For this assignment, we have to write a brief essay about a selection of secondary sources that each present a different perspective on the same historical topic. We've been instructed to analyze and compare the sources, and then write an argument about their differing perspectives. But the instructor warned that if you simply summarize the content of these essays, you'll get a zero.
It's probably difficult to answer this question without knowing the content of the sources, but I guess what I'm confused about is how to formulate an argument about secondary sources that isn't simply summarizing their content.
I'm not a history major; this is totally out of my wheelhouse.
Any advice or examples of directions I could take would be greatly appreciated.

A common claim in HP fandom is that Harry doesn’t appreciate Hermione enough. A weirder assertion I sometimes see is that Ron compliments or appreciates Hermione more than Harry.
Admittedly, Hermione does a lot for Harry throughout the books, and he doesn’t always express his thoughts directly to her. Nevertheless, there are many passages where Harry directly compliments Hermione (often using words of very high praise), as well as quite a few where he expresses his admiration of her to other people.
This essay will explore those complimentary passages from the books. I won’t include simple expressions of gratitude (though those exist too between Harry and Hermione), nor will I recount here the many passages where Harry merely thinks highly of Hermione or appreciates her without saying anything aloud. Frankly, that would make this essay much too long, and I want to focus on real compliments and praise.
After we’ve explored how Harry compliments Hermione along with her reactions, we’ll take a look at how Ron tends to praise Hermione, as well as the different way she reacts to both boys. Not surprisingly to most readers here, we’ll see that Harry is the boy Hermione truly loves praise from. Unfortunately in Ron’s case, his compliments almost never land well (if they land at all).
I’m going to keep the commentary shorter here on many passages, as this is primarily intended to be a list to demonstrate just how much Harry appreciates Hermione and thinks highly of her. Nevertheless, we’ll see a number of patterns emerge as we go through.

Harry’s direct compliments

Let’s begin with one of the most well-known interactions in the early books between Harry and Hermione (PS16):

Hermione’s lip trembled and she suddenly dashed at Harry and threw her arms around him.
‘Hermione!’
‘Harry – you’re a great wizard, you know.’
‘I’m not as good as you,’ said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of him.
‘Me!’ said Hermione. ‘Books! And cleverness! There are more important things – friendship and bravery and – oh Harry – be careful!’

There’s not much new to say about this passage—Harry is about to go on alone, putting himself in great danger. Hermione’s lip trembles in emotion, and she embraces Harry for the first time in the books, praising him as a “great wizard.” And yet, Harry claims he’s simply not as good as Hermione.
Still, the two of them go back and forth about it in a cute way, as Hermione then says “Me!” and proceeds to implicitly compliment Harry’s friendship and bravery further.
I mention this latter detail of the back-and-forth because it gets mirrored four years later, except this time with Harry being the one to say, “Me?” See OotP15:

‘Harry, you’re the best in the year at Defence Against the Dark Arts,’ said Hermione.
‘Me?’ said Harry, now grinning more broadly than ever. ‘No I’m not, you’ve beaten me in every test –’
‘Actually, I haven’t,’ said Hermione coolly. ‘You beat me in our third year – the only year we both sat the test and had a teacher who actually knew the subject. But I’m not talking about test results, Harry. Think what you’ve done!’

We know of Harry’s prowess at DADA. Can anyone forget the insanely powerful Patronus Harry conjured at the end of PoA, which Hermione noted was “very, very advanced magic”? It’s again cute that they get into a disagreement, both modestly trying to one-up the praise of the other here while claiming they themselves aren’t the best.
But I already skipped over another moment a few chapters earlier in OotP9:

[Ron] dashed from the room, leaving Harry and Hermione alone.
For some reason, Harry found he did not want to look at Hermione. He turned to his bed, picked up the pile of clean robes Mrs Weasley had laid on it and crossed the room to his trunk.
‘Harry?’ said Hermione tentatively.
‘Well done, Hermione,’ said Harry, so heartily it did not sound like his voice at all, and, still not looking at her, ‘brilliant. Prefect. Great.’
‘Thanks,’ said Hermione. ‘Erm – Harry – could I borrow Hedwig so I can tell Mum and Dad? They’ll be really pleased – I mean prefect is something they can understand.’

The circumstances are complicated here, because Harry’s feeling really conflicted about not getting a prefect’s badge. He doesn’t want to look at Hermione, because I think he feels like she’d be disappointed in him, as she was so enthusiastic about the idea of being prefect with him a few minutes before. I analyzed this whole section in greater depth in another essay, so I won’t get into all of that here.
For the present, let’s just note that Harry is feeling very emotional and is about to launch himself into one of the longest internal monologues in the books, feeling quite down about himself. Yet he still finds the strength to tell Hermione how “brilliant” he thinks she is. Even if he’s hurting and can’t even look at her, he wants her to know he’s proud of her.
This isn’t the only place where Harry spontaneously feels the need to give Hermione compliments even under less-than-ideal circumstances. He seems to place great importance in ensuring that Hermione knows how highly he thinks of her. We particularly see this later in the series. In HBP25, Hermione basically accuses Harry of being mildly sexist because he refuses to take her theory seriously that the “Prince” (the former owner of the potions book) might have been a woman:

‘Listen, Hermione, I can tell it’s not a girl. I can just tell.’
‘The truth is that you don’t think a girl would have been clever enough,’ said Hermione angrily.
‘How can I have hung round with you for five years and not think girls are clever?’ said Harry, stung by this.

Harry’s “stung” that Hermione would think of him as sexist, but he’s specifically disappointed because he knows how brilliant and clever Hermione is. He thinks she’s amazing and incredible and the best in his year at school. I wonder if this passage leads Harry to reflect a bit on how he may not always voice his opinion to Hermione enough, as there’s a marked change in DH, where Harry more frequently tells Hermione directly how highly he thinks of her.
For example, in DH9, in the scene after the trio was attacked by Dolohov and Rowle, Harry calls her “brilliant” for casting a memory charm:

She took a deep, calming breath, then pointed her wand at Dolohov’s forehead and said, ‘Obliviate.’
At once, Dolohov’s eyes became unfocused and dreamy.
‘Brilliant!’ said Harry, clapping her on the back. ‘Take care of the other one and the waitress while Ron and I clear up.’

Later, after Harry and Hermione escape Nagini’s attack at Bathilda Bagshot’s house, Harry calls her “incredible” (DH18):

‘You’re still really angry at me, aren’t you?’ said Hermione; he looked up to see fresh tears leaking out of her eyes, and knew that his anger must have shown in his face.
‘No,’ he said quietly. ‘No, Hermione, I know it was an accident. You were trying to get us out of there alive, and you were incredible. I’d be dead if you hadn’t been there to help me.’
He tried to return her watery smile, then turned his attention to the book.

As in the OotP passage where Harry is feeling depressed about the prefect’s badge, here Harry isn’t really ready to talk. His wand is broken, he was injured by Nagini, and he spent the night having visions of Voldemort killing his parents. It’s not at all an exaggeration to say this is probably the most dire part of Harry’s journey in the books. And yet he still values Hermione enough not only to agree to talk when he’s not ready, but also to immediately forgive her and call her “incredible” for her quick thinking the previous night.
Moreover, we can see how much this means to Hermione at that moment, as she smiles in gratitude at Harry, in contrast to her tear-streaked face.
Later in DH, after Hermione was tortured at Malfoy Manor, we again see Harry expressing his understanding and gratitude for Hermione when he first talks to her (DH24):

Harry had walked up several steps before stopping and looking back.
‘I need you two, as well!’ he called to Ron and Hermione, who had been skulking, half-concealed, in the doorway of the sitting room.
They both moved into the light, looking oddly relieved.
‘How are you?’ Harry asked Hermione. ‘You were amazing – coming up with that story when she was hurting you like that –’
Hermione gave a weak smile as Ron gave her a one-armed squeeze.

Harry calls her “amazing,” and once again Hermione smiles in reply. I should also pause here to note that these superlatives aren’t common for Harry. In fact, they’re unique to Hermione. Harry doesn’t call anyone else “amazing” or “incredible” anywhere in the books.
And these are far from the only times Hermione’s quick thinking saves the day. A few months earlier, she once again apparated Harry (and Ron too) away in mid-air to escape Luna’s father’s house, coming up with a detailed plan in a matter of seconds to hide Ron while exposing Harry during the escape (for strategic reasons). Harry then agrees Hermione is a genius and tells her doesn’t know what they’d do without her (DH22):

‘You’re a genius,’ Ron repeated, looking awed.
‘Yeah, you are, Hermione,’ agreed Harry fervently, ‘I don’t know what we’d do without you.’
She beamed, but became solemn at once.

I’d note another detail here. Ron does compliment Hermione too in this passage, calling her a “genius” multiple times. Yet it’s only once Harry finally tells her how much she means to him that Hermione “beams” in reply. (In a previous essay, I examined how frequently Hermione “beams” at Harry, much more than anyone else.)
This is a pattern we see repeatedly in the books, where Ron’s praise is ignored in favor of Harry’s. Perhaps the clearest example is in HBP9:

[Slughorn:] ‘Oho! “One of my best friends is Muggle-born and she’s the best in our year!” I’m assuming this is the very friend of whom you spoke, Harry?’
‘Yes, sir,’ said Harry.
‘Well, well, take twenty well-earned points for Gryffindor, Miss Granger,’ said Slughorn genially.
Malfoy looked rather as he had done the time Hermione had punched him in the face. Hermione turned to Harry with a radiant expression and whispered, ‘Did you really tell him I’m the best in the year? Oh, Harry!’
‘Well, what’s so impressive about that?’ whispered Ron, who for some reason looked annoyed. ‘You are the best in the year – I’d’ve told him so if he’d asked me!’
Hermione smiled but made a ‘shush’ing gesture, so that they could hear what Slughorn was saying. Ron looked slightly disgruntled.

Harry had already praised Hermione to Slughorn privately (a fact we’ll come back to), but hearing this praise from Harry causes Hermione to turn toward Harry with a “radiant expression,” overwhelmed with joy at the idea that Harry thought of her as the “best in the year.” (The word choice of “radiant” here is rather special for JKR, as I’ve noted in a previous essay.)
Meanwhile, poor Ron is off to the side, looking “slightly disgruntled” when Hermione shushes him in class for a similar remark.

Ron’s compliments to Hermione

Unfortunately for Ron, Hermione’s reaction in the Slughorn scene is typical. We’ve seen Hermione repeatedly smiling and looking radiant at Harry’s compliments, as well as reacting by praising him in return. Ron, on the other hand, is almost exclusively met with tepid if not outright negative reactions from Hermione even when he says nice things about her.
I drew on a list of Ron compliments created by Ron/Hermione shippers here, but the original list only gave Ron’s lines, without Hermione’s reactions, which I’ve restored below. (The reason for the omission of Hermione’s responses will soon become clear.)
Ron first shows genuine admiration for Hermione back in PoA15 when she slaps Draco and then storms out of Divination. However, the first time Ron actually tries to express this appreciation verbally probably happens in OotP12:

[Hermione:] ‘About You-Know-Who. He said his “gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust –”’
‘How do you remember stuff like that?’ asked Ron, looking at her in admiration.
‘I listen, Ron,’ said Hermione, with a touch of asperity.
‘So do I, but I still couldn’t tell you exactly what –’
‘The point,’ Hermione pressed on loudly, ‘is that this sort of thing is exactly what Dumbledore was talking about. You-Know-Who’s only been back two months and we’ve already started fighting among ourselves. And the Sorting Hat’s warning was the same: stand together, be united –’

Although this isn’t a direct compliment, we’re told that Ron is actually looking at Hermione “in admiration.” Unlike his more typical annoyance with her, he’s actually impressed here by her memory. And yet Hermione responds with “asperity,” harshly putting him down for not listening better. When Ron gets defensive and tries to react, Hermione “loudly” talks over him and essentially ignores Ron completely.
This is far from the only time Hermione will ignore Ron’s occasional kind words, because she clearly knows it’s unusual behavior. She tells us this directly (OotP14):

‘OK, write that down,’ Hermione said to Ron, pushing his essay and a sheet covered in her own writing back to Ron, ‘then add this conclusion I’ve written for you.’
‘Hermione, you are honestly the most wonderful person I’ve ever met,’ said Ron weakly, ‘and if I’m ever rude to you again –’
‘– I’ll know you’re back to normal,’ said Hermione.

Ron was trying to thank her for help with his homework, but Hermione recognizes this praise as obviously transactional. She has noticed he’s only nice to her when she does things for him, but otherwise his “normal” behavior toward her is a bit rude. (As a sidenote: we’ve already seen Harry repeatedly refer to Hermione as “brilliant.” Ron, in contrast, does call Hermione sort of “brilliant” twice, both times sarcastically referring to theories or ideas he thinks are ridiculous. See CoS13, DH25.)
Ron’s attempts at recognizing Hermione’s achievements also look very different from Harry’s. In HBP5, when Hermione is worrying about her O.W.L. exam performance, Ron does acknowledge Hermione’s academic performance a couple times, in passages that Ron/Hermione fans will point to as evidence of his supposed admiration.
Yet they don’t come off as compliments. They are aggressive and exasperated and almost making fun of Hermione at the end. And look how Hermione reacts:

‘Hermione, will you shut up, you’re not the only one who’s nervous!’ barked Ron. ‘And when you’ve got your ten “Outstanding” O.W.L.s ...’
‘Don’t, don’t, don’t!’ said Hermione, flapping her hands hysterically. ‘I know I’ve failed everything!’
[…]
‘I – not bad,’ said Hermione in a small voice.
‘Oh, come off it,’ said Ron, striding over to her and whipping her results out of her hand. ‘Yep – nine “Outstandings” and one “Exceeds Expectations” in Defence Against the Dark Arts.’ He looked down at her, half-amused, half-exasperated. ‘You’re actually disappointed, aren’t you?’
Hermione shook her head, but Harry laughed.

So yes, Ron acknowledges her achievements here, but he does so in the process of telling her to “shut up,” barking at her, and then becoming “exasperated” at her personal goals. I think we can all take a step back and acknowledge that Hermione is a fairly extreme perfectionist, and her level of anxiety at potentially “failing everything” comes across as weird and a bit irrational. Still, rather than helping her “calm down” (as many Ron/Hermione fans would say Ron does), Ron exacerbates Hermione’s level of disquiet, causing her to become “hysterical” and then later embarrassed, reacting in a “small voice.”
Harry would have just clapped her on the back and called her “brilliant” or something, to which she’d probably smile in reply. Harry doesn’t share Hermione’s level of academic dedication, but he still appreciates it, rather than trying to shame Hermione for being an overachiever. Yet Ron manages to make her uncomfortable in several different ways in this scene, even as he recognizes how well she would do.
And we’ve only started on the types of negative reactions Hermione has to Ron’s attempts at recognizing her achievements. In HBP21 after apparition practice in Hogsmeade, Ron cuts in to call her performance “perfect”:

‘Good one,’ said Harry. ‘How’d you do, Hermione?’
‘Oh, she was perfect, obviously,’ said Ron, before Hermione could answer. ‘Perfect deliberation, divination and desperation, or whatever the hell it is – we all went for a quick drink in the Three Broomsticks after and you should’ve heard Twycross going on about her – I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t pop the question soon –’
‘And what about you?’ asked Hermione, ignoring Ron.

Ron’s praise is undermined with the dismissive “whatever the hell it is,” once again making it clear that he doesn’t value Hermione’s attention to detail and high standards. Hermione’s response is, reasonably, then to simply ignore Ron.
Admittedly, Ron appears to realize some of his failings and makes an attempt in Deathly Hallows, reading the Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches book and trying to learn how to compliment a girl. It unfortunately doesn’t go quite smoothly for Ron at first (DH7):

Hermione made purple and gold streamers erupt from the end of her wand and drape themselves artistically over the trees and bushes.
‘Nice,’ said Ron, as with one final flourish of her wand, Hermione turned the leaves on the crab-apple tree to gold. ‘You’ve really got an eye for that sort of thing.’
‘Thank you, Ron!’ said Hermione, looking both pleased and a little confused. Harry turned away, smiling to himself. He had a funny notion that he would find a chapter on compliments when he found time to peruse his copy of Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches […].

Ron arguably is trying here, but as we know from OotP, Hermione knows Ron’s more typical reaction toward her is rudeness. Hence we see her a “little confused” yet still somewhat pleased.
This kind of dual reaction from Hermione is usually the best Ron can hope for. Unlike Hermione’s instant smiles and happiness from Harry’s compliments, she views Ron with suspicion. Hermione always appears to keep in mind that Ron’s pleasant reactions are atypical and thus not to be trusted. We see this again as Hermione enters before Bill and Fleur’s wedding, wearing a lovely dress (DH8):

‘[…] wow,’ [Ron] added, blinking rather rapidly as Hermione came hurrying towards them. ‘You look great!’
‘Always the tone of surprise,’ said Hermione, though she smiled.

Note the “though she smiled” qualification here, which is pointing out that Hermione’s reaction is not exactly positive and arguably unkind. Hermione is here making a reference to an earlier conversation after the Seven Potters. When Tonks mentioned how “great” Ron was stunning a Death Eater, Hermione reacted positively with “you did?” Hermione was sincerely proud of Ron at that moment, hugging him, and yet Ron reacted with the phrase “Always the tone of surprise,” rejecting her and breaking off from her embrace.
Admittedly, Ron was a bit right in that scene to acknowledge that Hermione almost never recognizes his achievements. Yet in the wedding scene, we see Hermione throw that verbal dig back at Ron, effectively taking what appears to be a more sincere compliment from Ron and undermining it. She’s telling him (and the reader) that he doesn’t generally find her attractive and wouldn’t typically say such a nice thing to her.
In effect, she’s somewhat begrudgingly smiling while taking a swipe at Ron’s more typical behavior.
There’s really only one time in all of the books that I have found where Hermione actually reacts positively (without qualification) to Ron’s praise. That occurs in DH9 after she reveals how she had packed so much in her beaded bag in preparation for the Horcrux hunt and emergencies:

‘I told you at The Burrow, I’ve had the essentials packed for days, you know, in case we needed to make a quick getaway. I packed your rucksack this morning, Harry, after you changed, and put it in here ... I just had a feeling …’
‘You’re amazing, you are,’ said Ron, handing her his bundled-up robes.
‘Thank you,’ said Hermione, managing a small smile as she pushed the robes into the bag. ‘Please, Harry, get that Cloak on!’

