Readings

The first reading was not as interesting to me as the second but there were some great parts and thought provoking quotations that i took down.

On page 6 the notion that " the stamp of evangelicalism was imprinted on the south" and that the south was "christ-haunted" was a revealing image for me. the image that this sentance was "imprinted" as though it was irreversable and was a permanent marker on the south and the people that were "sucked" into this belief. As for "christ-haunted" i thought that was interesting because many times you hear people talking about how wonderful it was that christ rose again to save all the people and how he died for the sins of all the people, but when you really think about it from an outside perspective you hear a story of a man that died and then rose again, like a ghost or zombie. Would that justify the evangelistic movement in the south as a haunting? interesting comparison.

The idea of protestant beliefs in a patriarchal society and taht worship was a feminine function is also interesting. Maybe i am misreading this part of the passage, but it seems to me that being spiritual and approaching what is thougth to be morality and holiness is something the women were expected to do and bring into the household. well where were the men in this journey to morality? were they exempt or did it not apply to them becasue they were out being the workers and making the money for the family to live on? it just seems like this teachings are for everyone to be better people and approach morality while at the same time contradicting itself by saying it is a feminine practice. hmmm....

I really found the second reading interesting about the Jewish woman that converted to Christianity late in her life.

The reason i found this interesting was the fact that in most faiths the mere word of "faith" is to believe strongly with your whole self in something that cannot inherrently be proved. For this woman to go back on her faith that she had had for her entire life, rubs me strangely.

what is faith and religion if it can just be flipped so easily? why do people believe so strongly that one is better than another when they themselves are moments from becoming a turncoat to the times?