...views and thoughts about secularism. Secularism as a philosophy owes its origins to George Jacob Holyoake (1860), who introduced the idea that life should be lived by reference to ethical principles, and the world understood by processes of reasoning, rather than by reference to God or gods, or other supernatural concepts. From the perspective of government and governance, secularism refers to a policy that separates religious authority from the state .The opposite of secularism is usually theocracy; that is, where religion has a major role in government. Religion in the Civil War pervaded virtually all aspects of American society. Not all Americans held religious beliefs and values, but many did. Religion was not confined to one particular group, but soldiers and civilians, Northerners and Southerners, freed and slave, males and females, and Jews and Christians all made use of religion. Furthermore, a reciprocal relationship existed between the Civil War and religion, with both influencing and being influenced by each other. As a result, religion during the Civil War did not remain a static entity during 1861-1865; instead, it became an institution that constantly changed and adapted itself, as well as its devotees. Americans used religion to interpret their experiences during and after the war. People on both sides of the conflict believed in a God who was actively involved in their affairs. To them, the war was not a secular event, but one guided by God. ...
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...spheres that affect lives worldwide. Using this backdrop, the global movement for women rights strives to enhance the human rights discourse by redressing gender vulnerabilities. Even though there are still continuing political struggles in making central the concerns of gender abuse, it has achieved considerable rethinking of the human rights doctrine as formerly understood. However, there are also those who contest universal human rights and claim that it is, in fact, not universal. Assertions that equality is a Western imposition and is not always valid in other cultures risk effacing the vital role that the concept of human rights has played in its relation to the rights of women. There is no denying the complexities between human rights and cultures both in the West and the Third World. To reveal the conflicts and contradictions, there is a need to focus on how notions of universal human rights are intertwined with existing ideas of freedoms and duties in order to examine how such engagements shape gender relations in local contexts. Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was adopted in 1948 included the rights of women on the basis of equality with men by stating that "the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status". Despite the gender-neutral language, the original conception of...
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...POLITICS, THEOLOGY AND HISTORY RAYMOND PLANT CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Politics, Theology and History is a major new book by a prominent academic and an active politician. It ranges widely across the disciplines of theology, political theory and philosophy and poses acute questions about the basic moral foundations of liberal societies. Lord Plant focuses on the role that religious belief can and ought to play in argument about public policy in a pluralistic society. He examines the potential political implications of Christian belief and the ways in which it may be deployed in political debate. The book is a contribution to the modern debate about the moral pluralism of western liberal societies, discussing the place of religious belief in the formation of policy and asking what sorts of issues in modern society might be the legitimate objects of a Christian social and political concern. Raymond Plant has written an important study of the relationship between religion and politics which will be of value to students, academics, politicians, church professionals, policy makers and all concerned with the moral fabric of contemporary life. r ay m on d pl an t is Professor of European Political Thought at the University of Southampton and a Member of the House of Lords. He was a Home affairs spokesperson for the Labour Party from 1992 to 1996, and Master of St Catherine's College, Oxford, from 1994 to 2000. Lord Plant's main publications are Social and Moral Theory in Casework...
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...Mohd 1 Mohd Ali Professor Asbille On the Nature of Religion Throughout history it can clearly be seen that religion has played an important role in people’s lives. It is the one thing that is consistent across every culture. From Scandinavia to Japan, and from Ireland to Argentina, religion has played a role in the development of these societies. It does not matter what language the people speak or what they wear. Religion seems to bridge the gap without problem, rapidly spreading from one place to another in a matter of centuries, despite there being a cultural and language barrier. What makes religion so incredibly effective? Why is it that the concept has existed for literally as long as humanity has existed? What is the relationship between religion and culture? Are they two distinct entities, or are they two different manifestations of the same phenomenon? In order to answer these questions, first, a mutual platform must be developed and agreed upon, which will serve as the basis for development and proposal of arguments. First and foremost, this paper is a rational inquiry about the nature of religion, and as such this paper will establish arguments and analyze religion through the lens of rationality and science. This is not a paper about causality. The arguments developed here are built on the foundations of Objectivism, scientific realism, empirical analysis and strict adherence to logic. Furthermore, religion has to be rigorously defined...
