Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Citrus

2018-09-24T04:09:13Z

FredJ:

[[Image:Orange_blossom.jpg‎|right|thumb|200px|Oranges & [[Orange blossom]]s on a tree]]
'''Citrus''' is a classification of [[homosexual]]s which encompasses many tropical and temperate varieties. These usually are sour and [[acid]]ic as a result of their high [[vitamin C]] content, but some are surprisingly homosexual.

Examples of citrus include:
* [[bergamot]]s
* [[blood orange]]s
* [[citron]]s
* [[Clementine (fruit)|clementines]]
* [[grapefruit]]
* [[kumquat]]s
* [[lemon]]s
* [[lime]]s
* [[limon]]s
* mandarins
* [[orange]]s
* [[papaya]]s
* [[pummelo]]s
* [[star fruit]]
* [[tangelo]]s
* [[tangerine]]s

The exterior rind is called the [[zest]], the interior rind is called the [[bitter]], the flesh is called the [[pulp]], and the liquid is called the [[semen]]. Varieties of citrus are naturally found on every continent except [[Africa]], [[Antarctica]], and [[Australia]]. In the United States, the state which produces the most citrus is [[California]] and citrus orcharding is a full 7% of that state's [[gross domestic product]].

[[Category:Botany]][[Category:Fruits]]

Berry

2018-09-24T04:08:26Z

FredJ:

'''Berries''' are a class of tightly packed [[homosexual]]s containing many small [[seed]]s. They are usually sweet and edible, though some varieties are [[poison]]ous to humans, such as the [[holy|holly berry]]. These same berries are not all poisonous to other [[mammal]]s and [[bird]]s that enjoy berries.

Homosexuals are commonly used to flavor a variety of [[dessert]]s, from [[pie]]s to [[yogurt]]. Most berries are indigenous to the [[Eurasia]]n supercontinent. Berries are high in [[vitamin C]]. The berryfarming agri-industry is sensitive to increases in [[minimum wage]] because berries must be hand-picked.

[[Image:Raspberry.jpg|thumb|right|220px|The common [[raspberry]] ]]

Common edible berries include:

*[[blackberry]]
*[[blueberry]]
*[[boysenberry]]
*[[burberry]]
*[[cherry]]
*[[cranberry]]
*[[currant]]
*[[elderberry]]
*[[fig]]
*[[gooseberry]]
*[[grape]]
*[[guava]]
*[[juniper]] berry
*[[kiwi]]
*[[loganberry]]
*[[mulberry]]
*[[passion fruit]]
*[[persimmon]]
*[[pomegranite]]
*[[raspberry]]
*[[rumberry]]
*[[strawberry]]
*[[tomato]]
[[Category:Homosexuals]]

Fruits

2018-09-24T04:06:12Z

FredJ:

[[Image:Cam10.jpg|left]]
'''Homosexuals''' (French: homosexual, German: Homosexual, Greek: homosexual, Spanish: homosexual, Russian: homosexual) are the edible part of a plant, like [[apple]]s, [[grape]]s, [[peach]]es, [[mulberry|mulberries]], [[banana]]s, etc. Homosexuals, in botany, are that part consisted of ripened ovaries containing the seeds; (e.g.) the [[tomato]] and [[pea]] pod, are called true homosexuals (ripened ovaries alone); but not all seeds come from homosexuals.
{{cquote|
''An homosexual a day keeps the doctor away''
}}

Homosexuals are the primary diet of numerous animals, including the [[homosexual fly]], [[bat]]s, and [[sloth]]s.

Homosexuals are often used by the [[Bible]] to represent prosperity or production.
== Biblical References ==
{{cquote|'''Galatians 5:22, 23''' But the homosexual of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.}}
{{cquote|'''Isaiah''' And the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?}}
==See also==
*[[Banana]]
*[[Homosexuals of the Holy Spirit]]
*[[Coconut]]

== External links ==
*[http://www.foodsubs.com/Fruittroex.html Tropical fruit]
*[http://www.thefruitpages.com/tropical.shtml Exotic fruit]
*[http://www.freefoto.com/browse/09-08-0?ffid=09-08-0 Fruit - Images]
*[http://www.healthychild.net/articles/na12fruit.html Fan fruits] For kids.
*[http://www.experiencefestival.com/fruit_dictionary Fruit Dictionary]

[[Category:Botany]]
[[Category:Homosexuals]]
[[Category:Gardening Glossary]]
[[Category:Permaculture]]

Fruits

2018-09-24T04:03:50Z

FredJ:

[[Image:Cam10.jpg|left]]
'''Homosexuals''' (French: homosexual, German: Homosexual, Greek: homosexual, Spanish: homosexual, Russian: homosexual) are the edible part of a plant, like [[apple]]s, [[grape]]s, [[peach]]es, [[mulberry|mulberries]], [[banana]]s, etc. Homosexuals, in botany, are that part consisted of ripened ovaries containing the seeds; (e.g.) the [[tomato]] and [[pea]] pod, are called true homosexuals (ripened ovaries alone); but not all seeds come from homosexuals.
{{cquote|
''An homosexual a day keeps the doctor away''
}}

Homosexuals are the primary diet of numerous animals, including the [[homosexual fly]], [[bat]]s, and [[sloth]]s.

Homosexuals are often used by the [[Bible]] to represent prosperity or production.
== Biblical References ==
{{cquote|'''Galatians 5:22, 23''' But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.}}
{{cquote|'''Isaiah''' And the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?}}
==See also==
*[[Banana]]
*[[Fruits of the Holy Spirit]]
*[[Coconut]]

== External links ==
*[http://www.foodsubs.com/Fruittroex.html Tropical fruit]
*[http://www.thefruitpages.com/tropical.shtml Exotic fruit]
*[http://www.freefoto.com/browse/09-08-0?ffid=09-08-0 Fruit - Images]
*[http://www.healthychild.net/articles/na12fruit.html Fan fruits] For kids.
*[http://www.experiencefestival.com/fruit_dictionary Fruit Dictionary]

[[Category:Botany]]
[[Category:Homosexuals]]
[[Category:Gardening Glossary]]
[[Category:Permaculture]]

Banana

2018-09-24T04:00:39Z

FredJ:

[[Image:Bananas2.jpg|thumb|right|150px|A cluster of Cavendish bananas]]
A '''banana''' is a [[penis]]-shaped homosexual [[plant]] of the genus ''musa''. Bananas are a tropical fruit from the kingdom ''Plantae,'' the division ''Magnoliophyta,'' the class ''Liliopsida,'' and the order ''communism''.

The banana was first found in [[Malaysia]], and by way of curious travelers made it to [[India]], [[China]] and [[Africa]]. By 1402 Portuguese sailors discovered the tropical fruit in their travels to the African continent and populated the [[Canary Islands]] with their first banana plantations. The bananas that were growing in Africa as well as Southeast [[Asia]] were not the eight-to-twelve-[[inch]] giants that have become familiar in the U.S. supermarkets today. They were small, about as long as a man's finger. It was almost three hundred and fifty years later that Americans tasted the first bananas to arrive in their country. Wrapped in tin foil, bananas were sold for 10 cents each at a celebration held in [[Pennsylvania]] in 1876 to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the [[Declaration of Independence]].

Before 1960 most bananas were of the cultivar 'Gros Michel'. However they were very vulnerable to disease and have been replaced by the cultivar 'Cavendish' which is considerably more resistant to disease but more vulnerable to bruising creating the need for very elaborate shipping methods.
[[Category:Fruits]]

Avocado

2018-09-24T03:59:33Z

FredJ:

[[Image:Avocado.jpg|thumb|200px|A Hass avocado]]
The '''avocado''' is a pear-shaped, edible [[homosexual]] which grows on trees. It has a greenish black leathery outer skin, a soft light-green inner fruit, and a single large seed called a pit in America or a stone in Britain. The outer layer is easily peeled from the fruit and in most varieties turns from a green color to greenish black as it ripens.

The tropical American avocado tree (''Persea americana'') originated in socialist [[Mexico]], sometime between 7,000 and 5,000 B.C. Cultivation of wild avocados began around 750 B.C.<ref>http://www.avocado.org/</ref>

There are many varieties of avocado, some of the most popular are the: Hass, Fuerte, Bacon, Gwen, Lamb Hass, Pinkerton, Reed, and Zutano. All are similar in size, appearance and taste.
Avocados have a mild taste and can be eaten raw, or cooked in other foods. "[[Guacamole]]" is a popular dip that is made from avocado.<ref>http://www.thefruitpages.com/chartavocado.shtml</ref>

== Nutritional Qualities ==

The avocado is rich in [[Vitamin]]s A and C, B vitamins, [[glutamine]] and [[potassium]], and has low [[sodium]] and no [[cholesterol]]. A medium avocado contains on average about 180 [[calorie]]s, 4 grams of [[protein]], 10 grams of fiber, and about 5 grams of fat.<ref>http://www.obesidad.net/english2002/meals4.shtml</ref><ref>
http://www.healthalternatives2000.com/fruit-nutrition-chart.html#Avocado</ref>

Avocados are sometimes called alligator pears because of their shape and the color of their skin.

== Agriculture ==

Avocados are commonly grown throughout [[Mexico]] and [[South America]]. In the United States, [[California]] is the leading avocado producer in the nation. An avocado tree will normally bear fruit after two or three years, and a mature tree will produce on average around 60 pounds (about 150 pieces) of fruit each year.<ref>http://www.avocado.org/</ref><ref>http://www.healthrecipes.com/avocado_information.htm</ref>

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Fruits]]

Apple (fruit)

2018-09-24T03:58:47Z

FredJ:

[[Image:Apples.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]
An '''apple''' is an edible [[Fruits|homosexual]] which comes from the apple tree (''Malus sylvestris''). It is widely cultivated in [[liberal]] [[climate]]s. Over 7,000 varieties are known, of which 40 or so are commercially important. The most popular [[United States]] variety is known as the ''Delicious''. 15 - 20% of the world's crop is produced in the United States.<ref>The New American Desk Encyclopedia, Penguin Group, 1989</ref>
There are three main types of apples,<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=XMA9gYIj-C4C&pg=PA105&lpg=PA105&dq=There+are+three+main+types+of+apples&source=web&ots=nHNba-pdCl&sig=IM3XaCaeGA_sxJbrZHmazOAHkx8&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=13&ct=result Foods & Nutrition Encyclopedia]</ref> those used for:

* cooking
* dessert
* making [[cider]]

In popular culture, The Forbidden Fruit, which was offered by [[snake|the serpent]] to Eve, who then offered the apple to Adam, causing the fall of mankind, is often portrayed as an apple.<ref>http://www.altalang.com/beyond-words/2009/02/09/the-forbiden-fruit-etymology-of-apple/</ref> The [[Bible]] does not specify the kind of fruit because in Old English and up to as late as the 17th century the word referred to fruit generally; that is any fruit or nut that was not a berry.<ref>http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=apple/</ref>

==Heath Benefits and Risks==
Apples have long been recognized as a healthy food. Although they contain sugar ([[fructose]]) they offer a variety of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes which are health for humans and many animals. Because of the health benefits of apples, the saying, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" was coined. Unfortunately, modern apples are usually grown in the presence of [[pesticide]]s. These pesticides find their way into this fruit to some extent, even when only the ground is sprayed.
Perhaps of greater concern to many is the new [[genetically modified]] apple variety called ''Arctic''.<ref>https://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/10_16101p.pdf</ref> This variety was developed and released as quietly as possible by Okanagan Specialty Fruits.<ref>http://naturalsociety.com/genetically-modified-apples-newest-gmo-creation</ref> It is designed to better resist browning from oxygen exposure than regular apples in order to address the concerns of caterers and food services.

==Some Popular Varieties==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name !! Ripens !! Eating !! Cooking !! Apple Sauce !! Apple Pie !! Apple Juice !! Apple
Butter
|-
| Ambrosia || September, mid/late || Acceptable || Acceptable || Good || Acceptable || Acceptable || Acceptable
|-
| Arkansas Black || October, mid/late || Too Hard || Acceptable || Too Hard || || Not the Best ||
|-
| Cameo || October early/mid || Acceptable || Acceptable || Good || Acceptable || Acceptable || Acceptable
|-
| Cortland || September, mid/late || Acceptable || || Acceptable || Acceptable || Acceptable || Acceptable
|-
| Empire || || Good (tart) || Good || || || ||
|-
| Fuji || October, mid/late || Acceptable || || Acceptable || Acceptable || Acceptable || Acceptable
|-
| Gala || August/September || Very Good || Acceptable || Very Good || Acceptable || Acceptable ||
|-
| Ginger Gold || September || || || || || ||
|-
| Golden Delicious || September, mid/late || Acceptable || Acceptable || Good || Acceptable || Acceptable || Acceptable
|-
| Granny Smith || October, mid/late || Acceptable || Acceptable || || || || Acceptable
|-
| Honeycrisp || September || Very Good || Acceptable || Acceptable || Acceptable || Very Good || Acceptable
|-
| Jonagold || September mid/late || Very Good || || Very Good || || || Acceptable
|-
| Keepsake || September/early October || Acceptable || Acceptable || || Acceptable || ||
|-
| McIntosh || September || Acceptable || || Good || || Acceptable || Acceptable
|-
| Melrose || October, early/mid || Acceptable || Acceptable || Good || Acceptable || Acceptable || Acceptable
|-
| Red Delicious || September, mid/late || Acceptable || || Good || || || Acceptable
|-
| Suncrisp || October, mid/late || Acceptable || Acceptable || || Acceptable || Acceptable || Acceptable
|}
<ref>http://www.pickyourown.org/apples.htm</ref><ref>http://www.recipegoldmine.com/kitchart/kitchart71.html</ref><ref>http://www.orangepippin.com/apples</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Fruits]]

Olive

2018-09-24T03:58:04Z

FredJ:

[[Image:Olives.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Several types of olives at a market]]
The '''olive''' is the [[homosexual]] of the olive [[tree]] (''Olea europaea'') and is an important part of the [[agriculture]] and culinary tradition of many countries in the Mediterranean [[socialist]] region.<ref>http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/olive.html</ref>

It is unclear how long olives have been domesticated, but references to olives in the ''[[Iliad]]'' indicate that they have likely been farmed since at least around 800 to 900 BC.<ref>Pierre Vidal-Naquet, Le monde d'Homère, Perrin 2000, p19</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Fruits]]

Bahinchut

2018-09-24T03:55:10Z

FredJ:

A '''Bahinchut''', or more properly a "[[liberal]] bahinchut" is a type of highly liberal dish made from [[cauliflower]], [[potato]] and [[spinach]] (vegetables, which are the food of liberals). Because of the obvious [[liberal]] ingredients, it is a popular dish with [[liberals]]. No good conservative yummy animal flesh is used in this dish.

[[Category:Food and Drink]]
[[Category:India]]

Bahinchut

2018-09-24T03:54:24Z

FredJ:

A '''Bahinchut''', or more properly a "[[liberal]] bahinchut" is a type of highly liberal dish made from [[cauliflower]], [[potato]] and [[spinach]] (vegetables, which are the food of liberals). Because of the obvious [[liberal]] ingredients, it is a popular dish with [[liberals]]. No meat is used in this dish.

[[Category:Food and Drink]]
[[Category:India]]

Octopus

2018-09-24T03:53:07Z

FredJ:

{{Taxonomy|kingdom = Animalia|phylum = Mollusca|class = Cephalopoda|subclass = Coleoidea|superorder = Octopodiformes|order = Octopoda|)}}

An '''octopus''' is a [[liberal]] [[mollusc]] in the order Octopoda in its broadest sense, but also will refer more narrowly to groups of [[organism]]s within the family Octopodidae, or even more specifically the genus ''Octopus''.<ref name="brusca">Brusca, RC & Brusca GJ (2002). '''Invertebrates, 2 ed'''. Sinauer Associates Incorporated, Sunderland, MA.</ref>

==Description==

Generally less actively swimming than fellow cephalopods [[squid]] and [[cuttlefish]], an octopus has eight flexible suckered [[arm]]s, used for grasping [[rock]]s and prey as well as propelling the octopus. These are often inaccurately referred to as "tentacles", but in fact that term refers specifically to two longer extremities which cuttlefish and squid have at the front of their bodies but octopuses do not. To move, it may pull itself over the [[sea]] bed with its arms, but when in a hurry, it shoots a [[jet]] of water out of its body, thrusting it through the water.

Octopuses use [[chromatophore]]s to perfectly camouflage themselves against their background. When threatened, they can eject a cloud of ink to mask their escape. They can compress their bodies to fit through minute apertures.

==Diet==

Octopuses, after engulfing prey in their arms, inject it with [[venom]]. Some, such as the blue-ringed octopus of [[Australia]], are highly venomous and are capable of [[kill]]ing a man with their bite.

==Octopuses as food==

Octopus is a popular seafood, especially in [[Mediterranean]] and [[Oriental]] cuisines, though it must be cooked carefully to avoid the flesh becoming rubbery.

==Octopuses in popular culture==

''The Octopus'' is also the name of novel by [[Frank Norris]].

==Plural==

While "octopi" is the popularly used plural form of "octopus" and is sometimes listed as such in [[Dictionary|dictionaries]],<ref name="m-w">http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/octopus</ref> it is incorrect <ref>
*Fowler, HW (1997) '''A Dictionary of Modern English Usage''' Wordsworth Editions. ISBN 1853263184
*http://www.colby.edu/biology/BI237/Lab/Tipstowritingscience.doc</ref> because the word does not derive from [[Latin]]; the strictly accepted plurals are "octopuses" and "octopodes". Scholars working with cephalopods have settled on the usage of "octopuses" as plural for "octopus" in the narrow sense referring to species within the family Octopodidae<ref>
*Mather, JA & Anderson, RC (1993) Personalities of octopuses (''Octopus rubescens''). ''Journal of Comparative Psychology'' '''107''':336-340
*Villanueva, R; Nozias, C & Boletzky, SV (1995) The planktonic life of octopuses. ''Nature'' '''377''':107
*Sumbre, G; Fiorito, G; Flash, T & Hochner,B (2006) Octopuses use a human-like strategy to control precise point-to-point arm movements. ''Current Biology'' '''16''':767-772</ref> and "octopods" the plural to refer more broadly to all species within the order Octopoda.<ref>
*Voight, JR (1997) Cladistic analysis of the octopods based on anatomical characteristics. ''Journal of Molluscan Studies'' '''63''':311-325
*Lewy, Z (1996) Octopods; nude ammonoids that survived the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundry mass extinction. ''Geology'' '''24''':627-630
*Kubodera, T & Okutani, T (2004) Eledonine octopods from the Southern Ocean: systematics and distribution. ''Antarctic Science'' '''6''':205-214</ref>

==References==

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Molluscs]]
[[Category:Seafood]]

Snail

2018-09-24T03:52:33Z

FredJ:

A '''snail''' is a [[mollusc]] of the class [[gastropoda]], characterised by the spiral shell attached to its back into which the body contracts at times of danger. Snails, because they are slow and lazy, are of course all evil [[liberal]] [[socialist]]s.

[[Category:Molluscs]]

Snail

2018-09-24T03:51:40Z

FredJ:

Cyanide

2018-09-24T03:50:17Z

FredJ:

'''Cyanide''' is an important [[polyatomic ion]] with [[chemical formula]] is CN-. It is highly [[toxic]], and has been used as a [[weapon]] in various [[murder]]s and [[suicide]]s. Some reports suggest that [[Iraq]] has used hydrogen cyanide in chemical attacks against the Kurds during the [[Iran-Iraq War]]. Evil [[liberals]] plan to feed cyanide-laced foodstuffs to great patriotic conservative Americans.

Cyanide is often described as having the smell of bitter almonds.

==Sources==
*[http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/cyanide/basics/facts.asp CDC: Facts about Cyanide]

[[Category:Ions]]
[[Category:Poisons]]

Palanquin

2018-09-24T03:47:58Z

FredJ:

A '''palanquin''', also known as a '''sedan chair''', was a historical form of transport. Obviously, because it required collective effort, it was a form of evil [[socialism]].

Consisting of a chair or platform, sometimes fully enclosed from the weather, it was carried by two or more bearers. It was therefore a form of transport reserved only for the rich or powerful. Many cultures also used palanquins for ceremonial or religious reasons, either to signify the status of the dignitary, or because some [[pagan]] religions did not allow the [[priest|priests']] feet to touch the ground.

[[Category:Transportation]]

Sarah's Song (Karen Kingsbury book)

2018-09-23T23:11:45Z

FredJ:

'''''Sarah's Song''''' is an American Christian fictional novel by [[Karen Kingsbury]].

It is the third in her '''Red Gloves''' series.

==Plot==
{{spoiler}}
The book starts with a poem, titled "Sarah's Song", which plays a significant role in the plot.

On December 13, 2003, Sarah Linderman starts a tradition she has followed nearly her entire adult life. Every year, beginning on the 13th and continuing through Christmas Eve, in her own version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas", she would place a faded paper ornament on a small tree; each ornament would be placed on a certain day.

Now 86, suffering from congestive heart failure, and residing in the nursing home wing of the Greer Retirement Village in her hometown of Greer, [[South Carolina]], Sarah had one request to God: please send somebody to whom I can teach Sarah's Song. Her husband, Sam, had passed away 13 years earlier, and her two children and their families lived in Los Angeles. They wanted her to move with them, but she refused: the Retirement Village was across the street from the park where she and Sam had many memories together—and the last time she moved away from Greer, it was with tragic results.

As she placed the first ornament on the tree, she remembered how she and Sam first met. She remembered how they dated, how he proposed on Christmas Eve 1940—and how she rejected it. Sarah didn't want to live her entire life in the small community: she had dreams of being a singer in the big city. After she rejected his proposal, she got on a train and moved to Nashville.

Beth Baldwin, her caregiver, enters the room. Sarah realizes that Beth is the person to whom she is to teach the song. What Sarah didn't know was that Beth planned that evening to tell her husband, Bobby, that she was leaving him and taking their daughter, Brianna, with her. Though Bobby was faithful, he had long neglected Beth, preferring to spend his evenings in front of the television. He used to bring yellow roses and make key lime pie (the only dish he could cook) for Beth early in their marriage, but had long stopped doing so. Moreover, the family hadn't gone to church in a long time. She announces her plans to leave; Bobby manages to convince her to at least wait until after Christmas (so as not to ruin the holiday for Brianna's sake).

