Intro to Religion 5
November 17, 2011 by Kyle · 9 Comments
Today we learned about the pilgrimage to Graceland. I found it very interesting how so many people go to visit the death site of Elvis Presley. I also found it very interesting why some of the people went there. While many simply went there because they are a fan of his music, many others went there because they can relate the pain he felt in his life with the pain that they are experiencing in there own lives. I think I would definitely consider this a pilgrimage, because it has all the aspects of the Turner model. This also gives support to my feelings that a pilgrimage doesn’t have to be associated with a religion. While some argue that this Graceland retreat is a religion, I still have my doubts. In my opinion it doesn’t have a lot of the more important things in a religion such as an ultimate reality or a cosmology.
Rhetorical Situation
November 9, 2011 by Kyle · 17 Comments
We read a piece in passport written by Malcom Gladwell today. It was about the similarities between dog fighting and professional football. In the story, Gladwell makes some very good points about the two. Where dogs are forced to fight in the ring, players bash into each other play after play just to win the game. It is a very dangerous thing to do for both the dogs and players. People also bet on both sports with spectators watching each event. However, players get paid to do what they do. They also have a choice, and are not forced into anything. In my opinion I thought it was a bold and brash statement to compare the two. Looking at this article as a rhetorical situation, I would say that the exigence would be that many retired NFL players suffer brain damage and other health risks later in their life. The audience would be football fans, players, and anyone else that enjoys watching football. What constraints and hinders the progress of this situation is that it is a naturally unsafe sport and it’s almost impossible to make enough equipment so that there is no risk of injury. It is also impossible to makes rules for preventing injury because that would ruin the game. All in all, I thought it was an interesting article but disagreed with the points made.