The Past And The Shape Of Things - Essay Example

The Past And The Shape Of Things Across the world, and in all times, social arrangement, established authorities, existing forms of life, economic systems, and ruling classes have gained legitimacy and strength because of the past. The today’s society and culture have gone through series of both social and physical transitions over many years to what we see today. Therefore, the past has shaped all these aspects over time from one generation to another. In the world today, the past has played and continues to play an integral role in the development of modern cultures and societies. For instance, the US society and culture had developed a great deal from the time when it became a country to date. Today, the United States of America has developed its own peculiar cultural and social habits that make it what it is (Strenski 11). Over the past, the US has had many immigrants from varied countries that had different social and cultural backgrounds. For this reason, the US has become a culturally and racially diverse due to this massive migration in the past. However, due to the varied combination of people from many parts of the world, the future of the US has and will be determined by the past (Eliade & Ioan 47). The paper seeks to describe and give a comparison of how the past influences the future in today’s society and culture. In his theory of the sacred time, Eliade’s implies that the power of anything has its roots in its origin and that the power of the entire world relies on cosmogony. However, Eliade claims that for any religious man, two types of time exist. One of which is the sacred time and the other is the profane time. He further stipulates that the former is experienced in the religious festivals and the latter in the normal life. He further asserts that absolute truth concerning primordial time is represented by myths in the traditional societies. According to these myths, it was during this time that the first appearance of the Sacred was experienced in which the world’s structure was established. For Eliades, all myths give a description of primordial events that have made the natural world what it is currently (Schulman 204). Also, most traditional societies have a belief that origin is an essential component in determining the power of anything. Therefore, if origin equals power, then it becomes the first sign of a valid and significant thing. According to Eliades, the value and reality of anything lie solely on its initial appearance. Eliades believes that Sacred has value to mean that the first appearance of anything has value. Essentially, the first appearance of Sacred has got value. On the other hand, the myth gives a description of the sacred s first appearance making the mythical era a sacred time which is of value. The traditional societies were only interested at the beginning of any happening. Therefore, this belief explains why most religions desire to go back to a prehistoric paradise. During the time of origin, the events got recorded in myths (Hudson 91). These myths gave a revelation and an explanation of how and why cosmos came to exist. Myths were, therefore, significant in restoring paradigms for rituals and important human activities. However, religious men believed that when human beings emulate semi-divine figures and the gods, their behavior was considered rational. The mythical model imitation by men made the religious men stay in touch with the sacred truth. Additionally, the myth ensured that religious men gave a contribution to the holiness of the world through actualizing the divine mythical model (Boyer 32). Eliades further argues that the only way to truly become a man is through the imitation of the gods as stipulated I the myths. Israel was regarded as the holy nation that was chosen by God and that God made lots of promises to them. These promises that God made in the past have shaped and still continue to shape the destiny of Israel and its people. However, both nations around Israel and around the world at large, influences of the past have shaped not only Israel destiny but that of the world too. Conversely, the religious past forms the basis of what has manifested today in Israel and the nations around it. God gave the Israelites a promise that they are a chosen generation and that he would bless those who bless them and curse those who curse them. A recent example is Adolf Hitler in the twentieth century who prosecuted the Jews for a long time. Interestingly, he shot himself and died despite having reigned over the Jews and killed many of them. Another well know country that persecuted the Jews are the Germans who were the previous world power before the Second World War (Strenski 13). After the end of these German persecutions when the war ended, they have never gained the global prominence as they did during the time of Adolf Hitler. These occurrences give an illustration of the curse element that God assured the Israelites that was evident to date. A second example is seen in Spain in 1942 during the announcement of an expulsion edict. When this announcement was made, the Jews were given a period of two months to vacate Spain or to be converted to Catholicism. The Jews who lived in Spain then were conditioned never to leave with any possession. They were to leave Spain and their wealth destroyed by the state. However, for the Jews who could not make it outside Spain, they had to be converted to Catholicism forcefully which included pain, torture, and even death for refusal. During this period, Spain was the world superpower under the reign of Queen Isabella. Spain had control over the world and had taken up a greater part of America. After a period of one hundred years, Spain was defeated, and they were no longer the world super-power. It was, therefore, evident that the Jews who were Israelites rose to prominence again in matters of the world as they held before. Lastly is the United States of America who is an interesting example of a promise made by God in the past. Over the past, God made a promise to Israel that He will bless those of bless them. The US is a big example of a nation that has been blessed by being kind to Israel. Again the Eliades theory about the past is evident as the US blessings are tied to the promise that God gave the people of Israel. For instance, the US have been best of friends with Israel and helped them in so many