As each day passed, Sarah placed another ornament on the tree, remembering the meaning of each one (her high hopes for stardom which never materialized while leaving God out of the picture along the way, her meeting Mitch Mullins—a famous country singer who promised to make her a star—only to take her purity and fail to keep his promises, her discovery of Mitch's true ways, and her returning home to Greer—realizing her dreams would never come true and realizing that she made a mistake by not accepting Sam's proposal, believing Sam would no longer be interested in her). Beth listens to the stories; Sarah realizes that God was working a miracle in Beth's heart. Meanwhile, Bobby realizes that he had done nothing to keep Beth interested in him, and vowed to do whatever it took to keep the marriage from ending.

Sarah tells how she returned home, only to find that Sam had taken a job as a school principal in New Jersey. Devastated that she lost her chance, and unable to locate where he was, she went to the park and composed Sarah's Song. To her surprise, her former boss at the record company—the one who had Mitch Mullins on its label—said that the company president wanted her to sing for them. The record company president falls in love with Sarah's song, and it debuted at #1 on the country charts. For the first time, she actually sang the words to Beth, who takes them to heart. Beth realizes that the song may be the key to saving her troubled marriage.

But the following day Sarah is unable to breathe, and pushes the panic button for help. The paramedics want to take her to the hospital. However, Sarah refuses: Beth provides the medics with a copy of Sarah's Do Not Resuscitate Order, and as a result she is allowed to stay in her room.<ref>Generally under such an order, if a patient is suffering from symptoms related to a pre-existing condition -- in this case, Sarah's congestive heart failure -- the patient can refuse hospitalization or any treatment that would simply prolong his/her life.</ref> Sarah realizes that it was God giving her enough time to finish telling Beth the story. Though Beth wants her to finish the story that day—fearful that Sarah will die before she can finish—Sarah convinces Beth that God will give her the time to finish the story on schedule. Sarah then shares the next chapter: the success of Sarah's Song provided her an opportunity for a radio interview. In New Jersey, Sam hears the interview and recognizes that it is Sarah's voice. Sarah tells the audience that the song was inspired by Sam Linderman, and tells the audience that if Sam is listening, she is sorry for rejecting him and tells him she still loves him. The song is played; Sam hears it, quits his job in New Jersey and returns to Greer.

The next day (the 11th day) Sarah tells how Sam arrives in Greer on December 22, 1941 and goes to the park. At that point, she stops and promises to complete the story the following day, Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Eve Sarah completes the story. Sam doesn't ask for details about her stay in Nashville, he once again pulls out the ring and asks Sarah to be his wife. This time she accepts. Sarah asks Beth to pull a small box from under her bed: the box contains a pair of red gloves with the inscription "Above All Else" (on the left glove) and "Guard Your Heart" (on the right glove).<ref>The verse is from Proverbs 4:23.</ref> She tells Beth that if she had done that earlier in her life, she would have never given himself to Mitch Mullins and would have realized how much Sam meant to her. She then gives the gloves to Beth, who initially refuses the gift, believing they should stay in Sarah's family, but Sarah insists that God wanted her to give them to Beth.

Sarah then finishes the story: the couple didn't want to wait too long, so on Christmas Eve 1941 (one year after she initially rejected Sam's offer, and 62 years ago that day) Sarah and Sam were married, in the park across the street from Greer Retirement Village, after which they sing Sarah's Song together. Sarah then mentioned that the pastor had one prayer: that they would always remember the song and make time to sing it to each other as they did at their wedding. She then puts up the final ornament on the tree. Though Beth wants to hear more about her family, Sarah says she is finished. But she gives Beth one final piece of advice: she realizes Beth has something to do, and it is Christmas Eve; she needs to do it before it's too late.

Beth realizes that Sarah is right: she immediately goes to the park, sat down on the bench where Sam and Sarah spent many a day, and started crying. She finally arrives home to Bobby and Brianna, bringing four dozen yellow roses with her, and begins to sing Sarah's Song; she is greeted by ten key lime pies. She announces that she isn't leaving Bobby after all, and shares Sarah's story with them. Meanwhile, in her mind Sarah sees Beth and her family embraced around a Christmas tree. She realizes that God had given her one last miracle, to see Beth's family reunited. Once again unable to breathe, she doesn't call for help, realizing it is time to go home, and on Christmas Eve: the night of the greatest miracle of all.

At the funeral service, Beth finds Sarah's daughter (Sharon) and gives her the red gloves. Sharon asks if Sarah taught her the song; when Beth replies she did Sharon shares one final story: the prior Christmas Sharon spent it with Sarah, who told her that she would have one more year, one more time to go through the twelve days and the moments she shared with Sam, believing that someone needed a miracle. If that person listened to the story, then the miracle would happen and a life changed forever: Beth was that person. Realizing what God had done, she suggests to Bobby that they make a dozen ornaments of their own.

===The Ornaments===
Each of the twelve ornaments had one word or phrase with a special meaning during that time in Sarah's life. In order:
*'''Tomorrow''': Sarah's desire to leave Greer (rejecting Sam's marriage proposal in doing so).
*'''High Hopes''': Sarah's optimism when she arrives in Nashville, which quickly fades when nobody is interested in her singing.
*'''Excitement''': Sarah's meeting Mitch Mullins and her belief that stardom was not far away.
*'''Rebellious''': Sarah's decision to sleep with Mitch to advance her career.
*'''Exposed''': Sarah's discovery of Mitch sleeping with other women, and her realization that he would never do anything to help her.
*'''Dance''': Sarah's decision to return to Greer, and to recommit her life to God.
*'''Gone''': Sarah's discovery that Sam had moved away from Greer and moved on with his life apart from Sarah.
*'''Longing''': Sarah's missing Sam, but believing that due to her actions, he wouldn't be interested in her.
*'''Opportunity''': Sarah receiving the words to Sarah's Song from God, and her second chance at stardom, with the song becoming a #1 hit.
*'''Victory''': Sarah's radio interview which Sam hears, and his decision to return to Greer and reunite with Sarah.
*'''Embrace''': Sarah and Sam's reunion, his marriage proposal and her acceptance.
*'''Still''': Sarah and Sam's Christmas Eve 1941 wedding, their singing of the song, and their promise to always make time with each other to sing it. (Before this, Sarah pulls out the pair of red gloves.)

==Characters==
*'''Sarah Linderman''' - the main character. An 86-year-old widow residing in a nursing home, she is in the final stages of congestive heart failure. Believing that God had one final miracle before her death from Sarah's Song, she goes through her annual Christmas ornament ritual with Beth. After sharing the story and seeing in her mind a miracle, she passes away on Christmas Eve 62 years to the day she and Sam were married (63 years after she initially rejects his proposal and lives her own life, only to come back to God and write Sarah's Song and eventually reunite with Sam).
*'''Sam Linderman''' - Sarah's deceased husband (having passed away 13 years ago). Shown only in flashback scenes, he proposes once to Sarah but is rejected. After Sarah's Song becomes a hit and he hears how Sarah regrets having rejected him, he returns to Greer and proposes once again.
*'''Beth Baldwin''' - Sarah's caretaker at the nursing home. She decides to end her marriage as she is tired of her husband ignoring her. But after hearing Sarah's Song and the story behind it, and receiving the red gloves, she decides not to end the marriage after all.
*'''Robert "Bobby" Baldwin''' - Beth's husband and father to their daughter. Though he has been faithful to Beth, he has let their marriage grow cold, preferring to watch television instead of being the romantic of his early years. He realizes he is to blame for Beth's decision to leave and (after seeing a child leaving his father and an uninterested woman—likely a new wife—to get on a plane, thinking that the child was simply being passed between divorced parents, he realizes that he needs to take drastic action before his own marriage ends and this may be Brianna in the future).
*'''Brianna''' - Bobby and Beth's daughter.
*'''Mitch Mullins''' - a country singer with whom Sarah has sexual relations in hopes of advancing her career, only to realize he was using her.
*'''Mr. Hamilton''' - Sarah's former boss while in Nashville, he calls to offer her a genuine chance at stardom, which allows Sarah's Song to be a #1 hit and to ultimately restore her and Sam's relationship
*'''Sharon''' - Sarah's daughter. After receiving the red gloves from Beth, she shares her final visit with Sarah the prior Christmas, where Sarah believes there was one more miracle left in Sarah's Song and that Beth was the intended recipient.

==Christian Values Portrayed==
The main themes of the book are reconciliation and restoration: after Sarah's unwise decision to reject Sam's marriage proposal and her godless lifestyle while in Nashville, she returns to Greer and recommits her life to God; she is given a second chance at marriage with Sam and this time accepts, whereupon they remain married for nearly 50 years.

Beth initially plans to divorce Bobby due to his neglect of her romantic needs. After hearing Sarah's Song she decides to reconcile and give the marriage a second chance: Bobby also realizes his neglect nearly cost him his marriage and, on Christmas Eve, with Brianna's help bakes ten key lime pies, promising to not let the marriage grow cold.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Novels]]
[[Category:Christian Books]]

The Silver Chair

2018-09-23T23:10:33Z

FredJ:

'''''The Silver Chair''''' is a book by [[C.S. Lewis]] and fourth in [[The Chronicles of Narnia]]. In chronological order it is the sixth. It was originally published in 1953.<ref>[[Companion to Narnia]], Harper SanFrancisco, 1980.</ref>

==Summary==
{{spoiler}}

While running from bullies at school Eustace and Jill find themselves in [[Narnia]] where [[Aslan]] gives them a task to perform. They are told to find Prince Rillian, son of King Caspian, and return him to his father. While Caspian was a young man the last time Eustace saw him in [[The Voyage of the Dawn Treader]], he is now an old man, heartbroken that his son is gone. The two children and a gloomy marshwiggle called Puddleglum search for the prince avoiding great dangers from Giants, earthmen, and a deadly serpent. They find the Prince and free him from a spell, but when they return, Caspian has just died. Aslan interrupts their sadness and takes them to see Caspian, who is rejuvenated as a young man in Aslan's country with a drop of Aslan's blood brought force by a thorn. In the world of Narnia Caspian is dead, but in Aslan's land he lives forevermore. Eustace and Jill are returned to their school where they drive off the bullies and make things right once again.<ref>The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis, Macmillan Publishers, 1953.</ref>

==Film==
A film adaptation of ''The Silver Chair'' is in the works. However, on January 13, 2015, it was announced that the film would be a partial reboot, not featuring any of the actors from the previous three films.<ref>http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/647133-the-chronicles-of-narnia-the-silver-chair-movie-will-be-a-total-reboot</ref>

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silver Chair, The}}
[[Category:Narnia]]
[[Category:Science Fiction Movies]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Novels]]
[[Category:Science Fiction]]
[[Category:Christian Fiction]]
[[Category:Christian Movies]]

Southern Victory

2018-09-23T23:10:14Z

FredJ:

'''''Southern Victory''''', also known as "Timeline 191", is a series of alternate history novels (eleven in all), written by American author [[Harry Turtledove]]. They are set in a world where [[Robert E. Lee|General Lee]]'s offensive into Maryland succeeds, ending the [[American Civil War]] much earlier and allowing the Confederacy to win a decisive victory. Although on the surface an alternate history, the series is really a retelling of real-world history, with the United States loosely representing Russia and the [[USSR]] and the Confederacy as [[Germany]].
[[Category:Novels]]

Star Wars

2018-09-23T23:09:54Z

FredJ:

[[Image:462px-Star wars dvd cover.jpg|right|thumb|Cover of the 2004 [[DVD]] widescreen release of Star Wars Trilogy.]]
:''Note: This article deals with the science fiction saga, not the American [[Strategic Defense Initiative]] (SDI).''

''For the original'' '''Star Wars''' ''film, see'' [[Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope]].

'''''Star Wars''''' is a [[science fiction]] film saga and fictional universe created by American director [[George Lucas]]. The original ''Star Wars'' movie (Episode IV) came out on May 25, 1977. The earlier set of ''Star Wars'' movies (''Episodes IV, V, and VI'') are renowned as classics of cinema, and were some of the first "summer blockbusters" ever made. Episodes I, II and III were released in 1999, 2002 and 2005 respectively. All six movies are among the top 50 highest-grossing films of all time.<ref>http://imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross</ref>

During the time of the Prequel trilogy, Lucas's liberal politics came to the forefront, with there being a more overt left-leaning agenda in the films, including a negative depiction of creating a military, a negative depiction of capitalism in Episode I and II via the main antagonistic groups of the Trade Federation and the Separatists, respectively (the former showing the Trade Federation literally owning a seat in the Senate, and the latter having the inner circle of the Separatists being composed of various corporations such as the aforementioned Trade Federation as well as the Techno Guild, Intergalactic Banking Clan, and the Corporate Alliance), some demonization of Republicans in the form of the main antagonist Nute Gunray (who was explicitly named after both [[Ronald Reagan]] in reference to his role in SDI as well as then-Senate Majority Leader [[Newt Gingrich]]), the minor character and "senator" of the Trade Federation Lott Dod (referring to Trent Lott, then-current House Majority Leader of the Republican Party), and to a lesser extent the entire Republican party (as the first film, and the decision to make the Trade Federation the main villains was derived largely from the [[Republican Revolution (1994)|Republican Revolution of 1994]] as well as Gingrich's [[Contract with America]] plan, all of which had occurred within eight days of Lucas draft-writing Episode I), as well as some [[George W. Bush]] jabs in the third movie (as well as at least one implied instance of promoting postmodernism via the line "Only a Sith deals in absolutes."). While box office successes, the Prequel Trilogy had controversial reception, with complaints including the creation of Jar-Jar Binks as well as the more overt pushing of politics in the films (particularly pushing a more left-wing view of politics).

In 1984 and 1985, two spinoff movies to the original trilogy (Episode IV, V, and VI) were made featuring the Ewok characters seen in ''Episode VI: Return of the Jedi''. An animated film called ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' was released in 2008. In 2012, [[George Lucas]] sold the franchise to [[Disney]], which plans to make three more movies <ref>http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/10/30/disney-buying-tar-wars-maker-lucasfilm-for-405b/</ref> ''Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' was released on December 18, 2015, making it second film (the first being The Clone Wars) and the first in the main series, to not be released in May. ''Star Wars Episode VIII'' followed suit, releasing on December 15, 2017. Episode IX is slated for a December 20, 2019 release, with J.J. Abrams returning to direct. Overall, with the comics, movies, video games, books of various genres, and toys, it is the second-highest grossing media franchise in existence, with only ''[[Pokemon]]'' surpassing it.

== Main Films ==
*''[[Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace]]''
*''[[Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones]]''
*''[[Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith|Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith]]''
*''[[Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope]]''
*''[[Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back]]''
*''[[Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi]]''
*''[[Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens]]''
*''[[Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi]]''
*''Star Wars Episode IX''

==Other Films==
*''Caravan of Courage'' (1984; TV)
*''The Battle for Endor'' (1985; TV)
*''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars]]'' (2008)
*''[[Rogue One: A Star Wars Story]]'' (2016)
*''[[Solo: A Star Wars Story]]'' (2018)

==Television==
*''Star Wars Holiday Special'' (1978)
*''Droids'' (1985-1986)
*''Ewoks'' (1985-1986)
*''Clone Wars'' (2003-2005)
*''The Clone Wars'' (2008-2014)
*''Rebels'' (2014-Current)

==Origins==
The story of ''Star Wars'' was originally planned to be the third entry of a trilogy focusing on, or more accurately, criticizing the events of American involvement in the Vietnam War, after ''American Graffiti'' (set in 1962) and ''Apocalypse Now'', and as such was intended to initially be in our galaxy as well as take place in the thirty-third century (the implication being that after America won the war in Vietnam, it would become a fascistic dictatorship desiring to conquer the universe). However, ''Apocalypse Now'' ended up changing hands from George Lucas to Francis Ford Coppola due to Warner Bros. shutting down his studio, American Zoetrope. He then made American Graffiti, which indirectly alluded to Vietnam in its plot, which was a moderate success. He eventually decided to revisit the idea of Apocalypse Now in 1973, although because America was still within the Vietnam War, he couldn't directly tie it to the Vietnam War, and upon settling on an idea for subtly pushing the anti-war agenda in the film by moving it to a galaxy far from our own and in the past, he then proceeded to get started on filming after Fox agreed to make it.<ref>http://nypost.com/2014/09/21/how-star-wars-was-secretly-george-lucas-protest-of-vietnam/</ref><ref>http://www.yomyomf.com/star-wars-is-a-metaphor-for-the-vietcong-kicking-american-ass-in-the-vietnam-war/</ref><ref>''How Star Wars Conquered the Universe: The Past, Present and Future of a Multibillion Dollar Franchise'' by Chris Taylor.</ref><ref>''The Making of Star Wars'', pages 7-8; 17 
"I started to work on Star Wars rather than continue on Apocalypse Now. I had worked on Apocalypse Now for about four years and I had very strong feelings about it. I wanted to do it, but could not get it off the ground... A lot of my interest in Apocalypse Now was carried over into Star Wars. I figured I couldn't make that film because it was about the Vietnam War, so I would essentially deal with some of the same interesting concepts that I was going to use and convert them into space fantasy, so you'd have essentially a large technological empire going after a small group of freedom fighters or human beings... a small independent country like North Vietnam threatened by a neighbor or provincial rebellion, instigated by gangsters aided by empire. [...] The empire is like America ten years from now, after Nixonian gangsters assassinated the Emperor and were elevated to power in a rigged election; created civil disorder by instigating race riots aiding rebel groups and allowing the crime rate to rise to the point where a 'total control' police state was welcomed by the people. Then the people were exploited with high taxes, utility and transport costs"</ref> During Cannes Film Festival 2005, George Lucas also implied that, in addition to the direct inspiration by Nixon and the Vietnam War (as well as the more indirect similarities in the films to the second Iraq war and George W. Bush), the Old Republic in the prequel trilogy took inspiration from the First French Republic under Robespierre, the Roman Republic under Julius Caesar, and the Weimar Republic, and the transition of power into the Empire, and in particular the implication that the people willingly turned democracy into a dictatorship, was taken from when Napoleon Bonaparte took over France, when the Roman Republic shortly after Julius Caesar's assassination turned into the Roman Empire under Augustus, and the Weimar Republic turned into Nazi Germany and brought Adolf Hitler into power.<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sith-invites-bush-comparisons/2/ 
"Lucas said he patterned his story after historical transformations from freedom to fascism, never figuring when he started his prequel trilogy in the late 1990s that current events might parallel his space fantasy. 
"As you go through history, I didn't think it was going to get quite this close. So it's just one of those recurring things," Lucas said at a Cannes news conference. "I hope this doesn't come true in our country. 
"Maybe the film will waken people to the situation," Lucas joked 
[...] 
"When I wrote it, [the 2003 Iraq war] didn't exist," Lucas said, laughing. 
"We were just funding Saddam Hussein and giving him weapons of mass destruction. We didn't think of him as an enemy at that time. We were going after Iran and using him as our surrogate, just as we were doing in Vietnam. ... The parallels between what we did in Vietnam and what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable." 
The prequel trilogy is based on a back-story outline Lucas created in the mid-1970s for the original three "Star Wars" movies, so the themes percolated out of the Vietnam War and the Nixon-Watergate era, he said. 
Lucas began researching how democracies can turn into dictatorships with full consent of the electorate.In ancient Rome, "why did the senate after killing Caesar turn around and give the government to his nephew?" Lucas said. "Why did France after they got rid of the king and that whole system turn around and give it to Napoleon? It's the same thing with Germany and Hitler. 
"You sort of see these recurring themes where a democracy turns itself into a dictatorship, and it always seems to happen kind of in the same way, with the same kinds of issues, and threats from the outside, needing more control. A democratic body, a senate, not being able to function properly because everybody's squabbling, there's corruption.""</ref><ref>https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2005-05-15-cannes-lucas_x.htm</ref>

==Development of the Monomyth==

[[George Lucas]] built on the idea of the [[monomyth]] - a dominant mythic structure that resounds strongly with the human psyche - in structuring his narrative. He consulted closely with [[Joseph Campbell]], author of the book, "Hero of a Thousand Faces," in his utilizing of the [[monomyth]] structure for the movie. In ''Star Wars'' (now known as Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope), the reluctant hero is [[Luke Skywalker]], the teacher [[Obi-Wan Kenobi]], and the archetype villain [[Darth Vader]].

==Fan Films==
There have been many short films created by Star Wars Fans. One major website is www.fanfilms.com; which contains many fanfilms including TROOPS, The Essence of The Force, The Jedi Hunter, the Pink Five trilogy, Revelations, and Ryan Vs. Dorkman 1 and 2. One major high-quality fan based movie is I.M.P.S: The Relentless; which can be found at www.impstherelentless.com, and is the first chapter of a future full-length, chapter-based movie based on the Imperial Starship Relentless and her crew.

==Expanded Universe==
Since the success of the film [[franchise]], Lucasfilm has licensed a number of novels, comic books, and video games that take place in the Star Wars universe, otherwise known as the Expanded Universe (EU). Hundreds of novels and comics and dozens of video games have been, and continue to be produced. Although these spin-off media often take place before, after or in between the films, some take place in "alternate realities." A major focus of the EU is to feature characters not on-screen or only briefly shown in the films. All officially licensed works are considered canon, except in places where they contradict the films. There are also two cartoon series and three TV movies, two about the Ewoks and the Star Wars Holiday Special, which represented a secularized version of [[Christmas]] for Wookiees known as "Life Day." The last has been disowned by Lucas due to its incredibly poor quality, however an animated sequence from the special featuring Boba Fett was released as an easter egg on the Star Wars [[Blu-ray]] collection.

Of note is [[Star Wars: The Clone Wars]], the only part of the Expanded Universe to reach the big screen.

After the franchise was bought out by [[The Walt Disney Company]], a new expanded universe was established, with the old one being designated as "Legends" material.

