet.com/venice/ Claude Monet in Venice]
*[http://www.repropaint.com/Monet/monet.htm Claude Monet] Biography.
*[http://www.expo-monet.com/2.cfm Biography]
*[http://giverny.org/peindre/ Painting in Giverny] In Claude Monet's gardens.
==References==

<references/>

[[Image:Monet Bouquet de soleils.jpg|Bouquet de Soleils]] Bouquet de Soleils

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monet, Claude}}

[[Category:French Painters]]

Universalizing religion

2009-06-05T17:40:11Z

IkeL:

In the study of [[human geography]], a '''universalizing religion''' is a religion that attempts to operate on a global scale and to appeal to all people wherever they reside, compared to an [[ethnic religion]] which primarily attracts one group of people living in one place. Most universalizing religions are divided into ''branches'', ''denominations'', and ''sects''. By far the most practiced universalizing religion is [[Christianity]]. [[Islam]] and [[Buddhism]] are other large universalizing religions.<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref> About 62% of the world's population identify with a universalizing religion, with about 24% adhering to an ethnic religion and 14% to no religion in particular.

==Characteristics==

===Foundation, Age, and Nature of Ceremonies===
Universalizing religions can usually be traced to a single founder, a result of the fact that most universalizing religions are younger than ethnic religions. For example, Christianity can be traced to [[Christ]], Islam can be traced to [[Muhammad]], and Buddhism can be traced to [[Siddhartha Gautama]] ("the Buddha"). These religions can be traced back to their founders because they were established within recorded history, a characteristic of all universalizing religions. In fact, almost all universalizing religions were founded ''[[Anno Domini]]'', with the notable exception being Buddhism.

Another notable characteristic of universalizing religions that stems from their having known founders is the nature of their ceremonies.<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref> Most universalizing religions' holidays and ceremonies correspond to events in the lives of their founders. For example, the major Christian holidays of [[Easter]] and [[Christmas]] correspond to significant events in the life of Christ, with several minor holidays corresponding to the lives of [[saints]].

===Conversion===
Yet another characteristic of universalizing religions that are rarely found in ethnic religions is the ease of conversion. Because most universalizing religions operate on a global scale, conversion to universalizing religions is usually relatively easy and highly encouraged by practitioners of the faith. Some universalizing religions, like Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism, diffused through the use of [[missionary|missionaries]] to travel with the intent of encouraging those met along the way to convert. Some even may force conversion through conquest, as Islam did in the first half of the second millennium AD. From the 17th through the early 20th centuries, Christianity was primarily spread through European countries' [[colony|colonization]] of places like North and South America and Africa.

==Cults==
[[Cults]] exhibit many characteristics of universalizing religions, including having specific founders and a mission to convert. Some argue that universalizing religions started out as cults and grew to religious status over the years, though others argue that to say such a thing would be to demean the world's largest and most powerful religions.

==List of Universalizing Religions==
This list may be impartial, but these are by far the most notable and largest universalizing religions.<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref>

*[[Christianity]]
*[[Islam]]
*[[Buddhism]]
*[[Sikhism]]
*[[Bahá'í]]

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Religion]]

Ethnic religion

2009-06-05T17:37:22Z

IkeL:

In the study of [[human geography]], an ''ethnic religion'' is one that appeals primarily to a specific group of people from a specific place, compared to a [[universalizing religion]] which attempts to appeal to a wide number of people throughout the world.<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref> Some ethnic religions have different denominations, but most don't. By far the most practiced ethnic religions in terms of the sheer number of adherents is [[Hinduism]], but the most geographically widespread ethnic religion is [[Judaism]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref> About 24% of the world's population adheres to an ethnic religion, while about 62% belong to a universalizing religion and 14% belong to no particular religion at all.<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref>

==Characteristics==

===Foundation and Age===
All ethnic religions are several thousand years old, which most being of an unknown age because they stem from indigenous religions practiced in prehistory. The notable exceptions to this are [[Confucianism]] and [[Daoism]] (or Taoism), which both have specific founders ([[Confucius]] and [[Lao Tzu]], respectively) yet are still considered to be ethnic religions because they are practiced by a very small number of people primarily located in [[China]] (where they are actually illegal but still practiced) and [[Taiwan]] and are based on the traditional values and philosophies of that region. The ages of prehistoric religions like Hinduism, [[Shintoism]], and Judaism cannot be accurately measured because their histories are not as well documented as those established within the scope of recorded history.

===Ceremonies===
As opposed to the ceremonies in universalizing religions, which are primarily based around the lives of the founders, the ceremonies in ethnic religions tend to be based on the cycle of the harvest.<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref> For example, the Jewish holidays of [[Purim]] and [[Hanukkah]], even though they have elaborate origin stories, can be traced back to being celebrations of the stages of a harvest in the same vain as [[Celtic]] celebrations like Samhain (today better known and celebrated as [[Halloween]]). Because of this, the calendars of most ethnic religions are lunar (as opposed to the common Gregorian Solar calendar) and begin in the [[autumn]] with harvest celebrations akin to the American tradition of [[Thanksgiving]], which itself can partly be traced to a [[Native American]] harvest feast.

===Conversion===
While it is relatively easy to convert to a universalizing religion, it is often very difficult to convert to an ethnic religion. For example, Jewish [[Rabbi]]s are traditionally supposed to reject a potential convert unless he or she comes back three times as a sign of their dedication, after which the convert usually must endure rigorous training in Hebrew scripture akin to what a young Jewish person might go through in preparation for a [[Bar Mitzvah]].

===Pantheon===
A vast majority of ethnic religions are [[polytheistic]] or [[animism|animistic]], including Hinduism, Shintoism, indigenous Celtic religions, indigenous Native American religions, and indigenous African religions. The most notable exception to this is Judaism, which is not only [[monotheistic]] but is also one of the three [[Abrahamic religions]]. It is the only Abrahamic religion to be considered an ethnic religion, with the other two ([[Christianity]] and [[Islam]]) being considered universalizing.

==List of Ethnic Religions==
Because every indigenous religion is considered to be an ethnic religion, it is impossible to list them all; after all, there may yet be indigenous religions that have yet to be discovered and are practiced by the few remaining members of an ancient culture living isolated from the rest of the world. There are literally thousands of ethnic religions, but here are a few of the major ones.<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref>

*[[Hinduism]]
*[[Confucianism]]
*[[Daoism]] (or Taoism)
*[[Shintoism]]
*[[Judaism]]

It should also be noted that some modern religions like [[Wicca]] and [[Neopaganism]] root their beliefs in ethnic religions, but are more properly classified as universalizing religions because they don't have a specific group of people that they appeal to, rather appealing to a diverse group of people throughout the world.

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Religion]]

Ethnic religion

2009-06-05T17:37:03Z

IkeL:

In the study of [[human geography]], an ''ethnic religion'' is one that appeals primarily to a specific group of people from a specific place, compared to a [[universalizing religion]] which attempts to appeal to a wide number of people throughout the world.<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref> Some ethnic religions have different denominations, but most don't. By far the most practiced ethnic religions in terms of the sheer number of adherents is [[Hinduism]], but the most geographically widespread ethnic religion is [[Judaism]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref> About 24% of the world's population adheres to an ethnic religion, while about 62% belong to a universalizing religion and 14% belong to no particular religion at all.<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref>

==Characteristics==

===Foundation and Age===
All ethnic religions are several thousand years old, which most being of an unknown age because they stem from indigenous religions practiced in prehistory. The notable exceptions to this are [[Confucianism]] and [[Daoism]] (or Taoism), which both have specific founders ([[Confucius]] and [[Lao Tzu]], respectively) yet are still considered to be ethnic religions because they are practiced by a very small number of people primarily located in [[China]] (where they are actually illegal but still practiced) and [[Taiwan]] and are based on the traditional values and philosophies of that region. The ages of prehistoric religions like Hinduism, [[Shintoism]], and Judaism cannot be accurately measured because their histories are not as well documented as those established within the scope of recorded history.

===Ceremonies===
As opposed to the ceremonies in universalizing religions, which are primarily based around the lives of the founders, the ceremonies in ethnic religions tend to be based on the cycle of the harvest.<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref> For example, the Jewish holidays of [[Purim]] and [[Hanukkah]], even though they have elaborate origin stories, can be traced back to being celebrations of the stages of a harvest in the same vain as [[Celtic]] celebrations like Samhain (today better known and celebrated as [[Halloween]]). Because of this, the calendars of most ethnic religions are lunar (as opposed to the common Gregorian Solar calendar) and begin in the [[autumn]] with harvest celebrations akin to the American tradition of [[Thanksgiving]], which itself can partly be traced to a [[Native American]] harvest feast.

===Conversion===
While it is relatively easy to convert to a universalizing religion, it is often very difficult to convert to an ethnic religion. For example, Jewish [[Rabbi]]s are traditionally supposed to reject a potential convert unless he or she comes back three times as a sign of their dedication, after which the convert usually must endure rigorous training in Hebrew scripture akin to what a young Jewish person might go through in preparation for a [[Bar Mitzvah]].

===Pantheon===
A vast majority of ethnic religions are [[polytheistic]] or [[animism|animistic]], including Hinduism, Shintoism, indigenous Celtic religions, indigenous Native American religions, and indigenous African religions. The most notable exception to this is Judaism, which is not only [[monotheistic]] but is also one of the three [[Abrahamic religions]]. It is the only Abrahamic religion to be considered an ethnic religion, with the other two ([[Christianity]] and [[Islam]]) being considered universalizing.

==List of Ethnic Religions==
Because every indigenous religion is considered to be an ethnic religion, it is impossible to list them all; after all, there may yet be indigenous religions that have yet to be discovered and are practiced by the few remaining members of an ancient culture living isolated from the rest of the world. There are literally thousands of ethnic religions, but here are a few of the major ones.<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref>

*[[Hinduism]]
*[[Confucianism]]
*[[Daoism]] (or Taoism)
*[[Shintoism]]
*[[Judaism]]

It should also be noted that some modern religions like [[Wicca]] and [[Neopaganism]] root their beliefs in ethnic religions, but are more properly classified as universalizing religions because they don't have a specific group of people that they appeal to, rather appealing to a diverse group of people throughout the world.

[[Category:Religion]]

Christianity

2009-06-05T17:24:05Z

IkeL:

{{Christianity}}
'''Christianity''' is the world's largest religion, having 2.1 billion followers. It is a [[monotheistic]] religion that professes belief in [[Jesus]] as the Son of [[God]]. Christianity takes its name from [[Jesus Christ]] meaning "Jesus the Savior" and "Jesus the Anointed One". Followers of Jesus are called Christians, meaning "of Christ" or "belonging to Christ".<ref>[http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=2661&dict=CALD Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary]</ref> By definition, Christianity is a prime example of a [[universalizing religion]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Rubenstein |first= James M. |coauthors= |title= The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall |year= 2008 |month= |isbn= 0-13-134681-4}}</ref>
== Main Christian groups ==

The three largest self-governing bodies of Christians are:

* the [[Roman Catholic Church]] (approx. 1.1 billion baptized members) traces its roots back to [[Saint Peter]] who Catholic believed established the Church and the succession of the [[Pope]]s as the spiritual authority over the Christian body of believers.

* the [[Orthodox Church]]es (approx. 300 million baptized members) also trace their roots back to the beginnings of Christianity, but do not believe in the Primacy of the Pope. Different theological perspectives led to the [[Great Schism]] between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches in A.D. 1054.
[[Image:Anglican Christ Church.jpg|thumb|150px|Anglican Christ Church in Western Australia]]
* [[Protestantism]], the largest Communions are the [[Anglican Church|Anglicans]] (approx. 77 million baptized members) and the Lutheran World Federation (approx. 68 million baptized members). Protestantism has its origins in the European [[Reformation]]. It first broke away from the Roman Catholic Church under [[Martin Luther]] when differences over the nature of faith and works in the role of [[Christianity#salvation|salvation]] could not be adequately reconciled with Papal prescriptions as well as other practices that Luther saw in the Catholic Church at that time that he did not agree with. Other preachers and movements then followed Luther's example and also left the Catholic fold.
{{Clear}}

== Christian beliefs ==
Theologians, over two millennia, have debated a definitive summary of the Christian faith. While its interpretations vary drastically, probably the most commonly accepted statement of faith is the [[Nicene Creed| Nicea-Constantinopolitan Creed]] below:

<blockquote>I believe in one God, [[God the Father|the Father Almighty]], Maker of [[heaven]] and [[earth]], and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of Light; true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the [[Holy Spirit]] and the [[Virgin Mary]], and became man. And He was crucified for us under [[Pontius Pilate]], and suffered, and was buried. And the third day He rose again, according to the [[Bible|Scriptures]]; and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; whose Kingdom shall have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. In one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the [[Resurrection]] of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.</blockquote>

Christians and Christian denominations agree on many points of doctrine and disagree on others. According to an online Harris poll from 2003 99% of all American Christians believe in God, 96% in the [[Resurrection of Jesus Christ|resurrection of Jesus Christ]], 93% in Heaven, 93% in the virgin birth, 92% in the survival of the soul after death, 82% in Hell, 50% in ghosts, 27% in astrology and 21% in reincarnation. <ref>http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=359</ref> Note that the latter two beliefs are in opposition to the religious dogma of most Christian denominations.

Nonetheless, the Nicea-Constantinopolitan Creed offers a general overall picture of what Christian theology looks like, and serves as a useful outline.

Other creeds may prove helpful in research. See also: the [[Apostle's Creed]], [[Athanasian Creed]].

===God===
{{main|God}}
God is a triune being. Though there is only one Divine nature there are three Divine Persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The three Persons are collectively called the [[Trinity]] or the Holy Trinity. Christians are not polytheists because of the oneness of the divine nature (or essence). Though to non-Christians and even many Christians, it might seem like an inconsequential dogma, the doctrine of the Trinity is central to all of Christian theology and life. This is especially true in the relationship between God and human beings. The major theme of the Bible is love. In the Hebrew [[Old Testament]] the idea is expressed in the Hebrew word ''hessed'', which is variously translated as loyal love, tender mercy, steadfast love, mercy, goodness, etc. in the [[New Testament]] the same idea is expressed in the Greek word ''agape'', which is variously translated as love, compassion, charity, etc. The picture that the Biblical writers draw with these words is of a lover (God) who is entirely self-sufficient, needing nothing, and a beloved (human beings) in desperate need of salvation but unable to obtain it for himself. But God the lover is willing to suffer, knows He is going to suffer, even endure death to save those who believe in him. This love of God for human beings is an extension of the love the Three Persons in the Trinity have for each other. Each loves the others infinitely. Their love for each other and for their creation is such that the [[Apostle John]] equates God and love, in an almost mathematical way saying, "God is love."

Additionally, the God of the Christians is the creator of all things, is everywhere present, exists in all times, is transcendent, all-knowing (omniscient), just, all-powerful (omnipotent).

===Jesus===
[[Image:Jesus' Baptism.jpg|180px|left|]]
During the reign of [[Caeser Augustus]] the Son (e.g. the second Person of the Trinity) took flesh from a virgin woman and was incarnate as a man. He was born in the town of [[Bethlehem]] and was given the name [[Jesus]]. At the age of thirty he was baptized by his cousin, the [[John the Baptist|Prophet John]], and began to preach in the area [[Palestine]]. About three years after his baptism, he raised his friend Lazarus from the dead, prompting the Jewish power establishment to plot Jesus death. Jesus was [[crucified]]. He came back from the dead and was seen by over 500 people. He ascended to heaven. The four [[Gospels]] contain the records of some of what Jesus did and said, but he did much more than those four books relate, as the Apostle John said in his Gospel.
{{Clear}}

===Jesus' Self Consciousness===

Jesus, conceived of the Holy Spirit, presented a disturbing surprise to his earthly father, Joseph, knowing he had not impregnated his fiancee, Mary. She would ponder the meaning of this miracle all the days Jesus would grow and finally she would behold her son expire on the cross. But Joseph, told by the Lord who his son really was, and how he had come about, and being warned by the Lord to flee the murderous Herod, took his family to Egypt - until the death of Herod made it safe ("Out of Egypt have I called My Son") to return to Israel. The family settled in Nazareth on the elevated rim of the Jezre'el Valley where he grew well and observably no different from the other youth. But when he was about 12 years old, he was taken to the Temple in Jerusalem, and displayed his consciousness that His real Father was God rather than Joseph ("Didn't you know that I must be here about the matters of My Father?".

They returned to Nazereth in Galilee and it wasn't until 28 years later that He began to publicly show His consciousness as to who he was. This was at his baptism at the Jordan River by John, when the voice came, to him, to John, and to the people privileged to be around, "This is my Son, the Beloved, Listen (Shma'a) to Him!" Here and now, against even the desire of John the Baptizer, Jesus, knowing that sin was not in him, chose to identify with sinful mankind in this baptism of John for repentance of sin, knowing that at the end of his time on earth, he would then be giving this sinless life of his on the cross, bearing the sins of the world upon himself.
[[Image:Carpaccio Christus in Emmaus.jpg|thumb|Christus in Emmaus by [[Vittore Carpaccio]]]]
Back, now, in Galilee, he would begin to do works of mercy, miracles of compassion, healings of deliverance, and overthrowing the devastations of Satan upon the people of God's compassion - in short, bringing in the Kingdom of Heaven and of God and supplanting the Kingdom of Darkness. He began to gather around him his followers, simple fishing folk and others, spending most of his time in the area around the north shore of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). among the Jews of this Jewish area. He was bringing in the Messianic Kingdom to those who would understand it best, the Jews. But all the time, there was burning within him the knowledge that the blessings of Abraham would be extended, according to the promise, to all the peoples of the earth, the Gentiles, and there would be a new Kingdom, a new nation, transcending both Jews and Gentiles, the Kingdom of the people of God the Heavenly Father. He began his forays then into gentile areas, Phoenecia, the Decapolis, and other locales, and finding faith there such as he had not found "even in Israel".

