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November 5/ 2017

Global Humanities
Mind Map 1:

Questions
Justify the following phrase: " The renaissance helped with the change and evolution of
many actual aspects. 
2. To what extent do you think religion changed thanks to the renaissance period?
3. Exemplify the way that artists in the renaissance developed and changed art through
the years.
4. Describe how city-states as Naples and Rome contributed and changed trade and
commerce during the renaissance.
5. Contrast the ideology of humanism and religion during the renaissance and describe
how it has changed throughout the years.

Essay Plan:

Introduction:
Question: "Contrast the ideology of humanism and religion during the renaissance" 
I thought it would've been a really interesting question to answer with an extent and
complete answer. 
Topic with different points of views ( religion and humanism) and the way they changed
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through the years.
It's basically the contrast between the ideologies of people with totally different beliefs
many years ago and nowadays. 
PEEL 1:
The Renaissance contributed a lot  to our actual society in terms of religious beliefs, art,
science, explorations, etc.
The renaissance was a period in the european history from the 14th to the 17th century. It
was regarded as the cultural bridge between the middle ages and the modern history.
It started as a cultural movement in Italy and later spread to Europe marking the beggining
of the modern age.
The renaissance started in Florence, Italy and spread to other cities in Italy. 
Italy was wealthy and the wealthy were willing to spend their money supporting artists,
churches, science, explorations, etc. 
PEEL 2: ( Question) Contrast the ideology of humanism and religion during the
renaissance.
In the renaissance many different ideologies about religious beliefs and morality appeared,
making people question many aspects of their day life.
Is easy to notice that religions adress that morality comes from higher entities, that there
are pretty similar to the physical laws, just as the law of gravity governs the attraction
between two objects, the laws of morality govern our actions and interactions.
Religions may think that for humanists, morality is relative, that for humanists morality
means nothing. That only morality derived from religion can provide a firm foundation.
Humanists, in the other hand think that there are no implicit laws that decide what is right
and what is wrong. Morality is a human construct, something based in our specific needs.
Religious morals drag followers into a postion of either hypocrisy or of turning their moral
thoughts into something meaningless.
PEEL 3: 
Humanism: gave people a different perspective of life and of moral.
It changed the way people viewed their lives, jobs, responsabilities and needs.
Humanism showed the non religious community that they could move out of their social
classes ( "there are no limits to what a man can accomplish")the status was maintained
their whole life's until humanism appeared.
Society started to see things with a more logical and reasonable view.
Self Consciousness and awareness were raised in to a new level, a level that allowed
humans to evolve further and faster.
(Power of freedom)
When the church was in decline, people took advantage and started to realize that God
couldn't be tested, no one could prove that he actually existed. So faith and respect
towards the church started to diminish and faded. 
For many people, God started to lose influence in the world and people began to act by
heir own values.
During the renaissance, the society acquired a new way of thinking  and now everything
was based on money. The church had difficulties adjusting to this new system.
the majority of the reformers wanted to change the church, not remove it, but many others
were into total disagreement with its laws. 
Conclusion:
- In conclusion, the renaissance was a really important period thanks to the changes it
produced in the society back then and nowadays.

If it wasn't for the beggining of humanism, our lives would probably be similar as the one in
the Middle Ages
Many years ago people didn't have the freedom they have now (in many aspects). 
Renaissance (in terms of  humanism and religion) impacted the lifestyle of people from the
past until this very day.
Believe it or not, through generations, we learned to evolute and find different alternatives
of living nowadays. 
Since the renaissance, people have learned to think and act independently and create and
use new ideas every day, allowing us to visualize our own future and what we want, not
having to depend on anyone.  
A newer and higher standar and manner of living began when the renaissance started.
Renaissance is the clear prove that  a big change in humanity is possible

Mind Map of the questions and the answers.

ESSAY:
I decided to write about humanism and religion because from my personal interest,
it's a topic that can have a great variety of extent answers, including  two different
points of views and opinions from various historic periods ( the Middle Ages and
the modern age). I think it's interesting the way beliefs towards a higher entity or a
powerful God had changed throughout the years, before, people thought that one
certain God existed, one entity that demanded specific laws for our World to be
peaceful, but as the time passed, some communities started to question the
existence of him or it. This obviously, triggered great debates, fights, differences,
discussions and divisions between countries, city-states, etc. So basically I decided
to go further with this information to have a deeper analysis and be well informed
about it. The question I chose (Contrast the ideology of humanism and religion
during the renaissance) clearly reflects my interest in writing and investing time
inquiring about this topic in my essay, it's a captivating subject and a very engaging
material can come out of it.