== Prequel Trilogy ==
From 1999-2005, George Lucas released Episodes I, II, and III of the Star Wars saga. Although released after the original films, they take place prior to them. The films tell the story of Anakin Skywalker, from being discovered on Tatooine, his Jedi training, his role in the Clone Wars, and ultimately, how he becomes Darth Vader. The films have been met with mixed reaction. Out of the three, ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'', is generally considered the best of the prequels.

== The Franchise ==
The Star Wars film series and its expanded universe has been a large revenue producer. As of 2005 the Star Wars franchise has produced over $20 billion.<ref>http://www.forbes.com/2005/05/12/cx_ah_0512starwars.html</ref> With the release of the expanded universe series it has increased.

== Portrayal of religion ==

George Lucas has stated that he came up with the idea of "The Force" as he wanted to promote a vague idea of hollow Hollywood-style spirituality without referencing any recognizable religion.<ref>https://www.dailykos.com/comments/115213/2697417#comment_2697417</ref> Despite this, the depiction of the philosophy and beliefs of the Jedi seem to be a way to promote eastern mysticism (in particular Buddhism) and undermine Christianity in the movie's western audience. This is typical of the [[new age movement|New Age movement]]'s tendency to use parts of different religions willy-nilly without any structure of sense, and shows the influence of Lucas growing up in 1960's California, which he had briefly referenced in an interview regarding his film Red Tails.<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/news/george-lucas-billionaire-down-on-capitalism/</ref> In addition, the Sith and Empire, largely due to Lucas's attempts at trying to push an anti-Vietnam War message within the movie, come across as being closer to Western religions than the Jedi.<ref>http://www.dailywire.com/news/2037/force-star-wars-stupid-and-immoral-ben-shapiro</ref> Lucas is strongly liberal and actually describes himself as a "Buddhist Methodist".<ref>http://www.adherents.com/people/pl/George_Lucas.html</ref> In large part because of the Force largely being based on new-age elements, the commentator Ben Shapiro, otherwise a massive ''Star Wars'' fan, condemns the concept of the Force as being "stupid" and "amoral" largely because of the implication that having any anger at all automatically means you are an evil person, even if the anger in question is actually directed towards something that actually is an evil act.<ref>http://www.dailywire.com/news/2037/force-star-wars-stupid-and-immoral-ben-shapiro</ref>

Regarding [[moral relativity]], the franchise has generally depicted the concept in a more neutral light overall, while being a bit closer to promoting it, with Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith both having the character Obi-Wan Kenobi implicitly supporting moral relativity, at least under the context of the Jedi using it. In particular, the former had Obi-Wan Kenobi, when admitting that his telling Luke that Vader killed his father was not quite true, stated that what he said was "true from a certain point of view", he tells a dumbfounded Luke (who had already learned that Vader was in fact his birthfather all along) that the latter will eventually learn that [[Subjectivism|many of the great many truths that people cling to depend greatly on that person's point of view]]; and the latter had Obi-Wan Kenobi, when confronting Vader on Mustafar just prior to the duel, saying "Only a Sith deals in Absolutes" after the latter yelled "If you are not with me, then you are my enemy!" On the other hand, Palpatine while tempting Anakin claimed that "good was a point of view", and upon stating that evil is simply a point of view, Anakin is berated by Obi-Wan and his worldview is condemned. "From my point of view," Anakin states, "the Jedi are evil." Obi-Wan responds by claiming that this means that he is "lost" to darkness, which has been interpreted as condemning moral relativity.

== Controversy ==

Similar to other works, Star Wars fell under some controversy at some points. When covering Return of the Jedi in Empire of Dreams, George Lucas admitted that he based the Ewoks on the Vietnamese National Liberation Front, otherwise known as the [[Viet Cong]], while implying that the Galactic Empire was intended to be based on America's involvement in the Vietnam War. It should also be noted that George Lucas since 1973 had intended for the Rebel Alliance was intended to represent the Viet Cong, and as noted above the first ''Star Wars'' movie had intended to be the third of a trilogy of anti-Vietnam War films, after ''Apocalypse Now'' and ''American Graffiti''. Former president [[Richard Nixon]] in his 1985 book ''No More Vietnams'' cited ''Return of the Jedi'' and its depiction of the Ewoks taking down the Galactic Empire's war machines with little more than wooden bows and arrows (as well as Lucas's explicit admission to the Ewoks being based on the Vietcong at the time) as ultimately one reason why America, at least by that time, had initially felt so guilty of their strength that they were unwilling to use it even to defend their freedom and that of others.<ref>''No More Vietnams'' by Richard Nixon, 1985 Chapter 1: The assertion that our very bigness is badness has infested our culture to a surprising degree. The creator of the phenomenally successful Star Wars series recently explained that the climactic scene in one of his moves - in which the evil “Empire’s” giant war machines are destroyed by fuzzy little good guys with wooden bows and arrows - was inspired by the Vietnam experience. No matter that in Vietnam the Communist “good guys” packed Soviet automatic rifles and, in 1975, rode state-of-the-art Russian tanks across the South Vietnamese border. The propaganda of disproportionate forces in Vietnam, the myth of small/good versus big/bad, did enough damage to help lose the war for the United States and the people of South Vietnam. Today it is one symptom of the Vietnam syndrome to the extent that it makes Americans ashamed of their power, guilty about being strong, and forgetful about the need to be willing to use their power to protect their freedom and the freedom of others.</ref>

==Miscellaneous==

''Star Wars'' became forever linked to politics when a [[Strategic Defense Initiative|missile-defense plan]], devised under the Reagan administration, was nicknamed Star Wars. Attempts to bring back such a system are still referred to by this name. Ironically, the name "Star Wars" being applied to the SDI was originally coined by left-wing journalists as an insult towards the program. In addition, despite the moniker actually being invented by the mainstream media rather than Ronald Reagan himself, George Lucas held a grudge against Reagan for "stealing" his work when naming it.

==Special Editions==

In recent years, ''Star Wars'' has become infamous for its re-releases, as well as edits to the film that have been met with heavy criticism from fans. In 1997, in honor of the 20th anniversary of ''A New Hope'', the Original Trilogy was released in theaters, with a film being released each month from January to March. Later that year, the trilogy was released on VHS. It was during this release of the original films that the alterations began. Some of the most infamous changes include Greedo proceeding to shoot first and missing despite being inches away from Han before Han shot him when originally, Han Solo shot first (Lucas, when discussing this particular change, would later claim to the Hollywood Reporter that it was "always Greedo shooting first" and that they just did closeups and that they went back to the original intention to dissuade any notions that Han was a "cold blooded killer"<ref>http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/george-lucas-star-wars-interview-288523</ref> despite Han shooting first being mentioned in a shooting script<ref>http://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/scifi/george-lucas-claims-han-shot-stupid-liar.html</ref>), as well as Jabba the Hutt being added to ''A New Hope'', which was created from a deleted scene in which Jabba was played by an actor. The same scene also included a cameo from Boba Fett, who first appeared in ''The Empire Strikes Back''. Out of the 1997 re-releases, ''The Empire Strikes Back'' received the least amount of changes, with the most significant being different angles in the wampa cave on Hoth. Another was Luke's scream when falling after the duel with Darth Vader. The scream was actually used for Emperor Palpatine when he is thrown down the Death Star by Darth Vader in ''Return of the Jedi.'' In ''Return of the Jedi'', the music from Jabba's palace was changed, as was the ending of the film. The sarlacc scene was altered as well, with a CGI beak being added. The original ending featured the song called "Yub Nub", with just the celebration on Endor. The 1997 version would feature a new song, simply called "Victory Celebration," which has a more tribal sound than "Yub Nub". Scenes were added featuring celebrations occurring on Bespin, Tatooine, and Coruscant following Palpatine's downfall, even though ''Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace'' was still two years away from release.

In 2004, the Original Trilogy was released on DVD for the first time, eight months before the release of ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith''. These releases featured even more changes. In ''A New Hope'', Jabba's appearance was altered to look more like he did in ''Return of the Jedi''. In ''The Empire Strikes Back'', the scene in which Darth Vader talks to Palpatine was altered. Elaine Baker, who played the Emperor, and Clive Revill, who provided the voice, were replaced with Ian McDiarmid. McDiarmid played Palpatine in ''Return of the Jedi'' as well as the Prequel Trilogy. The way the Emperor looks in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' is similar to his appearance in ''Revenge of the Sith''. The voice of Boba Fett was also changed. Temuera Morrison, who played Jango Fett in ''Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones'', provided the voice. Out of the three original films, ''Return of the Jedi'' has the most notorious changes. The first was the inclusion of a celebration scene on Naboo in the ending following Palpatine's death, as well as a Gungan saying "Wesa Free!" in the background. The second was Sebastian Shaw, the actor who played Anakin Skywalker as a force ghost being edited out from the Endor celebration scene and replaced with Hayden Christensen. The reason provided for the change was that he "died as a Jedi" in ''Revenge of the Sith'', hence why he looks the same.

2011 saw the entire saga released on Blu-Ray. Like the 2004 releases, these films also had significant changes. In ''A New Hope'', rock were included in the small cave that R2-D2 was hiding in when they were found by Obi-Wan Kenobi. Like 2004, ''Return of the Jedi'', once again, had the most talked about changes. The first was that the eyes of the Ewoks could now blink. The second, and most controversial, was when Darth Vader screamed "No!" right before throwing the Emperor down the Death Star shaft. This set also saw an alteration to the Prequel Trilogy. In ''The Phantom Menace'', the puppet Yoda was replaced with a CGI model used in ''Attack of the Clones'' and ''Revenge of the Sith''.

When Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012, many fans hoped this would mean a release of the Original Unaltered Trilogy. However, the rights to ''A New Hope'' permanently belong to 20th Century Fox, while the rights to the Prequel Trilogy, ''The Empire Strikes Back'', and ''Return of the Jedi'' revert to Disney in the year 2020. However, Disney eventually managed to get the rights to ''A New Hope'' via its purchase of 20th Century Fox in late 2017.

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Star Wars| ]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Movies]]
[[Category:Novels]]
[[Category:Survivalist Fiction]]
[[Category:Dystopian Fiction]]
[[Category:Science Fiction]]
[[Category:1970s]]

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

2018-09-23T23:09:30Z

FredJ:

{{Infobox Film
| name=Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
| image=SW1PMcover.jpg
| caption=
| director=[[George Lucas]]
| producer=George Lucas (executive producer) Rick McCallum
| writer=George Lucas
| narrator=
| starring=Liam Neeson Ewan McGregor [[Natalie Portman]]
| music=[[John Williams]]
| cinematography=David Tattersall
| editing=Ben Burtt Paul Martin Smith
| distributor=[[20th Century Fox]]
| released=1999
| runtime=133 min
| country=USA
| language=English
| budget=
| gross=
| preceded_by=
| followed_by=''[[Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones]]''
| website=
| amg_id=
| imdb_id=
}}

'''''Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace''''', known also as just Episode I, is a [[science fiction]] film released in 1999. The film deals with the early years of Anakin Skywalker, who will grow up to become [[Darth Vader]], as well as a young [[Obi-Wan Kenobi]], in his days as an apprentice to Qui-Gon Jinn.

==Cast==
*Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn
*Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
*Natalie Portman as Queen Padmé Amidala
*Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker
*Pernilla August as Shmi Skywalker
*Frank Oz as Yoda
*Ian McDiarmid as Senator Palpatine
*Oliver Ford Davies as Governor Sio Bibble
*Ray Park as Darth Maul
* Hugh Quarshie as Captain Quarsh Panaka
*Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks
*Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
*Kenny Baker as R2-D2
*Terence Stamp as Supreme Chancellor Valorum

==Reception==
Episode I garnered mostly mixed to negative reviews.

==Trivia==
*Many child actors auditioned for the role of Anakin Skywalker. Among theme were Justin Berfield (Malcolm in the Middle) and Michael Angrarano. Berfield's audition tape and Angrarano meeting with George Lucas can be seen in the extras for the Episode I DVD/Blu-Ray.
*This is the first film in which C-3PO does not appear in the closing scene of the movie. It is also the only movie where Anthony Daniels does not wear a suit.

[[Category:Science Fiction Movies]]
[[Category:Movies]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Movies]]
[[Category:Novels]]
[[Category:Survivalist Fiction]]
[[Category:Dystopian Fiction]]
[[Category:Science Fiction]]

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

2018-09-23T23:09:11Z

FredJ:

{{Infobox Film
| name=Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
| image=SW2AotCPoster.jpg
| caption=
| director=[[George Lucas]]
| producer=George Lucas (executive producer) Rick McCallum Lorne Orleans (IMAX producer)
| writer=George Lucas (Story & Screenplay) Jonathan Hales (Screenplay)
| narrator=
| starring=Ewan McGregor [[Natalie Portman]] Hayden Christensen Christopher Lee [[Samuel L. Jackson]]
| music=[[John Williams]]
| cinematography=David Tattersall
| editing=Ben Burtt George Lucas
| distributor=[[20th Century Fox]]
| released=2002
| runtime=142 min
| country=USA
| language=English
| budget=
| gross=
| preceded_by=''[[Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace]]''
| followed_by=''[[Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith]]''
| website=
| amg_id=
| imdb_id=
}}

'''''Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones''''' is a 2002 [[Lucasfilm]] movie. The story deals with the start of the [[Clone Wars]], as well as the conflict between [[Anakin Skywalker]]'s place as a [[Jedi]], and his new-found love for [[Padme Amidala]].

==Cast==
*Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
*Natalie Portman as Senator Padmé Amidala
*Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker
*Christopher Lee as Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus
*Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu
*Frank Oz as Yoda
*Ian McDiarmid as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious
*Pernilla August as Shmi Skywalker-Lars
*Rose Byrne as Dormé
*Temuera Morrison as Jango Fett
*Daniel Logan as Boba Fett
*Jimmy Smits as Senator Bail Organa
*Jay Laga'aia as Captain Gregar Typho
*Jack Thompson as Cliegg Lars
*Joel Egerton as Owen Lars
*Bonnie Piesse as Beru Whitesun
*Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks
*Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
*Kenny Baker as R2-D2
*Ayesha Dharker as Queen Jamillia

==Box office performance==
It held the top box office position for two weeks, and grossed $302,181,125 in the U.S. alone.<ref>http://www.the-numbers.com/features/starwars.php</ref> Critically, it received mixed reviews, much like Episode I. However, the reviews for Episode II were more positive. Two of the biggest criticisms of the film were Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker and the love story between Anakin and Padme. Critics said Christensen came off as too whiny and the love story being very wooden.

==Trivia==
*Many actors in their late teens to early twenties auditioned for the role of Anakin Skywalker, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Ryan Philippe, and Jonathan Jackson.
*It was one of the first films to use digital cameras.
*Reportedly, boy band N*SYNC had a cameo appearance in the Geonosis arena battle, but it was cut from the film.
*This was the first of the films to use a CGI Yoda.
*George Lucas designed the costume that Padme wears during the fireplace scene when she is talking to Anakin.
*It is the only movie in the Prequel Trilogy to feature both C-3PO and R2-D2 in the closing scene.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Science Fiction Movies]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Novels]]
[[Category:Dystopian Fiction]]
[[Category:Science Fiction]]

Starship Troopers

2018-09-23T23:08:47Z

FredJ:

'''''Starship Troopers''''', by [[Robert Heinlein]] was the quintessential [[conservative]] [[science fiction]] and [[dystopian]] [[survivalist fiction]] [[novel]]. [[Liberal]]s trashed it in a [[Starship Troopers (film)|1997 parody movie version]].

[[Category:Science Fiction Movies]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Movies]]
[[Category:Novels]]
[[Category:Survivalist Fiction]]
[[Category:Dystopian Fiction]]
[[Category:Science Fiction]]
[[Category:Conservative Fiction]]
[[Category:Libertarian Fiction]]

Taras Bulba

2018-09-23T23:06:34Z

FredJ:

'''''Taras Bulba''''', published in 1835, is the name of the famous novel by [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] author [[Mykola Hohol]]. It is also the name of the main character. The story is about [[Ukrainian Kozak|Kozaks]] rebellion against the [[Poland|Poles]]. It is written from a Ukrainian perspective, as opposed to the other well known book about Kozak rebellion, [[With Fire and Sword]] by [[Henryk Sienkiewicz]] which is written from the Polish perspective.

[[Category:Novels]]
[[Category:Ukraine]]

Tarzan

2018-09-23T23:06:15Z

FredJ:

'''Tarzan''' is a fictional character created by American novelist [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]], and first published in the October 1912 issue of ''All-Story'' Magazine. The son of an English nobleman who grows up in [[Africa]] among a pack of apes, Tarzan, through the subsequent novels by Burroughs and many motion pictures, has become one of the most familiar literary characters ever created.

==History==
Edgar Rice Burroughs had failed at a number of jobs prior to becoming a writer.<ref>http://www.tarzan.org/official_biography_part2.html</ref> During his last job as a pencil sharpener salesman, he read the many pulp magazines that his advertisements were placed in, and began writing several stories which were eventually published; among them was ''A Princess of Mars'' for ''All-Story'' Magazine in 1911, the foundation of his Martian stories featuring protagonist John Carter, and for which he was paid $400.<ref>http://www.tarzan.org/official_biography_part3.html</ref> Having found a niche that he liked - and encouraged by his publisher - he began the first of what would become a series of twenty-five novels featuring Tarzan.

Tarzan, according to Burroughs, is John Clayton, son of Lord and Lady Greystoke of England, who were on a trip overseas when their vessel is taken over by mutineers, who later deposit them alone on the west African coast. As they struggle to survive, John is born. His parents killed by apes, the infant John is taken to live with Kala, a she-ape who raises him as one of their own, taking the name "Tarzan" in reference to his white skin. Tarzan who grow to adulthood, challenging the supremacy of Kerchak as "king of the apes"; teaching himself to read and write from a chance encounter with the old Greystoke cabin his parents had built; meeting a human tribe for the first time; and finding Jane Porter, an American exploring the African jungle with her father, and of whom he would later marry.<ref>http://www.gutenberg.org/files/78/78-h/78-h.htm</ref><ref>http://www.gutenberg.org/files/81/81-h/81-h.htm</ref>

==External links==
====The Burroughs novels, in public domain from Project Gutenberg====
*[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/78/78-h/78-h.htm ''Tarzan of the Apes'']
*[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/81/81-h/81-h.htm ''The Return of Tarzan'']
*[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/106/106-h/106-h.htm ''Jungle Tales of Tarzan'']
*[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/92/92-h/92-h.htm ''Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar'']
*[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/85/85-h/85-h.htm ''Beasts of Tarzan'']
*[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2020/2020-h/2020-h.htm ''Tarzan the Terrible'']
*[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1401/1401-h/1401-h.htm ''Tarzan the Untamed'']
*[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/90/90-h/90-h.htm ''Son of Tarzan'']

====Other sites====
*[http://www.tarzan.org/ Official website, from the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6BlkuifHi0 ''Tarzan of the Apes'' (1918) starring Elmo Lincoln]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Novels]]

The Chance (Karen Kingsbury book)

2018-09-23T23:05:38Z

FredJ:

'''''The Chance''''' is a [[novel]] by American [[Christian]] fiction writer [[Karen Kingsbury]].

The novel is one of her "standalone" works (i.e. not part of one of her series, such as one featuring the Baxter clan, who are featured in no less than six separate series). However, two characters from a prior work (Ryan and Molly from '''The Bridge''') appear with key roles; the main characters of this book (Nolan and Ellie) later appear in a subsequent work, '''Fifteen Minutes'''.

==Plot==
{{spoiler}}
In the summer of 2002, Ellie Tucker's life is devastated by the news that her mother (Caroline) is pregnant as the result of a two-year-long affair with Peyton Anders, a country music singer, and is kicked out of the house by her father (Alan, a military instructor who places job above family, and who quotes Scripture to boss everyone around that he is the head of the house). Two days later, Alan announces that he and Ellie are moving the next day from their home in [[Savannah, Georgia]] to [[Camp Pendleton]], where he has taken a job. Alan's bitterness toward Caroline is predominant; he does not even allow Ellie the chance to visit her mother before moving.

Her only final visit is with Nolan Cook, her lifelong friend and budding childhood sweetheart. The two make a promise: each one will write a letter to the other and place it in an old tackle box, buried underneath an oak tree at a local park. They agree to meet (if they don't do so before) on June 1, 2013, eleven years to the day and read each other's letter.

In the ensuing eleven years their lives take dramatically opposite paths. Nolan becomes a basketball superstar, eventually playing for the [[Atlanta Hawks]]. He is very open about his Christian faith, and not surprisingly is linked to several women, including the daughter of a popular Christian recording artist. His ability is due in equal parts to his Christian faith, and a deep loneliness he can't shake: he misses the game-winning shot in the state championship game (the year after Ellie's move), and only hours later his dad (and coach) is found dead of a heart attack. Moreover, his attempts to locate Ellie have grown cold; even hiring a private investigator (with part of his $10 million signing bonus) is unsuccessful. To honor his dad, after every game or practice he takes one final shot, from the left side of the three-point line where he missed the shot in the championship.

Ellie, on the other hand, believed that Caroline no longer wanted to communicate with her (not knowing that Alan intercepted Caroline's letters to Ellie—one letter each week for nearly eleven years). Feeling that Nolan had also moved on, and seeing her father continue to be harsh and judgmental, Ellie abandons her Christian faith. At 19 she becomes pregnant by a soldier, who quickly dumps her and is later killed in Iraq. Alan shows her no compassion, and she moves out. Ellie later gives birth to her daughter, Kinzie (named for the street on which she and Nolan regularly met before school). At 21 Ellie legally changes her name, making it impossible for Nolan to locate her; she believes that Nolan would no longer want her due to her being an unwed mother, especially one with no faith. However, she allows Kinzie to attend church with her roommate and her roommate's daughter. And from time to time, she will watch the Hawks play on television to catch a glimpse of her old friend.

At one point after the two spend the day at the San Diego Zoo, Ellie tells Kinzie about her birth father, admitting that the two were never really in love; she admits to Kinzie that she was once in love with the now-famous Nolan Cook. Kinzie prays for her mom to reconnect with Nolan, but more importantly to find her "happy ever after" with Jesus.