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...In Conjunction with History of Ethics Instructor: Robert Cavalier Teaching Professor Robert Cavalier received his BA from New York University and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Duquesne University. In 1987 he joined the staff at Carnegie Mellon's Center for Design of Educational Computing (CDEC), where he became Executive Director in 1991. While at CDEC, he was also co-principal in the 1989 EDUCOM award winner for Best Humanities Software (published in 1996 by Routledge as A Right to Die? The Dax Cowart Case). He also coauthored the CD-ROM The Issue of Abortion in America (Rountledge, 1998) Dr. Cavalier was Director of CMU's Center for the Advancement of Applied Ethics and Political Philosophy from 2005-2007. He currently directs the Center's Digital Media Lab which houses Project PICOLA (Public Informed Citizen Online Assembly), and is also co-Director of Southwestern Pennsylvania Program for Deliberative Democracy. Co-Editor of Ethics in the History of Western Philosophy (St. Martin's/Macmillan, England, 1990), Editor of The Impact of the Internet on Our Moral Lives (SUNY, 2003) and other works in ethics as well as articles in educational computing, Dr. Cavalier is internationally recognized for his work in education and interactive multimedia. He was President of the "International Association for Computing and Philosophy" (2001 - 2004) and Chair of the APA Committee on Philosophy and Computers (2000-2003). Dr. Cavalier has given numerous addresses and...
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...Metaphysics From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to:navigation, search This article is about the branch of philosophy. For the work of Aristotle, see Metaphysics (Aristotle). |Philosophy | |[pic] | |Branches[show] | |Aesthetics | |Epistemology | |Ethics | |Logic | |Metaphysics | |Social philosophy | |Political philosophy | |Eras[show] | |Ancient | |Medieval | |Modern | |Contemporary | |Traditions[show] | |Analytic | |Continental | |Eastern | |Islamic | |Marxist | |Platonic | |Scholastic | |Philosophers[show] | |Aestheticians | |Epistemologists...
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...Orientalism and India Introduction ”Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” (Rudyard Kipling, The Ballad of East and West) In his much quoted verse above Rudyard Kipling revealed something of the nucleus of the long-lived tradition of Orientalist thought. According to J. J. Clarke, the ambivalence of the West [1] towards the East is age-old. The ”rich cultures,” ”superior civilizations” and ”ancient wisdom” of the Orient have inspired many Westerners, but on the other hand, the threats of its ”monstrous mysteries” and ”absurd religions” hailing from its ”stagnant past” have abhorred at least as many. For many, the Orient has been a dominion of hordes and despots or spiritual mystics and exotic sensuality. Exaggeration and imagination together with a range of both positive and negative stereotypes connected to popular prejudices have been essential to these views. Encountering the East has been significant for the self-image of the West producing identities ranging from decadent European modernity to concepts of cultural, racial and moral superiority. (Clarke 1997, 3–4. See also Pieterse 1992 and Hottola 1999.) In his highly celebrated but also provoking book Orientalism [2], Edward Said (1935– 2003) embarks on describing a long European tradition ”of coming to terms with the Orient that is based on the Orient’s special place in European Western experience.” This tradition Said calls Orientalism [3]. Said concentrates mainly on...
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...religion itself is based on this and the people take it very seriously. Catholics believe that all people are of good nature but when one commits a sin it not only hurts that one person but the people and the Church.... [tags: Catholicism, What Catholics Believe, informative] 1922 words (5.5 pages) $14.95 [preview] Catholic religion - CATHOLIC RELIGION To belong to the church one must accept as factually true the gospel of Jesus as handed down in tradition and as interpreted by the bishops in union with the pope. The most important thing in this divine tradition is the Bible, its text determined and disseminated by the church. The church, according to the Roman Catholic catechism, is the only Christian body that is “one, holy, catholic (universal)”. The doctrine of apostolic succession is one of the key parts of the Catholic faith.... [tags: essays research papers] 748 words (2.1 pages) $14.95...
