Overall Thoughts on Religious Perspective Class

My understanding of how religion is important to humanity was very clear after reading the books for this class. Perhaps Asher Lev showed this most clearly as he had so much torment in deciding between his religion or his passion of art. Tom in Uncle Tom's Cabin used religion as his life line. I'm guessing he would not have lived had he not had God to give him hope. Hope was the common element in all the books. Without religion, people do not have hope and fall into despair. Graham Greene expertly showed this in his book. Their communities seemed non-existent without their priests directing them.

People need hope in life and religion gives them that hope. I am reminded of my pastor talking about "believers" who are on their deathbed compared to "nonbelievers". He said believers, having hope for everlasting life, do not fight death and their physical death comes much easier. They seem to accept the crossing over to the other side because of their religion. They have hope and belief that God will take care of them. Nonbelievers, on the other hand, fight death and show much fear. He said he watched many people struggle through the end and hang on to the life they had, even when they are in extreme pain. I just think this is a great example of how people need God in their lives.

It seems as religion has always brought out the best and the worst in people. As far back as the beginning of time, people have fought over religion and power. They are continuing to fight and kill each other today all because of religious persecution. Of course, WWII is a great example of this. The Germans tormented and torchured the Jews just because of their religion and their Jewish heritage. Even today, people waste much time and energy fighting over whose doctrine is right or wrong. Families and friendships can be split over the issue of religion.

Again, I felt reading these books for class opened my eyes to some different thinking. It was especially good to read others thoughts and writings in this online class. I have not had the opportunity to read EVERYTHING a student has submitted in a regular class. On the other hand, it was a little hard for me to post my writings for everyone to read. I was just a bit intimidated at first, and then decided it didn't matter. I really felt my classmates had some wonderful interpretations of the books we studied and I have gained from them.

My biggest "a-ha" moment came when I read the background on Graham Greene. He was such an interesting person and his background was so important in understanding where he was writing from in his book. I think I learned the most about him as we had to come up with different facts than the other students in class. I finally got confused trying to write something someone else had not written. Then I realized it did not really matter at this point since I had gained to so much from reading all the other facts. That was a great assignment!

I thought the class definitely met the objectives. I would have been good to study a different religion. Perhaps something from the Middle East since that is such a current topic in the world today.

The Power and the Glory

Reading The Power and the Glory was definitely interesting. The book certainly had a religious theme. The characters were all tied to religion in one way or another. I found several symbols of Jesus: the priest riding on a mule and Jesus riding on a donkey, the priest betrayed by the half-caste and Jesus betrayed by Judas.

I felt a lot of sadness on how people are treated in the book. I didn't like the violence and the senseless killing. Taking a villager and killing them because they wouldn't turn in the priest was such a waste. It made me really hate the army and what they stood for. I wanted the priest to escape and was grouchy when he went back two times! I think I knew after the second time that he would be captured.

I'm not Catholic but I have a strong Christian religious belief. I found it difficult to read about a leader of the church who was so sinful. I think it is probably a good lesson that church leaders are human and make mistakes. It still made me sad to read about such things. I probably learned the most from this book about my religious views and how I would stand up for what I believe. If I was persecuted and hunted, I might turn to sinful things too. I would hope that I would never speak against my religion and I was happy the whisky priest held firm on that until the end of the book.

There were some connections in this book to Asher Lev. I wanted the priest to get away from the soldiers and I also wanted Asher Lev to leave his home and experience his artwork without being looked down upon. I wanted the people to stand up and help the priest. I also wanted Asher Lev's religious community to accept him and give him a chance. I found the inhuman treatment of people in Greene's book horrible. I wanted Asher Lev to stand up to his father and not let him treat Asher like a child.

As I read through the book, I enjoyed it more. It is a book that I will keep on my bookshelf and read again. Although the violence and drinking wasn't so great, I can look past that and see Greene's characters in a religious sense. It was definitely a book that made me think and want to discuss with others.

Uncle Tom's Cabin part 2

This was my first time to read UTC and I felt very tired when I finished. I absolutely felt the book was a great book and really got the attention of people. I certainly kept my attention yet I felt so drained after reading it because of all the emotion. Several thoughts came to mind from the book.