ways whenever they are in a crisis (Eliade & Ioan 71). Despite falling out with Israel on few occasions, the US has been instrumental in supporting Israel and blessing them indirectly. As a result, the US continues to be the world’s superpower and is believed to be based on the biblical principle of blessing those who bless Israel. All over the world, the power structure has gone through many significant changes. These changed are as a result of the past that plays an integral role in shaping up what we see in today’s structures. Therefore, it can be deduced that, the present is controlled by the past, a belief that Eliades stood for in his theories. The power structure is the interrelationship of leadership hierarchy that, in this case, is viewed on a global scale. Consequently, these structures determine the overall political economy globally (Strenski 12). The power structures encompass all global economic enterprises, political economy, and expertise of various nations among others. The main factors that have changed the face of the power structure in today’s world include; social institutions, concepts, government techniques, and practices. All these have contributed towards shaping the global society and culture. In history, leadership structure was treasured and was only entrusted to a particular genealogy. From religion point of view, leaders or Kings were anointed by God, and they had specific traits that were peculiar and that they could be differentiated easily from the other members of the society. However, the genealogy where the Kings or ancient leaders came from was associated with leadership. In the recent past, these were still evident in some countries of the world. Additionally, some societies had their special way of selecting their leaders from their community. The selection criteria were guided by certain beliefs that had been put in place by the ancestors of these communities (Eliade & Ioan 93). These were rules that were to adhere to and had value in those communities. These ancient beliefs have since become the basis of selection of leaders in some communities to date. Also, there was a way in which the structure of leadership was organized. For instance, most countries that were colonized such the United States of America, adopted some of the structures from the British and the Ireland. When the British came to America for the first time, they carried with them their language, culture, and leadership styles among others and imposed it on the American. Currently, when you look at the US, most of their culture, language, and leadership structures and administration has a little resemblance with that of the British. Therefore, the Americans adopted these principles after getting assimilated by the British in most of their operations (Boyer 30). Not only did the Americans acquire the leadership structures but many other things that together shaped their culture and society to what it is today. Consequently, the Americans have made certain adjustments over many decades but the leadership structures have remained almost similar to that which they acquired during the colonial era. Many changes have been experienced in today’s American society. These changes have shaped the American society to what it is today and have been influenced by past events. The effects of these past events have both negative and positive impacts in the current American society. Over many years ago, America has had many immigrants of about sixty percent moving in. These immigrants have contributed immensely to the enrichment of American culture and also towards the enhancement of the influence of America to the rest of the world. Although, the issue of immigrants have brought about controversies as some Americans such as Benjamin Franklin got worried that the German immigrants would wipe away the British culture that was dominant in the US. In the mid-1800’s, immigrants of the Irish origins were believed to be drunkards and got Americans worried (Hudson 91). Later, the Jews from Russia, Italians, and the Poles also came, and they were believed to be different and could assimilate into the American life. The immigrants in the US have been a contributing factor to major social changes that have taken place in the American societies. Apart from changes within societal jurisdictions, the immigrants have given America an economic edge in the world economy. Finally, the United States of America has had a culture that has developed more rapidly. These developments have made the US develop its unique socio-cultural features such as arts, dialect, and music, among others. Due to large-scale immigration, the US has grown to become an ethnically and culturally diverse country. The major influences of these changes in the US are the Irish and the British during the colonial era. During this period, the immigrants came into America with varied cultures and the English language which they spread all over the country. Today, America embraced most of the cultures that were brought in by the British and the Irish. Additionally, American culture was also influenced by other immigrants from other Europeans countries who went and settled in the US (Schulman 201). Apart from the immigrants, the US has interacted by many other countries that have enabled them acquire many skills. For instance, Americans have for a long time had close ties with Israel. In religion, the Israelites were a God-chosen nation that was given many promises. God promised them that He would bless those who bless them and curse those who curse them. From that point of reasoning, the American government has for a long time stood by the Israelites and supported them in many ways. For this reason, American success is always attributed to the blessings that God promised Israel. Work Cited Schulman, Bruce J. The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics. New York: Free, 2001. Print. Hudson, Michael. Super Imperialism the Origin and Fundamentals of U.S. World Dominance. 2nd ed. London: Pluto, 2003. Print. Boyer, Paul S. When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap of Harvard UP, 2011. Print. Eliade, Mircea, and Ioan P. Culianu. The Eliade Guide to World Religions. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991. Print. Strenski, Ivan. Four Theories of Myth in Twentieth-century History: Cassirer, Eliade, Lévi-Strauss, and Malinowski. Iowa City: U of Iowa, 2001. Print. Read More