Reconstructing Taosim's Transformation in China

In the article, "Reconstructing Taosim's Transformation in China" Professor Kleenman was interviewed and he discussed how Taoist texts can help deepen our understanding of early Chinese History. The religion Taoism is very similar and has the same value structure as other Chinese religions. They both have codes of conduct and a set of rules that they have to follow which are very similar to each other. The early history of Taoism sheds light on China, it says some things about early Chinese history. For example, China never had alternative political model other than the emporer. The Taoist texts show a lot about Chinese History, especially the Taosit Canon, a collection of religious texts from Taosim. That shows another aspect of Chinese History that won't be found in the book that the emporer wrote or other types of books like that. Studying the religion of Taosim, will show a lot about ancient China. 

Are we living in a computer simulation?

In the article, "Are we living in a computer simulation" many researchers discuss that they believe that there is a 50 percent chance that we are living our life In a simulation and we are in a big game. They believe that our life isn't real, because we are all part of this game. I think the world is real and isn't part of a huge game because of the quote "Cogito Ergo Sum" by Renè Descartes. That means "I think, therefore I am." We think a lot and the fact that we are able to think about the fact that are we human or a simulation that means that we are real and not a simulation. That is because if we were a simulation we would do whatever whoever is controlling us makes us do. And we wouldn't be able to think the way a human does if someone was controlling us and telling us what to do. That is why I believe we aren't living in a computer simulation and that our world is real. 

Holocaust Survivors: The search for Faith"

In the article "Holocaust Survivors: The Search for Faith", two holocaust survivors and their son talk about their faith after what happened to them in the holocaust. The father was always faithful to God and even tried to risk his life by putting on tefillin in the campsites. The mother still had faith in God but would never be able to forgive Him for putting her through the holocaust. She always asked "why did God have to to make so many people torture and die when He could have just killed Hitler and the Nazi's before anything happened?" The fathers response always was we never understand why God does things and if we were to understand why He does certain things it wouldn't be God doing it. This story is similar to the story of Job because in the story of Job, God tortures him and takes away everything from him just to test his faith. Job is very similar to the mother in the story of the holocaust survivors. They both questioned God why He did what He did to them. They both still had faith in God, just they didn't understand why God had to put them through so much torture. The two stories are different because in the holocaust story God tested and tortured many many people and in the story of Job he was the only one being tested. Also, in the holocaust story the father always believed in God and never questioned Him, where as in the Book of   Job, He questioned God as to why God did that to Him. 

The story of Job

The story of Job goes as follows: There was a man who was always faithful and good to God and always stayed away from sins. His life was amazing. He had seven sons and three daughters. He had over thousands and thousands different types of animals and so much more. One day the Satan came to God and God said how the man Job is very good and follows God and never does any sins. The Satan said the only reason he only does good and is faithful to God is because his life is amazing so he has no reason to not be faithful to God and if his life was horrible he will curse God. God answered back the power is in your hands, you can do anything him and we will see if he stops being faithful. So, the Satan messes up Job's life, does bad things to him, and takes away all the good things he had in his life. At first, he was still faithful and thought that it might get better. But, it got worse and eventually Job got so mad he cursed the day he was born and asked God why He is doing all of that to him and asked why he was even born. In that story there are many similarities and differences to the story of Abraham and Issac when Abraham almost sacrificed his son Issac. One similarities of both stories is that in both stories God tests them to see their love for God. In the story of Abraham God tests him by telling him to sacrifice his son to God. In the story of Job, God tests him by taking away all the good things in his life and still see if he will be faithful to God. I believe that God didn't test those people to see if they loved God because God wanted their love or faith, God already knows if they have faith in Him or not. God tested them to show themselves that they are faithful in God and that even if they don't have what they want, that they were still faithful and love him. A difference in the stories is that in the story of Abraham, even though Abraham didn't want to sacrifice his son, he still went and did it (even though the angel stopped him) and He didn't give up on God. In the story of Job, at first when the Satan started doing bad things to him he was still faithful. But eventually he questioned God asking Him why He is doing all of this to him, while Abraham never questioned God.