...Indigenous Religions Today Through ages, the human kind have seen civilizations rise and fall, religions flourish and than disappear without a trace. Currently, a number of indigenous religions are at risk of ceasing to exist. Indigenous religions all over the world are faced with such factors as spreading globalization and the world’s movement towards a society of individualists, which threaten the core values of indigenous religions worldwide. Globalization has been an ongoing process for ages. The arrival of Columbus to North America was a product of globalization and it caused a genocide of the people already living in North America for centuries. The European colonization of Africa enslaved millions of indigenous people. The conquistadors have completely destroyed the indigenous people of South America. All these people came in contact with indigenous people and strongly affected their lives. Globalization has been a problem for the survival of indigenous cultures or religions in the past and it became even a bigger problem in the modern age....
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...‘Religion today helps societies to remain stable and avoid conflict.’ The role of religion in today’s society has been the subject of many arguments between sociologists from different theoretical perspectives. Functionalists believe that religion helps today’s societies to remain stable as they define religion in terms of the social and psychological functions it performs for individuals in societies. They see religion as mainly a conservative force, promoting social harmony, social integration and social solidarity through reinforcement of the value consensus. Emile Durkheim defines religion in terms of the contribution it makes to social integration, instead of a specific believe in God or the supernatural. He believes that religion provides answers to ultimate questions about life and after life, avoiding conflict by believing in what they have. Similar to Durkheim, Malinowski saw religion as reinforcing social norms and values and promoting social solidarity. However he also saw religion as an explanation for events that were hard to provide answers for. Religion fulfils a need for emotional security and relieves situations of emotional stress which threaten social stability and solidarity. Although Functionalists believe that religion today helps societies to remains stable and avoid conflict, historically religion seems to have played a far greater role in dividing people than uniting them. It is seen as the stronger the religious belief, the stronger the sense that...
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...functions of religion in society today (33 Marks) All over the world religion is portrayed differently giving people many different opinions on it. In general feminists portray the view that women are oppressed by men and they believe that this is enforced through different ways including religion. Feminist believe that religion is a product of patriarchy meaning it serves the purpose of men. This could be suggested due to the majority of religious figures being men including God himself. Some sociologists such as Armstrong (1993) believe that women are marginalised through the church as they are not able to become priests in the catholic religion. They see this as being pushed out of society and discriminated against by men. Although the majority of religious figures are men it cannot be disregarded that there are also important females recognised by religion such as the mother Mary and Mother Teresa who is soon to be a saint. As well as religious figures women are permitted by the Church of England to be ordained since 1992. Religion is seen by some feminists to act as an instrument of domination of society in particular women. Some of the rules that are enforced by certain religions could be seen as unbeneficial to females within the religion. The catholic church enforce such rules as no sex before marriage, no contraception and no abortion even in circumstances such as rape. On the other hand a similar view is seen by Marxists as they argue that religion serves the needs...
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...METHODOLOGY I Professor: Fr. Dave Capucao “A CRITICAL ASSESMENT OF RELIGION TODAY IN THE PHILIPPINES: REALITY AND CHALLENGES; WEAKNESSES AND OPPURTUNITIES” Religion is humanity’s way to be in connection with the divine. It can be traced centuries ago. In the Philippines, religion existed already during pre-colonialization. However it was only during the colonialization period that religion becomes a power to reckon and established its significance to the Filipino people regularly. Today our country has been open to any religious practices. In a recent statistics Roman Catholic is the most numbered among other religious practices. More than eighty percent of the population are Catholics, this is because it is the religion brought by the Spanish colonialists who stays in the country for over three hundred years. Aside from other Christian denominations other religions also were able to establish their presence in the country. There are Muslims, Buddhist, Jews and many others to mention, and this is because of the freedom given with regards to religious practices. Looking upon the past and even until now, religion has always been the subject of many criticisms. The Muslims in the south were considered subversive due to their demands that were not meet by the government, resulting to war and bloodshed. This has been a perennial problem for many years. Although this was more on the political aspect but religion plays a vital part. Muslims are very loyal to their teachings even...