A crossroads occurred, then, in the choice of Jesus, and consequently in the options of his disciples. It occurred in the Tetrarchy of Philip, at the foothills of Mt. Hermon, at the town of Caesarea Philipi. He knowing who he was, would force the question upon others - "Who do people say Me to be?". From the lips of Shim'on, whom he would call Peter, as leader of the others, He would hear - "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!" It was enough. Jesus would then begin imparting to them what the nature of His mission to be - not to expel the Romans from the Holy Land, but to go to Jerusalem, to be betrayed, to be spurned and rejected by the High Priests and the Elders of the People, to be hung on a Roman cross at the hands of the Gentiles, to die. Casesarea Philipi was in between, on one hand, Gentile pervaded Roman Tiberius to the southwest of the Sea, and on the other hand, anti-Roman nationalistic and zealotic Gamla to the north east of the Sea. (This latter would end their rebellion against Rome by suicide on Matzada in 73 A.D). Those two polarities were present in the minds of the disciples and Jesus began, on one hand, to divest from their minds the one, the warrior role of the Messiah against the Romans, and the other, to renew their thinking and their commitment to Him as the self sacrificing Lamb of God, the Prince of Peace and the true Messiah of Israel, on the other hand.

This took place on the long 3 or 4 day journey by foot from Galilee to Jerusalem, along the [[Jordan River]] valley, coming to Jericho, ascending to Jerusalem from the east. It was in Jerusalem that he prepared and settled the matter for the perpetuation of the Church at the Lord's last supper of the Passover, to be made palpable later by the descent of the Holy Spirit. It was in Jerusalem, in the Garden of the Oil Press, that what He had been lead to believe about his mission and the meaning and manner of his death was fully embraced and accepted with no reservation or turning back. "Your will be done, Father, if there is no other way", and "There is no other way, Your will be done Father!" It was a perfect decision and commitment, perfecting his life to be a perfect sacrifice. And it was to the west just outside Jerusalem that His teachings came to a concretization and realization on the cross. And just outside of Jerusalem that His Father would vindicate him by raising him from the dead.

"No man takes my life from me. I have power to take it and I have power to lay it down... I lay down my life for the sheep." <ref>Bible, Gospel of John, 10:18,15 http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=KjvJohn.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=10&division=div1</ref>

"Though He was in the form of God, He did not think equality with God something to grasp onto. But He emptied Himself and took to Himself the form of a servant and was made man, And being found in the form of a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. For this reason, God has exalted Him..."<ref>Bible, Philippians 2:6-9a, http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=KjvPhil.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=2&division=div1 </ref>

===Morality===
The fundamental principle in Christian moral teaching is love and forgiveness, as expressed by the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and the New Testament. Jesus summarized his teachings in two commandments from the Old Testament:

"'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." ([[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 22:37-39; [[Book of Deuteronomy|Deuteronomy]] 6:5; Leviticus 19:18)

Constant debate has resulted as to how a person should express love for God in their moral behavior. This moral dialogue found expression in the New Testament, where the [[Apostle Paul]] addressed such controversies as [[circumcision]] ([[Epistle to the Romans|Romans]] 2:25-29), eating meat that was sacrificed to [[pagan]] deities (1 Corinthians 8), speculating about myths and genealogies (1 Timothy 1:3-5), and observing ceremonial dates and seasons (Galatians 4:9-11).

Regardless of a person's ethical interpretations, adherents commonly point to New Testament passages John 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 as scriptural depictions of love. The former states that <blockquote>"God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."</blockquote> The latter characterizes love, saying <blockquote>"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."</blockquote>

Jesus Christ affirmed, "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35)

===The Atonement of Jesus on the Cross===
[[Image:Dalí The Christ of St. John of the Cross.jpg|thumb|The Christ of St. John of the Cross by [[Salvador Dalí]], 1951.]]
All Christians believe with the New Testament that the death of Jesus, along with His resurrection, is an indispensable proclamation of a crucial event for the reconciliation of lost sinners with God. There are three elements they see to understanding His death on the cross.

# Jesus having the knowledge that His path would lead to his own death, desired and willed that that take place, and persevered in that path though there was opportunity for Him to avoid it. Though there is ample recognition in the New Testament that others desired Him to die, and that the circumstances in which His path took him would bring Him to His end on earth, the mover of all these things was Himself and the will of the Father. "I have power to take my life and I have power to lay down my life. I lay down my life for the sheep."
# Jesus saw that in His death there would be a way for people to be brought back to the God from whom they were alienated and lost because of their sins. This would involve a substitution of Himself to effect that way. "For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many." How this would take place was not new to the Jews of His day from their understanding of contemporary everyday practice of substitute payment - as in redemption of the first-born (Pidyon Ha Ben), or in the understanding of what aggadic stories such as the Binding of [[Isaac]] implied (see [[Midrash]]), but it was not the prevalent view that the Messiah was to be that payment. Though while alive on earth, he had hinted at it in sayings such as "unless a seed falls and dies, it remains alone, but when it dies, it brings forth..", it was only after He had risen from the dead that He explained Scripture (the Old Testament) clearly about the necessity of His death to have taken place. The disciples would henceforth preach, and Peter among them, that the death of Jesus the Messiah and His resurrection was for-planned and for-ordained by God the Father, and foretold in the Scripture (Isaiah 53). And so, "The Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God".
# It was the belief in Scripture, that in His death a way back to God was made possible for those that were near to God—the Jews. And a way back to God for those that were far away—the Gentiles. That is why the New Testament saw in the requirements of God for Israel a fulfillment in Jesus the Messiah. He was the perfect Israel, taken out of Egypt, to redeem Israel. And that is why the New Testament saw in Jesus, a deepness to the incarnation of the Son of God, deeper than just a Jew of His time of a certain tribe. He was the "Second Adam" to redeem the sons of Adam. This encompassing perspective had further implications.

Christians of all generations have looked to the perfect Atonement, and the hope for reconciliation, accomplished by Jesus on the cross, to provide the means of understanding the solution to the vexing problems of the mind and of life itself - How can I make reconciliation with my enemies, with even the members of my own family, of race with race and people with people?; Does His death for the sins of the world include those who only partially understand, for the baby aborted, the feeble minded, and severely retarded?; For those who have never heard of Jesus, never been "enlightened", distant and remote in place and time?; Does His death for the sins of the world also include a remedy for the ills that have come as a result of those sins—certain sicknesses, ills of the mind, body and the soul? Do they "hold" for today?; Does His death make good, turn to the better, show the way, effect the way, of the illnesses that have befallen the world, not only by sin, but simply by the circumstances of life, of degeneration, of compounded dysfunction? How does the fruit of His death bring in somehow the Kingdom "among us"?

The death of the Son of God on the cross has provided the solution for sin, and it still holds its sway over the imagination and aspirations for the people of our generation.

===Salvation===
The Bible teaches that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). This is often interpreted to mean that everyone has displeased God and is now separated from him in a kind of alienation and enmity that results from the fundamental conflict between selfish human interests and God's interests (Romans 8:5-8; James 4:4).

However, Jesus offered a solution to this Biblical dilemma in that by repentance of sins and faith in him (Jesus), their sins would be forgiven. He said that "...the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins." ([[Gospel of Mark|Mark]] 2:10) Jesus also said, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Mark 2:17, and "Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men" (Mark 2:28)

Jesus Christ taught that "unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" ([[Gospel of John|John]] 3:3). Protestant Evangelical Christianity often use the terms "saved" and "born again" interchangeably. Other Christians, notably the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church use the phrase ''born again'' as a synonym for [[baptism|baptized]]. "Jesus answered, Amen, amen, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5)

Christians are expected to continue living by Christ's teachings (John 8:31), as is appropriate for "children of Light" (Ephesians 5:8-10). Some believe that this is necessary in order to stay saved. However, this is a common misconception of the text. It is rather referring to proving that one is a child of God by their "fruit" (things that they do and how they behave). Christians in the Reformed tradition (following the teaching of the 16th century French lawyer [[John Calvin]], as well as the faith outlined in the Belgic and Heidleberg Confessions) say that salvation is irrevocable and that it cannot be lost, if it were genuinely part of one's life to begin with. Reformed Christians (often called [[Calvinists]]) often point to Romans 8:38-39 as validation of their belief: "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39; [[NASB]]). According to Calvinists, the reason it cannot be lost by natural things is because salvation was obtained through a supernatural being, namely Jesus Christ. This does not negate Jesus' human side, only that he was both one-hundred percent God and one-hundred percent man, according to the [[Council of Chalcedon]] (A. D. 451). The Bible also makes it clear that mankind cannot earn their salvation, and that it is a free gift.

== Resurrection of Jesus Christ ==
[[Image:Jesus resurrected.jpg|thumb|left|200px|"The Resurrection" by Carl Heinrich Bloch]]
The [[Resurrection of Jesus Christ|resurrection of Jesus Christ]] is critical to the Christian faith. The Apostle Paul wrote, "if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain" (I Cor:15:14). Traditionally, Christianity has believed in a physical resurrection of Jesus Christ.<ref>http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/crj0056a.txt</ref>

In recent history Gary Habermas is considered the foremost [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] for defending the resurrection of Jesus.<ref>Habermas, Gary, [http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/dialog_rexperience/dialog_rexperiences.htm Experiences of the Risen Jesus: The Foundational Historical Issue in the Early Proclamation of the Resurrection], ''Dialog: A Journal of Theology'', Vol. 45; No. 3 (Fall, 2006), pp. 288-297.</ref><ref>"Wildcat" and Holding, J.P., [http://www.tektonics.org/books/lichabrvw.html Book review of "The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus"], 22nd June, 2004 (Tektonics)</ref><ref>Habermas, Gary, [http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/NTeSources/NTArticles/CTR-NT/Habermas-Resurrection1-CTR.pdf Jesus' Resurrection and Contemporary Criticism: An Apologetic] ''Criswell Theological Review'' 4.1 (1989) 159-74.</ref><ref>Habermas, Gary, [http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/crj_explainingaway/crj_explainingaway.htm Explaining Away Jesus' Resurrection:
The Recent Revival of Hallucination Theories], Christian Research Journal / vol. 23, no. 4, 2001.</ref><ref>Habermas, Gary, [http://www.apologetics.com/default.jsp?bodycontent=/articles/historical_apologetics/habermas-nt.html Why I Believe The New Testament Is Historically Reliable] (Apologetics.com)</ref>
Other notable defenders of the resurrection include: [[William Lane Craig]],<ref>Craig, William Lane, [http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/menus/historical.html Articles: Historical Jesus]</ref> [[Lee Strobel]], [[Josh McDowell]],<ref>McDowell, Josh, [http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html Evidence for the Resurrection], 1992.</ref> [[Edwin M. Yamauchi]],<ref>Jamauchi, Edwin M., [http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/yama.html Easter: Myth, Hallucination, or History?]</ref> [[N.T. Wright]]<ref>Wright, N.T., [http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Early_Traditions.htm Early Traditions and the Origins of Christianity], ''Sewanee Theological Review'' 41.2, 1998.</ref> and [[Michael Horner]].<ref>Horner, Michael, [http://www.michaelhorner.com/articles/resurrection/index.html Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?]</ref>

===The Meaning of the Resurrection for Christians===

The Fact of the Resurrection of Christ is a key element of the preaching of the message about Jesus and an essential of Christian belief. But there are also certain effects that this belief has on the lives of believers.

1. It is because Jesus rose from the dead, that believers now can resort to a living Savior to help and deliver them from sin and from situations overwhelming for them by their own powers.

2. The New Testament sees in the resurrection of Christ a certain vindication of what apparently to the world and to all beings was a failure and an overcoming of Him by His crucifixion. He was "declared to be the Son of God" by His resurrection. This brings believers in Him to a strong confidence in the determined power of God to both vindicate in their own lives and to bring His reign upon earth.

3. The coming of Jesus back to life means to the believer that, indeed, their sins are totally forgiven. This is because believers know that His death was as a payment for sins - a "wage of death" for our sins that He received in our stead. If He remained dead, believers would know that the wage had not been fully paid. His resurrection, carries with it our knowledge that our sin with its attendant death has been totally and finally paid for.

4. It is a now living Savior that Christians know can go before them, can closely lead them through life - as He did when He was on earth. This makes following Him practical and real.

5. The New Testament reveals that it is the Risen Christ who received from the Father the Holy Spirit and He, through Himself ascended to the Father, has given the Holy Spirit to us. This gives the believer in Christ both the knowledge and the power to live a godly life, and live a life that can be an intimately and personally directed one.

6. The resurrected Christ was no mere reassembling of the molecules and particles of the Body that had been crucified. It was, indeed, a physical body, but one that was fully under the Spirit's control, guidance, and empowerment. It was a "spiritual body". Christians know that likewise, they will one day be granted the nature of a spiritual body, and full of health. They therefore are full of hope and consolations, and consider that even now in this life, there is an overcoming through Him, a restoration, and that tears, even now, are wiped away.

== Evangelism ==
In what is called the [[Great Commission]], Jesus sent his disciples out into the world to preach the Gospel (literally "good news") and make disciples.
:'''Great Commission'''
:''But the eleven disciples proceeded to [[Galilee]], to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in [[heaven]] and on [[earth]]." Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the [[#God the Father|Father]] and the [[#God the Son|Son]] and the [[#God the Holy Spirit|Holy Spirit]], teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."'' --[[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 28:16-20 [[New American Standard Bible|NASB]]

[[Image:Gleyre The Departure of the Apostles.jpg|thumb|240px|The Departure of the Apostles by [[Charles Gleyre]].]]
 

==History of the name "Christian"==
Some early Christian churches called themselves "The Way" and the adherents were called Nazarenes (after the city of [[Nazareth]] where Jesus lived). The name Christian arose in [[Antioch]] in the first century A. D. and its use spread, probably closer to mid-century since it is recorded in the [[Acts of the Apostles|Book of Acts]] (Acts:11:26)

==See also==
[[Image:Orthodox churches icon artwork.jpg|thumb|Orthodox Church's icon artwork.]]
'''Denominations or branches of Christianity'''
*[[Roman Catholic Church]]
*[[Orthodox Church]]
*[[Protestantism|Protestant]]
**[[Amish]]
**[[Baptist]]
**[[Church of England]] or ''Anglican Church''
**[[Episcopal Church in the United States of America]] (or ''Episcopal Church'' or ''Episcopalians'') (Non-UK branch of the Anglican Church)
**[[Evangelical Christianity]]
**[[Fundamentalism]]
**[[Liberal Christianity]]
**[[Lutheran]]
**[[Mennonite]]
**[[Methodist]]
**[[Pentecostal]]
**[[Plymouth Brethren]]
**[[Presbyterian]]
**[[Seventh-day Adventist]]

'''Disputed'''
*[[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]
*[[Christian Science]]

'''Other articles'''
*[[Aramaic Church]]
*[[Cathedral]]
*[[Catholicism]]
*[[Christian apologetics]] (Defense of Christianity)
*[[Christianity and Science]]
*[[Church]]
*[[Conservative Christianity]]
*[[Eucharist]]
*[[Evangelical Apostolic Church of North America (Syro-Chaldean)]]
*[[Jesus Christ]]
*[[Judaism]]
*[[New Testament understanding through the Jewish perspective]]
*[[Passover Seder]]
*[[Persecution of Christians]]
*[[Red-letter Christian]]
*[[Sign of the Cross]]

==Further reading==
===Encyclopedias===
* Bodensieck, Julius, ed. ''The Encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church,'' (3 vol 1965), ECLS perspective
* Brauer, Jerald C. ''The Westminster Dictionary of Church History'' (1971), 880pp
* [http://newadvent.org/cathen/index.html ''The Catholic Encyyclopedia'' (1907-1913)], old but highly detailed and online
** '' New Catholic Encyclopedia'', edited by the Catholic University of America, 17 vol. 1967-1979.
*Cross, F. L., and E. A. Livingstone, eds. ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'' (3rd ed. 1997), 1840pp; [http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Dictionary-Christian-Church/dp/0192802909/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b excerpt and text search]; online at [[OUP]]
* Elwell, Walter A., ed. ''Evangelical Dictionary of Theology‎'' (2001) 1312 pages; articles by over 200 Evangelical or Fundamentalist scholars
*Hastings, Adrian et al. eds. ''The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought'' (2000) 808pp; 600 articles by 260 Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox scholars; [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0198600240/ref=sib_dp_pt/105-4292297-2766841#reader-link excerpt and text search]; online at [[OUP]]
*''New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge'' (1911), ), major sources of older scholarly articles; mainline Protestant perspective
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc01.toc.html Vol. 1: Aachen - Basilians]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc02.toc.html Vol. 2: Basilica - Chambers]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc03.toc.html Vol. 3: Chamier - Draendorf]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc04.toc.html Vol. 4: Draeseke - Goa]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc05.toc.html Vol. 5: Goar - Innocent]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc06.toc.html Vol. 6: Innocents - Liudger]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc07.toc.html Vol. 7: Liutprand - Moralities]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc08.toc.html Vol. 8: Morality - Petersen]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc09.toc.html Vol. 9: Petri - Reuchlin]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc10.toc.html Vol. 10: Reutsch - Son]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc11.toc.html Vol. 11: Son of Man - Tremellius]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc12.toc.html Vol. 12: Trench - Zwingli]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc13.toc.html Vol. 13: Index]

