Nick Nowak 11/12/14
Dr. Carl Davila 3rd Writing Assignment During the Middle Ages, many monotheistic religions began to institutionalize throughout the Mediterranean world. These monotheistic religions became deeply rooted in the cultures and societies at the time, and these religions helped shaped societies and the people who lived in them. There are many documents that layout how social hierarchy should be based on the views of the religions, and also talked about different diverse ideas that are layout by the religion. These documents also talk about gender hierarchy and the relationship between the believer and the people in power. In the Quran, it talks about how everyone in society should interact, and how the social structure of hierarchy will work. In it, it talks about how the main being of the religion is God/Allah, and who he is the only god. It talks about how he is the creator of man. It talks about how you should help everyone, and do well to them. It says how you should talk all people in a kind way, and how everyone who can donate to charity must. This shows that in the Islamic faith, you may not look down on a person because of their social status, and it is ones duty to help people who are in need. The Quran also talks about how man and women should interact with each other. It talks about how men are the protectors and maintainers of women and this is because god gave them more strength. This makes it necessary for men to protect women, and because of this women must be obedient and that in the husbands absence, she must guard whatever god asks here to. This puts men at a dominant position in the social structure, and puts a cap on how successful women can be in a society. This is terrible because now it is hard for women to prosper in this religion. In Christianity, the guidelines of the religion layout the way social hierarchy needs to be. `One way that this is shown is that priests and bishops are ranked very high in the structure of their social hierarchy. If someone would kill a priest, bishop or deacon, they would be capitally punished. Like in the Muslim religion, there is one god, who is the highest being in the universe. Everything done was in the name of god, which the king of England did not like. He believed people should worship him, and he believed that he was the highest being in the social pyramid. What is different in Christianity that is different from the Islamic religion is that there is not as big of a strain on gender hierarchy. This gives women a lot more power and influence in the religion, which makes this religion more equal for everyone. Like the Islamic faith, all men are created equal. In both religions people are taught to treat each other with compassion and respect, and it is the duty to help out the less fortunate. Christian
