...writing this with a neutral stand point on homosexuality. I am not for homosexuality and neither am I against it. INTRODUCTION Homosexuality is sexual attraction, romantic attraction or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. The most common terms for homosexual people are lesbian for females and gay for males, though gay is sometimes used to refer to both male and female homosexuals. There are a number of homosexuals that do not openly identify themselves as such due to homophobia and heterosexists discrimination. Homophobia is the showing of negative attitudes and feelings towards homosexuals and homosexuality. It can be expressed as contempt, aversion or hatred and is sometimes related to religious beliefs Many gay and lesbian people are in committed same-sex relationships which are seen to be equivalent to heterosexual relationships. Some people admire and encourage such relationships while others condemn them and base their argument on religion. Religion and homosexuality are two aspects that have always clashed historically and recently. Many religions argue that it is the homosexual actions that are sinful rather than the state of being homosexual. Some religions condemn homosexuality while some accept it. Here we look at different religious views on homosexuality. DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS VIEWS ON HOMOSEXUALITY A. Christianity Christian denominations hold different views on the issue of homosexuality, some condemn it out rightly while others...
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...CAN YOU BE BOTH MUSLIM AND HOMOSEXUAL? (look at islamic jursiprudence) To be muslim is to base the foundation of life around the five pillars of Islam. These five pillars conist of rituals and obligations that must be carried out in some instances daily, others to be done at some point during a lifetime. These five pillars consist of Shahadah (Faith), Salah (prayer), Zakah (charity), sawm (Fasting) and Hajj (Pilgrimage). To understand such a religion and lifestyle, the acceptance of Allah as the one and only is greatly emphasized throughout Islam teachings and through devices such as the Fiqh and Quran. While many unknowingly assume that such a religion avoids the concepts of variations in lifestyles such as homosexuality, Islam actually teaches an understanding that these behaviours exist however In following the 5 pillars, acts such as homosexuality and adultery are temptations that must be resisted in living the life Allah wishes apon his followers. According to the prophet Mohammed a warning of “do not gaze at beadless youth, for they have eyes more temoting than the houris”[1]. Under general consensus within Islam, to be homosexual creates a perversion and deviation from the tasks of man and women as laid out by the quran. Not only due to the issues of contradictions in masculinity and power, emphasis can be found as frowning apon the acts of homosexual due to health reasons and their link with diseases. Yet whether the act is so harshly classified as non muslim is debatable...
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...Axia College Material Appendix F Impact Matrix Assignment Directions: Assume that you are on the school board of your school district and you are tasked with the job of strategic planning for issues facing your district. Complete the matrix below to determine the potential response of each of the religious groups in your community. Use the attached links to research the basic moral and ethical principles believed by each group. Then determine how you believe each group will react to the issue based on what you find. Provide a brief justification for your answer. After completing the matrix, write a 300- to 500-word summary of the significant similarities and differences among the different religious groups. SCHOOL ISSUES Prayer in School Creationism v. Evolution Studying Women’s Rights in the Middle East Saying the Pledge of Allegiance Starting a Gay and Lesbian Support Group Inter-Racial Dating COMMUNITY RELIGIOUS GROUPS Pro/Con Justify your answer Pro/Con Justify your answer Pro/Con Justify your answer Pro/Con Justify your answer Pro/Con Justify your answer Pro/Con Justify your answer Atheist Con According to the BBC website, many atheists are "hostile" to any special treatment given to organized religion; they may find prayer in school to be offensive, as atheists tend to believe that a God is not a necessary belief. Pro Evolution Atheists would be pro-evolution, as evolution tends to use scientific evidence to justify its assumptions. According to the BBC website...