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...Assess the view that science has replaced religion as the main ideological influence in society today. Many argue that the radical social changes brought about by industrialisation have led to religion being undermined by scientific rational thought. For instance, many phenomena, such as earthquakes and diseases, are explained in terms of science rather than through religion. On the other hand, religious thoughts are still dominant in some aspects of life- for instance; many still reject the theory of evolution, or see evolution as guided or initiated by some divine force. Whether or not science has replaced religion as the main ideological influence in modern society is a question that requires answering in two elements. Are science and religion ideological? Although there are many who argue that religion is an ideology or contains ideological aspects, whether or not science is remains a controversial subject which requires criticisms of the objectivity. If science is not an ideology then the view given by the essay question is falsified. If both are ideological then we may proceed to assess the whether science has supplanted religion in this sense. The term “ideology” is difficult to define. Roughly, an ideology is a belief system or framework of ideas which present a partial or distorted view of reality. In this assessment, I wish to apply Manheim’s definitions of two types of ideology- an ideology which justifies current social order, and an ideology which presents...
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...Canceling School In the article, For Mayor, Keeping Schools Open Brings Another Headache, Michael Grynbaum reported that the new Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio and the schools Chancellor, Carmen Farina made the decision last Wednesday to keep NYC schools open on Thursday in the wake of the impending snow storm. The decision to keep schools open set off a firestorm of criticism and the Mayor found himself being publically called out by Al Roker of the Today Show. (Grynbaum, 2013) NYC schools rarely close and have only done so on 11 occasions over the last 40 years. Mayor de Blasio defended himself saying, “It would be nice if we got a video the night before of what the next day looks like”. (Grynbaum, 2013) That remark was met with criticism from Al Roker who stated, “Mr. Mayor, I could never run NYC, but I know when it’s time to keep kids home from school.” (Grynbaum, 2013) The decision to close schools or keep them open during inclement weather is a question that many districts are facing across the country this winter. School districts throughout Indiana are trying to figure out how they will make up the lost school days to meet the 180 requirement. I understand Al Roker’s comments that the schools probably should have been closed. But, sometimes I think we lose sight of other consequences of closing schools. In my position, I worked with the NYC Department of Education for 6 years. Their student population is larger than the city of Indianapolis at 1,000...
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...Background Since childhood, Becky Fuller has dreamed to work for the Today show as news producer. However, her effort to the job is off-putting to potential suitors and eventually being laid off from her job at the local Good Morning New Jersey. After this event, her mother advises her to stop her dream to make her life better; However, Becky perseveres, and continues her dream. She sends lots of résumés, and receives an opportunity from IBS for the national morning show, DayBreak. For the job interview with Jerry Barnes, it is not satisfactory. Then, Becky bumps into one of her heroes, veteran television journalist Mike Pomeroy in an elevator, and meets him. Finally, Barnes hires Becky to be DayBreak's executive producer. On her first day, Becky realizes that the show has many problems. She decides Pomeroy to replace her co-host Paul McVee as her new co-host. Pomeroy refuses to become Becky’s co-host because he wants to less workload. Becky uses Pomeroy’s contract to force him to accept her requirement eventually. However, Pomeroy is not contributed for his job due to many reasons, and the result is discouraging as ratings begin to drop; Becky is told that DayBreak may be canceled. Therefore, Becky decides to use radical approach in order to raise the ratings and save the show, but Barnes doesn’t believe Becky could success. During a staff meeting, Pomeroy shows interest in doing a story, and finally he breaks the story of racketeering on live television, and this help...
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...Sofía Solano Mendoza James Denza Seminar Academic Inquiry 27/04/2011 SEXTING Sexting is the act of sending sexually explicit photos via text messages, and is shockingly common among teens. According to Katie Couric of [Fox News], [Sexting] is “the new craze all over the country among 11 to 17 year-old adolescents.” A recent study by MSNBC found that 20% (1 in 5) of teens between the ages of 12 and 17 have sexted in their lives. Teens say “sexting” is one way to gain approval from peers or possible suitors. Teens in America are facing criminal charges of child pornography for sending and receiving nude pictures. These photos are often forwarded from friend-to-friend via cell phone and even around entire classes. With the availability of technology, young people are not aware that once they start cyber-swapping photos they are on the Internet to stay. If these photos get into the hands of the wrong people such as college admissions or future employers they could ruin the chance to fulfill a dream and there is nothing sexy about that. In fact, I see a relation with the movie of American Beauty, because in the entire movie Rick the neighbor of Jane is filming her with some erotic scenes. The media image of scantily dressed individuals is so common that teenagers don’t feel that it is wrong. It isn’t uncommon for teens to follow media and act like the people they see on the television everyday. In music videos it isn’t uncommon to see women...
