...hard for me to say due to its negative connotation ever since the 9/11 attacks and beyond that. Ever since the day of 9/11, I have been in fear to show who I am, what ethnicity I am, and what religion I practice. Due to the cause of the attacks, people had the wrong perception to what being a Muslim really is, for people thought it was battle against Muslims and not a battle against terrorists. In Zayn Kassam,” Can a Muslim be a Terrorist?” He answers, “Sure, why not, I wonder, for so can a Jew, a Hindu, a Sikh, a Catholic, or, indeed, a member of any faith (776).” Another example of unfair assumption that is portrayed is in George Orwell’s, “Shooting an Elephant,” for in his essay he was a white British police officer that was hated by the Burmese people, because of the British rule over Burma, and the assumption that white people are violent and hateful. In addition, because of the British rule the Burmese people assumed that all British officers and British were alike due to their unfair ruling. In this essay the narrator George Orwell was assigned to go kill and what it seems to be an untamed Elephant, but due to his conscience he would feel resentment if he was to kill an Elephant, because of his non-violent and none hateful nature. Furthermore, he is in a situation where the people of Burma expect white man to do rampant, but on the contrary he does not feel that there is a need to kill the elephant. With this pressure that George Orwell felt and how he does not want to...
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...2/21/2015 2/21/2015 James Turner Philosophy-1101 James Turner Philosophy-1101 Philosophy of Life And Other Essays By. B.J. Gupta Philosophy of Life And Other Essays By. B.J. Gupta B.J. Gupta gets right to the point in his book “Philosophy of life”. He does not use outlandish sentences and problematical paragraphs to explain what he is saying. The book starts out by his explanations of philosophy, and Gupta gives two examples of what philosophy meant in the past and what it means nowadays. Back when philosophy was developed a philosopher had been considered a thinker, and it did not matter on what subject. Nowadays, a philosopher is a thinker of non-materialistic subjects like knowledge. Those subjects like science, history, and economics have their own sets of thinkers labelled scientist, historian, economist etc. Gupta is saying that philosophy used to touch on many subjects, and even though these other subjects are not called philosophy, philosophy is in their DNA and always will be. (Gupta, p. 1) Then Gupta gives an example of “Philosophy of Life” he got of the internet, which is “Any philosophical view or vision of the nature or purpose of life or of the way that life should be lived”. (Random House, Inc., 2015) He does not give his own definition on the subject, but he does go on explaining that everyone has his or her own outlook on the philosophy of life, you do not have to be a philosopher to have an opinion on the matter. Some outlooks...
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...Islam and Judaism The world we reside is full of religions and beliefs of every sort. They all vary accordingly to the geographic, social, and linguistic diversity of the planet itself. According to the late Bishop Mark Pullevard purity means: “the voluntary subjection of oneself to God." Source: The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913 Both Islam and Judaism believe that purity plays a big role internal or external in the focus of one’s self within the religious sphere and to the attainment or pleasure of God’s will. Within this Essay we shall explore ritual and ethical understandings of both Islam and Judaism and reflect on mutual understandings of purity between the two religions, religious definitions and anthropological theories, and my own experience with purity and ethics. Overlapping and Mutual Influences in both Judaism and Islam vary in the sense that according to the Jewish law a person may not enter the temple if he or she is impure. They must usually undergo three different stages of purification. These stages include waiting a period or length of time; offering of a ritual bath and foretokening certain symbolic sacrifices. Sources of impurity for the Jews are from contact with dead bodies, leprosy, and from sexual organs. For Jews contact with the dead bodies causes ritual uncleanness, which may be transferred to other people, to objects, or to food. The impurity caused by the contact of sexual organs means that the purification ritual may have to be applied....
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... James & Kathleen Hum 140 & Eng 101 5 Page Essay Final World Views/Benefits from Hinduism & Buddhism (Quotes are italicized and the source of the quote is bolded) Although Hinduism and Buddhism are third world country religions that most of us are not familiar with, does not mean we cannot benefit or get something out of them ourselves, whether we believe in them or not. Here in this essay i will be talking about the similarities and differences that contrast between these two massive religions that hopefully, can show a form of common ground between yourself (If you’re an “outsider”) and them. (The religious practitioners). Lets start from the beginning; who were the founders? The answer to that question is quite complex. Buddhism was founded around the 5th century B.C.E. by Siddhartha Gautama, who is commonly referred to as “The Buddha” which translates to the literal word enlightened or awakened. The creator and founder of Buddhism. On the other hand, Hinduism has no official founder and most of its practices are based off of concepts formed in Buddhism. Back to the fact that these two religions are third world country religions, what is their purpose? That is the main goal of both religions? The main goal or purpose of Buddhism is (Let's refer back to who Siddhartha Gautama is.) to seek the insights from the enlightened Buddha who shared...
