Learning the Past to Prepare for the Future

Observing the mistakes and successes of the past allows us to more readily prepare for a successful future. The study and analyzation of the rise and fall of ancient civilizations has proven critical to shaping modern cultures and governments into what we see today. Most often, mistakes made today have already been made once before in the past. By studying the past, one can better learn to prepare for the future. As a midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy, it is important to study both the successes and failures of ancient civilizations in order to better prepare ourselves to be officers in the fleet.

Looking at the rule of Emperor Wan-li of the Ming dynasty, many lessons can be learned on the importance of respecting cultural tradition as well as understanding what particular powers should be given to a leader. Emperor Wan-li caused great controversy by breaking the ancient tradition of passing down the title of emperor to his first born son, Changxun. Instead, he designated the son of his concubine to be his next heir. While many members supported the emperor’s decision, others saw it as a violation of ancient tradition and Confucian teachings. Had the emperor gone through with his decision to appoint his concubine’s son as his successor, he would have brought great distrust to his authority as well as instability throughout his empire.

As future naval officers, it is important to understand that cultural tradition and values matter in society, and the decisions we make must respect those traditions. In his teachings, Confucius dictates that “if your promises conform to what is right, you will be able to keep your word. If your manners conform to the ritual, you will be able to keep shame and disgrace at bay” (Confucius 4). It is the job of the officer to uphold the standards and virtues that our nation fights to upkeep and defend. If morals and values are eliminated from our daily tasking, the freedoms we fight to maintain will ultimately collapse. Followers will be less inclined to obey, and officers will lose the respect they have worked so hard to earn.

With knowledge learned from past failures, such as the mistakes made by the emperor, we may hopefully prevent leadership mistakes as officers in the near future. Learning about both the successes and failures of ancient civilizations allows midshipmen to gain a better insight of the world around them. Opening their eyes to ancient beliefs and cultures will ultimately create a better understanding of how civilization has developed into what we see today.

Word Count:429

Works Cited

Confucius, The Analects. Translated by Simon Leys; edited by Michael Nylan. Norton Critical Editions. New York: W.W. Norton, 2014.

Knight, Ansley, Blog Post: First Born or Third?. 30 Oct 2018.

Christian v. Islam

I grew up in a Christian home, and it was not until my attendance at the Naval Academy that I learned about the similarities between Christianity and Islam. While these two monotheist religions follow different scriptures, I was surprised to see how similar they are. These similarities and differences are important to explore because it is possible that Christians and Muslims are praying the same God, just under different names and interpretations. Yahweh, the Christian God, and Allah, the God of Islam, are both transcendent and immanent. The universal God cannot be seen and its existence cannot be understood. No man on earth can explain how God was created, nor can they describe what God is like. However, both religions teach that God is immanent; Yahweh manifests His presence on earth through His Holy Spirit and the Qur’an explains the direct connection that Allah has with its followers. Matthew 18 verse 20 states that “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I [God] am there in their midst.” The bible says that God is present amongst us even if we do not see Him, and similarly, according to Qur’an 50:16, Allah is closer to His people than their jugular vein. He is quick to respond when they call upon His name.

Secondly, both Christians and Muslims recognize their sinful state. Christians recognize their sinful tendencies in result of the original sin of Adam and Eve. In order to approach Yahweh, Christians must acknowledge the work of Jesus and the grace of God will allow believers to be deemed without sin. On the other hand, Muslims believe that their innate purity, acquired at birth, allows them to turn to Allah. However, Miner states, “this innate nature has to be realized through religious education since sin leads to heedlessness and ignorance of Allah” (Miner). Both religions require a level of purity to approach God, the only difference lies in the manner that purity is attained. While Christians become pure through their faith in Christ, Muslims remain pure and wash away their sins by learning the teachings of Allah.

Lastly, some of the symbols and rituals of Christianity and Islam are very similar, and they have the same general goal. Both Christians and Muslims use baptism as a symbol of purification. Christians baptize in order to gain a new life in God through Christ. Similarly, Muslims baptize in order to be ready for communion with God. Both religions sees fasting as a symbol of purity and they use it in order to seek a deeper connection with the universal God.

