Nathan Bloom - My Choice #4

For my fourth and final blog on the topic of my choice I would like to write about what I have learned in this class. The first time I took it of course I learned many of the same things which is natural because it is the same course. However, this time like anything I learned more and had a further understanding for the material. Every time you do something multiple times and study it again you will learn it better. As for reading the texts again I remember more things and also have a greater understanding. The entire section on liminality means much more now. As I said in an earlier blog I feel very liminal as a college student. Furthermore, I greater understand the mask of the Holy and am begining to see ordinary things that are truly extraordinary all around me. It has been a great class, thank you.

Nathan Bloom - My Choice #3

For my third blog on the topic of my choice I would like to discuss historical buildings. I find it very interesting how certain places and buildings, even cars; after a certain number of years become designated a historical landmark or an antique. This is similar to designating a place to be sacred after a given amount of time. According to Belden Lane in his book, "Landscapes of the Sacred" there are four axioms that must be met in order for a place to be sacred, or four axioms that can help define a sacred place. Desiginating a place sacred becasie of its age does not meet Lane's principles.

Nathan Bloom - My Choice #2

Ive been thinking about my paper that I wrote for this class. I am so fascinated by all the different religions and their practices. Their rituals for pilgrimage and how they all relate like was my thesis for my paper is very interesting and very relatable to this class. However, I find it so interesting how all the the religions are so similar and come from so much of the same history and past. I could also have written an entire paper just on the similarities of sacred place within each religion because many of them not only have sacred places for similar reasons but many of them, Christianity, Judiasm, and Islam, have the same sacred places like all of Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock Ect. This is all fascinating because throughout the history of man there have been wars fought soley on the basis of differing religous beliefs when in fact all religions are very similar.

Nathan Bloom - My Choice #1

I was thinking about a movie a recently watched called Equilibrium. It is about society after world war 3 and the utopia that is created. No one has feelings because of the drug that the people are given. But there are a few outliers who escape the city and do not take there scheduled doses of of the drug and can feel. These people hold on to things like records, and paintings, and even decorative wallpaper. these items are all held sacred to theses last few people who can still feel. It made me think of topics studied in this class. How sacred place can be not a place at all but a memory of an event, of a feeling, or of an experience that one had.

Nathan Bloom - Natural Setting #2

Every time I go outside my house I see so many leaves, they cover the streets and would cover the sidewalks if we were to have any in my neighborhood. The leaves seem to walk themselves inside our house and sometimes up the stairs. They are everywhere. after a while you get used to them and if you go somewhere that is void of these massive amounts of leaves you almost begin to miss the colors and shapes that fill the streets. I was thinking about it while writing my last blog how just this morning I was in the Mariner's Museum Library on campus and there is so much great history that is right next to my house. Did you know that over 90% of the nations soft shell crabs come from the Chesapeake bay. This is a very interesting fact, however, the book was published in 1990 so alot has likely changed in 20 years.

Nathan Bloom - Natural Setting #1

When we took our mini nature hike around the Nolan Trail I thought it was really cool to see all the fish swimming up to the dam. I did the same hike last year when I took this class, but like Lane says, every time you visit a place your experience will be different. Last time when I went there it was earlier in the semester and was much warmer so there were more birds out and more leaves on the trees. It was altogether a completely different experience. I enjoy going to the Nolan Trail, it is so nice that we have such a wonderful display of nature so close to our campus.

Nathan Bloom - Outside Reading #3

In another class I am reading a text called Introduction to Political thinkers by Alan Ebenstein. I am a poly sci major and this book gives many political theories of many different philosophers and political theorists. Most of the authors, Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Machiavelli, etc. all speak of the state of nature, or the state of war, the states that man finds himself in prior to having government and community. In a previous blog I discussed Liminality and how it relates to a college student. I also believe that liminality applies to people who find themselves in the state of nature(mans original state) and the state of war. They are in between having nothing and being savage and have order and government. Its interesting how liminality applies in so many places but i had never heard the word before this class. also I see the philosopher kings journey in Plato's allegory of the cave as a pilgrimage. He leaves where he is comfortable like pilgrims and goes out to gain a better understanding of life and the outside world, this is similar to religious pilgrims.