Ghanima Atreides (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
atreideslioness) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2009-09-13 11:46 pm
atreideslioness) wrote in fandomhigh2009-09-13 11:46 pm
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Hubris from Revelation: the Social Engineering of Ultimate Truths [Monday, Period 2]
"Today we are looking at one of the more dominant faiths on this planet," Ghanima said crisply. "Or rather, four faiths that share one founder. Our focus today is on the Abrahamic religions."
"Abrahamic religions, "Abrahamic faiths" or "religions of Abraham" has become a popular and oft-used designation for the monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, emphasizing their common origin and values. For some 1,300 years their histories and thought have been intertwined. The three are all considered inextricably linked to one another because of a ‘family likeness’ and a certain commonality in theology. They are faiths that recognize a spiritual tradition identified with Abraham. However, relationships among them have varied from time and place and have often been characterized by mistrust and even hatred," she continued. "Which, really, is not that shocking. Sometimes 'family' is the most vicious opponent of all; simply look at the tale of Cain and Abel."
"Even as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all acknowledge Abraham as an ancestor, members of the three traditions have also tried to claim him as exclusively theirs. Definition of the term "Abrahamic" is far from being universal and has been found to be problematic to some. Certain smaller religions, while not included in the main three Abrahamic faiths, claim to have Abrahamic tradition. An example is the Baha'i Faith which was born in the Middle East, founded within Islam, and recognizes the same prophets plus Bahá'u'llá'h. Today, there are an estimated 3.8 billion followers of the three largest Abrahamic religions, accounting for more than half of the world's population."
Ghanima scooped up handouts on the common aspects and basic overview of the three largest sects, and handed them to Savannahif she was there to pass out.
"Now, some of you may already be familiar of the concept of the divine right to rule," Ghanima stated. "This is a concept that has been largely abandoned in the Western countries, particularly the democratic ones, but still holds strong sway elsewhere. It has been extremely popular with Abrahamic rulers for hundreds of years, because it is a political and religious doctrine of royal absolutism. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God. The king is thus not subject to the will of his people, the aristocracy, or any other estate of the realm, including the church. The doctrine implies that any attempt to depose the king or to restrict his powers runs contrary to the will of God and may constitute heresy. Especially since revolution is never legitimate under the concept of the divine right of kings. While this is not a concept limited to the Abrahamic faiths -- at all -- it is notable that its counterpart in Eastern theology, the Mandate of Heaven, does allow for rebellion against an unjust ruler. This inflexibility in the divine right of kings may be attributed in-part to the fact that their God is often viewed as omniscient and omnipresent, and thus would not have put an unworthy ruler -- or someone who would become unworthy -- on the throne in the first place. Of course, usurpers can always claim they were the one with divine right, and the former king an impostor, but you'll always have loyalists holding out, and they'd have to woo the clergy to their side before any sort of legitimacy could be established."
[OCD up, beware the teal deer!]
"Abrahamic religions, "Abrahamic faiths" or "religions of Abraham" has become a popular and oft-used designation for the monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, emphasizing their common origin and values. For some 1,300 years their histories and thought have been intertwined. The three are all considered inextricably linked to one another because of a ‘family likeness’ and a certain commonality in theology. They are faiths that recognize a spiritual tradition identified with Abraham. However, relationships among them have varied from time and place and have often been characterized by mistrust and even hatred," she continued. "Which, really, is not that shocking. Sometimes 'family' is the most vicious opponent of all; simply look at the tale of Cain and Abel."
"Even as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all acknowledge Abraham as an ancestor, members of the three traditions have also tried to claim him as exclusively theirs. Definition of the term "Abrahamic" is far from being universal and has been found to be problematic to some. Certain smaller religions, while not included in the main three Abrahamic faiths, claim to have Abrahamic tradition. An example is the Baha'i Faith which was born in the Middle East, founded within Islam, and recognizes the same prophets plus Bahá'u'llá'h. Today, there are an estimated 3.8 billion followers of the three largest Abrahamic religions, accounting for more than half of the world's population."
Ghanima scooped up handouts on the common aspects and basic overview of the three largest sects, and handed them to Savannah
"Now, some of you may already be familiar of the concept of the divine right to rule," Ghanima stated. "This is a concept that has been largely abandoned in the Western countries, particularly the democratic ones, but still holds strong sway elsewhere. It has been extremely popular with Abrahamic rulers for hundreds of years, because it is a political and religious doctrine of royal absolutism. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God. The king is thus not subject to the will of his people, the aristocracy, or any other estate of the realm, including the church. The doctrine implies that any attempt to depose the king or to restrict his powers runs contrary to the will of God and may constitute heresy. Especially since revolution is never legitimate under the concept of the divine right of kings. While this is not a concept limited to the Abrahamic faiths -- at all -- it is notable that its counterpart in Eastern theology, the Mandate of Heaven, does allow for rebellion against an unjust ruler. This inflexibility in the divine right of kings may be attributed in-part to the fact that their God is often viewed as omniscient and omnipresent, and thus would not have put an unworthy ruler -- or someone who would become unworthy -- on the throne in the first place. Of course, usurpers can always claim they were the one with divine right, and the former king an impostor, but you'll always have loyalists holding out, and they'd have to woo the clergy to their side before any sort of legitimacy could be established."
[OCD up, beware the teal deer!]
Re: NFB please.
"I ask about sleeping, because that's usually the easiest to fix. Cutting caffeine out of the diet, soothing teas, proper vitamins... while you may be most-immortal, it doesn't hurt to check for biological causes of your mood disorder."
Re: NFB please.
If her sentences were short, it had more to do with her nervousness than any kind of irritation.
"And I didn't-- I just don't want you hurt because of me."
She already felt terrible for all the trouble Robert had gotten into trying to help her and Eliot.
Re: NFB please.
Re: NFB please.
Then she shook her head.
"My family... no. I don't think so. I mean, you could try, but I think they'd be more likely to pull me out of school than answer."
Her head ducked a little.
"Or they might not know. My brother and I are kind of, um, a unique situation."
Re: NFB please.
"On account of your mixed heritage, I presume," she replied briskly. "While I presume you had an atypical upbringing of some sort, do you ever remember seeing any of them eat anything besides this 'nectar'? Or how often they drank it?"
The devil was in the details, as it were, and while meditation could potential help with the rage issues, there were deeper problems here that needed to be addressed.
Re: NFB please.
"Oh, no, sorry, I--"
This whole thing had her so nervous she wasn't thinking straight! Ugh, she hated that she did that sometimes. That, and her desire not to tell too much, was actually making things more difficult. She breathed out and settled into her seat for a bit of an
info dumpextended explanation."My brother eats. My mother eats. My whole family, on both sides, eat. The reason I don't eat is because during... a trial" which kept things nice and vague at least when it came to family politics "I had to cut something away from myself. I didn't know it at the time, but what I was cutting was my hunger. My ability to hunger. I nearly died because even if I eat, I don't get anything from it. My body doesn't take in nutrients. It can't hunger. Even when they tried an IV, I couldn't take it in. That's why I ate the Apple. That's why I would have died otherwise.
"The nectar is from someone else, someone from another universe, someone here. I don't know if I take in anything from it, nutritionally, but it tastes good to me and makes me feel good."
And finally, she got a breath.
"I don't mean to be difficult. Especially since I'm asking for help."
She just hadn't dealt with most of it. She'd ignored it to try and be normal, to fit in, to have fun in this place where she was away from her mother and away from the rules and hopefully, out from the middle of the conflict between her parents. It was stupid. It was dangerous, in a way.
She was a 15 year old girl.