-
Memory Studies and Collective Memory Memory studies can tell us many things about what and how people choose to remember certain events. Certain historical events, such as war, environmental disasters, and terror attacks, can create collective meanings that allow groups of people to remember these events in specific ways. On March 11, a magnitude 9…
-
Dale Allison’s book Encountering Mystery: Religious Experience in a Secular Age is a fascinating book. This relatively short book documents experiences that different individuals have had that could be considered spiritual or religious. In a way, this book builds on some ideas expressed in his book Night Comes. While Allison is primarily a New Testament…
-
“Every religion in the world has syncretism,” said my professor of Anthropology of Religion many years ago. Examining religion through the lens of anthropology and historical analysis can reveal the phenomenon of syncretism. The phenomenon of syncretism among religious believers warrants examination. First, I will be using Merriam-Webster’s definition of syncretism as “the combination of…
-
Chapter 1 – Of Kurds, Curses and Jam The first chapter begins by describing the loss of Kurdish lives that came from Saddam Hussein and chemical weapons. An expression is stated: “We have jam, but there is no jam. Jam exists, but it does not exist here. The spirit of jam is with us but…
-
A Short Essay on Video Games and Violence Do video games cause violence and aggressive behavior? Is the answer truly cut-and-dry—a simple yes or no? Or are there social, psychological, cultural, and even religious factors that shape whether video game players are more prone to violent behavior than those who do not play them? This…
-
The Character of Magus in Chrono Trigger The character known as “Magus” takes a central role in the plot of Chrono Trigger. Does the character named Magus employ some of the traits of the magus in the ancient world? First, we need to examine the character and traits of Magus in Chrono Trigger. Magus is…
-
I Am Setsuna is a fascinating turn-based role-playing game (RPG) that any fan of the genre should play. The story is set in a world that is perpetually covered in snow. I was first intrigued by the game because the director stated that the battle system was inspired by Chrono Trigger. Any player familiar with…
-
The Second Message of Islam reflects the thought of the Sudanese reformer and scholar Maḥmūd Muḥammad Ṭāhā. Ṭāhā was executed by the former president of Sudan, Jaʿfar Numayrī, on January 18, 1985. The book opens with an introduction by the translator, ʿAbdullāh Aḥmad An-Naʿīm, a prominent scholar of Islamic law and human rights. In the…
-
Chrono Cross is my favorite video game, and it is widely considered a classic among fans of turn-based role-playing games (RPGs). However, I was unable to play Radical Dreamers as a child. Radical Dreamers is a text-based adventure game released in 1996 (Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hōseki, n.d.). The game served as an inspiration for Chrono…
Triggered to Thinking 