For an anthropology unit I'm currently taking (I know, stuck up pretentious liberal arts major), an essay topic is as follows:

"Religion is above all a conservative and stabilising force". Discuss with reference to two examples of religious change.

Can anyone point me in the right direction as to what examples I could use. I don't want my essay written for me (which I'm sure some people will bitch about), just a helping hand and being pointed in the right direction as to what examples I could use. Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance.

Um... the Spanish Inquisition, maybe...?

quote:Originally posted by iridescent_siren:

Um... the Spanish Inquisition, maybe...?

Shut up.

Vatican 2 and the council of Nicea are two good examples, expecially Vatican 2.

The Inquisition! What a show! The Inquisition!

No appreciation for Monty Python... tsk tsk.

quote:Originally posted by iridescent_siren:

No appreciation for Monty Python... tsk tsk.

Monty Python isn't always funny.....

While personally, I think anyone taking up valuable university places studying arts should be stood up against a wall and shot... I might still try and help.

The freaking Refor-fucking-mation.

I mean the Reformation. that should count, although who knows what a fat arts proffessor would think about it.



that, over there, is the old arts building. it's a real maze in there, to walk in there and not get lost, you'd have to be a genius... and probably shouldn't be doing arts



I think every University has a varriation of that joke specific to it's buildings.

quote:Originally posted by iridescent_siren:

Um... the Spanish Inquisition, maybe...?

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

(Yes, it DID have to be said)

quote:Originally posted by Garibaldi:

The Inquisition! What a show! The Inquisition!

Here we go! I know your, wishin', that we'd go awaaaaaay! But the Inquisition's here and it's here to staaaaaay!

Polygamy is now considered unacceptable, even though it is acceptable in the Bible (except for church administrators). I guess this would be considered a change.

quote:Originally posted by sr13edahlinger:

Here we go! I know your, wishin', that we'd go awaaaaaay! But the Inquisition's here and it's here to staaaaaay!



Heh, thanks for knowing what I was referring too man. Yes, I know Monty Python had a famous Inquisition skit, but I was referring to History of the World Part 1 (Mel Brooks). Great movie.

Anywho...

"Don't you know your flank?"

"I flunked flank"

"You flunked flank?!?! Get the flunk outta here!"

Well, I guess a couple of religious events that are pertanent to "conservative and stabilising forces" could be....

1. The adoption of christianity by Constantine.

2. Vatican II.

3. Nicea (I guess, it was more community specific than a force of conservatism and stabilization)

4. Age of Enlightenment (really stabilized social and moral problems of the time)

5. The spread and acceptance of Confucism. (I know it's not exactly a religion, but it fits damn well with the parameters.)



Just a few off the top, I don't even know how helpful those are.

The story of Lilith. At some point some rabis decided that people do not need to know how Adam had a wife before Eve. I think it looked too much like God making a mistake. Either that or the whole book it was in did not fit in with the politics of the day.

MasterPython: The story of Lilith. At some point some rabis decided that people do not need to know how Adam had a wife before Eve. I think it looked too much like God making a mistake. Either that or the whole book it was in did not fit in with the politics of the day.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith:

This legend was included in an English language book of rabbinic works, however, The Alphabet of Ben-Sira is not a Jewish religious text; rather, it is a collection of stories about heroes of the Bible and Talmud. Modern historians are unsure of its original purpose, although it may have been a collection of risqué folk-tales, a refutation of Christians, Karaites or other separatist movement, or simply an anti-Jewish satire.

However, the story has similarities with the original Mesopotamian myth, where Lilith killed children, and the Hebrew tradition of placing an amulet around the neck of newborn boys, inscribed with the names of 3 angels who are to protect them from the Lilins until their circumcision, lends weight to the argument that Lilith has her origins in Hebrew mythology, and is not the creation of later medieval authors.

Bonus: The Wikipedia article has a nudie painting of a hot chick that's supposed to be Lilith. I think the snake(s) add a fine touch. Also, check out the story at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Alphabet_of_Ben-Sira.