Week 11 - A Class Divided

1) I was very surprised by the students' reactions. At the beginning of the video, the kids seem like nice, normal people. But halfway through the "experiment", best friends are nemeses and people who didn't like each other from the start now had allies in those of the same eye color.

2) It proves human nature isn't as resilient to this type of conditioning as people thought. Many of us think this conditioning is horrid and outside of the realm of possibilities affecting us but the reality is that most of us could be made to believe something that isn't true solely because it has been repeated over and over by others. It also goes to show how malleable children's minds are and that adults need to be careful as to what teachings are introduced into their child's education.

3) Well, this experiment would obviously vary from city to city but taking metro-Atlanta as a possibility, I think this experiment would be less effective considering the amount of diversity. Growing up I had all types of friends: black, Asian, Hispanic, white, and even Indian. So from a young age, that type of "diversity = equality" thinking had been instilled in me from a young age. I don't think that experiment would take much hold in the more urban areas of a city simply because kids are more likely to be exposed to different cultures early on and learn to accept those cultures growing up.

Week 10: GALILEO

The author, James, Heft, basically gives a general overview of Christian history and goes on to show the attitude of a sizable group within the church, as well as the papal authority. What the author describes is a pendulum of Church (and the populace's) doctrine. He states that Christians, in the first century did not want to join the Roman Army, but then later on, joined in on the Crusades, and as a final swing, most Christians (particularly) Catholics, have embraced the idea that even more limited war and rules for those wars are needed to usher in peace.

Heft lists the Popes who have tried to push the Church into a "peace" era but notes that Pope John Paul II, like the Enlightenment philosophers, changed the perception of peace by linking war action to an affront on the rights of every human being involved. John Paul II drastically moved the "just war" theory in a new direction by exposing the sins of the Church from centuries ago, also imploring that relations between factions continue to exist even after armed conflict has ruined the countries involved. Heft says mainline Protestants has endorsed John Paul II's ideas of restrictive warfare and forgiving aftermath but somehow a good number of evangelical churches actually support preemptive war and do not share the same talk of peace that Jesus himself gave to his disciples.

Heft, James. "Religion, World Order, and Peace: Christianity, War, and Peacemaking." Cross Currents60.3 (2010): 328. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Mar. 2011.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/50958853/Religion-World-Order-And-Peace-Christian

Week 9: Spring Break

Week 8: PSA assignment

1) I'll be working with Kyle and Julie on a topic in the topic. Not sure which one though. We were thinking about a PowerPoint presentation or something visual.

2) To be honest, I haven't been keeping up with the book. I'll be sure to begin finishing the book this week.

Edit: I thought I had published this post but I had actually saved it. :/