===Histories===
*Briggs, J. H. Y., Robert D. Linder, and David F. Wright. ''Introduction to the History of Christianity: First Century to the Present Day'' (2006) [http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-History-Christianity-Century-Present/dp/0800638123/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200823548&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search]
*Gonzalez, Justo L. '' A History of Christian Thought: Volume 1: From the Beginnings to the Council of Chalcedon'' (2nd ed. 1987); [http://www.amazon.com/History-Christian-Thought-Beginnings-Chalcedon/dp/0687171822/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200823941&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search vol 1]; ''A History of Christian Thought: Volume 2: From Augustine to the Eve of the Reformation'' (2nd ed. 1987) [http://www.amazon.com/History-Christian-Thought-Augustine-Reformation/dp/0687171830/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200823941&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search vol 2]; ''A History of Christian Thought: Volume 3: From the Protestant Reformation to the Twentieth Century'' (1987) [http://www.amazon.com/History-Christian-Thought-Protestant-Reformation/dp/0687171849/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200808706&sr=8-12 excerpt and text search vol 3]
*Horsley, Richard A. ''Christian Origins: A People's History Of Christianity, Vol. 1'' (2006), 318pp [http://www.amazon.com/Christian-Origins-Peoples-History-Christianity/dp/080063411X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200886474&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
*Latourette, Kenneth Scott. ''A History of Christianity'' (2 vol 1975) [http://www.amazon.com/History-Christianity-Beginnings-1500-Revised/dp/0060649526/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200823548&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search vol 1, to 1500], by leading Baptist scholar
*Latourette, Kenneth Scott. ''A history of the expansion of Christianity'' (7 vol 1939-1970), monumental history of missionary work worldwide
*MacCulloch, Diarmaid. ''The Reformation'' (2005), influential recent survey [http://www.amazon.com/Reformation-Diarmaid-MacCulloch/dp/014303538X/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200808706&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
*McGonigle, Thomas D., and James F. Quigley. ''A history of the Christian Tradition: From Its Jewish Orgins to the Reformation'' (1988); ''A History of the Christian Tradition, Vol. II: From the Reformation to the Present'' (1996) [http://www.amazon.com/History-Christian-Tradition-Vol-Reformation/dp/0809136481/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200808706&sr=8-15 excerpt and text search vol 2]
*Pelikan, Jaroslav. ''Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine'' (5 vol 1975-91) [http://www.amazon.com/Christian-Tradition-Development-Doctrine-Medieval/dp/0226653757/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201083460&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search v. 3, 600 AD -1300]]; [http://www.amazon.com/Christian-Tradition-Development-Reformation-1300-1700/dp/0226653773/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201083460&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search vol 4, 1300-1700]; [http://www.amazon.com/Christian-Tradition-History-Development-Doctrine/dp/0226653803/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201083460&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search vol 5, 1700-present] This is the standard history of Christian doctrine.
*Ward, Keith. ''Christianity: A Beginner's Guide'' (2008), 195pp

===United States===
* Ahlstrom, Sydney E. ''A religious history of the American people‎'' (1979) 1192 pages; classic history from broad perspective [http://books.google.com/books?id=5kFF6a1viGcC&dq=inauthor:ahlstrom&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES excerpt and text search]
* Balmer, Randall. ''Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism'' (2nd ed. 2004), 655pp
* Lippy, Charles H. and Peter W. Williams, eds. ''Encyclopedia of the American religious experience: studies of traditions and movements'' (3 vol 1988) 1872 pages; standard reference work; long essays by scholars
* Noll, Mark A. '' A history of Christianity in the United States and Canada‎'' (1992), by leading Evangelical historian [http://books.google.com/books?id=VGF3wbzzy9QC&dq=intitle:christianity+inauthor:noll&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES excerpt and text search]
* Queen, Edward L. et al, eds. Encyclopedia of American Religious History'' (3rd ed. 2 vol. 2009) 1200pp
* Reid, Daniel G. et al. eds., ''Dictionary of Christianity in America'' (199)
* Wooley, Davis C. ed. '' Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists‎'' (5 vol 1958-19820; 2565 pages

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External Links==
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/christians/ What Liberals Say - Category: Christians], [[Accuracy In Media]]

[[Category:Christianity| ]]
[[Category:Worldviews]]

Moral relativity

2009-06-05T05:13:40Z

IkeL: Updated the article a little bit and removed intense, groundless anti-liberal bias.

Moral relativity is the idea that there is no absolute right or wrong, and that anyone can freely use his or her own conscience to decide what is moral. For example, a moral relativist might not say that the acts of [[theft]] or [[murder]] are necessarily wrong, stating instead that it might be up to the murderer or thief to decide whether his behavior is justified; a popular example of moral relativism is the tale of [[Robin Hood]], who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. A moral absolutist might claim that Robin Hood's actions are wrong because he committed the crime of stealing, a moral relativist might argue that Robin Hood's actions are justified because he helps out the needy.

It is often argued that moral relativity is a primarily liberal belief because many conservatives believe that God is the ultimate arbiter of Good and Evil, as per the following quote:

'''"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.''' (Proverbs 14:12)

However, there are many instances in which it is argued that both conservative and liberal politicians behave with moral relativism, especially when it comes to loaded issues like that of torture.<ref>http://whatever.scalzi.com/2004/06/18/conservative-moral-relativist/</ref>

The [[Theory of Relativity]] has generated a huge following by advocates of moral relativism.{{fact}} The idea of moral relativity exist independent of (and substantially predates) the theory of relativity, but some moral relativists irrelevantly invoke the theory in attempts to lend legitimacy to this version of morality.{{fact}}

Advocates of moral relativity seized on the theory of relativity to legitimize their views.{{fact}} Historians such as Paul Johnson wrote about how the theory of relativity caused a sea change, justified or not, in 20th century thought.
[[category:philosophy]]

==See Also==
[[Nihilism]]

User talk:IkeL

2009-06-05T04:58:58Z

IkeL:

Judaism

2009-05-26T16:55:18Z

IkeL:

[[Image:StarofDavid.gif|right|thumb|The Star of David, a symbol of Judaism]]
'''Judaism''' was the first [[monotheistic religion]], dating back to around 2000 BC. Like [[Christianity]] and [[Islam]], Judaism is an [[Abrahamic faith]], tracing its origins to [[Abraham]]. Judaism was the first of the Abrahamic faiths. The core of the Judaism as it exists today took shape from a later time period when [[Moses]] led the [[Hebrews]] from [[Egypt]] and climbed [[Mount Sinai]], bringing back the [[Ten Commandments]]. Though there is some controversy, Judaism is generally considered to be an [[ethnic religion]].

The five books of Moses (the [[Torah]]), in which the [[Mosaic Law]] is found, are generally considered to be the core of the Jewish Scripture, and are supplemented by the works of the prophets and other writings which Christians call the [[Old Testament]]. The [[Talmud]] is another ancient Jewish writing considered by some Jews to contain traditions dating back to Moses himself, yet the Talmud also contains discussion by rabbis involving extensive disagreement and lively discussion, over interpretation of these traditions. The Talmud is not part of the [[Bible]] and the degree to which the Talmud itself is considered to be inspired varies across Judaism, with the [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] generally giving it the most weight.

[[Jesus]] was one of many Jewish teachers who disagreed with the Jewish authorities during his lifetime. He founded a new school of thought, which flourished even after his death and eventually became [[Christianity]]. Christians consider him to be the [[Messiah]] and even consider him to be the [[Son of God]]. Jews on the other hand, do not believe Jesus is either the messiah nor God's son. Jesus has no religious significance in Judaism at all, though some Jews may admire him as a moral teacher.

==Sabbath==
[[Image:Menora exb HSTR7337.jpg|right|thumb|Yarmulke and Menorah]]
Many Jews observe a weekly day of rest (the [[Sabbath]]) that begins shortly before sundown on Friday and ends after sunset on Saturday. During this time no work may be done, business transactions are forbidden, and light switches are not to be turned on or off. Jews celebrate the Sabbath by lighting candles before the Sabbath, singing songs, going to synagogue, called shul, by some, and learning.

==Denominations==
There are many different branches of Judaism. There are four large branches. They are from the most traditional to the least:
*[[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]]
*[[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]]
*[[Reform Judaism|Reform]]
*[[Reconstructionist|Reconstruction]]

==Ethnicities==
*[[Sephardi]] Jews.
*[[Mizrahi (sometimes spelled Mizrachi)|Mizrahi]] Jews.
*[[Ashkenazi]] Jews.

===The Diaspora===
"Diaspora" (Greek meaning "seeded throughout") is the term used to refer to the various dispersions of the Jews throughout the world through the eras of history. Its Hebrew linguistic forerunner is "Galut" meaning the "uncovering", betraying the understanding that being exiled from the Land of Israel is an exposing of Israel to vulnerability and danger. Some commonly known "Galuyot" (plural for Galut) are:

* the forced exile and assimilation among other peoples of the Northern Tribes of Israel by the Assyrians in 721, 722. Modern Israel has recognized among the ingathering of this exile (Kibbuts Galuyot) the ''Bnei Menashe'' (Sons of Manessaeh) of northern [[India]]. These members of the "Lost Tribe" are now allowed to freely immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return. ''(see [[Religion in India]])''

* the ''Falashas'' of [[Ethiopia]], among whom, like the Bnei Menashe, Jewish practices such as circumcision at 8 days and the keeping of Passover are maintained by those eligible for citizenship under the Israeli Law of Return. The are racially native African in appearance. They believe themselves to have become Jewish from the days of Solomon and the Queen of Ethiopia. That was the basis for the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selase (Holy Trinity) taking the title "Lion of the Tribe of Judah".

* The Galut of Babylon, the so called "''Iraqis''" exiled by the Babylonians at the time of their conquest of Judah and Jerusalem (c. 538 B.C.) This Galut developed a rival to Palestinian Jewry of the first centuries and provided the second corpus of religious literature to the developing Talmud. This was in the common language of Babyon at the time - Aramaic. This corpus came to be called the Gemara ("completion"). The [[Gemara]] dates from about 200 A.D.to 500 A.D. The Gemara and the earlier Palestinian Hebrew corpus, the Mishna, dating from 200 B.C. to 200 A.D. comprise the Talmud, which regulated most of Jewish internal life, until the western European "emancipation" and assimilation of the Jews - starting in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Talmud is still regulatory for Orthodox Jews.

*The Galut of the Jews by the Roman [[Titus]] after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 A.D. They were triumphantly displayed in Rome and dispersed in the lands along the Rhine Valley known in the Hebrew tongue as Ashkenaz - which is known now as Germany. There they learned the language of the land which developed into Modern German. The Jews called their language, the early stage of German, Yiddish. From the Rhine, many of the "''Ashkenazis''" moved (were moved) to Eastern Europe, many fleeing from there, to America, to Israel, to Latin America, etc. learning new languages, but also speaking their old language, not Hebrew, but Yiddish. This, with the common religion, enabled the fostering of unity and brotherhood.

*the 1492 A.D. exile from [[Spain]], where the Jews had previously settled in the time of the [[Moors]] and some attaining to high positions and appointments as physicians, prime ministers, and poets under the Islamic conquest. This was the Golden Age of Jewry in Spain. At their expulsion ("gerush") from Spain they settled mainly around the Mediterranean basin - North Africa, Greece, Turkey, and also many going to Holland and from there to the American Colonies. The first synagogue in America was created due to this dispersion. These Jews soon were speaking the language of the their host countries - Arabic, Turkish etc. but also speaking the language of Old Spain. "Spain" in Hebrew is Sefarad, so the language is Sephardic and the dispersion is of the ''Sephardim'' (sometimes spelled Sepharadim).

*the Yemenites (''Temanim''). Yemen means "right (direction)" in Semitic languages. When facing the temple from the east, the "right" points south. Therefore, "Teiman" also means "south". This dispersion is the southerly dispersion to what is now Yemen, gaining momentum during the Himyaritic Kindom in Yemen which had adopted Judaism. With the founding of the Modern State of Israel, most Yemenite Jews have immigrated to Israel and speak Arabic as well as Hebrew.

The term "''Mizrachi''" means "easterner" and it covers a number of eastern dispersions as opposed to the Ashkenazi who were westerners - from Europe. Coming into Israel during Ottoman Turk rule (1517-1917), many immigrating Jewish families who were not European were given the name Mizrahi by the Turkish immigration authorities as they were all "lumped together" as Easterners.

The Return of the Jews to Israel is seen as a fulfillment of the Scriptures and is called Kibbutz Galuyot, the ingathering of the Exiles. Here are some of the scriptures that both tell about the ingathering of the exiles and which have provided a major influence for the some of the dispersions to return to the Land of Israel:

" I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west, To the north I will say 'Give them up', and to the south, 'Do not hold them'. Bring back my sons from far away, my daughters from the end of the earth. Isaiah 43: 5,6

"Those whom Adonai has redeemed return, they come to Zion shouting for joy. everlasting joy in their faces, joy and gladness go with them, sorrow and lament are ended." Isaiah 51:11

"He who has scattered Israel, gathers him, He guards them as a shepherd guards his flock...they shall come back from the enemy country, There is hope for your descendants" Jeremiah 31: 10,16

"The Lord says this: 'I am going to take the sons of Israel from the nations, where they have gone. I shall gather them together from everywhere and bring them home to their own soil. I shall make them into one nation and into My own land and on the mountains of Israel.'" . Exekiel 37:21,22

==Main Holidays==
:''Main article: [[Jewish holidays]]''

*'''[[Rosh Hashanah]]'''--New Years. Marks the creation of the world.

*'''[[Yom Kippur]]'''--the Day of Atonement. Observant Jews consume no food or drink for the entire day.

*'''[[Pesach]]'''--celebrating the liberation from Egyptian slavery. Observant Jews hold a special festive meal, called a ''Seder,'' on the eve of Passover and do not eat leavened bread for the duration of the festival.

*'''Shavuot'''-- Pentecost or Feast of Weeks. Traditionally celebrates God's giving the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai.

*'''Sukkot''' --Tabernacles or Feast of Booths. Observant Jews eat and sleep in temporary shelters shaded by cut vegetation.

*'''Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah'''--The day after Sukkot is a separate holiday, known as the "Eighth Day Feast." It also marks the completion of the cycle of reading the Torah in synagogues. The end of Deuteronomy is read, followed by the first chapter of Genesis.

*'''[[Purim]]'''--celebrates the thwarting of a plot to kill all Jews it is recorded in the Book of Esther, which is read aloud in its entirety in the synagogue.

*'''Tisha B'Av'''--also known as the Ninth of Av, 9th of Av, is a fast day that mourns the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.

*'''[[Chanukah]]''' (there are several English spellings)--celebrates the re-dedication of the Temple after the revolt against the Greeks recorded in the Talmud and other non-Biblical texts. Jews light candles each night for eight nights, adding one candle each night. Chanukah is not a holiday recorded in the Bible and is considered a minor holiday from a religious standpoint, however from a secular Jewish perspective it has taken on a position of great prominence in modern times passing all other holidays as far as degree to which it is celebrated.

==Calendar==
The Jewish calendar combines lunar and solar features. During Temple times, months began when the new moon was sighted in Jerusalem. An extra month was added when needed to keep the Pesach festival in the spring. Today a complex algorithm, over a thousand years old, is used to determine when months begin. As a result, the dates of the Jewish holidays in the civil calendar vary from year to year.

==Jewish Scripture==
Jewish Scripture consists of 24 books, broken down into three sections:

*'''[[Torah]]'''--The Five Books of [[Moses]]: [[Genesis]] (Bereshit), [[Exodus]] (Shemot), [[Leviticus]] (Vayikra), [[Numbers]] (Bamidbar) and [[Deuteronomy]] (Devarim).

*'''Nevi'im''' --The Prophets: Joshua (Yehoshua), Judges (Shoftim), Samuel (Shmuel), Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the 12 minor prophets

*'''Ketuvim'''---The Writings: [[Psalms]], Proverbs, Job), Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, [[Esther (Biblical book)|Esther]], [[Daniel (Biblical book)|Daniel]], Ezra, Chronicles.

The Torah is divided into portions that are read during synagogue services over the course of the liturgical year. Jews refer to all 24 scrolls as the ''Tanakh,'' an acronym of the three sections. The Old Testament is the Tanakh, except with some different naming and a different ordering than the Jewish version. Some Jews find the term Old Testament to be offensive, as its meaning can be interpreted to mean the covenant of God with the Jews has been superseded and no longer applies.

==The Twelve Tribes of Israel==
The most famous of the tribes of Israel is Judah. From Judah's descendants, lineage, came [[King David]] ''“your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever”'' 2 Samuel 7:16, as did [[Jesus Christ]] '' 'The promised Messiah of Israel would come from the “house of David.”' '' Acts 13:34. No matter what tribe you originate from, all are considered Israeli.

In the [[Old Testament]], father Abraham's grandson Jacob, Isaac's son, his family would make up the 12 tribes. Jacob came to be known as the father of Israel, for it is written God changed his name to Israel. <ref>[http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/tribeisr.htm The Tribes Of Israel by Wayne Blank] The Church of God Bible Studsy</ref> The descendants of these twelve 'sons' of Jacob became the twelve tribe's of Israel.