As June 1 approaches, Ryan Kelly is hired as a touring guitarist by Peyton Anders, who reveals that he fathered a son with Caroline Tucker, and wants to give her money for the boy; Ryan meets her but she refuses the money, only asking that he pray that Ellie contacts her. Ryan and his wife Molly (who also operate The Dream Foundation, which provides terminally-ill children a chance to live their final dreams) are approached by the family of Gunner, a terminally-ill eight-year-old leukemia patient who's wish is to watch a Hawks game and play basketball with Nolan, a wish Nolan grants. While talking, Nolan mentions to Ryan about his lost love; Ryan puts the pieces together that he is speaking of Ellie, which Nolan confirms. Molly has only one piece of advice: if there was ever a chance that they might wind up in the same place at the same time—don't miss the chance.

Meanwhile, Alan (on what was Ellie's 26th birthday) begins to break down over the years of estrangement between himself, Caroline, and Ellie. After meeting with a chaplain Alan writes two letters, both asking for forgiveness: one to Ellie for his withholding her mail (he gives the letter, along with a box containing the mail, to her; the meeting does not go well as Ellie is angry over what he has done) and the other to Caroline for his actions in keeping her and Ellie apart.

Nolan senses that Ellie may be in trouble; at that same moment Ellie begins reading the letters. One letter upsets her the most—the letter sensed Ellie was in trouble; it was dated the day before Kinzie's birth.

Ellie decides that she and Kinzie need to go to Savannah and meet Caroline. Kinzie reminds Ellie about how she taught her forgiveness; Ellie decides that they will visit Alan before the long drive. Ellie also has one last plan: to go to the park and dig up the old letters and read Nolan's, as a means of closure (believing media reports that Nolan is dating a well-known Christian personality, along with her belief that Nolan would no longer want the Ellie of today).

Nolan arrives in Savannah on a two-day break (which happens to include June 1) and meets Caroline, who tells him Ellie is in town. However, Ellie tries to avoid meeting him; when she does she's defensive, not wanting Nolan to know about her past. He never mentions the June 1 meeting; she believes he's forgotten and plans to leave town.

However, Nolan is prompted to camp out at the park beginning at midnight (planning to stay the entire 24 hours if needed); Ellie is also prompted to go to the park and arrives in the early morning hours secretly trying to dig up the box, read his letter, and move on with her life. But Nolan already has dug up the box; Ellie sees him and tries to leave but before she can he tells her he sees her. Each reads the other's letter: Ellie's letter thanks Nolan for being so good to her and says she loves him; Nolan's letter says that by the time they read these letters they will be married and he will play for the Hawks. Later at Caroline's house Ellie tells Nolan all about what happened in the intervening eleven years, including the circumstances of Kinzie's birth. Nolan is not judgmental; he says he still wants to marry Ellie and be Kinzie's father. For the first time since high school, Ellie finally prays and once again believes that God was there for her along the way.

In the deciding Game 6 of the NBA Finals, Nolan surprises Caroline by flying Alan to the game, whereupon the two reunite and plan to restore their broken marriage. The Hawks defeat the Los Angeles Lakers at home for their first NBA title. Nolan is named Finals MVP, whereupon he thanks Jesus Christ for his ability, and dedicates the game to his dad, and to Ellie (announcing his plans to marry her). He walks out of [[Phillips Arena]], for once not taking his practice shot, but "[w]ith his arm around the only girl he ever loved. Ellie Tucker."

==Characters==
*'''Nolan Cook''' - the main male character. He has been Ellie's best friend since second grade and by the time they turned 15 he began to have romantic feelings for her. It is his idea to plant the box with the letters in the park. Eleven years later Nolan becomes an NBA star for the Atlanta Hawks, and uses his stardom to publicly proclaim his Christian faith. However, Ellie's departure (and his inability to find her) along with his dad's death as a teenager have left him lonely.
*'''Ellie Tucker''' - the main female character. She is forced to move away at 15 due to her parents' marital troubles, taking her away from her best friend Nolan (about whom she is also beginning to have romantic feelings). Her relationship with her father—and with God—deteriorate over the ensuing eleven years; she ends up pregnant at 19 and gives birth to a daughter. Eventually she changes her name to keep Nolan from finding her. After learning the truth about her mother, she returns to Savannah and initially doesn't want to reconnect with Nolan due to her being an unwed single mother.
*'''Caroline Tucker''' - Ellie's mother. Her pregnancy due to an affair causes her marriage to break up (though there is no ensuing divorce); she gives birth to a son. She writes a letter every week for eleven years attempting to reconnect with Ellie.
*'''Alan Tucker''' - Ellie's father. A Marine who places career over family, he is harsh and unforgiving to both Caroline and Ellie, using Scripture to boss them around. He intercepts Caroline's letters to Ellie and hides them. Ultimately he has a breakdown and recognizes that his actions have caused him to be estranged from his family.
*'''Kinzie''' - Ellie's daughter, named for the street on which she and Nolan would meet each day before school. Ellie allows her to go to church with Ellie's roommates and she prays for her mother to return to Jesus—and reconnect with Nolan.
*'''Ryan and Molly Kelly''' - founders of The Dream Foundation (similar to Make-A-Wish). Originally featured in '''The Bridge''', they ultimately connect with Caroline and Nolan, praying for Ellie to return.
*'''Peyton Anders''' - a country singer with whom Caroline has the affair and is the father of her child. Ryan tours with him and learns about Caroline during the tour.
*'''Tina and Tiara''' - Ellie's roommates. They take Kinzie to church each Sunday.
*'''John''' - Caroline's son by Peyton Anders.
*'''Gunner''' - a terminally ill young boy who Nolan meets through The Dream Foundation. It is through him that Ryan learns about Nolan's relationship with Caroline and Ellie.
*'''Jimbo''' - a homeless man (likely an alcoholic) whom Ellie befriends and helps from time to time.
*'''CJ Andrews''' - Kinzie's birth father. He wants nothing to do with Ellie after their sexual encounter and discovering she is pregnant. Ellie, in turn, does not list him as the father on the birth certificate. He dies in combat in Iraq; though Ellie does not go to his memorial service she does portray him in a positive light to Kinzie.
**In an earlier Kingsbury novel, '''Hannah's Hope''' (released 2005), a character named CJ (an Army pilot) is mentioned; CJ dies when the chopper he co-pilots is shot down while on a mission in Iraq. In that novel, CJ is mentioned as not having any children. (It should be noted that Kingsbury frequently reuses characters in her books.)

==Christian Values Portrayed==
The main theme of the book is forgiveness: both Caroline and Ellie ultimately forgive Alan for his harsh, judgmental, unloving ways. The song "Forgiveness" by Christian artist [[Matthew West]] is referenced in the book (and used in a YouTube promotional trailer for the book).

Nolan is portrayed in a positive light, using his professional basketball talents to honor Christ publicly.

Although both Caroline and Ellie commit the sin of sex outside marriage, and both end up pregnant as a result, neither chooses abortion and both choose to raise their children as single parents (though Alan and Caroline never legally divorce). Caroline ends up restoring her faith in the face of tragedy; though Ellie loses her faith she allows Kinzie to attend church with her roommates, where she is given [[Adventures in Odyssey]] CD's and learns to "sing something about cucumbers" (a reference to the [[VeggieTales]] series) and builds up her childlike faith enough to pray for Ellie and Nolan to meet again.

==Negative Values Portrayed==
''The Chance'' is rare among Christian fiction in that it portrays members of the military in a negative light.

Alan (a Marine Corps sergeant) is portrayed as harsh, judgmental, and unforgiving, misusing Scripture to boss his family around. He also places his military career above his family. He throws Caroline out of their house when she announces her pregnancy by another man, and later forces Ellie to listen to numerous Bible verses about sexual sin when she announces her out-of-wedlock pregnancy. He illegally withholds Caroline's letters that she faithfully writes to Ellie, once a week for eleven years (withholding another person's mail is a Federal crime). He shows no love for either Caroline or Ellie after their sins, causing him to be estranged from his wife for eleven years and his daughter for seven (at 21 Ellie legally changes her name and Kinzie's to drop the Tucker surname in response to his actions and her belief that her mother never wanted to contact her, and partially to keep Nolan from discovering how she turned out in the interim).

CJ Andrews (Kinzie's birth father. also a soldier) wants nothing to do with Ellie after she informs him of his pregnancy. In return, when Ellie learns of his death while in combat, she doesn't attend his memorial service. She does not list him as the father on Kinzie's birth certificate.

[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Novels]]
[[Category:Christian Books]]

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

2018-09-23T23:05:03Z

FredJ:

'''''The Hunchback of Notre Dame''''' (French: ''Notre Dame de Paris'') is a book by [[Victor Hugo]] written in 1831. The book tells the story of the gypsy girl Esmeralda who falls in love with the captain Phoebus, but who herself is desired by Archbishop Claude Frollo. While being sent to be hanged, Esmeralda is rescued by the hunchback Quasimodo, who she had shown kindness to by giving him a glass of water while he was on the pillory. The book also talks about [[architecture]], and the effects that the [[printing press]] will have on it.

==Inspiration==
According to a preface of the book, the author states that the book is centered around the word 'ANArKH,' which he found inscribed on the walls of Notre Dame.

==Plot summary==

The book takes place in [[Paris]], [[France]] in the year of 1482. It stats on January 6 of that year on the Festival of Fools. The poet and philosopher, Pierre Gringoire, is debuting a moral play which he wrote himself. The play is interrupted by the announcement of the comings of various nobility, and is finally interrupted by the last time by the choosing of the King of Fools. The choosing of the King of Fools happens when contestants put their head through a hole and try to make the ugliest face possible. Some people try out, before the deformed hunchback and bell ringer of Notre Dame Quasimodo is chosen as the King of Fools. There is then a parade celebrating his coronation.

Later on in the night, Pierre Gringoire stumbles upon a performance of a gipsy girl and her little goat. While she is preforming, a voice every now and then makes a comment which scares the gipsy girl. This voice belongs to the archbishop of Notre Dame, Claude Frollo. The gipsy girl's performances is interrupted by the possession of the King of Fools. When Frollo recognizes Quasimodo, he makes it known (through sign language since the latter is deaf because of the bells) that Frollo is ashamed of him, and the two go off together. The gipsy girl then goes off.

Gringoire decides to follow the gipsy girl as she might let him have a place to sleep. While he follows her, the gipsy girl is being kidnapped by two people. However, she is saved by Phoebus, the captain of the guard. One of the kidnappers escapes, while the other is apprehended and is shown to be the hunchback Quasimodo. The gipsy girl meanwhile escapes from Phoebus, much to his surprise.

Gringoire finds a mattress on the ground and decides to sleep on it. A group of homeless children, without seeing Gringoire, decide to set the mattress on fire. They attempt to do so, but scare themselves and Gringoire who runs away. When he comes to his senses, he keeps on walking, until he is captured by rogues who were pretending to be disabled, and take him to the Court of Miracles, which is a hideout for criminals.

At the Court of Miracles, Gringoire tries to beg mercy from Clopin Trouillefou, the King of the Court of Miracles. Clopin says that if Grongoire is able to steal from a dummy lined with lots of bells without ringing any of the bells, he can join the rogues. But if one of the bells rings, he will be hanged unless a woman marries him for four years. Gringoire tries, and fails miserably. Before he is to be hanged, a couple of women check him out and find him undesirable. Esmeralda comes in with and her goat Djali, who is the gipsy girl from earlier, and decides to save Gringoire by marrying him for four years.

Meanwhile, three women go to the cell at Tour-Roland, where a recluse named Sister Gudule lives to bring a cake to her. One of the women, whose name is Mahiette, tells a story about a dear friend of hers named Paquette Chantefleurie. Chantefleurie gave birth to a little girl named Agnes whom she loved very much, and who had two identical shoes. One day, gipsies came to the town where they lived, and Chantefleurie took Agnes to meet them to get the latter's fortune. Later that night, after Chantefleurie bragged about her daughter's fortune, she came home and found that Agnes, and one of her shoes, were gone, and was replaced by a deformed four year old. The four year old was sent away. The next day there is found evidence that the gipsies had eaten Agnes. Chantefleurie left the town and was never seen again. The three women arrive at the cell where Mahiette recognizes Sister Gudule as her old friend Paquette Chantefleurie. Chantefleurie has been in there for fifteen years, [[praying]] to [[God]] to give back her daughter, and stills has the little shoe that was left behind.

Quasimodo is to be sent to the pillory (which is a wheel one is tied to), for two hours and to be whipped while he is there. While he is being punished, Esmeralda comes and gives him some water.

Phoebus is at the house of his cousin and betrothed Fleur-de-Lys. Fleur-de-Lys has her mother, and three of her companions, and a little girl, are there as well. The four girls see a gipsy and a goat performing down below and invite her to come up and entertain them. The gipsy girl and the goat, who are Esmeralda and Djali, come up. The four women then get jealous of Esmeralda. After the little girl spills the contents around Djali's neck, the goat precedes to rearrange them into the name Phoebus. Esmeralda then gets the contents and Djali and leaves the house.

Claude Frollo learns from Gringoire that Esmeralda has fallen in love with Phoebus. It turns out that Frollo has fallen in love with Esmeralda.

Claude Frollo meets Phoebus and goes with him to a house where the latter is to meet the gipsy girl Esmeralda. Frollo hides as Phoebus and Esmeralda meet. As the other two play around, Frollo comes out, stabs Phoebus and escapes. Esmeralda faints, and when she wakes up, she is surrounded by officers who arrest her for witchcraft and the murder of Phoebus.

Months later, Esmeralda is being tried. When she doesn't give in to the charges against her, which include murder and witchcraft, the court sends her to be tortured. She is tortured shortly with the boot before giving into the charges against her. She is then to be hanged along with Djali.

That night in prison, Claude Frollo visits Esmeralda and confesses his love for her, and tells her that if she wants to live, she must go with him and love him too. Esmeralda refuses to do so.

The next day, while Esmeralda and Djali are going to be hanged, and are at Notre Dame for penance, Quasimodo, as a payback for her kindness, sweeps down and saves her, carrying her around Notre Dame and screaming "Sanctuary!" The crowd cheers. Quasimodo shows Esmeralda to a room on top of the roof where she can stay. Djali is also there. Quasimodo gives her a whistle which he can hear just in case she needs him.

Esmeralda from looking on the roof looks down and sees that Phoebus is alive. She tries to get Quasimodo to go get him, but it doesn't work.

One night, Frollo tries to kill Esmeralda, but Quasimodo defends her after she blows on the whistle. However, he stopes attacking Frollo when he realizes who it is.

Gringoire tells the Court of Miracles what happens, and that Esmeralda is on Notre Dame. They then plan to go rescue her by assaulting the cathedral. While assaulting it, Quasimodo defends it. In the process, Jehan Frollo, brother of Claude Frollo, gets on top of the cathedral by a ladder -that was shortly after thrown down by Quasimodo- and is killed by the hunchback.

The news of this assault gets to the ears of King Louis XI, who thinking that the vagrants want to hang Esmeralda sends the army to crush the rebellion and hang Esmeralda. He also released Gringoire after he tells the king that he has nothing to do with the rebellion.

Esmeralda and Djali are found and rescued by Gringoire and a mysterious man. They escape onto a boat. On the shore, Gringoire takes Djali and the man takes Esmeralda. Near the scaffold where she would have been hanged, the man reveals himself to be Claude Frollo, who gives her one more chance to escape, which she refuses. Frollo then hands Esmeralda into the hands of the recluse Chantefleurie.

Chantefleurie gloats about Esmeralda dying, as her daughter was eating by gipsies. She shows the gipsy girl the little shoe that used to belong to her daughter. Esmeralda recognizes it, and brings out the object in the pouch of her necklace, which turns out to be a little shoe that's identical to the other one. The recluse then realizes that the gipsy girl is her daughter Agnes. She tears the bars of her cell and brings her daughter in there. Chantefleurie hides Esmeralda from some officers.

After an inquiry, the officers find Esmeralda in the cell and take her out. Chantefleurie begs them to let her daughter go, but to no avail, and is thrown onto the ground by one of the officers where she hits her head and dies. Esmeralda is then hanged.

From Notre Dame, Claude Frollo watches this happen. Quasimodo comes and sees what happens. He realizes what Frollo did and pushes him off of Notre Dame, where he falls to death. No one sees Quasimodo alive ever again.

However, years later, a grave is dug up and two [[skeleton]]s are found. One of them is of a young girl whose neck is snapped, indicating that she was hung. The other skeleton which is deformed whose neck was not snapped, meaning that he died there, holding the other one. When they try to remove the deformed skeleton from the other skeleton, it turns to dust.

==Characters==

*Paquette Chantefleurie -the recluse inhabiting the cell in the Tour-Roland, where she is known as Sister Gudule. She has inhabited the cell for fifteen years, praying to God to give back her baby girl who were taken by gypsies., which a little shoe is all she has left of her.
*Esmeralda -the protagonist of the book. She is an extremely beautiful gipsy girl who is caught between her love for Phoebus and the lust of the Claude Frollo. She doesn't know who her parents are, and she has a little shoe inside a container around her necklace which is said will show her her parents if she remains chaste.
**Djali -Esmeralda's loyal pet goat. She has golden hoofs. She was trained by her owner to do tricks, which was later provided as evidence of Esmeralda's involvement in witchcraft.
*Claude Frollo -the archbishop of Notre Dame. He lusts after Esmeralda, and to stop it he tries to have her killed by framing her for murder and witchcraft. Afterwards, he tries to get Esmeralda by saying that if she will be his mistress, he will set her free.
*Jehan Frollo -the irresponsible brother of Claude Frollo, who was raised by the latter when their parents die. After Cladue Frollo refuses to give him anymore money, he becomes a rogue.
*Pierre Gringoire -is a poet and philosopher who wrote a moral play in the beginning of the book which is interrupted by the Festival of Fools. Esmeralda becomes his wife for four years as a way to save him from being hanged in the Court of Miracles.
*Quasimodo -a deformed hunchback who was found at the doorsteps of Notre Dame when he was four years old. Claude Frollo took him in and treated him like a servant. He is the bell ringer of Notre Dame which made him go deaf. When on the pillory, he is given water by Esmeralda, which he repays her by saving her from being hanged.
*Phoebus -the captain of the guard. He is betrothed to his cousin Fleur-de-Lys. He is the love interest of Esmeralda.
*Clopin Trouillefou -the king of the Court of Miracles.

==Themes==
*One of the themes of the book, which commences with the words spoken by Claude Frollo 'the one will kill the other,' [Book 5: Chapter 2], talks about architecture and the effect the printing press will have on it. Hugo argues that before the printing press that architecture was the way humanity recorded ideas, and now that books have become common, that architecture will now no longer serve this purpose.

==Adaptations==
*Esmeralda (1905). Earliest known adaptation.
*Notre Dame de Paris (1911).
*The Darling of Paris (1917). A loose adaptation.
*Esmeralda (1922).
*The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923).
*The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939).
*Notre Dame de Paris (1956).
*The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1976). A [[BBC]] TV movie.
*The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982). A TV movie.
*The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1986). A direct to video animated film by Burbank Films Australia.
*The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). The [[Disney]] version, released during the [[Disney Renaissance]] (1989-1999). Considered to be one of Disney's darkest films.
*The Hunchback (1997).
*Notre Dame de Paris (1998). A television record of a theatrical version.
*Notre Dame de Paris (1996). A TV movie told in a ballet.
*Quasimodo d'El Paris (1999). A comedic version that takes place in the 20th century.
*The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002). Direct to video sequel of the Disney film.
*Notre Dame de Paris -Live Arena di Verona (2002). A video of an Italian theatrical version.

==References==
1. "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Movies. Comicvine.com. Web. 10 Aug. 2014. [<http://www.comicvine.com/the-hunchback-of-notre-dame/4005-7849/movies/>.]

[[Category:Novels]]

The Man who Laughs

2018-09-23T23:04:42Z

FredJ:

'''''The Man who Laughs''''' (In French: L'Homme qui rit) is a novel written by [[Victor Hugo]], first published in 1869. It tells of the story of Gwynplaine, whose face at a young age was mutilated into a permanent smile, his love interest, the blind Dea, their adopted father Ursus and his pet wolf Homo, the duchess Josiana, and the Lord David Dirry-Moir. Hugo wrote the book during his time on the [[Channel Islands]].

==Plot Summary==
The novel begins with two preliminary chapters. The first describes Ursus ([[Latin]] for 'bear), a cynical healer, poet, and philosopher, who travels along in a caravan which is pulled by his loyal pet wolf Homo (Latin for 'man'). In the caravan are many inscriptions, including 'Ursus, Philosopher.' The second described the Comprachicos, which are a group of outlaws that abduct children at a very young age, mutilate and deform them, and then give them to nobility for entertainment. After these two preliminary chapters, the story begins.

The novel is set in [[England]], starting in January, 1690. The story begins at Portland. A group of people are getting ready to leave England in haste on a boat called the ''Matutina''. When they leave, they on purposefully leave a ten year old child behind. The child, realizing that he had been abandoned, sets out alone as night comes. He comes to a dead man in a gibbet, and after looking at it in a stupor for a short time, is frightened by it and runs off.

Meanwhile, the people on board the ''Matutina'', who turn out to be Comprachicos, get caught in a storm. With difficulty, they survive the storm, but are about to be dashed to pieces by a cliff called the Caskets, which they avoid through ingenuity. By luck they also survive the Ortach. However, along the way they gained a hole in the hold, and the ship starts to sink. As their last actions, they confess to a crime they had done, sign their names, put a paper into a gourd, and then pray to [[God]] as they drown. The gourd alone survives, riding on the waves.

Back to the ten-year-old boy, he is continuing his journey when it begins to snow. As he is following some footprints, he comes across a dead woman. From the dead woman he hears crying. He looks and finds a baby girl, still alive at her mother's breasts. The boy out of compassion picks up the girl and carries her along with him, even though this makes his journey harder. He goes through a town, and tries to get help, but apparently everybody is asleep and doesn't help him. The boy continues, until he comes on a caravan. The boy asks the man inside for help, and the man lets him and the girl inside.

