Thomas Paine "The Age of Reason"

Thomas Paine experienced his fall from grade for writing The Age of Reason. This text questions organized religion because of its reliance on hearsay and supernatural events. Paine does not understand how people can believe accounts of events that they themselves have not seen; he needs to see to believe. I think that’s ridiculous. I did not witness slavery or World War II but I do not question whether or not they happened. Does he expect there to never be a history? That’s absurd. I do however, understand Paine’s questioning of supernatural events. Maybe when I was a youngster I could be convinced that Virgin Mary could conceive baby Jesus without have a man’s help, but this idea is definitely questionable. The lists of Paine’s problems with organizes religion goes on much farther that this. He can’t fathom how Satan is given so much power, such as indirectly damning the rest of mankind in Genesis. If God created all man as kind creatures, then how is there such an evil Satan that we cannot overcome? When you compare the Old Testament and the New Testament, two very different Gods are described – which one are we supposed to believe in?

Paine is not an unreligious man; he does believe that there is a God and that we are living in a world that God created. He does not care for language, especially dead ones, for example Latin used in Christian churches. He believes we should all use the universal language of science and math – in fact, he pays special attention to the use of triangles and other geometries. It is important for us to realize that Paine is most critical to Christianity, despite what he may say in his opening. He seems to have a bone to pick with all organized religion, but then quickly zeroes in on Christianity. This is most likely because he has the most knowledge about Christianity – he would look ignorant trying to judge something he doesn’t totally understand. Overall, it is clear that Paine is much more anti-Catholic than he is anti-Protestant.

Thomas Paine preached the ideas of equality of man and freedom of religion. We could reach this equality with universal suffrage and kindness between all humans. He believed you should trust in yourself and choose whatever religion you can most connect with. It is interesting to note that Thomas Jefferson shared many of the same ideas, expressed in the largely unknown Jefferson Bible, as well as a letter her wrote to his nephew, Peter Carr. In The Jefferson Bible, he takes stories from the bible which he find to be true and translates them, but leaves all supernatural events that cannot be explains by science. However, he was not hated by most of America for that reason. He probably has something to do with the fact that Paine published a book on all of what he saw as religious issues and Jefferson, for the most part, kept this idea to himself. That is why today, Thomas Jefferson is a founding father, and Thomas Paine is not. 

Walt Whitman

         On Thursday, April 18^th, I attended a lecture on Walt Whitman in Temple’s Paley library basement. Katherine Henry, a Temple professor, introduced the two addition speakers David Henry Blake and Michael Robertson. Blake and Robertson are both chair professors of English at the College of New Jersey, as well as editors and authors of their own books. An example to their devotion to Walt Whitman can be found right in the title of Robertson’s books Worshipping Walt and Whitman’s Disciples, and Blake’s Walt Whitman: Where the Future becomes the Present. Whitman is remembered as a poet and an advocate for sexual liberty, and his significance is still just as powerful as it was in his time. He was an ingenious man because he created ideas that lived long beyond he could.
            David Henry Blake started the discussion by posing the question, what keeps us wondering about Whitman? This is because embedded in his poetry is the mysterious way he chooses to represent himself. For example, in Whitman’s most famous poem “Song of Myself,” he concluded with a puzzle and not a definitive statement. Blake focused on three main points, which he saw as defining Whitman. The first point was identity and egotism. Whitman’s comes off as an extreme egotist in his poems because of his excessive abuse of the word ‘I.’ Blake does not believe that Whitman was full of himself, and that the ‘I’ included the reader. The second point was publicity. Whitman embraced his role as a celebrity; he planned photos and icons and edited his own work. He was in complete control of his public image, for the most part. I thought it was humorous that Blake described Whitman’s modernity, because were alive today, he would have a blog. The final point was the concept of time and place. Whitman predicted that he work would still matter in the future, which is does; and its incredible because despite the time gap – we are just like him.
            Michael Robertson was next to speak, and he introduced Whitman as an American Nationalist, environmentalist, feminist, democrat, and socialist. It is fascinating how Whitman was able to entwine his religious and gay identities. He religious views come from his parents. His father was an admirer of Thomas Paine, and a free thinker who rejected organized religion. His mother was a Quaker. With this background, he embraced what Robertson called a “modern democratic spirituality.” Whitman was not alone in his different religious views, this was a time when Western Society was finding a new way to approach religion, such as Buddhism and Hinduism. Walt Whitman was a homosexual icon, writing erotic passages and exemplifying a strong love between men in his writing – but he was and Icon for all of us because he advocated a peaceful, democratic lifestyle where we could all live in happiness, and who doesn’t want that? The end of the lecture was opened up for questions from the audience, with one that I remember in particular. A woman in the audience called Whitman a modern day hipster – and I don’t think it could have been said any better to sum it all up. 

Genesis

Prior to reading Genesis, the first book of the bible, I thought I would recognize the story – and boy was I wrong. There is no known author to this book, it has to be a mythical person inspired by God, and some predict that Moses wrote it. It is important to note that no single man lived through all of the on-goings in Genesis and wrote them down, because the family lineage, starting with Adam and Eve, goes on for hundreds and hundreds of years. The contents have to be based off of some kind of oral or written tradition. It is set in ancient Mesopotamia, which could be identified in the present day as the Middle East, as well as Egypt.

