Jeffrey Gushman

HIST 134
Portfolio Reflection
Dr. Alec Thomson

Religion/Morals and Traditions and Their Impact on the Ancient World and Today

In the ancient world there were many themes that we can take and apply to our current

world today. I believe, when looking back at the different civilizations and leaders that we

studied this semester, that religion, morals, and traditions have been the most common theme

throughout each of these civilizations. In turn, I think we can take this theme and apply it to our

current world. How do our leaders use religion or morals to govern? How do these things help

people get elected, or hurt them? How can we better educate the next generation as to what to

pay attention to in politics, so that we may learn from our past? How can we take these lessons

and apply them in our own lives for the betterment of society?

Religion can be traced back to some of the earliest civilizations in history. A prime

example of religion being found in the early days of man is in ancient Egypt. In the evidence we

have of this ancient civilization, we can see that religion played a major role in it. During the life

of an Egyptian, one was expected to uphold the principle of maat or harmony. This dogma

taught that each persons actions affected everyone, not only the individual who was making

those actions. I believe this is a great first place to start in studying how religion plays a role in

ancient civilzations. In fact, this one thought process can be applied to every other civilization

that we look at, as well as to our world today. This is in many ways the old phrase that says

think before you act. How does what I am about to do affect others? In government, the

Pharohs main responsibility was to maintain maat, or harmony, in their world. There was a
goddess by the same name who was said to be the puppet master of Phraroh, and impart her

harmonious ways upon the ruler. While it may not have always happened this way, by Pharoh

ruling in a way that maintained harmony, we can say that it contributed to their acting

responsibly and in the best interest of society as a whole.

Another ancient ruler whose name is closely associated with religion is Constantine.

Constantine is routinely credited with the spread of Christianity and being an outspoken advocate

of the religion. In fact before his death it was said he considered himself the Emporer of the

Christian People. Before Constantine became emperor, Christians were routinely persecuted.

Constantine used religion as a platform for peace. By issuing the Edict of Milan, he ended the

persecution of Christians. However he did take it quite a few steps further. He announced that he,

himself was a Christian. And after that, Constantine would spend a great deal of his life working

to spread the faith and convert non-believers. Constantine would also go on to pass many laws

that were increasing humanitarian in nature, often believed to be a result of his Christianity and

God-like qualities. He treated others with respect, including a prisoner who had been kept from

the light of day. Constantine said that God created all men equal, and he deserved to have the

same God given rights as others. We can deduce that his religion had a profound impact on the

way he lead. Whether it was for honest reasons, or two advance his political agenda, we may

never know.

Perhaps one of the most peaceful and religions figures from ancient history is

Muhammad. Considered to be the founder of Islam, Muhammad a life of peacefulness and

mutual respect towards others. By his spreading and origination of an easy to follow, peaceful

religion, he was able to influence a great number of people, and later governments to adopt his

lifestyle. Being the instrument of Allah, he learned the words of the Quran and was able to
convert a large number of followers to follow in his ways. The spread of Islam can greatly be

attributed to Muhammad, his kind nature, the words of the Quran, and the ease of following the

religion.

We can look to these and many other ancient figures to see how religion and morals have

shaped our past. Whether it was to advance a political agenda, make people kinder to one

another, or to make the world a more peaceful and spiritual place, we can see why religion has

played such a significant factor in our history. We can also look to religion and our past to see

how it affects our present and may affect our future.

In America today, religion or religious morals come into play often within our own

political parties. There are ideals with the Republican party that ties heavily in with religion. The

most notable one that comes to mind is that of right to life and anti-abortion activists within the

party. Another idea that comes to mind is those who are anti same-sex marriage, and use

religions excuses to support their position. There is a bit of irony in the right to life debate, as

many of the same people support capital punishment or gun rights. These roles can be reversed in

the Democratic party, and some of the same catch 22s apply. In either case, we see religion being

applied as a pillar of political party, no matter how much separation of church and state there is

supposed to be.

In conclusion, we can see how looking to the past can help us make sense of the present.

If we do not study history, we are doomed to make the same mistakes over and over again.

Although, no matter how much we try to avoid making these mistakes, history does have a way

of repeating itself. Regardless, we have to do what we can every day to treat others with respect,

and advance our own causes of what we feel is right to do and how to treat others.
 Works Cited

Ancient Egypt. History.com. Web. Accessed 30 Apr 2017.

-History.com is the website for the History Channel, a well respected scholarly source

of information regarding all things historical. The article is in depth and covers many

aspects of Egyptian life including the role of religion.

Constantine the Great Rules. NationalGeographic.com. Web. Accessed 30 Apr

2017.
-National Geographic is another well known resource of historical information. This

concise article on Constantine talks about his life and impact on the Christian faith.
Stearns, Peter N. Islam from the Beginning to 1300. History-World.org. Web. 1992.

Accessed 30 Apr 2017.

-This is an e-book format of a text by Peter Stearns, a historian who chronicled many

aspects of the rise of Islam.

Postma, Michael. What Can History Teach Us Today. ASCD.org. Web. 2011.

Accessed 30 Apr 2017.

-This article covers many the aspects of this paper on what we can learn from history

and how it affects our future.