Islam and Christianity both worship one universal God, under different names. Both scriptures recognize the vulnerability of believers and their ability to sin, and their symbols and rituals are a lot similar. Despite these similarities, what separates Christians and Muslims is Jesus Christ. Christians see Jesus as God himself, while Muslims see him as a great prophet, no different from the other prophets of his time.

Miner, Maureen (01/01/2014). “Spiritual attachment in Islam and Christianity: similarities and differences”. Mental health, religion & culture (1367-4676), 17 (1), p. 79.

Similarities Between Christianity and Islam

Before taking Pre-modern in the West, I had no knowledge of the ideals and fundamentals behind the religion of Islam. I grew up in a Christian home and have a good understanding of the Christian religion and its belief in salvation through Jesus. To my surprise, I learned that the Christian faith and Islam share many similarities that date back to some ancient historical figures.

One of the similarities shared includes their acknowledgment that Jesus lived and that he was a prophet. Despite the belief that Jesus lived, Islam believes that Jesus was never crucified on the cross. The denial of this event countermands the very idea that Jesus died and that his resurrection did not occur. Christianity, however, believes that Jesus died on the cross, was resurrected from the dead, and paid for the sins of mankind so that they may be saved from an eternity in hell. Islam and Christianity consider Jesus a great prophet but identify his divinity differently. For example, Islam finds it blasphemous to recognize Jesus as God, because they believe in only one God, Allah. Christians believe in the holy trinity which is made up in three coequal and coeternal forms in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Another similarity between both religions are the stories told in both the Bible and the Qur’an. Although some of the stories are shared in both books, Christians believe that the Qur’an is not the Word of God, and accept only the Bible as divine. However, the Islam religion believes that the Bible agrees with part of the Qur’an, but do not agree with the belief that Jesus was divine and he is the way to salvation. Islam believes that to be saved, one must fully submit to the will of Allah and that salvation may be granted by his mercy alone.

While both of the religions share some foundational similarities, they differ in the interpretation of specific prominent figures and events. Both of the beliefs are not mutually exclusive but are mere interpretations of different groups of people who were influenced by their way of life and ideals. Fundamentally, they do not agree, but both religions were shaped by events that are captured in both the Qur’an and the Bible. It is important to note that historical events such as the crusades aided in creating a divide between both religions, making the similarities seem like mere coincidences.

By Carlos Gallardo

Word count: 404

Blog Post 5: The Meaning Behind Crusade

In medieval terms, the crusades were a series of wars which were based on religious motives. The First Crusade was the Christian effort to recover the Holy Lands as their own. The Second Crusade was launched in Europe by the Catholics as a fight against Islam. It resulted in a large failure for the Crusaders and a massive victory for the Muslims. An article was written in February 2018 referring to the crusades of Billy Graham. Billy Graham was an evangelist who traveled all over the world spreading his beliefs about God. I believe that the way crusade was used in referring to Billy Graham’s evangelistic campaigns are much different from the way that the word is looked at when speaking of the medieval crusades.

When looking at the ancient Crusades, there is a connotation of war and violence in order to achieve the overall goal. In the Second Crusade, the Catholics launched an all-out holy war against the Muslims. This is how people generally look at the term crusade today. It is not looked at as something peaceful due to how the crusades took place in ancient times. The only real similarity between Billy Graham and the ancient crusades were that each of their goals were founded on religious motives. However, they were completely different events from one another. The fight to take the Holy Lands back from the Muslims showed a type of fear or hatred towards Islam. This was not Billy Graham’s view at all. After the September 11th terrorist attacks, Billy Graham actually stopped referring to his actions as crusades in an effort to not upset the people of Islam. While each event was in an effort to push their own religious agenda forward, the two crusades are completely different from one another.

Because of these glaring differences, I don’t think that calling Billy Graham’s actions crusades is an accurate use of the word. The most accurate term that I would use for what he did is an evangelical campaign. Crusades, in my estimation, are fights or conflicts that take place in order to push forward a religious motive. Billy Graham did was not fighting with anyone; he was simply making any effort he could to let everyone know what he believed and persuade them to have the same beliefs. Other than the shared religious correlations, Billy Graham’s campaigns were not similar to the medieval crusades.

Word Count: 400

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/02/21/billy-graham-crusades-how-evangelists-reached-millions/858165001/

Afghanistan the new proving ground for Modern Crusaders?