We see her here at least giving Ron a “small smile,” though she quickly turns to Harry, more concerned again about him. Still, it’s a legitimate positive reaction to a compliment from Ron. We shouldn’t have to pause and reflect on that so much, except for the fact that this is a rather unique occurrence. Every other time Ron says something nice about Hermione, she ignores it, gets annoyed, dismisses it, gets suspicious or confused, or has some other negative reaction like we saw.
And even this one pleasant moment between Ron and Hermione is immediately undermined a few pages later:

Ron struggled for a moment before managing to extract his wand from his pocket.
‘It’s no wonder I can’t get it out, Hermione, you packed my old jeans, they’re tight.’
‘Oh, I’m so sorry,’ hissed Hermione, and as she dragged the waitress out of sight of the windows Harry heard her mutter a suggestion as to where Ron could stick his wand instead.

Yes, Ron was happy for a moment and praised Hermione for packing his stuff, but it turns out she did it wrong in Ron’s eyes. She packed the wrong jeans, and Hermione reacts very negatively, telling Ron to shove his wand up his arse. Hermione here must feel like Ron is conforming to the behavior she described back in OotP—he’s only nice until he turns back to his “normal” negative behavior toward her.

Harry complimenting Hermione to other people

We don’t really have space here to investigate the many other times Harry thinks highly of Hermione, is grateful for her, or appreciates some aspect of her in his internal thoughts. But it’s perhaps useful to end this exploration by noting how many other times Harry still manages to praise Hermione verbally, unprompted, to other people.
We can start with the scene that inspired Slughorn in the quotation discussed above, where Ron was disgruntled at Hermione’s ecstatic reaction to Harry’s compliment. See HBP4:

[Slughorn:] ‘Your mother was Muggle-born, of course. Couldn’t believe it when I found out. Thought she must have been pure-blood, she was so good.’
‘One of my best friends is Muggle-born,’ said Harry, ‘and she’s the best in our year.’

Note that there’s really no good reason for Harry to praise Hermione so specifically and highly here. Slughorn was discussing Lily, and Harry could have simply countered with the fact that he had talented Muggle-born friends too. Yet he singles out Hermione to compare to his mother’s talent and goes further—calling her the best student in his year.
Ron never has a comparable passage in the books. Many of his compliments or nice moments are very situational with Hermione, not spontaneous praise. This is probably one reason why Hermione also shushes Ron when he tries to echo Harry later with Slughorn: she knows if Harry said something, he meant it and wasn’t just trying to flatter her or be nice because of the situation.
The best Ron can manage on a couple occasions are vague acknowledgments to Harry about Hermione. Such as CoS14:

“What does she understand?” said Harry distractedly, still looking around, trying to tell where the voice had come from.
“Loads more than I do,” said Ron, shaking his head.

Not exactly a compliment, but this one makes lists of Ron’s compliments sometimes, just because it’s so rare for Ron to say something even this nice about Hermione. Even when Ron is clearly impressed by Hermione slapping Draco and then storming out of Trelawney’s class in PoA15, the most he can manage to say to Harry is:

‘Some day Hermione’s having, eh?’ Ron muttered to Harry, looking awed.

We’re told that Ron’s “looking awed” here, but he still can barely say anything directly praiseworthy about her.
Meanwhile, Harry simply cannot stop himself from saying how amazing Hermione is. As far back as CoS2:

‘Harry Potter asks if he can help Dobby ... Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, but of your goodness, Dobby never knew ...’
Harry, who was feeling distinctly hot in the face, said, ‘Whatever you’ve heard about my greatness is a load of rubbish. I’m not even top of my year at Hogwarts, that’s Hermione, she –’
But he stopped quickly, because thinking about Hermione was painful.

Remember when we saw that Hermione tried to compliment Harry and tell him he was a great wizard in PS or the best in DADA in OotP? Harry couldn’t help deferring to Hermione, trying to praise her as better. The same thing happens when Dobby speaks of Harry’s “greatness” here—and Harry immediately thinks of the greatest person he knows: Hermione Granger.
Harry can’t even let the Quidditch team think he was smart enough to come up with the Impervius Charm for his glasses (originally during the Quidditch match back in PoA9). When Angelina proposes using the spell again in OotP18, Harry simply has to give Hermione credit:

[Angelina:] ‘[…] Harry, didn’t you do something to your glasses to stop the rain fogging them up when we played Hufflepuff in that storm?’
‘Hermione did it,’ said Harry. He pulled out his wand, tapped his glasses and said, ‘Impervius!’

It’s not exactly a compliment, but it just shows yet again how much he wants everyone to know how amazing Hermione is.
This reflex Harry has to praise Hermione comes up in the strangest places, getting him into arguments with his love interests. When Cho brings up the jinx that resulted in Marietta’s outbreak of pimples, Harry can’t help contradicting her (OotP28):

‘That was a really horrible trick of Hermione Granger’s,’ said Cho fiercely. ‘She should have told us she’d jinxed that list –’
‘I think it was a brilliant idea,’ said Harry coldly. Cho flushed and her eyes grew brighter.
‘Oh yes, I forgot – of course, if it was darling Hermione’s idea –’

Cho is actually quite insightful about the role of Hermione in Harry’s life here. She earlier got jealous when Harry prioritized Hermione on Valentine’s Day, and now she gets annoyed at how “brilliant” Harry considered “darling Hermione’s idea.”
Just as in Quidditch with his glasses, Harry can’t help acknowledging Hermione’s brilliance, even with another girl he likes. He could have been a little more diplomatic with Cho in disagreeing with her, but instead his reflex is to defend Hermione.
Perhaps the most absurd moment of praise for Hermione randomly comes up as Harry’s breaking up with Ginny (HBP30):

‘I never really gave up on you,’ [Ginny] said. ‘Not really. I always hoped ... Hermione told me to get on with life, maybe go out with some other people, relax a bit around you, because I never used to be able to talk if you were in the room, remember? And she thought you might take a bit more notice if I was a bit more – myself.’
‘Smart girl, that Hermione,’ said Harry, trying to smile.

Think about what’s going on in this moment. Ginny just admitted how strong her feelings for Harry are, that she “never really gave up” on him, from when she was a young girl. She’s effectively trying to inform him of her commitment, of his status as her first love. If Harry had deep feelings for Ginny, we might expect him at this point to recognize how long Ginny had cared, how much she had tried to learn to be “herself” around him, to get him to notice her.
And instead the first words from Harry’s lips are to acknowledge how smart Hermione is. He’s breaking up with his girlfriend… and praising another girl’s intelligence? I know Harry can be rather thick sometimes, but this is not the thing to do in the middle of a break-up. It’s no wonder Cho was so jealous of Hermione.

Conclusion

Once again, as in many of my other essays, I think we can see patterns emerging around Harry and Hermione’s unique relationship. We see them repeatedly praising each other spontaneously. And Harry can’t help but blurt out how brilliant Hermione is to other people, even in situations where it’s arguably inappropriate.
Ron’s efforts at compliments are nothing like that, unfortunately. We might even feel a bit bad for him when he does begin to make an effort in DH, as it’s clear Ron is never going to have the impact on Hermione that Harry’s compliments do.
I mentioned at the outset that there are many people who say Harry isn’t appreciative enough toward Hermione. It’s true that we don’t hear him say it aloud all the time, particularly in the early books. Yet it’s very clear even in the first book that Harry thinks Hermione is a better wizard than he is. And he doesn’t hesitate to tell her, or to announce it to Dobby in CoS.
As the series progresses, Harry’s outward appreciation increases, to the point where we see him calling her “amazing” and “incredible” and the “best in our year,” terms that he only ever says about Hermione. Perhaps even more importantly, we see that Hermione knows how special she is to Harry, how sincere his compliments are, as we see her repeatedly responding with emotional smiles and even a “radiant expression” to these words.
I didn’t even explore most of the passages where Hermione praises or compliments Harry in the books (and there are plenty more of those too), but we can see the strength of Harry and Hermione’s friendship and care for each other. They both strive to raise each other up, especially in stressful times when they need it the most.
I’d like to acknowledge members of the HMS Harmony Discord server for their support and suggestions. Specifically, thanks to Jiraffas for suggesting an essay on this topic. Thanks for Dragonfly for convincing me to include a section on Harry complimenting Hermione to other people and for reminding me of the Angelina moment in OotP. In general, I’m grateful for the discussion and commentary from the Harmony community.
If there are any moments you think I missed, please point them out in comments! I’d like this essay to be a resource for those who want to debunk fandom claims concerning Harry’s supposed lack of appreciation toward Hermione.

Introduction: The Mysterious Double Album
I’ll always remember 2 AM on April 19th 2024. I was in my pjs, alone, on my balcony, fresh off my first listen to Taylor Swift’s album The Tortured Poet’s Department. After sufficiently enjoying my solitary experience, I took to the internet to see what the masses were saying…when Swift dropped a whole second album: The Tortured Poets Department Anthology. Swift, a master of both Easter egging surprises for her fandom and practicing the number one rule of business (give the people what they want!), had been hinting at something “double” for months. Most significantly, while accepting her Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album, she flashed a “peace sign.” That damn peace sign haunted the fandom for months. Swift’s corporate social media account, u/TaylorNation, used peace sign emojis and called attention to the number two whenever possible (ie teasing the album 22 days out etc.). There were also many “2”s present in in the promotional “experiences” leading up to the album release date—including statues of peace signs at the TTPD interactive experience at The Grove in LA. As usual, some Swifties went bonkers with their theories (or “clowning” as outlandish theorizing is referred to in the community). I myself couldn’t help but believe some concept of doubling would be significant in TTPD, but I couldn’t have guessed a full DOUBLE album (Swift’s capitalization). What an absolute treat. Mother was, as they say, mothering.
…Only the two mania didn’t seem to end post-drop. If anything, the two mania heightened. The albums were not just surprises in themselves, they were full of mystery. They seemed to reference multiple relationships, cryptic narratives, allusions to Swift’s previous songs, allusions to iconic poets, and very often, twins. The sleuthing type of Swiftie (full disclosure, moi) dove in deep. We gathered where we do—on Twitter, on TikTok, on Reddit (my preferred sandlot). And as we obsessed over every lyric, literary allusion, and video clip, Swift, our self-appointed “chairman” seemed to encourage us. Swift added a TTPD set to her Eras tour in Paris. Afterward, she posted a collection of photos to Instagram. The second photo of the post is Swift onstage, in a sparkling showman’s outfit, flashing two fingers.
Initial Tortured Poets and Sylvia Plath Connections
Swift has always been an incredible poet, but that’s not necessarily how the world saw hesees her. Swift is a pop star, specifically, Swift was a young girly pop star, most known for her tabloid romances and dramas, which she would (allegedly) write about in her music. Swift’s work has been labeled as “confessional” since her first album, which included songs she openly said were about boys at her high school. I offer this context (or, lore) to explain why I began seeing connections to TTPD in Sylvia Plath’s “confessional” work.
Of course, the theme of TTPD is tortured poets, so many avid literary Swifties have enjoyed seeking connections between Swift’s new songs and iconic poetry. No connections are overt, but some seem to be more likely than others. Namely, there’s been much discussion of Virginia Woolf thanks to the song “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”(perhaps a riff on the Edward Albee play title). Other Swifties have found possible lyrical links to Mary Shelley and Charlotte Bronte. Swift herself references Patti Smith and Dylan Thomas in the album’s title track.
I remembered a third poet in relation to Smith and Thomas: Sylvia Plath, obviously an all timer of a tortured poet. I remember hearing an anecdote that she had been obsessed with Thomas and stalked him outside the Chelsea Hotel (also named in the TTPD title track). I did a quick skim of Plath’s Wikipedia to confirm and then started noticing many possible connections to TTPD and Plath’s life.
In the “Fortnight” music video, Swift acts out being institutionalized for insanity and getting electric shock treatment—two significant experiences in Plath’s life. Plath was also coupled with a deeply problematic man, Ted Hughes. Plath fell in love with Hughes for his artistic talent before he revealed himself to be an unsupportive parter, ultimately cheating on Plath with a younger woman. The narrative is not too dissimilar to the narrative about Swift’s alleged ex Matty Healy, as seemingly told in TTPD. (Of course, we don’t know the true subjects of Swift’s songs—if they’re even actually confessional—but some key hints point to Healy. Whether those hints provide actual context to Swift’s life or to the story Swift is telling of her life, one cannot know.) Finally, several of TTPD songs reference a latent desire for suicide (“I might as well die / it would make no difference” etc.). Okay, post-“finally,” these are stretches, but, I’ll note anyway: one of Plath’s most famous collections of poems is titled Ariel, but an alternate title was Daddy. There are connections to both words in TTPD via the song “But Daddy I Love Him.” The title is a line from the Disney movie The Little Mermaid (which features the main character Ariel, a mermaid, caught between two worlds). Extra clowning: some people (hi, I'm people) believe Swift’s 1989 costume for her first Paris concert was an allusion to Ariel: a pink crop top and a seafoam skirt.
As I dug into Plath's life, I couldn’t help but also see similarities to Swift's life. Both women were prolific writers from a very young age. Also, although possibly obscured through artistic license, both women were/are known to write about their own lives. (Plath was apparently encouraged by her professors Robert Lowell and Anne Sexton to write from her experience. I cannot help but tie in Swift’s “The Manuscript” lyric “the Professor said to write what you know.”) Both Plath and Swift expressed/express their depression via their writing, but if you only knew them from their public personas, you’d never guess the depths of their struggles. It seems both Plath and Swift lived/live double lives. Plath was actually fascinated by the concept of doubles. In fact, the concept of doubling was the topic of Plath’s college thesis paper “The Magic Mirror.”
The Magic Mirror and TTPD
Plath’s college paper is sadly not available to the general public. (It had a limited print run in, you guessed it, 1989.) But! I was able to read a few texts about the thesis, and the amount of possible TTPD references is astounding.
Since we can’t directly analyze Swift’s work via Plath’s directly, I’d like to share several key quotes from the most telling article I could find about the “The Magic Mirror”: “Sylvia Plath’s Magic Mirror” by Kelly Coyne (May 2018, The Los Angeles Review of Books). (To be noted, Coyne has also written about Swift, in her article “Growing Up In Taylor Swift’s America” in December 2023 on Literary Hub—a fabulous read!)
Early in her article, Coyne sets the scene for Plath's thesis:
“Her undergraduate thesis, which she wrote as a senior at Smith College...is titled “The Magic Mirror: A Study of the Double in Two of Dostoevsky’s Novels.” “The Magic Mirror” explores literary doubles made up of a character’s repressed traits, and, as the double grows in power, it heralds the protagonist’s death. Citing Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as well as Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Plath argued that the choice to create a double works to “reveal hitherto concealed character traits in a radical manner” and simultaneously exposes the driving conflicts of the novel housing that character. Her thesis claims that both Ivan, of The Brothers Karamazov, and Golyadkin, of The Double, have attempted to repress troubling aspects of their personalities, resulting in the double.”
Immediately, I imagine the two versions of Swift from the “Anti-Hero” music video. One Swift is real, true, sensible. The other is a pot-stirring, self-esteem destroying, alcoholic. During Eras, the huge Swift (monster on a hill) screams and stomps around in the background while the real, true Swift smiles and dances in a sparkle dress onstage. The fandom seems to be referring to these two Swifts as Taylor Swift and TAYLOR SWIFT (TM). Folks have theorized Post-Malone in the Fortnight music video is not necessarily a lover, but a twin, or double, of Swift. This theory is enhances by the Eras visuals during that song, specifically two dancers walking away to the back of the stage, but then becoming one.
More Coyne: “Plath, quoting Dostoyevsky in her thesis, noted that Ivan’s double, Smerdyakov, is “wrinkled” and “yellow.” The distinct differences in appearance between originator and double, she continued, are meant to reflect the protagonist’s mental state and cultural status.”
First of all, yellow. In the Gaylor community, folks have often theorized yellow symbolizes being closeted—a reading based on the symbolic coloring in the 1999 film …But I’m a Cheerleader. However, one need not be a Gaylor to consider the importance of yellow to Swift’s storytelling. Most recently, Swift performed “my tears ricochet” at Eras in a bright yellow dress, as her dancers were dressed for a funeral. Following Coyne’s analysis of Plath's analysis of Dostoyevsky, one could guess Swift is teasing a death of some version of herself.
Coyne discusses how Plath clearly used a “double” of herself to write The Bell Jar. Plath herself spent a summer in New York interning for Mademoiselle. The protagonist in TBJ, Esther, spends a summer in New York interning at a magazine too. To go even further down the rabbit hole, Esther also doubles herself, frequently expressing normalcy on the outside and despair on the inside. On the book's first page, Esther tells her audience, “I was supposed to be having the time of my life.” (Again, I cannot help but hear a Swift echo of, “I can read your mind / she’s having the time of her life” from “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” about smiling through her depression.) Coyne makes many more references to mirrors and concealing in The Bell Jar, Ether’s split (and sadness) gets worse and worse the more she hides who she is from others. Notably, at a low point, Esther hides under her mother’s bed. (And Swift sings of a post-heartbreak depression, “Afterwards she only ate kids' cereal / And couldn't sleep unless it was in her mother's bed.”)
Coyne writes about the “imprisoned” aspect of doubles: “The wound from which Esther tries, and fails, to hide chimes with the inescapable, colonizing double, and Plath’s language again illustrates its penal nature: it is inside Esther, but it traps her like a jail cell.” (Again, I cannot help but see references to “Fresh Out the Slammer”, “The Smaller Man Who Ever Lived,” and the TTPD Eras visuals of cages and cell lighting.)
Coyne, on Plath’s doubles’ names, something Swift has not ever used (or so we think): “From her conception of The Bell Jar all the way to its final revisions, Plath suffered an exhausting amount of anxiety over its heroine’s name.” Plath wrote to a friend, “‘I’ll have to publish it under a pseudonym, if I ever get it accepted, because it’s so chock full of real people I’d be sued to death’...Indeed, this wasn’t mere paranoia; she did have to change her protagonist’s name at the instruction of her editor for legal reasons.”
Coyne continues, “Most novelists likely have concerns about being associated with the characters to whom they give life, especially the ugly ones, and especially when the character resembles its author. Yet what is unique about Plath’s case is her knowledge of the theoretical underpinnings and implications of her choice to push Esther away, and the hold this knowledge assumed on Plath’s work and life. Another look at The Bell Jar with a consideration of Esther as Plath’s double tangles the issue even further, and Plath drops clues for this kind of reading throughout the novel. Esther, for example, sits down to write her own novel and recounts, “My heroine would be myself, only in disguise. She would be called Elaine. Elaine. I counted the letters on my fingers. There were six letters in Esther, too. It seemed a lucky thing.” Not coincidentally, Plath’s first name has six letters as well.” Again, Plath was in a bizarre double infinity loop (like the loop on the Eras stage in “Down Bad”?). Plath was concealing her double, the protagonist in her novel, who was concealing her double, the protagonist in her novel.
Coyne wraps up her findings: “In her thesis, written nearly a decade earlier, as she turned 22 — the year after her first documented suicide attempt — Plath claimed, quoting Otto Rank:
In such situations, where the Double symbolizes the evil or repressed elements in man’s nature, the apparition of the Double “becomes a persecution by it, the repressed material returns in the form of that which represses.” Man’s instinct to avoid or ignore the unpleasant aspects of his character turns into an active terror when he is faced by his Double, which resurrects those very parts of his personality which he sought to escape. The confrontation of the Double in these instances usually results in a duel which ends in insanity or death for the original hero.”
Coyne seems to argue Plath believed an artist's double has the power to become bigger than the artist herself, ultimately killing her. Is TTPD Swift's predetermination of, hopefully, her her double's death instead of her own?
In Conclusion: Plath to her Mentor, Dessner on Swift
Who knows what TTPD is really truly about, and who knows if we ever will.
The biggest Easter egg, hiding in plain sight, is that the album is titled THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. There’s no apostrophe after “poet.” Nor is there an apostrophe after the “s” in “poets.” The department does not belong to a poet or to a collection of poets. It is a department OF tortured poets, perhaps two, to be exact. …or perhaps the album indicates the departure of the tortured poet...and her double.
I’ll sign off with two final quotes from my research:
According to Coyne, three months before Plath died by suicide, she had written a mentor about her second (obviously unfinished) book. Plath wrote, “It is to be called “Doubletake”, meaning that the second look you take at something reveals a deeper, double meaning […] it is semi-autobiographical about a wife whose husband turns out to be a deserter and philanderer although she had thought he was wonderful & perfect.”
According to Aaron Dessner’s TTPD release Instagram post: ”Keep searching and you'll find some new detail, layer or sliver of meaning with each listen.”
SUBREDDIT PS! Shout out to Expensive_Succotash5 for noting the TTPD intro poem's reference to being out of the oven, could be an allusion to Plath's death. Also shout-out to Good-Amphibian-7993 for this connection to a photo of Plath with a rose, not unlike Swift's album rose art.

