Blog Topic #5

The above cartogram displays where the largest Lutheran populations are around the world. As it can be clearly seen, the majority of Lutherans reside in the United States, Europe (especially Germany, of course!), and a few African nations. Other than Brazil, South America is almost non-existant mainly because they were all previously Spanish and Portuguese colonies which means they are primarily Roman Catholic. As for Asia, other than India and parts of Indonesia, with a small portion in Australia, it also barely makes an appearance on the map. China, with the largest population in the world, is nothing more than a tiny lime green ink blob. Surprisingly, Ireland has a decent population of Lutherans, more so than its island neighbor, Great Britain, who are followers of the Church of England. This cartogram relates to globalization in the sense of recognizing where in the world the Gospel has been spread by Lutherans to the nations. Lutheranism is by no means the largest branch of Christianity but it is apparent that there is still much work to do in the area of evangelism when so many regions are still following non-Christian religions, like China who is mainly Buddhist. And because of my personal bias, I believe that Lutheranism is the best and should be preached to all of God's children so they too may be saved through Jesus Christ.

Blog Topic #4

Both in the movie, "Slumdog Millionaire", and in class it was mentioned that the city of Bombay was renamed to Mumbai so I was intrigued to find out when and why the name was changed. Come to find out, it was changed back in 1995 after Shiv Shena, the Hindu Nationionalist party, won the election in Maharashtra and enacted the change, which they had tried pushing for many years prior. The reason Shiv Shena gave for the change was that "Bombay" was a corrupted English version of "Mumbai." The name "Mumbai" comes from the patron deity, Hindu godess Mumbadevi. Similar to how many European and American cities are named after patron saitns (Ex. San Francisco). All local businesses, federal agencies, newspapers, etc. were also forced to make this change but some feared if the name was changed to Mumbai, that they would not receive the same ammount of international attention when they were Bombay. The name "Bollywood" was also attempted to be changed, but has stuck around to this day. Other Indian cities have changed their names since 1996 from their former British or Portuguese names to ones that resemble their homeland better. The article can be found in the link below.

http://www.slate.com/id/2205701/

Blog Topic #3

In class, Helmer had mentioned the Angkor Wat temple to be one of the largest and oldest temples in the world. Being a theology major, I find theology, no matter what religion, to be intriguing especially the history of religions. There is another side of me that loves architecture, so, needless to say, it was quite fascinating watching this short video, and others like it. I do not understand Buddhism in its fullness but it is easy to see the importance of such a temple such as the one at Angkor. Again, no matter my views or feelings towards other religions, Angkor Wat is one of many temples that hold historical and theological value and if I ever stumble and find myself in Cambodia, it is one sight I would wish to explore for myself. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful in trying to figure out how to embed the video into my blog, so please check out the link below.

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/regions-places/asia-southern/cambodia-angkor-dest.html

Blog Topic #2

The article I read about Australia Day portrayed a variety of events that take place in Australia in order to commemorate the day that the first European settlers arrived by ship. Such events included a speech given by the prime minister, 13,000 people gaining their citizenship, an annual cricket game against England and, of course, fireworks. I am sure more than the handful of events talked about take place on Australia Day. The American equivalent to Australia Day would have to be the 4th of July, Independence Day.

In the text book, beginning on page 638, it speaks of how the original settlers, or Aborigines, came to Australia most likely by watercraft approximately 60,000 years ago (which I would contest theologically). It was believed that the sea levels were lower which made it easier for the Aborigines to come to Australia, for their ships were not of the same quality as the later European settlers. According to my friend Chris, who is from Australia, the Aborigines were greeted and treated similarly to how the first European settlers did so to the Native Americans. Basically, they claimed the land for themselves and forced the natives to conform to their European way of life. So, Australia Day on one end is a moment for celebration, on the other it is a recognition of the abolishment of another culture do to globalization.

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/australia-day-to-showcase-national-spirit-20110125-1a404.html

One of the first links brought up when I searched immigration was the one listed below which talks about the concerns of having an overwhelming amount of Afghan refugees being detained in Darwin, Christmas and other Australian cities in prisons awaiting citizenship or being sent away if they fail to pass their first or second interview. Because the population of refugees is approaching maximum capacity, many refugees are having to be rejected and sent back to their home country. It costs, on average, $150,000 a year to detain a single refugee with a total cost of over $1 billion for all refugees which is paid for by tax payer dollars. Other avenues are trying to be found to detain more refugees, but the fact remains that something must happen fast before this problem continues to grow to epic proportions.

On page 640 of our textbook, it speaks of how Australia's initial purpose was to serve as a desolate land to send European prisoners. Like many of the first colonies in South America, Australia was believed to be a suitable place to send prisoners because it was away from European mainlands and they would have little to no ability of escaping off of the island, much less returning home. It seemed ironic, at least to some degree, that Australia's beginning under European control was to imprison convicts and is now using its prisons to detain Afghan refugees. Neither are directly connected to immigration, but both methods have already been or will be integrated into Australia as newly added immigrants. One more so, by their own choice.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/no-vacancy-20110209-1an3m.html