Svetlana Doronkina
12/22/20
Period 5
Modern Mythology 2021
Write about your thoughts regarding the most current reading. Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception. How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/the world around you?
For my blog post, I will be discussing my thoughts and opinions on our most recent reading - The Book of Revelation. The concept of the apocalypse has always been interesting, and something prevalent in every single religion. The question of whether the world will end in ice or fire sticks. What struck me about this reading in particular is this quote, “Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains”, because it is a huge reminder that at the end of the day, we are all the same. If the world really does end in hellfire and despair, money and glory bring us nothing but perhaps harsher judgement in the end. Quite an interesting paradox, if you think about it - most consider success the key to happiness, but just how often is obtaining that success morally right? Not so often nowadays.
This reading really opened my eyes to the fact that every lesson examined in the Bible and revelations is heavily prevalent in our society even now, and how more often than not, we still haven’t learned our lesson. If the church hadn’t fallen to corruption and decided against twisting the words and meanings behind these great books, I believe that humanity would be doing significantly better from a moral standpoint. I guess we’ll never know. It’s a sad thought, knowing there is so much to learn and grow from in these texts, yet the very idea of religion and conformity to it terrifies people, and rightfully so. Another interesting thought from the reading was the take on innocence and power. “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!” speaks to me because the lamb is the one in power, not the tyrant. But can the lamb ever really be the face of God? Extreme acts of cruelty require a high degree of empathy, and to be a leader is to make difficult choices. It’s the wrath of an innocent creature like the lamb that propels a higher power towards action, allowing him free rein in the severity of punishment.
The metaphor of the lamb brought on the idea of heavenly wrath being provoked only by the suffering of innocents - this thought in particular really solidified my view of religion and how in the same way God is fair and loving, he is decisive and cruel. Why does tragedy have to occur before change does? If the heavens and their ruler stand for good, then why do we all suffer regardless of how faithful we may be? It is unfair from one perspective, but on the other side of things, the Book of Revelation also made me get closer to an understanding of how justifiably unfair life is. We live in a modern world, where there are no angels or prophets to announce what we're doing wrong and how we can attempt to make it right. On that note, it makes complete sense to throw humanity challenges and hope we can help ourselves and learn something if good cannot directly intervene. And at the end of the day, our good deeds need to have noble motivations - we choose to be good not in fear of being smited or punished, but because we can and should be. Each bump along the road is a step towards real growth, and judging by the state of the world and the lack of heavenly intervention we see nowadays, every con is a pro in its own way.
Period 5
Modern Mythology 2021
Write about your thoughts regarding the most current reading. Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception. How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/the world around you?
For my blog post, I will be discussing my thoughts and opinions on our most recent reading - The Book of Revelation. The concept of the apocalypse has always been interesting, and something prevalent in every single religion. The question of whether the world will end in ice or fire sticks. What struck me about this reading in particular is this quote, “Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains”, because it is a huge reminder that at the end of the day, we are all the same. If the world really does end in hellfire and despair, money and glory bring us nothing but perhaps harsher judgement in the end. Quite an interesting paradox, if you think about it - most consider success the key to happiness, but just how often is obtaining that success morally right? Not so often nowadays.
This reading really opened my eyes to the fact that every lesson examined in the Bible and revelations is heavily prevalent in our society even now, and how more often than not, we still haven’t learned our lesson. If the church hadn’t fallen to corruption and decided against twisting the words and meanings behind these great books, I believe that humanity would be doing significantly better from a moral standpoint. I guess we’ll never know. It’s a sad thought, knowing there is so much to learn and grow from in these texts, yet the very idea of religion and conformity to it terrifies people, and rightfully so. Another interesting thought from the reading was the take on innocence and power. “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!” speaks to me because the lamb is the one in power, not the tyrant. But can the lamb ever really be the face of God? Extreme acts of cruelty require a high degree of empathy, and to be a leader is to make difficult choices. It’s the wrath of an innocent creature like the lamb that propels a higher power towards action, allowing him free rein in the severity of punishment.
The metaphor of the lamb brought on the idea of heavenly wrath being provoked only by the suffering of innocents - this thought in particular really solidified my view of religion and how in the same way God is fair and loving, he is decisive and cruel. Why does tragedy have to occur before change does? If the heavens and their ruler stand for good, then why do we all suffer regardless of how faithful we may be? It is unfair from one perspective, but on the other side of things, the Book of Revelation also made me get closer to an understanding of how justifiably unfair life is. We live in a modern world, where there are no angels or prophets to announce what we're doing wrong and how we can attempt to make it right. On that note, it makes complete sense to throw humanity challenges and hope we can help ourselves and learn something if good cannot directly intervene. And at the end of the day, our good deeds need to have noble motivations - we choose to be good not in fear of being smited or punished, but because we can and should be. Each bump along the road is a step towards real growth, and judging by the state of the world and the lack of heavenly intervention we see nowadays, every con is a pro in its own way.
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