In the distant roaring cold hills of Afghanistan, the Middle East continues to see armed conflict, continuing the thousand year cycle of the region. Reminiscent back to the Christian response to Muslim Jihad and the motive to evangelize, the Middle East has become a proving ground for a new generation of crusaders. ISIL and remnants of Al’Queda have sought to fulfill a Jihad in order to curve western aggression. This has been matched by the continuous U.S. and allied campaigns in the region, but many nationals are traveling independently of any military industrial complex or support to wage a war on the Jihadists. Duke recognizes the global contingent of fighters who have come together in order to hopefully achieve a goal their governments have failed to achieve, eradicating Islamic Terror. These militants leave the comfort of their homes and apartments in places such as New York City or London in order to travel to Afghanistan and take up arms against radical Islamic terror. Jordan Matson, a former U.S. Army infantry soldier, and evangelical Christian, reiterated a call to action from his governments inaction, “I decided that if my government wasn’t going to do anything to help this country, especially Kurdish people who stood by us for 10 years and helped us out while we were in this country, then I was going to do something.” Duke goes on to describe this new civilian dominated warfare sector as the 21st century Crusade, which pins evangelical and Catholic civilians against the Islamic forces trying to capture Muslim territory. This begs the question about Duke’s characterization to determine if ‘Crusade’ might be a misrepresentation previous events in Crusaded over. I would argue that it is a mischaracterization. When we examine the underpinnings of the first crusade, Pope Urban II used his divine position to create a call to action which was officially sanctioned by the Church as well as many European counties in an effort to adhere to the divine authority of the Papacy. In this situation, no leader from nay religion has established a call to action against Islamic aggression and a small contingent of self-described crusaders rather than a united Christian front. Pope Francis, the current Papal authority in the Catholic Church has refined the doctrine of how Christians need to respond to Islamic terrorism by saying, “If we wish to fight terrorism, we must resist the temptation to become terrorists ourselves.” The implication that any member of the Church is taking up arms against Islamic insurgents is directly against the ruling of the current Papacy. Instead of describing this fight as a Crusade, I would use the term War on Terror in the hope to protect innocent civilians and promote peace through the abolishment of individuals who use fear to divide citizens.

Word count-457

https://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/europe/item/20163-modern-crusaders-fighting-isis

The Validity of Crusading

Maxwell Shuman

During the Middle Ages death and agony played a large role in worldly matters and the survival of nations. Due to the constant war and plague which continually cursed the entire Mediterranean from the Middle East to Western Europe, there was little time for civilizations to truly settle in. Following the attacks of the Seljuk Turks in Byzantium, the war between Christians and Muslims grew exponentially and led to the Crusades. I believe that there was some validity to the Christian crusade for the capture of Jerusalem, however, when looking at the bigger picture it is much more complicated. The Crusade was valid in the sense that in the time prior to the crusade Christians were persecuted and massacred in the thousands by Muslims in the holy city. To go along with this, their places of worship were either destroyed or used as stables. Contrary to the validity of the taking of Jerusalem, however, I do not believe that the Christians necessarily have a greater claim to the holy city than that of Jews and Muslims. Being that all three religions of the book claim Jerusalem to be the Holy Land, it is important to understand their stance on violence and, in turn, a crusade killing thousands of people. In the bible, one of the most famous passages from the gospel of Matthew states that “if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” A common interpretation of this goes along with Jesus’ preaching of mercy and love for all human life. With this view in mind, a crusade to kill thousands of people who have wronged you does not seem entirely justified.

I believe that while there is bad blood between the religions and persecutions both ways have taken place, this does not give one another the right to ruthlessly attack and kill thousands of innocent people because of their religious beliefs. Looking further back in history it was not terribly long ago that both religions were brand new and were eventually accepted by the Roman Empire as a legal religion within the republic. With this in mind, I think that the crusade to smite men of a different religion is wrong and should not be the sole reason for such a terrible event. The only reason which gives the crusade validity is that fact that Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem were massacred and treated like dirt while on a holy mission. If it were the opposite and Christians had massacred Muslims who were on pilgrimage to Mecca then a crusade against Christians would not be outrageous either.

