Principles of Magic Journal 4-5

I.                   There are many similarities between Christianity and Islam. Both say that there is One God. And that God is sovereign, he rules history. The existence of Angels is another similarity. Islam and Christianity both have Prophets and prophecy (Including many of the same characters Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, Jesus). Both believe in a Heaven and Hell and God's future judgment.

Although Muslims believe in one God, as do Christians, they reject as heresy that this one God is three persons. Jesus is given great honour in the Qu-ran, his status as a prophet and as a miracle-worker, even as God's Christ is strongly affirmed. But he's not God. In contrast the Bible is adamant that far from being just a created being, that Jesus is God himself become a human being.

N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2011. <http://www.christchurchcentral.co.uk/toughquestions/islam>.

II.                This week in class we talked about the principles of magic.  We watched videos of different performers explaining the principles of magic and how they were used in tricks. We also watched a video of a magician that because he was able to understand magic he was able to expose scam artists. We then related magic to psychology.

Scam artists like horoscope writers and palms readers, can convince people that they are real by using vague prophases that could relate to anyone. If people wanted them to be real then they would convince themselves that the prophecy fit their life even if it didn’t.  There was one video that gave a classroom of kids a horoscope and asked them who in the class’ horoscope related to their life. They all raised their hands, they then asked them to switch the horoscopes and it turns out they all had the same one. This showed how vague horoscope could convince people it really is about their lives.

III.             Who is a famous scam artist that has been exposed? How were they exposed.

Web. 23 May 2011. <http://images.sodahead.com/polls/001812119/3512897764_300px_Madam_Sophia_palm_reader_neon_sign_answer_1_xlarge.jpeg>. 
N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2011. <http://www.christchurchcentral.co.uk/toughquestions/islam>.

30 days numba 1 4-3

I.             For example, Jerusalem is the 3500 year old spiritual and national center of the Jewish people, where important early Jewish Temples stood, and the religion developed. It is also considered holy land in the Islamic and Christian religions. The land began being called Palestine by the Romans after the destruction of the second Jewish Temple of Jerusalem. There are those, who because of that, believe that the first Palestinians were the Jews, and the land should still be theirs to govern. After that, the early Christian Religion was also centered there, and more and more Christians made pilgrimages to the Holy Land, eventually added to the settlements there, and hold a strong connection with the area, as well. The Islamic religion is just as closely tied to the area as are the Jewish and Christian religions.

N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2011. <http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_Palestinians_want_Jerusalem>.

Web. 15 May 2011. <http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/30-days/images/30days_659x305.jpg>.

II.            This week in class we watched a 30days episode where a very Christian man stays with a Muslim family. The deal was the man would do everything the Muslim family did in order to learn more about their community. The point of this was to make the man and the world see that not all Muslims are terrorists. Terrorist is an extreme.

                Something I learned in Mr. Doyle’s leadership class was that Islamic extremists is to Islam as KKK is to Christianity.  One thing that I learned during the video was that Islam believe in the same god (they don’t believe that Jesus was the son of god) but the main god is the same. One thing that bugged me during the video was that he wouldn’t pray with them. I understand not knowing what they’re saying but I felt he could have prayed to his religion at the same time they were praying so he wasn’t just standing there staring at them.

III.           What is the main different between the two religions?    

N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2011. <http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_Palestinians_want_Jerusalem>.
Web. 15 May 2011. <http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/30-days/images/30days_659x305.jpg>.