Ways of the World Reflection ch 14-16

Christopher Columbus, what’s to celebrate?  After learning more about what his true intentions were, I agree with Winona LaDuke, president of the Indigenous Women’s group, that he was a perpetrator of genocide.  His quest for gold proved to be unsuccessful, he had to fill up his ship with something, so instead he captured, tortured, and enslaved the native people of the Americas.  He also took women and children as slaves for sex and labor.  What a eye opener for me, as a child growing up, the only memories I have of Columbus was  that of his journey to America,  when landed was greeted by the native people, embraced each other and sat down for a huge and elaborate feast together.. wow…. What really happened was the total opposite..  Why would our classrooms omit such truths about our history?? 

It’s not enough that CC invaded the native Indian land, enslaved, tortured and murdered, but also came the disease for which the native people were not immune to that killed nine tenths of the population.  In fact one Governor quoted such conditions as “good hand of God” at work (Ways of the World p 407) this so there can be more room for the Europeans…  these are human lives we are talking about, not some irrelevant population of insects.. very  disappointing

Interesting that back in the colonial societies of Mexico and Peru, there were 7 men to 1 woman, resulting in mixed race population of Spanish men and Indian women.  The Indian women welcomed this as a form of security for their children in that they would not receive the same treatment as they did.

 Even though the Portuguese had a clear opening for their ships to reach and fortify the various bases at several key locations along the Indian Ocean, they insisted on using force in obtaining these bases from the small and weaker states such as Mombasa, none were spared, not even the smallest of child. I thought we were suppose to learn from past history and progress, this is no different than the acts of Ghingas Khan and the Mongols… except instead of by land,  by sea… after failing to dominate the ocean, the people assimilated, learned the local languages, became part of the trading culture of the East.  If you can’t beat them, join them?

Unlike the Portuguese, the Spanish used small scale military action, gifts, favors to chiefs and Catholic religion to accomplish a blood free takeover.  I’m glad that they tried to act in a more humane manner.

Hmmm.. The Dutch were no better than the Portuguese…….used slave labor to produce nutmeg crops…

The Atlantic slave trade; it makes me sick to think of the 11 million people taken from Africa; stripped from their home, their family; their freedom; some to become slaves and tortured; others to die on the way – the owning and exchange of human beings, who in their right mind would even come up with such an idiotic idea, and actually think it would create progress and positive change..

What’s more disturbing is reading that officials of Africa themselves were involved in the slave trading…  

Although born and raised as a Catholic, I never really understood the message that was given during mass.  I agree with some that the Catholic Church is a cover up for corruption; money; and sexual abuse by the priests.   Interesting to know that the Europeans brought with and spread Catholicism to the societies that it conquered.

Research Project

My research paper is going to focus on the history of homosexuality and gay rights.  I am very excited to meet and interview a gentleman who is legally married to a same sex partner and who has lived through an era of acceptance, non acceptance and change.

Questions:

Have you ever felt discriminated against in your profession due to your sexual orientation?

How has Proposition 8 affected your life?

Do you feel that you have the same rights in your marriage as the marriage between men and women?

Over the years do you think that there has been an increase in social acceptance and respect for same sex couples?

Can you describe a situation in your life when you have been discriminated against?  

How have the events around the assassination of Harvey Milk and George Moscone played a role in your life?

Ways of the World Reflection ch 11, 12, 13

I didn’t realize just how many of the world’s population are Muslims.  1.2 billion people, or a whopping 22% of the world’s population reported at the beginning of the twenty first century!!

I feel that Allah had this great vision; creation of a whole new society based on sharing of wealth, disexploration of the poor; removing corruption in business; abuse of women; and neglect of widows and orphans which was delivered through the messenger Muhammad. 

I was angry to learn that once  Muhammad died, this vision turned into power and conquer by the Islamic/Arab Empire.  They began to translate the original word of Allah to justify their actions by stating that God gave them the victory, enabled them to take countries by force, giving rise to a more powerful empire than ever. 

Which leads us to September 11^th and the jihad

I was not surprised to read that after only twenty five years post Muhammad’s’ death civil war broke out Muslim against Muslim

Do women ever get a break?? Allah’s great vision for equality and respect for men and women.. sure thing, except for when women are “disobedient”, then you can beat them,

It was interesting to learn about Allah’s great vision with regards to women.  On one hand, if they did not “obey” the man, they were allowed to get beat.  On the other hand, in a marriage, women were expected to enjoy sexual satisfaction and could actually sue for divorce if they have not had sexual relations for more than four months..  LOL… too much..  The more I read, the more I feel sick to my stomach.. Bottom line, women in all societies, over thousands of years, and to this day are in some form or another are looked upon as weak, inferior, less intelligent; second class human beings..

Is it all because deep down inside men are afraid to acknowledge that women are more powerful??

Ultimately it made me glad to learn that some good did come out of the Islamic world; like Arab physicians diagnosing many diseases; development of medical treatments, and even surprised that the first hospitals were developed within the Islamic world. 

Afro Eurasian world

 It was interesting to read about the Mongols and compare the Pastoral Nomads to the Mongols in agriculture civilizations.  In the pastoral nomad civilization society’s women were held with higher regard.  They had fewer restrictions and greater roles in public life as oppose to their sister roles in the agricultural civilizations    

Was it genuinely more freedom, or more involvement all around due to small and widely scattered encampments less populated.  They were a herding society; use of livestock rather than agriculture to survive   fascinating that these nomads were able to survive primarily on livestock

Chinggis Khan the charismatic leader or the notorious tyrant??   It appeared as though his mission in life was to make war, conquer, and continue to build a stronger army, the measure of his success as a leader….. I wonder why he never developed intellectually, socially?  Lacked sophistication; regalness, kept nomadic roots;  no valid goal only to kill torture make suffer men women and children.. and or turn them into slaves

For such a charismatic and powerful leader very surprised that he didn’t leave a big foot print behind, the many civilizations that he defeated the people did not reap any benefit;  only the feeling of defeat, subordination and exploitation.  Eventually swallowed up by Chinese and Russian empires.

The Plague !!

Although Europe was spared from Mongolian conquest, the plaque which infiltrated Europe by way of the vast Mongol trade routes destroyed an estimate of  between one and two third of the European  population.  Just horrible..

Time to rebuild…

The world of the fifteenth century was all about rebuilding.  In the after math of the plague, both China and Europe successfully recovered..

I thought that the Aztecs had an interesting cyclical understanding of the world.  They held the sun central to all life and feared endless darkness; they felt that the sun required life-giving force found in human blood in order to maintain cosmic order. In order to feed this sun, they held massive sacrificial rituals.

Another interesting  Aztec symbolism involved  sweeping !!  As odd as it may seem, the Aztecs valued sweeping as  powerful and sacred act with symbolic significance as an “act of purification and a preventative against evil elements penetrating the center of the Aztec Universe – the home”  (Ways of the World ch 13, p 388) .   I find it fascinating that such a simple act can be held in such high regard…