Word Count: 419

The Parallels of Islam and Christianity

Blake Bizousky

Before our discussion in class, I had very little knowledge of the Islamic religion and it was surprising to see the similarities. To scale my knowledge, I did not know that Christianity and Islam both worship the same god only through different interpretation. Although some may argue that they do worship a different god, both religions can be traced back to share the belief in the God of Abraham. Additionally, both religions look at the Old Testament as word of God.
Another standout similarity between the two was their take on justified holy war. Islam and Christianity alike have countless scripture preaching peaceful words, however, both also have a fair amount of seemingly violent scripture that is up to interpretation. From the Qur’an, “Fight those who believe not in God nor the last day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by God and His Apostle. [Christians and Jews alike] delude away from the truth” (Sura 9:29-31). One could interpret this reading to an extreme and place the Islamic faith against those of Christianity or Judaism. Under the wrong eye certain parts of the Qur’an, such as jihad, the struggle against enemies of Islam, can lead to very violent interpretations. Osama bin Laden’s ideas were based on an extremist view of jihad within the Qur’an.
Very similarly, Christian extremists during the Crusades slaughtered over a million people believing it was justified by God. “For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment of the wrongdoer” (Roman 13:4). The extreme interpretation during the time of Pope Urban II triggered the Crusades lasting around 200 years. During, this time all those who stood in their way of the Holy Land we killed.
Though the two religions have several similarities I do believe that they are mutually exclusive. The first big difference comes from the Islamic interpretation of Jesus. To Muslims, Jesus was not the son of God, he was born of the Virgin Mary, but only to be a prophet. Instead of the Holy Trinity including God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Muslims believe there is only one singular God. The Islamic faith is based on the teachings of Muhammed. In which, Muhammed is believed to be the last prophet of God. Even though they both have similar prophets and scripture the foundation of the two religions are much different. Within Christianity the Holy Trinity is the center stone, however, it contradicts the bases on which Islam is founded on.

Word Count – 437

Christianity vs Islam

As a result of the long drawn out war against the Islamic Middle East, tensions between Christians and Muslims have increased in the West. Majority of Western Christians refuse to believe the compatibility in religions because most associate the religion with the violent acts of terrorism that have occurred since the War on Terror began. Stereotypes against Muslims have yet to crumble because of the uneducated people who continue to spread ignorance. Islamophobia continues to grow in western cultures. Putting political differences aside, the two share major ideas that set the foundation to their religions.

A significant similarity between the religions is that both believe in a long line of prophets who spread God’s words to the people on earth. “Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, John the Baptist, and Jesus were sent by God/Allah as messengers of His word. (Sharples) Despite the line of prophets, the two religions have differing perceptions of Jesus. The Islamic religion believes that Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary, was just another prophet who carried the Lord’s word. They view Muhammad as the superior prophet because he is the “final messenger.” On the other hand, Christians perceive Jesus as the son of God. Jesus is the second of the holy trinity, therefore he is almost as equal to God because he is God’s flesh.

Both Christianity and Islam share Holy Scriptures. Christians follow the Bible while Muslims follow the Qur’an. Although there is two different books, both religions use the Old Testament and the New Testament as sacred texts and they both believe in the same God. Before this class, I automatically believed that the Qur’an and the Bible had radical difference, but that was because of ignorance and lack of research. I was surprised to discover that both books share many characters as well as narratives: Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Mary, Garden of Eden, the flood, and the near-sacrificing of Abraham’s son.

Despite the surprising similarities between Christianity and Islam, the two are not mutually exclusive because of the ideologies shared with Judaism. Judaism is a completely separate religion with vast similarities in the one God, prophets, narratives, and Satan. Without research, all three religions seem completely different because of the modern day Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. Stereotypes of each religion has fogged our perception of each. Because of ignorance, each religion seems incompatible with each other, but in reality they are all vastly similar. If you brought in other religions and examined each, you would probably find surprising similarities as well.

Articles used:

https://www.onfaith.co/text/9-similarities-between-christianity-and-islam

https://www.allaboutreligion.org/islam-vs-christianity-faq.htm

https://allthatsinteresting.com/quran-bible-similarities

Word Count: 427

The “Great Crusade”:WW2

In the 11^th, 12^th and 13^th centuries Christians from various parts of medieval Europe took part in what is known as the Crusades. By order of the Pope, these Christens gathered their armies and fought to retake Jerusalem a.k.a. “the Holy Land” from the rule of the Muslim peoples. When we hear of the word Crusade today, we almost always identify it as this Holy War, however, there are often times when crusade is used as a word to describe other events throughout history. These events are about the same magnitude in terms of size and impact on history as the original Christian Crusades. In the last century, arguably the single most impactful event of recent history that can in some ways be identified as a crusade was World War Two.