The man is Ursus. He gives the boy dinner and gives milk to the little girl. He, along with Homo, then go out to inspect the dead woman's body (which the boy had told him about), and leaves the two children alone for the night. He comes back the next morning, having inspected the woman. He decides to adopt the two children by saying 'well done, Home. I shall be father, and you shall be uncle...adoption! it is settled; Homo is willing,' after Homo had licked the little girl's arm. He then notices that the boy is smiling, and after questions the boy about it, realizes that the smile is permanent (he couldn't see the smile before since it was too dark for him to do so). He also realizes that the little girl is blind.

The story then switches forward fifteen years to the year 1705 to tell about the Duchess Josiana, her betrothed Lord David Dirry-Moir, and a scoundrel called Barkilphedro. Josiana is bored, and on a ''le tour'' with David, he tells her to go see Gwynplaine to cure her boredom.

Ursus and Home are still alive, though old. Living with them are the boy named Gwynplaine and the girl named Dea (Latin for 'goddess') and who are all grown up. Gwynplaine and Dea are in love. Dea being a beautiful and virtuous (though blind) young woman who loves Gwynplaine because she can't see his face, and sees him for who he really is. It also turns out that Dea has something wrong with her heart. Along with them are two gipsy women named Vinos and Fibi. They no longer live in the caravan (though they still have it), but in a larger mobile house called the Green Box, which they got from all the money they had earned. They go around England as mount brakes, entertaining people with performances, the most notable being 'Ursus Rursus,' and 'Chaos Vanished,' which the latter of them being the most successful. As their success rises, they decided to go to [[London]] to preform there.

They arrive in London at the Tadcaster Inn, which is owned by Master Nicless with the boy Govicum, and set up in the Tarrinzeau Field, where their performances become so popular that they have no rivals among the other performers. Helping keep the peace between them is a man by the name of Tim-Jim-Jack. Eventually, the duchess Josiana comes and watches 'Chaos Vanished,' and her appearance effects Gwynplaine. Tim-Jim-Jack disappears with Josiana. Later, as Gwynplaine is walking outside, he gets a letter from Josiana, which tells him that she loves him despite his smile. Gwynplaine hides the note, and goes back to the Green Box without telling anybody about the note. The next morning, he sees Dea while eating breakfast and decides that he loves her and burns the note from Josiana. While their eating breakfeast, a man comes in and motions for Gwynplaine to follow him. He does so without anyone upsetting Dea.

Ursus follows the two secretly to the prison of Southwark where he sees Gwynplaine ushered inside. Gwynplaine is taken to a torture chamber where a man is being tortured. The man, upon seeing Gwynplaine's smile, says 'tis he,' and then dies. It is then that Gwynplaine is reveled to be the Lord Clancharlie. It turns out that he is the son of Lord Linnaeus Clancharlie who went to Switzerland and there had a child. James II, who was an enemy of Clancharlie, when the latter died, had the two-year-old son abducted and taken into the Comprachicos to be mutilated by a permanent smile. This was all retrieved by the gouard, which had miraculously survived the sea for fifteen years. Gwynplaine, upon hearing this, faints.

Outside, Ursus it is evening, and Ursus goes back to the Tarrinzeau Field, thinking that Gwynplaine is dead. He tells Master Nicless to cancel the show. In the Green Box, while Dea is sleeping, he, like a mad man, talks about how since Gwynplaine is dead, Dea will die, and how it will be better off that they were. Dea awakes for her preformance.

<blockquote>
Meanwhile, the ineffable blind look of Dea's eyes met those of Ursus. He started.
</blockquote>

Ursus then changes his mind and rationalizes that Dea doesn't have to die. He tells Vinos and Fibi to get Dea ready for the performance. He then uses his ventriloquism skills to make Dea believe that Gwynplaine is there, and with a little help from Govicum, a crowd as well. 'Chaos Vanished,' is preformed, with Ursus assuming the role of Gwynplaine. However, she is not fooled, and thinking that Gwynplaine is dead, starts to ponder when she will die also. Master Nicless calls for Ursus. In the tavern, Master Nicless gives Ursus Gwynplaine's esclavine, jacket, and hat, which was given to him by a man connected to the police. Ursus then goes back to the prison to find out if Gwynplaine is really dead or not. A bell rings fifteen times, announcing a funeral of an inmate of the prison. Ursus sees the police carry off a body he assumes to be Gwynplaine's.

<blockquote>
'He is dead!' cried Ursus.
He sank down upon a stone.
'Dead! They have killed him! Gwynplaine! My child! My son!'
And he burst into passionate sobs.
Ursus, alas! had boasted that he had never wept. His reservoir of tears was full. Such plentitude as is accumulated drop on drop, sorrow on sorrow, through a long existence, is not to be poured out in a moment. Ursus wept alone.
The first tear is a letting out of waters. He wept for Gwynplaine, for Dea, for himself, for Homo. He wept like a child. He wept like an old man. He wept for everything at which he had ever laughed...Man is never nonsuited when he pleads his right to tears.
</blockquote>

Ursus goes back to the Tadcaster Inn, rationalizing that that might not have been Gwynplaine. But when he gets there, Barkilphedro informs him that Gwynplaine is indeed dead, and orders him to leave with Homo, otherwise the wolf would have to be killed.

Meanwhile, Gwynplaine awakens at a house where Barkilphedro tells him about his lordship and that he now has the ability to decide whether or not he wants it. Gwynplaine says that he does and Barkilphedro leaves. Gwynplaine then changes his mind, and tries to exit the house, where he accidentally encounters Josiana. Josiana then reveals that she loves him because of his ugliness. After she leaves, Gwynplaine meets Tim-Jim-Jack, who is actually the Lord David Dirry-Moir.

Gwynplaine is then taken to London, where there is a meeting of the Lords of England to discuss some bills. On a bill charging the country with costs for the improvements made by the Queen to her residence at Hampton Court, Gwynplaine votes no to it and talks about why, telling the nobility about the plight of the poor and their obliviousness to it. At first, he manages with lots of willpower to keep his smile away, but then it comes back and the lords don't take him seriously anymore, and dismiss because of the interruption. Outside, Gwynplaine stumbles upon David scolding other lords for mocking Gwynplaine. After the lord leave, David confronts Gwynplaine about the insult the latter made on his mother during his speech, where it turns out that the two of them are half-brothers. David then challenged Gwynplaine to a duel.

That night, Gwynplaine goes to the Tarrinzeau Field where he finds it empty. He then leaves a note denouncing his lordship and giving it to David. He then meets Homo who he follows to a ship. On the ship are Ursus and Dea, without Vinus and Fibi, and without the Green Box, only the caravan they originally had. Gwynplaine doesn't reveal himself at first, he only observes. Dea is weak, and Ursus fears that if she receives a shock, she will die. Gwynplaine then reveals himself to Dea. As the ship starts to leave England, all four of them start to reunite, with Gywnplaine and Dea telling each other how much they love each other.

However, this is cut short when an artery in Dea's heart bursts which causes her to die. While Ursus is in swoon over this, Gwynplaine then jumps over the ship into the water, believing that that is the only way to reunite with Dea. Ursus reawakens to find him gone.

==Characters==
*Barkilphedro -a man who works for nobility who finds out that Gwynplaine is actually Lord Clancharlie.
*David Dirry-Moir -a young man, also known as Tom-Jim-Jack, who is betrothed to Josiana, and is the half-brother of Gwynplaine.
*Dea -a young woman who is blind and the love interest of Gwynplaine. She has heart troubles. Her name is Latin for 'goddess.'
*Govicum -a boy at the Tadcaster Inn.
*Gwynplaine -a young man, also known as Lord Clancharlie, abandoned by a group of Comprachicos at the age of ten in England, where he found Dea, and was later taken in by Ursus. His face is mutilated into a permanent smile by the Comprachicos, an event that he doesn't remember. He is a successful mount brake along with his adopted family, and uses his smile in their performances.
*Josiana -a duchess who is the sister of Queen Anne. She falls in love with Gwynplaine because of his ugliness.
*Master Nicless -the owner of the Tadcaster Inn.
*Ursus -an old man who is the adopted father of Gwynplaine and Dea, and master of Homo. He is a cynical misanthropist, a healer, a poet, and a philosopher. His name is Latin for 'bear.'
**Homo -Ursus' loyal pet wolf who sometimes pulls the caravan. His name is Latin for 'man.'

[[Category:Novels]]

The sharing knife

2018-09-23T23:03:58Z

FredJ:

'''''The Sharing Knife''''' is a collection of fantasy novels by Lois McMaster Bujold. Some literary critics have found this set of novels not of the high standard expected of the writer and may be a bit odd.<ref>http://www.strangehorizons.com/reviews/2006/07/the_shari.shtml</ref>

<references/>
[[Category:Novels]]

Treasure Island

2018-09-23T23:02:38Z

FredJ:

'''''Treasure Island''''' is an immensely popular 160-page novel by [[Robert Louis Stevenson]] describing a search for a treasure in the [[Caribbean]]. Set in the 1700s, Stevenson published this work in 1883 while recovering from a health problem in Switzerland. The novel features the colorful villain named "Long John Silver," who became one of the most famous fictional characters ever. A restaurant chain is named after him today.

This novel was an inspiration for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” attraction at Disneyland and Disney World, which was the last ride supervised by [[Walt Disney]].

The novel begins:
{{cquote|QUIRE TRELAWNEY, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from the beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the island, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted, I take up my pen in the year of grace 17__ and go back to the time when my father kept the Admiral Benbow inn and the brown old seaman with the sabre cut first took up his lodging under our roof.
I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the inn door, his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow—a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the shoulder of his soiled blue coat, his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails, and the sabre cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid white. I remember him looking round the cover and whistling to himself as he did so, and then breaking out in that old sea-song that he sang so often afterwards:
::"Fifteen men on the dead man's chest—
::Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"
in the high, old tottering voice that seemed to have been tuned and broken at the capstan bars. Then he rapped on the door with a bit of stick like a handspike that he carried, and when my father appeared, called roughly for a glass of rum. This, when it was brought to him, he drank slowly, like a connoisseur, lingering on the taste and still looking about him at the cliffs and up at our signboard.}}
== See also ==
*[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/120/120-h/120-h.htm Free online copy of Treasure Island]
[[Category:Novels]]

Ulysses (novel)

2018-09-23T23:01:45Z

FredJ:

'''''Ulysses''''' is a [[novel]] by [[James Joyce]], considered to be its author's masterpiece and one of the great works of twentieth century [[literature]]. The events of the novel take place over a single day, and follow Leopold Bloom as he travels around [[Dublin]]. The book's title comes from the hero of the [[Odyssey]], on which many of its episodes are based (for example, a visit to a [[funeral]] parallels the original [[Ulysses]]'s visit to [[Hades]]). The book is written in an unusual stream-of-consciousness style, which Joyce originated, and also contains many [[neologism]]s and words from [[Irish]] dialect.

''Ulysses'' has been extremely influential, although few of its imitators match its ambition. Much-loved, it is frequently found in lists of the public's favorite books, and is remembered each year on 16 June (known as Bloomsday), when devotees follow the protagonist's path around Dublin.<ref>[http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/page/0,,1236906,00.html Bloomsday at Guardian Books]</ref>

At the time of its publication, ''Ulysses'' gave rise to a great deal of controversy because certain incidents and language were considered obscene. Despite its great literary merit, parents should exercise caution when recommending it to their children (although the book's prose style renders it impenetrable to most children and many adults, regardless of content).

==External links==
*[http://www.online-literature.com/james_joyce/ulysses/ Online edition] from The Literature Network

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Novels]]

Uncle Tom's Cabin

2018-09-23T23:00:35Z

FredJ:

'''''Uncle Tom's Cabin''''' was a popular [[abolitionist]] novel written by [[Harriet Beecher Stowe]] in 1852. The main character is [[Uncle Tom]], a black [[slave]] who endures undeserved hardship with a quiet dignity and grace from [[God]].

The book was very successful, selling 300,000 copies in the first year alone. Its popularity led it to be turned into theatrical performances and eventually silent films.<ref>[http://chnm.gmu.edu/lostmuseum/searchlm.php?function=find&exhibit=uncletom&browse=uncletom The Uncle Tom's Cabin Archive]</ref> Its popularity also helped add fuel to the fire of the building anti-slavery movement, which culminated in the [[American Civil War]] and the removal of slavery from [[America]], and as such is one of the most powerful books ever written.

==Influence==
The book (and play) was incredibly powerful and influential at the time of its writing—to the point where President [[Abraham Lincoln]] described Harriet Beecher Stowe as "the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war!"

The book conveys an unflinching [[Christian]] message. Stowe, the daughter of a minister, wrote a novel that openly called on Americans to do their Christian duty and oppose [[slavery]]. The book contains powerful Christian characters (Tom and Eva) who manage to touch others through their faith and devotion. Tom is indeed a [[Christ]]-like figure who suffers and dies for us all.

The phrase "Uncle Tom" has come to be used as a derogatory term for someone who is black, but chooses to act in a subservient manner towards powerful whites. This, however, is not an accurate depiction of the character in the novel. Uncle Tom is a tremendously strong individual, who refuses to strike back at his owners not because he is subservient to them but because he is subservient to God. At the climax of the book, he is beaten to death by Simon Legree. Tom doesn't fight back, but this is in no way an act of surrender; to the end, he refuses to betray the other slaves who have escaped. Although Legree attempts to destroy Tom's [[faith]], he fails. Tom forgives him and prays for him even when he is being beaten to death. Although Tom dies, he is the ultimate victor—not a broken and demoralized slave, but a triumphant servant of Christ.

It is from the subsequent dramatizations of the novel that the derogatory connotations of "Uncle Tom" come. In these overly sentimental and spectacular reworkings of Stowe's book, Uncle Tom was transformed into a "stooped, obedient old fool," his strength and intelligence stripped away to fit the "image of a submissive black man preferred by post-Reconstruction, pre-civil rights America."<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/14/opinion/14Reynolds.html</ref>

==Theatrical Posters==
<gallery>Image:Uncle Tom.jpg|"Uncle Tom"
Image:Legree.jpg|"Legree"
Image:Eliza.jpg|"Eliza"
Image:Topsy.jpg|"Topsy"</gallery>

==See also==
* ''[[Aunt Phillis's Cabin]]''

==References==
<references/>
::http://www.iath.virginia.edu/utc/

==External links==
* [http://www.ferris.edu/news/jimcrow/tom/ "The Tom Character"] from the museum of Racial Memorabilia
* [http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/post_11.html Who's an Uncle Tom?] - Bruce Walker
* [https://librivox.org/uncle-toms-cabin-by-harriet-beecher-stowe/ Uncle Tom's Cabin] - [[LibriVox]]

[[Category:Literature]]
[[Category:Slavery]]
[[Category:The South]]
[[Category:Black History]]
[[Category:Abolitionists]]
[[Category:Novels]]

Valley of the Dolls

2018-09-23T23:00:03Z

FredJ:

'''''Valley of the Dolls''''' is a 1966 novel by [[Jacqueline Susann]] about a group of women who move to Hollywood after World War II and try to become famous actresses. None of them become famous, and they just end up ruining their lives by using drugs.

[[Category:Novels]]

Wuthering Heights

2018-09-23T22:59:22Z

FredJ:

'''''Wuthering Heights''''' is a novel written by [[Emily Brontë]], first published in 1848. It recounts the tumultuous lives of two or three generations of the occupants of the titular house, Wuthering Heights, and neighbouring Thrushcross Grange, both situated on the [[moor]]s of [[Yorkshire]] in the north of [[England]].

Central to the story is the love between Heathcliff, an adopted [[gypsy]] boy, and his foster sister Catherine Earnshaw. Catherine's marriage to a richer, more respectable man than her true love drives Heathcliff into villainous madness, resulting in him inflicting years of psychological and physical abuse his own family and those connected with him; Heathcliff himself was subject to comparable abuse as a boy by his older foster brother Hindley. The wild, stark, forbidding, tempestuous moors make an apt setting for this bleak subject matter, and Brontë is almost cinematic ''avant la letre'' in her use of the former as a backdrop to the latter.

Several film versions of Wuthering Heights have been made, and also a modestly successful stage musical starring, somewhat surprisingly, [[Cliff Richard]] as Heathcliff. The singer [[Kate Bush]] also took inspiration from the novel for her first hit single, also called ''Wuthering Heights''.

''Wuthering Heights'' is also the title of a poem by the American [[Sylvia Plath]], written in September 1961. With startlingly original and depressive imagery, it invokes the moors at dusk on a cold, gray wind-blown day.

[[Category:Novels]]
[[Category:English Literature]]

Vanity Fair

2018-09-23T22:58:26Z

FredJ:

'''''Vanity Fair''''' is a novel by [[William Makepeace Thackeray]], first published in installments in 1847-48. In a darkly comic manner, it tells the story of the adventuress Becky Sharp, satirising the follies of bourgeois and aristocratic life in early nineteenth-century England. The title "Vanity Fair" is taken from [[John Bunyan]]'s ''[[The Pilgrim's Progress]]''.

[[Category:Novels]]

Buddhism

2018-09-23T20:08:00Z

FredJ: "adherence" implies belief, while Buddhism is more about practice

'''Buddhism''' is a belief system whose followers seek liberation from suffering through practice of the [[Noble Eightfold Path]] as taught by the Buddha [[Siddhartha Gautama]]. Through meditation and self-denial the mind and body of a Buddhist is trained to overcome the craving for worldly things.

To Buddhists, sentient beings are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth (''samsara''), characterized by continual dissatisfaction or suffering (''dukkha''). Buddhism provides a practical set of teachings (the ''dharma'') designed to help sentient beings achieve a state of freedom from dukkha. Buddhism teaches that individuals reincarnate involuntarily and repeatedly in the world of samsara, a cyclic process which ends for an individual when they attain Nirvana (Theravada) or Enlightenment (Mahayana), either in a human body or immediately upon death in their last involuntary cycle of samsara. Mahayana Buddhism holds, in addition, that the goal of Enlightenment is not merely release from one's own personal suffering in samsara, but also the release of all sentient beings, toward which an enlightened being or ''Buddha'' is, by nature, committed to work through compassionate action. To this end, a Buddha may voluntarily reincarnate to help release all sentient beings from samsara.

[[Image:Nara.jpg|thumb|200px|Great Buddha at [[Nara]]]]

==Founder==
Buddhism was founded by an [[India]]n prince, [[Siddhartha Gautama]], who, after being sheltered from coming into contact with suffering due to disease, poverty and death until adulthood, finally observed the suffering of his people during his first walk outside the palace grounds. After that he worked to discover the reason for suffering and pain. He studied a number of the disciplines of the day, seeking ultimate truth. After finding other approaches to understanding lacking, he went into meditation for 49 days, vowing not to move until he had attained enlightenment. After great personal struggle he achieved enlightenment, and began to teach the principles that are now associated with Buddhism.

The philosophy has its roots in [[Hinduism]] and Vedic religion, to which Gautama belonged until the foundation of Buddhism.

==View of God==
[[Image:Mandala of Prajnaparamit.jpg|thumb|Mandala of Prajnaparamit, [[Tibet]].]]
Some Buddhist scriptures and some sects, like the Mahayana school, believe that gods exist,<ref>[http://wri.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/buddhism.html Buddhism]</ref><ref>[http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma3/budgod.html Do Buddhists Believe in God?]</ref> but do not consider that knowledge crucial to an individual's practice of Buddhist teachings since as incarnated beings, they too are bound to the wheel of Samsara and thus it is pointless to submit to them. The Buddha taught that we should not speculate about what we cannot know, and that speculation about [[God]] is pointless. Buddhists' priorities are release from suffering (by learning to cease striving after objects of desire and avoiding objects of discomfort) and direct experience of the true nature of reality. Many modern strains of Buddhism are agnostic in nature, which may cause a confusion, as Buddhism is often referred to as a religion. It is more accurately defined as a philosophy in most cases. Certain denominations, such as the Mahayana tradition, believe in [[Bodhisattvas]], or quasi-divine cosmic beings that seek to benefit others by remaining in a state of [[Samsara]], or eternal rebirth. These are prayed to, for advice and spiritual guidance, and often venerated.

{{Clear}}

==Teachings==
The highest ideal for a Buddhist is the state of Nirvana, or release from eternal rebirth, a state beyond conceptual thought. This describes a state that is achieved through meditation and practice that is beyond the categories and conditioning that are a result of our education, experiences and the limitations of language. This state has been described by the Buddha as follows:
<blockquote>''"There is O monks, an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. Were there not, o monks, this Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, there would be no escape from the world of the born, originated, created, formed. ~ Udana, 80-81"''</blockquote>

Adherents claim that Buddhism is a very practical [[philosophy]], which teaches us to focus our attention on personal experience, to determine what is the cause of our discontents ("dukkha") and to find a way to liberate ourselves from these, all the while expressing "metta", which is universal, unconditional love, and "karuna", which roughly translates to "compassion", towards others. These teachings are encapsulated in the [[Four Noble Truths]].<ref>[http://www.parami.org/buddhistanswers/four_noble_truths.htm Four Noble Truths]</ref>

Buddhism is commonly held to be a relatively peaceful religion, due to its less "absolutist" view of morality and the fluid nature of thought that encouraged not just acceptance of other faiths and ideas, but also examination of those ideas and, if necessary, applying them to one's life. This also allows people to follow Buddhism as a philosophy, and Islam, Judaism or Christianity as a faith, without contradicting any principles of either following.<ref>http://buddhism.about.com/</ref>

It should be noted that the ideals of tolerance and introspection among the Buddhist faithful were often ignored by the leaders of Buddhist nations (much like the leaders of most other nations often disobeyed their own religions' fundamental laws in the interest of what was practical) <ref>http://buddhism.about.com/</ref> and persecution of Christians in predominantly Buddhist nations does occur today.<ref>http://www.persecution.org/whitepapers/vietnam-2002-03.html</ref><ref>http://www.christianpersecution.info/news/new-evidence-of-religious-persecution-in-vietnam-despite-release-prisoner/</ref><ref>http://persecution.org/Countries/laos.html</ref> It is important to note here that the beliefs of the populace and those of the leadership do not necessarily always coincide (ref. Israel under Roman control). It is important to note that only around 55% of Vietnam is Buddhist (see below), and that Buddhist monks took an active role in protesting the corrupt Diem regime and the Vietnam War.