The argument against the death penalty often includes the assertion that it does not effectively deter crime. This perspective is supported by various studies and statistical analyses comparing states with and without the death penalty in the United States. These analyses show no clear correlation between the presence of the death penalty and lower crime rates, particularly homicide rates.
As an example of states with the death penalty vs. states without the death penalty

• Texas (Death Penalty): In 2019, Texas had a murder rate of 5.0 per 100,000 people [1].
• Florida (Death Penalty): Florida’s murder rate was 5.2 per 100,000 in the same year [1].
• California (Death Penalty): California had a murder rate of 4.3 per 100,000 [1].
  
• New York (No Death Penalty): New York’s murder rate was 3.6 per 100,000 in 2019 [1].
  
• Michigan (No Death Penalty): Michigan’s murder rate was 4.5 per 100,000 [1].
  
• Massachusetts (No Death Penalty): Massachusetts had a significantly lower murder rate of 2.0 per 100,000 [1].
  

This data from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports indicates that states without the death penalty do not necessarily experience higher murder rates and, in some cases, have lower rates compared to states that actively use the death penalty [1].
Furthermore, the National Research Council reviewed existing studies on the death penalty’s deterrent effects and found no conclusive evidence that the death penalty affects homicide rates. They highlighted methodological flaws in studies that claimed a deterrent effect and concluded that the available research does not support the argument that the death penalty deters crime [2].
International comparisons further support the argument against the death penalty:

• Canada abolished the death penalty in 1976. Since then, the country’s murder rate has generally declined, reaching 1.76 per 100,000 in 2019 [3].
• European Union countries, most of which have abolished the death penalty, tend to have lower murder rates compared to the United States. For example, Germany’s murder rate in 2019 was 0.95 per 100,000 [3].

Albert Camus, in his essay "Reflections on the Guillotine," argued against the death penalty by highlighting its futility and moral contradictions. Camus contended that the death penalty is unnecessary as a deterrent because it is carried out in secrecy, away from public view, thus failing to have a significant impact on crime prevention. He believed that when the state hides the act of execution, it acknowledges the inherent contradiction and futility of using such a punishment as a deterrent. According to Camus, the death penalty does not uphold justice but rather perpetuates a cycle of violence and inhumanity [4]. It appears the most recent stats also support his view.

References

1. FBI Uniform Crime Reports: [www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/ucr]()
2. National Research Council Report: [www.nap.edu/catalog/13363/deterrence-and-the-death-penalty]()
3. Amnesty International Report: [www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/death-penalty/]()
4. Camus, Albert. "Reflections on the Guillotine"

This is my attempt at a 1000 word essay on three big questions many Christians have.
If God is good:

1. Why does life depend on death to continue
2. Why hasn't Jesus returned and made things right yet
3. Why hasn't Jesus' teaching done away with suffering

Life is a classroom to teach us how to be worthy of eternity. Eden represents life in its perfect, heavenly state. God created us in His image to teach us to be like Himself. Unity, equality, and love are distinct, but inseparable components of God. We must learn to value them to be worthy of eternal life.
We had everything we needed in Eden to create heaven on earth. We could have learned every lesson by interacting with God and Creation. The animals' traits teach us about character. The plants teach us value. The seasons teach us preparation and timing. Every lesson shows that patience and love give the greatest benefit. Healthy limits on these avoid their abuse.
The unity of Adam and Eve shows us why we must be like God to fulfill our purpose. (The other big lesson of "family" is to support the weak, Job 29:11-17, Acts 4:32-35) Adam is made in God's image. God gives Adam His own breath = spirit. (John 4:24) Adam has a surplus without a deficit to fill. This is the state God / Love is in without a Creation to receive His love. Adam sees his need when he cannot find a worthy partner among the animals. (Genesis 2:20) From his own body, God fashions a woman. Eve, was with Adam from the beginning, but not in a form that truly completed him. She is given back to him and they return to being one. (Genesis 2:23-24) We "leave and cleave" because this sacred relationship is the most important lesson we need to get before time runs out. We can learn to be one in the most joyful and painless way, if we keep marriage sacred and sinless.
Sin divides us. Every lesson on earth teaches us to distinguish between what brings life or death. All sin eventually brings death. We change our classroom every time we bring sin/death into it. We have to deal with the consequences as part of our lessons. The curses on the First Family, are lessons that teach what a god must patiently endure when his creation deviates from eternal behavior. (Psalm 82:6, Matthew 5:43-45, John 10:27-38)

• Adam (representing God)
• works the ground (earth representing Adam)
• to produce food (satisfaction for God's emptiness without a safe target for His love.)
• but it only produces thorns (Adam's selfish, destructive behavior)

This pattern continues throughout history; for example, we didn't have a "death-penalty" until we needed it to stop sin from spreading to all life. Once we realized, "an eye for an eye" would make the whole world blind, we were ready for the Healer, Jesus Messiah.
The questions:

1. "If God is good, why does life depend on death to survive?"

Death is a consequence of being unable or unwilling to sustain life. Sin is willful deviation from unity/equality/love. Sin leads to death of the innocent. It eventually will lead to the death of everything. It is stopped by the correction and/or punishment of the deviant death-bringer. (The difference is between willful sin and ignorant sin. Numbers 15:28-31, Romans 5:12-21, Luke 12:47-48, Romans 6:23)
The death-penalty is like surgery. It's a last-resort treatment to keep sin from spreading to healthy, life-supporting members of creation. There was no death in Eden until humans brought it in by sinning, instead of healing our world. (Genesis 1:28, Genesis 2:15) The flood account tells us that all life was corrupted by sin. It's why God resorted to destroying every land animal that didn't enter the Ark. (Genesis 6:11-12)
When man left the Ark, we received meat as food and the death-penalty for shedding innocent blood. This came about in order to weed-out the abusive and negligent. (I say "we" because we are all still one, as long as sin doesn't separate us.) Removing the sinful, and cleaning up after sin is part of sustaining life now. (Genesis 9:1-6) Creation is made whole again when its resources are put to use by those who submit to eternal laws, (Unity, equality, love. Proverbs 28:8) Evolution denies the Biblical account, so please know I don't judge anyone for believing our secular school teachers. Evolution can't account for things like this: "Deer saves rabbit from hawk." There will be no death in the age to come. (1 Corinthians 15:26, Isaiah 25:8)

1. "Why hasn't Jesus returned and made things right yet."

God is being patient with us. He doesn't want anyone that could be saved to be left behind. (Ezekiel 18:30-32, 2 Peter 3:9, Matthew 24:29-44) We have time limits on our lessons. Like babes in the womb, mankind has a fixed time in this age. We will become fit for eternity or we won't, depending on what we spent our lives becoming. We are all one. Each person's experience serves as a witness to what is, or isn't life-sustaining. (Ecclesiastes 9:10, John 9:4) We're wise to live by eternal lessons for the sake of ourselves and those connected to us. (Ecclesiastes 9:11-18, Matthew 25:1-13)

1. Why hasn't Jesus' teaching done away with suffering?

Sin creates suffering for everyone. That's why it's so evil. We have a free-will to choose death or life. (Genesis 2:9, Deuteronomy 30:19, Acts 2:38-40) Jesus taught us to do things that promote life, but we disobey Him. (Matthew 25:40, Proverbs 19:17) What we live and die to accomplish proves our devotion to love, unity and equality, or our lack of it. (John 11:7-10, 1 Peter 4:12-19)
Scripture references:
Life is a classroom meant to teach us how to be worthy of eternity.
Job 29:11-17 NKJV

11 When the ear heard, then it blessed me, And when the eye saw, then it approved me; 12 Because I delivered the poor who cried out, The fatherless and the one who had no helper. 13 The blessing of a perishing man came upon me, And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. 14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban. 15 I was eyes to the blind, And I was feet to the lame. 16 I was a father to the poor, And I searched out the case that I did not know. 17 I broke the fangs of the wicked, And plucked the victim from his teeth.

Acts 4:32-35 NKJV

32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. 33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. 34 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, 35 and laid them at the apostles' feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.

The first family's form and situation parallel spiritual truths about God.
John 4:24 NKJV

24 "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

Genesis 2:20-24 NKJV

20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Every lesson on earth teaches us to distinguish between what brings life or death, in order to become like God. He is the source and example of unity, equality and love.
Psalm 82:6 NKJV

6 I said, "You are gods, And all of you are children of the Most High.

Matthew 5:43-45 NKJV

43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

John 10:27-38 NKJV

27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. 30 "I and My Father are one." 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?" 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God." 34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods" '? 35 "If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 "do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? 37 "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 "but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."

The questions:

1. "If God is good, why does life depend on death to survive?"

Death comes from being unable or unwilling to sustain life. Sin brings death when those who could sustain life abuse, neglect or don't understand their duties. We all have a conscience. We know we owe our lives to someone who believed in supporting the weak, but some of us listen to our flesh anyway.
Numbers 15:28-31 NKJV

28 'So the priest shall make atonement for the person who sins unintentionally, when he sins unintentionally before the LORD, to make atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. 29 'You shall have one law for him who sins unintentionally, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel and for the stranger who dwells among them. 30 'But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the LORD, and he shall be cut off from among his people. 31 'Because he has despised the word of the LORD, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be upon him.' "

Romans 5:12-21 NKJV

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned-- 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Luke 12:47-48 NKJV

47 "And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 "But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

Romans 6:23 NKJV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There was no death in Eden until humans brought it in by sinning, instead of healing and taming our world. The flood account tells us that all life became irreparably corrupted by sin. We were put here to tame the animals, but instead, we led them by our bad example.
Genesis 1:28

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Genesis 2:15 NKJV

15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

Genesis 6:11-12 NKJV

11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

There will be no death in the age to come.
1 Corinthians 15:26 NKJV

26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

Isaiah 25:8 NKJV

8 He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.

When man left the Ark, we received meat as food and the death-penalty for shedding innocent blood. This came about in order to weed-out the abusive and negligent. Creation is made whole again when its resources are put to use by those who submit to the eternal laws of unity, equality, and love.
Genesis 9:1-6 NKJV

1 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 "And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. 3 "Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. 4 "But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 "Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man. 6 "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.

Proverbs 28:8 NKJV

8 One who increases his possessions by usury and extortion Gathers it for him who will pity the poor.

1. "Why hasn't Jesus returned and made things right yet."

God is patient with us. He doesn't want anyone left behind unless its absolutely necessary.
Ezekiel 18:30-32 NKJV

30 "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways," says the Lord GOD. "Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. 31 "Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? 32 "For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord GOD. "Therefore turn and live!"

2 Peter 3:9 NKJV

9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Matthew 24:29-44 NKJV

29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 "And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 32 "Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 "So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near--at the doors! 34 "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. 36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 "and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 "Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 "Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 "But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Mankind has a fixed time on earth. We will become fit for eternity, or we won't, depending on how well we paid attention to life's lessons.
John 9:4 NKJV

4 "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.

Ecclesiastes 9:10-18 NKJV

10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. 11 I returned and saw under the sun that--The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man also does not know his time: Like fish taken in a cruel net, Like birds caught in a snare, So the sons of men are snared in an evil time, When it falls suddenly upon them. 13 This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: 14 There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares around it. 15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man. 16 Then I said: "Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, And his words are not heard. 17 Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard Rather than the shout of a ruler of fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war; But one sinner destroys much good."

Matthew 25:1-13 NKJV

1 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 "Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 "Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 "but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 "But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 "And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!' 7 "Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 "And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' 9 "But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.' 10 "And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. 11 "Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' 12 "But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.' 13 "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

1. Why hasn't Jesus' teaching done away with suffering?

Sin and suffering are inseparable. Our Teacher has done all He could to bring us into eternity despite our sinful world. He even provided a perfect example for us to follow. Sadly, some still use their free-will to choose sin. We must be able to manage a free-will to be safe to inherit eternity.
Genesis 2:9 NKJV

9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Deuteronomy 30:19 NKJV

19 "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;

Acts 2:38-40 NKJV

38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation."

Jesus explained that our response to His teaching should be to do things that promote life.
Matthew 25:40

40 "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did good to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'

Proverbs 19:17 NKJV

17 He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, and He will pay back what he has given.

What we live and die for proves our commitment to love, unity and equality, or our lack of it.
John 11:7-10 NKJV

7 Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." 8 The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?" 9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 "But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."

1 Peter 4:12-19 NKJV

12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. 17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" 19 Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.

Q3. I opened it and immediately closed it because I was like wtf. I also completely gave up on the rhetorical analysis because I just didn't understand the passage and hadn't written one in like 3 months. So I got the thesis and 2 evidence with very loose reasonings. Anyway I flip to Q3 and I thought long and hard. I eventually came up with the evidence and then started writing. I initially started with the counterpoint because that's what I like to do with this essay, and used the Tears in the Rain speech from Bladerunner to say that your life doesn't matter at all so why would you take selfies. I dead ass wrote "Your life means nothing. You serve zero purpose". I then transitioned into talking about people etching their names into wood such as "John was here" before using a personal anecdote that when I do something similar it's very spontaneous. I then broadened it by using tombstones to say that people take that desire to their grave along with using makeshift tombstones, in times of war, to show that it's a universal thing across all cultures, meaning it's an innate human trait. The next paragraph I put in another example which was the voyager probe, or as I called it, the cosmic selfie. Rounding it all up I said that selfies are a form of documenting one's existence and are valid since it's human nature to do so. My friends think I'm insane but I think I might’ve gotten the sophistication point since everyone else talked about selfies themselves

The purpose of this sub-reddit is to connect users/students with top quality academic freelance writers. The other purpose of this sub-reddit is to promote the ethical use of academic writing services to create research/model projects. Below I will list ways to intelligently use the products you receive, as well as the benefits!

• Use the papers you purchase as a guide to writing your own original essay!

Students should use the papers they buy as research guides as opposed to turning it in. Sometimes it's difficult to start an essay and think of talking points for your body paragraphs. By hiring a writer to create a model essay on your topic, you can analyze the points they made throughout, as well as utilize the sources they found!
Having an expert crafted paper as a guide also allows you to develop supporting points, possible rebuttals to include, closing statements, as well as acting as inspiration to build off the content that's already presented.

• Helps you understand a topic and can be used to study for exams!

Purchasing writing services/products also benefits you by acting as a study sheet for upcoming exams or tests. The projects you receive from experts in the subject will allow you to receive the content in an organized and structured manner. For example, hiring a molecular biology expert to write a paper on cell division will act as a tremendous guide to study for upcoming exams on Cell division, mitosis, etc. Especially if your teacher isn't particularly helpful in explaining certain things you struggle with!

• For academic blogs/businesses

We have a handful of legit academic journals and websites that utilize academic content writing for articles and SEO benefits! Hiring freelance writers with legit credentials in their field can add legitimacy to academic blogs, businesses, or social media pages.
We've had a few writers on this sub contacted by professional academic journals to take part in works that have been published with major universities or editorials!
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Please remember discussion or implying academic dishonesty in your post is against Reddit and Essay_Writing_service policies!

I know that everyone has had to write at least one paper in their life so does that make you a writer? The short answer to that is no. There are so many aspects of writing that you need to be a good writer and you need to have your work shown, aka, being published. To some, people define the word writer as someone who writes but that does not include half of what it takes to become an actual successful writer. “I like to define a writer as someone who writes, not someone who is published for their writing per se.” (Jane Friedman, 2017) This quote is exactly what a writer is not. A writer is someone who is successful at what they do and produces material that is actually known not something your parents read, and they say it's really good and you are a talented writer. “In a recent review in The New York Times Book Review, A. G. Mojtabai said, "We are all authors. Adding here, deleting there, we people the world with our needs: with friends, lovers, ciphers, enemies, villains-and heroes" (March 3, 1985, 7) All authors, to be sure, we are more particularly narrators, historians, tale tellers."(Corder, 1985) I agree to an extent we are all authors when telling our own life story because we create it but does that make you an actual author or writer...no.
To be a writer there are different skills and traits you need to be successful. You need memory, imagination, and also just pure talent. Certain people are just born to be writers. Talent is innate, not learned. Now I think that yes people can learn to write papers for school but not for writers who are trying to make a living out of it. The amount of creativity it takes to be a writer and the dedication it takes to be a successful writer. Writing has its ups but also plenty of downs and when you are in a funk and cannot write that is your only way to make money. I am not trying my hardest to create the best essay about traditional wives and have it change people’s lives. I write because I have to I do not choose to write because I want to or because I enjoy it.
There are plenty of reasons that everyone cannot be a writer and they are all skills and traits that everyone does not have. Most great writers began at a young age, for example, George Orwells first poem was published when he was just 11 years old. Jane Austen began writing between the ages of 11 and 17 years old. Besides, starting at a young age you need lots of schooling to be able to write. A big thing about writing is to be able to create coherent and grammatically correct sentences. You also need structure to create good writing that works together makes sense and flows. Nobody wants to read something that is hard to follow. Another big part of writing is patience and some people do not have enough patience to be a writer.