With over fifty countries taking part and over 65 million people killed, World War Two was the deadliest conflict in human history. The sheer magnitude of the conflict is defiantly on par, if not greater than that of the original Christian Crusades. The war involved an axis power comprised of mainly Germany, Italy, and the Empire of Japan, that intended on taking over and inflicting tyranny upon the entire world. It was up to the allied powers to come together and defeat the axis in order to save the world from domination. When the war had started, the Nazi war machine took over almost all of Europe within the first couple years leaving essentially the British isolated, and one of the only forces capable of fighting the Nazi’s on Europe’s western front. It wasn’t until 1941 however when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, that the United States officially joined the war effort and brought in much needed reinforcements to Europe and the Pacific Islands. The allied forces however, needed to devise a plan on how they would successfully get troops into mainland or “fortress Europe” to liberate once and for all, Europe from Nazi rule. It was General Dwight D. Eisenhower of the United States Army who helped to devise a plan to launch an amphibious assault through land, air, and sea, on the beaches of Normandy and begin the liberation of Europe by force. It was also General Dwight D. Eisenhower who spearheaded the assault known as “D-Day” and motivated his men by issuing a speech that dubbed the eventual liberation as “the Great Crusade”.

General Eisenhower was justified in calling the liberation of Europe “the Great Crusade” because it was in many ways similar to the original Crusades in that, a group of nations combined to fight against and liberate a foreign land from an evil force (or other nation power). Much like in the 11^th, 12^th, and 13^th centuries, “the eyes of the world” were upon the allied (crusading) forces as human history rested in the balance. On the morning of June 6^th 1944 American and allied forces were in fact embarking on a “Great Crusade” to liberate Europe from Nazi rule much like how the medieval Christian forces embarked on a crusade to liberate Jerusalem from Muslim rule.

-Jacob Ramos

Modern Crusaders

Word count: 513

The First Crusade: Was it Just?

By Jonathan Gabriel

It is obvious that defending a city or a country from attacks is just, but is it just to continue a crusade after the successful defense of that city to conquer a city that those people believe to be theirs? In order to answer this question, it is important to turn to ethics and what makes a war just. St. Thomas Aquinas, a famous philosopher and catholic priest in the 1200s, claims that there are three things that make a war just; legitimate authority, just cause, and right intentions.

The first question is whether it was a legitimate authority calling for the first crusade.The first crusade was called by Pope Urban II, clearly an important person within society, but does his role as pope give him legitimate authority. Typically, it is not legitimate for a single person to declare war on another person. However, Pope Urban II sought the appropriate permission to go to war and got the permission from a legitimate authority. Thus, making his call to crusade legitimate.

The second and third aspects of a just are similar, and in this case can be combined into a single argument. If the cause is just and the intentions are in the right place, then it makes the call to war a just act. The call to crusade was initially just, because it was being done to aid others that were in trouble and restore that area to its former peace. After the defense of Constantinople however, the crusade continued to take the city of Jerusalem. The reason for the continuation of war was to take a city that the Christians believed was rightfully theirs. The cause was not just, and the intentions of the Christians was not in the right place. For a cause to be just it must be in order to protect people from a danger that is either coming or will most likely come. For the intentions to be just, the people going to war must be intending to find peace through war in some way. The Christians continued their war to take a city from the Muslims. There was no intent to find peace and there was no cause to protect their people. Therefore, the Christians had no right to continue the crusade to Jerusalem, and they were engaging in an unjust war.

The Christians believed that Jerusalem rightfully belonged to them because it was the birthplace of Jesus Christ, but the Jews and the Muslims also believed that the city belonged to them for other religious reasons. The fact of the matter is, it did not belong to any of them more than it belonged to the other. Religion does not play a factor in the right to a city or anything else. The Christians had no right to attempt to take the city, and also had no right to go war.

Word Count: 479