Chapters 22 & 23 Online Commentary
In Chapter 22, the title is "The End of Empire" and rightly so. How empires no longer served the purpose and the intentions of the people. While there is much in this chapter, I was more in tune with the section on India terminating British control of their nation.
This section highlighted the beginnings and unfortunate ending of one of the greatest figures who ever set foot on this earth, Mohandas Gandhi. I had some basic initial knowledge of Gandhi as a peacemaker who tried to unite India and the religions that encompassed within it into one group that could coexist in harmony. But there was much more to his story than I had anticipated. Growing up as a shy boy into the one responsible for gathering the masses to fight for their independence in India was just so awe-inspiring. I had mentioned in previous posts about the power of a single person. We tend to believe the phrase, "What could one person do?" Maybe it is our view of the world around us that lead us to believe as such. We see so much violence among people, so much division because of differing opinions. No one can agree to disagree anymore. Gandhi realized that violence could be a sudden eruption so chose instead to pursue the goals of his nation in a "confrontational, though nonviolent approach to political action." He accomplished so much and finally did gain independence from British rule, however, India became two separate countries divided by the Muslims and Hindus. The sad ending is that even though he was able to see the independence (not in the way he had envisioned it as one united country), he was assassinated. His mission was completed.
Chapter 23, the term globalization is defined in more detail and how it influenced people within the world. It began centuries ago with the early empires trading in the different sea and land routes because now people from other regions were able to come in contact with each other and trade commodities that were foreign to others. Globalization expanded from just trading commodities to the Industrial Revolution and the exchanging of ideologies, religions, technological advancements, and even disease. My focus will be on the religious aspect of globalization.
Religion was supposed to have disappeared much like the dinosaurs during the years where the Enlightenment surfaced along with the growth of communism, modernism, and the scientific revolution. It seemed to be a thing of the past. So that's what many educated persons believed, but they were wrong. Religion has taken a leap of faith and as the text mentions, "has played an unexpectedly powerful role in this most recent century" (1042). There was a re-evangelization of Christianity and other faiths. People are tied to traditions and the origins of their religions. They don't want secularism or modernism to take that away from them. As the text put it best, people were drawn to the "fundamentals" of their religions. They were not interested in a revised faith but a true one. For me, Catholicism rings true to me as it was originally spread to the people from Christ, to the Twelve Apostles, then to our Popes. The doctrine hasn't changed and cannot change and that's what I hold onto. Even in the face of turmoil and confusion that the world emanates these days, my faith holds firm and helps me to see the light even when darkness is in the midst.
This section highlighted the beginnings and unfortunate ending of one of the greatest figures who ever set foot on this earth, Mohandas Gandhi. I had some basic initial knowledge of Gandhi as a peacemaker who tried to unite India and the religions that encompassed within it into one group that could coexist in harmony. But there was much more to his story than I had anticipated. Growing up as a shy boy into the one responsible for gathering the masses to fight for their independence in India was just so awe-inspiring. I had mentioned in previous posts about the power of a single person. We tend to believe the phrase, "What could one person do?" Maybe it is our view of the world around us that lead us to believe as such. We see so much violence among people, so much division because of differing opinions. No one can agree to disagree anymore. Gandhi realized that violence could be a sudden eruption so chose instead to pursue the goals of his nation in a "confrontational, though nonviolent approach to political action." He accomplished so much and finally did gain independence from British rule, however, India became two separate countries divided by the Muslims and Hindus. The sad ending is that even though he was able to see the independence (not in the way he had envisioned it as one united country), he was assassinated. His mission was completed.
Chapter 23, the term globalization is defined in more detail and how it influenced people within the world. It began centuries ago with the early empires trading in the different sea and land routes because now people from other regions were able to come in contact with each other and trade commodities that were foreign to others. Globalization expanded from just trading commodities to the Industrial Revolution and the exchanging of ideologies, religions, technological advancements, and even disease. My focus will be on the religious aspect of globalization.
Religion was supposed to have disappeared much like the dinosaurs during the years where the Enlightenment surfaced along with the growth of communism, modernism, and the scientific revolution. It seemed to be a thing of the past. So that's what many educated persons believed, but they were wrong. Religion has taken a leap of faith and as the text mentions, "has played an unexpectedly powerful role in this most recent century" (1042). There was a re-evangelization of Christianity and other faiths. People are tied to traditions and the origins of their religions. They don't want secularism or modernism to take that away from them. As the text put it best, people were drawn to the "fundamentals" of their religions. They were not interested in a revised faith but a true one. For me, Catholicism rings true to me as it was originally spread to the people from Christ, to the Twelve Apostles, then to our Popes. The doctrine hasn't changed and cannot change and that's what I hold onto. Even in the face of turmoil and confusion that the world emanates these days, my faith holds firm and helps me to see the light even when darkness is in the midst.
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