I believe that although everything we have learned this semester can be applied to our life and our future life as United States Naval officers, there was one topic and lesson in particular that could be extremely beneficial to leading men and women one day. This was Sun Tzu’s Art of War. Sun Tzu’s Art of War is an ancient military treatise from around 771 to 476 BC. The book is composed of thirteen chapters, each chapter being devoted to an aspect of military warfare and how to apply those aspects. In chapter five, it talks about energy and how to maintain and encourage the motivation of those fighting under you. Sun Tzu said, “The control of a large force is the same principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers.” I believe that some people when they graduate the academy will be overwhelmed with their role as a leader and having to lead tens or hundreds of men and women. While that is most understandably overwhelming, it will be most important to just slow down, reflect, and set out a plan for your sailors. When I become and officer, I will make sure those under me are organized and ensure that they all have specific roles and know their roles. I cannot look at fifty men and women and try to lead them all as individuals. I need to look at them as five groups of ten or however I divide them and lead each group to make sure we are all successful. Another thing that Sun Tzu talked about was blending and harmonizing his forces and the different elements before pitching his camp. When I read this, it builds off what I just talked about. Organizing your troops is one things but if you take time to get to know your sailors and find their strengths and weaknesses, it will exponentially improve the rate of success that everyone receives. I am going to make sure that when I am an officer, I get to know all my subordinates and find out everything I can about them in order to strive in the field of work and also in battle if I ever go to war. Team chemistry is vital to the success of a leader and those he leads and I believe it is the most important thing a group or organization can have. Sun Tzu’s Art of War talks about many other aspects of war but I believe that before you can go to war, it starts with the relationships you form with those around you and so that is why I picked these two points out. My goal for when I become a leader is to be respected by those under me but at the same time have a professional and friendly relationship with them where they can feel comfortable at any time to come and talk to me.

 

Kody Crider

5 NOV 18

Two of the largest religions in the world today are Christianity and Islam. While many people may argue that these two religions differ vastly in their beliefs and practices, there are actually many similarities between the two. Starting with the most general fact about Islam and Christianity, they are both monotheistic which means belief in one god. Islam believes in Allah and Christians believe in God. Following this is Jesus. Each religion has a Jesus who were both virgin born. Islam however, believes that Jesus is not the son of god but rather a messiah. Christians believe Jesus is the divine son of God and savior to humanity. Two of the biggest differences between the two religions deal with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The Islamic religion believe that someone was substituted for Jesus so the real one could hide and meet with his disciples. Per Christianity though, Jesus was crucified on the cross for the atonement of sin and salvation of all those who believed. Due to the Islamic people not believing in the crucifixion, they do not believe in the resurrection. Christians though believe Jesus rose on the third day. Another comparison between these religions deals with the idea of man. Islam states that when men are created, they are sinless. Christians believe that man is created in God’s image and is sinful by nature and have to believe and serve to wash away their sin. After doing some small research and looking at the similarities between these two religions, I was very shocked to see how much the two have in common. A majority of the beliefs are very similar and only differ by one or two small details if that. Both religions have similar overarching ideas within their practices and beliefs such as the idea of judgment day and also the idea of heaven and hell. The two religions also share the belief that Jesus will come again one day to defeat the Antichrist. To answer the last question are they mutually exclusive, I believe the answer cannot be decided by one person. I believe that respect should be given towards all religions and that a Christian could study Islam in order to become a better Christian and vice versa. Although very similar, each religion had exclusive lessons and principles that although aren’t taught in other religions, could still be applied to whatever religion you practice. So my answer is yes and no. I do not believe that you could be Islamic and Christian, but I do believe you could be a Christian and study the Islamic religion alongside to help you in your religious journey or vice versa.

 

Kody Crider

Kody Crider

 

The parallels between history and modern may media are amazing at how close they line up sometimes. One example in particular, the Roman Empire and the Galactic Republic, which became the Empire, from Star Wars. These two empires have striking similarities. The first being, both empires started out as a republic. In Star Wars, it is called the Galactic Republic or the Old republic. This was true in Rome too. Before Rome became an empire, it was a Republic. Both of these republics though, soon turned into empires, Star Wars’ emperor being Palpatine and Rome’s emperor being Julius Caesar. These two men also came to power in a very similar way. They had both been in their positions much longer than they should have been but they were given extended rule for safety of their republics. Furthermore, they both wanted and continued chasing after more power and a higher title. The only difference though is that Senator Palpatine actually declares this Empire while Julius Caesar was already ruling and fell into this position of emperor. Another parallel between these two characters were that they were both betrayed by someone they trusted. Julius Caesar was betrayed by Brutus and was killed. In Star Wars Return of the Jedi, we have the scene where Palpatine is electrocuting Luke and Darth Vader is standing by watching, then Darth Vader chokes Palpatine and sends him off the ledge to his death. As you can see, there are many striking similarities between the Empire of Star Wars and the Roman Empire. Star Wars is not the only society though that has strong resemblances to the Roman Empire. Modern America has some very alarming parallels between the empires as well. One of the most prominent examples is the collapse of the middle class. During the Roman Empire, the middle class was crushed by overseas labor which is something we are witnessing in modern day. We are losing jobs to overseas workers who are being paid less with fewer rights. Another similarity is using Politics as the road to personal wealth. The Romans did this and so do we. Congressman, senators, etc. use their government service to go to private sectors that pay three to ten times more than their government pay did. Their focus is on working for those who will make them rich. Although there are similarities, we are still far from being like the Roman Empire and I do not believe that America will collapse. We have a strong foundation and many more rules and regulation sin place that would stop that from ever happening.

