Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Roman Catholic Religion In Modern Soci

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Roman Catholic Religion in Modern Society The Christian religion, like all other religions has its strengths and weaknesses in our modern society. Perhaps the strengths out weight the weaknesses as this is one of the largest religions in the world. Hundreds of people follow the Catholic/Christian religion yet still a greater number follow yet other religions. Perhaps this is because they see the weaknesses or perhaps it is simply because their parents have taught them that it is a sin to follow this religion. The Christian religions do however present much more of an appealing atmosphere than such other religions which are as large as the Christian. The Christian religion is one of few religions where punishments for sins are not severe. In the Christian religion, even if you have lived a life of sin, so long as you repent in the end, you will be saved and given eternal life. This is not so in other religions. Such religions as Hinduism for instance do not believe this. For everything you do wrong you will be punished. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, if not in this life, then the next. Hindu's also believe that punishing the body is part of the path to salvation. Christianity is nothing like this. Many Christians live in high?class society. Christianity is one of the most appealing in that any sins may easily be corrected and that Christians may live comfortable, if not wealthy lives without guilt. Christianity, like other religions though, has many weaknesses. Although as time goes on, Christianity is slowly evolving and trying to become even more appealing to society, there are still many downfalls. One thing with Christianity is that from day one we are given a guilt trip. We are born evil. We are born with "the original sin". We are at the mercy of God. If we beg forgiveness however, it shall be granted. My grandmother for instance has been a firm believer in the Roman Catholic faith. She, being taught in the old style, firmly believes in going to confession weekly and begging for forgiveness. It has been taught to her that man is born evil. All we can do is pray, beg and hope for forgiveness. With such a guilt upon his sub?conscience, man can never be truly happy. Yet another strength with the Christian faith is that it is one of the more flexible religions. Under the leadership of the pope(s), the Catholic faith has evolved with modern society and become a more "reasonable" faith. Such practices as not eating meat on Fridays, and so forth, have been abolished as the Christian faith has bent to conform with modern society. Some people may see this as a weakness. This is not so. The Christian religion has modified its rituals yet the central beliefs have not been altered since the very beginning of this religion. This is actually quite a good thing. A religion should change as the modern society does and conform to a more "acceptable" approach to continue its teachings/practices. This is one great thing about the Christian faith. A small, often overlooked draw back to the Christian faith is that there is not any solid proof that Jesus existed. To the Christian faith, Jesus is the central figure. A Christian will tell you that the Bible is proof that Jesus existed. The Bible however was written much later, after Jesus' death. Therefore the stories contained have been transferred by word of mouth, which has certainly been distorted and exaggerated. The Shroud of Turin used to be the Christian religion's artifact which was believed to be the original shroud that Jesus was wrapped in when he was buried and therefore solid proof he existed. Recently due to modern carbon dating, this "artifact" has been proven to have been created with paint approximately one thousand years after the day Christ died. To a non?believer, this is a major drawback. One very strong point about the Catholic/Christian religion is that they strongly believe in correcting our corrupted world. Many missionaries are sent yearly to third world countries where they help educate, feed and provide moral support for a people who have nothing. With such a practice in place, the Christian religion has put a smile on faces which normally would never know anything more than tears. Probably one of the greatest features of the Christian church which helps it survive in modern society is the hierarchy system upon which this religion is based. Such strong organization structure

Things I Am Thankful for Essays

Things I Am Thankful for Essays Things I Am Thankful for Essay Things I Am Thankful for Essay â€Å"Things I Am Thankful For† The things I am thankful for are not things that can be bought but things that are earned. One of the things I am thankful for are my parents because without them I would not be where I am today. My thanks build off of being able to say yes I did this and that but I agree with many opportunities given to me as I pass many obstacles. Another thing I am thankful for are my abilities to listen, learn, and accomplish. I also use my abilities to their highest potential which are my abilities to play the saxophone, my abilities to focus on my engineering and my work. I am truly thankful to be able to wake up every morning knowing I have people depending on me to do my best and to never give up. Mainly life was given to me from two wonderful people to have a chance to show what I can do from start to finish and I am thankful for that reason. I must thank many people for guiding me through life but to also acknowledge the people who told me right from wrong. Even though I have accomplished many things I always thank God for bringing me obstacles that are hard but also easy. If you know the way through a knowing of yourself to realize who you are and to also be yourself whenever you want to make yourself comfortable. I thank my family for showing where I am from and who we are to others in life. The main reason for me to thank myself is to know that I have been told how to use what is earned in my own ways from friends and family. I was always taught to be the best at everything I did to be successful in my own way. As everyday passes I think to myself where would I be without family and friends. And it came to me that if I was not here in life I would never be able to achieve such ability to know the world or life as it is today. As of today I thank my brother, my mom, my father, and everyone else that has helped me.