For your final writing assignment, you will write a persuasive essay/letter to Teacher. The purpose of your letter should be to effect change at school for the future, whether it be next year or further into the future. Focus on problems or issues at school that you believe need to be addressed. You need to acknowledge the issue(s), come up with solutions, and then clearly explain how those solutions should be implemented. All solutions and implementation must be realistically achievable.
Your essay must be at least 3 pages long, double-spaced, 12-point font.
All essays will be printed out, signed, and delivered to Teacher . This is due Friday, May 17th, @ midnight.
NOTE: Your persuasive essay must be realistic. DO NOT WRITE A JOKE ESSAY. YOU WILL FAIL.
Important elements of persuasive writing to remember:

• Position: Writers need to clearly state their positions on their topics in order to persuade their readers. If a writer is not clear about his/her beliefs on the topic, s/he stands little chance of convincing someone else to make a change. In addition, when writers collaborate on a persuasive piece of writing, all involved must agree to support the same position. Sometimes writers even take a position they do not personally agree with and work to explain that position. You should emphasize this last point as students will be working in groups to develop their own persuasive letters. All students in a group must agree to adopt one single position in their letter.
• Attention to Audience: Writers need to adjust their writing based on their audience. This is especially true when the goal of the writing is to persuade the reader to take action. The writing style will be formal when the audience is a person in a position of authority and casual when the audience is a friend or family member. Illustrate the differences in formal and casual writing by asking students to consider the differences in the ways that they write notes (or emails) to their friends versus the way they would write a letter (or email) to the President of the United States.
• Factual Support: In order to be convincing, a persuasive piece of writing needs to include factual details. Provide students with examples of factual support (i.e., data, anecdotes, interviews, information from other sources such as newspapers and books, and so forth). Students will be using their own experiences and observations as factual support for their persuasive letters. (If you are interested in having your students practice this aspect of effective persuasive writing further, please see the extension activity focusing on Internet research following the lesson.)
• Effective Word Choice: Persuasive language is strong but appropriate. Writers need to choose words that are also descriptive and specific. An excellent example of effective word choice is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
• Ethos: Ethos is the credibility to write. Discuss what gives a particular writer credibility to write a persuasive piece of writing. Give students examples of people who would be considered credible sources on particular topics (i.e., a doctor on health issues, a teacher on education, a government official on local political issues). Ask students to consider what gives them credibility to write about school issues.

For context I am a grade 10 high school student in the IB programme. What I am asking for help here is how to analyse something in for example, a guided literary analysis or a history essay or a lab report. I am asking this because I noticed recently that whenever there is an assignment that has a part about analysis, I always seem to struggle on it and get less grades. Be it because I retold plot instead of analyzed a poem or I did not delve deep enough in a history essay or I did not draw sufficient connections between my data and interpretation in a lab report. Simply put, I want to learn how to fix this problem as it had been severely demotivating for me as my peers around me seem to easily understand how to do analysis and can do excellent in that regard.
Sorry if this seems like I am rambling. This might not even be the right subreddit to ask this on, but any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

I've twisted over a fanfic premise for a long time and decided to go for it. I grew up loving the original ATLA story however will admit I was disappointed with LoK (though mostly with season 2 and onwards). So I want to create this thread to hear other's ideas and thoughts on either their own story or mine: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/86454/the-arena-of-elements
I know it might seem bad taste to post one's own story but I want to make a good sequel to do the original ATLA justice (and also hopefully improve my own writing skills in the process). Now in complete honesty, this is my first real attempt at writing something longer than an essay. So I want to share how I attempted to start this story and hopefully hear anyone else's thoughts and ideas on their own stories.
I first built out the world in extreme detail. First with each group or faction, be it a nation, government, religion, etc. (This took the longest amount of time so far).
I then thought through which characters I wanted and built them out. From details about their age, wants, desires, and skills.
The third, broad step, was where I thought through actual events and storylines that each character would go through. Knowing I will likely change some parts as I write this step is still ongoing.
So what are your thoughts? How did anyone else approach their own stories, and if you have time, what ideas would be interesting to explore in the ATLA universe? (for example, I dislike how LoK did their Spirit World interpretation. They felt like glorified ghostly animals rather than actual forces of nature and I wished to see more of the original ATLA's spirits interpretation)

*Warning, long post*
Something that I have been pondering my orb about for a long time, is the (causal) relationship the planes have with each other and how they affected another, either directly or indirectly.
I will start with an overview of the planes and their known (meaning explored in canon and kanon sources) relationships with each other. I added sources for some of the statements, because I am a nerd, mainly Exploring Eberron. They might not be perfectly precise though, and some parts of my statements may be from other sources, so sorry if I forgot to add them.
It is a common theme of eberron that the planes are largely self-contained, unchanging, concept-dominated realities, safe for a few exceptions (Dal Quor, Thelanis, Dolurrh), and that they do largely not interact with one another. Furthermore, their inhabitants either don't care about the happenings on other planes (ExE 144) or simply study/monitor them, like the panopticon of Daanvi (ExE 151) or the schoolars of Syrania (ExE 189-190, 193). (Addition: Curiously, this part is a bit contradicted by the astral plane section of Chronicles of Eberron (Page 113), which states that outer planar immortals use the astral plane to travel between the outer planes. Examples are an archfey being transported to daanvi for judgement or a syranian virtue traveling to the infinite archive. So there appears to be some kind of interaction and interest for another among the outer planes.)
The material plane is the centre of the planar system where all the planar concepts come together, and it feels the effects of the planes the most, due to manifest zones, wild zones and the lunar phases.
The likes of Daanvi, Kythri, Xoriat, Lamannia, Mabar, Irian, Fernia, Risia, Shavarath and Syrania are not affected by happenings on neither the material, nor other planes. Events that transpire in the material, for example, no matter how cataclysmic they may be (like the eon-spanning reign of the overlords, the reality-transforming experiments of the Daelkyr and the destruction of the moon cyra, are simply (seemingly) inconsequential to them (Except for Daanvi's Solar of Dal Quor, Tyrala, who vanished after leaving to investigate Dal Quor after Cyra's destruction (ExE 150)).
On the other hand, the likes of Dolurrh, Dal Quor and Thelanis strongly feel the effects of events on the material, and to some degree even another.
Dal Quor's dream of the age is very likely (We don't entirely know) determined by the collective emotions and dreams of the mortals of the material plane, over extended periods of time (ExE 153). The Age of the Dreaming Dark was probably ushered in due to the destruction of Cyra and the detremential consequences it had for the giants and the material world as a whole.
Similairly, Thelanis is affected by the stories mortals tell, and their archfey are actively manipulating events on the material plane to make sure that they stay in power, grow in power, or that a rival looses power (ExE 195). Furthermore, the Feyspires of the Moonlit Vale manifest regulairly in specific manifest zones of the material plane, during the coterminous phases of Rhaan, leading to even greater interaction with the material. Thanks to the mourning, some or all of these might even be (If one wants it to be so in their eberron) permanently manifested on the material plane (ExE 196). Additionally, some of the Feyspires are even linked to other planes, like Shae Tirias Tolai to Dolurrh (https://keith-baker.com/silver-and-bone/) or Taer Lian Doresh (ExE 154).
Dolurrh is logically affected and based on the continued precept of mortals dying. The mortal soul passes to dolurrh after death and is proccessed through the planes natural effects (ExE 156-157), and later on through the more precise processing by the librarian, the smith of souls or the queen of the dead herself (ExE 157-158). All in all, every event that transpires in dolurrh is connected to the precept of mortal death, which makes sense, as it is its purpose to serve as the end of the journey, or the beginning of the next (ExE 156). While something like this has probably never happened before, if by some means no mortals would die anymore, dolurrh's existence would essentially be defunct. This is more of a strong hypothetical, yes, but my point for these planes stands.
Drastic changes on the material will change cause drastic changes to the three aformentioned planes. Mortal dreams and feelings change the theme of Dal Quor's heart, mortal stories and tales change the themes of thelanis and mortal soul processing is essentially the entire 'economy' of dolurrh, so to speak.
For the final part of this overview, I want to talk about Xoriat. In Exploring Eberron (Exe 199) it was established that the Xoriat exists out of time and that the daelkyr can reshape the material plane as they see fit, by manipulating its position in the maze of reality. This happened at least once and possibly even numerous times. When the prime material plane is changed and the former incarnation discarded, it does not simply change the present, but also the past and the future. Thus Xoriat's influence is not simply limited to time-travel, but even the alteration of the timeline itself into an alternate reality. When this happens or happened, some things remain(ed) unchanged. The progenitors, as the creators of the multiverse, always remain, but their battle might have transpired differently. As described in the Keith's blog post on Gem Dragons (https://keith-baker.com/dm-gem-dragons/), in 'Githeberron' Khyber might not have destroyed Siberys' body, but instead his mind, giving an explanation for the source of psionics as opposed to arcane magic. This was called the 'Dream of Siberys', as opposed to the Blood of Siberys, and the Gem dragons are the children of eberron infused with the Dream of Siberys. In the comments, Keith even suggest that in Githeberron or another alternate reality, Khyber was broken apart by Eberron and encased a wounded Siberys to stabilize him, creating a Ring of Khyber and a underworld of siberys instead. In the same comment, he states that the maze of reality can only affect the material plane and the outer planes remain unchanged, supporting the concept that they were constructed as the building blocks of material reality.
With these points in mind, I have been wondering about the impacts and consequences of the following hypothetical a canon events. I would like to hear your opinions on these.
Age of Demons: During the Age of Demons, which supposedly lasted since almost the beginning of time and for eons, the godlike overlords reigned over the mortal children of eberron and the celestial children of siberys uncontested. There was nothing but suffering, misery, agony, fear, it was literal hell on eberron for most of the world's history. - During that time, how would this have affected the planes? As far as I know, this was never adressed before in any capacity. - Did the perpetual suffering of mortals lead to a permanent nightmare dream of the age on Dal Quor? - Did this constant of mortal suffering lead to the layers of Thelanis being mainly defined by sorrowful and dark stories, for misery is all mortal-kind knew during this age? - Did Feyspires manifest on eberron during that time, and if so, what relationship could the fiends have had with the fey?
Reality-Rewrite by the Daelky: As mentioned in the overview, the daelkyr have, at least once, fully rewritten the entire history of the material world. While I already pointed out that most planes are self-contained and either don't care or mostly don't care about the material, there are some things that are bugging me about the premise of this entire concept. - If the planes are unaffected by the meddling of the daelkyr with the material, does that mean that, for example, the infinite archive of daanvi contains the knowledge of not just the entire history of our prime material plane, but every other prime material plane that has ever existed? And if not, does that mean its archives are being rewritten everytime the prime material changes, thus meaning it is affected indirectly? - The same goes for the vault of memories of dolurrh. Are the stored memories of mortals erased and replaced by those of the dead of the new reality, or does the vault contain the memories of the dead of previous incarnations of the material plane? - Similairly to the parts about thelanis and Dal Quor during the Age of Demons, are the Dream of the Age and the stories of Thelanis rewritten to fit the themes of the newly imposed material reality, or do they stay the same? - On that note, do you think the Daelkyr have to conquer a world first to be able to reshape it with the maze of reality, or can they just do it at any time? If the former is necessary, how is it possible that a single dragon, Vvaraak, had the knowledge of how to (potentially) permanently halt the advancement of the daelkyr and prevent them from rewritting reality as we know it? It seems absurd that no one in the past incarnations of reality had that idea before, especially as Githeberron was described as a far more harmonous and united world (See Sardior https://keith-baker.com/dm-gem-dragons/), with just as powerful and knowledgable dragons. (Note: This point can probably be easily resolved by keeping the incomprehensible and enigmatic plans of the daelkyr in mind, for they may be even want to be bound and knew this would happen.) - Finally for Xoriat, if the planes are unaffected, does that mean that they may have remains of mortals or mortal meddling of past incarnations of the material in some of their layers? For example, the frost giants are living on risia, essentially preserved forever, due to the plane's properties. If that is the case, would the astral plane not be the only plane with remains of past incarnations of eberron, as described in Chronicles of Eberron (Page 114). And if the remains vanish once the material is rewritten, these planes are also indirectly affected by the meddling of the daelkyr
Destruction of Cyra and the moons in general: The destruction of the moon cyra, by the Cul'sir dominion, is a monstrous fact in itself, with immense implications. - If the moons are the anchors of the outer planes to the material, and are an essential part of the material plane itself, what would happen if they are all destroyed? Would the material plane even be able to continue to properly function, or would it only affect manifest zones and have no other effect whatsoever (as it seems to be the case with Dal Quor, and to some extent Xoriat with the Gatekeeper seals). If the later is true, why do the moons exist in the first place? What is their purpose in the fabric of the material plane (Except for being a really cool gameplay and narrative tool for interplanar shenanigans)? - Regarding the former part, do the dragons simply have the power to destroy the moons and cut of all the planes from the material forever? They teached the giants arcane magic, and while the giants likely developed the means to destroy the moon themsevles, the dragons could surely do it as well without many problems. - Another curious fact is mentioned in the Dal Quor section of Exploring Eberron (Page 159), which states that not even planeshift or astral travel can get you to Dal Quor or vice versa. The later is further elaborated on in the astral plane section of chronicles of eberron (Page 115), which states that the color pools (which allow interplanar travel between the planes and the astral plane) of Dal Quor are impossibly black and inaccessable. With these two things in mind, are the moons not evidently much more important to the multiverse as a whole than just for the material plane? Without the moons, interplanar travel by any means is impossible, for any plane. To further emathize on my former point with this, do the dragons simply have the power to destroy the fabric of the entire multiverse by blowing up the moons? That would be incredibly wild and almost absurd, and I cannot imagine that the inhabitants of the outer planes would simply not care, if their only means of interplanar travel is destroyed by the seemingly irrelevant mortals. - Finally, this also brings up a wild question regarding my penultimate part about the previous section for the daelkyr: Could one theoretically blow up Lharvion and prevent the daelkyr from ever meddling with the material plane again, and thus preventing them from altering reality? Also, if the effects of the destruction of cyra are present in the timeless astral plane, which contains countless remains of stuff from the previous incarnations of eberron, and even prevent the other planes from reaching Dal Quor, does that mean Cyra has been wiped out from all possible incarnations and alternate timelines of eberron? This hypothesis is probably the wildest one in this whole post!
Finally, I want to ask you all: What theories do you have about the planes and their interconnections? How do they interact in your eberron, if at all? What things transpired between them in your eberron and what wild events occured in your planar systems?
With all that said, I think I finally reached the end of my essay. Thanks to anyone who takes their time to read this post and I am very curious about your opinions and theories. Cheers! ^^
*Edit:
So I have found additional information regarding my questions and theories regarding Xoriat. As addressed in this blog post from keith's blog, he states that when the prime material plane ist altered by the meddling of the daelkyr, all the outer planar immortals loose their recollection of the Former incarnation of eberron, as they are essentially software being updated (https://keith-baker.com/ifaq-january/).
I think that this is very crazy, for first that means that even the "unchaning'" planes like daanvi etc. are totally changeable, safe for their prime concept (but the same is true for the material itself, dolurrh etc., they are always the planes of death, Dreams, stories and where the concepts come together).
Secondly, it means that the Daelkyr and Xoriat as a whole, have unparalled power and control over the entire eberron multiverse, similar to how far realm entities of the forgotten realms can potentially reshape their entire multiverse.
This ist incredibly wild to me, and it shows that the outer planes are not just the building blocks of material reality. The very memories and knowledge of their entire inhabtitant, everything that has ever been recorded and archived, is depending in the state of the Material plane and can be altered (potentially at any time) by the daelkyr and others entities from Xoriat. This ist truly bizzare and i cannot imagine that everyone in the outer planes, would just let the daelkyr do their thing in the material plane and wipe away their immortal, eternal consciousness and memories, and replace them with a blank slate.
This ist the same as what ist happening to the quori each time the dream of the age shifts, but on a multiversal scale, and they are doing everything in their Power to prevent it from happening again.*

The title of this post may seem insane to most people, I know. Although it is long, please follow me closely as I explain why Beyoncé is the loser of a beef that she wasn't even included in.
We are currently in a time in the music world where the "top artists" are releasing some of their worst work, their desires are CLEARLY outweighing their passion, and their fandoms' dedication outweighs their actual value. Let's look at a few examples:

1. Kanye West: I don't even think an explanation is necessary here
2. Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday 2 & "Big Foo"t: ...
3. Cardi B - "Enough (Miami)": literally sounds like every Cardi B song ever...

