...Atheism vs. Catholicism For some reason or another Atheists feel they need to beat you over the head with their view of creation, laws, the Bible, God, the Constitution and more. They consistently tell Christians that they are wrong. Atheists, agnostics and other nonbelievers will always seem to quote science, scientists, NASA and others. Using scientific theory to disprove the Bible is like using gasoline to put out a fire, The reverse of that would be using the Bible to prove the existence of UFO’s, it cannot be done. The Bible is “the” source of explanatory information about all of the things that the Atheists attempt to debunk with scientific theory. Atheists seem to have a mental block about the reality of the real truth about who is responsible for even their own existence. They are more than willing to put their trust in Charles Darwin who wrote a book 150 years ago titled “On the Origin of Species” and is now commonly known as the Theory of Evolution. Atheists have no problem putting their full trust in the fact that we all descended from a common ancestor, which is what Darwin’s book was really about. Even though there is no proof to this date that Darwin was correct 150 years ago, when labs and science were in their infancy; Atheists believe he was right but they just cannot believe the Bible. The Bible is filled with witnesses to the events describe in it. Additionally, it is filled with witnesses to prophecy; both to prophecy as it was being fulfilled...
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.... Although his belief and faith was constant in the book, it wasn’t as strong as it was in the beginning. The trauma that he went through while lost at sea and the experiences he had had an impact on his faith understandably so. Many of the things he had to go through made him question God at times and wonder why such a higher power considered so amazing and giving, would allow Pi to go through all this suffering and difficulty. Although all of this made him doubt and question his faith, it still never went away. His faith overall gave him the courage, power and hope needed to survive at sea which all proved how religion had an extremely significant role in the novel. Religion is used in Life of Pi to help Pi persevere through his struggles and essentially give him a sense of hope, sanity and individuality. Religion is fundamentally what kept Pi alive throughout the journey he experienced. It was the one motive he had that reminded him to remain hopeful through all the adversity. There were many scenarios he found it very difficult to have hope in, and he could’ve easily given up on everything as I think many others would have done if they were in his situation. He kept his hope and pushed through it and that primarily was the reason he survived. “I was giving up. I would have given up if a voice hadn’t made itself heard in my heart. The voice said, ‘I will not die. I refuse it. I will make it through this nightmare. I will beat ...
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...Just based off of the reading and the video my opinion is that people believe in the power of evil because they also believe there is a power of good. A lot of religions do this where they believe things in form of the "manichean frame." The belief in manicheanism or the manichean frame is that people believe that the world is consistently in conflict with lightness vs darkness, good vs. evil, or Yin vs. Yang. Essentially, people would find it hard to believe that a great omnipotent god who serves as the moral authority of the world would allow all the evil things in the world to happen. With consistent evil things we see in the news around the world on a daily basis the idea of a higher darker power at the work such as Satan makes more sense to people in terms of answering for horrible things such as...
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...of intersection, suggesting some fundamental truths within the structure of the human reality. Through the novella Heart of Darkness, Conrad details his perspectives on the faults of man and reality as a whole, often coinciding with many of Leibniz’s theories, as found in his numerous philosophical works. Consequently, the two perspectives combine together, like a cyclopean image, enhancing and deepening each other’s philosophies on humanity, to claim that ultimately, man has the inherent capacity for evil. Among Leibniz’s many conceptual principles...
