afterlife
If there is one constant in this world, it would surely be death. Dying is an unavoidable part of life. Indeed, everything that lives will at sometime die. The fear of death is held by everyone. Perhaps it is the correlation of death with pain or the unknown state of the human consciousness after death, maybe a combination of both, that creates this fear. The fear felt is undoubtedly universal, however, the ways in which it is dealt with are varied and diverse. The concept of human mortality and how it is dealt with is dependent upon one s society or culture. For it is the society that has great impact on the individual s beliefs. Hence, it is also possible for other cultures to influence the people of a different culture on such comprehensions. The primary and traditional way men and women have made dying a less depressing and disturbing idea is though religion. Various religions offer the comforting conception of death as a begining for another life or perhaps a continuation for the former. Christians, for example, believe that souls that have lived by the words of their God will exist eternally in heaven as divine beings themselves. This conception of an afterlife is generally what we people who are
For American culture has its roots in Europe and European culture was and is still influenced by Christian faiths. Old skin being traditional ways of thought based on faith and the new skin being a mixture of ancient and new arising thought based on logic and science. These levels corresponded to the Christian concepts of sin and those who had commited such sins in life would be forced to spend time being punished for them. These ideals have influenced our culture though our use of language and thought. One can see though the progression of time that each culture is in some way impacted by other cultures either directly or indirectly. The world is in a sense shedding its old skin to make way for the new skin. This culmination began in European culture then transcended to American culture. This notion of an afterlife eased the tribes assimilation into Christian culture when colonists came in contact with the Native Americans during the colonial expansion period. The implications are apparent in the common references to one s past lives. He initially arrives in a place for lost souls and then reaches the Elysian Fields (Elysium) where great heros, warriors, and people of talent dwell. The Greeks believed in an underworld in which they spent eternity in. Their idea of an afterlife is illustrated though the Epic of Gilgamesh. Hence, the world of tommorow will not be one which is dependent on preconceived notions and limits set by the past. Disimilarities present themselves in the two faiths concerning exactly what kind of afterlife is lived.
Common topics in this essay:
Ancient Greece,
,
Believers Hindu,
Divine Comedy,
Greeks Greeks,
Fields Elysium,
Native Americans,
Epic Gilgamesh,
Christianity Hinduism,
Aenied Aeneas,
fear death,
death religion myth,
european culture,
skin skin,
american culture,
culture influenced,
death religion,
roman culture,
christian concepts,
religion myth,
concepts death,
|
Acceptance Essays