Uncle Tom is a character that shows selflessness, love for everyone, and goodwill for all. He should be what we strive to be. It is not hard to see he was shown in the light of Jesus. It is sad to see that Uncle Tom is actually a negative term these days. People think of Uncle Tom as someone who bows down to white people. Black people use the term to describe someone who they feel is detrimental to another black person. Uncle Tom in UTC was a positive figure in the book. His deep religious values and passiveness was for the good of others.

I liked the way Stowe wrote about the evils of slavery. She showed the "good" side to slavery and then blasted the reader with the more common hideous and harsh side of slavery. It just made me want to do something about treatment of others in such a terrible way. Today, there are thousands of people who are held as slaves. It is amazing that the problems of slavery written in this book years ago have not changed today. How incredibly sad!

Then ending of the book was really fulfilling. It was a relief that Cassy was reunited with her daughter, Eliza. I was surprised about the family connection and it felt good to see the family together again. Stowe was quite creative in writing about Cassy's escape. I loved it! It was perfect revenge for Legree to be spooked into insanity and on his deathbed from drinking (p. 431).

Overall, I enjoyed reading the book. It was good to jog me out of my nice little life to think about the horrors that people have even today. I have always felt compassion for fellow humans but haven't always known how to act on those feelings. My husband and I have been researching some not for profit organizations that help educate children. It is something we would like to be involved in at some point in our lives. I think education is the key to many social injustices: racism, slavery, poverty, and the list goes on and on! It will be good to read UTC when I begin to feel complacent in my life. I'll get "fired up" to do something positive in this world!
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Uncle Tom's Cabin

Harriet Beecher Stowe's book is well written. I am amazed at the visual pictures I see as I am reading. I could picture Eliza crossing the icy river with a baby in her arms and feet bleeding. It was incredible. I could picture Mr. Shelby talking to the slave trader. Even though Tom is not really described, his gentleness is shown through the way he holds the baby and speaks to others.
The dialog, even though it is difficult to read, helps give visual pictures also. I am enjoying reading the book.

I am really affected by the mothers who have had their children taken from them. The reality of families torn apart and children taken away from their mothers is almost unbearable. I can relate to Eliza's desperation in wanting to protect her son. It is interesting that this same thing is happening in Texas now with the Mormon group. The children and mothers were taken away from the compound and then the children were separated from their mothers. How can this be healthy? We seem to keep repeating the sins of our forefathers. Harriet Beecher Stowe, having lost her own young child, seems to show her passion on this subject in the book. It happens over and over.

I also have been thinking about how the slaves ran away. Most had very little education if any, and would not know where they were going since they rarely left their homes. I would be so fearful of the unknown. Maybe that is why most slaves did not leave their masters. It was the only life they knew and feared the unknown.

I'm learning that even though this book was written long ago, the problems still exist today. We still have people who are slaves to others, prejudice, and mothers separated from their children.

The first book I remember reading about slavery was Roots. The same theme occurs: inhuman treatment of others. Violence with slaves was an everyday occurance. Slave traders were made to be horrible. Slaves were made to seem mindless. I'll be reading on to finish the book and through Stowes writing, I have already seen a true picture of slaves and their feelings and emotions.

Asher Lev

I am still haunted by the crucifix painting. Asher must have been torn by his mother's pain. His mother was being pulled in two different directions. She was pulled one way to her husband and another to Asher. I remember seeing a visual of a triangle with one person at each point. When point one and point three were in conflict, instead of going to the person directly, point one would go through point two. Point three would then have conflict with point one and two. This was so true with the relationship the mother had with two people she loved dearly. She was brought into their conflict. Would Asher's relationship with his father be different if his mother had pulled out of the conflict and encouraged them to solve their problems? Would she be able to resist interference?

Why bring Jesus (crucifixtion) into the picture? Is it rebellion on Asher's part? Does he resent his family and religious family for not accepting him? I wonder if he wanted to make a statement about his faith. He certainly succeeded in doing that! Asher seems tormented by the conflict his mother feels. Then, he becomes tormented by the painting. It must have been like opening your soul to the world. I can't imagine how it would be.