Analyzing The Origin Of The Taliban, A Political Outfit Of The Sunni Islamic Extremists

Analyzing The Origin Of The Taliban, A Political Outfit Of The Sunni Islamic Extremists Terrorism is an incredibly hard word to define. Due to its largely elusive nature, the definition of terrorism is constantly evolving and changing over time, as are the forms and methods it manifests itself in. The dictionary definition of terrorism is â€Å"the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. This definition is by no means inaccurate, and encompasses the intrinsic characteristics of terrorism. I believe, however, that this definition excludes important facets of terrorism as we know it today, such as the use of fear and terror as a mechanism to achieve its goals. In addition to this, I think that the dictionary definition neglects to mention that terrorism often focuses on the pursuit of radical religious and social reforms, not solely political aims. I would define terrorism as: The use of violence and coercion by a unified group in order to instill fear and terror amongst its victims so that they are forced into submission, allowing the group in question to achieve its radical, political, religious, and/or social aims. Today I am choosing to write about The Taliban, an organization of great notoriety and infamy. An extremist offshoot of the Mujahedeen, guerilla warriors that primarily opposed the Soviets during the Soviet- Afghan war, The Taliban is an Islamic fundamentalist. The Taliban were founded on October 10th 1995 in Afghanistan. Due to the extreme political and social turmoil the country was experiencing at the time, the Taliban were able to rise to power quickly and efficiently. Afghanistan had never been able to establish more than a puppet government after the Soviets withdrew from their country, aiding the Taliban further in their near effortless rise to power. Afghanistan had once been ruled by a constitutional monarchy, and under this government the country had been stable and prosperous. Afghanistan had been making great strides towards modernization since its founding in 1926, and economic prosperity within the country allowed many to thrive. In 1973, however, Afghanistan’s king, Zahir Khan, was overthrown in a coup d’etat by his cousin Daoud Khan. The coup was performed in retaliation to the King’s new agenda which prevented relatives of the King from holding cabinet positions, and former King Zahir Khan, who had been in Italy receiving surgery at the time of the coup, was exiled there. Afghani citizens assumed that Daoud Khan would name himself the new king of Afghanistan, but instead he appointed himself as president of the republic he was to establish. Daoud ruled until 1978 as a centrist, moderate president, but was overthrown by a left-wing, communist militant group. The democracy was destroyed and the power was then spilt into 2 communist parties that ruled over the tumultuous country. The new government was wildly unpopular amongst Afghan citizens, but forged close ties with the Soviet Union, at that time the largest communist power in the world. The communist parties, with the support of the USSR, implemented extensive social reforms, and prevented all efforts of domestic opposition through violence. 27,000 political prisoners were executed during this reign. The communist rule was bitterly resented by the devoutly Muslim and largely anticommunist population. Despite government efforts to suppress any form of retaliation, a group of guerilla warriors colloquially known as â€Å"holy warriors† or â€Å"freedom fighters† began opposing the communist regime. Formally known as The Mujahedeen, this militant group gained the support and funding of the United States due to their ardent opposition to the communist regime that had taken over the country. Largely due to American support, the USSR soon recognized the Mujahedeen as a forceful threat to the communist presence in Afghanistan. Subsequently, Afghanistan was invaded in December 1979 by the Soviet 40th Army to support the communists and oppose the Mujahedeen. The Afghan communist faction was appointed a Soviet leader to oversee their actions, and the faction quickly grew to over 100,000 soldiers. Soviet forces tried to quell efforts of the Mujahedeen through bombings, executions and the torture of prisoners, but these methods only angered the population and fueled the resista nce. In a world torn by the Red Scare, The Mujahedeen gained the support of many anti-communist world powers in their fight against the communist superpower that was the USSR. Their guerilla tactics ultimately forced the Soviets out of Afghanistan, and the soviets withdrew after 9 years in Afghanistan. The Mujahedeen, however, was never successful in establishing a functional government, and 7 years later in 1996, the Taliban took over. The Taliban acted as the official government of Afghanistan from 1996-2001, when the American military in conjunction with Afghan opposition forces ousted them as a governmental force, and the Taliban became an insurgent force within the region. The Taliban formed their ideology as a radical and fundamentalist combination of Islamic law and Pashtun tribal codes. Under this extremist interpretation, the Taliban outlawed many practiced and activities formerly considered lawful and routine to Islam life, such pork, almost all forms of consumer technology, female sport, alcohol, kite-flying, television, music, internet, and art forms such as paintings or photography. In addition to these parameters, men were also forbidden from shaving facial hair and required to wear a head covering, and were subjected to beatings if they did not abide by this requirement. Afghan sports stadiums became routine venues for public executions and punishments. Girls were forbidden from going to school and women were forbidden from working outside of their houses. In addition to this, women ran the risk of being beaten or killed if they left their house without being accompanied by a male relative, or having their finger cut off if it’s nail w as decorated with nail polish. Because of their combined Islam and Pashtun ideologies, many practices of the Qu’ran were violated under Taliban rule, resulting in widespread religious disapproval. The Taliban have been extremely successful in achieving their goals in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Their presence and influence have dominated civilian lifestyle and national government to an extreme extent. So extreme, that they have faced large opposition and intervention from western forces such as the United States military. Following the Taliban’s attacks on US soil on September 11th, 2001, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates cut diplomatic ties with the Taliban, which had formerly been recognized as a legitimate government in these countries. The Taliban also offered asylum and support to the even more extremist offshoot group, al-Qaeda, and their leader Osama bin Laden, who had fought in the Mujahedeen and provided financial support to the Taliban. The Security Council of the United Nations intervened in this relationship in 1999, when they demanded that the Taliban hand over bin Laden for trial and cease their support for terrorism. The Taliban, however, did not re spond to this international cry for justice, but instead continued terrorist activities, primarily in Afghanistan, and refused to hand over Bin Laden. Today, the Taliban is ruled by Mullah Akhtar Mansour, and is a largely Pashtun (as opposed to Hazara, the other ethnic group of Afghanistan) movement. They operate prominently in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but their influence and presence is widespread across the Middle East. The Taliban still exist as a magnum force in many Middle Eastern countries. Although Bin Laden was assassinated by US forces, the organization is still in action. Currently, however, the Taliban is facing not only opposition from the vast majority of the western world, but also from the relatively new terrorist group, ISIS, which has risen to great prominence in recent years.

