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Table of Contents Comanche: Who are they? Different Bands of the Comanches Calumet: Peace-making and diplomatic object What will bring us peace? Many often ask. For the Comanche of Native America, their belief and adulation of calumet is a trait our world should consider and if necessary, adopt moving forward. In this piece, a brief description of the Comanche people will guide us through examining why calumet is important in their society and tradition. It must be stated that calumet is not a tradition solely practised by the Comanche. Like most Native American tribes, they consider not only the symbolism of the calumet, but also its efficacy in uniting tribes, and warring people, or even can be a safe passage for an enemy if carried as an olive branch. Comanche: Who are they? The name Comanche comes from the word ‘Ute’ which means “anyone who fights the other all the time.” The word can also mean “the enemy.” For the Comanches, they call themselves “Nermurnuh” meaning the "t...

Table of Contents Creation Hypotheses and Earth-Diver Myths Creation from nothing and the Dove’s Olive leaf in Judeo-Christian Traditions The mating of Earth Mother and Sky Father in A’shiwi Tribe’s Creation Account. Arapaho Creation Myth Diving into the Bottom of the Waters Conclusion The Arapaho are a Native American people. According to scholars, their presence was first noticed circa 3,000 years ago in the western region of the Great Lakes, along the Red River Valley, which could be now Manitoba in Canada, and Minnesota in the United States. They were popularly agrarians and spoke the Arapahoe language. My main interest is in their understanding of how things came into being. That is, how the Flat Pipe creates in the Arapaho tradition.   Many different creation hypotheses are closely related to the ‘earth-diver’ creation myth. Examining a few of these will help us better understand the Arapaho creation hypothesis. Creation Hypotheses and Earth-Diver Myths The creation hyp...

Table of Contents Who are the Sioux? Lakota Dakota Nakota Sun Dance Ceremony Sun Dance – The Prohibition and Liberation Protecting Sun Dance from Evil Influencers Conclusion The origin of the name ‘Sioux’ provoked my interest in finding out more about their most important religious event called Sun Dance. Also, having read about the porcupines' 'moon dance' described in a fictional story in The Grumbling Warehouse , my interest grew more in understanding the Sun Dance ceremony. The Sioux people or otherwise referred to as the People of the Seven Council Fires: Wahpekute, Sistonwan, Ihanktown, Ihanktowana, Tetonwan, Wahpetonwan, and Mdewankanton constitute the people generally described as Native Americans. How did the name Sioux come about? The French merchants in search of fur in Northern Wisconsin lakes and Minnesota were prevented by the Dakota people from advancing further west. The French merchants wanted to find out who the Dakota people were from Ojibwe. Perhaps, d...

Table of Contents From the Qur’an The Being of God Himself The Polemics against the Trinity The Influence of Kalam Conclusion The Muslims’ perceptions of Christianity have always been based on the fundamental principle of Islam, that is, there is no god but God and Muhammad is the prophet of God. Every argument takes bearing from the fundamental belief of the indivisibility of God. Below is a brief description of how Muslims perceive Christianity. From the Qur’an The Qur’an objects to the idea of God being one but in three persons – Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. It does not acknowledge the Trinity, and it extends to Christianity’s doctrine of the Incarnation and as such, the authenticity of the Bible. As described elsewhere in this blog about the nature of Jesus, the Islamic theological and scriptural understanding of the nature of Jesus are unique when compared to Christianity. The Muslim polemics about the oneness of God, the Sonship of Jesus and the authenticity of the Bibl...

Table of Contents The Unborn Child Mary, the Virgin Mother Joseph, the Foster Father The Shepherds The Angels The Three Wise Men The Donkey King Herod The Soldiers The birth of Christ brings with it a collection of characters to life, recognition, light, fame, or infamy. His birth recognizes the contraries in the different characters on the stage of life. It is a binary of low and high, small and great, poor and rich, daft and smart, good and evil, and foolish and wise. These characters played active roles in his coming:  The unborn child, Mary, the Virgin Mother, Joseph, his Foster Father, The Shepherds, The Angels, The Three Wise Men, The Donkey, King Herod, and The Soldiers. How do these characters and their roles reflect who I am and my thinking this Christmas and every day of my life? The Unborn Child He is an unborn child in Mary’s womb. Before he dwelt among us, he was first in the womb of a woman called a virgin. Probably, Mary was faced with the problems most women f...

In Christ, Jesus is the reconciliation of the idea of God’s Chosen People and God’s Gentile Pagans. This is the general theme of this Second Sunday’s readings of Advent. Before Christ, there was this separation between the two. But it is not godly to suggest that between the chosen people and gentile pagans God had favourites. Of course, in different contexts, such as the Virgin Mary found favour in God’s eye does suggest that she was favoured by God among other women. In her case, she was prepared from time to play the mediatrix, and to be the mother of the ‘Son of God’. According to Saint Paul: For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified (Romans 8:29-30). We see such favour in the case of Abraham whom God called out from his home, from among his ...

Not everyone was thrilled at the news of the birth of Jesus. Many were worried about the news of his birth. King Herod was unhappy with the news that a new king was coming to take over what he considered his own. He was furious and premeditatively unleashed a massive execution of infants to ensure that the newborn King was killed. That was how he understood the birth of Jesus, a King coming to take his place. If Herod interpreted his birth as that, imagine what it meant to hundreds of women who lost their children at the hands of Herod. The angels shout 'Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace among those whom he favours!' How much peace did those women know when their children were brutally murdered by Herod? Ironically, the Wise men from the east considered the newborn child as king and brought gold, frankincense and myrrh. Unbeknownst to them, one of their gifts, myrrh would be used first in the burial of the children murdered by Herod. His coming brought p...