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KeiryHiraldo
EnglishII
Ms.Urciuoli
March2016
NonTranscendentalistbeliefsconnecttomoderndaysociety
Weareinthe21stcentury,todayhumankindreliesonthepoweroftechnologywhichis
advancingmoreandmoreeachday.Peopledon'tseebeingoutinnatureasnecessaryanymore,
they'retoobusydiscovering,creatingandadvancingsociety.Transcendentalistarepeoplewho
donotagreewith21stcenturyadvancementsatall.InThoreau'stimewhichwasthe1800s,he
disagreedonpeoplebuildingbasicinfrastructureandworking,ifhewasalivenowhewould've
goneinsane.Intoday'ssocietythemostbeneficialgroupforhumankindwouldbeAnti
Transcendentalist,duetotheirmoderndaybeliefs.Transcendentalistbelievedwhattheywanted,
butmanyofthemagreedonNaturebeingtheholyplace,universaltruthsandsocietyand
governmentbeingthebad.
AntiTranscendentalistarethecompleteopposite,theybelieveinreligionandthatmanis
bornwiththeoriginalsinofAdamandEve.Theyalsobelieveinheavenandhell,meanwhile
Transcendentalistdon'tbelieveinreligionortheybelievetheopposite.Accordingto
Pewfourm.org
70.6percentofAmericansbelieveinsometypeofChristanity,whileonly22.8
percentofAmericansareunafilliated.Thisprovesthat70.6percentofAmericanswouldbein
agreementandrelatewithAntiTranscendentalist,thatgodisrealandmanisbornwiththe
originalsin.AntiTranscendentalistalsobelievedthatyoucouldfindgodingooddeeds,people
todayfindgodbygoingtochurch,doingcommunityserviceandhelpingothersout,whichare

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allaformofgooddeeds.ThisleadstoanotherbeliefAntiTranscendentalisthad,whichwasthat
youcannotmeetgoduntilyoureachafterlife.Thisalsoconnectstothe70.6percentof
Americans,becauseit'sbasicallylikegoingtohellorheaven.Americansfollowthebible,goto
churchandfollowthe10commandmentssothatwhentheydiethey'llbeablereachgodsince
theyfollowedhimwhiletheywerealive.
AntiTranscendentalistalsobelievedthatmanisthemostdestructiveforceinnature.
Thisisverytrue,andwearestartingtoseetheeffectshumansarehavingontheplanet.Humans
everydayarepollutingtheplanetbydoingthesimpleactofdrivingtowork,fertilizingtheir
lawns,andusingproductslikehairspray.Today'ssocietyissofocusedonadvancing
technology,infrastructures,cars,theydon'trealizewhatwearedoingtotheplanettillnow.Not
onlyhavewebeenpollutiontheairandland,butwearealsousingupallofourresourceslike
treesandwaterveryquickly.Wearedestroyingthelandtoexpandbuildings,andatthesame
timewearetakingawaythehomesofanimals.Wearenowrealizingthatweareproducingtoo
muchtrashandwearestartingtoseetheeffectsofglobalwarming.Mostpeoplecanagreethat
wehavedestructedtheplanet,beforehumankindtheearthwashealthyandfullofresources.
Nowbecauseofmanyreasonslikegreed,advancementsandtechnologywehavedestructed
nature.LikeTranscendentalist,peopleliketogetawayfromallofthetechnologyandgoon
walks,campandadmirethepartsofnaturethathumankindhasnotdamagedyet.Thisthough,
stilldoesn'tchangethefactthatwearethemostdestructiveforceofnaturelikeAnti
Transcendentalistbelieve.
WithoutevenhavingthetwocategoriesTranscendentalistandAntiTranscendentalist,
humankindautomaticallyfallsintoAntiTranscendentalism.AntiTranscendentalismisclearly

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themostbeneficialideologyforsociety,becausetheirbeliefsarethingswemostlyallbelieve
withoutnoticing.It'sthewaycurrentsocietylives,alltheadvancementsandthingsweareused
towouldmakeitreallyhardforustoswitchtoTranscendentalism.JusttheTranscendentalist
ideaofbeinginpeace,aloneinnaturewouldbehardconsideringthefactthattherearecurrently
7.4billionpeopleonearth.AntiTranscendentalismwouldofbeenabitbetterduringThoreau's
time,butinthe21stcenturyitjustdoesn'tfitinwithsocietynow.

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Citations
http://www.pewforum.org/religiouslandscapestudy/
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ndr0lrVu2zu2rJdzyl3nNT0PfJ9rQYTLfs4IrvJD7H4/edit
TranscendentalismThoreauNotes
EdgarAllenPoeNotes