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...York University College of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies Department of Humanities AP/HUMA 1860 6.00 The Nature of Religion: An Introduction Term Y Section A Course Director: Dr. Jason C. Robinson Y: Fall/Winter 2014-2015 Office: 126 Founders CollegeOffice Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays by appointment | Email: jasonro@yorku.ca Class Time: Tuesday 4:30-6:30 | Classroom: Curtis Lecture Halls (CLH) C | Tutorial Leaders and Times | Type | Day | | Start Time | Duration | | | Location | Instructor | | LECT 01 | T | | 4:30pm | 120 | | | CLH C | Jason Robinson | jasonro@yorku.ca | TUTR 01 | T | | 7:00pm | 60 | | | ACE 012 | Jason Robinson | jasonro@yorku.ca | TUTR 02 | T | | 7:00pm | 60 | | | SC 220 | Cristiana Conti | menrua19@yorku.ca | TUTR 03 | T | | 7:00pm | 60 | | | SC 223 | Irfaan Jaffer | irfaanjaffer@gmail.com | TUTR 04 | T | 8 | :00pm | 60 | | | ACE 012 | Cristiana Conti | menrua19@yorku.ca | TUTR 05 | T | | 8:00pm | 60 | | | BC 325 | Irfaan Jaffer | irfaanjaffer@gmail.com | TUTR 06 | T | | 8:00pm | 60 | | | MC 215 | Janet Melo-Thaiss | janetmt@yorku.ca | | | Note: This is an approved LA&PS General Education course Course credit exclusions: AP/HUMA 1865 6.00, AP/HUMA 2800 9.00 (prior to Fall 2014), AP/SOSC 2600 9.00 (prior to Fall 2014). PRIOR TO FALL 2009: Course credit exclusions: AK/HUMA 1860 6.00, AS/HUMA 2800 9.00, AS/SOSC 2600 9.00. Camtasia Recording This...
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...SOC 105 01: RELIGION AND SOCIETY Spring 2015 / Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:35 A.M. – 11:00 A.M. Room: BROWER HALL 203 Instructor: Konstantinos Ardavanis Email: Konstantinos.ardavanis@hofstra.edu Office Hours: Tuesdays 11:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. COURSE DESCRIPTION This course is designed to help you learn about the Sociology of Religion, with special attention paid to contemporary issues in religion and society in the United States. This course will set out to explore the various rituals, values, and customs that a society embraces, and through this, find the hidden meaning behind the cultural knowledge that these values, rituals and customs provide. While people use these values, rituals, and customs to interpret the world around them, it will be our job to discuss the implications and unconscious assumptions that these interpretations provide using a number of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. TEXTS AND READINGS REQUIRED • Sociology of Religion: Contemporary Developments (2nd edition) by Kevin J. Christiano, William H. Swatos Jr., and Peter Kivisto, ISBN 978-0-7425-6111-3 • Additional readings to be posted to Blackboard SUGGESTED • Durkheim, Emile. 1965. Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. New York: Free Press. • Marx, Karl and Frederich Engels. 1978. "The Communist Manifesto" and “the German Ideology,” in The Marx-Engels Reader. Ed. Robert Tucker. New York: W.W. Norton. • Weber, Max. 1958. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit...
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...Comparative Religions Comparative Religions: Reflection Essay Luckily we live in a country where we are free to express ourselves religiously however we choose to. I was born into the Greek Orthodox branch of Christianity and have remained a Christian my entire life. Different religions have always interested me; I have even studied extremely different beliefs than my own such as Paganism and Wicca. As noted in the textbook, there are eight different elements in which religious beliefs can manifest, such as: A belief system, community, central myths, rituals, an ethical system, emotional experiences, material expressions of religion and sacredness. (Malloy, 2010, p. 6) Some people may feel that their religious beliefs are larger influenced by each of these eight elements, while others may only be influenced by a select few. I grew up in a very Christian household. My mother was a Christian, that’s what she always said even though she was Roman Catholic. I later learned that she meant she had strong beliefs in Christianity, while not adhering to some of the Roman Catholic beliefs. I would strongly agree that the element of community really played a significant factor on my initial belief in Christianity. Since I was surrounded by an entire family whose belief was in Christianity and around people that talked constantly about Jesus Christ being our savior, I was heavily persuaded into the belief system that is Christianity. As I was raised, my family would tell me great...