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...Emmy-winning TV makeup artist. She created her first foundation and concealer products seven years ago while working for Barbara Walters, Meredith Vieira, and the rest of the hosts on “The View.” 2. Contributions and Uniqueness With sales growth slower than desired, Eve Pearl, the founder, is considering pitching her high-end cosmetic products — priced well above department store levels — to a broad audience by appearing on ShopNBC, a 24-hour TV shopping channel in the mode of QVC. While working on “The View,” Ms. Pearl started selling her brush-on products from her New York apartment. By 2008, she had become Ms. Vieira’s personal makeup specialist. She followed the broadcaster backstage on the sets of “Today” and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” appeared on “Today” herself, and basked in the glow of a ribbon-cutting. She was flanked by morning show stars — Ms. Vieira, Ann Curry, Hoda Kotb and Natalie Morales — at the grand opening of her stylish 700-square-foot Upper East Side boutique. A YouTube posting of that celebrity-filled debut attracted tens of thousands of viewers and encouraged Ms. Pearl to start posting promotional videos demonstrating her techniques and products. That proved to be a good thing, with Internet orders soon outstripping her boutique business and her wholesale deliveries to makeup professionals. By 2011, Ms. Pearl had more than 100 products — some with prices as high as $98 — and more than $1 million in revenue. Her online sales were accounting...
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...Assess the view that religion was once mainly a conservative influence but today is more a force for social change (30 marks) In the past religions role as a conservative force was portrayed by the monarchy, ruling the divine rights in medieval Europe, and the Egyptian pharaohs were considered as almost God-like figures and so no one questioned their authority. Feminists and Marxists both agree that religion is a conditioning device that oppresses people, diluting the demand for social change to protect the interests of the men and the ruling class. This is partially supported by the Functionalist approach, Durkheim expressed the belief that religion provides social cement, reinforcing traditional beliefs chosen by religious moral code; such as the 10 commandments for Christianity, for the good of society. However there are numerous examples of ways where religion has acted as a force of change, such as the war in Palestine, the wars in former Yugoslavia and in a positive way, the actions of religious leaders, such as Ghandi and Martin Luther King. In today’s society religion has acted as both a conservative force and a force of social change, as shown by ‘Islamic Fundamentalists’ in Iran and Afghanistan, and Christian fundamentalism reintroducing the teachings of creationism in the US. Religion is also seen to be a conservative force because it functions to preserve things as they are, it stabilises society and maintains status quo. Most religions have conservative moral...
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...Evaluate the view that new cults and sects are replacing traditional religion as the means for experiencing and expressing religious belief in the world today In this essay, I will be evaluating the view that cults and sects are replacing traditional religion as for expressing religious belief in the world today. To do this I will be referring to a number of sociologists view on the idea of sects and cults. New religious movements such as sects and cults have become more common over the years. Many people are becoming influenced by these religious groups which tell citizens in society if they join them they will lead a better life. Many sociologists have argued that NRMs are increasing in size and popularity due to unjust events people are seeing in modern society. To begin with, many sociologists have argued that NRMs are no big influence on society and are just really to some extent a way of showing societies change, which is sure to happen over the years anyway. Wallis identified three main kinds of new religious movements. These are world affirming, world accommodating and world rejecting groups. Sociologists have argued the one that is short lived than the rest is the world rejecting. This group is usually classed as a sect or cult in which they are always highly critical of the outside world and demand significant commitment from their members. An Example of one of these is the Unification church (the Moonies) founded in Korea. They reject the mundane the secular...