==Extreme Misunderstanding of Buddhism by Liberals==
Many of what [[liberals]] mistakenly believe to be Buddhism's "tenets" might be considered to promote a 'liberal' lifestyle: [[vegetarianism]], absolute [[pacifism]] (a gross misunderstanding by liberals), [[tolerance]], lack of condemnation of homosexuality (an entirely ignorant liberal misunderstanding of Buddhism), [[agnosticism]], etc.

However, if one reads the Buddhist [[Sutra]] scriptures and both modern and ancient [[Exegesis|Shastra]] commentaries you will find explicit condemnation of [[homosexuality]]{{fact}}, no mention of agnosticism, nor a denying of [[God]] or a "Supreme Being". One will not find an absolute pacifism in the Mahayana Sutras but a nuanced expedient understanding of when [[violence]], even with [[weapon]]s, is permissible for both [[self defense]] and national defense during times of [[war]] or to prevent evil such as [[genocide]] from being perpetrated by a [[dictator]] such as [[Stalin]] or [[Mao]]. In particular, perverted alterations of Buddhism have been used in the [[atheism|atheistic]] American [[New Age]] movement. [[Liberals]], in keeping with [[relativism]] (particularly [[moral relativism]]) have been known to pick and choose which aspects of Buddhism to follow, while openly breaking other Buddhist teachings, like those forbidding [[alcohol]], [[drug abuse|drug use]] and sexual [[promiscuity]] (see [[Five Precepts]]).

==The Eightfold Path==
The [[Noble Eightfold Path]] is a teaching in Buddhism used to enlighten the individual, helping them to see the ultimate truth behind things like greed, suffering, and hatred.
:* Right View - Is the way of looking at the world as it really is, to understand how it really works.
:* Right Intention - The purging of qualities the person knows to be wrong or immoral from themselves. Right View helps to identify which intentions are good and which are not. Exemplified by a commitment to nonviolence against other living beings.
:* Right Speech - Instructs the practitioner of Buddhism in how to speak to others. Emphasizes telling the truth, avoiding gossip and idle chatter, and speaking in a polite, pacifying manner. This path also scorns against hateful, divisive speech.
:* Right Action - This path instructs the practitioner in how to act in a morally upright manner, abstaining from violence, stealing, taking a life, and sexual misconduct.
:* Right Livelihood - This instructs the practitioner to not engage in trades which, either directly or indirectly, result in harm to another living thing. These include arms dealing, human trade, working with animals raised to be slaughtered, or selling alcohol or drugs.
:* Right effort - This is the teaching of ridding oneself of all harmful thought, words, and deeds, and prevent new ones from emerging.
:* Right Mindfulness - This teaches the practitioner to be focused on their own mind and aware or changes and phenomena affecting them, never to act or speak in error due to inattention or forgetfulness.
:* Right Concentration - This path teaches the practitioner how to [[meditation|meditate]], calming the body and mind through measured or conscious [[breathing]] and repetition of a word or phrase such as a [[mantra]] or [[prayer]]. Using this practice allows the person to focus on what they have learned, and through dwelling on those teachings, gain knowledge of the world around them.

==Buddhism in Antiquity==
Buddhism has been an important part of the culture in many eastern countries, such as [[Cambodia]], [[Thailand]], and [[India]]. It has endured active persecution when conflicting with older beliefs such as [[Hinduism]], and led in many countries to the rise of Buddhist warrior-dissidents, as well as such interesting anomalies as ''shinshi'' (transliterated from the Khmer), a form of torture wherein strips of flesh are removed slowly from the forehead.<ref>Schlesinger, Robert. ''Schlesinger's History of the East'', 2nd ed. New York: Camport & Sons, 1986.</ref>

==Branches of Buddhism==
Like many other religions of the world, Buddhism has developed into numerous branches and variation on the themes taught by the Buddha. While it would be impossible to give a truly succinct description of every permutation, the schools of thought encompassing Buddhism are generally broken into three major divisions, discussed briefly below.

'''Theravada'''

Therevaden Buddhism, sometimes derisively known as Hinayana (lesser vehicle) by some Mahayana Buddhist practitioners, is what can be described as the earliest advent of Buddhism and the closest to the original philosophy founded by the Buddha and is regarded by practitioners as the more conservative of the three divisions.

Central to the Theravadan school of thought is the notion of Vibhajjavada<ref>http://palikanon.com/english/wtb/u_v/vibhajja_vaada.htm</ref> or Teaching of Analysis. This notion holds that true insight for a student comes from a combination of critical reasoning and non-reliance on blind faith, though the teachings and writings of one's elders should be considered.

Furthermore, Theravada teaches that enlightenment is not attainable in a single lifetime, nor should it be thought to be. Instead, one must break free of their worldly fetters (hatred, lust, shame) before being reborn and continuing on the path to eventual enlightenment.

Theravadan Buddhism's main text can be considered the Pali Cannon, though a wealth of scripture, sutras and treatises have arisen and shall continue to be written as the philosophy continues to diversify.

'''[[Mahayana]]'''

Mahayana Buddhism, literally "Great Vehicle," is one of the other main branches of Buddhism and is popular in East Asian countries such as [[China]], [[Korea]], [[Japan]], [[Vietnam]] and [[Tibet]]. Whereas Theravada Buddhism focuses on individual enlightenment, Mahayana is Buddhism for the masses. Indeed, it is often called Buddhism for the masses. Furthermore, Mahayana holds [[Bodhivisattva]]s in esteem. To put an analogy to it, Bodhivisattvas are similar to [[saint]]s, preachers, or even teachers in Christianity. Bodhivisattvas are enlightened ones who choose to remain in the cycle of [[samsara]] for the hope of helping others towards enlightenment. [[Guanyin]] (or Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit) is the most famous of these Bodhivisattvas.

Adherents of this branch of Buddhism believe in improving both their own consciousness and the world. They acknowledge that this approach would slow down the goal of overcoming suffering and have adopted "We should reach Nirvana as the last ones" as their Bodhisattva vow.<ref>http://www.cs.ru.nl/~henk/BP/bp1.html#SECTION00022000000000000000</ref>

==Buddhism Today==
[[Image:China B.jpg|right]]
Buddhism is currently the majority religion in the following states:

{| class="wikitable sortable" align="left"
|-
|'''Country'''
|'''Percent'''
|-
|[[Thailand]]
|95%
|-
|[[Cambodia]]
|90
|-
|[[Myanmar]]
|88
|-
|[[Bhutan]]
|75
|-
|[[Sri Lanka]]
|70
|-
|[[Tibet]]*
|65
|-
|[[Laos]]
|60
|-
|[[Vietnam]]
|55
|-
|[[Japan]]**
|50

|}

<nowiki>*</nowiki> [[China]]: Is the country with the most Buddhists, with an estimated 100 million adherents.

<nowiki>*</nowiki> Tibet is an estimate, as there has never been a reliable survey. Furthermore, for the [[Chinese]] [[Communist]]s it is debatable whether Tibet should be considered an independent nation.

<nowiki>**</nowiki> [[Japan]] is an "odd" case, as surveys of adherence are conducted rather differently. Firstly it is debatable at what point various Japanese beliefs shift from being traditions to being religions. This is indicated by the fact that "85% of Japanese claim Buddhism as their preferred religion", yet "75% percent claim to practice and believe in no religion"—a more accurate estimate may be 20%.<ref>[http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_buddhist.html The Largest Buddhist Communities]</ref>

[[Image:Obon.jpg|thumb|Obon remains one of the most important Buddhist observances]]

<blockquote>
The Obon Festival is one of Japan’s oldest Buddhist celebrations; it marks the time that it’s believed the spirits of dead ancestors return to the Earth. The gathering included the Bon Odori dance, which remembers Japanese ancestors by imitating motions of picking cherries and mining coal. [http://www.culturesdiary.com/]
</blockquote>
{{Clear}}

==Buddhism and abortion==
Buddhists believe that causing death is morally wrong. Traditional Buddhists are opposing abortion because it involves the deliberate destroying of a life. Numerous Buddhist [[Sutra]] [[scripture]]s, such as the ''Shurangama Sutra'' assert that [[life]] begins at [[conception]] and that is when the "[[soul]]" ("vijnana") enters the body of the [[fetus]].<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/buddhistethics/abortion.shtml</ref>

==References==
<References/>

== See also ==
* [[Kamakura]]
* [[Nara]]
* [[Oriental art]]
----
{{Buddhist topics}}
----
{{Indian philosophy topics}}

== External links ==
*[http://wri.leaderu.com/wri-table2/buddhism.html#intro Buddhism]
*[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ Access to Insight: Readings in Theravada Buddhism]
*[http://www.kalachakranet.org/buddhism/history_japanese_buddhism.htm History of Japanese Buddhism]

== Further reading ==
[[File:Buddhism1.jpg|thumb|200px]]
* Chodron, Thubten. ''Buddhism for Beginners'' (2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Beginners-Thubten-Chodron/dp/1559391537/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262317083&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Harding, John S. et al., eds. ''Wild Geese: Buddhism in Canada'' (2010)
* Landaw, Jonathan, and Stephan Bodian. ''Buddhism For Dummies'' (2002) [http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Dummies-Religion-Spirituality/dp/0764553593/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262317083&sr=1-5 excerpt and text search]
* Rahula, Walpola. ''What the Buddha Taught: Revised and Expanded Edition with Texts from Suttas and Dhammapada''. Grove, 1994.
* Rapaport, Al, and Brian Hotchkiss. ''Buddhism in America'' (1998) [http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-America-Al-Rapaport/dp/0804831521/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262316921&sr=1-10 excerpt and text search]
* Seager, Richard Hughes. ''Buddhism in America'' (2000) [http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-America-Richard-Hughes-Seager/dp/0231108699/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262316921&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]

[[Category:Buddhism]]
[[Category:Meditation]]
[[Category:Yoga]]
[[Category:Dharmic Religions]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
{{Buddhist topics}}

Buddhism

2018-09-23T20:06:24Z

FredJ: Not all schools of Buddhism emphasise meditation. I'll improve this more later.

'''Buddhism''' is a belief system whose followers seek liberation from suffering through adherence to the teachings of the Buddha [[Siddhartha Gautama]]. Through meditation and self-denial the mind and body of a Buddhist is trained to overcome the craving for worldly things.

To Buddhists, sentient beings are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth (''samsara''), characterized by continual dissatisfaction or suffering (''dukkha''). Buddhism provides a practical set of teachings (the ''dharma'') designed to help sentient beings achieve a state of freedom from dukkha. Buddhism teaches that individuals reincarnate involuntarily and repeatedly in the world of samsara, a cyclic process which ends for an individual when they attain Nirvana (Theravada) or Enlightenment (Mahayana), either in a human body or immediately upon death in their last involuntary cycle of samsara. Mahayana Buddhism holds, in addition, that the goal of Enlightenment is not merely release from one's own personal suffering in samsara, but also the release of all sentient beings, toward which an enlightened being or ''Buddha'' is, by nature, committed to work through compassionate action. To this end, a Buddha may voluntarily reincarnate to help release all sentient beings from samsara.

[[Image:Nara.jpg|thumb|200px|Great Buddha at [[Nara]]]]

==Founder==
Buddhism was founded by an [[India]]n prince, [[Siddhartha Gautama]], who, after being sheltered from coming into contact with suffering due to disease, poverty and death until adulthood, finally observed the suffering of his people during his first walk outside the palace grounds. After that he worked to discover the reason for suffering and pain. He studied a number of the disciplines of the day, seeking ultimate truth. After finding other approaches to understanding lacking, he went into meditation for 49 days, vowing not to move until he had attained enlightenment. After great personal struggle he achieved enlightenment, and began to teach the principles that are now associated with Buddhism.

The philosophy has its roots in [[Hinduism]] and Vedic religion, to which Gautama belonged until the foundation of Buddhism.

==View of God==
[[Image:Mandala of Prajnaparamit.jpg|thumb|Mandala of Prajnaparamit, [[Tibet]].]]
Some Buddhist scriptures and some sects, like the Mahayana school, believe that gods exist,<ref>[http://wri.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/buddhism.html Buddhism]</ref><ref>[http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma3/budgod.html Do Buddhists Believe in God?]</ref> but do not consider that knowledge crucial to an individual's practice of Buddhist teachings since as incarnated beings, they too are bound to the wheel of Samsara and thus it is pointless to submit to them. The Buddha taught that we should not speculate about what we cannot know, and that speculation about [[God]] is pointless. Buddhists' priorities are release from suffering (by learning to cease striving after objects of desire and avoiding objects of discomfort) and direct experience of the true nature of reality. Many modern strains of Buddhism are agnostic in nature, which may cause a confusion, as Buddhism is often referred to as a religion. It is more accurately defined as a philosophy in most cases. Certain denominations, such as the Mahayana tradition, believe in [[Bodhisattvas]], or quasi-divine cosmic beings that seek to benefit others by remaining in a state of [[Samsara]], or eternal rebirth. These are prayed to, for advice and spiritual guidance, and often venerated.

{{Clear}}

==Teachings==
The highest ideal for a Buddhist is the state of Nirvana, or release from eternal rebirth, a state beyond conceptual thought. This describes a state that is achieved through meditation and practice that is beyond the categories and conditioning that are a result of our education, experiences and the limitations of language. This state has been described by the Buddha as follows:
<blockquote>''"There is O monks, an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. Were there not, o monks, this Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, there would be no escape from the world of the born, originated, created, formed. ~ Udana, 80-81"''</blockquote>

Adherents claim that Buddhism is a very practical [[philosophy]], which teaches us to focus our attention on personal experience, to determine what is the cause of our discontents ("dukkha") and to find a way to liberate ourselves from these, all the while expressing "metta", which is universal, unconditional love, and "karuna", which roughly translates to "compassion", towards others. These teachings are encapsulated in the [[Four Noble Truths]].<ref>[http://www.parami.org/buddhistanswers/four_noble_truths.htm Four Noble Truths]</ref>

Buddhism is commonly held to be a relatively peaceful religion, due to its less "absolutist" view of morality and the fluid nature of thought that encouraged not just acceptance of other faiths and ideas, but also examination of those ideas and, if necessary, applying them to one's life. This also allows people to follow Buddhism as a philosophy, and Islam, Judaism or Christianity as a faith, without contradicting any principles of either following.<ref>http://buddhism.about.com/</ref>

It should be noted that the ideals of tolerance and introspection among the Buddhist faithful were often ignored by the leaders of Buddhist nations (much like the leaders of most other nations often disobeyed their own religions' fundamental laws in the interest of what was practical) <ref>http://buddhism.about.com/</ref> and persecution of Christians in predominantly Buddhist nations does occur today.<ref>http://www.persecution.org/whitepapers/vietnam-2002-03.html</ref><ref>http://www.christianpersecution.info/news/new-evidence-of-religious-persecution-in-vietnam-despite-release-prisoner/</ref><ref>http://persecution.org/Countries/laos.html</ref> It is important to note here that the beliefs of the populace and those of the leadership do not necessarily always coincide (ref. Israel under Roman control). It is important to note that only around 55% of Vietnam is Buddhist (see below), and that Buddhist monks took an active role in protesting the corrupt Diem regime and the Vietnam War.

==Extreme Misunderstanding of Buddhism by Liberals==
Many of what [[liberals]] mistakenly believe to be Buddhism's "tenets" might be considered to promote a 'liberal' lifestyle: [[vegetarianism]], absolute [[pacifism]] (a gross misunderstanding by liberals), [[tolerance]], lack of condemnation of homosexuality (an entirely ignorant liberal misunderstanding of Buddhism), [[agnosticism]], etc.

However, if one reads the Buddhist [[Sutra]] scriptures and both modern and ancient [[Exegesis|Shastra]] commentaries you will find explicit condemnation of [[homosexuality]]{{fact}}, no mention of agnosticism, nor a denying of [[God]] or a "Supreme Being". One will not find an absolute pacifism in the Mahayana Sutras but a nuanced expedient understanding of when [[violence]], even with [[weapon]]s, is permissible for both [[self defense]] and national defense during times of [[war]] or to prevent evil such as [[genocide]] from being perpetrated by a [[dictator]] such as [[Stalin]] or [[Mao]]. In particular, perverted alterations of Buddhism have been used in the [[atheism|atheistic]] American [[New Age]] movement. [[Liberals]], in keeping with [[relativism]] (particularly [[moral relativism]]) have been known to pick and choose which aspects of Buddhism to follow, while openly breaking other Buddhist teachings, like those forbidding [[alcohol]], [[drug abuse|drug use]] and sexual [[promiscuity]] (see [[Five Precepts]]).

==The Eightfold Path==
The [[Noble Eightfold Path]] is a teaching in Buddhism used to enlighten the individual, helping them to see the ultimate truth behind things like greed, suffering, and hatred.
:* Right View - Is the way of looking at the world as it really is, to understand how it really works.
:* Right Intention - The purging of qualities the person knows to be wrong or immoral from themselves. Right View helps to identify which intentions are good and which are not. Exemplified by a commitment to nonviolence against other living beings.
:* Right Speech - Instructs the practitioner of Buddhism in how to speak to others. Emphasizes telling the truth, avoiding gossip and idle chatter, and speaking in a polite, pacifying manner. This path also scorns against hateful, divisive speech.
:* Right Action - This path instructs the practitioner in how to act in a morally upright manner, abstaining from violence, stealing, taking a life, and sexual misconduct.
:* Right Livelihood - This instructs the practitioner to not engage in trades which, either directly or indirectly, result in harm to another living thing. These include arms dealing, human trade, working with animals raised to be slaughtered, or selling alcohol or drugs.
:* Right effort - This is the teaching of ridding oneself of all harmful thought, words, and deeds, and prevent new ones from emerging.
:* Right Mindfulness - This teaches the practitioner to be focused on their own mind and aware or changes and phenomena affecting them, never to act or speak in error due to inattention or forgetfulness.
:* Right Concentration - This path teaches the practitioner how to [[meditation|meditate]], calming the body and mind through measured or conscious [[breathing]] and repetition of a word or phrase such as a [[mantra]] or [[prayer]]. Using this practice allows the person to focus on what they have learned, and through dwelling on those teachings, gain knowledge of the world around them.

==Buddhism in Antiquity==
Buddhism has been an important part of the culture in many eastern countries, such as [[Cambodia]], [[Thailand]], and [[India]]. It has endured active persecution when conflicting with older beliefs such as [[Hinduism]], and led in many countries to the rise of Buddhist warrior-dissidents, as well as such interesting anomalies as ''shinshi'' (transliterated from the Khmer), a form of torture wherein strips of flesh are removed slowly from the forehead.<ref>Schlesinger, Robert. ''Schlesinger's History of the East'', 2nd ed. New York: Camport & Sons, 1986.</ref>

==Branches of Buddhism==
Like many other religions of the world, Buddhism has developed into numerous branches and variation on the themes taught by the Buddha. While it would be impossible to give a truly succinct description of every permutation, the schools of thought encompassing Buddhism are generally broken into three major divisions, discussed briefly below.

'''Theravada'''

Therevaden Buddhism, sometimes derisively known as Hinayana (lesser vehicle) by some Mahayana Buddhist practitioners, is what can be described as the earliest advent of Buddhism and the closest to the original philosophy founded by the Buddha and is regarded by practitioners as the more conservative of the three divisions.

Central to the Theravadan school of thought is the notion of Vibhajjavada<ref>http://palikanon.com/english/wtb/u_v/vibhajja_vaada.htm</ref> or Teaching of Analysis. This notion holds that true insight for a student comes from a combination of critical reasoning and non-reliance on blind faith, though the teachings and writings of one's elders should be considered.

Furthermore, Theravada teaches that enlightenment is not attainable in a single lifetime, nor should it be thought to be. Instead, one must break free of their worldly fetters (hatred, lust, shame) before being reborn and continuing on the path to eventual enlightenment.

Theravadan Buddhism's main text can be considered the Pali Cannon, though a wealth of scripture, sutras and treatises have arisen and shall continue to be written as the philosophy continues to diversify.

'''[[Mahayana]]'''

Mahayana Buddhism, literally "Great Vehicle," is one of the other main branches of Buddhism and is popular in East Asian countries such as [[China]], [[Korea]], [[Japan]], [[Vietnam]] and [[Tibet]]. Whereas Theravada Buddhism focuses on individual enlightenment, Mahayana is Buddhism for the masses. Indeed, it is often called Buddhism for the masses. Furthermore, Mahayana holds [[Bodhivisattva]]s in esteem. To put an analogy to it, Bodhivisattvas are similar to [[saint]]s, preachers, or even teachers in Christianity. Bodhivisattvas are enlightened ones who choose to remain in the cycle of [[samsara]] for the hope of helping others towards enlightenment. [[Guanyin]] (or Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit) is the most famous of these Bodhivisattvas.

Adherents of this branch of Buddhism believe in improving both their own consciousness and the world. They acknowledge that this approach would slow down the goal of overcoming suffering and have adopted "We should reach Nirvana as the last ones" as their Bodhisattva vow.<ref>http://www.cs.ru.nl/~henk/BP/bp1.html#SECTION00022000000000000000</ref>

==Buddhism Today==
[[Image:China B.jpg|right]]
Buddhism is currently the majority religion in the following states:

{| class="wikitable sortable" align="left"
|-
|'''Country'''
|'''Percent'''
|-
|[[Thailand]]
|95%
|-
|[[Cambodia]]
|90
|-
|[[Myanmar]]
|88
|-
|[[Bhutan]]
|75
|-
|[[Sri Lanka]]
|70
|-
|[[Tibet]]*
|65
|-
|[[Laos]]
|60
|-
|[[Vietnam]]
|55
|-
|[[Japan]]**
|50

|}

<nowiki>*</nowiki> [[China]]: Is the country with the most Buddhists, with an estimated 100 million adherents.

<nowiki>*</nowiki> Tibet is an estimate, as there has never been a reliable survey. Furthermore, for the [[Chinese]] [[Communist]]s it is debatable whether Tibet should be considered an independent nation.