In Northern Israel [[Gad]], [[Reuben]], [[Simeon]], [[Dan]], [[Naphtali]], [[Asher]], [[Issachar]], [[Zebulun]] and [[Joseph]]. In Southern Israel, the tribes [[Benjamin]] and [[Judah]]. The [[Levi]] were to serve as as the priests and their assistance for all tribes having their own levitical cities within the other tribes while having no land as inheritance for for themselves.

Each tribe was composed of a group of families, united by blood ties and constituting a social and political unit. As time went on, the stronger tribes tended to absorb the weaker ones. <ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=762510356&vv=450 Twelve Tribes of Israel] MSN Encarta</ref>
After the death of King Solomon, and in the time of his son, Rehoboam, the 12 tribes divided into two camps, the south was known as [[Judah]] with Jerusalem as their capital. The 10 Northern tribes made up the kingdom of Israel whose capital was [[Samaria]]. In 721/2 B.C. , the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered and the elite and powerful taken away by the Assyrians (leaving the weak and powerless) and resettled among various client kingdoms of their empire. The Assyrians, in like manner, settled other conquered peoples in various places of conquered Israel in order to dilute and weaken the population causing them to be compliant to the Assyrian overlords. This is how the "Samarians" were to arise, present in the time of Jesus and and present to this day - a mixed semi-judaized population with their religious center on Mt. Gerizim in Samaria rivaling Jerusalem. The northern dispersion came to be called popularly "the Lost 10 Tribes of Israel". But some of the "10 Lost Tribes" were not lost. At the time of Assyrian conquest of Israel, archaeology reveals, the city walls of the capitol city of the Southern Kingdom, Jerusalem, were suddenly and greatly expanded. This is because, it is thought, of the sudden influx to the southern brothers of the fleeing northerners. See also in the Diaspora section above, the Bnei Menashe, and see [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/973487.html]

The Southern Kingdom was conquered by Babylonians in 586/7 B.C. with much population taken to Babylon, which was to become a center for Judaism (and the Babylonian Talmud) rivaling Jerusalem itself. Cyrus, Emperor of Persia was to allow the Jews to return to their ancestral homeland, but many Jews preferred to remain in Babylon (most of these "Iraqis" would return to Israel with the erection of the modern State of Israel).

Alexander the Great, 333 B.C. would wrest the Middle East, and "Judah" with it, from the hands of the Persians, and after him, at the breakup of his Empire into Seleucid (northern) and Ptolomaic (southern) parts, the Seleucids took control of the Judah and Galilee (bringing "[[Hellenism]]" - the amalgamation of Greek with local cultures), and the occasion for the the revolt of the Jews against Seleucid overlord Antiochus and the beginning of the celebration among the Jews of [[Hanukah]] - the remembrance of the successful revolt, the setting up once again of a Jewish Kingdom in the promised land, and the re-dedication ("Hanukah") of the Temple (which had been desecrated). In 63 A.D., Pompey and the Roman rule would wrest power from the Hellenistic Greeks, and thus the Roman rule in the Land at the time of Jesus. The Kingdom of Judah, with its King Herod, was intended by Rome to be a buffer state between Rome and its hated adversary Kingdom - that of Persia. In this context there arose, another movement, followers of "the way" of Jesus, the forefront of another Kingdom, that was not of this world, the leading servants of which, would sit on the seats of the now ''12 tribes'' of Israel, and knowing themselves, as the "Israel of God".

Note: Among modern Jews, there is no knowledge of descent from any of the particular tribe of the 12 tribes of Israel, except Jews with the family name of Levi or Cohen (and a very few others). "Levi" is from the tribe of levites and means "accompanier", that is the ones who accompany the priest and offering assistance in the service of the Temple. "Cohen" means priest. With the last great dispersion from the Holy Land, that of 70 AD at the hands of the Romans, with its destruction of "the House" - the Temple of God, the levitical and priestly families, now exiled to Rome and Italy were careful to record and remember their genealogies back to the tribe of Levi, as it would be they who would once again be called to function when God when would make possible the return to the Land of Israel and the rebuilding of the Temple.

==Post Biblical Jewish Development and Literature==
The Jewish [[canon]] of Scripture was defined at the Jamnia (Yavneh) on the Mediterranean coast of Israel at 90A.D., about two decades after the destruction of the Second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. Jews now also lived in great numbers outside of the Land of Israel, particularly in Mesopotamia (the Land between the Rivers of the Euphrates and the Tigris), and in Alexandria, Egypt. Mesopotamian Jewry, with its large core from the exile to Babylon continually added to, was mainly Aramaic speaking while Egyptian Jewry was Greek speaking. Aramaic Jewry began the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into [[Aramaic]], this came to be known as the [[Peshitta]] ("simple" or common). This development was accelerated particularly when the queen of [[Adiabene]], Helena (Shlomzion HaMalka, converted with others to Judaism. The Old Testament Peshitta (there is also the New Testament Peshitta as believers in Jesus translated the Greek New Testament into Aramaic) contains influence from the Jewish literature known as the [[Targum]]. Queen Helena was buried in Jerusalem around 70 A.D.

The Alexandrian Jews also translated, even earlier, the Torah into their language, Greek. Later books were added to the Septuagint by anonymous translators. This is known as the Septuagint (translated by 70 or 72 Jewish scholars). The Septuagint was used by Greek speaking Jews and was naturally turned to by the Greek speaking believers in Jesus. Later Jewish scholars retranslated the Bible into Greek, as the Septuagint was seen as having issues in translations of words, these translations were done by Symmachus, Aquilas, and Theodotios, all converts to Judaism. Around the same time of this process, the Rabbinical School at Jamnia (Yavneh) under Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, decided that what was canonical for Judaism was only those books which had already been accepted as Scripture and were found in the Hebrew language. This eliminated most of the Apocrypha which was found mostly in Greek and Latin (but the book of Ecclesiasticus - "Ben Sirach" - has now been found in Hebrew and considered canonical by the Dead Sea community of Jews) as well as elevating the ''Hebrew'' Scriptures over just the Scriptures of Israel no matter in which language. Eventually over time, not only did the Septuagint drop out of Jewish usage, but so did the other Greek translations.
They were replaced by various translations of the Bible into Aramaic, one of the best known of these was the translation by Onkelos, a convert to Judaism, although Jewish scholars still used the Hebrew translation of the Bible, the laity preferred the Aramaic translations because Hebrew became out of use expect for Jewish scholars.

===="Jamnia" and Protestantism====
Though the connection of Jamnia and Protestantism is little known, it is a real one and one that exerted much influence on the developing Protestant Church and its outlook. The Hebrew canon of Scripture with its emphasis on Hebrew language originals sanctioned at Jamnia, which would exclude the Jewish but Greek language books we now know as Intertestamental or Apocryphal, would be the basis of a continuing textual study and ammendation according to the passing on of readings and comments by succeeding Jewish authorities, scholars, and rabbis. This work would be carried on through the fifth century, the time of the Masoretes - the "tradition (of Scripture) bearers". The receiving and handing on of how Scripture texts were to be read and sung, and what they meant.

When the [[Renaissance]] took hold in Europe, great interest was shown in the rediscovering both of the Greek classics, entailing the renewed study of Greek for this purpose, and the study of Hebrew language. Here now was the possibility for many scholars, and the emerging Protestant ones among them, to study the Hebrew Scriptures directly in the original language instead of the necessity of working through the Greek ([[Septuagint]]) and Latin ([[Vulgate]]) translations. But the Hebrew source resorted to by these scholars was the [[Masoretic]] text - following the School of Jamnia - without the Apocrypha. From then on, the heritage and perspective of the Protestant Reformation churches was that the Bible excluded the Apocrypha, though some of the churches would use the Apocrypha as "secondary" readings.

===The Talmud===
In Israel, there arose a literature, mainly in the common Hebrew of the day. It is known as the Mishna ("secondary"). This was primarily the recordings of discussions of Biblical laws with view to application to the present life and experience of Jews in Israel and in the [[diaspora]]. Changing conditions required more current applications. The Mishna developed over four centuries (200 B.C. to 200 A.D.) and is divided into 6 orders, numerous tractates, and smaller units (mishnayot). Most of the Mishna is comprised of "''Halakha''"- that is, legal discussions, decisions, having, in many cases, enforceable applications either by the Jewish community directly or by the Roman or otherwise authorities. The non legal aspects of the Mishna - the anecdotes, stories, remembrances of the rabbinic lives, etc. are called ''[[Aggadah]]'' ("the telling").

The Palestinian Hebrew Mishna, having spread to Mesopotamia, came to be regulatory to the Babylonian Jews, and, as the Mishna had become a "commentary" on the Hebrew Bible, so the Babylonian Jews developed a commentary on the Mishna itself. This was called the Gemara ("completion") and is in their own language, [[Aramaic]]. The formation of the Gemara took from 200 A.D. to 500 A.D. The whole Talmud then was a work of 700 years. The Mishna and the Gemara together is called the Talmud ("the Learning"). The Talmud then became regulatory until modern times for Jewish life elsewhere with but a few non-mainstream groups not accepting it.

The process of G-d sanctioned and ordained commentary (the Talmud) on the Scriptures is a legacy of the one movement that survived the first century Roman destruction of the temple and Jewish authority in Israel. The [[Saduccees]] disappeared as did the [[Essenes]] and the Herodians. But not so the [[Pharisees]]. The Pharisees believed that with the written Torah given to Moses on Sinai, there was also an Oral Torah given to him, by which the written was to be interpreted and applied. According to this tradition this Oral Torah was transmitted to others - Joshua, then the seventy, the prophets, and then to certain pairs (Zugot) finally finding its expression through the discussions and decisions embodied in the Talmudic literature. Through this the Jews created over 600 laws that they had to obey. Having a "portable" law and, so to speak, a "constitution" in the Talmud, Jews then were able to survive as Jews when they no longer had a land to live in and define them.

==Dietary laws==
Observant Jews follow a strict and complex set of rules governing what they may eat and drink. Permissible foods are called ''[[kosher]].'' Per Biblical commandments, only animals that chew their cud and have cloven hooves may be eaten and they must be properly slaughtered. Fish must have fins and scales. Dairy products cannot be mixed with meat from animals or birds. Vegetables must be checked for insects, as insects are considered "treyf," meaning not kosher. Additional rules apply during [[Pesach]].

==Life cycle==
Jewish boys are circumcised eight days after birth. They become adults for religious purposes when they turn 13, and event marked by a ceremony called a [[Bar Mitzvah]]. Similar ceremonies for girls when they turn 12, called [[Bat Mitzvah]], were introduced in in the 20th century.

[[Jewish law]] only recognizes marriages between Jews. [[Divorce]] is permitted, but there are exacting rules that must be followed for the divorce to be valid, including the husband presenting a bill of divorce (''Get'') to his wife.

Jewish law requires bodies to be buried promptly, preferably no later than the day after death. [[Cremation]] is not permitted. There are prescribed stages of [[mourning]] for the first year after the death of a close relative (parent, sibling, spouse of child). The anniversary of such a death is observed with gifts to [[charity]] and the recitation of a prayer, ''[[Kaddish]],'' praising God's name.

==See also==
* [[Bible]]
* [[Israel]]
* [[Israel Tourism]]
* [[Synagogue]]
* [[Orthodox Judaism]]
* [[Jewish Republican]]
* [[Passover Seder]]
* [[Hebrew]]
* [[Aramaic]]
* [[Aramaic Church]]
* [[Had Gadya]]
* [[Kaddish]]
* [[Midrash]]
* [[Targum]]
* [[New Testament understanding through the Jewish perspective]]

==External links==
* [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/jewishsbook.html Internet Jewish History Sourcebook]
* [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/ Jewish Virtual Library]
* [http://www.jewfaq.org/index.htm Judaism 101] Tracey R Rich.
* [http://www.jewishstudies.virtualave.net/ Academic Jewish Studies Internet Directory]
* [http://www.AskMoses.com AskMoses.com for questions about Judaism]
* [http://www.Chabad.org Chabad's Website]
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/jews/ What Liberals Say - Category: Jews], [[Accuracy In Media]]
* [http://www.aish.com Aish.com/]
* [http://www.beingjewish.com/ BeingJewish.com]
* [http://jewishanswers.com/ JewishAnswers.com]
* [http://torah.org/ Torah.org]
* [http://simpletoremember.com SimpleToRemember.com]
* [http://njop.org National Jewish Outreach Program (outreaches to assimilated Jews)]
* [http://ArtScroll.com ArtScroll.com]
* [http://Shamash.org Shamash.org]
* [http://shemayisrael.com/ ShemaYisrael.com]
* [http://jewishworldreview.com/ JewishWorldReview.com]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Judaism|*]]
[[Category:Anti-Semitism]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Bible]]
[[Category:Old Testament]]

Christianity

2009-05-26T16:54:00Z

IkeL:

{{Christianity}}
'''Christianity''' is the world's largest religion, having 2.1 billion followers. It is a [[monotheistic]] religion that professes belief in [[Jesus]] as the Son of [[God]]. Christianity takes its name from [[Jesus Christ]] meaning "Jesus the Savior" and "Jesus the Anointed One". Followers of Jesus are called Christians, meaning "of Christ" or "belonging to Christ".<ref>[http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=2661&dict=CALD Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary]</ref> Christianity is a [[universalizing religion]].
== Main Christian groups ==

The three largest self-governing bodies of Christians are:

* the [[Roman Catholic Church]] (approx. 1.1 billion baptized members) traces its roots back to [[Saint Peter]] who Catholic believed established the Church and the succession of the [[Pope]]s as the spiritual authority over the Christian body of believers.

* the [[Orthodox Church]]es (approx. 300 million baptized members) also trace their roots back to the beginnings of Christianity, but do not believe in the Primacy of the Pope. Different theological perspectives led to the [[Great Schism]] between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches in A.D. 1054.
[[Image:Anglican Christ Church.jpg|thumb|150px|Anglican Christ Church in Western Australia]]
* [[Protestantism]], the largest Communions are the [[Anglican Church|Anglicans]] (approx. 77 million baptized members) and the Lutheran World Federation (approx. 68 million baptized members). Protestantism has its origins in the European [[Reformation]]. It first broke away from the Roman Catholic Church under [[Martin Luther]] when differences over the nature of faith and works in the role of [[Christianity#salvation|salvation]] could not be adequately reconciled with Papal prescriptions as well as other practices that Luther saw in the Catholic Church at that time that he did not agree with. Other preachers and movements then followed Luther's example and also left the Catholic fold.
{{Clear}}

== Christian beliefs ==
Theologians, over two millennia, have debated a definitive summary of the Christian faith. While its interpretations vary drastically, probably the most commonly accepted statement of faith is the [[Nicene Creed| Nicea-Constantinopolitan Creed]] below:

<blockquote>I believe in one God, [[God the Father|the Father Almighty]], Maker of [[heaven]] and [[earth]], and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of Light; true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the [[Holy Spirit]] and the [[Virgin Mary]], and became man. And He was crucified for us under [[Pontius Pilate]], and suffered, and was buried. And the third day He rose again, according to the [[Bible|Scriptures]]; and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; whose Kingdom shall have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. In one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the [[Resurrection]] of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.</blockquote>

Christians and Christian denominations agree on many points of doctrine and disagree on others. According to an online Harris poll from 2003 99% of all American Christians believe in God, 96% in the [[Resurrection of Jesus Christ|resurrection of Jesus Christ]], 93% in Heaven, 93% in the virgin birth, 92% in the survival of the soul after death, 82% in Hell, 50% in ghosts, 27% in astrology and 21% in reincarnation. <ref>http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=359</ref> Note that the latter two beliefs are in opposition to the religious dogma of most Christian denominations.

Nonetheless, the Nicea-Constantinopolitan Creed offers a general overall picture of what Christian theology looks like, and serves as a useful outline.

Other creeds may prove helpful in research. See also: the [[Apostle's Creed]], [[Athanasian Creed]].

===God===
{{main|God}}
God is a triune being. Though there is only one Divine nature there are three Divine Persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The three Persons are collectively called the [[Trinity]] or the Holy Trinity. Christians are not polytheists because of the oneness of the divine nature (or essence). Though to non-Christians and even many Christians, it might seem like an inconsequential dogma, the doctrine of the Trinity is central to all of Christian theology and life. This is especially true in the relationship between God and human beings. The major theme of the Bible is love. In the Hebrew [[Old Testament]] the idea is expressed in the Hebrew word ''hessed'', which is variously translated as loyal love, tender mercy, steadfast love, mercy, goodness, etc. in the [[New Testament]] the same idea is expressed in the Greek word ''agape'', which is variously translated as love, compassion, charity, etc. The picture that the Biblical writers draw with these words is of a lover (God) who is entirely self-sufficient, needing nothing, and a beloved (human beings) in desperate need of salvation but unable to obtain it for himself. But God the lover is willing to suffer, knows He is going to suffer, even endure death to save those who believe in him. This love of God for human beings is an extension of the love the Three Persons in the Trinity have for each other. Each loves the others infinitely. Their love for each other and for their creation is such that the [[Apostle John]] equates God and love, in an almost mathematical way saying, "God is love."

Additionally, the God of the Christians is the creator of all things, is everywhere present, exists in all times, is transcendent, all-knowing (omniscient), just, all-powerful (omnipotent).

