In Lincoln’s work Discourse and the Construction of Society, he discusses how communities of people choose different moments in history to define themselves. These historical moments often represent the community’s core values and creates the stigma of us versus them. This idea of us versus them can be explained as a group that isolates itself from the rest of the world in a way to conserve or define its cultural identity. In Davison’s work Myth and the Periphery, he took a different angel on the theme and states that communities use geography to define themselves. Whether if this is how a country decides to draw its borders or how ancient texts define current geographic sites, communities constantly use their past to explain the present.
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This conflict encapsulates Lincoln’s view of us versus them in the sense that Jewish individuals are choosing the historical moment of God giving land to their ancestors to define their religious beliefs. Much of Judaism is based on the Torah, and in the book of Genesis God gives Abraham the land. Therefore, Israel is tied to the Jewish religion through its involvements within religious texts. Furthermore, Judaism separates us from them by recognizing that their religious group was chosen by God to inhabit a specific region of the world. This creates a sense of isolation between those who were special enough to be chosen by God to live in Israel and those who were not. Judaism’s tendency of using the past to explain the present is very similar to The Myth of the First Cattle Raid. Lincoln discussed the story of Dinka and Nuer whom are the two children of God. God gifted his children Dinka and Nuer with a cow and a calf. One night Dinka decided to steal his brother’s calf. As a punishment, dependents of Nuer were encouraged to raid Dinka people’s cattle numerous times. This myth truly represents the reoccurring theme that the past shapes the …show more content…
This is clearly present in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the Jewish community’s ties to the land that spans from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip. Through the eyes of its followers, the land of Israel is a big part of what defines Judaism. Founders of the religion walked on this land and created a powerful religion that is still thriving today. Davison’s mention of using geography as a tool to define us versus them is like that of the Shan Hai Jing. “The initial sense of a sort of reciprocal difference from other peoples in language, customs, and political development gradually evolves into stronger feelings of basic incompatibilities,” (Davison, 63). In the Shan Hai Jing, the world is laid out through landmarks and mythic figures however, it appears as if China is the center of the universe. Anything beyond China is regarded as the Great Wilds where uncivilized beings live such as Black Tooth Land. The Shan Hai Jing allows China to geographically define itself through Davison’s tool of us versus them. According to the Shan Hai Jing, it is civilized China versus the uncivilized world. Similarly, Israel is the center of Judaism surrounded by land that represents a mixture of other religions such as
This conflict encapsulates Lincoln’s view of us versus them in the sense that Jewish individuals are choosing the historical moment of God giving land to their ancestors to define their religious beliefs. Much of Judaism is based on the Torah, and in the book of Genesis God gives Abraham the land. Therefore, Israel is tied to the Jewish religion through its involvements within religious texts. Furthermore, Judaism separates us from them by recognizing that their religious group was chosen by God to inhabit a specific region of the world. This creates a sense of isolation between those who were special enough to be chosen by God to live in Israel and those who were not. Judaism’s tendency of using the past to explain the present is very similar to The Myth of the First Cattle Raid. Lincoln discussed the story of Dinka and Nuer whom are the two children of God. God gifted his children Dinka and Nuer with a cow and a calf. One night Dinka decided to steal his brother’s calf. As a punishment, dependents of Nuer were encouraged to raid Dinka people’s cattle numerous times. This myth truly represents the reoccurring theme that the past shapes the …show more content…
This is clearly present in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the Jewish community’s ties to the land that spans from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip. Through the eyes of its followers, the land of Israel is a big part of what defines Judaism. Founders of the religion walked on this land and created a powerful religion that is still thriving today. Davison’s mention of using geography as a tool to define us versus them is like that of the Shan Hai Jing. “The initial sense of a sort of reciprocal difference from other peoples in language, customs, and political development gradually evolves into stronger feelings of basic incompatibilities,” (Davison, 63). In the Shan Hai Jing, the world is laid out through landmarks and mythic figures however, it appears as if China is the center of the universe. Anything beyond China is regarded as the Great Wilds where uncivilized beings live such as Black Tooth Land. The Shan Hai Jing allows China to geographically define itself through Davison’s tool of us versus them. According to the Shan Hai Jing, it is civilized China versus the uncivilized world. Similarly, Israel is the center of Judaism surrounded by land that represents a mixture of other religions such as