How have tribes caused problems in the history of Islam?

The Islamic tribes have always caused conflict or problems in the religion of Islam. From the times of Muhammad to recent issues with the Sunnis and Shiites, the division of tribes and the people of one religion has been a conflict in itself. Obviously, any break up of a common people could result in problems. This is because they feel the need to be different, in order to stand out, and the other tribes or sections would see them as contrasting with the norm and their reactions would undeniably be filled with hatred. Problems like this could happen in any situation; not just tribes or religions. It happens all the time today, even in high school. For example, if all girls in our grade were friends but a few girls in that group decided  that they all like chocolate ice cream, while the others liked vanilla, and left the vanilla-loving girls to be by themselves, the pro-vanilla girls would become angry that people had left their group and problems and drama would start. Even though this is a very modern and less intense version of what happens with tribes in any type of group or situation, it still demonstrates the key factors of how problems can start if people begin to differ on very little subjects. Another huge issue that was brought to Islam because of tribes was that Muhammad was born into a very poor tribe, so he had a very tough time trying to win his way to the top. Because the poor had barely any say in society, Muhammad had to work harder than any other to reach his goal in trying to change Islam. Today, we see the conflict between the Sunnis and Shiites going on daily, just because of a couple differences in the way they see Islam and the world. They're all one people, can't they just all try to get along?

How has the religious history of India influenced India’s tradition of non-violence?

Hindus were very adamant about being nonviolent. One of their most important values, ahimsa, meaning "non-violence" is a vow of self-restraint and is taken very seriously by many Hindus. Hinduism bans killing or injuring any living being, including eating animals. Because Hinduism was all about pleasing the gods and following your role in life, ahimsa and being kind would result in good karmic rewards. The Mahabharata tells us that killing anything or anyone is not allowed, unless for ritual sacrifice. Most Hindus followed what their sacred texts had said, so killing and being peaceful didn't seem to be problematic for them. Also, according to the rule of dharma, if anyone deliberately killed an animal, they would be sentenced to be killed by an animal in their next life. Mohandas Gandhi, a very influential Hindu leader, started impacting the way Indians saw the world, being vegetarian and being non-violent became very important to Hinduism. Gandhi led many nonviolent protests and was very successful in bringing the ancient Hindu values back into the perspective of people everywhere. India's tradition of non-violence has influenced many cultures to be more peaceful, and Gandhi's morals has made 'ahisma' and being calm more modern than it would have been if we only learned about ancient India. 

Can migrations have a positive impact on the people and/or land receiving the immigrants?

 I do think that migrations and immigrants to new lands can have a positive impact on the land. Without new people and fresh ideas, our communities and social groups would just stagnate. The infusion of immigrants to a land results in new ideas, new innovations, and new traditions. By moving around and meeting new people, ideas and concepts having a higher chance of being acknowledged, therefore, society as a whole could become more and more developed as time goes on. For example, the immigration of Jews to America has resulted in health care for all of us, medical programs, women's rights, and many more positive influences to the United States. I would like to give more examples on this topic, but I think the point has been proven; There are many positive contributions from immigrants to new lands. 

Socrates Blog.

1. "Wisdom begins in wonder".

I chose this quote because I agree that the ideas and lessons you learn are from curiosity or making mistakes. When you wonder about something, you begin to ask questions. When those questions are answered, you learn something new and that's what most people think of as wisdom. I'm not really sure all wisdom beings with wondering or curiosity, but I'm pretty sure Socrates and I are on the same page with this quote. 

2. To Plato, justice is whatever the best thing for each person is. We all have different opinions and we all know what's best for ourselves, so we can tell what the justice in our lives would be. I think that's the definition of justice to Plato is. 

3. I don't think that it's good that people that are not as smart or brave as others should be lowered in rank because of their inability to do something as well as someone else. If people that weren't as smart got jobs that very smart or very brave people got, they would be able to grow in strength and ability to do work. Like I said before, you can learn new things by doing stuff you didn't think you could do, or just by making mistakes. The people that aren't smart enough to get the good jobs, according to Plato's ideal republic, could possibly be really successful and help the world if they had the chance. 

4. An ideal republic or state for me would be that all people are somewhat equal. It seems like in San Francisco, because of all the diversity we have, equality prevails in many situations. Even though it also seems like there are more white people and rich people in private school, at least most San Franciscans have gotten a good education and can live to be successful people.  Also, an ideal republic would be a place where religion, race, sexuality, etc doesn't matter because technically, we're all just people living on Earth and we shouldn't be fighting with other people like the world is now.

5. I agree that the visual universe is reality because what we see and know is there is the truth. Even though with many situations, people can come off looking nice and sweet but really turn out evil, at least you know that people are there. If the world was based on the intelligible, we would most likely believe anything that came out of any one's mouth. I don't think that the visual universe is standing in the way of knowledge, because seeing or visualizing something can help us learn. If people just stopped visualizing, stopped learning for themselves, and started listening to what other people say and believing those people, the world would easily fall apart. We need our own opinions, and many of those opinions come from learning from visual objects. 

Athens Vs. Sparta questions.