===Jesus===
[[Image:Jesus' Baptism.jpg|180px|left|]]
During the reign of [[Caeser Augustus]] the Son (e.g. the second Person of the Trinity) took flesh from a virgin woman and was incarnate as a man. He was born in the town of [[Bethlehem]] and was given the name [[Jesus]]. At the age of thirty he was baptized by his cousin, the [[John the Baptist|Prophet John]], and began to preach in the area [[Palestine]]. About three years after his baptism, he raised his friend Lazarus from the dead, prompting the Jewish power establishment to plot Jesus death. Jesus was [[crucified]]. He came back from the dead and was seen by over 500 people. He ascended to heaven. The four [[Gospels]] contain the records of some of what Jesus did and said, but he did much more than those four books relate, as the Apostle John said in his Gospel.
{{Clear}}

===Jesus' Self Consciousness===

Jesus, conceived of the Holy Spirit, presented a disturbing surprise to his earthly father, Joseph, knowing he had not impregnated his fiancee, Mary. She would ponder the meaning of this miracle all the days Jesus would grow and finally she would behold her son expire on the cross. But Joseph, told by the Lord who his son really was, and how he had come about, and being warned by the Lord to flee the murderous Herod, took his family to Egypt - until the death of Herod made it safe ("Out of Egypt have I called My Son") to return to Israel. The family settled in Nazareth on the elevated rim of the Jezre'el Valley where he grew well and observably no different from the other youth. But when he was about 12 years old, he was taken to the Temple in Jerusalem, and displayed his consciousness that His real Father was God rather than Joseph ("Didn't you know that I must be here about the matters of My Father?".

They returned to Nazereth in Galilee and it wasn't until 28 years later that He began to publicly show His consciousness as to who he was. This was at his baptism at the Jordan River by John, when the voice came, to him, to John, and to the people privileged to be around, "This is my Son, the Beloved, Listen (Shma'a) to Him!" Here and now, against even the desire of John the Baptizer, Jesus, knowing that sin was not in him, chose to identify with sinful mankind in this baptism of John for repentance of sin, knowing that at the end of his time on earth, he would then be giving this sinless life of his on the cross, bearing the sins of the world upon himself.
[[Image:Carpaccio Christus in Emmaus.jpg|thumb|Christus in Emmaus by [[Vittore Carpaccio]]]]
Back, now, in Galilee, he would begin to do works of mercy, miracles of compassion, healings of deliverance, and overthrowing the devastations of Satan upon the people of God's compassion - in short, bringing in the Kingdom of Heaven and of God and supplanting the Kingdom of Darkness. He began to gather around him his followers, simple fishing folk and others, spending most of his time in the area around the north shore of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). among the Jews of this Jewish area. He was bringing in the Messianic Kingdom to those who would understand it best, the Jews. But all the time, there was burning within him the knowledge that the blessings of Abraham would be extended, according to the promise, to all the peoples of the earth, the Gentiles, and there would be a new Kingdom, a new nation, transcending both Jews and Gentiles, the Kingdom of the people of God the Heavenly Father. He began his forays then into gentile areas, Phoenecia, the Decapolis, and other locales, and finding faith there such as he had not found "even in Israel".

A crossroads occurred, then, in the choice of Jesus, and consequently in the options of his disciples. It occurred in the Tetrarchy of Philip, at the foothills of Mt. Hermon, at the town of Caesarea Philipi. He knowing who he was, would force the question upon others - "Who do people say Me to be?". From the lips of Shim'on, whom he would call Peter, as leader of the others, He would hear - "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!" It was enough. Jesus would then begin imparting to them what the nature of His mission to be - not to expel the Romans from the Holy Land, but to go to Jerusalem, to be betrayed, to be spurned and rejected by the High Priests and the Elders of the People, to be hung on a Roman cross at the hands of the Gentiles, to die. Casesarea Philipi was in between, on one hand, Gentile pervaded Roman Tiberius to the southwest of the Sea, and on the other hand, anti-Roman nationalistic and zealotic Gamla to the north east of the Sea. (This latter would end their rebellion against Rome by suicide on Matzada in 73 A.D). Those two polarities were present in the minds of the disciples and Jesus began, on one hand, to divest from their minds the one, the warrior role of the Messiah against the Romans, and the other, to renew their thinking and their commitment to Him as the self sacrificing Lamb of God, the Prince of Peace and the true Messiah of Israel, on the other hand.

This took place on the long 3 or 4 day journey by foot from Galilee to Jerusalem, along the [[Jordan River]] valley, coming to Jericho, ascending to Jerusalem from the east. It was in Jerusalem that he prepared and settled the matter for the perpetuation of the Church at the Lord's last supper of the Passover, to be made palpable later by the descent of the Holy Spirit. It was in Jerusalem, in the Garden of the Oil Press, that what He had been lead to believe about his mission and the meaning and manner of his death was fully embraced and accepted with no reservation or turning back. "Your will be done, Father, if there is no other way", and "There is no other way, Your will be done Father!" It was a perfect decision and commitment, perfecting his life to be a perfect sacrifice. And it was to the west just outside Jerusalem that His teachings came to a concretization and realization on the cross. And just outside of Jerusalem that His Father would vindicate him by raising him from the dead.

"No man takes my life from me. I have power to take it and I have power to lay it down... I lay down my life for the sheep." <ref>Bible, Gospel of John, 10:18,15 http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=KjvJohn.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=10&division=div1</ref>

"Though He was in the form of God, He did not think equality with God something to grasp onto. But He emptied Himself and took to Himself the form of a servant and was made man, And being found in the form of a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. For this reason, God has exalted Him..."<ref>Bible, Philippians 2:6-9a, http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=KjvPhil.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=2&division=div1 </ref>

===Morality===
The fundamental principle in Christian moral teaching is love and forgiveness, as expressed by the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and the New Testament. Jesus summarized his teachings in two commandments from the Old Testament:

"'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." ([[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 22:37-39; [[Book of Deuteronomy|Deuteronomy]] 6:5; Leviticus 19:18)

Constant debate has resulted as to how a person should express love for God in their moral behavior. This moral dialogue found expression in the New Testament, where the [[Apostle Paul]] addressed such controversies as [[circumcision]] ([[Epistle to the Romans|Romans]] 2:25-29), eating meat that was sacrificed to [[pagan]] deities (1 Corinthians 8), speculating about myths and genealogies (1 Timothy 1:3-5), and observing ceremonial dates and seasons (Galatians 4:9-11).

Regardless of a person's ethical interpretations, adherents commonly point to New Testament passages John 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 as scriptural depictions of love. The former states that <blockquote>"God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."</blockquote> The latter characterizes love, saying <blockquote>"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."</blockquote>

Jesus Christ affirmed, "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35)

===The Atonement of Jesus on the Cross===
[[Image:Dalí The Christ of St. John of the Cross.jpg|thumb|The Christ of St. John of the Cross by [[Salvador Dalí]], 1951.]]
All Christians believe with the New Testament that the death of Jesus, along with His resurrection, is an indispensable proclamation of a crucial event for the reconciliation of lost sinners with God. There are three elements they see to understanding His death on the cross.

# Jesus having the knowledge that His path would lead to his own death, desired and willed that that take place, and persevered in that path though there was opportunity for Him to avoid it. Though there is ample recognition in the New Testament that others desired Him to die, and that the circumstances in which His path took him would bring Him to His end on earth, the mover of all these things was Himself and the will of the Father. "I have power to take my life and I have power to lay down my life. I lay down my life for the sheep."
# Jesus saw that in His death there would be a way for people to be brought back to the God from whom they were alienated and lost because of their sins. This would involve a substitution of Himself to effect that way. "For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many." How this would take place was not new to the Jews of His day from their understanding of contemporary everyday practice of substitute payment - as in redemption of the first-born (Pidyon Ha Ben), or in the understanding of what aggadic stories such as the Binding of [[Isaac]] implied (see [[Midrash]]), but it was not the prevalent view that the Messiah was to be that payment. Though while alive on earth, he had hinted at it in sayings such as "unless a seed falls and dies, it remains alone, but when it dies, it brings forth..", it was only after He had risen from the dead that He explained Scripture (the Old Testament) clearly about the necessity of His death to have taken place. The disciples would henceforth preach, and Peter among them, that the death of Jesus the Messiah and His resurrection was for-planned and for-ordained by God the Father, and foretold in the Scripture (Isaiah 53). And so, "The Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God".
# It was the belief in Scripture, that in His death a way back to God was made possible for those that were near to God—the Jews. And a way back to God for those that were far away—the Gentiles. That is why the New Testament saw in the requirements of God for Israel a fulfillment in Jesus the Messiah. He was the perfect Israel, taken out of Egypt, to redeem Israel. And that is why the New Testament saw in Jesus, a deepness to the incarnation of the Son of God, deeper than just a Jew of His time of a certain tribe. He was the "Second Adam" to redeem the sons of Adam. This encompassing perspective had further implications.

Christians of all generations have looked to the perfect Atonement, and the hope for reconciliation, accomplished by Jesus on the cross, to provide the means of understanding the solution to the vexing problems of the mind and of life itself - How can I make reconciliation with my enemies, with even the members of my own family, of race with race and people with people?; Does His death for the sins of the world include those who only partially understand, for the baby aborted, the feeble minded, and severely retarded?; For those who have never heard of Jesus, never been "enlightened", distant and remote in place and time?; Does His death for the sins of the world also include a remedy for the ills that have come as a result of those sins—certain sicknesses, ills of the mind, body and the soul? Do they "hold" for today?; Does His death make good, turn to the better, show the way, effect the way, of the illnesses that have befallen the world, not only by sin, but simply by the circumstances of life, of degeneration, of compounded dysfunction? How does the fruit of His death bring in somehow the Kingdom "among us"?

The death of the Son of God on the cross has provided the solution for sin, and it still holds its sway over the imagination and aspirations for the people of our generation.

===Salvation===
The Bible teaches that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). This is often interpreted to mean that everyone has displeased God and is now separated from him in a kind of alienation and enmity that results from the fundamental conflict between selfish human interests and God's interests (Romans 8:5-8; James 4:4).

However, Jesus offered a solution to this Biblical dilemma in that by repentance of sins and faith in him (Jesus), their sins would be forgiven. He said that "...the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins." ([[Gospel of Mark|Mark]] 2:10) Jesus also said, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Mark 2:17, and "Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men" (Mark 2:28)

Jesus Christ taught that "unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" ([[Gospel of John|John]] 3:3). Protestant Evangelical Christianity often use the terms "saved" and "born again" interchangeably. Other Christians, notably the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church use the phrase ''born again'' as a synonym for [[baptism|baptized]]. "Jesus answered, Amen, amen, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5)

Christians are expected to continue living by Christ's teachings (John 8:31), as is appropriate for "children of Light" (Ephesians 5:8-10). Some believe that this is necessary in order to stay saved. However, this is a common misconception of the text. It is rather referring to proving that one is a child of God by their "fruit" (things that they do and how they behave). Christians in the Reformed tradition (following the teaching of the 16th century French lawyer [[John Calvin]], as well as the faith outlined in the Belgic and Heidleberg Confessions) say that salvation is irrevocable and that it cannot be lost, if it were genuinely part of one's life to begin with. Reformed Christians (often called [[Calvinists]]) often point to Romans 8:38-39 as validation of their belief: "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39; [[NASB]]). According to Calvinists, the reason it cannot be lost by natural things is because salvation was obtained through a supernatural being, namely Jesus Christ. This does not negate Jesus' human side, only that he was both one-hundred percent God and one-hundred percent man, according to the [[Council of Chalcedon]] (A. D. 451). The Bible also makes it clear that mankind cannot earn their salvation, and that it is a free gift.

== Resurrection of Jesus Christ ==
[[Image:Jesus resurrected.jpg|thumb|left|200px|"The Resurrection" by Carl Heinrich Bloch]]
The [[Resurrection of Jesus Christ|resurrection of Jesus Christ]] is critical to the Christian faith. The Apostle Paul wrote, "if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain" (I Cor:15:14). Traditionally, Christianity has believed in a physical resurrection of Jesus Christ.<ref>http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/crj0056a.txt</ref>

In recent history Gary Habermas is considered the foremost [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] for defending the resurrection of Jesus.<ref>Habermas, Gary, [http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/dialog_rexperience/dialog_rexperiences.htm Experiences of the Risen Jesus: The Foundational Historical Issue in the Early Proclamation of the Resurrection], ''Dialog: A Journal of Theology'', Vol. 45; No. 3 (Fall, 2006), pp. 288-297.</ref><ref>"Wildcat" and Holding, J.P., [http://www.tektonics.org/books/lichabrvw.html Book review of "The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus"], 22nd June, 2004 (Tektonics)</ref><ref>Habermas, Gary, [http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/NTeSources/NTArticles/CTR-NT/Habermas-Resurrection1-CTR.pdf Jesus' Resurrection and Contemporary Criticism: An Apologetic] ''Criswell Theological Review'' 4.1 (1989) 159-74.</ref><ref>Habermas, Gary, [http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/crj_explainingaway/crj_explainingaway.htm Explaining Away Jesus' Resurrection:
The Recent Revival of Hallucination Theories], Christian Research Journal / vol. 23, no. 4, 2001.</ref><ref>Habermas, Gary, [http://www.apologetics.com/default.jsp?bodycontent=/articles/historical_apologetics/habermas-nt.html Why I Believe The New Testament Is Historically Reliable] (Apologetics.com)</ref>
Other notable defenders of the resurrection include: [[William Lane Craig]],<ref>Craig, William Lane, [http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/menus/historical.html Articles: Historical Jesus]</ref> [[Lee Strobel]], [[Josh McDowell]],<ref>McDowell, Josh, [http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html Evidence for the Resurrection], 1992.</ref> [[Edwin M. Yamauchi]],<ref>Jamauchi, Edwin M., [http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/yama.html Easter: Myth, Hallucination, or History?]</ref> [[N.T. Wright]]<ref>Wright, N.T., [http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Early_Traditions.htm Early Traditions and the Origins of Christianity], ''Sewanee Theological Review'' 41.2, 1998.</ref> and [[Michael Horner]].<ref>Horner, Michael, [http://www.michaelhorner.com/articles/resurrection/index.html Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?]</ref>

===The Meaning of the Resurrection for Christians===

The Fact of the Resurrection of Christ is a key element of the preaching of the message about Jesus and an essential of Christian belief. But there are also certain effects that this belief has on the lives of believers.

1. It is because Jesus rose from the dead, that believers now can resort to a living Savior to help and deliver them from sin and from situations overwhelming for them by their own powers.

2. The New Testament sees in the resurrection of Christ a certain vindication of what apparently to the world and to all beings was a failure and an overcoming of Him by His crucifixion. He was "declared to be the Son of God" by His resurrection. This brings believers in Him to a strong confidence in the determined power of God to both vindicate in their own lives and to bring His reign upon earth.

3. The coming of Jesus back to life means to the believer that, indeed, their sins are totally forgiven. This is because believers know that His death was as a payment for sins - a "wage of death" for our sins that He received in our stead. If He remained dead, believers would know that the wage had not been fully paid. His resurrection, carries with it our knowledge that our sin with its attendant death has been totally and finally paid for.

4. It is a now living Savior that Christians know can go before them, can closely lead them through life - as He did when He was on earth. This makes following Him practical and real.

5. The New Testament reveals that it is the Risen Christ who received from the Father the Holy Spirit and He, through Himself ascended to the Father, has given the Holy Spirit to us. This gives the believer in Christ both the knowledge and the power to live a godly life, and live a life that can be an intimately and personally directed one.

6. The resurrected Christ was no mere reassembling of the molecules and particles of the Body that had been crucified. It was, indeed, a physical body, but one that was fully under the Spirit's control, guidance, and empowerment. It was a "spiritual body". Christians know that likewise, they will one day be granted the nature of a spiritual body, and full of health. They therefore are full of hope and consolations, and consider that even now in this life, there is an overcoming through Him, a restoration, and that tears, even now, are wiped away.

== Evangelism ==
In what is called the [[Great Commission]], Jesus sent his disciples out into the world to preach the Gospel (literally "good news") and make disciples.
:'''Great Commission'''
:''But the eleven disciples proceeded to [[Galilee]], to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in [[heaven]] and on [[earth]]." Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the [[#God the Father|Father]] and the [[#God the Son|Son]] and the [[#God the Holy Spirit|Holy Spirit]], teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."'' --[[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 28:16-20 [[New American Standard Bible|NASB]]

[[Image:Gleyre The Departure of the Apostles.jpg|thumb|240px|The Departure of the Apostles by [[Charles Gleyre]].]]
 