& many others. you know who.
Basically... music is not music right now (the mainstream, top performers). Passion is being replaced with greed, which kinda makes sense given the economy rn, but consumers continuing to be passive & dismissive about this is dangerous for the future of art AND EDUCATION (I'll get to that).
The Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake beef was not just a cool rap moment. The music that came from both sides of this beef, as well as the events that occurred outside of the music, drew a BOLD line between Entertainers/Pop Stars and Artists. It also revealed another important question: when CAN the music be separated from the artist (notice I said "can" instead of "should")?
See, many people throw around the phrase "we SHOULD separate the art from the artist." However... how did separating R. Kelly's art from him go? He had a cult following of people who SAW him and KNEW about him being a predator, but didn't care. This allowed his career to grow and gave him more money & resources to hurt people and simply make black people look a little cuckoo for continuously rallying behind him. WE CANNOT SEPARATE HIM FROM HIS ART. Unless you're cool with jamming to songs about little girls.
Pop Stars, like Drake and Beyoncé, get hella passes for their actions. Kendrick Lamar absolutely broke that wall down regarding Drake. He showed that Drake's "art" is not only flawed, but his tactics are detrimental to an entire culture and to art. I won't go in too much detail just because there are many articles/videos that break their beef down. We heard Kendrick describe his interpretation of Drake's relationship with Atlanta (which I agree with) in "Not Like Us." However... I don't think Kendrick knew he was breaking Beyoncé's wall down as well...
The possibility of separating Beyoncé from her work was thrown in the trash in 2013 with her surprise self-titled album. See, her first 4 solo albums were AMAZING (imo). She did a DAMN good job with those records without tactics that have detrimental consequences SOCIALLY (I'm aware of her theft allegations during this time, but for this post I'm discussing her impact on the world collectively rather than just within the industry). We could enjoy the music without feeling guilty due to her political and business decisions. Thus, we COULD separate the art from the artist. However... she stripped that ability away from us with each album after 4. *let me please note that I believe that pop stars should not dabble in activism, so this next section may slightly sound biased bc of that belief, but I'm doing my best to stay neutral*

1. Beyoncé (2013) - there's not much wrong with this album to me, but I mention it because I believe it's the catalyst. Feminism had a big year in 2013 (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/16/feminism-minority-voices-2013-inclusion), and feminism was a large theme of the album. Whether this was intentional or not, it had an impact (https://www.elle.com/culture/a35492/beyonce-and-feminism-essay/). I don't believe there were greedy/shady intentions with this album or its promotion, I just think the success of this album could've prompted the choices she and her team made for the following albums.
2. Lemonade (2016) - This is an amazing album sonically and visually. But... the promotion. So, the film she released with the album went through 11 chapters that represented the 11 songs on the album. Oh wait... there's 12 songs on Lemonade. Formation is thrown on at the end. The album is clearly relationship centered, but she released Formation as the single with all the black power imagery during a time where Black Lives Matter was moving heavy (I am black btw). I feel like the racial and social impact of this album is due to our own interpretations and theories about the album's meaning, and I think it was made that way on purpose. I think they had a great 11 song album that could've sold on its own, but Formation was used to stir the pot and I personally feel like using activism for marketing in an album rollout for pop music is unethical. maybe I'll do a separate post on that.
3. Renaissance (2022) - 2020-2022 was a big period for the LGBT community, particularly the trans community. Also, the hype around the show Pose was booming. I love this album. But come on... look into the promotion

If you want a deeper dive on her promotion tactics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99W79ED4hCE
You see where I'm going here. When you pair this with all of the other mess like the songwriting allegations, her obvious goal of billionaire status, and promoting wealth to us as if it coincides with excellence and it's something we should all be striving for, all while being held up as a LEADER in the black community or even the black art space..... it's a no for me. The music is great but I can't financially support an artist like that.
However... Kendrick Lamar's music connects with me on a different level because it coincides with the human experience. He is honest, authentic, and creative in his work. Artists being themselves is what inspires transformation in me. He doesn't have to use overboard promotional tactics and grift to a specific demographic to take care of himself and his family. And Beyoncé doesn't have to either. Also... Kendrick is competent and knowledgeable about his work. We know the passion behind it because we see it in the lyrics, hear it in his delivery, and feel it when he discusses it. Never any large consumerism tactics behind it... any of that.
Kendrick is sticking out in the industry right now (to me) because he has separated himself from the "greedy pop star," like Drake. It shines a light on the true artistry in Kendrick's work, and the lack of it in Drake's. And when I looked into Drake's mess, I found a bunch of other top stars' mess as well. And that includes Beyoncé.
I call Bey the real loser of the Kendrick vs. Drake beef because I believe she has been held at the top spot for us (black ppl) for a while. She just won an "innovator" award. Her image doesn't coincide with what is on paper and wax for me anymore. She's a hell of a performer... but there's too many questionable elements here. Kendrick has not only proven himself to be the top rapper, but the TOP artist (at least among black artists, but I believe overall).
Yes, the pop stars are "bigger." More fans, more money, more power, crazier fans, more resources, etc. Beyoncé is the most adored; the bigger one. But when it comes to art, which I'm passionate about DEARLY.... it's Kendrick for me. Listen to his albums and tell me different.

Editing because I can’t fix title: episodes that mimic Hypoglycemic episodes but sugar levels are normal—what questions can I ask?
I’m 23F, AFAB I have atypical Cystic Fibrosis, I’m pancreatic sufficient, and no CFRD. for the past 2-3 years I’ve been having episodes that seem to mimic postprandial hypoglycemia but my levels are always above 70. I’ve had a few fasting readings that are 67-69 but I don’t have any symptoms then. The symptoms start within an hour or so of eating and my levels will be 70-80 but get to 100ish 3-4 hours after eating, which does make me nervous that something insulin related is going on. My blood pressure is normal but tends to be on the low side as well.
The episodes mostly correspond with the 7-12 days before my period but it’s not uncommon for them to happen outside of that range. The symptoms are: - high heart rate (130-150) even if at rest (resting heart rate when I’m not having an episode is 60-70 range - shaking - sweating - confusion (including slurring/stammering and switching words around) - weird tingly rising feeling inside - mouth tastes like sand/ash regardless of food or drink - pallor - certain edges blur in my vision; like where the walls meet the ceiling or floors - more frequent urination with lower output - chills
There are a few things that don’t happen every time I have an episode but have happened more than once: - Pain behind eyes - intense headache that disappears quickly
I’ve tried adjusting my diet in every way I can think of (and GI and nutrition have suggested) and nothing really seems to have an impact. Drinking sugar during/after an episode does help a bit but not by much.
My CF team seems to kind of be at a loss. All of my bloodwork is normal, weight and PFTs are fine. They’re sending me to a gynecologist because of how the episodes tend to correspond with my period. I am also seeing my PCP to get my heart checked soon.
Meds: Bupropion 450 (had been on this for about 2 years before any of these symptoms started) Levalbuterol (10+ years) Trikafta (3 years ish) Mirena iud, placed fall 2019
Vitamins Women’s one a day 2000 iu d3
Other diagnoses: PTSD/CPTSD (incest/rape trauma related, not sure how relevant that it is but I’m trying to be more detailed than not ) Major depression General anxiety Insomnia (PTSD related)
Psych meds I’ve tried a while ago but didn’t help: - Zoloft (brain fog was way worse) - lexapro (would not stay in my system, to put it politely) - latuda (didn’t do anything)
I edited my post on cysticfibrosis after someone recommended I post here,so this part isn’t over there but —one of the things that’s getting truly untenable for me is brain fog/confusion. Since fall 2020 I’ve struggled a lot with brain fog and since it started with PTSD related events my doctors and I have been assuming it to be a mental health thing but I’m not that sure anymore.
The confusion is definitely worse during the episodes I described (and affects stuff like where I walk around and what I put down where, for example, putting my phone in a fridge or not being able to find my car) But day to day—I’m forgetting words and sentences almost immediately after thinking them. My mental health has improved a lot on Wellbutrin but I can’t tell if it’s improved the brain fog at all or just improved the other symptoms like low energy and the can’t get out of bed heaviness.
My major involves a lot of writing and the same assignments that would take me a few several hour sessions, if that, I haven’t been able to complete. I’ve spent 12 hours on essays (with only meal breaks and things like that) with about a paragraph to show for it — but what I can get out never quite matches what I’m thinking. I almost constantly have the feeling of having a word on the tip of my tongue, especially when trying to write. The things I think of seem to float away before I can keep them in my head long enough to write them down. I was supposed to graduate 3 years ago and I’ve been one full time semester’s worth of classes for these past three years because I just can’t get it done. The majority of my depression symptoms that remain have to do with the stress and feelings behind not having finished school despite being so close. On the whole though, my mental health is in the best place it’s been in pretty much my entire life And the other symptoms have improved drastically.
Last note on the day to day brain fog/confusion: I don’t switch words around when I’m not having an episode—but I have been noticing that 0-5 times a day (I can’t say for sure that it happens daily without fail but it definitely happens several times a week) that I do slur sometimes when talking? The beginnings and ends of words will just sort of smush together . This is a relatively recent development (in the last 8 months maybe?) don’t know if that’s normal person stuttering kind of thing but combined with the writing stuff it irks me more than it normally would)
I feel like a lot of these symptoms could be literally anything so I don’t know how to go about narrowing it down.
I have a check up appointment soon and I wanted to see if anyone has any suggestions for other questions or specific testing requests that I can ask my doctors for to help figure this out.
Thank you!

Hey guys
I managed to score over 80 on Section 2 of the exam on my very first sit, and I believe I owe a huge part of my success to the lens technique that my tutor taught me and accordingly mastering two key sociocultural topics.
So, what exactly is the lens technique? It's a powerful strategy that involves analyzing and interpreting essay prompts through the lens of two sociocultural topics. By viewing the prompt from different perspectives, I was able to generate unique insights and develop well-rounded arguments that impressed the examiners.
Here's how I did it:

1. Topic Selection: I carefully selected two sociocultural topics that I was passionate about and really wanted to learn more about. These topics served as the foundation for my essays and allowed me to showcase my knowledge and critical thinking skills effectively.
2. Lens Application: When confronted with an essay prompt, I would analyze it through the lens of my chosen sociocultural topics. This involved identifying relevant themes, concepts, and real-world examples that could be used to support my arguments.
3. Argument Development: Armed with insights from my sociocultural lenses, I crafted compelling arguments that addressed the complexities of the prompt. I made sure to provide evidence and examples that demonstrated a thorough understanding of the topic and showcased my ability to think critically and analytically.
4. Essay Structure: Structure is key in Section 2, so I organized my essays in a clear and logical manner. I started with a strong introduction that outlined my main arguments, followed by well-developed body paragraphs that supported each argument with evidence and analysis. Finally, I concluded by summarizing my key points and reinforcing my main thesis.

By mastering the lens technique and delving deep into two sociocultural topics, I was able to approach Section 2 with confidence and deliver essays that stood out to the examiners. I encourage all of you to explore this technique and see how it can elevate your own GAMSAT performance.
Good luck to everyone on their GAMSAT journey! Lets Crush the SEPTEMBER GAMSAT!!!!

Introduction

Christian religious education is defined as the process where by Christian learning takes place. It often involves “teaching which enables practicing Christians to adopt and deepen their Christian belief, values and dispositions to experience and act in a Christian way. It depends to a greater extent on how this process is adopted and practiced in different churches.

Different practices in Christian education in local churches

At some degree of certainty that all Christian churches have a similar aim’s and practices. The liturgical aspect is of paramount importance in the Trinitarian belief and practices in that it serves as introduction to what Christianity is all about. This is where the process of Cognitive learning takes places it involves the worship service where hymns are sang, lessons extracted from the books of the bible are read, sermon often punctuated with exhortation, admonishment and instruction in righteous living is delivered and prayers are said. It also involves the celebration of the holy Eucharist which Jesus Christ himself, recognized as the head of the church, initiated based on experience acquired in the worship service, it can be seen as Christian religious education is a confessional churchly activity of evangelism, instruction and nurture.
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I assure that “Youth are the most critical of all critics when it comes to religion”. Today, common inhabitants do pray and accept the holiness in church for Christ which they are aware that Christ constitutes the sacred bread and wine, but do not entirely act upon worshipping and fail to confront the thoughts and feelings to masses which would spread dignity of godliness among selves. The moral lies in the fact that this creates lackness to reach spiritual beliefs through worship and liturgy resulting in declination the faith which affects the divine nature approaching positivity.
Christian education is a vital important part in youth development. For Christian education to be explored, generation of today should be brought into contact through various practices. In the early centuries, reformers emphasized and trusted true faith and doctrines, to change and reform behaviour as the only solution for salvation in Christian education. Christian school movements prove a challenge as a messenger to convey god’s given mission and honour god.

Traditional approach

This approach was practiced since many decades and is still continued to be practiced which helps in binding and governing the ethics and morality within the religion and belief. Since beginning described, in leaving our homeland to teach the gospels throughout the world through scriptures, god conveyed his message – by sending his son Jesus for us, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Church, and Baptism for building unity.
Christianity consists of three things – Religious faith, way of life and community of mankind towards salvation are most important. The most vital of all belief preached is that there is only one god. The term Christian does not imply on the fact that a Christian should grow up in a Christian community, but precisely accepts Christian faith and belief, follows and leads the path of life on which Jesus walked on and made mankind accept Christian community through involvement and participation physically and mentally, as a result, traditional approach is how the local churches and preachers go about conducting their services. The apostle’s creed was apparently developed to summarize the Christian doctrine for man who baptised himself.

Theological and Biblical approach

This approach is regarded as an abstract discipline which teaches what bible is written. It is the study of god expressing god’s thought. The movement of bible indicates the doctrines to the kerygma to didache, to theological ethics, to revealed truth, to the way of living in Christian community.
God’s salvation to the world, worshipping the holy spirit, baptizing people in the name of god, preaching gospels as the word of god, share Christ’s own body and blood as bread and wine in holy communion, repenting and confessing god’s forgiveness etc are the concepts of theological and biblical foundation to Christian education. Even though mankind is aware but fail to involve due to the increasing evil and greed.
The service is organized to accept the call of god and to love him and others and which aims to gather people to worship him in return allowing him to take control over the world and through his presence spread peace, righteousness, justice, joy and helps in the growth of the life in an individual through increased faith.

Activities organized and performed in different local churches through to these practices

Some churches develop the initiative of the worshippers by confessing their faith in the words of the apostle creed. Each activity is correlated and composes a range of varied elements. Their current activities reflect the lives of an individual and drive them for a purpose through various numbers of activities to attain a better quality of life.
Due to activities, all age group gain variety of skills through many spiritual centred activities. Church acts as an interpreter between god and the worshippers to support in training the composition of these activities which are far more complex to solve a disturbed youth. They have to thereby standardize their curriculum and activities in regards to implement it. Different denominations organize activities to resolve the aim therefore to meet the need of the youth. Curriculum should be more focused than just on providing knowledge.
Activities are necessarily planned to build youth commitment. I believe it is necessary to reach them, i.e. train them to be strong future leaders. They should be kept one step ahead, for their life is very challenging. I believe that the best way to outreach youths mind is to be a youth like them to understand their psychology as it differs from every individual. The same activities do get affected as the youth is choosy and subtle.

