Akyol, throughout the book, often recognizes similarities and differences between Islam and Christianity; as well as, he notes the different environmental factors between the Middle East and the West and how they play a role in the political development of each religion. For example, Akyol explains the medieval christians’ fascination in Islamic liberalism and freedom, which Christianity, at the time, was considered a much more conservative ideology (78-79). Akyol uses these contrasting ideas to show the nature of religion and how it affects the development of a state in an academic and economic sense. As well as, he describes these differences in order to clear the misconceptions held by the West that Islam is a widely conservative ideology when in reality, it’s post-Qur’anic traditions that impose the conservative ideas seen in modern day Islamic states, in addition to giving a historical context that not necessarily long ago Christianity was considered the ultra-conservative doctrine.…
Because of the recent movie, 300, most people are aware of the epic battle that occurred at Thermopylai were 300 odd Spartans supposedly held off an army of over one million led by Xerxes I. Now, there were many errors in the movie (the number of men on both sides being the chiefest of them). But it still leaves many people asking how a force so drastically outnumbered was able to hold a force nearly twenty times their number. The answer lies in the difference in their equipment, tactics and their training.…
However, in his encounters with Sartach, Baatu, and Mangu Khan the purpose of his visit is misunderstood by a linguistic misinterpretation. Despite his failure to convert many people to Christianity, his letter is significant in presenting some of the educational and religious movements occurring within Europe, and the relations that were emerging through commerce in the thirteenth century. Europe’s growing emphasis on education would broaden the horizons of Christianity, and commerce created interconnectedness among cultures regardless of religious differences.…
Religion greatly influenced the way that Marco Polo and Ibn Batuta viewed the local people and their ruler. It is important to look at the way each religion received, rejected, and altered certain societies. Khan incorporated Christianity and other religions, and Mussa assimilated to Islam to Malian culture. There are differences between the people’s reactions to the religion, and how Polo and Batuta’s own culture and personality affected their perceptions of different societies and how religion was implemented. As a result, it becomes clear that the personal biases of Marco Polo and Ibn Batuta alter the validity of their written…
This suggests that Molière isn’t attacking religion as a whole, but particular individuals who abuse religion and defy the object of ‘faith’. Therefore, In order to assess to what degree Molière is attacking the Catholic Church in the play, it is important to analyse the characters within the play, and whether they are hypocrites or true believers. If they…
The role and authority of religion have been extremely controversial subjects during the Enlightenment Era in the 17th and 18th century. One of the most disputed questions was regarding religious toleration in Europe. The philosophes Voltaire and Moses Mendelssohn serve as exemplary models for the dispute and the diverse ideologies that emerged from this debate. Their background and historical context did not only shape their thinking and ideologies, but also their writing styles. On one hand, Voltaire was French, born and raised as a Christian amongst the aristocrats and acquired an excellent education. On the other hand, Mendelssohn was born in the Holy Roman Empire and was raised into Jewish traditions and religion; however, he was not part of the elite an did not receive a first-class education. Additionally, the two documents that will be analyzed and compared in this paper are, Treatise on Tolerance…
One impression that I held about the people of Iran prior to reading Persepolis was that they lived their lives in torment and oppression from their strict religious practices. Satrapi does an effective job of convincing her readers that such was not always the case. She presents her family in a progressive approach while retaining the morals and values of their culture. She assimilates several common stereotypes of her own about people of western culture within her narrations to illustrate similarities between both culture and at the same time, the differences. For example, early in the novel, Marji speaks of her father’s ownership of a Cadillac. In both cultures, owning a Cadillac signified a high social class but the difference emphasized by Satrapi was that to Marji herself, it was more of an embarrassment to be seen riding in the car rather than a thing of pride. In other…
Though in 1789 the revolutionaries introduced atheism, most of the French people were Catholic. Despite the fact that the church had lost some of its former power, many devout Catholics continued to attend church, while others worshipped independently. There was an ingrained attitude of loyalty for the king, and a prodigiously strong sense of honor. A gentleman's sense of honor was almost sacred- even a trifling insult could mean hostile behavior or even a duel. These were the standards and morals by which men lived in the time of the Count of Monte Cristo.…
In 1793, he was imprisoned in Paris for not favoring the execution of Louis XVI. During his time in jail, he began to write the first part of “The Age of Reason” and when he was bailed out of jail, he stayed in France continuing on to the second part of “The Age of Reason.” Here, he defends deism and deeply writes about anti-Christianity and the mind of free thoughts…
Voltaire’s freedom of religion and religious tolerance ideas also were not completely beneficial. It is not deniable that all men should be free to choose in what to believe, whatever religion to follow, or whatever divinity to worship, but the freedom of socially practicing a religion also implies to allow the spread and reinforcement of obscurantism,…
She includes the Persian Empire in her book because they had military and economic strength. They were skilled in using the strengths of the people they conquered to succeed.…
The Cuneiform script is an early form of language consisting of pictographic symbols. Cuneiform was first created by the Sumerians and later built on by other cultures. Cuneiform symbols were drawn on wet clay tablest with a long reed crafted into a writing instrument which was called a stylus. The stylus created wedge shapes, which is why they named the shapes Cuneiform.(translates to “wedge shaped”.)…
Orgon foolishly believes in everything Tartuffe says and does. Even though his family members call his attention to Tartuffe’s obvious hypocrisy, Orgon stubbornly supports Tartuffe, even making him his heir and offering him the hand of his daughter. Orgon’s utter gullibility represents the attitude of churchgoers who accept sham religion characterized by zealotry. It also represents the foolhardiness of anyone who falls victim to hypocrisy in any form. However, in his mockery of Orgon and Tartuffe, Molière does not in any way impugn sincere religious…
Voltaire portrays religion as if it is something that he demands from other people. Every religious leader seems to be trying to better themselves through the power they hold and manipulation. He uses the character of the Child…
The Persian Empire was a vast empire; it stretched from Egypt to Turkey past Mesopotamia to the Indus River. It was located in what is now Iran. Around the fifth century B.C.E. it had become the largest empire on Earth. Although the Persian Empire did well, due to some poor emperors decisions, it disappeared just as fast as it appeared.…