Joel Berger
July 1, 2005
Weekly Journal Assignment

1) One paragraph summary of the key idea summarizing the topic of the week.

One big key idea of the week was Fredrich Nietzsche who was a German philosopher is the 19 century. He was a atheist and a nihilist. One of his big ideas was value. He believed that no one was priceless(nothing else is higher in value). He believe that every human being had a different value and some where more valuable then others. We also read about and English philosopher by the name of Thomas Hobbs. Hobbs was also a practical atheist. One of his big ideas was materialism. This is the belief that the only thing that exists in this world is physical matter, no God, no souls, no spirits, no angels, no demons, and ect. He also believed that there is no such thing as free will. All people are driven by instinct and are genetically programmed. St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, was another person talked about in class. One of his main ideas was the First Principle and Foundation. This says that we "should make every choice according to whether it brings us closer to God. Then there was the dislike between science and the church. The period between 500 BC and 1500 AD was called unreflected unity. During this time the science and the church were not at each other's throats and they lived in harmony. Then came the time between 1500 AD and 1900 AD which is called reflective disunity because the church was having problems with what some of the scientists were starting to speak out about some of their beliefs about the world that were contrary to the churches. Then came 1900 AD to the present beyond which is called reflective unity because the church and science finally started to live in harmony again. They still have their differences but they have learned to live with each other.

2) List and explain three of the most important ideas you want to remember from this week.

a)The two kinds of atheism: practical and positive. A positive atheist believes that there is no god and makes atheism a large part of their lives. A practical atheist calls them self a Christian because they were baptized into the church and have gone to church a couple of times in the past decade but sincerely do not believe in God.

b)Relative and objective morality. Objective morality is lacking the knowledge that would enable someone to see the truth, or he/she is unwilling to see it. Relative morality is when a person is free to decide what is good and bad and no one can tell them that they are wrong.

c) One key idea of this week was dehumanization. This is that people today are worrying so much about what society tells them what they have to look like that they are basically becoming brainwashed. They say that kids are paying to much attention to video games and TV and not using their imagination enough.

3) One image of that reminds you of the topic. Attribute, link, your source.

Picture LInk

In chose this picture because we read about his ideas were things that I do not believe. I believe that people are priceless and that no person is no more valuable than any other person. A rich millionaire who lives in a penthouse in New York is no more valuable then a person who lives on the streets in the bad neighborhood in New York.

4) One good question you should keep with your to ponder.

Do I put to much focus on the material things in my life rather than use my imagination and play without video games?

5) What should you try to do to make you a better person, a more faithful person, form this study.

I need to examine my faith to see if I am a practical atheist or a Christian. I need to find those aspects of my faith that make me a practical atheist and try and change them so that I will be a Christian.