New Haven, Connecticut

“‘For God’s sake, where is God?’... ‘Where He is? This is where - hanging from this gallows’…” Although these words once came from Elie Wiesel’s mouth, they matched up with what many, many Jews around the world were asking. Where could God possibly be during the time the Jews needed them most. In the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, readers are introduced to the process that Jews went through that caused Elie to lose his faith, for a long time, if not forever. The theme of Night, therefore, is the…

The Mormon religion is very different from Lutheranism, Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and many more. Although Lutheranism, Roman Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy have their differences, they have one very important fact in common; they are part of the Christian faith. Mormons, however, are not, due to some of their beliefs. Although it is not explicitly said, Jon Krakauer's, Under the Banner of Heaven, demonstrates how Mormonism is not a part of the Christian faith by explaining the…

The documentary, The Devil’s Playground, directed by Lucy Walker illustrates the lifestyle of the Amish culture. This film particularly focuses on a Rite of Passage known as Rumspringa. Rumspringa occurs when an adolescent turn sixteen years old and the adolescent then has an opportunity to experience the outside world before deciding rather or not to officially join the Amish church. By using Turner’s concepts of liminality, communitas, rituals of status elevation and status of reversal, one…

Shoemaker, H. Stephen wrote an article entitles, “ Cults and Religions Have Important Differences.” In this article, he attempted to iterate key dissimiliarities between widely established religions, and the smaller manifestations of religious belief, to which we designate the term cults. He often insinuates that Christianity is a model religion that has never exhibited any cult like traits, and that the lines between these followings could be easily defined by terms as simple as the leadership,…

Eviction tends to turn into a vicious cycle where the evictee cannot escape. They use more than half of their income to pay rent, get evicted for any number of reasons, and then are forced to move with no money for new rent. With no money for new rent, they cannot pay and are again evicted- never able to escape the cycle. Some may ask why tenants do not just save their money, but as Demond learned, “Saving and stability become wishes, and some days children go hungry because the…

Contradiction Through Implications “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you” (Genesis 22). As a result of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son to God, Isaac is saved by an angel. This unexpected intervention leaves Artists and readers questioning Abraham's feelings in the moment. The Sacrifice of Isaac by Philippe de Champaigne and The Sacrifice of Isaac by Orazio Riminaldi both display a…

James Truslow Adams is responsible for coining the term “American Dream” in his book The Epic of America (Source E). Some may find it surprising that the book was published in 1931 because the idea of America’s unique, opportunist culture had been prominent since the country’s founding. However, several creators utilized this idea for central themes in their literary works long before it had a name. One of these people was F. Scott Fitzgerald, who published The Great Gatsby in 1925. In The Great…

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis is a fictional children’s book that addressed socio-political aspects of war and over coming oppression through allusions to Christian spirituality and historical events. The conveys its messages by exploring the multiplicity of worlds. Lewis connects the fictional world of Narnia to England during World War II. In doing so, he allows the reader to connect to difficult themes on an emotional and spiritual level. In this paper, I shall discuss…

One is given the power by God to take full control of his life and body. Self-control is a significant characteristic that enables a person to act rightly and accordingly to God’s law. In Micah 6:8 it states, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God,” which teaches us to do what is right. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee it evidently shows and teaches one, the way of men is not…

In chapter 18 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor the main idea is how drowning is symbolic of baptism. In Morrison’s Song of Solomon, Milkman gets wet three times, an allusion to the form of Christian baptism in which the person is submerged three times in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. But it is not always baptism, it can mean something different like in Africa, drowning is associated with the Middle Passage. The Middle Passage is the mysterious, treacherous, and a…