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...Sex is only permitted within married couples and sex before or outside of marriage is heavily prohibited and is considered a significant sin if committed. Also as previously stated the primary function of sex is to sexual reproduce an offspring, and when a woman is pregnant, abortion is heavily prohibited as the Quran disapproves of killing other humans which in this case would be taking the life of a innocent baby. In Islam, the male is considered to be the dominant sex, as they are the ones who work and provide the family with food and accommodation. This is true in most cases, however in modern society this has become less and less common in households as both genders work and provide their family food and accommodation. However some Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq believe that only the men should work and women should be housewives, and this allows the men to be the dominant gender. Also through these issues, many stereotypes have been created in regards to Muslims and the roles of Muslim men and...
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...Contemporary Issues in Western Religions Harry Potter REL/134 November 20, 2011 UoP Instructor Contemporary Issues in Western Religions Religious beliefs have been the center of many conflicts across the entire world since the beginning of time. Christianity, Islam, and Judaism the major monotheist religious traditions have been at the heart of many of those religious conflicts. Historical connections and theological similarities are prevalent between the three. In parallel to the similarities exists the contemporary struggles affecting these western religious traditions. From the internal struggles within Christianity such as abortion, to its struggles with Islam and Muslim extremists, finally to the contempt against Christianity from actions of the Holocaust, each tradition faces contemporary struggles within their own right. Gaining a better understanding and insight into the historical, theological, and contemporary struggles between Christianity, Islam, and Judaism will enhance appreciation for each belief. Historical Connections and Theological Similarities: One main pillar of similar theology between Christianity, Islam, and Judaism is the belief in one god. However, each has different perspectives in relation to God. For example, Christians believe in [pic]the Trinity[pic] of [pic]God; God the Father, the Son (Jesus[pic] Christ), [pic]and the Holy Spirit[pic] ("Judaism, Islam, Christianity-Comparison", 2002-2011). Also Christians consider Jesus...
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...Associate Level Material Appendix F Impact Matrix Assignment Directions: Assume that you are on the school board of your school district and you are tasked with the job of strategic planning for issues facing your district. Complete the matrix below to determine the potential response of each of the religious groups in your community. Use the attached links to research the basic moral and ethical principles believed by each group. Then determine how you believe each group will react to the issue based on what you find. Provide a brief justification for your answer. After completing the matrix, write a 300- to 500-word summary of the significant similarities and differences among the different religious groups. |SCHOOL ISSUES | |Prayer in School |Creationism v. Evolution |Studying Women’s Rights in the Middle East |Saying the Pledge of Allegiance |Starting a Gay and Lesbian Support Group |Inter-Racial Dating | |COMMUNITY RELIGIOUS GROUPS |Pro/Con |Justify your answer |Pro/Con |Justify your answer |Pro/Con |Justify your answer |Pro/Con |Justify your answer |Pro/Con |Justify your answer |Pro/Con |Justify your answer | |Atheist |Con |Atheists are opposed to prayer in school. They find it to be of an offense. They do not believe in God, therefore they do not believe in praying...
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...issues between states. It allows individuals to better conceptualize the differences between states and thus formulate different ways to improve on their own states. By doing this, important political and social questions such as those regarding gun control, national identities, culture and values can be answered. These questions can best be expressed in Hirschfield, Laczko and Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart’s articles. The central theme of Hirschfield’s article is why American police officers kill so many citizens compared to European police officers while Laczko’s article focuses on an international survey regarding the national identities of different states with Norris and Inglehart’s article dealing with cultural values between Islamic and Democratic societies. Hirschfield’s article focuses on the political and social question of why the deaths of civilians in the United States of America (USA) by police officers have become so commonplace. He tries to answer this question by comparing statistics regarding fatal police officer shootings in the USA to those of other developed nations such as Sweden and Finland. Hirschfield states that “American police in 2014 were 18 times more lethal than Danish police and 100 times more lethal than Finnish police, plus they killed significantly more frequently than police in France, Sweden and other European countries” (Hirschfield 2). Through making this comparison in fatal deaths between the USA, Sweden and Finland, one can better...
