Mindy Chin, Period 8, 12/13/21

Mindy Chin

Pd. 8 

12/13/2021

Modern Mythology 2022

Literacy & Learning

1. Write about your thoughts regarding any of the fiction or nonfiction covered in class.

As a non-religious person myself, I found that reading the Bible for the first time was a very enlightening experience. One teaching that I took from the Bible was from the Book of Job: the takeaway is that God is almighty and omnipotent so he knows everything beyond human consciousness. Despite the natural human instinct to know all, the story tells us that there are reasons unexplainable to us as to why we experience good and evil even though we have not committed any sins. In this story, Job is confiscated of his family and all his crops because Satan and God wanted to test whether Job would worship God when in suffering. To me, I felt as if God was taking advantage of his power and almost flaunting it at the demise of a helpless, yet blameless human being. Yet, this moral does in fact explain the unexplainable - the devastation of children with cancer, sudden deaths, other tragedies that occur in life that go without understanding. Perhaps this is all of God’s plan (whatever that may be) - this story does give me some hope because it provides me a more or less state of peace knowing that everything is handled under the power of God [“everything is meant for a reason”].

2. Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception.

Initially, I believed that the Bible is for worshippers of Christ (or Christians) and that those who were not Christians did not care to read it. However, reading this in class taught me how to view the Bible from a literary lens rather than a religious lens, breaking my initial stereotype. I did not have to believe the stories that were contained in the Bible existed in real life, but I could understand the derivations of the morals and teachings that ensued because of these lessons. However, I found it quite unethical for a religion to teach standard morals that it itself did not abide by. During class, we watched Egyptian Secrets of the Afterlife - a documentary by National Geographics. In the narrative nonfiction, I learned that the Ancient Egyptians believed the soul would return to the body after death, where true life would begin. The documentary began broadly with an introduction of the purpose of the Book of the Dead followed by, more specifically, who was able to procure it, what it symbolized, etc. which brought clarity to me as a viewer who has had no other background in Ancient Egyptian history. The Book of the Dead was a 78 ft. Egyptian scroll grown on papyrus that provided the answers to the perils one would face along their journey to the afterlife, guiding the living on how they should live their life on earth as well as morals and ethics they should follow in order to obtain afterlife. Including the length and material of the scroll adds to the documentary’s logos as it provides factual evidence of the book, showing how valuable the book really was as it was grown and cultivated with care for long periods of time. The only catch was that the Book of the Dead could only be purchased by members of the elite due to its hefty price, which left many people of the lower class helpless and defeated as they could not access the keys to the afterlife. Thus, the scroll became more of a status symbol rather than a revered text as it was only possessed by members of the elite. These elements of nonfiction (the description of the scroll combined with the objectivity of the class division that existed in Ancient Egypt) impart the reader to think of the main purpose of the scroll. Was it really for a religious reason? Or a more hierarchical reason? In terms of our world today, the fact that the Catholic Church is currently one of the wealthiest institutions on Earth yet has had numerous sexual abuse claims filed against accused priests leads me to suspect the true role of religion in society.

3. How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/the world around you?

Reading the Bible in class has taught me to broaden my perspective on the world. The many morals it contains can be applied not only to people who follow Christianity, but to non-believers as well. Having core values such as compassion, respect, and tenacity are shown through stories such as the Book of Job and The Feeding of 5000, both of which I enjoyed analyzing in class. Realizing this has made me reconsider the role of religion as something greater - something that could provide value to our society for the greater good. Given the many devastating events that have happened recently, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the exorbitant amount of school shootings that have occurred within this year alone, I think we as a society should all develop better morals for ourselves through believing in God himself, or perhaps His morals alone. While there is definitely no pressure to believe in anything that one does not want to believe in, I think that getting a taste of the Bible has taught me how to live life more peacefully knowing that God is overhead and has a plan for each one of us. I also think the morals he stands by can improve all aspects of human health, from physical to mental, to social and emotional wellbeing. One does not have to be a devout Christian in order to follow his morals, but one can put morals such as being helpful, kind-hearted, selfless, etc. into effect so that we as a society can live together more serenely.