Changing activities for tomorrow

Here the question is voiced that, what substantial change can be brought apart from the current activities to eradicate the above upcoming and dynamic problems in nature with respect to behavioural management or of what medication of healing would work out.
I would comment, the activities in the practices should be expanded and conduct likewise programmes workshops on educating purity before marriage, sex, child abuse, exploitation, rape, adultery, adolescence sex, teenage mothers, drugs addiction, aids, and divorce. Workshops, seminars for sex, abuse, peer mentoring, identifying preventive measures instead of curative measures targeting the social, political and the economical factors would be effective for incorporating the overall issues to bring the insight of the good and evil sides of every consequence, discussion on essential real life skills. Our goal is to create “world changers”, inviting the sacrifiers of evil and giving and sharing healthy priorities to save ourselves and the world, before it becomes a terrible fate and a debt for our own selves.
As the world is in unsafe fists of crime, terrorism, corruption, violence, youth have been diverted to a fast-paced and expects instant opportunities. Perhaps, the approaches of these local activities tend to be helpful and may bring positive results but I still feel that there is something missing, to monitor the youth from within. In an article – Practical: The Role of the Full-Time Youth Pastor in the Local Church, by Graeme Codrington, Denomination: Baptist (All), submitted on, May 18, 1997, states that, “In a world that is so busy, and demands so much of all of its inhabitants, young people need a secure environment, where they can experiment and decide who they want to be. They need significant people to be there to help them through this process. They need role models to follow”.
Above statement eventually satisfies the fact that these folks are craving for friendly support socially and for stimulation. Overall factors which conglomerate are peers, parents, teachers, church members and Christian community. All factors rely on one common feature which constitutes leadership. Ironically, most youth do understand the surrounding factors but the factors themselves become tough unknowingly that they can’t quite control the situation which then becomes too late to recover. The task is questioned commonly as what kind of leader a person should be to prove creditability and capability to influence the youth to pursue the direction towards god? In an article again stated by, Graeme Codrington, Denomination: Baptist (All), – Practical: The Role of the Full-Time Youth Pastor in the Local Church, submitted on, May 18, 1997, “Young people are not just “little adults” (cf. Elkind 1984:18). They are complex individuals who are battling to deal with the awesome transformation of their bodies, minds, and emotions. They are in a time of transition and growth, developing from the birthed bundle of potential to a fully integrated, functional member of society. The church is in a unique position to assist in this process”. Church as a role model fosters spiritual growth in every youth making them responsible to participate in Christian faith; she is a sign for an entrance of the god’s kingdom to the world of salvation, repentance, justice and peace to bring equality. She struggles hard and performs her duties wholly and solemnly reminds parents to structure their offspring’s life in Christian formation.
Church members acting as supporters, preach to establish and to promote a platform and share to encourage several types of civic, cultural, religious educational associations. In an article by Arthur Paul Boer – What must a Pastor know? Reflection on Congregational studies defines on writer James Hopewell’s statement saying beyond the embarrassment. “He has also observed that churches are sometimes chagrined by the change of hypocrisy and lament that they cannot measure upto ideals of Christian community”. Writer James Hopewell referred by Arthur Paul Boer notes that Christian leaders are incharge and build a church thereby rise in hypocrites. I observe practically that, though the world is changing, church strategy is also changing in complementing the growth. It still targets the set mission. Even though, somewhere in the corner hypocrites do exist but church leaders aim to find out what is the outcome in the people from the traditional, theological and biblical practices.
Perhaps according my research, I suggest they experiment bringing out good approaches to youth’s growth. Instead of the current activities followed in churches I would want to suggest the approach can be focused to bring in the outcome irrespective to exploration and innovation of ideas and thoughts for internal and external behaviour of an individual related to the surroundings around him, deepening of commitments to the teaching, provide opportunities to analyse socially and theologically and viewing his life in a theological manner. To build a framework of an activity consist of – to have an experience “like us”, to sense new boundaries by exploring new links to every Christian among themselves and to god across social and cultural boundaries.
In addition, exploration and inventive programmes can be executed to judge youth’s spirituality. Daily opportunities resulting in disorientation gets support through mission of god. Integration conceptual activities also can help in building and to capture ‘a born leader’. Church leader serves them as task leaders in the corrosion and freeing the task of a disconnected mind by planning tactics and dividing the burden of other’s through consultation. As the purpose is commitment, to serve the lost, skill based leadership formation training programmes can be organized to develop an effective leader so as to sustain the capability and capacity of the leader to solve the complaints lies in the dimensions of the ability. Workshops on intersections to shape boundaries of an individual and communities through theological and biblical language, symbols, and rituals to attain certain centered objectives.
As growth of globalization is tremendous, these leaders come across and face new opportunities and challenges. I believe they help in building an integral performance in conducting entrepreneurial business-based activities, describing the activities because youth’s mind is business-oriented, therefore the activities are to be structured keeping business in mind involving biblical and theological approaches with the existing resources for a business oriented youth. They tend to produce facilitate management sources to sustain and develop faith and love. When the youth develops a church from within, he will be able to observe and analyse the holistic environment.
The activities require presence of not only church members but also worshippers for youth development in successful implementation of these practices. Some worshippers form in small groups, some large varied to race culture. Arthur Paul Boer also examines simultaneously that when a group of pastors were having service of congregation, one among them exclaimed in deep breath “It showed me I’m not alone”. So often in our churches we berate ourselves for problems we face: not enough men, too few youth, preponderance of a certain race or culture. He is clear with the fact that a single person fails, unity increases strength. We ourselves give birth to a problem and then strive hard to face it because as there are few leaders left to catch a grip to support a large community. Due to less number of youth, less support is achieved to sustain the laws and policies of the church and unable to accomplish god’s mission. It is not only one who contributes but many. Above mentioned statement “It showed me I’m not alone” expresses that each race and culture form their own group; build small churches for their own community within their own boundaries, where god expects togetherness, wholeness. It requires lot of efforts to help small churches grow whereas large church with mass contribution grows as their already exist efforts in large numbers which take over the chained actions for development. Whether single church group or many, big or small, the development is important.
On this contradiction, I would suggest that this also includes that in small group the development is paid more attention and given a close eye, problems are spotted quickly and easily to meet the challenges. No matter how large or small challenges occur, the way we approach it is unique and comprehensive as this brings out effects of development in the youth. Whereas in large it becomes difficult to assist as there are more than one individuals. Due to small groups according to races and culture, differentiation exists. But the important criterion is group commitment and work effort in all sets of practice for congregations in any race or culture for a healthy youth so that to accomplish god’s mission. As a result both objectives are co-related to each other.
To understand the nature of Christian youth it is a very distinguished and a unique phenomenon. Due to the increasing issues of ‘peer pressure’, this has led to the obstruction in the development of youth. There are negative as well as positive aspects of it. Negative aspects influence a weaker mind. It is the most consistent findings revealed in observation. Due to the inquisitive innocence, an innocent becomes a prey of the negative aspect, thereby exploited and develops an evil companionship where he adopts negative qualities and habits. But there is positive aspects as in there are some groups who work towards peer relationship. Here innocent gets an opportunity to identify his fear, weakness and have control over his own power. The peer mentors play the part in organizing programmes to understand the behaviour. They interact with the teens and open lines of communication, build up action plans to change the behaviour by using the discipline skills wherever necessary. As church members play an integrate role, it is a challenge for them to develop the youth and make Christian education reachable to them.
Teachers are responsible preachers. Youth growth depends on a teacher infact they are the true facilitators of our learning, are Baptist figures and true authors of an individual’s life book. They also act as the resource developer and planner setting the curriculum for the healthy growth of an individual, depending how the curriculum is designed with the kind and level of leadership skills to recognize the youth psychology. Parents play a significant role in Christian education. They are the promising leaders which shape up Christianity, infact are the real teachers of Christian education. Parents act as a moral standard and support, therefore can synchronize to their growing youth to be aware from their early hood to gain knowledge in Christian faith and this is done when they themselves too experience a fullness of church.
Misunderstandings and miscommunication between parents and their children are one of the issues which follow breakings in the development of the youth. Due to parent’s own principles, for respect and love of family values often creates harmness to the children’s growth which tempts them to behave against them. Thus youth becomes a totalitarian of his own life by going against the values and ethics and unknowingly gets stucked in the torturous situations. Most Christian youth, fail to act upon the 10 commandments of bible.
I must say, I myself as a youth in my real life experience have observed that the originality of the commandments has changed excessively and replaced with the following:
Thou must worship money
Thou must “lyrically” murder
Thou must have evil possession
Thou must have sex
Thou must enjoy drug addiction
Thou must prosper, worship own self
Thou must not feel guilty
Thou must have no respect for ancestral values
Thou must not serve, sacrifice
Thou must differentiate
Due to the above, youth fails to feel guilty in which guiltness is a part of our conscience creating a false belief system as an obstacle in his maturity and creating structure of his own. Under such circumstances he avoids promoting prayer, sacrifice, grace, redemption, worship and meditation, atonement. Considering money and sex are the only two things reliable to satisfy the needs, creating a limitation and a boundary for establishing personal spiritual growth and development.
In general terms, when the efforts of religious and educational institutions, society lack to perform the planned task for Christian education, a positive approach is expected and constructed to gain knowledge and teaching through parents and teachers. Youth must be aware of guiltiness which is a gift from god to help us in being and doing well.
Still the question is raised in a Journal: Volume 5 Number 4, October 2003 by Author Charlene Tan, “Can Christian teachers and parents teach Christian beliefs without indoctrinating their students and children?”
Yes, they can teach Christian beliefs without indoctrinating their students and children they need to be careful when a child is to be handled as their minds are immature. At times it is difficult to understand them because their way of thinking is varied. Firstly before going to the next process, the first process has to be resolved. As teachers and parents are the role models for the development. In order to develop and understand these three role models should be systematically developed first. Only by abiding this rule, they can achieve the development in child. But the point lies beneath that how teachers and parents can prove themselves as an effective source of development by keeping in mind the relative factor of Child’s mind compatibility and psychology? As there are variations in psychological behavior teachers and parents should be mentally prepared, be changeable and adjustment oriented accordingly.
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The political and current affair of the nation is affected by corruption and evilness rationally which gave birth to vivid factors like jealousy, modesty and so on, making human’s built a tendency to mislead the positive factors. The situations have made the teachers adapt those inequalities within them, affecting the surrounding factors. Parents have too due to their increasing self priority created barriers of understanding among their families.
Many people are often drawn towards the attention of the church because of their felt needs and not for spiritual needs.
For instance, it does occur that why the youth is tuned out of his own way? Even in their interaction with their own members it tends to happen with them that they fail to hear a word said to them – stating “I didn’t hear a word you said?”, even though it is obvious that they have said something relating to us. This proves a kind of negligence in contacting the positive mechanism which grows in the back of our minds. Such system blocks all the wanted and useful messages allowing us to hear and see only what our mind tells us to hear and believe. As this tendency is increased in the youth generation, it is creating gaps between a believer and faith of god.
The question is – How? How can we overcome this problem? Youth have themselves developed a capacity in mind to hear only what pleasures them without taking a decision that whether it is false or truth. My query is – How we can bring these groups of youth closer to god? Unconsciously resulting in unexpected calamities and unknowingly they are unable to repent it wisely. Due to this increasing factor, youth can’t get a grip of effective communication and develop themselves internally. Here the parents then enter the scene to play their role.

The main question lies whether the local churches fulfill and meet to mature disciples in Christian education?

As stated above, ‘youth’ are the most critical of all critics when it comes to religion. In this modern era, youth is distracted to church because they are building castles in air due to the unmaterialistic desire. Youth today have focused their vision to crave success and prosperity for their rising life graph; they exploit their own ones due to greed and selfishness. During the primary phase of struggle and hard work, youth craves to achieve prosperity, at the same time, do thank god and accept his involvement for success, but hand in hand, lack to follow the bibles ethics which says to respect others in and with unity. Due to the competition and growth politically, more often youth seem to push the fellow mates and strive to takeover their place. They themselves are unaware that they give birth to exploitation and inequality. And due to inequality, unity is declined, wherein bible does not specify inequality. In a book source, Pastor – “Rick Warren’ – illustrates in his book – The Purpose-Driven Church -“The issue is church health, not church growth!” declares warren. “if your church is healthy, growth will occur naturally. Healthy consistent growth is the result of balancing the five biblical purposes of the church.”
In addition to this he also declares that “If u concentrate on building people, God will build the church”.
I agree at a certain point with the above statement. I herewith would want to magnify on “How would one build a healthy youth for a healthy church”? In this sense I believe that both are co-related with each other. Again the issue arises in my mind ‘How will the church be healthy if the youth is unhealthy?’ The issue can’t be only concentrated on church. For a church to survive, the basic foundation is the youth and for the youth to be saved and attracted the church has to be healthy. In my knowledge it is a ‘Vicious Circle’.
Local churches upto some extent do specifically fulfill the discipleship through the practices and play a great emphasis in fulfilling and conveying the message of god to us, but still lack to read the minds and bring the youth closer to her, for which she has to upgrade her atmospheric appearance with new packages to reach the youth in a new taste due to the competitive modernism which is hovering on the youth.
The latter part can play the best part coz when first falls in place, everything else falls in place, from the beginning to the end, from all angles in all walks of life. Towards a healthy faith, healthy church can turn and seed a growth of spirituality through which mankind will grow spiritually from within thereby causing church growth.
Author Perry G. Down states in his book – “Teaching for spiritual growth” that ‘how can we best enable Christians to grow towards maturity?’ For this question he suggests three key concepts- ministry, believer, and purpose. But my understanding says that these concepts are incomplete somewhere to create a bond in reaching the results because today’s youth is attracted towards the unrealistic worldly matters, but has resulted in declination towards the god’s spiritual growth. The major role connecting these three concepts is commitment and effort. As the church ministry is the foundation pillar, the main aim is how much measure of commitment is valued and given to achieve the target successfully. Mankind is able to commit only when he chooses the right direction in fear and is able but this is unfortunate as the alien world tend to let us unidentify the type of strategies of growth for maturity. By identifying the type of strategies of growth, we can understand the level of growth required towards maturity at which we can be spiritual. Another reason for in growth is fear. As the youth fears to face unexpected problems, the efforts are less and require the hierarchy’s support.
Author Gary C. Newton stated in his book – “Going towards spiritual maturity” quotes the principle that “God is ultimately responsible for all spiritual growth”. The question arises at this point that if god is responsible for everything, what will be the purpose and role of human? I comment that while god supplies the resources like bible, church, Holy Spirit, baptism, it is also our responsibility to supply effort and commitment to utilize those resources and give results to god. In bible, Paul highlights this principle of his personal lifestyle and in his teachings comparing with the example of a soldier or athlete to illustrate the amount of sincerity and efforts. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27), Paul states that “In a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize”. I herewith conclude in a Christian race all runners (ministry, believers, purpose) will fail to get a prize if there is no effort that is commitment from everyone.
Along with the concept of ministry, believer, purpose; effort is also the key concept and it has to be achieved from the youth as well. A healthy youth will gain efforts only when the growth will favour them from within, when the forces of the ministry believers and youth will collide with each other to form a healthy growth.
This will create a mutual relationship between god’s provisional resources and our active involvement in process which is more clearly in Philippians 2:12-13: “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is god who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose”. This principle is intricate but the application is clear.
If one is to grow towards maturity in Christ then one must cultivate and demonstrate the efforts with passion, Philippians 2:17-18: ” But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you be glad and rejoice with me”.
Therefore the conclusion lies in the above concept, both; effort of the youth along with the work of ministry, believers proves in the healthiness of the church. In the book “Youth At Risk” by Peter Christian Olsen, 2003, he highlights four basic needs which he has clearly created an awareness of the effects that affects the development of youth:
Acceptance – belonging
New beginnings and second chances – forgiveness
Significance – generosity
Freedom – independence
I agree with his confirmation that he examines in deriving the above developmental needs from the provision of the Almighty’s resources as the absence of these needs do intentionally contribute in how they shape the personality, maturity, responsibility and stability of emotions. He emphasizes Christian community in respond to the needs determining that, the resources will be polishing youth through support during the fear and avoid them from destruction. At times the concepts will be foreign, indigestive for youth because unable to realize its importance. Rather the community need not re-interpret or change the language but simplify their thoughts and improve their visionary and understanding by change in structure through a friendly communication by becoming an effective leader to bridge the gap between the church and the youth. Therefore forces and efforts are needed for decision making which is an effective key in respond to ministry believer and purpose for a possibility of a healthy youth to build a healthy church, which will make the church flourish.

Supporting surveys

According to a survey, some findings proved that church fails to answer every question of the youth.

Q.1 In what way and sense is Christian religion, faith and church viewed by today’s modern youth?

Youth of today’s modern era is firm on the point stating that inspiration is lacked in religion; they feel that the world is divided through religion and is the major factor which is affecting the growth. A 17-year-old Jude from Kent says confidently that “He does not agree with the church who talks on subject morality” and is “Overfilled with traditionality”.
Youth pick their ideas which suit their taste through various religious beliefs. There are few in bunch who strongly believe, there exist only single religion which has controlled the truth. Young generation refer to perform all activities as per their own desire which in return less importance to the religious belief are being given, which gives birth to the side effects of the conduct.

Q.2 Why do young crowd feel that Christianity is not a ‘happening’ cultural activity?

An 18-year-old Marcus said that he left church when he was 15 because the teachings did not amuse him and it did not interest him of anything as a youth.
The major quest, a struggle for a religion is to impose an exertion of force of involvement in terms of attraction. I usually attend church service wherein I find young ones missing the services. I kept questioning myself that, where the young crowd has disappeared? Surprisingly the young ones have taken charge for the attendance of the church. In this consequence the church should give priority to change its curriculum and its way of presenting the services with new attractive packages for enhancement.

Q.3 Are the young preachers practicing different approaches in Christianity declining. What are your suggestions?

As the attendance of the youth in church has declined, but on the other hand people practicing approaches are increasing in numbers. The following is revealed through one of the youths that more the deepening are the studies of the bible, more a person becomes a hypocrite of the Christian leadership and unintentionally accepts and performs the lifestyle of the clergy right or wrong at times unknowingly. In such case, the practices are affected and become different from those which are to be precise. Seen are still some true Christian youngsters who are different in their attitude and conduct, but in spite of such difference, they are not involved into the immorality and violence activities with other youths. They present themselves as they are from a different unknown religion, but practice the religion and it

Introduction

The purpose of this essay is to identify the differences between the Greek and Roman architecture of Antiquity. Although Greek and Roman architecture have various similarities, it is important to identify the differences and the ways the Romans chose to adapt their influences. The five architectural orders were highly favoured in both Greek and Roman architecture.

Greek Architecture

Greek architecture is a very influential and historical movement which is used to inspire many architects today. This movement was based on the post and lintel system which is simply a system made up of columns. Although the concept of columns may seem simple, the Greeks carved the columns into something beautiful – including carvings of mythological creatures. They created some of the most precise and distinctive designs in the history of architecture. The Greeks interest in simplicity and proportion in their buildings went on to influence Roman architects.

Introduction

The purpose of this essay is to identify the differences between the Greek and Roman architecture of Antiquity. Although Greek and Roman architecture have various similarities, it is important to identify the differences and the ways the Romans chose to adapt their influences. The five architectural orders were highly favoured in both Greek and Roman architecture.

Greek Architecture

Greek architecture is a very influential and historical movement which is used to inspire many architects today. This movement was based on the post and lintel system which is simply a system made up of columns. Although the concept of columns may seem simple, the Greeks carved the columns into something beautiful – including carvings of mythological creatures. They created some of the most precise and distinctive designs in the history of architecture. The Greeks interest in simplicity and proportion in their buildings went on to influence Roman architects.
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There are five main architectural orders in classical architecture which are Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan and Composite – which were all named by the Romans. Greek architects created the first three and took part in influencing the latter two “which were composites rather than genuine innovations” (Ancient History Encyclopedia, 2009-2014). The differences in these styles were best recognised by the décor that existed at the top of each column.
(Doric, Ionic and Corinthian)

The Doric Order

The Doric Order was the first of the architectural orders to be introduced, the top of the column is plain and undecorated while the column itself is fluted with parallel grooves.
They stood directly on the temple without a base. Prominent features of both Greek and Roman versions of the Doric order are the alternating “triglyphs” and “metopes” (Essley, J). Three vertical grooves make up the triglyphs and imitate the wooden end-beams, which are supported by the architrave that takes up the lower half of the entablature (superstructure of mouldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns). Under each triglyph are peglikedrops that maintain the structure. A triglyph is placed in the centre above every column with another between columns. “The Greeks felt that the corner triglyph should form the corner of the entablature to create a contrast with the supporting column. The spaces between the triglyphs are themetopes” (Princeton, Online).

(Temple of Hephaestus in (Sharon Mollerus)
Athens, Greece, 449-415 BC)

The Ionic Order

The Ionic Order was the second to be invented and can be recognised by its scrolled design at the top of each column – the columns are also fluted and sit on a base. This order is more slender that the Doric but very similar.

(Column of the Erechtheion, Acropolis of Athens, 421-406 BC) (Guillaume Piolle)

The Corinthian Order

The Corinthian Order was the latest order to be produced, the late classical period was where the earliest example was found. It is best recognised for its ornate capital – apart from this factor, it is the same as the previous ionic order. The Corinthian Order was favoured by the Roman architects in a lot of their work.

(The Pantheon in Rome, 126 AD) (Rosengarten. A, 1898)

Roman Architecture

The Greek tradition in architecture was continued on by the Romans, their interest is evident in many of their buildings – especially their use of the Corinthian Order. The Romans were known as “great innovators” because of the way they adopted new techniques and new materials and the way they adapted on existing techniques. The Romans introduced the use of domes and arches to create a new architectural style. They continued to use the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders – however adapting the capital of the Corinthian to make it more decorative.
The Tuscan column is very similar to the Doric column but with a smaller design at the top. The Tuscan column was used most “in domestic architecture such as peristyles and verandahs” (Ancient History Encyclopaedia, 2009 – 2014).There became a stage where columns were no longer used for structure, but were purely decorative.

The differences between Greek and Roman Architecture

Greek and Roman architecture is relatively similar, they were inspired by the Greeks existing work and adapted their own styles around it.

Although the Romans were inspired by the Greeks which resulted in many similarities, there are still many differences, such as the materials they chose to use. They both commonly constructed their buildings from marble or limestone – but, the Romans perfected the use of concrete in buildings which allowed them to create more free-flowing structures.
In relation to the styles of columns they used, they were all favoured by both the Greeks and the Romans and made a persistent appearance in most of their buildings. Although, the Greeks did prefer the use of the Doric and Ionic orders, whereas the Romans preferred the more ornate Corinthian order.
The purpose of the Greeks and Romans architecture was also different. Most of the existing Greek architecture was designed as art to honour their gods which resulted in a less ornate interior. Due to the Romans advances in material technology, a greater variety of Roman buildings still exist today. Roman architecture was beautiful internally and externally, mirroring “the pursuit of pleasure, an essential part of Roman culture” (Faller, M)
In relation to more of the construction details, the Greeks work was more equilateral which was known as “post and lintel construction”. The Romans took great credit for grasping the arch and the dome, which are a prominent feature in ancient Roman architecture, but not in Greek architecture.

