Alienated Company Owner?

Are the owners, or heads of companies, as alienated from the product as Marx claims the workers are? Marx suggests that workers become very alienated for their work. The best example of this is that factory workers never may never get a chance to own or even see the product that they have been laboring to create. Similarly a worker is also alienated from his or her nature. This is in part because in most jobs the worker is constantly being told what to create and never has any creative choice. I am curious if the same is true for the owner of a company. Unlike the workers, in general, they do see the profits directly and stand to gain the most from productions of goods. However, in a manner they could also be considered alienated because they do not actually create the product. Of course this alienation may very well be seen as welcomed, however unfair, for many company owners, get the greatest profit from the least amount of physical, or even mental, work. 

Seeing What We Want

During a conversation with friends it was brought up that, given history and location, Jesus would look very different than how many western people picture him. In all probability he would not be white or even as tall as he is depicted. The same thing happens when trying to depict God. 'He' is supposed to be beyond humanity's imagination and yet we still try to attach an image with him, and many people never think twice about the idea. I think that it is partially that we see what we want to see, almost like selective hearing. Even though facts may be present people still choose the believe what they already know. In away it is similar to denying that an accident occurred just simply because you couldn't handle that idea that it were true. When looking at religious icons, many followers would be thrown off guard if they were presented with images that contradicted their image of the lord and savior. 

Religion and Holidays

It is interesting to see how far Christian holidays have drifted away from their original purpose.  For instance, this weekend many families celebrated Easter. When I was young, the first things that came to my mind when I heard it was Easter, was eggs, candy and bunnies. It was not until I was much older that the concept of Christ being reborn was even brought to my attention. The same thing can be observed in commercials around holidays, religious aspects are put away and instead we are flooded with commercialism. It begs the question how characters and traditions like the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause became intertwined with events like the death and birth of Christ.
Another question that arises is whether or not it is right to celebrate such diluted holidays. Of course it has become obvious that such holidays are becoming over run by unnecessary commercials and products, but all traditions still have value. Whether religious or not, holidays, however celebrated, have the power to bring together families and remind people of what they are thankful for.

Fueling Sterotypes

Is it possible that stories in the Bible, such as Genesis (3:6), have fueled social stereotypes of the different genders? Many of the Bible's stories depict woman as the cause of chaos, giving into temptation and then persuading her husband to follow. There are also those who say woman was created after man to serve him and many also suggest that man is the primary form of humanity. It is interesting to see how similar these stories are to stereotypes that still exist today. For instant, many thought, and some still do, that women belong at home taking care of children, taking care of the house, and tending to what ever their husband wants. We can see traces of how women led to temptation in who has been elected to positions of power, such as presidents. It would be interesting to know how many stories from the Bible have led stereotypes that still exists today.

In the Image

What does it mean to be made in the “image of God?” It is constantly brought up in the Christian religion that mankind was created in the image of God himself. But there are so many contrary statements to that in the Bible's teachings so what could the statement really mean? It has been made very clear to us that God is in no way human and the visual representations of God that we see depicted in many European artworks is simply a metaphor. So what do we share with God? It can be speculated  that God created human with souls, or the spark of the Divine. In this respect, although we are no where near the power that God posses, we do have dominion over all other living creatures, who, according to Christianity, do not have souls. This idea of having a soul also allows us to live on beyond the time that our bodies perish. What we can say without doubt is that the idea of humans being created in God's image cannot be taken literally but rather as metaphor to another aspects the humankind. 

Never Ending

Too many times have our President's claimed that we are fighting a 'War on Terror." Terror can not be stopped. There will always be something creating terror in any country, it is inescapable. Just as we cannot know peace without war we cannot understand safety without fear. Even if you eliminate one source of terror, another will arise, in one form or another. So why fight a war that we can never win? I am not saying that efforts to find, and bring to justice, people who attack our country, like the events of September 11, 2001, are not justified. However, to claim the whole effort a 'War on Terror' seems as if we are being set up for failure, or simply to always have a reason to fight one another.

Purely Circumstance

Often people, from any nation, develop a blind opinion of things. For instance someone who lives in New England would probably say that the Patriots are the best football team and someone who lives in New York would side with the Giants. This is not based on how well the team plays, or how many times they have one, but where people were born and raised. The same things happens with what country people live in. If you were born in the USA then you may claim that you love the USA, but if you were born in Russia you would very likely say you love Russia. While it is usually justifiable, for so many people experience the same thing, this love is rather blind. We love the teams, or the country,simply because we happen to live there. In most cases it is purely circumstantial.We never notice, or simply ignore, any flaws or loses that our country encounters so many of us never push to make our team or country even better.