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...Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality Melissa Harrison PSY265 June 2, 2013 Dr. Angela Kolter Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality How do I think historical and scientific perspectives on homosexuality may have shaped the way gay individuals perceive themselves? I believe that the way people used to think and still do about gay people are preposterous. What I mean in that statement is that people thought of gay people as criminals. Although in the past homosexual relationships were common based in Roman and Greek cultures, Christianity denounced those sexual associations and made their belief and intentions clear that this behavior were not to continue. The legal system became intertwined with the Christian belief that homosexuality was sinful and would punish inappropriate sex acts as criminal offenses (Rathus, Nevid, & Fichner-Rathus, 2005). Historically, the topic of homosexuality within religion has been condemned by Judeo-Christian and Islamic. They find it to be sinful because it is viewed as a form of non-procreative sex. However, homosexuality is widely documented throughout the ages. In antiquated cultures such as the Greeks and the Romans, men frequently engaged in homosexuality relationships. The first historical perspective involving the Western culture was male homosexuality, which was more accepted and less taboo than lesbianism. This was due in part because men were seen as the superior gender whereas...
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...Introduction Homosexuality is defined or characterized as attraction towards the same gender either male or female. It came from the Greek language, where “homo” means the same or similar, hence referring to the attraction between two beings of the same sex. Homosexuality is also referred as a clinical term. Most male homosexuals generally prefer to be called "gay men" and most homosexual women generally prefer to be called "lesbians." Homosexuality is one of the three main categories of sexual orientation, alongside bisexual and heterosexual. The longstanding consensus of the behavioral and social sciences and the health and mental health professions is that homosexuality is an example of normal and positive variation in human sexual orientation. Currently the most common adjectives in use are lesbian for women and gay for men, though gay can refer to either men or women. The American Psychology Association defines sexual orientation in the following way: “Sexual orientation is an enduring emotional, romantic, sexual, or affectionate attraction toward others”. There are three broad categories within the family of sexual orientations which are defined as: heterosexuality, homosexuality (gay orientation) and bisexuality. The origins of homosexuality has been surfacing now and then in our time and we will look at how the future will hold for them(homosexuals). Literature Review Nowadays, homosexuality is an uncomfortable and even forbidding topic for many, but in the ancient...
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...encapsulate the root of the problems that continue to persist between the two religions. This prolonged hatred is the result from centuries of conflict between religious descendants. In the modern world, social media is increasingly influencing both Christianity and the Islam faith through raising awareness and presenting biased opinions. As Christianity and the Islamic state globally become more aware of each other, the differences in each religion have become an expansion of animosity against the opposing faith. A popular view from both faiths of Islam and Christianity involve a defensive and aggressive stance towards the opposing religion. Islamic followers in many aspects of belief disagree with and reject Christian views. This is created by feedback loop that has influenced many Muslims on different levels towards having a hateful mindset. Largely due to media created opinions, Islamic followers are lead to believe the worst about Christianity. This is only compounded by a conflictual history between the two religions and many people’s unwillingness to forgive. Not unlike the Islam view on Christianity, there are many views of Islam that are popular to shun and reject as a Christian. The media and other social feedback loops have also influenced many...
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...What Other Cultures Can Teach Us about Sexuality By Zach Daly Professor D Human Sexuality Final Paper Sexuality is an interesting concept, and when examined clearly has a relationship to cultural rules and norms. What is considered acceptable and appropriate sexual behavior varies significantly according to cultural rules, though some sexual taboos and norms seem to cross cultural lines. The fact that cultural norms impact what sexual behaviors are considered appropriate or inappropriate is significant, because many people argue that certain variants of sexuality are either natural or unnatural. However, if some sexual behavior was inherently unnatural, one would not expect to find sexual behavior that is considered aberrant in some cultures as a normative behavior in other cultures. In fact, it is this diversity of “normal” sexual behavior that is the most informative aspect of learning about sexual behavior in other cultures, because it helps explain that what is considered deviant in some cultures is considered normal in other cultures. Of course, examining diverse cultural sexual norms does not mean that all abnormal sexual practices should be embraced as elements of cultural diversity. The fact that a behavior might be considered normative and may be adapted to further cultural norms does not mean that the behavior is necessarily positively adaptive. For example, child brides are the norm in many cultures. The practice of permitting child brides serves...