This book is important to read because it explains the possible origins for many things in life. For example, Eve is the one who ate the forbidden fruit, and now women for the rest of eternity will now experience pain while having children. Women have one more rib than men because during creation, God first made a man, Adam, then made a woman out of his rib, Eve. Also, God created different languages and separated us onto different nations to prevent all of the evil that was beginning to infect mankind. Lastly, we have rainbows because God created one as a promise to Noah to never send another great flood. Genesis, being part of the Holy Bible, was the first to preach the idea of Monotheism and that there is only one God. Before this time, religion was based on multiple human-like gods. This idea is shown in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was written in the 12^th century B.C. and The Holy Bible wasn’t written until the 6^th century B.C. This was the first introduction of one, almighty God.

I was shocked to read all of the lying, deceit, judgment, and even murder found in Genesis. That’s something that they leave out in Sunday school. I knew that Noah made an arch and saved one of every species, but I did not know that this masterful plan was because God had planned a 40 day deluge to essential kill everyone because they were all evil. However, he is the one who created them so it is quite contradicting. Family is a powerful and obvious theme in Genesis, exemplified by entire chapters dedicated to strict description of a family tree. Despite the intense importance, this is also where we witness the most betrayal, such as Jacob stealing Esau’s blessing from their fathers – when it is actually supposed to go to the eldest son.

All in all, Temple University requires their student to read at least this part of the bible because it is knowledge that any person should have, and especially a college graduate. Beyond explaining origins for many aspects of our day-to-day lives, Genesis is referenced in political debates, and references are made which flood many fields such as art and writing. Lastly, The Holy Bible is the most widely sold book in the entire world, showing its impression beyond our city, our state, our country, and for those who believe – our physical being. 

The Daodejing

Let me start by warning you that t everything I am about to tell you is impossible to achieve. This idea was not created to be unattainable, but once it may or may not have been achieved, it no longer applies. The idea I am talking about is the Dao. This idea is presented in The Daodejing of Laozi, which may or may not be written by Laozi, who may or may not be one man. The title can literally be broken down to outline the contents of the novel. Dao means way, de means virtue, and jing means classic. This entire book is a contradiction. It tells you to follow this perfectly simplified way of life, which would be the dao. But once you have realized you have embodied the dao, it is lost. Living a life as close to the dao as possible, without losing it, is based around not placing any importance on materials items or an excessive lifestyle.

I can see why people get very frustrated while reading this book, because it makes no sense. I personally, enjoyed the novel because I have learned to accept things that are always going to be controversial. Other people, however, believe that there is one right answer. These people are the ones leading debates in class over some of the most controversial issues. Life is much easier when you accept that there is not always going to be a set answer, or a better choice. This is true with the dao – you don’t have to understand, in fact you wont understand, but you do have to accept it. 

Du Bois and Being White in Philly

       I want to use this post not only to critique W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk, but to also connect it to an article titled “Being White in Philly,” written by  Robert Huber. The Souls of Black Folk was published in 1903, and “Being White in Philly” was not released until March, 2013. Over a century later, why are we still facing the same problems, rooted in racism? Will we ever learn, and is there an end in sight? Du Bois places a huge emphasis on education in his writing. After slavery had been abolished, the biggest issue was that African Americans did not know what to do with themselves. There were little opportunities for success because it was extremely difficult to make money without an education, and it was even harder to own land. Du Bois emphasizes the need for educators, like himself, because that is the first step to educating the youth. He bases many of his stories in the Black Belt, in Georgia, and area that is populated by the majority of black people, but the whites still have the power over them as their landlords and etc.

       Is this how we are in Philadelphia? In his article, Huber interviews people from mostly the Fairmount area, all of them are white. They tell him they rarely venture above Girard Avenue; the unofficial but seemingly official boundary of North Philly, a “color line,” Du Bois would call this “The Veil.” Being a white, female student at Temple, I completely understand color lines. I am only a freshman but it did not take long to learn that there are streets that you should not go beyond after dark. Some students will never cross these streets, even in the daytime. I am from a Temple family, my dad is a graduate and my older sister is a current junior, so I am familiar with campus and the city – but you never really understand until you live here. Believe me when I say I have no regrets about coming to Temple, but it is definitely not for everyone.  Color lines have been here since the slaves were emancipated, and if they are still this prominent in 2013 it is going to be a long time before they go away, if ever. Huber looks at education in his article, focusing on a mother who was the first in her neighborhood to send her white child to a predominately black elementary school. The school was comparable in test scores to the preferred school in her area by parents, which was near Rittenhouse Square, and was also much closer. Basically, the parents did not want to be the only ones to send their children to a black school, so they felt safer with strength in numbers. This is not the way it should be. School should be chosen for academic standing, not the race of the students. Du Bois preached for education for African Americans, and if he was still around today, he would unfortunately still be preaching. Things need to change.