Download Patrick Carney

Patrick Carney
Professor Stegich
History 134
14 December 2014
Portfolio Reflection
As a historian of the ancient world, I have learned a vast amount from the history of my
ancient ancestors that I can apply to my own life and towards acting responsibly for the
betterment of society. The main thing I have learned is that the use of religion works towards the
betterment of society. My greatest understanding of religion and its betterment of society comes
from the late Islamic profit, Muhammad. According to the article 1“Islam From Beginning To
1300” in module 13, the Islamic religion lead Muhammad to be a leading influential citizen of
the city of Mecca. This article betters my understanding of how Muhammad spread the Islamic
religion, and also how his responsible behavior contributed towards the betterment of society. I
learned that although Muhammad had little success at first in attracting followers to Mecca,
Muhammad persevered in his faith and continued his preaching, leading to successful conversion
of some Jewish residents and Pagan’s across Arabia. His religious beliefs bettered society
because he preached the word of Allah and the five pillars, which highlighted values of
selflessness, unity, and praise. He was inspired by the earlier profits Abraham and Moses, and
preached the word of Allah to a number of Jewish and Christian families and did not disown
people who would not convert to Islam, instead allowing them to continue their way of life.
According to the article 2“Islam From Beginning To 1300”, “The significance of Muhammad to
1
"Islam From Beginning To 1300." History-world.org. N.p., 2002. Web. 14 Dec. 2014. <http://historyworld.org/islam2.htm>.
2
"Islam From Beginning To 1300." History-world.org. N.p., 2002. Web. 14 Dec. 2014. <http://historyworld.org/islam2.htm>.
the birth and growth of Islam is impossible to overestimate”. His religious beliefs not only
reflected the responsible manner in which he carried himself (earning the nickname al-Amin,
“The trustworthy”), they contributed to the betterment of society and greatly influenced the
people of Arabia and surrounding nations.
Religion has also had great effects on bettering other societies we learned about. The
Buddhist religion greatly bettered the Mauryan Empire in India. According to the article
3
‘Buddhism” from learning module 11, I can conclude that Buddhism betters society through the
beliefs of enlightenment and Eightfold Path. This article gives me a greater understanding of the
Buddhist religion including the philosophical, devotional, and monastic manners displayed in the
religion. According to the article 4“The Mauryan Empire” from module 11, “Buddhism
flourished under the Maurya”. This article helped me understand the great impacts Buddhism
had on Mauryan society. During this time period Buddhism became a major religion and led to a
time of prosperity for the merchants of the cities.
Buddhism and Islam beliefs bettered their respective societies, just like Christianity
helped better medieval Europe. The implementation of Christianity in medieval European society
led to the betterment of society through the beliefs that everyone should show their devotion to
God. This included people fasting and some people even giving alms to the poor. According to
the video 5“Christianity from Judaism to Constantine, from module 10, religious barriers were
broken when Paul declared that Jesus followers did not have to be Jews and this led to thousands
converting to new Christianity religion. This video helped me understand the role religion played
in this time period and how people were treated for their specific religious beliefs. Constantine
3
"Religion Library: Buddhism ." Patheos.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.patheos.com/Library/Buddhism.html>.
4
"Civilization: The Mauryan Empire ." Timemaps.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.timemaps.com/civilization/The-Mauryan-empire#7>.
5
Narr. Stan Muller. Youtube, 2012. Web. 14 Dec. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG55ErfdaeY>.
was one of the converts and that’s when the Christian religion really took off. This also stopped
the persecutions of Christian’s under the Roman Empire and led to the overall betterment of the
medieval European society.
Understanding the history of my ancient ancestors and the role religion played in their
societies has helped me understand responsibility and contributing towards the betterment of
society. I have learned that no matter what religion is practiced, the core beliefs of all religions
we have learned about this semester contribute towards the betterment of society. The history of
my ancient ancestors has also helped me understand how strengthening my beliefs in my
religion, Catholicism, can lead to my contribution towards the betterment of today’s society.
Since learning about the positive impacts religions have on society, I have devoted my life to
God and follow the ten commandments of Catholicism in an attempt to contribute to society. I
have also used my religious beliefs to volunteer in the community and help out those who are
less fortunate. This has helped me contribute towards the betterment of society and has made me
feel much more responsible as an individual. No matter what major religion a person practices,
there are positive core beliefs practiced by each that enhance individual responsibility and lead
towards the contributions of a better society.
Annotated Bibliography
Narr. Stan Muller. Youtube, 2012. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG55ErfdaeY>.
. This video helped me understand the role religion played in this time period and how people
were treated for their specific religious beliefs. This video also shows the timeline of
Christianity in the medieval era.
"Religion Library: Buddhism ." Patheos.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.patheos.com/Library/Buddhism.html>.
This article gives me a greater understanding of the Buddhist religion including the
philosophical, devotional, and monastic manners displayed in the religion. It also shows
other important aspects of the Buddhist religion.
"Civilization: The Mauryan Empire ." Timemaps.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.timemaps.com/civilization/The-Mauryan-empire#7>.
This article helped me understand the great impacts Buddhism had on Mauryan society. It also
shows all of the other aspects of Mauryan society during this time period.
"Islam From Beginning To 1300." History-world.org. N.p., 2002. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.
<http://history-world.org/islam2.htm>.
. This article betters my understanding of how Muhammad spread the Islamic religion, and also
how his responsible behavior contributed towards the betterment of society. The article
also explains in detail what happened to the spread of Islamic beliefs after Muhammad
died.
History 134: Ancient World. Schoolcraft College, n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.
<https://bb.schoolcraft.edu/addins/HIST134/etext/index.html>.