The Parthenon and the Pantheon

The Parthenon and the Pantheon are both ancient temples – the Parthenon was built in Greece for their god Athena and the Pantheon was constructed in Rome to celebrate the Roman gods. The Parthenon was first to be constructed in 126 AD and the Pantheon was constructed about six centuries later around 447 – 438 BC.
(The Parthenon) (The Pantheon)
Both these temples have many similarities and differences due to the Romans adapting the Greeks processes. The majority of the exterior design of the Pantheon is adapted from traditional, ancient Greek architecture, such as that of the Parthenon. It is said that both of these temples functioned as churches during the middle ages and have both faced rebuilding. The religious links of the Pantheon prevented it from being damaged by loots, but unfortunately many parts of the Parthenon were stolen in the 1700s.
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Of course, the Parthenon was a Doric temple which was supported by Ionic columns. The floor was constructed wholly of marble, where the base was constructed from limestone – typical materials used by the Greeks. “The east pediment narrates the birth of Athena, while the west pediment shows the contest between Athena and Poseidon to become the city’s patron god” (Diffen, Online).
This creates a contrast to the Pantheon, which was a concrete dome supported by the ornate Corinthian columns. They were interested in capturing more beauty with small, distinctive details. Again, typical materials such as marble and concrete were used to construct this temple.

Conclusion

Architectural history is what formed the architecture of today, both Greek and Roman architecture has played a huge influence in numerous modern buildings. The majority of their work is very similar but they still continued to work in numerous different ways in order to make their statement in architecture. Without the Romans – who mastered the use of concrete – may have resulted in a different use of materials in which we use today. Both the Greeks and Romans have created the basis of architecture to form the process we have today.

Bibliography

ANCIENT HISTORY ENCYCLOPEDIA. (2009 – 2014) Greek Architecture. [Online] Available from: http://www.ancient.eu/Greek_Architecture/. [Accessed 12th December 2014].
Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. Photograph, viewed 12th December 2014, <http://i39.tinypic.com/30agqbs.png>
PRINCETON. Doric Order. [Online] Available from: https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Doric_order.html. [Accessed 12th December 2014].
Essley, J. Pediment and tympanum, Metopes and Triglyths. Terms from Greek temples. [Online] Available from: http://www.house-design-coffee.com/metopes.html. [Accessed 12th December 2014].
Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, Greece, 449-415 BC. Photograph, viewed 13th December 2014, <http://arthistoryblogger.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/doric-ionic-and-corinthian.html>
Sharon Mollerus / public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Photograph, viewed 13th December 2014, <http://arthistoryblogger.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/doric-ionic-and-corinthian.html>
Guillaume Piolle/ public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Photograph, viewed 13th December 2014, <http://arthistoryblogger.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/doric-ionic-and-corinthian.html>
Column of the Erechtheion, Acropolis of Athens, 421-406 BC. Photograph, viewed 13th December 2014, <http://arthistoryblogger.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/doric-ionic-and-corinthian.html&agt;
The Pantheon in Rome, 126 AD. Photograph, viewed 13th December, <http://arthistoryblogger.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/doric-ionic-and-corinthian.html>
Rosengarten. A,A Handbook of Architectural Styles,1898. Photograph, viewed 13th December 2014, <http://arthistoryblogger.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/doric-ionic-and-corinthian.html>
ANCIENT HISTORY ENCYCLOPEDIA. (2009 – 2014) Roman Architecture. [Online] Available from: http://www.ancient.eu/Roman_Architecture/. [Accessed 14th December 2014].
Faller, M. Differences between Greek and Roman architecture. [Online] Available from: http://www.ehow.com/facts_5507152_differences-between-roman-greek-architecture.html. [Accessed 14th December 2014].
Diffen. Pantheon vs. Parthenon. [Online] Available from: http://www.diffen.com/difference/Pantheon_vs_Parthenon. [Accessed 15th December 2014].Introduction

The world had gone through two industrial revolutions. The first revolution began in the 1700s. And the second revolution happened in the 1860s. Both of the revolutions were the most important periods in the history of human society because they influenced almost every aspect of life and especially brought the world entirely new kinds of transportations. Steam engine, waterway, road, and railroad experienced mainly improvement during the first revolution, and the second revolution brought the inventions of automobile and airplane; both they played an essential role in the development of transportation in history.
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The steam engine was one of the most vital components that had been invented during the first industrial revolution. It contributed a lot to the improvement of transportation. Thomas Newcomen was the first person who invented the steam engine. However, the use of the steam engine was expensive and not efficient. (World History textbook) Until 1765, James Watt, one of the greatest contributors to transportation, reformed the steam engine to be more efficient and consume less fuel by adding a separate condenser to Newcomen’s engine. Watt’s improvement had saved almost 75 percent of the fuel that had previously been used by the engine. (Kendra Bolon) After the improvement, the steam engine had been used broadly on the other transportations, such as steam ship and steam locomotive. The steam engine not only improved the way of transporting, but also the quality of life. For example, people could travel by taking locomotive and steam ship. Moreover, they could enjoy the life by watching the landscape during the trip. Therefore, the steam engine was the most incredible transportation in the world.
Roads, canals, and railways were three major components of transportation improved during the first industrial revolution. People used the roads as the basic way to transport the goods from one place to another. Roads were in very bad repair before the first revolution, and it were not efficient for people to transport goods. (World History textbook) John MacAdam, Thomas Telford, and John Metcalfe all developed the new roads construction techniques. Thomas Telford made new foundations in roads with large flat stones. John MacAdam equipped roadbeds with a layer of large stones; therefore, people could transport goods on a rainy day. Canal was another vital part of transportations, which allowed goods to be transported through a series of man-made waterways. Transporting goods by canal lowered the risks of smashed products during route. Moreover, a canal barge could carry more products than the other forms of transportation during that time. Canal also cost less money for transporting merchandise. For the reason of transporting heavy goods from place to place, the improvement of railway began in 1800, which made a great leap in transporting technology in human history. The improved steam engine led the running locomotive with properly powered technique of rolling. The improvement of railways allowed the towns and cities to grow rapidly. In the mid-18^th, Abraham Darby made a plate way of cast iron on top of rails that allowed the furnaces working and able to lift the iron plate. In 1789, William Jessop developed an “L” shaped rail which held the wagon on the track. Goods could be transferred within a short amount of time, which helped to foster the agricultural and fishing industries. The locomotive was capable of transporting triple amount of goods compared to the horse-pulled wagons. (Mrs. Abiah Darby) The improvement of road, canal, and railway changed the way of transporting, the amount and distance of transporting goods increased significantly and affected how people lived accordingly.
The automobile and airplane were the two most incredible forms of transportations that were been invented during the second industrial revolution in the 1860s. Automobile was crucial form of transportation since it affected the whole world. The automobile was first invented by Karl Benz in 1886. Later on, in 1908, Henry Ford made the automobile affordable for people by introducing the assembly line. (World History textbook) Automobile enabled people to go anywhere they wanted to at any time. It’s the most convenient tool for people to move.
As for the other important invention, airplane, was built in 1903 by Wilbur and Orville Wright. (World History textbook) Around 400 BC, Archytas was reputed as the first person designed and built the first self-propelled flying device. While the Wright brothers made the first successful try to carry a man rose by airplane. The first airplane flew naturally at even speed, and descended without damage. Although the flight lasted only 59 seconds, it marked an important start of the aircraft industry. The appearance of automobile changed the whole world entirely in that it provided a convenient and affordable way to transport and move for people. The creation of airplane broadens the scope and distance of the transportation, which may transports passengers and goods across continents and land. These two inventions both brought significant influence to people.
In conclusion, during the first and second industrial revolutions, transportation had gone through dramatic change and improvement. It not only brought effective and efficient way of transporting, but also influenced and shaped people’s life, almost every aspect in people’s daily life. With the advance of technology, transportation progressed. The steam engine led to the application of locomotive and steamboat, which increased transporting capacity and thus facilitated more production machines for manufacturing in other industries. Trade expansion was fostered by the introduction of canals, improved roads and railways. The invention of automobile grounded the basic way of transportation for people while the airplane provided a faster way from place to place. The first and second industrial revolution marked a turning point in human history, and transportation played a vital role affecting people’s life socially and economically.
Bibliography:
Bolon, Kendra. The Steam Engine. N.p.: Kendra Bolon, 2001. N. pag.
http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/thurston/1878/ . Web.
Bustamante, Crystal. Transportation during the Industrial Revolution. N.p.: Crystal
Bustamante, 2009. N. pag. Web. 26 Jan. 2009.
Bulter, Scott, Keats, Thedawnbringer, Hedleygb, and Peter. How has transport changed since the Industrial Revolution? N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
Industrial revolution research. N.p.: HTML5 UP, n.d. N. pag. Web.v Mack, Pamela E. Transportation. N.p.: n.p., 2002. N. pag. Web. 27 Sept. 2002.
Roads, Canals and Railways – the Transport revolution. N.p.: n.p., UK. N. pag. Web. 2013.
The Industrial Revolution: 1750-1900. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. KCCIS. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Transportation. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
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The steam engine was one of the most vital components that had been invented during the first industrial revolution. It contributed a lot to the improvement of transportation. Thomas Newcomen was the first person who invented the steam engine. However, the use of the steam engine was expensive and not efficient. (World History textbook) Until 1765, James Watt, one of the greatest contributors to transportation, reformed the steam engine to be more efficient and consume less fuel by adding a separate condenser to Newcomen’s engine. Watt’s improvement had saved almost 75 percent of the fuel that had previously been used by the engine. (Kendra Bolon) After the improvement, the steam engine had been used broadly on the other transportations, such as steam ship and steam locomotive. The steam engine not only improved the way of transporting, but also the quality of life. For example, people could travel by taking locomotive and steam ship. Moreover, they could enjoy the life by watching the landscape during the trip. Therefore, the steam engine was the most incredible transportation in the world.
Roads, canals, and railways were three major components of transportation improved during the first industrial revolution. People used the roads as the basic way to transport the goods from one place to another. Roads were in very bad repair before the first revolution, and it were not efficient for people to transport goods. (World History textbook) John MacAdam, Thomas Telford, and John Metcalfe all developed the new roads construction techniques. Thomas Telford made new foundations in roads with large flat stones. John MacAdam equipped roadbeds with a layer of large stones; therefore, people could transport goods on a rainy day. Canal was another vital part of transportations, which allowed goods to be transported through a series of man-made waterways. Transporting goods by canal lowered the risks of smashed products during route. Moreover, a canal barge could carry more products than the other forms of transportation during that time. Canal also cost less money for transporting merchandise. For the reason of transporting heavy goods from place to place, the improvement of railway began in 1800, which made a great leap in transporting technology in human history. The improved steam engine led the running locomotive with properly powered technique of rolling. The improvement of railways allowed the towns and cities to grow rapidly. In the mid-18^th, Abraham Darby made a plate way of cast iron on top of rails that allowed the furnaces working and able to lift the iron plate. In 1789, William Jessop developed an “L” shaped rail which held the wagon on the track. Goods could be transferred within a short amount of time, which helped to foster the agricultural and fishing industries. The locomotive was capable of transporting triple amount of goods compared to the horse-pulled wagons. (Mrs. Abiah Darby) The improvement of road, canal, and railway changed the way of transporting, the amount and distance of transporting goods increased significantly and affected how people lived accordingly.
The automobile and airplane were the two most incredible forms of transportations that were been invented during the second industrial revolution in the 1860s. Automobile was crucial form of transportation since it affected the whole world. The automobile was first invented by Karl Benz in 1886. Later on, in 1908, Henry Ford made the automobile affordable for people by introducing the assembly line. (World History textbook) Automobile enabled people to go anywhere they wanted to at any time. It’s the most convenient tool for people to move.
As for the other important invention, airplane, was built in 1903 by Wilbur and Orville Wright. (World History textbook) Around 400 BC, Archytas was reputed as the first person designed and built the first self-propelled flying device. While the Wright brothers made the first successful try to carry a man rose by airplane. The first airplane flew naturally at even speed, and descended without damage. Although the flight lasted only 59 seconds, it marked an important start of the aircraft industry. The appearance of automobile changed the whole world entirely in that it provided a convenient and affordable way to transport and move for people. The creation of airplane broadens the scope and distance of the transportation, which may transports passengers and goods across continents and land. These two inventions both brought significant influence to people.
In conclusion, during the first and second industrial revolutions, transportation had gone through dramatic change and improvement. It not only brought effective and efficient way of transporting, but also influenced and shaped people’s life, almost every aspect in people’s daily life. With the advance of technology, transportation progressed. The steam engine led to the application of locomotive and steamboat, which increased transporting capacity and thus facilitated more production machines for manufacturing in other industries. Trade expansion was fostered by the introduction of canals, improved roads and railways. The invention of automobile grounded the basic way of transportation for people while the airplane provided a faster way from place to place. The first and second industrial revolution marked a turning point in human history, and transportation played a vital role affecting people’s life socially and economically.
Bibliography:
Bolon, Kendra. The Steam Engine. N.p.: Kendra Bolon, 2001. N. pag.
http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/thurston/1878/ . Web.
Bustamante, Crystal. Transportation during the Industrial Revolution. N.p.: Crystal
Bustamante, 2009. N. pag. Web. 26 Jan. 2009.
Bulter, Scott, Keats, Thedawnbringer, Hedleygb, and Peter. How has transport changed since the Industrial Revolution? N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
Industrial revolution research. N.p.: HTML5 UP, n.d. N. pag. Web.v Mack, Pamela E. Transportation. N.p.: n.p., 2002. N. pag. Web. 27 Sept. 2002.
Roads, Canals and Railways – the Transport revolution. N.p.: n.p., UK. N. pag. Web. 2013.
The Industrial Revolution: 1750-1900. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. KCCIS. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Transportation. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.

I was shared this while on a thankfully civilized talk. Here's the link, but I'll clean up the original text to be more digestible, maybe alter a few of it.
https://www.reddit.com/AcademicBiblical/comments/1c5ucxj/response_to_sikers_analysis_of_homosexuality_in
Here goes

1. Siker seems to be offering a scholarly version of Matthew Vines' argument
It being "Paul can't be condemning what we think of as committed loving homosexual relationships, because he was thinking of bad things like prostitution or uncontrolled-lust homosexuality."
So, the idea is to claim that Paul's letters can't be enlisted to authorize contemporary homophobia since he wouldn't have known about the kinds of relationships gay Christians want to have now.
I appreciate the contemporary ethics of Siker's approach since homophobia is dehumanizing and harmful, but the idea that this approach inherently reflects "liberal leanings" (Siker's claim) ignores how plenty of liberals reject homophobia without trying to enlist and sanitize the Bible as support.
2. I disagree with the Innocent Paul claim as Vines postulated
It is true that Greek, Roman, and Jewish sources do not often feature something resembling "a committed loving queer sexual relationship," but this is where confusion often sets in; there must be a distinction between

• Whether such queer relationships were really nonexistent in Mediterranean antiquity and if writers were aware and
• Whether what's going on is that the dominant Greco-Roman sexual ideologies that shape our texts have no room for such relationships

According to dominant ideals, powerful men were supposed to actively penetrate those below themselves on the social and gender hierarchy; a man who delighted in being penetrated by another man was by relative definition effeminate, and thus not to be celebrated. Women loving and sexually engaging with other women meant they weren't being used by (the right) men, and thus Greek and Roman writers tended to disparage, ridicule, and reframe female homoeroticism.
But our texts aren't direct sociological data, they reflect and think with dominant sexual ideologies, which by definition erased/reframed divergent sexual and gender expressions. This is why the likes of Amy Richlin,[1] Bernadette Brooten,[2] Deborah Kamen and Sarah Levin-Richardson,[3] and Jimmy Hoke**[4]** have argued that even though our sources erase, reframe, and distort people who liked any non-normative sex and relationships in Mediterranean antiquity, they still existed.
Bottom line: Writers like Paul could certainly have been aware of queer sexualities and relationships that were not enslaved prostitution or pederasty. Folks like Vines and Siker unintentionally reinscribe the association between homoeroticism and pedophilia/sexual violence.
For what it's worth, everyone should read Richlin's article from 30 years ago. Doesn't matter whether you agree with all of her arguments, it's brilliant scholarship.
3. Corpus point of view
There's a related debate about whether our texts even have a category for something like sexual orientation or simply imagine sex via other grids like active vs. passive/penetrator vs. penetrated (e.g., see Craig Williams' excellent sketch of these paradigms in Roman literature**[5]**).
The most common scholarly opinion in terms of Greco-Roman antiquity gender-sex studies is that our sources don't reflect ideas like sexual orientation, so orientational categories aren't historically helpful for reading our texts.
Other scholars like Richlin and Brooten have critiqued these positions, though they still forcefully argue that our sources thought with overtly hierarchical patriarchal ideologies about sex, like penetrator and penetrated. This final point is something on which Richlin is often misrepresented, which is bizarre since she wrote one of the classic books for understanding such dominant sexual ideologies.[6]
4. Paul Romana
Romans 1:18-32's basic point is that Paul discussed the total moral failure of Gentiles by sketching their (feminizing) descent into being dominated by their passions, one of the resultant illustrations of the Gentiles being their domination by their passions through transgressing the gendered order, exemplified by Gentile men losing sexual control of "their women" (i.e., these men are failed men from this angle) and each other in 1:26-27 - an inversion of the normative sexual order.
Paul treated male-male anal penetration as a straight illustration of Gentile corruption and domination by their passions. It's part of his grander point that Gentiles became (effeminately) enslaved by their passions (see Stanley Stowers' classic articulation of this decline-of-civilization reading of Rom 1:18-32**[7]**).
The key issue here is that there's no literary reason to think he only had in mind enslaved prostitution or pederasty, ANY male-male anal penetration upended the normative gender order. If anything, he might have indicated elsewhere that free men penetrating (raping) their slaves (gender irrelevant) was okay since that use of slaves was acceptable within many moral schemes; Paul never objected to it, and some passages potentially align with treating enslaved humans as legitimate non-marriage sexual outlets (e.g., as argued by Jennifer Glancy**[8]** regarding 1 Thess 4:4's εἰδέναι ἕκαστον ὑμῶν τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σκεῦος κτᾶσθαι("that each of you know his own vessel to possess in sanctification and honor")).
5. Linguistic flexibility
There's no reason to limit οὔτε μαλακοὶ οὔτε ἀρσενοκοῖται of 1 Cor 6:9 to prostitution; "malakos" means "soft"/"effeminate." In Greek texts, it often does refer to men who are penetrated sexually - obviously effeminizing - but a man who was unrestrained or excessive in his penetrating of women is likewise an example of "effeminate" in Greek sources.
ἀρσενοκοίτης's meaning remains debated, but the etymological game of making it "man-bedders" is problematic; rather than get bogged down in this lexical discussion, the larger point regarding Siker is, again, that the issue of whether "committed same-sex relationships" are in view is irrelevant.
Paul listed effeminate Gentiles as those who will not inherit the kingdom of God; a male prostitute is by definition effeminate for these discourses, but so would a man in a "committed same-sex relationship" who is anally penetrated.
6. Futility
I don't get why "liberal-leaning" scholars think they can salvage a moral Bible by handwaving Paul's (what we can redescribe as) homophobia, even if all of Siker's claims were true, Paul's logic is entirely premised on reprehensibly misogynist gender ideologies that animate his other arguments, so even trying to save the dude from Those Two Bad Verses leaves you with the steaming animal manure that is said premise.
Hope this helps!
Sources
[1] "Not Before Homosexuality: The Materiality of the Cinaedus and the Roman Law against Love between Men," JHS 3 [1993]: 523-73
[2] Love Between Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoeroticism [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996]
[3] "Lusty Ladies in the Roman Literary Imaginary," in Ancient Sex: New Essays, ed R. Blondell and K. Ormand [Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2015], 231-51
[4] Feminism, Queerness, Affect, and Romans: Under God? [Atlanta: SBL Press, 2021], 27-37
[5] Roman Homosexuality, 2d Ed [New York: Oxford University Press, 2010] [6] The Garden of Priapus: Sexuality and Aggression in Roman Humor, Rev. Ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992)
[7] A Rereading of Romans: Justice, Jews, and Gentiles [New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994]
[8] Slavery in Early Christianity [New York: Oxford University Press, 2002]

