Extra Credit Reading Notes: Creation and Destruction Crash Course

 

(The Beast Shall Fight Against Them by Phillip Medhurst)

For this week I took notes on the Creation and Destruction list of videos by Crash Course. The specific collection I watched was aggregated by Laura Gibbs and can be found here. 

First video: Humans and Nature and Creation:

There were two ideas discussed in this video. The first was the Biblical idea that Man raised first and that all the animals were created as helpers to mankind. This sets up a power dynamic where man is treated as the default most important/powerful group. This makes the world designed for humans, not necessarily for animals. 

The second idea discussed is Native American ones. In these, humans are not usually put above the animals as decidedly as in the Biblical one. Instead, they are shown to be working together with animals. They mentioned how the animals are given agency and intellect in the stories. They have a more active role in the creation of the world and make animals necessary to nature. 

Second video: The Apocalypse: 

Apocalypses are about how all human society will come to an end. This is a theme of divine punishment, like flood stories, but these are in the past when apocalypses are in the future. A focus on a judgment. In the Hebrew Bible, there are usually 2 events: General destruction, and punishment. 

Zoroastrianism: Fate is tied to which you follow. As all will die and those that are good are resurrected.

Christian: There will be plagues, resurrections, and the antichrist. There are 7 plagues. One to mark those who follow the beast. 2 to turn all teh water to blood. 1 to enlarge the sun. 1 to fill the kingdom to darkness. 1 to dry the Euphrates. 1 into the air to signal the fall of the world. The beast is often mentioned. 

Islam: People become less religious and obsessed with the world. Lots of general destruction happening. The anti christ comes on a donkey. 40 years of the beast. 40 years of Jesus's ruling. Gog and Magog will decimate the world. Everyone's sing and good deed will be weighed. 

The common thread in these is that they mostly all are concerned with events that can not be handled by humans. 

Third video: Ragnarok:

The Norse gods of the sky want to bring Loki to justice. Thor catches Loki and they want to punish him. They have his son eaten and use his intestine to tie him down and is dripped on by snake venom. The story is a prediction that will happen. First 3 long winters. This will crumble civilization. The world is plunged into darkness and earthquakes. This causes the Earth to shift and Loki is set free. Asgard is readied for battle with Loki and an army of giants. After great battles, the whole world is on fire and is reduced to ashes. Eventually, absolutely everyone will die gods and people. A new pantheon is formed from some who died and came back. The end of the world is also the beginning.