==History of the name "Christian"==
Some early Christian churches called themselves "The Way" and the adherents were called Nazarenes (after the city of [[Nazareth]] where Jesus lived). The name Christian arose in [[Antioch]] in the first century A. D. and its use spread, probably closer to mid-century since it is recorded in the [[Acts of the Apostles|Book of Acts]] (Acts:11:26)

==See also==
[[Image:Orthodox churches icon artwork.jpg|thumb|Orthodox Church's icon artwork.]]
'''Denominations or branches of Christianity'''
*[[Roman Catholic Church]]
*[[Orthodox Church]]
*[[Protestantism|Protestant]]
**[[Amish]]
**[[Baptist]]
**[[Church of England]] or ''Anglican Church''
**[[Episcopal Church in the United States of America]] (or ''Episcopal Church'' or ''Episcopalians'') (Non-UK branch of the Anglican Church)
**[[Evangelical Christianity]]
**[[Fundamentalism]]
**[[Liberal Christianity]]
**[[Lutheran]]
**[[Mennonite]]
**[[Methodist]]
**[[Pentecostal]]
**[[Plymouth Brethren]]
**[[Presbyterian]]
**[[Seventh-day Adventist]]

'''Disputed'''
*[[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]
*[[Christian Science]]

'''Other articles'''
*[[Aramaic Church]]
*[[Cathedral]]
*[[Catholicism]]
*[[Christian apologetics]] (Defense of Christianity)
*[[Christianity and Science]]
*[[Church]]
*[[Conservative Christianity]]
*[[Eucharist]]
*[[Evangelical Apostolic Church of North America (Syro-Chaldean)]]
*[[Jesus Christ]]
*[[Judaism]]
*[[New Testament understanding through the Jewish perspective]]
*[[Passover Seder]]
*[[Persecution of Christians]]
*[[Red-letter Christian]]
*[[Sign of the Cross]]

==Further reading==
===Encyclopedias===
* Bodensieck, Julius, ed. ''The Encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church,'' (3 vol 1965), ECLS perspective
* Brauer, Jerald C. ''The Westminster Dictionary of Church History'' (1971), 880pp
* [http://newadvent.org/cathen/index.html ''The Catholic Encyyclopedia'' (1907-1913)], old but highly detailed and online
** '' New Catholic Encyclopedia'', edited by the Catholic University of America, 17 vol. 1967-1979.
*Cross, F. L., and E. A. Livingstone, eds. ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'' (3rd ed. 1997), 1840pp; [http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Dictionary-Christian-Church/dp/0192802909/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b excerpt and text search]; online at [[OUP]]
* Elwell, Walter A., ed. ''Evangelical Dictionary of Theology‎'' (2001) 1312 pages; articles by over 200 Evangelical or Fundamentalist scholars
*Hastings, Adrian et al. eds. ''The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought'' (2000) 808pp; 600 articles by 260 Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox scholars; [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0198600240/ref=sib_dp_pt/105-4292297-2766841#reader-link excerpt and text search]; online at [[OUP]]
*''New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge'' (1911), ), major sources of older scholarly articles; mainline Protestant perspective
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc01.toc.html Vol. 1: Aachen - Basilians]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc02.toc.html Vol. 2: Basilica - Chambers]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc03.toc.html Vol. 3: Chamier - Draendorf]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc04.toc.html Vol. 4: Draeseke - Goa]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc05.toc.html Vol. 5: Goar - Innocent]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc06.toc.html Vol. 6: Innocents - Liudger]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc07.toc.html Vol. 7: Liutprand - Moralities]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc08.toc.html Vol. 8: Morality - Petersen]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc09.toc.html Vol. 9: Petri - Reuchlin]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc10.toc.html Vol. 10: Reutsch - Son]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc11.toc.html Vol. 11: Son of Man - Tremellius]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc12.toc.html Vol. 12: Trench - Zwingli]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc13.toc.html Vol. 13: Index]

===Histories===
*Briggs, J. H. Y., Robert D. Linder, and David F. Wright. ''Introduction to the History of Christianity: First Century to the Present Day'' (2006) [http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-History-Christianity-Century-Present/dp/0800638123/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200823548&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search]
*Gonzalez, Justo L. '' A History of Christian Thought: Volume 1: From the Beginnings to the Council of Chalcedon'' (2nd ed. 1987); [http://www.amazon.com/History-Christian-Thought-Beginnings-Chalcedon/dp/0687171822/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200823941&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search vol 1]; ''A History of Christian Thought: Volume 2: From Augustine to the Eve of the Reformation'' (2nd ed. 1987) [http://www.amazon.com/History-Christian-Thought-Augustine-Reformation/dp/0687171830/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200823941&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search vol 2]; ''A History of Christian Thought: Volume 3: From the Protestant Reformation to the Twentieth Century'' (1987) [http://www.amazon.com/History-Christian-Thought-Protestant-Reformation/dp/0687171849/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200808706&sr=8-12 excerpt and text search vol 3]
*Horsley, Richard A. ''Christian Origins: A People's History Of Christianity, Vol. 1'' (2006), 318pp [http://www.amazon.com/Christian-Origins-Peoples-History-Christianity/dp/080063411X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200886474&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
*Latourette, Kenneth Scott. ''A History of Christianity'' (2 vol 1975) [http://www.amazon.com/History-Christianity-Beginnings-1500-Revised/dp/0060649526/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200823548&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search vol 1, to 1500], by leading Baptist scholar
*Latourette, Kenneth Scott. ''A history of the expansion of Christianity'' (7 vol 1939-1970), monumental history of missionary work worldwide
*MacCulloch, Diarmaid. ''The Reformation'' (2005), influential recent survey [http://www.amazon.com/Reformation-Diarmaid-MacCulloch/dp/014303538X/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200808706&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
*McGonigle, Thomas D., and James F. Quigley. ''A history of the Christian Tradition: From Its Jewish Orgins to the Reformation'' (1988); ''A History of the Christian Tradition, Vol. II: From the Reformation to the Present'' (1996) [http://www.amazon.com/History-Christian-Tradition-Vol-Reformation/dp/0809136481/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200808706&sr=8-15 excerpt and text search vol 2]
*Pelikan, Jaroslav. ''Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine'' (5 vol 1975-91) [http://www.amazon.com/Christian-Tradition-Development-Doctrine-Medieval/dp/0226653757/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201083460&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search v. 3, 600 AD -1300]]; [http://www.amazon.com/Christian-Tradition-Development-Reformation-1300-1700/dp/0226653773/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201083460&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search vol 4, 1300-1700]; [http://www.amazon.com/Christian-Tradition-History-Development-Doctrine/dp/0226653803/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201083460&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search vol 5, 1700-present] This is the standard history of Christian doctrine.
*Ward, Keith. ''Christianity: A Beginner's Guide'' (2008), 195pp

===United States===
* Ahlstrom, Sydney E. ''A religious history of the American people‎'' (1979) 1192 pages; classic history from broad perspective [http://books.google.com/books?id=5kFF6a1viGcC&dq=inauthor:ahlstrom&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES excerpt and text search]
* Balmer, Randall. ''Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism'' (2nd ed. 2004), 655pp
* Lippy, Charles H. and Peter W. Williams, eds. ''Encyclopedia of the American religious experience: studies of traditions and movements'' (3 vol 1988) 1872 pages; standard reference work; long essays by scholars
* Noll, Mark A. '' A history of Christianity in the United States and Canada‎'' (1992), by leading Evangelical historian [http://books.google.com/books?id=VGF3wbzzy9QC&dq=intitle:christianity+inauthor:noll&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES excerpt and text search]
* Queen, Edward L. et al, eds. Encyclopedia of American Religious History'' (3rd ed. 2 vol. 2009) 1200pp
* Reid, Daniel G. et al. eds., ''Dictionary of Christianity in America'' (199)
* Wooley, Davis C. ed. '' Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists‎'' (5 vol 1958-19820; 2565 pages

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External Links==
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/christians/ What Liberals Say - Category: Christians], [[Accuracy In Media]]

[[Category:Christianity| ]]
[[Category:Worldviews]]

Islam

2009-05-26T16:53:02Z

IkeL:

'''Islam''' is a [[monotheism|monotheistic]] [[Abrahamic religion]] based on the teachings of [[Muhammad]], a seventh century [[Arab]] religious and [[politics|political]] figure. The word "Islam" means "submission [to Allah]" in [[Arabic language|Arabic]]. Islam is considered to be a [[universalizing religion]].

A follower of Islam is called a Muslim or Moslem, a term which means "one who submits (to God)". The older term [[Mohammedan]] means "follower of Muhammad", and has been used for centuries. Muslims do not use it today to avoid confusing worship of [[Muhammad]] with worship of [[Allah]]<ref>Schimmel, Annemarie. ''Islam: An Introduction''. State University of New York Press, 1992.</ref>. Muslims follow the teaching of Muhammad, whom they believe to be [[God]]'s last and greatest [[prophet]]. The faith teaches that the [[Archangel]] [[Gabriel]] appeared to him.

Muslims believe that God ("Allah", '''الله''' in [[Arabic]]) revealed the [[Qur'an]] (or Koran) to Muhammad and, despite his illiteracy, caused him to transcribe it <ref>Proclaim! (or read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created- Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful,- He Who taught (the use of) the pen,- Taught man that which he knew not.(Surah 96:1-5)</ref>. The Qur'an is considered to be the pure and [[holy]] word of God. Like [[Christianity]] and [[Judaism]], Islam originated in the [[Middle East]]. Islam claims to trace its roots back to [[Abraham]]. Muslims do not believe that Muhammad was the founder of Islam, rather that he restored the original faith of Abraham and the prophets, which had been corrupted and/or misinterpreted over time. Based upon this belief, [[the Bible]], [[Old Testament|Old]] and [[New Testament]], is believed to have become corrupted as well.

[[Image:Mecca.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Mecca]], one of the holy cities of Islam.]]
Islam is the second largest religion in the world, with over 1.5 billion followers, the number of Muslims is rapidly growing, mainly due to high birth rates, in both Muslim-majority and other countries . Conversions to Christianity (from ''any'' faith or lack thereof) outnumber those to Islam, but cannot keep up with the birthrate discrepancy.<ref>[http://www.bible.ca/global-religion-statistics-world-christian-encyclopedia.htm World Christian Encyclopedia]</ref>
<ref>[http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles6/AlJazeerahAfrica.php Translation of AL-Jazeerah interview between Maher Abdallah and Shiekh Ahmed Katani]</ref>

Many believe that Islam is, with [[Atheism]], currently the greatest threat to [[Christianity]] and [[Christian values]], <ref>[http://christianblogs.christianet.com/1134840164.htm Is Islam a Threat to Christianity?]</ref><ref>[http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/5/8/183305.shtml Islam's Threat to the West]</ref><ref>[http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/stock/050413 Why Islam Hates Christianity]</ref> and the overwhelming majority of modern [[terrorist|terrorists]] are Muslims. It should be noted that only a small extremist sect of Muslims participate in this activity, using the concept of "Jihad" (Holy War), to justify their actions.

==Historical Background==
According to Islamic belief, in 610 A.D., [[Muhammad]], a 40-year-old merchant of the Quraysh tribe in [[Mecca]], in the Arabian desert (now eastern [[Saudi Arabia]]), was commanded by the angel [[Gabriel]] to "recite" the message of [[Allah]] (Arabic for God). Gabriel said mankind had lost sight of Allah's previous messages to earlier prophets, [[Adam]], [[Noah]], [[Abraham]], [[Moses]], [[Solomon]], and [[Jesus]], among others, and that Muhammad was to spread Allah's message to all people so that mankind would know how to live, how to show respect for Allah, and how to prepare for the judgement day. The message to Muhammad was to be God's last; Muhammad was the "seal of the prophets." Muhammad won some converts to Islam in his local area, but his [[monotheist]] preaching threatened to undermine the profitable [[polytheist]] pilgrim traffic supporting many Meccan merchants. In 622 A.D., the merchants drove Muhammad and his followers out of Mecca to the city of Yathrib (later renamed [[Medina]], or city - as in the city of the prophet). This flight (hijra) from Mecca to Medina marks the beginning of the Muslim lunar calendar, and is celebrated each year in the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. Muhammad's forces starting attacking the trade caravans going in and out of Mecca, cutting off its economic lifeline. After a series of battles between the Meccans and Muhammad's forces, Mecca finally accepted Muhammad's ultimatum to succumb and convert to Islam. The city welcomed the prophet back in 630. Muhammad died in 632. It is believed that Muhammed is the last Prophet.
[[File:Islam750.jpg|thumb|590px]]
Tribal elders elected [[Abu Bakr]] to be Muhammad's successor, or [[Caliph]] (Khalifa). Abu Bakr united the tribes of the Arabian peninsula during his two years as head of the new faith. Upon his death, the elders elected [[Umar ibn al-Khattab]] the next Caliph. During Umar's ten year reign, Islam invaded and spread through the sword into [[Egypt]], [[Syria]], [[Palestine]], [[Iraq]], and parts of [[Iran]]. Umar was assassinated by a Persian (modern day Iran) in 644, and was succeeded by [[Uthman ibn Affan]], who continued the invasions to spread Islam into [[North Africa]], [[Cyprus]], the rest of Iran, [[Afghanistan]], and parts of [[India]] and [[Pakistan]]. Over the next two centuries, Islamic armies continued to expanded Islam's empire into sub-Saharan Africa, [[Spain]], South-east and Central Asia, and [[Turkey]].

==Divisions Within Islam==
Uthman was assassinated in 656 A.D. by soldiers who then installed Ali ibn Abu Talib, Muhammad's son-in-law, as [[Caliph]]. Ali's followers believed Muhammad had chosen Ali to be Muhammad's heir, and had disagreed with the selections of Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman as Caliphs. Ali's claim to the position was challenged by Muawiyah, a kinsman of the murdered Uthman. Five years later, Ali was assassinated by Kharjites, religious dissidents who broke away from the main body of Muslims because they rejected Ali's accepting arbitration to resolve his leadership dispute with Muawiyah. Ali's supporters, or the Shiah al-Ali (or Shiat Ali, partisans of Ali) believed that Ali was the true Caliph and was, in part, divinely inspired. Ali's sons, Hassan and Husayn followed as [[Shia]] Caliphs, Hassan dying in 669 or 670 A.D., possibly by poisoning, and Husayn slain by soldiers of his rival, the [[Sunni]] Caliph Yazid, in 680 A.D.

The Shia Muslim community has divided further as followers coalesced around several of Ali's descendants or successors, called [[Imam]]s. The "twelvers," predominant in Iran, believe the twelfth Imam is in hiding and will reveal himself just before judgement day. Ismailis rejected the seventh Imam and practice a spirituality that seeks hidden meaning in scripture. Ismailis ruled much of [[North Africa]] as the [[Fatimid Dynasty]] of [[Egypt]] in the tenth through the twelfth centuries, and today are found primarily in [[Pakistan]], [[Afghanistan]], and [[India]]. The Sunni majority reject the premise that men can be divine, including Muhammad, Ali, or Jesus, and did not accept any of the Imams who followed Ali. Sunnis remain more committed to traditions and less inclined to accept Shia mysticism. Today, about 15% of the world's Muslims are Shia and 85% are orthodox Sunni.

There are other factions within Islam. Sufis, a name apparently taken from the wool garments they wear, developed around mystical practices and trance-induced revelations. Sufis are found today in [[Turkey]], [[Syria]], and parts of [[Africa]]. Other movements have taken reform tracks, such as the Unitarians of [[Saudi Arabia]], also called [[Wahhabi]]s after their 18th century reformist founder Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. The conservative Wahhabis are found today in Saudi Arabia and [[Qatar]]. Today the Wahhabi line has a tendency to produce extremists, such as [[Osama Bin Laden]]. Some critics would argue that the [[Taliban]] of Afghanistan took conservative reform to an extreme. Other sects or break-away groups include, among others, the Alawis found in Syria and Turkey, the [[Druze]] in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Israel, the Ibadhis (Kharjites) in Oman and Africa, the Ahmadiya of Pakistan, and the Zaydis of Yemen.

==Religious Guidance==
During his lifetime, Muhammad's companions learned and later transcribed the verses (surrahs) of the Qur'an as Muhammad spoke them. In Islam, the teachings of Mohammed were believed to be direct divine revelation from God. Some utterances that Mohammed was unsure about, dubbed the Satanic verses, would later be incorporated in a novel in modern times by [[Salmon Rushdie]] who would then be subject to a death degree from the leader of Iran for his writing.

The third Caliph, Uthman, collected and codified the various versions of the surrahs into one written Qur'an that became the standard Arabic text used by the world's Muslims today. The Qur'an is longer than the Bible and written in general order of longest chapters to shortest rather than in any order of when they were spoken, sometimes making the work appear to be confusing. In all there are 114 chapters. Most of the later recorded sayings of Mohammed, which were also more warlike, actually appear earlier in the text. Present-day Muslims look first to the Qur'an as a guide to life, then to the [[Sunnah]], or the way of the Prophet (his life as an example for others) as recorded by his early companions, and then to the [[Hadith]], a collection of the Prophet's sayings, comments, advice, and descriptions.

Frequently, Muslims disagreed over how to interpret certain passages in the Qur'an, the Sunnah, or the Hadith in their search for the ideal life and perfect path to heaven. From these interpretations Sunni Muslims developed four schools of law, or interpretations of law, named after their founders or early leaders: the Hanbali, considered the most strict school and predominant today in Saudi Arabia; Shafi, the school of widest acceptance, found in Egypt, parts of Palestine-Syria, south Arabia, and the Far East; Maliki, prevalent in North Africa, Sudan, and Nigeria; and Hanafi, considered the most moderate school, predominant in Ottoman Turkey and today found primarily on the Levant and Indian subcontinent. Frequently, Muslim countries have two separate legal systems, one for civil, criminal, or commercial law, and a second, and separate, system for religious law. Religious courts and their judges (qadis) might handle issues dealing with marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance, religious education, charitable or religious property (Waqf), or family matters. Among Middle Eastern countries, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Amirates, and Yemen have Shariah courts serving alongside their secular courts or have adopted [[Sharia]]h (Islamic law) as the basis of their legal systems.

