Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God >:-(

               Sooooooo.... This excerpt of Jonathan Edwards was funny yet eye-opening to how serious people valued religion during the time period that this was taught. It also teaches me how single- minded that Christians were back then and were willing to believe any preposterous thing that came out of the mouth of a priest.
               I found this excerpt funny because of the way it described God and how he was willing to punish sinners for the sins that they committed. It was also amusing to me because of the way God was portrayed and described throughout the entire piece. This is completely contrary to the way I and most people view God today. The wrath of God was so exaggerated that it became unbelievable and was taken to an extreme. Yet it was interesting to compare the beliefs of God back then and the God I know today.
              But this was also somewhat of a history lesson in itself. I got and insight as to how religion was viewed and valued back when this was written. From this piece I understand that religion was a vital part of a Christian's life. Christians were willing to do anything to serve and please God and people had the utmost respect for the Church. This was a good thing in some ways but, this willingness also made the Christians very gullible. Anyone that claimed to know the Bible it seemed like they would listen to and would do and believe whatever they said. This opened them up to be taken advantage of.
            And I know for a fact that if someone started preaching the same sermons like this in churches today people would walk out and people would challenge the teachings of this preacher. In our society today people are more independent and are willing to speak up for what they know is right and will not just go with the flow like they did back then. PEACE OUT!

There goes my neighborhood...

Personally, I have only encountered one experience where a group of people have clashed, but it wasn’t over territory. The cause wasn't someone moving into the neighborhood either. But it all started when I was in fourth grade and we began studying the civil rights movement in history class. This was the first time my class and I had studied this time period in depth. And out of nowhere, as we learned about the separation and segregation between whites and blacks during that time period, my grade started to follow the pattern. (F.y.i My school wasn’t that diverse and it was predominantly Caucasian, but there was never any separation and we all got along.) At lunch all of me and my friends sat together and all the other Caucasian people sat in another section. And at recess, when we played sports like dodge ball all the African- American people played on one team and all the other people played on the same team. It was a really weird period and eventually teachers caught on and addressed the situation.

That I can say was my first time experiencing separation of races and it is not something I want to go through again. But otherwise the only other clashing of people that I have seen is in movies like "Remember the Titans" and "Freedom Writers".   

Hello Blogging World

              My name is Briana Hammons. I'm 15 and in Mr. McCarthy's fourth period American Lit. Class. Soooo... (just to describe myself a little bit) I'm energetic, funny, optimistic, easy-going, and a little crazy at times, but who isn't?? But don't let all those other qualities fool you, because I'm intelligent and dedicated. I take my schoolwork very seriously.
             
               I am involved in dance and modeling classes outside of school. And I enjoy playing basketball and hanging with friends during my free time. In school, my favorite subject is math but I excel the best in English most of the time. (Hopefully that's the case this year too).

              One thing that I value a lot in my life besides school and my hobbies is family. I have a big family and they have always been a huge part of my life. I always spend holidays with them and we make fun of each other and tell old funny stories of my parents as kids. I couldn't imagine being without them. Family has always been important to me and always will be.

              And this year I plan on getting drastically better at all types of writing. My goals are to broaden my writing style and to compare it with the style of other American works. I also want to learn new techniques from this course to improve and intensify my writing. I hope to learn a lot this year and to have fun while doing it. Until my next post, PEACE OUT!