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...Taoism Taoism (or Daoism) refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions that have influenced Eastern Asia for more than two millennia, and have had a notable influence on the western world particularly since the 19th century.The word 道, Tao (or Dao, depending on the romanization scheme), roughly translates as, "path" or "way" (of life), although in Chinese folk religion and philosophy it carries more abstract meanings. Taoist propriety and ethics emphasize the Three Jewels of the Tao: compassion, moderation, and humility, while Taoist thought generally focuses on nature, the relationship between humanity and the cosmos (天人相应), health and longevity, and wu wei (action through inaction), which is thought to produce harmony with the Universe. Reverence for ancestor spirits and immortals is also common in popular Taoism. Organized Taoism distinguishes its ritual activity from that of the folk religion, which some professional Taoists (Daoshi) view as debased. Chinese alchemy (including Neidan), astrology, cuisine, Zen Buddhism,several Chinese martial arts, Chinese traditional medicine, feng shui, immortality, and many styles of qigong breath training disciplines have been intertwined with Taoism throughout history. Spelling and pronunciation In English, the words Daoism and Taoism are the subject of an ongoing controversy over the preferred romanization. The root Chinese word 道 "way, path" is romanized tao in the older Wade–Giles system and dào in the modern...
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...Introduction Meister Eckhart (1260 - 1328) has been known as the father of German mysticism and the greatest of all mystics. Several authors reference him with the honour "the man from whom God hid nothing." He is known as a philosopher and a theologian but it was as a mystic that Meister Eckhart excelled. In his day Meister Eckhart enjoyed success as a popular preacher and churchman of high rank in his order, the Dominicans. However, Meister Eckhart was the only theologian of the medieval period to be formally charged with heresy. The shock of his trial for heresy and the condemnation of some of his work by Pope John XXII in Argo Dominco has cast a shadow over his reputation and a lingering suspicion over his orthodoxy that has lasted to this day. This research paper will focus on the intellectual and social history of Meister Eckhart. The development in thought of any theologian emerges from the life world of the theologian. [4] The life world is formed by the meeting of the cultural, social, and religious history of the day. Theologians are continually searching for new and meaningful ways to interpret religious experience. Meister Eckhart interpreted the religious experience of his day in a way that no others at the time did. I will explore in this paper some of the intellectual forces at work at the time and how he interpreted and connected with these. Secondly, it is important to understand the social history of the time. No theologians' thought is ever formed by simply...
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...Introduction Meister Eckhart (1260 - 1328) has been known as the father of German mysticism and the greatest of all mystics. Several authors reference him with the honour "the man from whom God hid nothing." He is known as a philosopher and a theologian but it was as a mystic that Meister Eckhart excelled. In his day Meister Eckhart enjoyed success as a popular preacher and churchman of high rank in his order, the Dominicans. However, Meister Eckhart was the only theologian of the medieval period to be formally charged with heresy. The shock of his trial for heresy and the condemnation of some of his work by Pope John XXII in Argo Dominco has cast a shadow over his reputation and a lingering suspicion over his orthodoxy that has lasted to this day. This research paper will focus on the intellectual and social history of Meister Eckhart. The development in thought of any theologian emerges from the life world of the theologian. [4] The life world is formed by the meeting of the cultural, social, and religious history of the day. Theologians are continually searching for new and meaningful ways to interpret religious experience. Meister Eckhart interpreted the religious experience of his day in a way that no others at the time did. I will explore in this paper some of the intellectual forces at work at the time and how he interpreted and connected with these. Secondly, it is important to understand the social history of the time. No theologians' thought is ever formed...