1. If you were a young teenage girl of the citizen class, in which city-state would you rather live? Why?

If I was a teenage girl that lived in Greece, I would want to live in the Spartan society because the Spartan women and gils were educated in reading, writing, and could be physically educated by playing sports. The Spartan women were educated physically and mentally so they could produce healthy babies. Also, Spartan women could own their own property or oversee her husband's property during times of war. Athenian women were kept inside the house and they were considered property of the males in the family. I would definitely not want to live in that kind of society because I think that women should get at least some of the same rights as men did, like Sparta. 

2. If you were a slave, in which would you rather live? Why?

If I was a slave in Greece, I would want to live in the Athenian society because even though a slave-owner could kill a slave, the owner could also give the slave important roles in the community. For example, owners could appoint slaves into being policemen. Also, slaves were treated a lot less harshly in Athens than in many other city-states in Greece. In Sparta, the helots had to give half of their produce and crops to their owners, but in Athens, the slaves seemed to have more freedom.

3. If you were a boy of the citizen class, in which would you rather live? Why?

I would rather live in the Athenian society if I was a boy of the citizen class because boys got to be educated from about the ages of 5-14. They lived a normal life and were educated in many of the same things boys in the United States society are educated in. From the age 18 until the boy turns 20, he enters a military training camp. That life for a boy is much more acceptable for me than the Spartan boys' lives because the Spartan boys have to go to the military from the age of 6 until they're 60. I would not want to go to the military for almost my entire life, like the Spartans do. Athenian boys have a lot more freedom and knowledge than the Spartans do. Spartan boys mostly only know how to fight and protect their city-states. Even though strength and protection of their own city-state is important, I think that actual knowledge, reading, writing, and a little bit of physical activity would be a better life for boys in the citizen class in Greece. 

4. If you were a young soldier, in which would you rather live? Why?

If I was a young soldier in Greece, I would probably want to live in the Athenian society because they only have to go to a military training camp for two years. Spartan soldiers have to be the army for almost 55 years, at least. I definitely would not want to go to the army for that long unless the only thing I cared about protecting Sparta or fighting other city-states or countries in general. I don't think that I would ever only care about fighting. 

5. If you were a very wealthy person of the citizen class, in which would you rather live? Why?

I would want to live in Athens if I was a very wealthy person because that means that I would get a better education that the average citizen class. I would get four more years of education than the normal group of people. Even if I was a wealthy person in Sparta, I would still have to join the army for almost my entire life, which I would definitely not want to do. Also, in Athens, I would probably have slaves to own and girls got private tutors to learn. 

6. Finally, decide to represent either Athens or Sparta and debate which is the best place to live. use the chart from class to find criticisms of the other city-states while praising your own. 

I think Athens is a much better place to live because they didn't just care about phyisique, looks, and military, but they cared about education and freedom for most people. Spartans barely had any freedom because the men had to spend almost their entire lives in the military. Even though women were treated more equally in the Spartan community, they were only treated as equals to give birth to healthy and strong children that could potentially fight in the army. Women had to get married at the tender age of 18 in the Spartan community, which seems a bit too young to settle down and have kids that you don't even get to raise because they're being raised by the state to learn to fight. Military and strength were the biggest parts of Sparta, which isn't a healthy way to live in a community. While Athens taxed and got money from other city-states, all Spartans did was fight the other city-states to try to protect Sparta. Boys were taken at a very young age to serve in the army without a formal education before they leave for the army in Sparta, which is also an unhealthy way to live. Athens had 10 elected officials to represent society while Sparta had two kings and a couple other men to rule over all of Sparta. Also, Athens had a way bigger population than Sparta did, which means that a lot of people favored Athens over Sparta. 

Blog 4.

I think the way that new ideas emerge from stressful times or times of instability can be explained is that we have many ways to prove that new ideas came from horrible times. When we are truly happy or peaceful, no changes will be made because there is no point of change in times of happiness. But, when times are hard or unstable, we need to think of new ideas or policies to make us happy. Whenever there is economic instability, whoever the leader is will be blamed for it. For example, Herbert Hoover was blamed for the Great Depression. The leader will become very unpopular and new policies come. Periods of instability also cause big changes with the government, military, or economy. When communism ruled over Russia, people were very unhappy there. Russia suffered from many economic woes, so the country had a revolution of thought. Another example is when Germany was blamed for most of World War I. New political parties, such as the Nazis, turned up because Germany wanted revenge against the world. Another war is a big period of instability and change. When the Americans entered the Vietnam War, many Americans were very upset. There was a huge hippie and Anti-War movement. Today, the political campaigns of John McCain and Barack Obama are also focused on making big changes in our economy. Right now, our economy is down the drain and hopefully the next President, whoever it may be, will change the policies. In conclusion, new ideas and policies are originated so we can get out of the unfortunate periods of instability. 

Blog 3.

I wouldn't say that population growth is the MOST significant development of the Classical Period, but it's definitely one of the most important. I think that the population growth was only an important and significant development during the Classical Period because networks of exchange were created, and vice versa. If the network of exchange concept wasn't created, then the surge in population growth would not have been so massive. But, if the population hadn't skyrocketed the way it did, networks of exchange wouldn't have needed to been created. Through the networks of exchange, along with religion, people in different countries could have a common thought or belief, without knowing each other. Trade also expanded once religion and population grew, because, as Mr. Stern said in class, people began to trust each other if they believed in the same religion. So, in conclusion, I think the most important developments were not just the fact that the population grew, but also that religion and networks of exchange affected the population growth.