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...Kazuki Robertson Young Goodman Brown Paul Ohler Cohort #25 On a daily basis, we are launched into new experiences that test our certain point of view's. Some go as far as to twist all our previous knowledge and leave us with nothing but doubt in our minds; This was true for Young Goodman Brown the night he left his wife Faith to wander into the woods. Some would conclude Goodman became one with the devil when his initiation took place deep in the forest but his initiation.The strong symbolism scattered throughout the story brings out it's natural good vs evil plot and even shows similarities to Adam and eve. Young Goodman Brown was a Protestant man along with the whole population of his village. He has a wife named Faith that he has been married to for a short period of 3 months. Both his Father and Grandfather were religious and contributed to the society of the village. Overall, the introduction of his character portrays Goodman as one with good morals. Slowly over the course of the short story Young Goodman Brown does not change himself but begins to question if his morals and conscience are religiously purposeful. One strong characteristic Nathaniel Hawthorne shows in Young Goodman Brown is his innocence. His name "Young Goodman Brown" is a derivative of a justly innocent man and his wife Faith is shown to be his true belief. There are a lot of symbolic objects throughout the story and one includes his wife's pink ribbon. Pink is a color of youth and innocence and...
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...Written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, the play Inherit the Wind is a fictitious spin off of the historical Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925, which debated the concept of evolutionism vs. creationism and, in general, a person’s right to think. Brady and Drummond, two lawyers appointed to Bertram Cates’ trial are both powerful characters, different yet they portray many similarities through their behaviour. Demonstrated through various personal flaws, strengths, and their own particular relationships with religion, both contrasting characters function as an important mechanism by which the play’s predominate theme of the importance of freedom of thought are emphasized. The ability to think, or exercise free thought is, philosophically, the foundation of our existence. You can not become all that God created you to be until you embrace your identity — the unmistakably unique and flawed you that God intentionally made for a purpose. The high and almighty Brady was even flawed, he showed a great deal of love towards the public. Before the time of radio and television, if he controlled the media, he controlled the masses. He became who the community wanted to hear, dependant of the flock of followers he had created behind him. Lavished with all their praise and glory Brady built up an ample amount of confidence in himself. The power he had gained made him feel secure and he was always seeking for more, this becomes evident when he runs for president in three consecutive elections...
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...The threat of Communism created an air of paranoia in the United States during the early 1950’s. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin was the man who exploited those fears. CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow and his producer Fred W. Friendly decided to take a stand by challenging McCarthy. They chose to expose him for the fear monger he was. Even though their actions took a great personal toll on both men, they stood by their beliefs. In turn, they helped bring down one of the most controversial senators in American history. This important story in American history and politics is shown in the film, “Good Night and Good Luck.” It is directed by George Clooney, written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, and stars David Strathairn, George Clooney and Patricia Clarkson. As mentioned before, "Good Night, And Good Luck" takes place during the early days of broadcast journalism in 1950's. It chronicles the real-life conflict between television newsman Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Permanent Sub-committee on Investigations. With a need to report the facts and enlighten the public, Murrow, and his dedicated staff - headed by his producer Fred Friendly and Joe Wershba in the CBS newsroom – rebel to corporate and sponsorship pressures to examine the lies and fear mongering tactics carried out by McCarthy during his communist 'witch-hunts.’ McCarthy claimed that there were over two hundred card carriers in America. An awfully public argument develops when the Senator...
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...Confessions is a detailed autobiography of Saint Augustine’s life. Converting from Manichaeism to Christianity, Augustine went through many different mindsets when viewing religion and his beliefs. Manichaeism was a type of gnostic belief founded in the third century by Mani of Persia. Mani was influenced highly by other gnostic beliefs in the area. Early on in Augustine’s life he was fascinated by Manichaeism, and practiced Manichaeism beliefs for roughly ten years. Upon realization of the falsity behind Manichaeism, Augustine decided to convert to Christianity. Augustine began his life attracted to Manichaeism, and through many experiences noticed its flaws and converted to Christianity. Book III of The Confessions describes different Manichaeism beliefs and how they conflict with respective Christianity beliefs. By explaining the differences within each belief system, Augustine also describes the way his beliefs changed while in the process of converting from Manichaeism to Christianity. The first belief described in Book III that the Manichees have is the idea that God is not omniscient and omnipotent, yet he lives in a battle against evil. This idea is one of the biggest concerns Augustine has once he has converted to Christianity. How can one ignore the presence of evil if God is all knowing? This belief of evil vs. good goes...