As I mentioned above, the renaissance was a clue period in the world's history, if it
wasn't for it  our society could be the same way it was during the Middle Ages and
we wouldn't have had the chance to evolute the way we did to improve our
lifestyle. The Renaissance was a  period in Europe's history. It lasted from the 14th
to the 17th century and nowadays it is known as the cultural "bridge" between the
Middle Ages and the modern age. It all started as a cultural movement in Italy,
more specifically in Florence, then it arrived to other cities and finally  spread to
Northern Europe marking the beginning of a total new age. The renaissance mainly
started because Italy was a wealthy country, willing to support artists, scientists,
explorers, geniuses and church/religion.

In the renaissance many different ideologies about religious beliefs, morality and
values  emerged, making a vast quantity of people question aspects of their day
life, interactions and actions. Because of these sudden changes in people's minds
during this period, communities divided into different "religious and non religious"
groups. Is easy to notice, even nowadays how religions address that values and
morality come from higher and superior entities, which laws are pretty similar to the
physical ones, just as the law of gravity governs the attraction between the objects,
the laws of morality command our actions and interactions with and toward others.
In that period of time, Religion (specially Christianity)  may have thought that for
humanists, morality was relative, that for humanists morality and values meant
nothing. That only what was derived from religion could provide a "firm foundation"
and a peaceful world, surprisingly, in the actuality there are some people who still
believe this. Humanists, in the other hand may have thought that there were no
implicit laws that decided and determined  what was  right and what was wrong.
According to humanists, their definition for values and morality was more
consistent, It was something based in our specific needs and responsibilities.
Humanists thought that religious morals drag followers into a position of either
hypocrisy or of turning their moral thoughts and beliefs into something
meaningless. 
During these days, the humanist position towards morality is focused on equality,
human rights, democracy and although humanists may have different opinions
towards this terms, they all agree that their values are best for humanity as a
whole. People around the world,  in the actuality have the freedom to choose their
religion, what they want to believe in and the people they want to become, religions
in general are more flexible with their laws and demandings. The truth is, that no
matter in what you believe or who you want to be, values and moral should always
be present in your life, this may be considered a "world's law".

During the Middle Ages, before Renaissance took place in Europe, everything
depended and was based on religion, when humanism appeared, it gave people a
different perspective of life, of moral and of values. It completely changed the way
some people viewed their lives, jobs, responsabilities and needs. Humanism
showed the non religious community that they could move out of their social
classes, for example if your father was a peasant, you didn't need to be one as
well, you had more options, more opportunities. People realized that actually there
are no limits to what a man can accomplish if he sets his mind to do it. Society
became independent, they no longer needed to be controlled by the church and
religion by their own ways, they learned to make decisions and to automatically
acquire a clear vision of what was wrong and what was right. The community
started to see things with a more logical and reasonable view, science started to
emerge to try to explain our origins and more things, they needed a deeper
explanation, an explanation that wasn't just about how God created the world. After
certain people adapted to this type of lifestyle self consciousness and awareness
were raised into a new level, a level that allowed humans to evolve further and
much faster. More possibilities appeared as well as the power of freedom, new
Interactions in a completely different way with nature and history started and
possibilities and opportunities expanded much more. But as you may guess, the
church was in decline and people took advantage and started to realize that God
couldn't be tested, no one could prove that he actually existed. So faith and respect
towards the church started to diminish. For many people, God started to lose
influence in the world and they began to act based on their own values. So During
this period the society acquired a new way of thinking  and now everything was
based on money. The church had difficulties adjusting to this new system, so it got
to a point were it had a minimal interest and respect from the cities/communities.
Believe it or not, this had its positive side, because it allowed people to choose if
they wanted to follow a religion or if they wanted to act by their own sources of
knowledge, and nowadays this is very important, because it should've helped
people to be more "open minded" and "tolerant" towards differences, not forcing
any one to be someone they don't want to be.

From all of the above, we may conclude that the renaissance was a really
important period thanks to the changes it produced in the society back then and
nowadays, because of the way it made our minds evolute. If it wasn't for the
beginning of humanism, our lives would probably be similar to the ones in the
Middle Ages, this means that we wouldn't have the power to choose in what we
want to believe or what we want to be. Renaissance, in terms of  humanism and
religion impacted the lifestyle of people from the past until this very day in a mostly
positive way. Believe it or not, through generations, we learned to evolute and find
different alternatives of living the way we do nowadays. Since the renaissance,
people have learned to think and act independently and create and use new ideas
every day, allowing us to visualize our own future and what we want, not having to
depend on anyone, including religion. A newer and higher standard and manner of
living began when the renaissance took place in Europe and spread. Renaissance
is the clear prove that  a big change in humanity is yet possible.

Sofía Correa A. 7-1