====Clergy====
Sunni Islam does not have a priesthood or clerical hierarchy to conduct religious services or interpret scripture, but it does have prayer leaders, called Imams, and religious scholars, called Ulama, who often are educated men familiar with the Qur'an and able to offer commentaries on Qur'anic verses. Sunni Muslims also respect the teachings and interpretations of scholars, judges, and academics who may interpret laws, write treatises on Sharia (religious law) or Hadith, and issue Fatwas, religious declarations intended to enlighten or guide Muslims.

Shia Islam has a hierarchy that resembles a priesthood. Mullahs are prayer leaders, but usually do not interpret religious law. Mujtahids are religious scholars who may interpret law or passages from the Qur'an or Hadith. The lower order of Mujtahids are called Hojjatolislam. Ayat Allah (literally sign of God, also Ayatollah) is a higher order of Mujtahid who may issue Fatwas, or religious edicts, in addition to leading Islamic schools, interpreting religious law and the Qur'an, and offering sermons or discourses on proper Islamic behavior.

===Five Pillars of Islam===
*'''Shahadah (Profession of Faith)''' -The Shahadah is the Muslim profession of faith. 'ašhadu 'al-lā ilāha illā-llāhu wa 'ašhadu 'anna muħammadan rasūlu-llāh, a loose English translation reads "''There is none worthy of worship except God, and [[Muhammad]] is the messenger of God''" This testament can be seen as the foundation of all of the other tenets of Islam.

*'''[[Salat]] (Ritual Prayer)''' -All Muslims are required to Pray to God five times each day while facing [[Mecca]].

*'''Zakat (Charity)''' Able Muslims must donate to the poor based on the wealth one has accumulated. In current usage it is interpreted as 2.5% of the value of most valuables and savings held for a full [[lunar year]].

*'''Sawm (Fasting)''' All able-bodied Muslims (children, the elderly, and the ill are exempt) must fast during daylight hours during the daylight hours of the entire month of [[Ramadan]]. According to Muslims, this purifies the body and soul. Some Muslim sects allow military, police and emergency services personnel to receive an exemption from fasting from an imam, on the grounds that their work supports the community or national good.

*'''Hajj (Pilgrimage)''' All able-bodied Muslims must make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lives.

==Other Aspects of Islam==
[[Image:Quran.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Pages from the Qur'an, the holy book of the Islamic religion.]]
====Jihad====
Jihad is the "effort" or "struggle" each Muslim faces in the everyday trials of life, such as the effort to get better grades in school, or the striving to achieve better results from a job, or the struggle to avoid sinful temptations. Jihad also can be applied to warfare; participating in jihad in Allah's cause was the third most important good deed listed in the Hadith, after prayer and honoring one's parents. Jihad often was a rallying cry for the military spread of Islam in the seventh through tenth centuries against non-Muslims.

====Osama bin Laden and Fundamentalists====
[[Osama bin Laden]], a follower of a particular brand of Islam popular in Saudi Arabia, has stated that Islam is at war with the United States and its allies. Some observers maintain that the number of Muslims who believe as bin Laden does is growing, and others go further to suggest that all "fundamentalist" Muslims are enemies of the West. But other observers differentiate between conservative "fundamentalists" and the "extremists" who follow bin Laden or other terrorists. These observers suggest that the fundamentalists disagree with bin Laden as much as do Westerners. It is hard to know the truth. Many westerners are still haunted by the images of cheering crowds dancing in the streets when the 9/11 attacks were announced and were disappointed at the lack of prominent condemnation of the attack from Islamic circles worldwide.

====People of the Book====
Christians and Jews are called "people of the Book" in the Qur'an and are considered earlier forerunners to Islam and viewed as brothers as long as they pay an extra tax when under Islamic rule. Islam, tracing its roots back to Abraham through his son Ishmael instead of Isaac as the Jews did, believes that they are the descendants of God's promise. Islam believes that both the Old and New Testament were corrupted and corrected by the Qur'an, but there is still an earlier link between the three religions. The view of Jews and Christians varied within different parts of the Qur'an and Islamic history. Much of current Islamic culture, even in places that were once very tolerant such as Egypt, has seen an upsurge in persecution and violence against Christians and Jews.

====Women in Islam====
For the most part, the Qur'an treats men and [[woman|women]] equally, applies the same injunctions and prohibitions to men and women, and grants many of the same privileges and benefits. But women are treated separately in certain instances. For example, women are required to "... draw their outer garments around them ... that they may be known (to be Muslims) and not annoyed (by men)." (Qur'an 33:59) Covering the head and body in public (hijab) is viewed by many Muslim women as a protection of their modesty, a way to discourage men's covetous eyes. The principle of hijab is applied in different ways: a small scarf around the head and regular "street clothes" may be voluntary and acceptable in Cairo or Damascus but a full length opaque [[Burqa]] was enforced in Taliban Afghanistan. The treatment of women may depend upon rural or urban settings, educational level, society norms, tradition, or other factors. As of 2008, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are the only two Middle Eastern countries where the government requires women to wear some form of modest garb.

Islamic dress is a regular grounds for conflict in multicultural education.

Treatment of women varies widely by country. In the Islamic state of Saudi Arabia women are forbidden from driving a car, traveling in public without their husband or a male family member as an escort, leaving their home without wearing Islamic dress, working or voting. Though not formally forbidden from owning property, they have no way of obtaining this as work is forbidden and only males are permitted to inherit - should a man die, his brothers, sons and father will all inherit before his wife. These restrictions are part of the criminal law of the country, and enforced by the police and a special Islamic office. Pakistan has similar restrictions, but to a lesser extent. In contrast, Turkey has a majority Muslim population yet still grants women rights near-equal to those of men including property ownership, employment, and education to university level.

Muslim apologists suggest the extremely repressive policies of countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are cultural rather than religious, and point to the more moderate Islam practiced in Turkey as a demonstration that Islam and womens' rights are compatible, and point to past Christian-dominated cultures such as medieval Europe as examples that other religions can be distorted to justify oppression.

Muslim women's status is controversial. Some critics claim that Muslim men oppress Muslim women by compelling them to remain hidden behind the veil, sequestered in the home, and ignorant of the world by denying them access to education and worldly opportunities. Defenders of some practices suggest that many of them, such as the veil, are cultural traditions that pre-date Islam and are intended to protect, not constrict, women, or that many Muslim women adopt the life style of the veil voluntarily. There are Muslim women who agree and disagree with the critics.

====Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem====
Muhammad's home city of Mecca was the site of his earliest preaching and conversions, and is the location of the Kaaba, traditionally held to be the foundation stone of the first mosque built by Adam and later restored by Abraham, and now the focus of the annual pilgrimage (hajj). Some historians suggest that the Kaaba, a black stone probably meteoric in origin, was venerated by pre-Islamic polytheistic religions.

At first, Jerusalem was Islam's holy city and the focus of prayers, but Mecca became the center of Islam after Muhammad's return in 630. Medina, because of its early association with Muhammad and as the site of Muhammad's tomb, is second in importance to Mecca. Jerusalem is revered by Muslims as the site of Solomon's temple, Abraham's near sacrifice of his son Ishmael, and the scene of Muhammad's miraculous midnight journey, the latter two now enshrined in the Dome of the Rock mosque. According to the Qur'an (Surrah 17:1, Isra) and Hadith, Muhammad and Gabriel were taken on winged mules from Mecca to Jerusalem, where they ascended through the seven heavens to the presence of Allah. During the visit, Muhammad learned, among other points, that Muslims were to pray five times each day and to honor Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and the other prophets.

====Restrictions====
Observant Muslims are not supposed to eat pork and in general do not have dogs as pets; both swine and canines are considered unclean. Muslims are proscribed from drinking alcoholic beverages. Observant Muslims do not collect interest.

====Non-Muslim Practices====
Some practices have been associated with Islam because they occur in Islamic countries, but actually are not a part of Islam. For example, female circumcision is not mentioned in the Qur'an, but is mentioned in Hadith as an "honorable" but not obligatory condition. It is a pre-Islamic tradition in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab world, notably in Eritrea, Yemen, and Egypt. Another example of a practice that has been associated incorrectly with Islam is honor killing, in which a brother, father, or uncle "restores" or "defends" a family's honor by killing the sister, daughter, or niece that dishonored the family through unmarried pregnancy or promiscuous behavior. The "honor killing" is more ancient and possibly tribalistic pagan in origin.

==Islam and Christianity==
While Muslims do not believe Jesus to be the Son of God or in the resurrection, they consider him and his mother to be of God's most important prophets (Marian and Isa) otherwise known as Mary and Jesus. However, the Qur'an warns against worshipping Jesus, Muhammad, and other humans for fear of [[idolatry]].<ref>[http://www.ccg.org/_domain/ccg.org/Islam/Islam.htm Christian Churches of God Articles on Islam], March 10, 2007</ref>

The Qur'an states that Christians will be punished, though the nature of the punishment is not specified:

"Surely, disbelievers are those who said:
'Allah is the third of the three (in a Trinity).' But there is no god but One, Allah.
And if they cease not from what they say, verily, a painful torment will befall the disbelievers among them.

Will they not repent to Allah and ask His Forgiveness? For Allah is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful.

The Messiah , son of Mary, was no more than a Messenger; many were the Messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a Siddiqah (i.e. she believed in the words of God and His Books ).
They both used to eat food (as any other human eat).
Look how We make the signs clear to them, yet look how they are deluded away (from the truth)."

Qur'an 5:73-75

However, Islam does recognize Christians and Jews as "people of the book" since both refer to one God only, and recognize Abraham (Ibrahim in [[Arabic]]) as a founding prophet.

==Islam and Paganism==

Although Muslims profess belief in a single [[God]], some believe Islam has its roots in an earlier polytheistic system.<ref>[http://www.chick.com/information/religions/islam/]</ref> By this thinking God is linked to an earlier moon deity, although it should be brought up that there is no mention of this in the Qur'an, where Allah is cited as the God of [[Abraham]].<ref>The Qur'an, Sura 37 [http://www.amazon.com/Holy-Quran-Allamah-Nooruddin/dp/0963206702]</ref><ref>Abramahov, "Islamic Theology". Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, 1988. [http://www.amazon.com/Islamic-Theology-Binyamin-Abrahamov/dp/0748611029/sr=8-4/qid=1172042917/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4/105-1837174-2630046?ie=UTF8&s=books]</ref>

==Sharia==
[[Image:StarCresent.png|thumb|right|220px|The Star and Crescent is a symbol of Islam. It is featured in the national flag of [[Algeria]], [[Azerbaijan]], [[Malaysia]], [[Tunisia]], [[Mauritania]], [[Pakistan]], and [[Turkey]].]]
[[Sharia]] is the body of Islamic law. The term means "way" or "path"; it is the legal framework within which public and some private aspects of life are regulated for those living in a legal system based on Muslim principles of jurisprudence. It is not actually part of the canonical Qur'an; that is to say, it is not believed to be the direct word of God by Muslims, but rather the interpretation of it.

Sharia deals with many aspects of day-to-day life, including politics, economics, banking, business law, contract law, sexuality, marriage, divorce, and social issues. Some Islamic scholars accept Sharia as the body of precedent and legal theory established before the 19th century, while other scholars view Sharia as a changing body, and include Islamic legal theory from the contemporary period.{{fact}}

Sharia law is used in many modern Islamic theocracies and prescribes very harsh treatments for acts, that, in the western world, are relatively minor. For example, under sharia law, converting from Islam is punishable by death.<ref>[http://www.ntpi.org/html/whyoppose.html]</ref>

==Ex-Muslims==
[[Michelle Malkin]] highlights a group of Ex-Muslims hoping to change the terms of debate about Islam in Europe. Maryam Namazie, the head of the British group said "Too many things in the media and government policies have been geared to pandering to the political Islamic movements and Islamic organizations." <ref> [http://michellemalkin.com/2007/06/20/ex-muslims-stand-up-in-britain/ Ex-Muslims stand up in Britain]</ref>

----
''Some of the text for this article was taken from "Islam: A Primer", Congressional Research Service Report for Congress (2003), a work in the public domain'' [http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/islam.htm#back]

==Prominent Muslims==
*[[Muhammad]]
*[[Muhammad Ali]]
*[[Ahmed Deedat]]
*[[Yusef Islam]]
*[[Prince Naseem Hamed]]
*[[Rezazadeh Hossein]]
*[[Ayatollah Khomeini]]
*[[Ayatollah Khamenei]]
*[[Mohammad Khatami]]
*[[Osama Bin Laden]]
*President [[Barack Hussein Obama]] (suspected)

== See also ==
[[Image:Africa islam 87.jpg|thumb|Islam in Africa]]
*[[Arab American]]
*[[Islamic republic]]
*[[Qur'an]]
*[[Ramadan]]

==External links==
*[http://muslim-canada.org/islam_christianity.html Islam and Christianity] - excellent article comparing and contrasting the two.
*[http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/ Qur'an online in English]
*[http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/ Sahih Bukhari (Hadith collection) online in English]
*[http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/ Sahih Muslim (Hadith collection) online in English]
*[http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/abudawud/ Sunan Abu-Dawud (Hadith collection) online in English]
*[http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muwatta/ Malik's Muwatta (Hadith collection) online in English]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Islam]]
[[Category:Worldviews]]

Talk:Bat Mitzvah

2009-05-17T23:44:18Z

IkeL: Created page with '==Merge?== I feel like this page should be merged with Bar Mitzvah and have the unified page be titled Bar and Bat Mitzvah. This page contains very little information not...'

==Merge?==
I feel like this page should be merged with [[Bar Mitzvah]] and have the unified page be titled [[Bar and Bat Mitzvah]]. This page contains very little information not found on the Bar Mitzvah page and is just as short as the Bar Mitzvah page, so both could benefit from being merged into a longer article. -[[User:Ilikecake|Ilikecake]] 19:44, 17 May 2009 (EDT)

Ethnic religion

2009-05-17T23:42:13Z

IkeL: /* Conversion */ Grammar error correction.

In the study of [[human geography]], an ''ethnic religion'' is one that appeals primarily to a specific group of people from a specific place, compared to a [[universalizing religion]] which attempts to appeal to a wide number of people throughout the world. Some ethnic religions have different denominations, but most don't. By far the most practiced ethnic religions in terms of the sheer number of adherents is [[Hinduism]], but the most geographically widespread ethnic religion is [[Judaism]]. About 24% of the world's population adheres to an ethnic religion, while about 62% belong to a universalizing religion and 14% belong to no particular religion at all.

==Characteristics==

===Foundation and Age===
All ethnic religions are several thousand years old, which most being of an unknown age because they stem from indigenous religions practiced in prehistory. The notable exceptions to this are [[Confucianism]] and [[Daoism]] (or Taoism), which both have specific founders ([[Confucius]] and [[Lao Tzu]], respectively) yet are still considered to be ethnic religions because they are practiced by a very small number of people primarily located in [[China]] (where they are actually illegal but still practiced) and [[Taiwan]] and are based on the traditional values and philosophies of that region. The ages of prehistoric religions like Hinduism, [[Shintoism]], and Judaism cannot be accurately measured because their histories are not as well documented as those established within the scope of recorded history.

===Ceremonies===
As opposed to the ceremonies in universalizing religions, which are primarily based around the lives of the founders, the ceremonies in ethnic religions tend to be based on the cycle of the harvest. For example, the Jewish holidays of [[Purim]] and [[Hanukkah]], even though they have elaborate origin stories, can be traced back to being celebrations of the stages of a harvest in the same vain as [[Celtic]] celebrations like Samhain (today better known and celebrated as [[Halloween]]). Because of this, the calendars of most ethnic religions begin in the [[autumn]] with harvest celebrations akin to the American tradition of [[Thanksgiving]], which itself can partly be traced to a [[Native American]] harvest feast.

===Conversion===
While it is relatively easy to convert to a universalizing religion, it is often very difficult to convert to an ethnic religion. For example, Jewish [[Rabbi]]s are traditionally supposed to reject a potential convert unless he or she comes back three times as a sign of their dedication, after which the convert usually must endure rigorous training in Hebrew scripture akin to what a young Jewish person might go through in preparation for a [[Bar Mitzvah]].

===Pantheon===
A vast majority of ethnic religions are [[polytheistic]] or [[animism|animistic]], including Hinduism, Shintoism, indigenous Celtic religions, indigenous Native American religions, and indigenous African religions. The most notable exception to this is Judaism, which is not only [[monotheistic]] but is also one of the three [[Abrahamic religions]]. It is the only Abrahamic religion to be considered an ethnic religion, with the other two ([[Christianity]] and [[Islam]]) being considered universalizing.

==List of Ethnic Religions==
Because every indigenous religion is considered to be an ethnic religion, it is impossible to list them all; after all, there may yet be indigenous religions that have yet to be discovered and are practiced by the few remaining members of an ancient culture living isolated from the rest of the world. There are literally thousands of ethnic religions, but here are a few of the major ones.

*[[Hinduism]]
*[[Confucianism]]
*[[Daoism]] (or Taoism)
*[[Shintoism]]
*[[Judaism]]

It should also be noted that some modern religions like [[Wicca]] and [[Neopaganism]] root their beliefs in ethnic religions, but are more properly classified as universalizing religions because they don't have a specific group of people that they appeal to, rather appealing to a diverse group of people throughout the world.

[[Category:Religion]]

Ethnic religion

2009-05-17T23:41:23Z

IkeL: /* Characteristics */ Fixed internal links.