Natural resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Natural resources - Essay Example The world is faces with a challenge to guarantee the lasting utilization of natural resources at the lowest possible environmental cost while still assuring economic and social development. Natural Resources & Environment (NRE) is a broad emphasis area with major impact on the quality of our world. NRE programs strengthen the nation's capacity to address critical environmental priorities and contribute to improved air, soil, and water quality; fish and wildlife management; enhanced aquatic and other ecosystems; the sustainable use and management of forests, rangelands, watersheds, and other renewable natural resources; and a better understanding of global climate change, including its impact on the diversity of plant and animal life. These programs also demonstrate the benefits and opportunities of sustainable development, and contribute to the economic viability of agriculture and rural communities and realizing the impact of environmental policies and regulations. The sustainability of natural resources immensely depends on the use and management decisions of individual private landowners, who have a collective control over more than two-thirds of the nation's land and water resources. As agriculture is no longer the largest element in the economic base of most rural communities, natural resource wealth and income opportunities are becoming more important to farmers, ranchers, other landowners, and communities. Pressures on land and natural resource use are becoming more and more competing and conflicting.. Public demand keeps growing for natural resource products, services, and improved environmental quality. On the other hand, changing demographics and social values bring new challenges. Urbanization has serious impacts on ecosystem structure and function and they are becoming increasingly fragmented for the production of food and forest products. The goal should aim at discovering new, improved ways to use and manage natural resources and educational programs that teach best management practices will enhance environmental and economic benefits, as well as human well-being. These are critical ecological strategies are investments for our future Outline a process by which you could determine primary gross and net productivity, use data to support your process. The term "Production" implies to the creation of new organic matter. When a plant grows, new organic matter is created by the process of photosynthesis, which converts light energy into energy stored in chemical bonds within plant tissue. This energy fuels the metabolic machinery of the plant. New compounds and structures are synthesized, cells divide, and the plant grows in size. When we attempt to measure the rate at which photosynthesis occurs, or the rate at which the individual plant increases in mass, we are concerned with primary production (definition: the synthesis and storage of organic molecules during the growth and reproduction of photosynthetic organisms). * Gross Primary Production, GPP, is the total amount of CO2 that is fixed by the plant in photosynthesis. * Respiration, R, is the amount of CO2 that is lost from an organism or system from metabolic activity. Respiration can be further divided into components that reflect the source of the CO2. Rp =Respiration by Plants Rh = Respiration by Heterotrophs Rd = Respiration by

