Week 12: Related Readings
1234 words by dfoster
Blog about how your project is coming along. Post at least one picture related to the implementation of your project.
I think my project is coming right along. Some things have finally decided to work out for me. In the future, I think that I am not going to try to reinvent the wheel but I am going to use some one else’s. That is what I get for being an over achiever. But anyway, I will get back to my project. We finally got the okay that we could go to the place where Melissa does her service learning and talk to a few of the girls from the seventh and eighth grade. I am excited but I am also a little worried. I thought that the girls would be a lot younger because it is easier to shape and mold little kids minds but preteens are a different story. They already have their minds made up on what to think and they are in the stage of trying to act cool so they look cool in front of their friends. They are moody and the girls especially can have a tendency to be mean and catty. They are often very cliquey. We will indeed see what shall happen. We are going to do a seminar slash information session for these girls. We are doing it during their school day so we do not have a whole lot of time but I think we have enough to impact the girls in some way. Now we just have to figure out what all we will do and how we will do it. I forgot to say that we are going to Fischer on the West bank. It is a school that has kindergarten through eighth grade so I do not know whether to call it an elementary school or a middle school or just a combination of both.
How was Jesus counter cultural?
Culture is the values, beliefs and norms held by a group of people in a society. It is made up in their language, the clothes that they wear and the food that they eat. When something is counter cultural, it goes against the views of society in some way. Jesus lived in a time that was the complete opposite of the things that he was trying to teach. Jesus taught many things that were seen as controversial and he often took the least popular side of the argument. The first major thing that Jesus did that was counter cultural was following one God. At this time, the Hebrews are saying that they love and worship God but he is not their only God. They worship other deities like the ones they have learned about in other countries during their exile. They only have him as their primary God which is not enough for him. Jesus also says that you should love everyone especially your enemies. He uses the parable of the Good Samaritan. In this parable, a Jewish man is robbed and beaten and then left for dead on the side of the road. The people who you thought that would help him, cross to the other side of the street and go on about their business. The only person to stop is a Samaritan man who is supposed to be an enemy to all Jewish people. The culture said that a Jew was never supposed to help a Samaritan and a Samaritan was never supposed to help a Jew but Jesus is teaching the exact opposite. He is saying that you should help and love each other. Jesus teaches that you do not have to be Jewish to embrace and accept God. All you have to do is trust and believe in him as being the only God. Jesus also goes against the Pharisees which was a big no-no at the time. He calls them Hypocrites and frauds. He says that they need to “practice what they preach.” He saying that they tell people to do things but they are the main ones that are wrong. Jesus also goes against Roman culture. A lot of the systems that the Romans have established in Jerusalem are not accepted by Jesus and his followers. He does not like the idea of the moneychangers sitting in the Court of Gentiles along with the people selling animals and different objects to be used in temple sacrifices. Jesus viewed this as the commercialization of religion which made him angry so he made a very big scene. The Romans do not like Jesus because he is calling himself the king of the Jews which is in major opposition to Caesar and the Roman Empire. They see him as sparking a revolution against the Romans and they do not like this idea. Jesus is becoming stronger and stronger and they see him as a possible threat to the throne. All of things make Jesus counter cultural.
Is your project counter cultural? Explain.