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...belonging is a term used by Davie to describe the fact religion is becoming more privatised, as people have more choice in religious practices that they felt obligated to follow in the past. Many sociologists, such as Davie, argue that religion is not declining; it is just taking an alternate form – such as believing without belonging. Spiritual shopping, a term used by Hervieu-Leger, and ‘Jesus in Disneyland’ are two other ways in which religion is taking on a different relationship within society today. However, other theorists argue that the belief in religion is in fact declining in society, as illustrated by structural differentiation. Weber and disenchantment also support this idea, as well as Functionalists who state that religion involved belonging as well as believing. Firstly, Davie argues that today’s society is trending toward ‘vicarious religion’, where a small number of professional clergy practice religion on behalf of a much larger number of people, who experience it second hand. Even though church attendance may be declining, religious belief is still strong as many people still use the church for rites of passage (e.g. a wedding or a christening). Bibby found that 25% of Canadians attended church regularly, yet 80% of people said they held religious beliefs. Indicating that less people feel obligated to attend church and obey traditional religious teachings, they are able to still have faith in religion but within their private sphere of the home. Similarly...
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...traditional society, a person is born into a religion, they will learn about that religion from a young age and it will shape their personality and lives. However, in modern society, people have become disillusioned with the stories, or metanarratives, of the major religions, with the increase in rational thinking and scientific discoveries and advancements, in science and technology, leading to traditional religion experiencing secularisation and losing influence over society and its people, with church attendance at an all-time low. At the same time, postmodernists argue that new religious movements (NRMs) are now growing, as people want to fulfil something spiritual in their lives, as they have become tired of the materialistic, money driven society we live in today, alluding to the argument that religion may not be disappearing, but just changing to fit a postmodern society. Hervieu-Leger suggests that religion has declined due to 'cultural amnesia'. In the past, religion was handed down to children by the family, the school and Sunday school. But this tradition has now broken down, meaning that children today are less likely to get a religious identity from their family, so they know much less about traditional religion. Postmodernists argue that the emphasis in postmodern society is for the individual to make choices in their lives about their own personal identity. This has had a number of effects on the nature of religion. Firstly, Hervieu-Leger says that individual...
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...[From August Harpers and Sojourners Newsletter] The Christian Paradox How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong by Bill McKibben, Updated August 3, 2005 Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005. What it means to be Christian in America. An excerpt. Originally from August 2005 Harpers. Only 40 percent of Americans can name more than four of the Ten Commandments, and a scant half can cite any of the four authors of the Gospels. Twelve percent believe Joan of Arc was Noah's wife. This failure to recall the specifics of our Christian heritage may be further evidence of our nation's educational decline, but it probably doesn't matter all that much in spiritual or political terms. Here is a statistic that does matter: Three quarters of Americans believe the Bible teaches that "God helps those who help themselves." That is, three out of four Americans believe that this uber-American idea, a notion at the core of our current individualist politics and culture, which was in fact uttered by Ben Franklin, actually appears in Holy Scripture. The thing is, not only is Franklin's wisdom not biblical; it's counter-biblical. Few ideas could be further from the gospel message, with its radical summons to love of neighbor. On this essential matter, most Americans - most American Christians - are simply wrong, as if 75 percent of American scientists believed that Newton proved gravity causes apples to fly up. Asking Christians what Christ taught isn't a trick. When we say we are a Christian...
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...USA Today by Gannett Company On 20th April 1982 - announced the first copies of USA Today In 1985 - became the second largest newspaper in the America In 17th April 1995 - Launced USA Today Online In 2000 - The paper redesign In 2009 - Newspaper have closed shop or reduced publications day and adapt to online only Norfatahiyah Bt Md Sulhaimi 1110937 USA Today Become a more serious newspaper with improved journalism Raising public awareness and move into profitability USAToday.com Readers interacted with the journalist and given opportunity to voice their opinion Continuous strategy of marketing innovation USA Today Product Innovation Promotional Innovation Distribution Innovation USAToday.com Added blogs Really Simple Syndication(RSS) Pod casting No Demand for the newspaper will decrease because customer just get news from USAToday.com Strength Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Huge media conglomerate with Gannett Gannett's capabilities in high-tech graphic design High fixed costs Weak profit margin Increasing numbers of white-collar workers Failure of competition to innovate and innovate rapidly Online news threaten to cannibalize printed news Competition from other newspaper, national and local Fast delivery the news Design through customer preference Limitation when it saturated Move to USA Today Online Lose readers of the population ages over the next 10 to 30 years Economic factor such as higher newsprint costs https://www.scribd...
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