In the study of [[human geography]], an ''ethnic religion'' is one that appeals primarily to a specific group of people from a specific place, compared to a [[universalizing religion]] which attempts to appeal to a wide number of people throughout the world. Some ethnic religions have different denominations, but most don't. By far the most practiced ethnic religions in terms of the sheer number of adherents is [[Hinduism]], but the most geographically widespread ethnic religion is [[Judaism]]. About 24% of the world's population adheres to an ethnic religion, while about 62% belong to a universalizing religion and 14% belong to no particular religion at all.

==Characteristics==

===Foundation and Age===
All ethnic religions are several thousand years old, which most being of an unknown age because they stem from indigenous religions practiced in prehistory. The notable exceptions to this are [[Confucianism]] and [[Daoism]] (or Taoism), which both have specific founders ([[Confucius]] and [[Lao Tzu]], respectively) yet are still considered to be ethnic religions because they are practiced by a very small number of people primarily located in [[China]] (where they are actually illegal but still practiced) and [[Taiwan]] and are based on the traditional values and philosophies of that region. The ages of prehistoric religions like Hinduism, [[Shintoism]], and Judaism cannot be accurately measured because their histories are not as well documented as those established within the scope of recorded history.

===Ceremonies===
As opposed to the ceremonies in universalizing religions, which are primarily based around the lives of the founders, the ceremonies in ethnic religions tend to be based on the cycle of the harvest. For example, the Jewish holidays of [[Purim]] and [[Hanukkah]], even though they have elaborate origin stories, can be traced back to being celebrations of the stages of a harvest in the same vain as [[Celtic]] celebrations like Samhain (today better known and celebrated as [[Halloween]]). Because of this, the calendars of most ethnic religions begin in the [[autumn]] with harvest celebrations akin to the American tradition of [[Thanksgiving]], which itself can partly be traced to a [[Native American]] harvest feast.

===Conversion===
While it is relatively easy to convert to a universalizing religions, it is often very difficult to convert to an ethnic religion. For example, Jewish [[Rabbi]]s are traditionally supposed to reject a potential convert unless he or she comes back three times as a sign of their dedication, after which the convert usually must endure rigorous training in Hebrew scripture akin to what a young Jewish person might go through in preparation for a [[Bar Mitzvah]].

===Pantheon===
A vast majority of ethnic religions are [[polytheistic]] or [[animism|animistic]], including Hinduism, Shintoism, indigenous Celtic religions, indigenous Native American religions, and indigenous African religions. The most notable exception to this is Judaism, which is not only [[monotheistic]] but is also one of the three [[Abrahamic religions]]. It is the only Abrahamic religion to be considered an ethnic religion, with the other two ([[Christianity]] and [[Islam]]) being considered universalizing.

==List of Ethnic Religions==
Because every indigenous religion is considered to be an ethnic religion, it is impossible to list them all; after all, there may yet be indigenous religions that have yet to be discovered and are practiced by the few remaining members of an ancient culture living isolated from the rest of the world. There are literally thousands of ethnic religions, but here are a few of the major ones.

*[[Hinduism]]
*[[Confucianism]]
*[[Daoism]] (or Taoism)
*[[Shintoism]]
*[[Judaism]]

It should also be noted that some modern religions like [[Wicca]] and [[Neopaganism]] root their beliefs in ethnic religions, but are more properly classified as universalizing religions because they don't have a specific group of people that they appeal to, rather appealing to a diverse group of people throughout the world.

[[Category:Religion]]

Universalizing religion

2009-05-17T23:39:36Z

IkeL: /* Conversion */ Fixed internal links to direct to actual pages.

In the study of [[human geography]], a '''universalizing religion''' is a religion that attempts to operate on a global scale and to appeal to all people wherever they reside, compared to an [[ethnic religion]] which primarily attracts one group of people living in one place. Most universalizing religions are divided into ''branches'', ''denominations'', and ''sects''. By far the most practiced universalizing religion is [[Christianity]]. [[Islam]] and [[Buddhism]] are other large universalizing religions. About 62% of the world's population identify with a universalizing religion, with about 24% adhering to an ethnic religion and 14% to no religion in particular.

==Characteristics==

===Foundation, Age, and Nature of Ceremonies===
Universalizing religions can usually be traced to a single founder, a result of the fact that most universalizing religions are younger than ethnic religions. For example, Christianity can be traced to [[Christ]], Islam can be traced to [[Muhammad]], and Buddhism can be traced to [[Siddhartha Gautama]] ("the Buddha"). These religions can be traced back to their founders because they were established within recorded history, a characteristic of all universalizing religions. In fact, almost all universalizing religions were founded ''[[Anno Domini]]'', with the notable exception being Buddhism.

Another notable characteristic of universalizing religions that stems from their having known founders is the nature of their ceremonies. Most universalizing religions' holidays and ceremonies correspond to events in the lives of their founders. For example, the major Christian holidays of [[Easter]] and [[Christmas]] correspond to significant events in the life of Christ, with several minor holidays corresponding to the lives of [[saints]].

===Conversion===
Yet another characteristic of universalizing religions that are rarely found in ethnic religions is the ease of conversion. Because most universalizing religions operate on a global scale, conversion to universalizing religions is usually relatively easy and highly encouraged by practitioners of the faith. Some universalizing religions, like Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism, diffused through the use of [[missionary|missionaries]] to travel with the intent of encouraging those met along the way to convert. Some even may force conversion through conquest, as Islam did in the first half of the second millennium AD. From the 17th through the early 20th centuries, Christianity was primarily spread through European countries' [[colony|colonization]] of places like North and South America and Africa.

==Cults==
[[Cults]] exhibit many characteristics of universalizing religions, including having specific founders and a mission to convert. Some argue that universalizing religions started out as cults and grew to religious status over the years, though others argue that to say such a thing would be to demean the world's largest and most powerful religions.

==List of Universalizing Religions==
This list may be impartial, but these are by far the most notable and largest universalizing religions.

*[[Christianity]]
*[[Islam]]
*[[Buddhism]]
*[[Sikhism]]
*[[Bahá'í]]

[[Category:Religion]]

User:IkeL

2009-05-16T20:25:09Z

IkeL: /* Travel */

I like to think of myself as a progressive conservative--I'm open to a little bit of anything. I support people for the choices they make and who they are, and I don't hold anything against people ''except'' for narrow-mindedness.

I consider myself to be politically conservative, much like most people on this site, I'd imagine. I lean slightly toward the libertarian persuasion (I believe in plenty of civil liberties and laissez-faire capitalism), but I would by no means consider myself a libertarian at all--I think too much freedom can be dangerous.

If you have any issues with any edits that I've made, feel free to contact me through my talk page. I'm happy to discuss and work out any disputes you may have.

Also, please don't edit what others have posted onto my talk page without my express permission (which I probably won't give you). I consider it to be a sacred space of discussion that I don't want affected in any way by any member of the community; it should be on display for all who care to see.

==Travel==
I love to travel. Countries that I've visited include...
*[[United States of America]] (of course...my home country and probably the only one in which I will ever be a permanent resident)
*[[England]]
*[[Spain]]
*[[France]]
*[[Italy]]
*[[Switzerland]] (I don't know if this one really counts, as I only spent a few hours in the Geneva airport while waiting for a connecting flight...)
*[[Mexico]]
*[[Canada]]
*[[Japan]]
If you would like to discuss travel, please contact me on my talk page. I'd be happy to talk!

Abrahamic religion

2009-05-16T20:24:34Z

IkeL:

The '''Abrahamic religions''' are those that can trace their history back to [[Abraham]]. Judaism, the first Abrahamic religion, is considered to be an [[ethnic religion]] because it was the indigenous religion of the [[Hebrew people]], but Christianity and Islam are considered to be [[universalizing religion]]s.

== List of Abrahamic religions ==

* [[Judaism]]
* [[Christianity]]
* [[Islam]]

[[Category:Abrahamic Religions]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Old Testament]]

Abrahamic religion

2009-05-16T20:24:05Z

IkeL:

The '''Abrahamic religions''' are those that can trace their history back to [[Abraham]]. Judaism, the first Abrahamic religion, is considered to be an [[ethnic religion]] because it was the indigenous religion of the [[Hebrew people]], but Christianity and Islam are considered to be [[universalizing religions]].

== List of Abrahamic religions ==

* [[Judaism]]
* [[Christianity]]
* [[Islam]]

[[Category:Abrahamic Religions]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Old Testament]]

Taoism

2009-05-16T20:20:17Z

IkeL:

[[Image:Yin_yang.jpg|thumb|500px|right|Taoism is often represented by the [[Taijitu]]]]
Taoism is a [[Chinese]] philosophy and [[ethnic religion]] centered around the concept of Tao. It stresses the unification of contraries. Taoism also seeks harmony with nature.

The primary text of Taoism is [[Lao Tzu]]'s ''Tao Te Ching'', which works to express the essence of Tao. The book stresses the ineffability of the Tao.

:''Taoist ethics are concerned less with doing good acts than becoming a good person who lives in harmony with all things and people.''

Because of this, devoted Taoists tend to be nice and accomodating people.

Nonetheless, it is important to distinguish between Taoism as a [[philosophy]](as described above) and Taosim as a [[religion]]. Taoist religious practices include numerous occult rituals including 'internal alchemy'-the ingestion of minerals and herbs to supposedly restore balance to one's Yin and Yang energies-and the invocation of various pagan deities. The ideal of the Taoist 'Sage' is one who removes themselves completely from society and no longer serves to further the well-being of mankind. As such religious Taoism shares many of the dangerous traits of other primitive faiths and lacks the spiritual substance of the Abrahamic traditions.

Taoism originated in [[China]]. Accurate figures for the number of believers of Taoism are elusive, for two reasons. Firstly, Taoism is a loosely defined faith, so some people don't even realize they're practicing it. Secondly, the [[Communist]] Chinese government does not record most religions in its [[census]]es, on account of the government's anti-religious stance. However, Taoism is one of the five religions officially recognized by the Chinese government, the others being Protestant Christianity, Catholicism, Buddhism, and Islam.<ref> South China Morning Post, April 30, 2007, www.scmp.com</ref>

== External links ==

*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/taoism/taoethics/ethics_1.shtml Taoist ethics - theory and practice]

== See Also ==

*[[Confucianism]]
*[[Zen]]
*[[Falun Gong]]
*[[New_Age| New Age Spirituality]]
*[[Feng Shui]]
*[[World History Lecture Three]]
*[[Tai Chi]]

[[Category:Taoism]]

Ethnic religion

2009-05-16T20:18:40Z

IkeL: Changed name from Lao-Zi to Lao Tzu (which seems to be the preferred name here).

In the study of [[human geography]], an ''ethnic religion'' is one that appeals primarily to a specific group of people from a specific place, compared to a [[universalizing religion]] which attempts to appeal to a wide number of people throughout the world. Some ethnic religions have different denominations, but most don't. By far the most practiced ethnic religions in terms of the sheer number of adherents is [[Hinduism]], but the most geographically widespread ethnic religion is [[Judaism]]. About 24% of the world's population adheres to an ethnic religion, while about 62% belong to a universalizing religion and 14% belong to no particular religion at all.

==Characteristics==

===Foundation and Age===
All ethnic religions are several thousand years old, which most being of an unknown age because they stem from indigenous religions practiced in prehistory. The notable exceptions to this are [[Confucianism]] and [[Daoism]] (or Taoism), which both have specific founders ([[Confucius]] and [[Lao Tzu]], respectively) yet are still considered to be ethnic religions because they are practiced by a very small number of people primarily located in [[China]] (where they are actually illegal but still practiced) and [[Taiwan]] and are based on the traditional values and philosophies of that region. The ages of prehistoric religions like Hinduism, [[Shintoism]], and Judaism cannot be accurately measured because their histories are not as well documented as those established within the scope of recorded history.

===Ceremonies===
As opposed to the ceremonies in universalizing religions, which are primarily based around the lives of the founders, the ceremonies in ethnic religions tend to be based on the cycle of the harvest. For example, the Jewish holidays of [[Purim]] and [[Hanukkah]], even though they have elaborate origin stories, can be traced back to being celebrations of the stages of a harvest in the same vain as [[Celtic]] celebrations like [[Samhain]] (today better known and celebrated as [[Halloween]]). Because of this, the calendars of most ethnic religions begin in the [[autumn]] with harvest celebrations akin to the American tradition of [[Thanksgiving]], which itself can partly be traced to a [[Native American]] harvest feast.

===Conversion===
While it is relatively easy to convert to a universalizing religions, it is often very difficult to convert to an ethnic religion. For example, Jewish [[Rabbis]] are traditionally supposed to reject a potential convert unless he or she comes back three times as a sign of their dedication, after which the convert usually must endure rigorous training in Hebrew scripture akin to what a young Jewish person might go through in preparation for a [[Bar Mitzvah]].

===Pantheon===
A vast majority of ethnic religions are [[polytheistic]] or [[animistic]], including Hinduism, Shintoism, indigenous Celtic religions, indigenous Native American religions, and indigenous African religions. The most notable exception to this is Judaism, which is not only [[monotheistic]] but is also one of the three [[Abrahamic religions]]. It is the only Abrahamic religion to be considered an ethnic religion, with the other two ([[Christianity]] and [[Islam]]) being considered universalizing.

==List of Ethnic Religions==
Because every indigenous religion is considered to be an ethnic religion, it is impossible to list them all; after all, there may yet be indigenous religions that have yet to be discovered and are practiced by the few remaining members of an ancient culture living isolated from the rest of the world. There are literally thousands of ethnic religions, but here are a few of the major ones.

*[[Hinduism]]
*[[Confucianism]]
*[[Daoism]] (or Taoism)
*[[Shintoism]]
*[[Judaism]]

It should also be noted that some modern religions like [[Wicca]] and [[Neopaganism]] root their beliefs in ethnic religions, but are more properly classified as universalizing religions because they don't have a specific group of people that they appeal to, rather appealing to a diverse group of people throughout the world.

Ethnic religion

2009-05-16T20:17:36Z

IkeL: Created page with 'In the study of human geography, an ''ethnic religion'' is one that appeals primarily to a specific group of people from a specific place, compared to a [[universalizing reli...'

In the study of [[human geography]], an ''ethnic religion'' is one that appeals primarily to a specific group of people from a specific place, compared to a [[universalizing religion]] which attempts to appeal to a wide number of people throughout the world. Some ethnic religions have different denominations, but most don't. By far the most practiced ethnic religions in terms of the sheer number of adherents is [[Hinduism]], but the most geographically widespread ethnic religion is [[Judaism]]. About 24% of the world's population adheres to an ethnic religion, while about 62% belong to a universalizing religion and 14% belong to no particular religion at all.

==Characteristics==

===Foundation and Age===
All ethnic religions are several thousand years old, which most being of an unknown age because they stem from indigenous religions practiced in prehistory. The notable exceptions to this are [[Confucianism]] and [[Daoism]] (or Taoism), which both have specific founders ([[Confucius]] and [[Lao-Zi]], respectively) yet are still considered to be ethnic religions because they are practiced by a very small number of people primarily located in [[China]] (where they are actually illegal but still practiced) and [[Taiwan]] and are based on the traditional values and philosophies of that region. The ages of prehistoric religions like Hinduism, [[Shintoism]], and Judaism cannot be accurately measured because their histories are not as well documented as those established within the scope of recorded history.

===Ceremonies===
As opposed to the ceremonies in universalizing religions, which are primarily based around the lives of the founders, the ceremonies in ethnic religions tend to be based on the cycle of the harvest. For example, the Jewish holidays of [[Purim]] and [[Hanukkah]], even though they have elaborate origin stories, can be traced back to being celebrations of the stages of a harvest in the same vain as [[Celtic]] celebrations like [[Samhain]] (today better known and celebrated as [[Halloween]]). Because of this, the calendars of most ethnic religions begin in the [[autumn]] with harvest celebrations akin to the American tradition of [[Thanksgiving]], which itself can partly be traced to a [[Native American]] harvest feast.

===Conversion===
While it is relatively easy to convert to a universalizing religions, it is often very difficult to convert to an ethnic religion. For example, Jewish [[Rabbis]] are traditionally supposed to reject a potential convert unless he or she comes back three times as a sign of their dedication, after which the convert usually must endure rigorous training in Hebrew scripture akin to what a young Jewish person might go through in preparation for a [[Bar Mitzvah]].

===Pantheon===
A vast majority of ethnic religions are [[polytheistic]] or [[animistic]], including Hinduism, Shintoism, indigenous Celtic religions, indigenous Native American religions, and indigenous African religions. The most notable exception to this is Judaism, which is not only [[monotheistic]] but is also one of the three [[Abrahamic religions]]. It is the only Abrahamic religion to be considered an ethnic religion, with the other two ([[Christianity]] and [[Islam]]) being considered universalizing.

==List of Ethnic Religions==
Because every indigenous religion is considered to be an ethnic religion, it is impossible to list them all; after all, there may yet be indigenous religions that have yet to be discovered and are practiced by the few remaining members of an ancient culture living isolated from the rest of the world. There are literally thousands of ethnic religions, but here are a few of the major ones.

*[[Hinduism]]
*[[Confucianism]]
*[[Daoism]] (or Taoism)
*[[Shintoism]]
*[[Judaism]]

It should also be noted that some modern religions like [[Wicca]] and [[Neopaganism]] root their beliefs in ethnic religions, but are more properly classified as universalizing religions because they don't have a specific group of people that they appeal to, rather appealing to a diverse group of people throughout the world.