<nowiki>**</nowiki> [[Japan]] is an "odd" case, as surveys of adherence are conducted rather differently. Firstly it is debatable at what point various Japanese beliefs shift from being traditions to being religions. This is indicated by the fact that "85% of Japanese claim Buddhism as their preferred religion", yet "75% percent claim to practice and believe in no religion"—a more accurate estimate may be 20%.<ref>[http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_buddhist.html The Largest Buddhist Communities]</ref>

[[Image:Obon.jpg|thumb|Obon remains one of the most important Buddhist observances]]

<blockquote>
The Obon Festival is one of Japan’s oldest Buddhist celebrations; it marks the time that it’s believed the spirits of dead ancestors return to the Earth. The gathering included the Bon Odori dance, which remembers Japanese ancestors by imitating motions of picking cherries and mining coal. [http://www.culturesdiary.com/]
</blockquote>
{{Clear}}

==Buddhism and abortion==
Buddhists believe that causing death is morally wrong. Traditional Buddhists are opposing abortion because it involves the deliberate destroying of a life. Numerous Buddhist [[Sutra]] [[scripture]]s, such as the ''Shurangama Sutra'' assert that [[life]] begins at [[conception]] and that is when the "[[soul]]" ("vijnana") enters the body of the [[fetus]].<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/buddhistethics/abortion.shtml</ref>

==References==
<References/>

== See also ==
* [[Kamakura]]
* [[Nara]]
* [[Oriental art]]
----
{{Buddhist topics}}
----
{{Indian philosophy topics}}

== External links ==
*[http://wri.leaderu.com/wri-table2/buddhism.html#intro Buddhism]
*[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ Access to Insight: Readings in Theravada Buddhism]
*[http://www.kalachakranet.org/buddhism/history_japanese_buddhism.htm History of Japanese Buddhism]

== Further reading ==
[[File:Buddhism1.jpg|thumb|200px]]
* Chodron, Thubten. ''Buddhism for Beginners'' (2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Beginners-Thubten-Chodron/dp/1559391537/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262317083&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Harding, John S. et al., eds. ''Wild Geese: Buddhism in Canada'' (2010)
* Landaw, Jonathan, and Stephan Bodian. ''Buddhism For Dummies'' (2002) [http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Dummies-Religion-Spirituality/dp/0764553593/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262317083&sr=1-5 excerpt and text search]
* Rahula, Walpola. ''What the Buddha Taught: Revised and Expanded Edition with Texts from Suttas and Dhammapada''. Grove, 1994.
* Rapaport, Al, and Brian Hotchkiss. ''Buddhism in America'' (1998) [http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-America-Al-Rapaport/dp/0804831521/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262316921&sr=1-10 excerpt and text search]
* Seager, Richard Hughes. ''Buddhism in America'' (2000) [http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-America-Richard-Hughes-Seager/dp/0231108699/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262316921&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]

[[Category:Buddhism]]
[[Category:Meditation]]
[[Category:Yoga]]
[[Category:Dharmic Religions]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
{{Buddhist topics}}

Buddhism

2018-09-23T20:00:31Z

FredJ: It doesn't matter. A positive assertion requires supporting evidence.

'''Buddhism''' is a [[meditation]] belief system whose followers seek liberation from suffering through adherence to the teachings of the Buddha [[Siddhartha Gautama]]. Through meditation and self-denial the mind and body of a Buddhist is trained to overcome the craving for worldly things.

To Buddhists, sentient beings are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth (''samsara''), characterized by continual dissatisfaction or suffering (''dukkha''). Buddhism provides a practical set of teachings (the ''dharma'') designed to help sentient beings achieve a state of freedom from dukkha. Buddhism teaches that individuals reincarnate involuntarily and repeatedly in the world of samsara, a cyclic process which ends for an individual when they attain Nirvana (Theravada) or Enlightenment (Mahayana), either in a human body or immediately upon death in their last involuntary cycle of samsara. Mahayana Buddhism holds, in addition, that the goal of Enlightenment is not merely release from one's own personal suffering in samsara, but also the release of all sentient beings, toward which an enlightened being or ''Buddha'' is, by nature, committed to work through compassionate action. To this end, a Buddha may voluntarily reincarnate to help release all sentient beings from samsara.

[[Image:Nara.jpg|thumb|200px|Great Buddha at [[Nara]]]]

==Founder==
Buddhism was founded by an [[India]]n prince, [[Siddhartha Gautama]], who, after being sheltered from coming into contact with suffering due to disease, poverty and death until adulthood, finally observed the suffering of his people during his first walk outside the palace grounds. After that he worked to discover the reason for suffering and pain. He studied a number of the disciplines of the day, seeking ultimate truth. After finding other approaches to understanding lacking, he went into meditation for 49 days, vowing not to move until he had attained enlightenment. After great personal struggle he achieved enlightenment, and began to teach the principles that are now associated with Buddhism.

The philosophy has its roots in [[Hinduism]] and Vedic religion, to which Gautama belonged until the foundation of Buddhism.

==View of God==
[[Image:Mandala of Prajnaparamit.jpg|thumb|Mandala of Prajnaparamit, [[Tibet]].]]
Some Buddhist scriptures and some sects, like the Mahayana school, believe that gods exist,<ref>[http://wri.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/buddhism.html Buddhism]</ref><ref>[http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma3/budgod.html Do Buddhists Believe in God?]</ref> but do not consider that knowledge crucial to an individual's practice of Buddhist teachings since as incarnated beings, they too are bound to the wheel of Samsara and thus it is pointless to submit to them. The Buddha taught that we should not speculate about what we cannot know, and that speculation about [[God]] is pointless. Buddhists' priorities are release from suffering (by learning to cease striving after objects of desire and avoiding objects of discomfort) and direct experience of the true nature of reality. Many modern strains of Buddhism are agnostic in nature, which may cause a confusion, as Buddhism is often referred to as a religion. It is more accurately defined as a philosophy in most cases. Certain denominations, such as the Mahayana tradition, believe in [[Bodhisattvas]], or quasi-divine cosmic beings that seek to benefit others by remaining in a state of [[Samsara]], or eternal rebirth. These are prayed to, for advice and spiritual guidance, and often venerated.

{{Clear}}

==Teachings==
The highest ideal for a Buddhist is the state of Nirvana, or release from eternal rebirth, a state beyond conceptual thought. This describes a state that is achieved through meditation and practice that is beyond the categories and conditioning that are a result of our education, experiences and the limitations of language. This state has been described by the Buddha as follows:
<blockquote>''"There is O monks, an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. Were there not, o monks, this Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, there would be no escape from the world of the born, originated, created, formed. ~ Udana, 80-81"''</blockquote>

Adherents claim that Buddhism is a very practical [[philosophy]], which teaches us to focus our attention on personal experience, to determine what is the cause of our discontents ("dukkha") and to find a way to liberate ourselves from these, all the while expressing "metta", which is universal, unconditional love, and "karuna", which roughly translates to "compassion", towards others. These teachings are encapsulated in the [[Four Noble Truths]].<ref>[http://www.parami.org/buddhistanswers/four_noble_truths.htm Four Noble Truths]</ref>

Buddhism is commonly held to be a relatively peaceful religion, due to its less "absolutist" view of morality and the fluid nature of thought that encouraged not just acceptance of other faiths and ideas, but also examination of those ideas and, if necessary, applying them to one's life. This also allows people to follow Buddhism as a philosophy, and Islam, Judaism or Christianity as a faith, without contradicting any principles of either following.<ref>http://buddhism.about.com/</ref>

It should be noted that the ideals of tolerance and introspection among the Buddhist faithful were often ignored by the leaders of Buddhist nations (much like the leaders of most other nations often disobeyed their own religions' fundamental laws in the interest of what was practical) <ref>http://buddhism.about.com/</ref> and persecution of Christians in predominantly Buddhist nations does occur today.<ref>http://www.persecution.org/whitepapers/vietnam-2002-03.html</ref><ref>http://www.christianpersecution.info/news/new-evidence-of-religious-persecution-in-vietnam-despite-release-prisoner/</ref><ref>http://persecution.org/Countries/laos.html</ref> It is important to note here that the beliefs of the populace and those of the leadership do not necessarily always coincide (ref. Israel under Roman control). It is important to note that only around 55% of Vietnam is Buddhist (see below), and that Buddhist monks took an active role in protesting the corrupt Diem regime and the Vietnam War.

==Extreme Misunderstanding of Buddhism by Liberals==
Many of what [[liberals]] mistakenly believe to be Buddhism's "tenets" might be considered to promote a 'liberal' lifestyle: [[vegetarianism]], absolute [[pacifism]] (a gross misunderstanding by liberals), [[tolerance]], lack of condemnation of homosexuality (an entirely ignorant liberal misunderstanding of Buddhism), [[agnosticism]], etc.

However, if one reads the Buddhist [[Sutra]] scriptures and both modern and ancient [[Exegesis|Shastra]] commentaries you will find explicit condemnation of [[homosexuality]]{{fact}}, no mention of agnosticism, nor a denying of [[God]] or a "Supreme Being". One will not find an absolute pacifism in the Mahayana Sutras but a nuanced expedient understanding of when [[violence]], even with [[weapon]]s, is permissible for both [[self defense]] and national defense during times of [[war]] or to prevent evil such as [[genocide]] from being perpetrated by a [[dictator]] such as [[Stalin]] or [[Mao]]. In particular, perverted alterations of Buddhism have been used in the [[atheism|atheistic]] American [[New Age]] movement. [[Liberals]], in keeping with [[relativism]] (particularly [[moral relativism]]) have been known to pick and choose which aspects of Buddhism to follow, while openly breaking other Buddhist teachings, like those forbidding [[alcohol]], [[drug abuse|drug use]] and sexual [[promiscuity]] (see [[Five Precepts]]).

==The Eightfold Path==
The [[Noble Eightfold Path]] is a teaching in Buddhism used to enlighten the individual, helping them to see the ultimate truth behind things like greed, suffering, and hatred.
:* Right View - Is the way of looking at the world as it really is, to understand how it really works.
:* Right Intention - The purging of qualities the person knows to be wrong or immoral from themselves. Right View helps to identify which intentions are good and which are not. Exemplified by a commitment to nonviolence against other living beings.
:* Right Speech - Instructs the practitioner of Buddhism in how to speak to others. Emphasizes telling the truth, avoiding gossip and idle chatter, and speaking in a polite, pacifying manner. This path also scorns against hateful, divisive speech.
:* Right Action - This path instructs the practitioner in how to act in a morally upright manner, abstaining from violence, stealing, taking a life, and sexual misconduct.
:* Right Livelihood - This instructs the practitioner to not engage in trades which, either directly or indirectly, result in harm to another living thing. These include arms dealing, human trade, working with animals raised to be slaughtered, or selling alcohol or drugs.
:* Right effort - This is the teaching of ridding oneself of all harmful thought, words, and deeds, and prevent new ones from emerging.
:* Right Mindfulness - This teaches the practitioner to be focused on their own mind and aware or changes and phenomena affecting them, never to act or speak in error due to inattention or forgetfulness.
:* Right Concentration - This path teaches the practitioner how to [[meditation|meditate]], calming the body and mind through measured or conscious [[breathing]] and repetition of a word or phrase such as a [[mantra]] or [[prayer]]. Using this practice allows the person to focus on what they have learned, and through dwelling on those teachings, gain knowledge of the world around them.

==Buddhism in Antiquity==
Buddhism has been an important part of the culture in many eastern countries, such as [[Cambodia]], [[Thailand]], and [[India]]. It has endured active persecution when conflicting with older beliefs such as [[Hinduism]], and led in many countries to the rise of Buddhist warrior-dissidents, as well as such interesting anomalies as ''shinshi'' (transliterated from the Khmer), a form of torture wherein strips of flesh are removed slowly from the forehead.<ref>Schlesinger, Robert. ''Schlesinger's History of the East'', 2nd ed. New York: Camport & Sons, 1986.</ref>

==Branches of Buddhism==
Like many other religions of the world, Buddhism has developed into numerous branches and variation on the themes taught by the Buddha. While it would be impossible to give a truly succinct description of every permutation, the schools of thought encompassing Buddhism are generally broken into three major divisions, discussed briefly below.

'''Theravada'''

Therevaden Buddhism, sometimes derisively known as Hinayana (lesser vehicle) by some Mahayana Buddhist practitioners, is what can be described as the earliest advent of Buddhism and the closest to the original philosophy founded by the Buddha and is regarded by practitioners as the more conservative of the three divisions.

Central to the Theravadan school of thought is the notion of Vibhajjavada<ref>http://palikanon.com/english/wtb/u_v/vibhajja_vaada.htm</ref> or Teaching of Analysis. This notion holds that true insight for a student comes from a combination of critical reasoning and non-reliance on blind faith, though the teachings and writings of one's elders should be considered.

Furthermore, Theravada teaches that enlightenment is not attainable in a single lifetime, nor should it be thought to be. Instead, one must break free of their worldly fetters (hatred, lust, shame) before being reborn and continuing on the path to eventual enlightenment.

Theravadan Buddhism's main text can be considered the Pali Cannon, though a wealth of scripture, sutras and treatises have arisen and shall continue to be written as the philosophy continues to diversify.

'''[[Mahayana]]'''

Mahayana Buddhism, literally "Great Vehicle," is one of the other main branches of Buddhism and is popular in East Asian countries such as [[China]], [[Korea]], [[Japan]], [[Vietnam]] and [[Tibet]]. Whereas Theravada Buddhism focuses on individual enlightenment, Mahayana is Buddhism for the masses. Indeed, it is often called Buddhism for the masses. Furthermore, Mahayana holds [[Bodhivisattva]]s in esteem. To put an analogy to it, Bodhivisattvas are similar to [[saint]]s, preachers, or even teachers in Christianity. Bodhivisattvas are enlightened ones who choose to remain in the cycle of [[samsara]] for the hope of helping others towards enlightenment. [[Guanyin]] (or Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit) is the most famous of these Bodhivisattvas.

Adherents of this branch of Buddhism believe in improving both their own consciousness and the world. They acknowledge that this approach would slow down the goal of overcoming suffering and have adopted "We should reach Nirvana as the last ones" as their Bodhisattva vow.<ref>http://www.cs.ru.nl/~henk/BP/bp1.html#SECTION00022000000000000000</ref>

==Buddhism Today==
[[Image:China B.jpg|right]]
Buddhism is currently the majority religion in the following states:

{| class="wikitable sortable" align="left"
|-
|'''Country'''
|'''Percent'''
|-
|[[Thailand]]
|95%
|-
|[[Cambodia]]
|90
|-
|[[Myanmar]]
|88
|-
|[[Bhutan]]
|75
|-
|[[Sri Lanka]]
|70
|-
|[[Tibet]]*
|65
|-
|[[Laos]]
|60
|-
|[[Vietnam]]
|55
|-
|[[Japan]]**
|50

|}

<nowiki>*</nowiki> [[China]]: Is the country with the most Buddhists, with an estimated 100 million adherents.

<nowiki>*</nowiki> Tibet is an estimate, as there has never been a reliable survey. Furthermore, for the [[Chinese]] [[Communist]]s it is debatable whether Tibet should be considered an independent nation.

<nowiki>**</nowiki> [[Japan]] is an "odd" case, as surveys of adherence are conducted rather differently. Firstly it is debatable at what point various Japanese beliefs shift from being traditions to being religions. This is indicated by the fact that "85% of Japanese claim Buddhism as their preferred religion", yet "75% percent claim to practice and believe in no religion"—a more accurate estimate may be 20%.<ref>[http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_buddhist.html The Largest Buddhist Communities]</ref>

[[Image:Obon.jpg|thumb|Obon remains one of the most important Buddhist observances]]

<blockquote>
The Obon Festival is one of Japan’s oldest Buddhist celebrations; it marks the time that it’s believed the spirits of dead ancestors return to the Earth. The gathering included the Bon Odori dance, which remembers Japanese ancestors by imitating motions of picking cherries and mining coal. [http://www.culturesdiary.com/]
</blockquote>
{{Clear}}

==Buddhism and abortion==
Buddhists believe that causing death is morally wrong. Traditional Buddhists are opposing abortion because it involves the deliberate destroying of a life. Numerous Buddhist [[Sutra]] [[scripture]]s, such as the ''Shurangama Sutra'' assert that [[life]] begins at [[conception]] and that is when the "[[soul]]" ("vijnana") enters the body of the [[fetus]].<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/buddhistethics/abortion.shtml</ref>

==References==
<References/>

== See also ==
* [[Kamakura]]
* [[Nara]]
* [[Oriental art]]
----
{{Buddhist topics}}
----
{{Indian philosophy topics}}

== External links ==
*[http://wri.leaderu.com/wri-table2/buddhism.html#intro Buddhism]
*[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ Access to Insight: Readings in Theravada Buddhism]
*[http://www.kalachakranet.org/buddhism/history_japanese_buddhism.htm History of Japanese Buddhism]

== Further reading ==
[[File:Buddhism1.jpg|thumb|200px]]
* Chodron, Thubten. ''Buddhism for Beginners'' (2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Beginners-Thubten-Chodron/dp/1559391537/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262317083&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Harding, John S. et al., eds. ''Wild Geese: Buddhism in Canada'' (2010)
* Landaw, Jonathan, and Stephan Bodian. ''Buddhism For Dummies'' (2002) [http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Dummies-Religion-Spirituality/dp/0764553593/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262317083&sr=1-5 excerpt and text search]
* Rahula, Walpola. ''What the Buddha Taught: Revised and Expanded Edition with Texts from Suttas and Dhammapada''. Grove, 1994.
* Rapaport, Al, and Brian Hotchkiss. ''Buddhism in America'' (1998) [http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-America-Al-Rapaport/dp/0804831521/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262316921&sr=1-10 excerpt and text search]
* Seager, Richard Hughes. ''Buddhism in America'' (2000) [http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-America-Richard-Hughes-Seager/dp/0231108699/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262316921&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]

[[Category:Buddhism]]
[[Category:Meditation]]
[[Category:Yoga]]
[[Category:Dharmic Religions]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
{{Buddhist topics}}

Buddhism

2018-09-23T16:41:51Z

FredJ: I have studied & practiced Buddhism for 35 years & have never encountered this

Talk:Gay bashing

2018-09-23T12:46:37Z

FredJ:

The term "gay bashing", in the real world, refers to physical violence against gay people, but this article is mostly about violence committed by gay people. I guess you can redefine terms as you see fit, but that doesn't make this site very "trustworthy," at least for people who live in the real world. [[User:FredJ|FredJ]] ([[User talk:FredJ|talk]]) 00:53, 23 September 2018 (EDT)
:Wikipedia defines gay bashing as "Gay bashing and gay bullying is verbal or physical abuse against a person who is perceived by the aggressor to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, including persons who are actually heterosexual."

:It is not Conservapedia's fault that most gay bashing is done by homosexuals.[[User:Conservative|Conservative]] ([[User talk:Conservative|talk]]) 03:50, 23 September 2018 (EDT)

::Where did you find that statistic? (And isn't Wikipedia supposed to be unreliable?) [[User:FredJ|FredJ]] ([[User talk:FredJ|talk]]) 08:46, 23 September 2018 (EDT)

Talk:Gay bashing

2018-09-23T04:53:24Z

FredJ: Created page with "The term "gay bashing", in the real world, refers to physical violence against gay people, but this article is mostly about violence committed by gay people. I guess you can r..."

Stephen Fry

2018-09-23T04:19:18Z

FredJ: /* Marriage */ Deleted "Spencer's small stature and light build make him look like a boy beside the portly Fry" because nothing in the cited article supports it

[[File:Stephen-Fry.jpg|thumbnail|200px|right|The [[Atheism|atheist]] Stephen Fry said, "I do enjoy video gaming... In the early days of games, I would spend hours. I mean literally. I would find it would be 4am and I would say God I have be at work at 6."<ref>[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xeuj29_stephen-fry-talks-gaming_news Stephen Fry talks gaming]</ref> See also: [[Atheism and obesity]] and [[Irreligion, video game usage and obesity]] ]]
'''Stephen Fry''' is an [[England|English]] comedian, actor and writer, born 24 August 1957 (age {{age|1957|8|24}}).

He has published several books and hosts the [[television|TV]] [[comedy]] quiz show ''[[QI]]''. He is perhaps best known for his comedy partnership with [[Hugh Laurie]], with whom he appeared in the popular series ''[[Blackadder]]'' alongside [[Rowan Atkinson]]. He also played the role of ''Gordon Dietrich'' in the film [[V for Vendetta]].

Fry has is a self-described [[liberal]] and well known [[homosexual]] activist. Despite having a [[Jewish]] heritage (which he claims to be proud of), Fry is also a self-confessed [[atheist]].<ref>[http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7396915n January 30, 2012 CBS Stephen Fry interview with Charlie Rose]</ref> He also has [[bipolar disorder]].

==Childhood and Sexuality==
In an interview for British TV, in 2007, Fry stated that he was seduced by an older homosexual when he was a child. On the new More 4 program Shrink Rap, Fry said that the incident had taken place between him and a sixth former during his first year at boarding school, when he would have been aged 11-13. This is an example of the classic pattern of CSA > homosexuality > CSA > homosexuality. <ref>http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2007/03/28/stephen-fry-opens-up-about-school-sexual-assault/</ref>

==Criminal conviction==
At the age of 17, Fry served three months in prison for stealing and using a credit card. <ref> His own autobiography "Moab is My Washpot" </ref> Despite this, he got into Cambridge University and obtained a degree in English.

==Opposed to Investigating Child Sex Abuse==
In July 2014 Fry got up at a Labour Party fund-raising event and denounced Operation Yewtree, the police inquiry into child abuse set up after the [[Jimmy Savile]] scandal. Fry complained that less than half of those investigated were eventually found guilty. He did not explain how the guilty ones were to be identified if nobody was investigated. He is assumed to be referring to the investigation of his homosexual friend Paul Gambaccini, against whom various charges of molestation were levelled. Fry’s anger and his agitation were noticed with embarrassment by some others present. The Labour leader Ed Miliband later dissociated himself from Fry’s “rant” and said that the party fully supported Operation Yewtree. <ref>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/fry-criticises-operation-yewtree-in-dinner-party-rant-calling-for-tougher-laws-to-deter-false-sex-abuse-allegations-9602686.html</ref>

==Drug Addiction==
Fry has admitted being a chronic long-term user of cocaine and says he has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on his habit. This admission is deplorable in a person who is accorded celebrity status and therefore likely to influence the behavior of vulnerable young people. <ref>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/stephen-fry-i-took-cocaine-in-buckingham-palace--but-was-too-squeamish-to-try-heroin-or-crystal-meth-9756803.html</ref>

==Peculiar Views About Women==
In a 2010 interview with the LGBT magazine ''Attitude'' Fry said that women did not enjoy sex. He said it was clear that women had no interest in sex from the fact that they do not go out seeking casual encounters in graveyards or on Hampstead Heath, which is what homosexuals - including him - do. He added that women only go to bed with men “because sex is the price they are willing to pay for a relationship” and for this reason claimed he felt sorry for heterosexual men.