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...Jubin John Ms. Diomande Compare & Contrast Final Draft 10/22/14 Creation vs. Evolution Today many scientists would have to believe that evolution is the only reasonable explanation of the universe. Scientists, like Stephen Hawking, claim that they proved that evolution is the only correct answer to the origins of life and the universe, yet evolution is a theory proposed by scientists to explain the origin of all species. Evolution is not the only answer but in fact, the creation theory is based on the bible and that God created the universe. This is the idea of creationism which is supported by religion. Creationism offers a more credited answer to the development of the universe than the evolutionary theory because creation has the support of the bible. To make a decision on which theory is more appealing to them, people must choose either religion or science. The creation theory is solely based on the bible. The Bible, in fact, is actually one of the most proven books in history. Creationism is the theory that God created the universe and it's creatures in six days. For example, in Genesis 2:7 it states "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters". The Bible is not considered a science book, but many consider it to be scientifically correct. For instance, the Old Testament is quoted in several ancient...
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...Comparison of Two Religions: Hinduism and Buddhism Strayer University Professor Carla Thompson April 28, 2014 Comparison of Two Religions: Buddhism and Hinduism Buddhism Buddhism was founded around 500 BCE by Prince Siddhartha Gautama. Gautama Buddha who was born about 2,500 years ago questioned his sheltered luxurious life in a palace. Leaving the palace he found four sights, a sick man, an old man, a dead man and a monk. Seeing this he realized that even a prince could not escape the issues of illness, suffering and death. So a monk told him to relinquish all his power and become a wandering holy man and seek the answers of why must people suffer and what was the cause of the suffering” (United Religions Initiative, 2002). For many years of doing many religious practices, including praying, meditating and fasting, he finally understood the basic truths of life. He realized this all by sitting under a popular-figtree in India for many days in meditation and this is when he was enlighten which is actually known as nirvana and this is when he was given the title of the Buddha which is the meaning of the Enlightened One. Buddha spread his teachings from India as far as Asia, becoming the dominate religion in many countries” (Fisher, 2014).It is thought that the Buddha lived many lives before his birth as Gautama, and that he continues to live through his teachings and his relics. Buddhism is the religion and philosophy which developed out of the teachings of...
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...Peter Haglund 21 October 2013 Formal Essay I Stem Cell Controversy Religion and science, two forces that mix as well as oil and water. For thousands of years people have argued which side is correct: one extreme will tell you that a strong faith in God will lead to a better life, the latter extreme will tell you that life has many more complexities than just a faith a deity. These two both see life differently, the Christians think life should be cherished no matter how small or suffering. While science believes there can be something extracted from one’s small life, scientists have found, that the earliest cells of an embryo can be developed into any sort of cell. The study of this is known as stem cell research. The inner cell mass of blastocyst is extracted from the woman’s ovaries and differentiated into embryo bodies and from there they differentiate into either neuronal or pancreatic cells (bethesda). From here, it is difficult to produce enough stem cell lines or to produce the correct cell type (National Cancer Institute). This finding can save or increase many humans quality of life. But is it ethically correct? Is it morally correct? Could these findings interfere with the “circle of life”? Could this interfere with the genetic code of humans and astronomically change the world forever? Are we interfering with God’s will or the circle of life? The history of stem cell research is brief. In 1962, a new frog was produced by taking an adults frog’s intestinal...
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...Traditions VS Happiness In the two short stories “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula Le Guin, the reader explores similar but different themes. The two authors create two dissimilar short stories based on the same idea, the idea of arrogant people and the traditions that they live in. Jackson and Le Guin show how people are selfish, and they care only for themselves, but they also demonstrate how traditions are affecting people’s lives. Through out these two short stories, the plots determine how the world can abuse innocent people for unnecessary reasons and the fact where traditions can hurt physically or emotionally others. More specifically, the first story presents a small village where...
