When Mothers become Murderers

                  Maternal Filicide. When mothers kill their own children. How in the world could something like this happen? Why, is the more important question. Mothers who can do this to their own flesh and blood must not be mentally stable. One way that a mother could do this to their own child is if they believe it's what the child wants. This is called "Altrustic filicide." Another way that this could happen is if the mother is mentally ill to the point where she hears voices. In a case like this, the mother usually does not have an understandable motive. This is called " Acutely psychotic filicide." A mother could also do this by using "Fatal maltreatment filicide," where a mother has no intention of killing her child, but it happens after cumulative abuse takes place. A mother could also use "Unwanted child filicide," a method where the mother kills her own child because she believes that they are a burden. Lastly a mother could kill her child to get revenge on her husband and hurt them emotionally, better known as "Spouse revenge filicide." The saddest part about all of this is that it happens enough for there to be different reasons for why it happens.

Taoism

           Today in class we read an article titled: Reconstructing Taoism's Transformation in China. The article was about how China wants the concept of Taoism to be "reborn." But what exactly is Taoism? Taoism is a strange but soothing concept when you think about it. Taoism is the idea that life is like a river and we are in that river. A river one flows in one direction, therefore attempting to swim in the opposite direction would be pointless because you will only tire yourself and eventually give into the river. The river will then take you where it wants to take you. This analogy is the idea of Taoism in its simplist terms. Personally I believe that this type of lifestyle is way easier to lead than other lifestyle. Taoism allows the people who believe in it to live a carefree life, a happy life. In China, they mostly had emperors which the Taoist's must have been against considering they believed that everyone deserved the same amounts of equality. In the article, it said that actual evidence was never found on the Taoist, so everything we know is based on the writings of the Taoists.

Is Our World Real?

Reality. What is reality? Today in class we read an article titled "Are We Living a Computer Simulation?" This article was based on the theory that the world that we "know" may all just be a simulation. We could just be a version of entertainment for a whole different world. In class Mr. Reiff used the analogy that an intelligence system could become so smart to the point where it can think for itself and believe it was living. What if this is the case? If it were, it would kind of be a relief because that would mean everyday life doesn't matter if it's not real. Then again, it's a scary thought because if this is the case, everything I have come to learn/believe is all a lie. Personally, I don't believe that this true because I think it's all about perception. The way you perceive something is the way that you are going to believe it until you are given a different, convincing reason to change your beliefs. However, there is no definite answer to this question. Reality could just be twisted fantasy.

The Book of Job and The Book of Menachem

                 Today in class we read an article titled "Holocaust Survivors: The Search of Faith." This article is an interview of a man named Menachem Daum, the son of Holocaust survivors. The article tells the story of his parents and what happened to them during the Holocaust, what type of people they were and what they lost because of the Holocaust. However, the question that the article revolves around is: How could God have permitted such a tragedy (The Holocaust)? There are many possible answers to this question. The question we have been asked to answer is: How is the story of Moshe Yosef Daum and Fela Nussbaun (Menachem's parents) similar to that of Job? How is it different? In the article, not much information about Menachem's family is revealed, but from what is given, the family was happy and apparently religious, just like Job. In both stories, both groups of people had to experience suffering, but for different reasons. In the story of Job, Job experience suffering because God made a deal with to Devil to test his loyalty to God. In Menachem's parents' story, they had to experience suffering because of Hitler. In the end of both however, God's name is cursed in a way. In the story of Job, Job curses the day of his birth. In the article, the mother said that she would demand answers during the final judgement. When we question why God does what He does, we don't always get the answers that satisfy the question.

God, Satan, & Job

                    Today in class, we read Part 1 of the book of Job. The book of Job is a story about a man who had everything. He had a wife, seven sons and three daughters. "He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses and many servants," all of which God blessed him with. Because of these blessings given to him by God, Job "was blameless and upright, one who feared God, and turned away from evil," which God clearly must have known since He is all-knowing. However, in the story, God and Satan made a bet on the man's faith, therefore they decided to torture the living hell out of the man for no reason. The whole story behind the bet was that Satan told God that once God took away everything from Job, Job would curse his name. Little by little, God began to take away Job's possessions. After this, Satan afflicted Job with sores from head to toe. He lived with the pain for seven nights and seven days until he finally cursed the day of his birth. The story of Job relates, but also differs from the other stories from the Bible that we have read. This story relates to the story of Abraham in the sense that both men were obedient and feared God, as they should. In both stories, both men suffered because God was testing their faith and loyalty to Him. However, in the story of Abraham, Abraham is relieved from his suffering, whereas in the story of Job, God continued to inflict suffering upon Job. This idea of faith being tested is also present in the story of Adam and Eve. In the Old Testament, God is always testing the faith of His people. Whether it's because He's insecure or because He wants to reassure us that He can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, God will continue to test our faith to Him.

