The Mergence of Two Cultures?
Can two completely different cultures come together and live as one diverse culture? Today it seems possible comparing it to the world we live in but back then it was a hard goal to achieve. The Native Americans and the Americans, each having their own culture, had to overcome many obstacles and tragedy for this to happen. Their religion, social customs, and viewpoint on slavery were some of the conflicting aspects. Religion is different among cultures. In the story "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", by Jonathan Edwards, the American perceptive of religion was strongly portrayed. They believed that people should live accordingly to the puritan ways. He wanted them to not just read the bible, but feel it and experience it. They would have to believe in Jesus, suffer as he did, and deny any pleasure given to them. Edwards says "There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God." (P 499) This quote shows that they believe in a heaven and hell and God is the only one that can control your destiny. If you are sinful, you will go to hell and if you live a good life, then you will go to heaven. They would attend church every Sabbath day, pray, and hope God would forgive them for th
Native American Women had their own share of the load of carrying their things as seen in Mary Rowlandson's Captivity. They had many gods not just one and religion was not as strict as the Americans. Benjamin Franklin made a very strong statement about the Native American's social customs. Almost everything was considered a sin. That is the reason why in the explorer narratives, the Native Americans continue to move and share the land equally. Comparing the two religion, the Americans seems to have their religion as a foundation of how they should lead their lives, but the native Americans have their religion more of an appreciation of life and of how they were created. Instead of churches, they have traditional dances and feasts. For example in "The Iroquois Creation Story" they had two worlds, the lower world and the upper world. After their needs are taken care of, they then ask questions. They did not treat her as something they owned or made her do all the hard laboring work; they just made her do just as much as any of their own women would do. The evil portrayed to the Americans were devils that "stands ready to fall upon them, and seize them as his own. They did not have devils, but more of an evil spirit. Even though there are differences, there are similarities too.
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Acceptance Essays