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...Adrienne Randolph Coach Lawson English 11 1/28/13 Buddhism vs Christianity Buddhism and Christianity are complex religions. They are quite different from eachother. They have different places of worship, prophets, practices, and much more. They're virtually the most different religions in history. Where you worship your choice of almighty power is important. Buddhists worship in temples. The most common are the Pagoda and Stupa.The main characteristics you will notice about these places are their unique shapes. Pagodas range from four to seven stories. They have kind of a rectangular shape and the tips wing out at the ends almost like an umbrella. A Stupa is a stone structure built on top of presumed artifacts of Buddha. Inside these temples there may be a worship hall, mediation hall, and gold warrior-type figures, which are said to be the gaurdians of heaven. A statue of Buddha will usually be the main subject of interest. Highlighting the characteristics of the lotus sitting Buddha is psychedelic lighting. Some statues of Buddha were carved with solid pieces of white or emerald jade. The walls are usually green, orange, or yellow. Christians worship in Churches, Cathedrals, and Chapels. The look of every church is different depending on what denomination you are. Usually they all have steeples going around the sides. The insides are filled with detailed stain glass windows. On them are pictures of Jesus or his mother Mary. People sit on pues to listen to the sermon...
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...Woman’s Rights - Comparative Essay - Hinduism vs. Sikhism Throughout the history of religion, the dialectical process has been in full effect. The dialectical process begins with a thesis, an established entity. In opposition to the thesis, there is an antithesis. The antithesis spawns from the thesis due to oppression, objection or similar matters. This process is generally what happens within religion as well, and how the formation of new religions occur. Sikhism, a religion formed from Hinduism, demonstrates the dialectical process. Within this paper, I will be comparing Hinduism and Sikhism, and the rights of woman within each religion to demonstrate how Sikhism is more progressive within woman’s rights and gender equality. Hinduism is mankind’s oldest living religion; it is a religion that is said to be mother to all religions. It consists of many different religious groups that have evolved in India since 1500 BCE. One of Hinduism’s intentions is to lead individuals to live in unity with dharma, the right way of living, through it’s practices. Hinduism believes in many deities, and accepts that there is no correct way of practice as long as an individual’s ambition is dharma. The Bhagavad Gita, Hinduism’s holy book, quotes, “You are what you believe in. You become that which you believe you can become.” Sikhism is the youngest world religion. It was founded nearly 500 years ago in the Punjab region of India. Currently, there are about thirty million Sikhs in the...
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...Taoism: Origins, History and Beliefs Joseph R Batson Regis University Taoism is one of the “Three Doctrines”, along with Buddhism and Confucianism that has helped to shape Chinese culture and history (Molloy, 2013.) Taoism is based on the earliest beliefs of the Chinese people, and includes several elements of the ancient indigenous religion. These include a belief in spirits, both good and bad; the concept of T’ien, translated as Heaven, and described as an impersonal divine force and a cosmic moral principle; the discernment of patterns in nature, some easy to see like the progression of seasons, others not so much like the ripple of waves; and Yin and Yang, two opposing yet complimentary principles such as light and dark or hot and cold (Molloy, 2013.) The actual origins of Taoism are shrouded in mystery. The founder was Lao Tzu, meaning “old sage” (Chebucto.ns.ca, 2014) a legendary figure who may or may not have existed, and possible may be the blending of several historical figures (Molloy, 2013.) Lao Tzu, according to traditional stories, was born in the early sixth century BCE (circa 600 BCE) and worked as an archivist at the imperial court. Eventually Lao Tzu tired of his position and travelled to Western China, where he was stopped by a guard and asked to write his teachings down. This writing, which consisted of five thousand Chinese characters, became the Tao Te Ching (The Way and Its Power, considered to be one of the central scriptures of Taoism (Chebucto.ns.ca...
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