Word: beliefs
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...wrote about people grinding its horn down to mix into a restorative elixir - now took on greater symbolic powers too. The unicorn both came to represent Christ, and also began to represent purity and chastity. The idea that unicorns could only be tamed by virgins became a widely held belief, and images of unicorns resting their heads in chaste womens laps, with not so subtle sexual undertones, began to appear in artwork. Likely for similar reasons of imagery and historical belief in its purity and healing powers, over time the unicorn was adopted as a symbol of power and royalty...
...until the 1980s that graphic designers felt able to properly reference Chinese themes. China's economic reforms, and Hong Kong's imminent decolonization, prompted the quest for a common visual identity. This took place not only at the very moment that Western consumers began exhibiting unprecedented curiosity about Chinese belief systems and culture, but also at a time when multinational brands needed a sinicized graphic language in order to address hundreds of millions of Chinese shoppers. A postmodern Chinese style subsequently entered the global marketplace, appropriating elements of brushstroke calligraphy, Buddhist iconography, imperial and folk art, Shanghai Art Deco imagery...
...faith ... characteristic of British politicians, not American ones": American politicians who loudly tout their faith are usually touting membership in one of the Christian sects, and rarely Judaism (and even more rarely Islam). The political climate in the U.S. makes it useful to boast about one's belief in Jesus and the Christian God, and political suicide to mention any faith that is focused in a different direction. Can you imagine a candidate for President glowingly referring to an uplifting feeling at a full-moon ritual or celebration of Tu B'shvat? Sadly, what really should be the valuable part...
...critter who is the film's hero can speak only in electronic grunts and sighs, or in one-word bursts, like a chattier R2-D2. The movie's other main creature, a robot named EVE, also can speak only a few words. Yet it's Pixar's big, bold belief that the mass audience will be astute enough to follow the visual clues and game enough to play along. So confident is the studio in its ability to charm audiences, it has made a futurist movie that's a lot like an old silent picture...
...Iraqi army crumbled. Rejoining the army in March 2004, he quickly established himself as one of the rising stars of the new military due to his aggressive instincts ("My tactics are simple," he says. "Whenever we see the enemy, we go after them.") and his uncompromising belief that the future of Iraq must be non-secular. A Shi'a, he is married to a Sunni, and one of his sons is named Omar, a distinctively Sunni name. Accusations of pro-Shi'a bias have plagued the Army (which is predominantly Shi'a) since its post-Saddam reconstruction, but Ali says...