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...Gay adoption is the adoption of children by same sex couples. Based on this topic, I’d like to look into the question “Are children adopted by gay parents more likely to have the psychological problem?” And the thesis I stated is that gay couples are able to provide a warm and normal environment for adopted children to grow up. I want to focus on this topic from the current situation of gay adoption, gay couples are capable of raising children and children adopted by gay parents are the same as those who born in heterosexual families. Nowadays, the homosexual people are coming into public view and are accepted by more and more people. It has attracted much concern to improve and protect their rights, such as the Gay-Right Movement which refers...
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...Si Janice Ong Jonathan Chow Justin Bonus Phuah Kah Hock Wang Wei Shen INTRODUCTION In this report we will discuss about sexuality in general such as homosexuality. We will look further into the LGBT community between Asian and Western countries. Homosexuality has been a characteristic of human culture since the course of the 19th century. After the modern gay rights movement that began in 1969, in America, more people around the world started to change their mindset of seeing gay rights as “a mental illness to cure” to having more people trying to understand LGBT through biology, psychology, history and cultural variations of sexual practices and identity. We chose this topic because, gay rights has always been a sensitive topic for Malaysians today, this is mainly due to the fact that the government retains the colonial era penal code criminalizing sodomy and shaped by Islam, the official religion in Malaysia. In addition to the secular law, Muslim citizens may also be charged in special Islamic courts, the Syariah Court. In this report we will discuss the religious perspective of Asian and Western countries about homosexuality. We will go through the meaning of homosexuality in detail and ethical perspectives between Asian countries and western countries. Revealing statistical numbers on homosexuality problems and suggestions on how to be ethical when dealing with sexuality. We will also list Asian and western countries around the world that have conformed...
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...evolution and have become supporters of the LGBT community, these shows include some of the most popular series around the world such as Glee, Pretty Little Liars, Doctor Who, Grey’s Anatomy, and many more. Furthermore, many influential people are part of or advocates for the LGBT community. For instance, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Christina Aguilera, Ellen DeGeneres and many more. Today I will talk about the history of LGBT rights and evaluate the supporting arguments and opposing arguments of this topic in today’s society by assessing a host of different media sources, including newspaper articles, magazine articles, and documentaries. First of all, I will present the history of LGBT rights and assess to what extent society has changed its views and ideas on this subject. The first evidence found on same sex couples were found in Egyptian hieroglyphics and old Mesopotamian records which demonstrated same sex relationships were accepted in their community. (Eskridge) Although this evidence is speculative because it is so scarce, there is much more data available for Greek and pre-Christian Roman society that proves that same sex relationships were tolerated. (Perry) For example, proof of same-sex relationship can be found in Plato’s Symposium. Moreover, there is very strong evidence demonstrating the existence of same sex unions, including legally recognized marriages,...
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...of these practices is mostly regional. Along with the regional distribution, how does religion play into the disparity between those countries who kill their felons, and those which do not? (Most information in this discussion, and all quotes within, are from each reference on the particular religion listed on the last page.) [pic] Islam The Muslim religion supports capital punishment. But, in the Qur’an, there are only two particular cases where the death penalty is supported: intentional murder, and spreading mischief in the land. The Islamic religion holds harsh punishment as a deterrent for serious crimes. This is the way that this particular religion balances the sacristy of life and punishment of crimes. Also, there is no support for vigilantes, and the court is the only approved way of meting out the punishment. Only courts of law are supposed to carry out this charge, as the “spirit of the Islamic penal code is to save lives, promote justice, and prevent corruption and tyranny.” One could infer from this that Muslims look down on those who take the law into their own hands. In the case of intentional murder, the family of the victim has the option to forgive the perpetrator or to pursue the death penalty which is upheld by the law. However, the Muslim faith encourages compassion and forgiveness. Fasaad fi al-ardh, or spreading mischief, is a much more subjective crime. It is usually any crime that affects the community as a whole. This is the...
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