Comparative Essay Sample: European Culture and Native American Culture

Two stories from two different countries that were both America's founding cultures. Both stories included gods and values. Sinner’s of an angry god talks about one god from the bible and the author Johnathan Edwards expresses his feelings about the congregation and the wrath of god. For the second story, which is world on the Turtle's back, one of the creation stories made by the Iroquois which is one of the six native American groups. This story was made to show important values that the Iroquois strongly believe in. Though these stories are from two different cultures they are a big part of America's unique culture and they both are good examples of values, good and bad.

These two stories are good examples of the differences in values and perceptions of good and bad in diverging cultures. The world on the turtle’s back shows native american values and sinner’s in the hands of an angry god shows European and Puritan values. In Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, they see their god as a being with a great deal of wrath and vengeance. I know that because the text states, “They are now the objects of that very same anger and wrath of God, that is  expressed in the torments of hell.” This quote shows that God feels all this anger and wrath, which shows us how European Americans think of their god. For The World on a Turtle's Back the Iroquois describe their gods as similar to them but lived above the sky. “Here lived gods who were like people like Iroquois.” The puritans saw their god as angry and resentful while the Iroquois saw their gods as almost equal to them.

Though European and Native American cultures are very different they have some similarities, their stories and beliefs share some of the same ideas too.  Their gods even have some similarities. The iroquois mention two of their gods who are “good” and “bad” that create balance. “And the right-handed twin made berries and fruits of other kinds for his creatures to live on. The left-handed twin made briars and poison ivy, and the poisonous plants like the baneberry and the dogberry, and the suicide root with which people kill themselves when they go out of their minds.” In this quote we can see the difference between the two twin gods and how balanced they are together. Which is just like the Puritan’s god which was very angry and wrathful but also quite hopeful. “with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.”  All throughout the reading, we can see Jonathan Edwards describe his god as unforgiving and unpleasant. But, as we get to the end of the reading we see him describing him in a more positive light which shows balance.

World on the Turtle's Back and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God have so many differences. I would say they have more differences than similarities, their gods, values, and creation stories are so different. In the Iroquois’s creation story they say the world and humans were created by the left and right-handed twins. men. “The right-handed twin, the Master of Life, lives in the Sky-World. He is content with

the world he helped to create and with his favorite creatures, the humans.” In the world on the turtle's back, they give us so many context clues to how the world was made but in sinners in the hand of an angry god, We get almost no creation story. However, they do tell us how Hell was created and why it was created. “The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God,.” The text shows Hell is made purely from God's wrath and anger.

Both the Iroquois and Puritans had a big influence on America and its culture. Jonathan Edward was a leader and inspiration to the Christian community in the 1730s which caused there to be a big influence of the puritan way of Christianity in America. ``1735, he delivered a series of sermons that resulted in a great number of conversions. The converts believed they had felt God’s grace and were “born again” when they accepted Jesus Christ.” The Iroquois’s  impact on American culture was that they got the us government to recognize environmental protection. The text states, “Today, the league shows renewed vigor as it fights for environmental protection and increased recognition by the U.S. government.” Without the iroquois the U.S. government would not have opened their eyes to environmental protection so early.

To conclude this essay, the Puritans and Iroquois have so many similarities and differences based on their gods, values, and cultures, though they are two totally different things. The puritans worship one god that has so much anger and the Iroquois worship multiple gods that are balanced and don't hold hatred for humans. Both stories are also a humongous part of America and its culture. So even though the stories have many differences they can still have about the same impact on one country.