15 October 18

The Romans, I believe, did have a valid reason for fearing the Christians and their belief in only one god. The Romans were known to pray and worship many gods and deities for whatever they needed. They prayed to specific gods for specific things they needed in their life such as water, love, war, etc. Different gods represented different and important things in the Romans’ lives and their religion played a very strong and central part of their lives. Due to this difference in the Romans’ and Christians’ beliefs, it led to a division within the Roman Empire. Christians were not willing to follow emperors because the emperors held polytheistic beliefs and Christians could not support this. Christians believed in one god instead of multiple and they relied on that one god for all their needs instead of specific gods for specific needs. Because religion played a huge role during this time period, you can see why the Romans wanted to suppress Christianity. They feared that it would weaken their empire and would also cause backlash on them from the gods they worshiped. If the Christians refused to participate in the Roman religious rituals, the Romans feared that their gods would not give them what they needed. This division of religious ideas between the Christians and Romans caused for a large division of the Roman Empire and caused a large threat to the Emperors. If the Emperor could not get everyone to follow him, then it could be seen as a sign of weakness which would lead to a loss of more supporters. This in turn would lead to a less stable empire. An analogy I can think of that would better show this situation and the mess it caused within the empire would be: if you had been living in a house for multiple years and all of a sudden, people moved in with you and started rearranging your furniture and not following the rules that have been in place since you first lived there, it would cause a panic. You have only ever known your way of living and then all of a sudden, these people come in and don’t follow your traditions and cause division within the house. These people though are doing what they have always known though too. This is how I view this situation with the Romans and the Christians. The Romans feared this change and threat to the empire because of a lack of understanding. They have always known the polytheistic ways of praying to multiple gods and do not understand the idea of there being only one god. I believe this fear was valid and that their concerns were also valid.

 

Kody Crider

 

Kody Crider

HH215

Blog 2

Direct vs Representative

Democracy if a form of government where the citizens have the ability to have freedom, equality, and have a say in the way they are governed. The two types of democracy I will be comparing is representative democracy, which America has today, and direct democracy, which is what the Athenians had hundreds of year ago. It is my opinion that representative democracy is the fairer and better way to ensure the government is run correctly and the voice of the people is heard.

In a direct democracy, the people have direct say and influence over the decisions of laws. While this seems like a good idea, this could lead to controversy and a weak government because people from the city, town, state, etc. could form a majority to influence what they want to be passed or not passed. In a representative, we have elected party officials that express the voices of the people in their party. A small group of people represent those who elected them and they are more willing to go along with the ideologies of the party.

Using an example from our reacting to the past assignment, direct democracy allowed for the denial of slaves and metics to be able to vote. This vote was most likely determined due simply to the opinions the voters had of these slaves and metics as scum and thieves. The slaves and metics really had no chance of having the right to vote. Although it was passed initially, it was shortly reversed because of these reasons. If there was a representative democracy, the slaves and metics would have most likely had a better chance of the decision going in their favor and remaining that way. They would have had elected officials arguing for their case and the vote would have been taken by elected and educated representatives, not by a random group of citizens.

An example from today’s society is simply the type of government we have. We have a different version of democracy then what the Athenians had. We elect everyone who is selected to run for office, whether it be the president, congressmen or woman, cabinet members, senators, etc. Our government is ran by people we trust to express our voices and people we have elected to run our country with the best interest in mind. It is my opinion that representative democracy is the fairest and most efficient way to have the people’s voices heard while also maintaining a fair and efficient government.

Kody Crider

West in the Pre-Modern

Sagstetter

300 vs The Real Spartans

The movie 300 was produced in 2007, and while the movie does have some historical accuracy, there is a lot added to the movie to create a protagonist feel to the Spartans. During the movie, the Spartans wear almost little to no armor aside from their helmets. Their entire body was left open and vulnerable; this is not entirely accurate. The real Spartans were known to value their armor, and their body was covered in armor making them all look the same. I believe the director did this to add to the warrior vibe of the Spartans and to attempt to put an emphasis on their strength and courage.

Adding to this inaccuracy, another part of the movie that is not entirely true is this protagonist role the Spartans played. While in the movie they were made out to be the good guy and had the audience supporting them, in reality the Spartans were quite cruel. The Spartans would conquer their neighboring lands and enslave the citizens to their labor force. The director most likely did not want to show this side of them because if this was shown in the movie, then it would have changed the whole plot of the story. The Spartans would then have not been the good guys they were made out to be in the movie, and this may have lowered the popularity of the movie.

I believe that using media to teach history is a valid way of learning history because it is modernized and relatable. Our generation is more willing to sit down and watch a movie about history then to open a history book and read it. Although, these modern representations of history may not always be accurate, they give a stage to shine light on the history of the world. 300 is not the most accurate but there are many movies and other forms of entertainment out there that are much more historically accurate and give viewers a true knowledge of the subject. Without this, we would most likely go on without studying or attempting to learn about the history of ancient civilizations which helped shape the world we live in today.