1 Month!

             On the first day of High School of Roslyn High School I felt that everything was going to be different. I thought the year would go by so slowly, but we're already a month into school. The High School has been a major change in my life. So far the best part of High School is the new sense of freedom. In the Middle School, they never allowed us to bring our phones let alone our bags to class. I think that the High School is better by far. The teachers are very laid back and they don't make me want to jump out of skin from fear. I think the workload is less too. The worst part of High School is that now everything counts toward college. All of the grade I get count even more. To me, grades have always mattered, but now they matter even more. Yeah, it's more stressful, but it's still fun. My schedule is also very hectic, I have to go from one side of the school to the other and up and down, but that's okay I still manage to get to class on time. Based on what I have experienced so far, I'm looking forward to next four months of my freshman year at Roslyn High School.

The Characterization of God Reflection

             From reading Genesis 6-9 last night, I learned a few things about God. God is just like us but, He also is extremely different from us. I am part of a Christian family, meaning that this is the material that I have been taught to believe. From this activity, I think I finally know more about what type of "person" God is. I have always thought of God as a superior being to everyone, He can create and, in this case, destroy anything He wishes at will. In the Bible, when God warns Noah about the the flood that would destroy everything, God told Noah that He thought that he was "righteous before me in this generation." This shows that God shows compassion to those who live by His word, agreeing with what I have been taught. While doing this assignment, I noticed that God is just like us. In the Bible, God admits that he regrets destroying everything. This just comes to show that even God, a superior being to all of us, can regret doing things as well. God regretted making man so much that he decided to kill off all living things so he could restart. To be honest, I'm not shocked by what I "found out" about God because I have grown up being taught all of this material.

Adam & Eve and The Garden of Eden

             From what is given in Genesis 2 & 3, it seems to show that Eve is to blame for the banishment of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. If it wasn't for Eve being greedy and taking the apple from the tree she was specifically told not to take fruit from, Adam and Eve would have been able to remain in the Garden without any problems. In Genesis 3, Adam says “ The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” This line from the Bible makes me think that this whole situation is Eve’s fault because even Adam points fingers to Eve. I think that the serpent who tempted Eve was testing Eve’s faith to God, her creator, because he told Eve that the apple would give her the knowledge to differentiate good and evil, and she knew that she was strictly prohibited from taking fruit from the tree. Like today, there is always a consequence for every wrong action. Eve's punishment was great pain when she bears children. God specifically said to Eve: “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children…” After punishing the two, Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden for disobeying God, all because Eve decided to give into temptation.

Flood Stories

       
              In many different cultures/religions, a story about a Great Flood exists. The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Roman’s version of a Flood story are both very similar, yet very different. For example, both stories believe in polytheism. In both stories, the gods get angry with the humans on the earth. However, in The Epic of Gilgamesh, the gods lived on earth and were angered by how loud the humans were, therefore they thought of bringing a Flood upon Earth. In the Roman version, the gods were angry because of humanity's evil ways, because of this Jupiter wanted to set the earth on fire, but instead brought upon a Flood because he thought might set heaven itself on fire too. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the gods warned one person about the flood so that they could prepare and built a boat to survive. In the Roman version, no warning was given, instead, Jupiter, with Neptune’s help had the flood go everywhere except the summit of Parnassus, where Deucalion and his wife went to seek refuge. In both storylines, the last male and female were responsible for repopulating the earth. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the man and woman who repopulated the earth were rewarded/punished with eternal life. In the Roman version, while Jupiter and Mercury were traveling incognito in search of food and shelter, everyone else but a hospitable couple gave them food and shelter. As a reward, Jupiter and Mercury turned their house into a marble temple.They also made them the priest and priestess of the temple. When the couple grew very old, they were turned into an oak and lime tree. Many different cultures/religions have similar stories, but they will always have their differences.

Source: talkorigins.org

Welcome to My Blog!

Hi, my name is Daniel Castillo. Currently, I'm a High School Freshman at Roslyn High School. I am writing this blog as a collective project for my Freshman Humanities Class. My teacher is Mr. Reiff and he is by far one of the best teachers I've ever had. I think that this will be an interesting project for everyone in the class because it gives each of us a place to express our thoughts and ideas. I hope you enjoy my blog!