Social Darwinism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Social Darwinism - Essay Example â€Å"Social Darwinism† is a term used to refer to the application of ideas and concepts applied to the social world which are allegedly derived from Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution (Leonard, 2009). There is much controversy surrounding Social Darwinism, its historical significance, its usage and applicability and most importantly its association with some of the known social scientist in history such as Darwin and Spencer. The debate around the definition of the term has in most cases revolved around whether or not Social Darwinism came out of the works of Darwin and other theorists that wrote about the role of biology to explain the social hierarchies present during that era, as Europe, America and other continents witnessed the aftermath of industrialization. There are basically two types of approaches to the definition of the term that have been put forward to explain the different approaches theorists have taken in order to explain the term (Crook, 1996). The â€Å"generalist† approach basically refers to Social Darwinism as the analysis of social inequality by the help of evolutionary and developmental ideas using Darwinian terminologies such as â€Å"survival of the fittest† but not explicitly relying on the original works of Darwin (Weiler). The second type known as the â€Å"restrictionist† approach in contrast, argues that a mere use of phrases that represent the work of a theorist such as â€Å"survival of fittest† does not define the theorist as a Social Darwinist (Weiler). According to the broad definition, the theory came to denote racism, imperialism and capitalism during what came to be known as the Gilded Age where, whilst the poor suffered the consequences of Industrialization in the American society, those that owned the factories and benefited from the wealth they were acquiring, although fewer in number, used Social Darwinism to justify why such notions as â€Å"survival of the fittest† put forward by Darwin and Spencer made it logical for only those that were biologically gifted or a so called â€Å"superior race† to be market leaders and worthy of acquiring the most wealth and superior positions in politics (Hodgson 2004). There is also debate on when the term was first used and while the works of theorists like Hofstadter gave a strict definition of who the Social Darwinist are, others such as Hodgson have argued that these theorists present as facts what are basically just labels (Hodgson 2004). The history of the term is a controversial issue. While some say that the term was first used in the late 1800s and was associated with known social theorists like Spencer and Sumner (Wieler), for example Spencer’s Synthetic Philosophy is one of the first pieces of literature where the term can be traced (Hodgson 2004), others argue that Spencer never used the term Social Darwinism and that he is deemed one of the founders of the theory only based on assoc iations made between the theory and Spencer’s work (Hodgson, 2004). This paper will aim to present a critique of the theory â€Å"Social Darwinism† as presented in the book â€Å"Social Darwinism in American Thought† by Hofstadter that proved to be a very influential piece on the theory. In order to do so I will look at the work of revisionists such as Hodgson and Leonard who

Tony Robbins Use Of Teams Essay Example for Free

Tony Robbins Use Of Teams Essay Tony Robbins use of teams is novel and seeks to enhance leadership potential by a process of self empowerment and team learning. Thus the high potential of individuals is used to empower teams as a whole which in turn improves leadership potential of individuals. Thus a virtuous cycle of team based learning is achieved. This is done by enhancing potential of team members through intense coaching before exposure to the team, rigorous strategy sessions are held with each of them, to increase the faith of members within a team which in turn contributes to team efforts. This technique is most effectively used by Tony Robbins in his program, Date with Destiny to improve leadership. (www.tonyrobbins.com). Date of Destiny is a two stage training program which uses teams for building leadership potential. In the first stage empowerment is achieved by coaching individuals using expert trainers. In the second stage these empowered individuals are formed into teams which through a process of learning from each other further hone up their skills, thereby achieving their true potential. It is seen that team members overwhelmed by the contribution that they make selflessly to the each other partake of the joy of team participation. These experiences are said to be life changing for those striving to be leaders. On the other hand by interaction and leading a team, even those who are good leaders in their own right are particularly benefited by the program, Date with Destiny as they get to learn from leading new teams and are exposed to different experiences in interacting with people in a structured team environment. This is a novel and powerful concept of self learning used by Tony Robbins. References http://www.tonyrobbins.com/solutions/EventsDetail.aspx?ProductID=640

Abortion: A Growing Concern Essays -- essays research papers

Abortion The issue of abortion causes discussions about human interactions where ethics, emotions and law come together. There are many reasons why women decide to have abortions. Whatever the reasons a woman decides to have an abortion, it seems only justified that she should be able to make decisions in regards to her life and body. The decisions that she makes will be beneficial to both the woman and the foetus because it will prevent many problems from occurring in the future. If a woman were to have an unwanted baby, she may neglect or even abuse the child causing the child to go into the care of the government. The government has no valid reason in bringing an unwanted life into the world. Bringing an unwanted child into the world is not helpful to the parents, the child and the government, because if the parents cannot take care of the child, eventually, the government will be responsible for the child. The right to have an abortion is personal and essential to a woman’s life, because having a baby in one’s life causes dramatic changes. Pregnancy and childbirth can prevent women from keeping and getting jobs. When women are pregnant many employers do not want to hire them because when the woman has a baby, the company or employer must still pay her for the time that she is out of work by law. Also, raising a baby and providing for all the needs that a child has is a lot of money, which can create an insufficient income for many women. Another factor that imposes on ...