The ultimate decision to expel Asher from his religious community when he really didn't feel ready to go seems horrible. They really turned their back on him. Some religious communities follow the same path. Mennonites and Amish have a distict set of rules for living. They do not allow for any of their people to be different. They would be ex-communicated in a heart beat for going against the rules.

As a Christian, I definitely have a set of rules to live by and obey. However, I am allowed to express myself in my church. Often I have felt others might be judging me because I might not be as strict with rules or that I might be thinking differently than them. The common interest that binds all of us together is our love for Jesus. Then, however I think doesn't matter as long as I believe and follow Him. I have to remember not to judge others who might be a little too fundamental for me.

Back to Asher. Artists are often hard to understand for normal people. The Jewish people in Asher's community were very sheltered and their work was kept secret. I'm sure that Asher's art work was more than they could handle. The Rebbe and other leaders might have felt Asher would cause others to go to The Other Side by seeing his art work.

What a great book. It is certainly one I will never forget.

Asher Lev

The life story about Asher Lev is so moving! I can feel his heartbreak and pain. What a great writer to leave the reader feeling this way! I really enjoyed reading the book. It affected me in several ways.

The first "aha" moment was when Asher had such difficulty looking at his paintings hanging in the gallery. I was never aware that artists drew things in their own lives so passionately and consequently, would suffer such pain having those memories hung and displayed for others to see. The book helped me to see how painful it was to sell the paintings. I was struck by how Asher passionately tried to get the memories back after his paintings of his early life were sold. It would be like having personal journals displayed and sold to complete strangers.

I was also affected by Asher never given a chance to make his own choices. His family, his religious community and his school community made no exceptions for Asher. They demanded that he follow their way without question. The Rebbe seemed to accept the fact that Asher was different with his gift of art and tried to allow for him to follow his art. Asher's family were in total control over him. I'm reminded of his father stating, "Sit down and drink your orange juice", "Asher, are you listening?", "I wish you would not spend all your time playing with pencils and crayons." I guess some of these statements are understandable as a child but Asher was spoken to in this manner as an adult! It seems belittling to Asher that he was not able to think for himself. Asher was made to follow such rigid rules and was not accepted for being different. It is sad that he was not accepted in his own home by the people who love him most. I was once told that the greatest gift we could ever give anyone was to accept them as they are. To criticize and try to change people is a control thing. Asher's father just couldn't get past the fact that he was different and not doing what his father wanted him to do.

The books themes of family , leadership, and religion were obvious throughout the book. Emotional stability, family relationships, development of youth was less obvious. A Wrinkle in Time and My Name is Asher Lev had the father absent and the mother trying to deal emotionally with the absence. I thought of Asher's mother and the significance of two things. One, the community always asked about Asher's mother. It as though they expected her to have another breakdown by asking every time they saw Asher. I think this question brought back many sad memories for Asher. His only way of expressing these feelings was through his art. The other important symbol in the book was the window in the apartment. Asher's mother was always looking out the window, worring about whether is father was coming home. Later, she waited and worried when Asher was late. Asher constantly saw his mother in the window throughout his life. I can see how it was the background for the crucifixion painting with his mother as a focus. The window was also a symbol of a place the family could look out and see the world. It might beckon to Asher to leave the things that were comfortable (home) and experience the world through art. The window was a very important symbol in the book.

I found it so interesting that the symbols of Christianity, the crucifix and suffering on the cross, were woven so carefully in the book.
I was so deeply moved by this book that I went to Borders to get the second book about Asher's adult life. It was disappointing that I had to special order the book! I'm going to read it as soon as I can.

A Wrinkle in Time

I'm not much for science fiction but I enjoyed the book. It was easy to read and thought provoking. I was especially interested in the description of the 5th dimension in Chapter 5. It was not confusing because it was easily explained. It was an "aha" moment. I didn't like the weird abstract science fiction part of the book: the pulsing disembodied red brain. It was too grotesque.