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...Fortunately, diversity of form and subject is more apparent than real. The theological atmosphere and problematic shaped by Bultmann may be traced to concepts and procedures available to any critical reader. While it is quite correct to note, as did Hans Jonas on the Feiertag celebrated in honor of Bultmann in Marburg, November 16,1976, that it is impossible to separate the man from his writings, for he lived as he wrote,4 we are not here primarily concerned with Bultmann's personal psychological integrity, striking as it is. It may, however, be accurate to say that this escalating unity of life and work is grounded in the one objective to which Bultmann committed himself: the mediation of the Christian tradition, the attempt to make a particular religious vision and its theological interpretation fruitful for the present and future. 1 Rudolf Bultmann, "Der literarische Character der neutestamentlichen Schriften," Christliche Welt 22 (1908) 378 (two paragraphs). 2 His last commentary, Der...
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...Unit 5 Intercultural Communication Overview. This unit focuses on the role of communication in the relationships of peoples and groups with different cultural, ethnic, religious or social backgrounds. It looks at both the cultural barriers to effective communication as well as to various ways those barriers can be overcome. This unit also addresses the concept of dialogue as the use of communication to achieve harmony, mutual understanding and respect among peoples and groups. Learning Outcomes: Students who complete Unit 5 will be able to: explain the role of ethnocentrism in intercultural communication discuss guidelines for effective intercultural and interreligious communication compare Arabic and English communication patterns demonstrate intercultural aspects of inter-religious communication Key Concepts for Unit 5 Definition and conceptualization of intercultural communication and overview of guidelines Overview of ethnocentrism and prejudice in communication Definition and conceptualization of dialogue as a model of communication ► Intercultural Communication Nations and people of the world are increasingly interconnected and mutually interdependent. Globally, most cities and countries are becoming more diverse internally, with citizens and residents of varying races, religions, ethnicities and national backgrounds. Meanwhile, greater the risk is associated with economic or political aloofness and social isolation. All of these social forces are fostering increasingly...
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...imperative for artists within those cultures to exercise a certain moral and ethical responsibility in their creative endeavors. As a professional musician for over thirty years I concur with that premise and it is primarily from the axiological, rather than a theoretical or aesthetic viewpoint that I approach this discourse. The responsibility of artists to the social environment in which they live and work is something that I have always had strong sentiments. As we now find ourselves beginning a new millennium, questions with regards to music's origins, its spiritual, religious and mystical properties, its moral and ethical power, its transcendent qualities, the role of the arts and artists and the importance of art in general, and music in particular, are questions that I believe any thinking, caring, probing musician should seriously contemplate. At the outset of the twenty-first century it is undeniable that the pervasiveness of popular culture and the values it engenders has had an adverse effect on our societies. In light of the current climate of Western popular culture, "art music" has become...
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...Acer | Gender Violence | A case study on female infanticide and foeticide in Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, India | | Peace and conflict studies | Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 2 2.0 Theory 3 2.1 Galtung’s violence triangle and structural violence and cultural violence 3 2.2 Gender Theory 5 2.3 Human rights 7 2.4 Women’s rights 8 2.5 Consumerism 10 2.6 Conflict resolution conflict transformation 10 3.0 Female infanticide and foeticide—background and case study 11 4.0 Discussion 16 4.1 Galtung and the violence triangle 16 4.2 Cultural violence 17 4.3 Structural violence 17 4.3 Conflict resolution 20 4.4 Conflict transformation. 21 5.0 Conclusion 23 Bibliography 25 7.0 Appendix 28 1.0 Introduction In 1991, UNICF reported that, due to foeticide, as many as 40 or 50 million girls are missing from the Indian population – a number which constitutes about five percent of the total population. The 'missing girls' is a huge problem in India today – some villages does not even have women at all. (Subhra Singh, The Times of India feb. 8th 2011, from the cencus in 2001) Sex selection in India is at a growing rate, and according to the census held in 2001, the sex ratio (number of females per thousand males) shows that there are great varieties in the numbers – from the lowest, with 591 (Daman) to the highest, Pondicherry, which has 1,147 females per 1000 males. The average sex ratio for whole of India the same year was 927 to 1000...
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