Fry’s remarks were branded “rubbish” and "madness" by feminists who questioned his qualifications for making pronouncements on female sexuality. [[Germaine Greer]], called Fry’s remarks “gratuitous” and accused him of having “delusions of grandeur”. She said: “Stephen Fry is clearly under a delusion that he is an authority on female sexuality. It’s true that women really don’t want to hang around toilets... What women yearn for is intimacy." <ref> https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8099784/Stephen-Fry-angers-feminists-by-claiming-women-do-not-enjoy-sex.html</ref>

==Debate==
In 2009, Fry (with Christopher Hitchens) took part in a debate for ''Intelligence2'' on the topic "Is the Catholic church a force for good?" against [[Ann Widdecombe]] and Archbishop John Onaiyekan. The audience was asked to vote at the end of the debate. Fry who argued for "no" won by 1876 against and only 268 for, but this was in the context of an internet audience that is overwhelmingly atheist, skeptical, secular and materialistic. Very few religious people would even have heard of the show.<ref>http://www.intelligencesquared.com/events/catholic-church</ref>

==Marriage==
In 2015, at the age of nearly 60, Fry married Elliot Spencer, a man 30 years younger than him. Spencer's father is the same age as Fry.<ref>https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/5038334/stephen-fry-husband-elliott-spencer-old/</ref>

== See also ==

Humor:

*[[Essay: Godless Britain is the fat man of Europe|Godless Britain is the fat man of Europe]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|2}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, Stephen}}

[[Category:Atheist Authors]]
[[Category:British Actors]]
[[Category:British Authors]]
[[Category:British Comedians]]
[[Category:Broadcasters]]
[[Category:European Jews]]
[[Category:Homosexuals]]

Stephen Fry

2018-09-23T04:14:14Z

FredJ: /* Debate */

[[File:Stephen-Fry.jpg|thumbnail|200px|right|The [[Atheism|atheist]] Stephen Fry said, "I do enjoy video gaming... In the early days of games, I would spend hours. I mean literally. I would find it would be 4am and I would say God I have be at work at 6."<ref>[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xeuj29_stephen-fry-talks-gaming_news Stephen Fry talks gaming]</ref> See also: [[Atheism and obesity]] and [[Irreligion, video game usage and obesity]] ]]
'''Stephen Fry''' is an [[England|English]] comedian, actor and writer, born 24 August 1957 (age {{age|1957|8|24}}).

He has published several books and hosts the [[television|TV]] [[comedy]] quiz show ''[[QI]]''. He is perhaps best known for his comedy partnership with [[Hugh Laurie]], with whom he appeared in the popular series ''[[Blackadder]]'' alongside [[Rowan Atkinson]]. He also played the role of ''Gordon Dietrich'' in the film [[V for Vendetta]].

Fry has is a self-described [[liberal]] and well known [[homosexual]] activist. Despite having a [[Jewish]] heritage (which he claims to be proud of), Fry is also a self-confessed [[atheist]].<ref>[http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7396915n January 30, 2012 CBS Stephen Fry interview with Charlie Rose]</ref> He also has [[bipolar disorder]].

==Childhood and Sexuality==
In an interview for British TV, in 2007, Fry stated that he was seduced by an older homosexual when he was a child. On the new More 4 program Shrink Rap, Fry said that the incident had taken place between him and a sixth former during his first year at boarding school, when he would have been aged 11-13. This is an example of the classic pattern of CSA > homosexuality > CSA > homosexuality. <ref>http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2007/03/28/stephen-fry-opens-up-about-school-sexual-assault/</ref>

==Criminal conviction==
At the age of 17, Fry served three months in prison for stealing and using a credit card. <ref> His own autobiography "Moab is My Washpot" </ref> Despite this, he got into Cambridge University and obtained a degree in English.

==Opposed to Investigating Child Sex Abuse==
In July 2014 Fry got up at a Labour Party fund-raising event and denounced Operation Yewtree, the police inquiry into child abuse set up after the [[Jimmy Savile]] scandal. Fry complained that less than half of those investigated were eventually found guilty. He did not explain how the guilty ones were to be identified if nobody was investigated. He is assumed to be referring to the investigation of his homosexual friend Paul Gambaccini, against whom various charges of molestation were levelled. Fry’s anger and his agitation were noticed with embarrassment by some others present. The Labour leader Ed Miliband later dissociated himself from Fry’s “rant” and said that the party fully supported Operation Yewtree. <ref>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/fry-criticises-operation-yewtree-in-dinner-party-rant-calling-for-tougher-laws-to-deter-false-sex-abuse-allegations-9602686.html</ref>

==Drug Addiction==
Fry has admitted being a chronic long-term user of cocaine and says he has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on his habit. This admission is deplorable in a person who is accorded celebrity status and therefore likely to influence the behavior of vulnerable young people. <ref>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/stephen-fry-i-took-cocaine-in-buckingham-palace--but-was-too-squeamish-to-try-heroin-or-crystal-meth-9756803.html</ref>

==Peculiar Views About Women==
In a 2010 interview with the LGBT magazine ''Attitude'' Fry said that women did not enjoy sex. He said it was clear that women had no interest in sex from the fact that they do not go out seeking casual encounters in graveyards or on Hampstead Heath, which is what homosexuals - including him - do. He added that women only go to bed with men “because sex is the price they are willing to pay for a relationship” and for this reason claimed he felt sorry for heterosexual men.

Fry’s remarks were branded “rubbish” and "madness" by feminists who questioned his qualifications for making pronouncements on female sexuality. [[Germaine Greer]], called Fry’s remarks “gratuitous” and accused him of having “delusions of grandeur”. She said: “Stephen Fry is clearly under a delusion that he is an authority on female sexuality. It’s true that women really don’t want to hang around toilets... What women yearn for is intimacy." <ref> https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8099784/Stephen-Fry-angers-feminists-by-claiming-women-do-not-enjoy-sex.html</ref>

==Debate==
In 2009, Fry (with Christopher Hitchens) took part in a debate for ''Intelligence2'' on the topic "Is the Catholic church a force for good?" against [[Ann Widdecombe]] and Archbishop John Onaiyekan. The audience was asked to vote at the end of the debate. Fry who argued for "no" won by 1876 against and only 268 for, but this was in the context of an internet audience that is overwhelmingly atheist, skeptical, secular and materialistic. Very few religious people would even have heard of the show.<ref>http://www.intelligencesquared.com/events/catholic-church</ref>

==Marriage==
In 2015 at the age of nearly 60 he went through with a same-sex "wedding" to Elliot Spencer, 30 years younger than him. Spencer's father is the same age as Fry. Spencer's small stature and light build make him look like a boy beside the portly Fry.<ref>https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/5038334/stephen-fry-husband-elliott-spencer-old/</ref>

== See also ==

Humor:

*[[Essay: Godless Britain is the fat man of Europe|Godless Britain is the fat man of Europe]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|2}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, Stephen}}

[[Category:Atheist Authors]]
[[Category:British Actors]]
[[Category:British Authors]]
[[Category:British Comedians]]
[[Category:Broadcasters]]
[[Category:European Jews]]
[[Category:Homosexuals]]

Old English

2018-09-23T04:09:52Z

FredJ:

'''Old English''' is the earliest written form of the [[English]] language. English is derived from dialects of [[North Sea Germanic]] spoken around the coasts of the [[North Sea]] prior to the fifth century AD. Tribes speaking these dialects included the [[Angles]], [[Saxons]], and [[Jutes]], who later settled in [[Britain]]. Once established on the island of Britain, the language gradually diverged from its continental neighbors. It appears to have been called "English" right from the outset (spelt ''Englisc'' in Old English), from the name of the Angles.

Letters used in Old English that have not survived in Modern English are: ''æ'' ("ash"), an amalgamated letter roughly representing a sound between "a" and "e"; ''þ'' ("thorn") and ''ƿ'' ("wynn"), borrowed from the runic alphabet; and ''ð'' ("eth"), adapted from the Latin alphabet.<ref>http://langscape.org.uk/OEtutorial/thealphabet.html</ref>

English was the first European language after the [[Classical]] period to develop its own [[native]] [[literature]]. The most famous literary work in Old English is the epic poem ''[[Beowulf]]''.

Old English is drastically different from Modern English and requires special training to be read today, as demonstrated by the following sample, the [[Lord's Prayer]] (11th century):<ref>[http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words04/history/paternoster.html Corpus Christi College MS 140, ed. Liuzza (1994)]</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! '''Old English'''
! '''Modern English'''
|-
| Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum
| Our Father, you who are in heaven,
|-
| Si þin nama gehalgod
| Be your name hallowed.
|-
| to becume þin rice
| Come your kingdom,
|-
| gewurþe ðin willa
| be done your will,
|-
| on eorðan swa swa on heofonum
| on earth just as in heaven.
|-
| urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg
| Our daily bread (loaf) give us today,
|-
| and forgyf us ure gyltas
| and forgive us our sins (guilts)
|-
| swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum
| just as we forgive our sinners (i.e., sinners against us),
|-
| and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge
| and do not lead us into temptation,
|-
| ac alys us of yfele soþlice.
| but release us from evil. Amen.
|}

The Old English period is conventionally regarded as coming to an end after the [[Norman Conquest]] of 1066 AD, when many [[French]] loan words entered the language. This new phase is called [[Middle English]].

== Some works in Old English ==
=== Verse ===
*"The Battle of Maldon"
*''[[Beowulf]]''
*"Cædmon's Hymn" (dating from the 7th century, the oldest known work in English)
*"The Dream of the Rood"
*"Judith"
*"Juliana"
*"The Seafarer"
*"The Wanderer"
*"The Wife's Lament"

=== Prose ===
*''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''
*The ''Blickling Homilies''
*Wulfstan's ''Sermo Lupi ad Anglos''

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
[http://www8.georgetown.edu/departments/medieval/labyrinth/library/oe/oe.html Labyrinth Library: Old English Literature]

[[Category:English language]]

Old English

2018-09-23T04:00:08Z

FredJ: word

'''Old English''' is the earliest written form of the [[English]] language. English is derived from dialects of [[North Sea Germanic]] spoken around the coasts of the [[North Sea]] prior to the 5th century AD. Tribes speaking these dialects included the [[Angles]], [[Saxons]], and [[Jutes]], who later settled in [[Britain]]. Once established on the island of Britain, the language gradually diverged from its continental neighbors. It appears to have been called "English" right from the outset (spelt ''Englisc'' in Old English), from the name of the Angles.

Special letters are æ ‘ash’ an amalgamated letter roughly representing a sound between ‘a’ and ‘e’. Two letters were borrowed from the runic alphabet: þ 'thorn', and ƿ 'wynn', and one was adapted from the Latin alphabet ð ‘eth’.<ref>http://langscape.org.uk/OEtutorial/thealphabet.html</ref>

English was the first European language after the [[Classical]] period to develop its own [[native]] [[literature]]. The most famous literary work in Old English is the epic poem ''[[Beowulf]]''.

Old English is drastically different from Modern English and requires special training to be read today, as demonstrated by the following sample, the [[Lord's Prayer]] (11th century):<ref>[http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words04/history/paternoster.html Corpus Christi College MS 140, ed. Liuzza (1994)]</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! '''Old English'''
! '''Modern English'''
|-
| Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum
| Our Father, you who are in heaven,
|-
| Si þin nama gehalgod
| Be your name hallowed.
|-
| to becume þin rice
| Come your kingdom,
|-
| gewurþe ðin willa
| be done your will,
|-
| on eorðan swa swa on heofonum
| on earth just as in heaven.
|-
| urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg
| Our daily bread (loaf) give us today,
|-
| and forgyf us ure gyltas
| and forgive us our sins (guilts)
|-
| swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum
| just as we forgive our sinners (i.e., sinners against us),
|-
| and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge
| and do not lead us into temptation,
|-
| ac alys us of yfele soþlice.
| but release us from evil. Amen.
|}

The Old English period is conventionally regarded as coming to an end after the [[Norman Conquest]] of 1066 AD, when many [[French]] loan words entered the language. This new phase is called [[Middle English]].

== Some works in Old English ==
=== Verse ===
*"The Battle of Maldon"
*''[[Beowulf]]''
*"Cædmon's Hymn" (dating from the 7th century, the oldest known work in English)
*"The Dream of the Rood"
*"Judith"
*"Juliana"
*"The Seafarer"
*"The Wanderer"
*"The Wife's Lament"

=== Prose ===
*''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''
*The ''Blickling Homilies''
*Wulfstan's ''Sermo Lupi ad Anglos''

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
[http://www8.georgetown.edu/departments/medieval/labyrinth/library/oe/oe.html Labyrinth Library: Old English Literature]

[[Category:English language]]

Frank Lautenberg

2018-09-23T03:51:29Z

FredJ:

'''Frank Raleigh Lautenberg''', (January 23, 1924 - June 3, 2013) was the five-term [[United States Senator]] from [[New Jersey]].

Born January 23, 1924, in [[Paterson]], New Jersey, Lautenberg served in the [[United States Army Signal Corps]] during [[World War II]]. After graduating from [[Columbia University]] in 1949 with a degree in [[Economics]], he founded [[Automatic Data Processing]] (ADP), the first payroll services company in the U.S.<ref>http://lautenberg.senate.gov/about/biography.cfm</ref> Later, Lautenberg entered public service, first as commissioner of the [[Port Authority of New York and New Jersey]] (1978-1982) and then as U.S. Senator. He was elected as a [[Democrat]] in 1982 and re-elected in 1988 and 1994.<ref>http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000123</ref> Having chosen not to run in 2000, he was tapped to replace Sen. Robert Torricelli as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in 2002 after the latter's withdrawal due to unethical campaign financing.<ref>http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/10/01/elec02.nj.s.torricelli.race/</ref> Lautenberg went on to win election to the Senate for a fourth term.

==Liberalism==
Lautenberg was one of the Senate's most [[liberal]] members, receiving a lifetime average voting record of 93 from [[Americans for Democratic Action]].<ref>http://www.adaction.org/lifetimesennewjersey.html</ref> During a pro-[[Planned Parenthood]] rally, Senator Frank Lautenberg said that [[conservatives]] do not deserve all the rights found in the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]], reported ''[[The Blaze]]'' on March 25, 2011.<ref name=blaze>Jonathon M. Seidl. [http://www.theblaze.com/stories/dem-senators-shocking-gop-comment-they-dont-deserve-the-freedoms-that-are-in-the-constitution/ Dem. Senator’s Shocking Comment: Tea Partiers ‘Don’t Deserve the Freedoms That are in the Constitution’], ''[[The Blaze]]'', March 25, 2011.</ref> Lautenberg said the following during the pro-[[abortion]] rally:
{{Cquote|The Tea Party Republicans in Washington claim they’re concerned about the budget balance, but it’s a disguise! It’s not true! It’s a lie! That’s not what they want. They want — they want other people not to be able to have their own opinions. They don’t deserve the freedoms that are in the Constitution! But we’ll give them to them anyway.<ref name=blaze/>}}

Frank Lautenberg's claim that [[Republicans]] want to outlaw opinions was based on nothing, as noted by ''[[Hot Air]]''.<ref>Ed Morrissey. [http://hotair.com/archives/2011/03/25/lautenberg-republicans-dont-deserve-the-freedoms-in-the-constitution/ Lautenberg: Republicans “don’t deserve the freedoms that are in the Constitution!”], ''[[Hot Air]]'', March 25, 2011.</ref> According to the ''Hot Air'' report, Lautenberg's allowance that he’d give those freedoms to [[Tea Party Movement|Tea Partiers]] despite their political views was seen as more offensive than his initial remark.

{{Liberalism}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lautenberg, Frank}}

[[Category:Former United States Senators]]
[[Category:110th United States Congress]]
[[Category:111th United States Congress]]
[[Category:112th United States Congress]]
[[Category:113th United States Congress]]
[[Category:New Jersey]]
[[Category:Abortion Advocates]]
[[Category:American Jews]]
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category:Liberals]]
[[Category:Anti Second Amendment]]

Cory Booker

2018-09-22T17:19:55Z

FredJ: link to primary source is better (gives proper context)

'''Cory Booker''', a [[liberal]] [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], is the junior [[United States Senator]] from [[New Jersey]], having been elected in a special election on October 16, 2013, to fill the seat vacated by the death of Sen. [[Frank Lautenberg]]. He previously served as [[mayor]] of [[Newark]], New Jersey.

Booker wrote in a 1992 article in ''The [[Stanford University|Stanford]] Daily'' of groping a girl's breast at a [[New Year's Eve]] party when he was 15 years of age.<ref>Booker, Cory (February 19, 1992). [https://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford19920219-01.2.16# "So much for stealing second."] ''The Stanford Daily''. Retrieved September 22, 2018.</ref> Liberals and Democrats seem to have had no problem with this admission, in contrast to their reactions to unsubstantiated allegations made against conservatives (see [[Left-wing war on women]]).

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Booker, Cory}}
[[Category:New Jersey]]
[[Category:United States Senators]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Liberals]]

Anita Hill

2018-09-22T17:03:49Z

FredJ:

'''Anita Hill''', born July 30, 1956 (age {{age|1956|7|30}}), is a law professor at [[Brandeis University]]. She is best known for her testimony during [[United States Senate]] confirmation hearings on [[Clarence Thomas]]'s appointment to the [[US Supreme Court]]. The [[Senate]] rejected her claims of harassment and voted to confirm Thomas in 1991. Sen. [[Joseph Biden]], chairman of the Judiciary Committee, held extended hearings to accommodate her last-minute allegations and traumatize the country with televised hearings. [[Democrat]]s resented a [[Republican]] president appointing a [[conservative]] [[African-American]] role model to the Supreme Court who refused to commit to the sanctity of [[abortion]].

Hill's testimony focused on Thomas's alleged statements ten years earlier, when he was her supervisor at the U.S. [[Department of Education]], and later at the U.S. [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]]. Hill claims she felt sexually harassed, but never did adequately explain why she continued to go out of her way to work for Thomas, including following him as he changed jobs and why she never reported it until he was being nominated to the Supreme Court. Thomas said he would rather have been the victim of an assassin's bullet than to have done to him what Anita Hill was trying to do.<ref>http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,974074,00.html</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Anita}}
[[Category:Academics]]
[[Category:Political Figures]]

Anita Hill

2018-09-22T17:01:08Z

FredJ:

'''Anita Hill''', born July 30, 1956 (age {{age|1956|7|30}}), is a law professor at [[Brandeis University]]. She is best known for her testimony during [[United States Senate]] confirmation hearings on [[Clarence Thomas]]'s appointment to the [[US Supreme Court]]. The [[Senate]] rejected her claims of harassment and voted to confirm Thomas in 1991. Sen. [[Joseph Biden]], chairman of the Judiciary Committee, held extended hearings to accommodate her last-minute allegations and traumatize the country with televised hearings. [[Democrat]]s resented a [[Republican]] president appointing a [[conservative]] [[African-American]] role model to the Supreme Court who refused to commit to the sanctity of [[abortion]].

Hill's testimony focused on Thomas's alleged statements ten years earlier, when he was her supervisor at the U.S. [[Department of Education]], and later at the U.S. [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]]. Hill claims she felt sexually harassed, but never did adequately explain why she continued to go out of her way to work for Thomas, including following him as he changed jobs and why she never reported it until he was being nominated to the Supreme Court. Thomas said he would rather have been the victim of an assassin's bullet than to have done to him what Anita Hill was trying to do.{{fact}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Anita}}
[[Category:Academics]]
[[Category:Political Figures]]

Cory Booker

2018-09-22T16:59:32Z

FredJ: Undo revision 1449819 by 1990'sguy (talk)

'''Cory Booker''', a [[liberal]] [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], is the junior [[United States Senator]] from [[New Jersey]], having been elected in a special election on October 16, 2013, to fill the seat vacated by the death of Sen. [[Frank Lautenberg]]. He previously served as [[mayor]] of [[Newark]], New Jersey.

Booker has admitted to groping a girl at age 15, though liberals and Democrats had no problem with this admission, unlike when unsubstantiated allegations were made against conservatives<ref>Berry, Susan (September 22, 2018). [https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/09/21/sen-cory-booker-admitted-to-groping-female-friend-at-15/ Sen. Cory Booker Admitted to ‘Groping’ Female Friend at 15]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved September 22, 2018.</ref> (see [[Left-wing war on women]]).

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Booker, Cory}}
[[Category:New Jersey]]
[[Category:United States Senators]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Liberals]]

Cory Booker

2018-09-22T16:50:16Z

FredJ: if Booker is "far-left" the word has no meaning

'''Cory Booker''', a [[liberal]] [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], is the junior [[United States Senator]] from [[New Jersey]], having been elected in a special election on October 16, 2013, to fill the seat vacated by the death of Sen. [[Frank Lautenberg]]. He previously served as [[mayor]] of [[Newark]], New Jersey.

Booker has admitted to groping a girl at age 15, though liberals and Democrats had no problem with this admission, unlike when unsubstantiated allegations were made against conservatives<ref>Berry, Susan (September 22, 2018). [https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/09/21/sen-cory-booker-admitted-to-groping-female-friend-at-15/ Sen. Cory Booker Admitted to ‘Groping’ Female Friend at 15]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved September 22, 2018.</ref> (see [[Left-wing war on women]]).

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Booker, Cory}}
[[Category:New Jersey]]
[[Category:United States Senators]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Liberals]]