Maybe take apart some/all points or even tell me how to cope.
I thought Paul was that based guy for giving credit to those two women (Phoebe and Priscilla) and stated that people regardless of origin or gender or status were one in the big IM

I was shared this while on a thankfully civilized talk. Here's the link, but I'll clean up the original text to be more digestible, maybe alter a few of it.
https://www.reddit.com/AcademicBiblical/comments/1c5ucxj/response_to_sikers_analysis_of_homosexuality_in
Here goes

1. Siker seems to be offering a scholarly version of Matthew Vines' argument
It being "Paul can't be condemning what we think of as committed loving homosexual relationships, because he was thinking of bad things like prostitution or uncontrolled-lust homosexuality."
So, the idea is to claim that Paul's letters can't be enlisted to authorize contemporary homophobia since he wouldn't have known about the kinds of relationships gay Christians want to have now.
I appreciate the contemporary ethics of Siker's approach since homophobia is dehumanizing and harmful, but the idea that this approach inherently reflects "liberal leanings" (Siker's claim) ignores how plenty of liberals reject homophobia without trying to enlist and sanitize the Bible as support.
2. I disagree with the Innocent Paul claim as Vines postulated
It is true that Greek, Roman, and Jewish sources do not often feature something resembling "a committed loving queer sexual relationship," but this is where confusion often sets in; there must be a distinction between

• Whether such queer relationships were really nonexistent in Mediterranean antiquity and if writers were aware and
• Whether what's going on is that the dominant Greco-Roman sexual ideologies that shape our texts have no room for such relationships

According to dominant ideals, powerful men were supposed to actively penetrate those below themselves on the social and gender hierarchy; a man who delighted in being penetrated by another man was by relative definition effeminate, and thus not to be celebrated. Women loving and sexually engaging with other women meant they weren't being used by (the right) men, and thus Greek and Roman writers tended to disparage, ridicule, and reframe female homoeroticism.
But our texts aren't direct sociological data, they reflect and think with dominant sexual ideologies, which by definition erased/reframed divergent sexual and gender expressions. This is why the likes of Amy Richlin,[1] Bernadette Brooten,[2] Deborah Kamen and Sarah Levin-Richardson,[3] and Jimmy Hoke**[4]** have argued that even though our sources erase, reframe, and distort people who liked any non-normative sex and relationships in Mediterranean antiquity, they still existed.
Bottom line: Writers like Paul could certainly have been aware of queer sexualities and relationships that were not enslaved prostitution or pederasty. Folks like Vines and Siker unintentionally reinscribe the association between homoeroticism and pedophilia/sexual violence.
For what it's worth, everyone should read Richlin's article from 30 years ago. Doesn't matter whether you agree with all of her arguments, it's brilliant scholarship.
3. Corpus point of view
There's a related debate about whether our texts even have a category for something like sexual orientation or simply imagine sex via other grids like active vs. passive/penetrator vs. penetrated (e.g., see Craig Williams' excellent sketch of these paradigms in Roman literature**[5]**).
The most common scholarly opinion in terms of Greco-Roman antiquity gender-sex studies is that our sources don't reflect ideas like sexual orientation, so orientational categories aren't historically helpful for reading our texts.
Other scholars like Richlin and Brooten have critiqued these positions, though they still forcefully argue that our sources thought with overtly hierarchical patriarchal ideologies about sex, like penetrator and penetrated. This final point is something on which Richlin is often misrepresented, which is bizarre since she wrote one of the classic books for understanding such dominant sexual ideologies.[6]
4. Paul Romana
Romans 1:18-32's basic point is that Paul discussed the total moral failure of Gentiles by sketching their (feminizing) descent into being dominated by their passions, one of the resultant illustrations of the Gentiles being their domination by their passions through transgressing the gendered order, exemplified by Gentile men losing sexual control of "their women" (i.e., these men are failed men from this angle) and each other in 1:26-27 - an inversion of the normative sexual order.
Paul treated male-male anal penetration as a straight illustration of Gentile corruption and domination by their passions. It's part of his grander point that Gentiles became (effeminately) enslaved by their passions (see Stanley Stowers' classic articulation of this decline-of-civilization reading of Rom 1:18-32**[7]**).
The key issue here is that there's no literary reason to think he only had in mind enslaved prostitution or pederasty, ANY male-male anal penetration upended the normative gender order. If anything, he might have indicated elsewhere that free men penetrating (raping) their slaves (gender irrelevant) was okay since that use of slaves was acceptable within many moral schemes; Paul never objected to it, and some passages potentially align with treating enslaved humans as legitimate non-marriage sexual outlets (e.g., as argued by Jennifer Glancy**[8]** regarding 1 Thess 4:4's εἰδέναι ἕκαστον ὑμῶν τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σκεῦος κτᾶσθαι("that each of you know his own vessel to possess in sanctification and honor")).
5. Linguistic flexibility
There's no reason to limit οὔτε μαλακοὶ οὔτε ἀρσενοκοῖται of 1 Cor 6:9 to prostitution; "malakos" means "soft"/"effeminate." In Greek texts, it often does refer to men who are penetrated sexually - obviously effeminizing - but a man who was unrestrained or excessive in his penetrating of women is likewise an example of "effeminate" in Greek sources.
ἀρσενοκοίτης's meaning remains debated, but the etymological game of making it "man-bedders" is problematic; rather than get bogged down in this lexical discussion, the larger point regarding Siker is, again, that the issue of whether "committed same-sex relationships" are in view is irrelevant.
Paul listed effeminate Gentiles as those who will not inherit the kingdom of God; a male prostitute is by definition effeminate for these discourses, but so would a man in a "committed same-sex relationship" who is anally penetrated.
6. Futility
I don't get why "liberal-leaning" scholars think they can salvage a moral Bible by handwaving Paul's (what we can redescribe as) homophobia, even if all of Siker's claims were true, Paul's logic is entirely premised on reprehensibly misogynist gender ideologies that animate his other arguments, so even trying to save the dude from Those Two Bad Verses leaves you with the steaming animal manure that is said premise.
Hope this helps!
Sources
[1] "Not Before Homosexuality: The Materiality of the Cinaedus and the Roman Law against Love between Men," JHS 3 [1993]: 523-73
[2] Love Between Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoeroticism [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996]
[3] "Lusty Ladies in the Roman Literary Imaginary," in Ancient Sex: New Essays, ed R. Blondell and K. Ormand [Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2015], 231-51
[4] Feminism, Queerness, Affect, and Romans: Under God? [Atlanta: SBL Press, 2021], 27-37
[5] Roman Homosexuality, 2d Ed [New York: Oxford University Press, 2010] [6] The Garden of Priapus: Sexuality and Aggression in Roman Humor, Rev. Ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992)
[7] A Rereading of Romans: Justice, Jews, and Gentiles [New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994]
[8] Slavery in Early Christianity [New York: Oxford University Press, 2002]

Maybe take apart some/all points or even tell me how to cope.
I thought Paul was that based guy for giving credit to those two women (Phoebe and Priscilla) and stated that people regardless of origin or gender or status were one in the big IM

I was shared this while on a thankfully civilized talk. Here's the link, but I'll clean up the original text to be more digestible, maybe alter a few of it.
https://www.reddit.com/AcademicBiblical/comments/1c5ucxj/response_to_sikers_analysis_of_homosexuality_in
Here goes

1. Siker seems to be offering a scholarly version of Matthew Vines' argument
It being "Paul can't be condemning what we think of as committed loving homosexual relationships, because he was thinking of bad things like prostitution or uncontrolled-lust homosexuality."
So, the idea is to claim that Paul's letters can't be enlisted to authorize contemporary homophobia since he wouldn't have known about the kinds of relationships gay Christians want to have now.
I appreciate the contemporary ethics of Siker's approach since homophobia is dehumanizing and harmful, but the idea that this approach inherently reflects "liberal leanings" (Siker's claim) ignores how plenty of liberals reject homophobia without trying to enlist and sanitize the Bible as support.
2. I disagree with the Innocent Paul claim as Vines postulated
It is true that Greek, Roman, and Jewish sources do not often feature something resembling "a committed loving queer sexual relationship," but this is where confusion often sets in; there must be a distinction between

• Whether such queer relationships were really nonexistent in Mediterranean antiquity and if writers were aware and
• Whether what's going on is that the dominant Greco-Roman sexual ideologies that shape our texts have no room for such relationships

According to dominant ideals, powerful men were supposed to actively penetrate those below themselves on the social and gender hierarchy; a man who delighted in being penetrated by another man was by relative definition effeminate, and thus not to be celebrated. Women loving and sexually engaging with other women meant they weren't being used by (the right) men, and thus Greek and Roman writers tended to disparage, ridicule, and reframe female homoeroticism.
But our texts aren't direct sociological data, they reflect and think with dominant sexual ideologies, which by definition erased/reframed divergent sexual and gender expressions. This is why the likes of Amy Richlin,[1] Bernadette Brooten,[2] Deborah Kamen and Sarah Levin-Richardson,[3] and Jimmy Hoke**[4]** have argued that even though our sources erase, reframe, and distort people who liked any non-normative sex and relationships in Mediterranean antiquity, they still existed.
Bottom line: Writers like Paul could certainly have been aware of queer sexualities and relationships that were not enslaved prostitution or pederasty. Folks like Vines and Siker unintentionally reinscribe the association between homoeroticism and pedophilia/sexual violence.
For what it's worth, everyone should read Richlin's article from 30 years ago. Doesn't matter whether you agree with all of her arguments, it's brilliant scholarship.
3. Corpus point of view
There's a related debate about whether our texts even have a category for something like sexual orientation or simply imagine sex via other grids like active vs. passive/penetrator vs. penetrated (e.g., see Craig Williams' excellent sketch of these paradigms in Roman literature**[5]**).
The most common scholarly opinion in terms of Greco-Roman antiquity gender-sex studies is that our sources don't reflect ideas like sexual orientation, so orientational categories aren't historically helpful for reading our texts.
Other scholars like Richlin and Brooten have critiqued these positions, though they still forcefully argue that our sources thought with overtly hierarchical patriarchal ideologies about sex, like penetrator and penetrated. This final point is something on which Richlin is often misrepresented, which is bizarre since she wrote one of the classic books for understanding such dominant sexual ideologies.[6]
4. Paul Romana
Romans 1:18-32's basic point is that Paul discussed the total moral failure of Gentiles by sketching their (feminizing) descent into being dominated by their passions, one of the resultant illustrations of the Gentiles being their domination by their passions through transgressing the gendered order, exemplified by Gentile men losing sexual control of "their women" (i.e., these men are failed men from this angle) and each other in 1:26-27 - an inversion of the normative sexual order.
Paul treated male-male anal penetration as a straight illustration of Gentile corruption and domination by their passions. It's part of his grander point that Gentiles became (effeminately) enslaved by their passions (see Stanley Stowers' classic articulation of this decline-of-civilization reading of Rom 1:18-32**[7]**).
The key issue here is that there's no literary reason to think he only had in mind enslaved prostitution or pederasty, ANY male-male anal penetration upended the normative gender order. If anything, he might have indicated elsewhere that free men penetrating (raping) their slaves (gender irrelevant) was okay since that use of slaves was acceptable within many moral schemes; Paul never objected to it, and some passages potentially align with treating enslaved humans as legitimate non-marriage sexual outlets (e.g., as argued by Jennifer Glancy**[8]** regarding 1 Thess 4:4's εἰδέναι ἕκαστον ὑμῶν τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σκεῦος κτᾶσθαι("that each of you know his own vessel to possess in sanctification and honor")).
5. Linguistic flexibility
There's no reason to limit οὔτε μαλακοὶ οὔτε ἀρσενοκοῖται of 1 Cor 6:9 to prostitution; "malakos" means "soft"/"effeminate." In Greek texts, it often does refer to men who are penetrated sexually - obviously effeminizing - but a man who was unrestrained or excessive in his penetrating of women is likewise an example of "effeminate" in Greek sources.
ἀρσενοκοίτης's meaning remains debated, but the etymological game of making it "man-bedders" is problematic; rather than get bogged down in this lexical discussion, the larger point regarding Siker is, again, that the issue of whether "committed same-sex relationships" are in view is irrelevant.
Paul listed effeminate Gentiles as those who will not inherit the kingdom of God; a male prostitute is by definition effeminate for these discourses, but so would a man in a "committed same-sex relationship" who is anally penetrated.
6. Futility
I don't get why "liberal-leaning" scholars think they can salvage a moral Bible by handwaving Paul's (what we can redescribe as) homophobia, even if all of Siker's claims were true, Paul's logic is entirely premised on reprehensibly misogynist gender ideologies that animate his other arguments, so even trying to save the dude from Those Two Bad Verses leaves you with the steaming animal manure that is said premise.
Hope this helps!
Sources
[1] "Not Before Homosexuality: The Materiality of the Cinaedus and the Roman Law against Love between Men," JHS 3 [1993]: 523-73
[2] Love Between Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoeroticism [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996]
[3] "Lusty Ladies in the Roman Literary Imaginary," in Ancient Sex: New Essays, ed R. Blondell and K. Ormand [Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2015], 231-51
[4] Feminism, Queerness, Affect, and Romans: Under God? [Atlanta: SBL Press, 2021], 27-37
[5] Roman Homosexuality, 2d Ed [New York: Oxford University Press, 2010] [6] The Garden of Priapus: Sexuality and Aggression in Roman Humor, Rev. Ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992)
[7] A Rereading of Romans: Justice, Jews, and Gentiles [New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994]
[8] Slavery in Early Christianity [New York: Oxford University Press, 2002]

Maybe take apart some/all points or even tell me how to cope.
I thought Paul was that based guy for giving credit to those two women (Phoebe and Priscilla) and stated that people regardless of origin or gender or status were one in the big IM
I hope I chose the right tag

The Three Key Components of a Strong Thesis Statement

First things first, a strong thesis statement is like the backbone of your essay. It's what holds everything together and guides your readers through your argument. But what makes a thesis statement strong? Here are the three key components:

1. Clarity: Your thesis should clearly express your main point. Think of it as the North Star for your essay—bright, clear, and guiding everything you write. Avoid vague language; be specific!
2. Conciseness: A thesis statement should be concise and to the point. You don’t need to spill all the beans in one go. Keep it brief—one or two sentences that pack a punch!
3. Arguable: A strong thesis statement presents a viewpoint that can be debated. If everyone already agrees with it, there’s no point in writing an essay about it. Make sure your thesis opens the door for discussion and analysis.

Let’s put it all together with more examples to really drive the point home:
🚫 Weak Thesis: "Many people think climate change is bad." ✅ Strong Thesis: "Climate change, driven by human activities, poses the most significant threat to biodiversity in the 21st century and demands immediate global action."

• Why It's Strong: This thesis is clear about what is causing climate change and what its impacts are. It's concise, providing a powerful statement in one sentence, and it's arguable, inviting debate about the extent and urgency of climate action.

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• Why It's Strong: This thesis specifies the potential downside of online education, making it clear and concise. It's also arguable because it presents a viewpoint that can be supported or contested with evidence.

One more for good measure: 🚫 Weak Thesis: "The internet is a useful tool." ✅ Strong Thesis: "While the internet offers vast information resources, its unregulated nature contributes to the spread of misinformation, posing significant challenges to public knowledge and decision-making."

• Why It's Strong: This thesis clarifies the specific issue with the internet, is brief and to the point, and presents a debatable claim.

See the difference? The strong theses are clear, concise, and arguable. Now it’s your turn to craft a dazzling thesis statement!

True or False?

True or False: A thesis statement should be a general statement about your topic.
Think you’ve got it? Drop your answers in the comments and let’s see who’s mastering the art of thesis crafting! 🎨🖋️
Let’s put it all together with an example: 🚫 Weak Thesis: "Many people think climate change is bad." ✅ Strong Thesis: "Climate change, driven by human activities, poses the most significant threat to biodiversity in the 21st century and demands immediate global action."
See the difference? The strong thesis is clear, concise, and arguable. Now it’s your turn to craft a dazzling thesis statement!

True or False?

True or False: A thesis statement should be a general statement about your topic.
Think you’ve got it? Drop your answers in the comments and let’s see who’s mastering the art of thesis crafting! 📩🎨🖋️