Philosophical debate: "Your Christians are so unlike your Christ..."

I put this together yesterday afternoon and posted it on Facebook. This is an imaginary conversation between a stereotypical mainline conservative Christian and Jesus of Nazareth. I specifically used words of Jesus and not just general Bible verses. Even though I am an agnostic-borderline-atheist, and I do not believe in Jesus as my savior, I found myself asking if I would agree with only the words of Jesus if they were somehow taken apart from the rest of the Bible (in which there are several passages to which I am morally opposed) and just focused on the "Letters in Red."  I began a project based on this idea several years ago, but quickly found that unfortunately I do not agree with EVERYTHING Jesus says. Would have been nice. But he does say a lot of fantastic things, and even as a non religious person, I don't believe in throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Quick Update, and Happy Holidays

Well, I apologize (to myself, I guess, since I doubt anyone else really cares if I do my schoolwork or not!) that I have not been keeping up with my literature course.

Slow Going, and What is Consciousness?

I'm having trouble with my World Literature Survey. I've established the problem, and it is not doing the reading or the homework itself. In fact, some of the assignments and lectures have been quite enjoyable. The problem is finding everything I need: the reading material itself, a lecture, and a study guide/study questions. It is quite time consuming, and if I continue going at the rate I'm going now, it will take me almost 7 more months to finish this literature class! (My goal is to finish by January)

So I have an idea... 

The Epic of Gilgamesh- Summary Essay

History
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an ancient Mesopotamian poem, and is most notably one of the oldest known works of literature. The poem exists in its earliest form as several separate Sumerian legends dating around 2000 B.C.E, which were later combined into a great Akkadian epic inscribed on twelve tablets, thought to be dated around 1800-1700 B.C.E.  The Epic of Gilgamesh was discovered in 1853 C.E., and is a widely celebrated work of literature today.

The Epic of Gilgamesh- Lecture

Thank you to Mr. David Chadd who posted some informative and entertaining lectures about the Epic of Gilgamesh on vimeo. There was no contact information for Mr. Chadd, so unfortunately I was not able to thank him for sharing his knowledge. But it was exactly what I needed to complement my at-home study.

Vote on my Next Course!

It seems apparent to me now that I should only try to complete one course at a time. Perhaps at an accelerated pace if I can, but certainly not get overwhelmed with an entire semester's load of courses at once. I would ideally like to complete an entire semester's worth of courses in the same amount of time. Just doing them one (or possibly two) at a time. If I do it slower, so be it. It's not a race. I'm just here to learn the material and apply it to my life. 

I forgot, homework sucks

Well, I finished my homework for today. Let me just say, it was not enjoyable. In fact, it sucked. Arduous, tedious, patronizing. Oh, the joys of college.

The Epic of Gilgamesh- Study Questions

World Literature Survey 

The Epic of Gilgamesh 

Study Questions

The Epic of Gilgamesh- Which Translation?

Today, I began to read the Epic of Gilgamesh.

And then I began again. 

And then again. And then I tried to listen to an audio book. 

World Literature Survey- Syllabus

World Literature Survery Syllabus

A study of representative works of world literature, emphasizing the study and consideration of the literary, cultural, and human significance of selected great works of the Western and non-Western literary traditions. An important goal of the class is to promote an understanding of the works in their cultural/historical contexts and of the enduring human values which unite the different literary traditions. Designed to be a 300 university level course worth approximately 6 college credits.

Happy Halloween

Tomorrow, I start my literature class! But today, I wanted to wish you all Happy Halloween. Here is a collection of some of the cutest little Halloween babies.

Philosophical debate: Gay Marriage

Are you against the legalization of gay marriage, or “Marriage Equality?” If so, please scroll down and find your primary objection to see a brief argument in favor of marriage equality.

Philosophical debate: Religion, why do YOU believe?

This is a note that I created on Facebook to get some feedback from my religious friends. It focuses primarily on questioning an individual on why they have chosen to believe their particular religion (based on this particular demographic, the religion is usually Christianity) above any other religion? Or non-religion, or philosophy?

Philosophical debate: Prayer and the Existence of God

From time to time, certain posts on my Facebook wall will get a lot of attention. I'll devote a lot of time and energy to responding to my (very diverse!) friends' comments, and it will turn into something that I don't want to just get "lost" on my wall. I would like to preserve it to review in the future.

Education, freely shared

Thanks to my friend Rick for pointing me towards this amazing site!

MIT Open Courseware (OCW)
http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm

This is a completely free resource of full courses designed for the independent learner based off of real MIT courses. Included in each course are all the resources you need to complete the course via independent study. Of course, this is done without receiving any official academic credit. But their willingness to FREELY share this education is very laudable! They have over 2000 available courses in virtually every area of study.

On My Way...

So far, I've made some excellent progress on this peculiar undertaking. Or at least what I consider to be excellent! I haven't deleted this blog yet, so, that's a start.

Step One: Literature Course

As I go on this adventure, I am going to write some journal entries about how I'm going about accomplishing my goal. Today, I began to do research on making my curriculum for the next few years, but specifically the courses I will be taking this coming semester.

My First Post

Hello, friends!

Welcome to my new blog. To read the skinny on what this is all about, please click on the "About Me" tab above. This is basically my latest project- an attempt at a university level education in a non traditional- and affordable!- way. I'm not going to just sit back anymore. There is no reason why a mind like my own can't pursue higher education, even if it means thinking outside the box and making a few sacrifices.