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...on. More also, has principles of what they should live by. They have to believe in a higher being and they should believe that every soul is immortal and was created by God. He does not care what they believe in as long as they believe in something bigger than themselves. There are few religions, they can choose from they could be moon worshippers, sun worshipers or even Christians. This is interesting because it seems like they have the freedom to choose what they want, but in reality they do not because they still have to all go to the same place of worship. Montaigne confesses that the savages do not work, or farm. They literally pick their food off of trees. This reminds me how close they are to the original state and the story of the garden of Eden. Back then that is what they would do, just pick their food right then and there. He mentions religion in his essay as well, but he says that there is someone who preaches. Someone tells them what they want to know, or in other words should know. It is interesting to see the two different ideas they have of what society should be like in both of their eyes. In a way both societies believe in something, but they go about it in different...
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...vibrates to that iron string,” (as cited in Langan, 2014) What does he mean by this? Why do you think he placed the quote this early in the essay? Explain (1)I feel that Emerson’s quote “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to its own string,” Is implying, whatever you set your mind too you can accomplish. “Every heart vibrates to its own Iron string,” Is implying that everyone is different; we go about doing things in different ways, but it doesn’t mean that it’s wrong. (2) I feel he placed this quote so early in the essay because; he wanted to attract the reader’s attention with such a unique passage. He tried grabbing their attention, early in the passage. 2. In paragraph 4, Emerson says, “it is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own” (as cited in Langan, 2014). What does he mean by this quote? What is his purpose in making this statement? Explain. (1) “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion”, basically it’s saying that it is easy for other people to justify your life, doing what’s good in the eyes of society. Letting what other people think, affect the way you live your life. “It’s is easy in solitude to live after our own,” Is saying to live in solitude, you can easily live, doing the things that you want to do. (2) To shed light on the situation, of people caring, what other people think. Live by your own path; don’t let people influence what you do. It would be easy living in both situation,...
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...Exploration Essay 1 When one is trying to give the definition of religion, they find there are many definitions or understandings. As it has been stated by St. Augustine, “Most of us know perfectly well what religion is, until someone asks us to define it.” Religion can be defined as the human quest for, experience of and response to the holy or sacred. It is said the universal human activity expresses itself in three ways: 1) in thought, 2) in action, and 3) in fellowship. In contrast, science uses methods to gain knowledge by testing hypotheses to develop theories through interpretation of the facts or calculations by experiments and can only answer the infinite questions of the universe that can be observed and measured. The relationship between religion and science has been a subject of study for centuries. It has been addressed by philosophers, theologians, and scientists. There have been many diverse perspectives from different regions, cultures and historical periods. Some state there is a conflict between religion and science, others disagree and others offer there is little interaction. Science and religion generally pursue knowledge of the universe using different methodologies. Science acknowledge reason and evidence, while religions include revelation, faith and sacredness. Despite these differences, most scientific and technical innovations prior to the scientific revolution were achieve by societies organized by religious traditions. Much of the scientific...
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...her mouth. Everyone in my family has giving up on me because they said that there is nothing good that can come out of me. As I entered Montgomery College, I told myself that I will make something good out of myself. I have managed to complete ESL classes, which many people doubted. I feel that through my experience of this English course, I have gained the knowledge and confidence it takes to step out into the real world. My writing strength is the ability to use rhetorical strategies in a narrative essay to develop an academic prompt, but I still need to polish on how to demonstrate the facilities like improve my tone, how to persuade my reader, and how to organize...
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...Running head: SPIRITUAL NEEDS ASSESSMENT Spiritual Needs Assessment Daljit Kumari Spirituality in Health Care Home Grand Canyon University HLT- 310V February 23rd, 2014 This essays purpose is to finalize the spiritual needs assessment of a person that is to be selected to regulate his/her spiritual needs. Religion as well as spirituality do not contain the same definition, although they have been utilized regarding many opportunities. “The primary purpose of a spiritual assessment is to identify a need in the patient and formulate a care plan (Power, 2006, p. 17)”. This assessment plays an essential role within the patient’s care and assessment. The experience of health care is also something that can become as progressing or positive as for a patient as they can give and receive spiritual support that is satisfactory. This assists in promoting the health of a patient, preventing sickness or illness for example anxiety or depression, and to also assist patients to deal with difficulties in times during sickness. A spiritual assessment tool to gain a guide assistance for the health care professionals to cope and embrace the patient’s spiritual needs will be discussed in this paper by the author. According to “(Joint Commission, 2005), the main purpose of the spiritual assessment should be to identify the patient’s needs, hopes, resources, and possible outcomes regarding spirituality (p. 6)”. The best holistic...
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...change in our laws which have forbidden prayer in schools. These laws have been upheld because courts have asserted that they violate the separation of church and state that is assured in our Constitution. Following this call for a new religious crusade many articles and editorials appeared calling for new legislation which would allow prayer in public schools. Polls were released which indicated that a large percentage of Americans favored new legislation on this subject, and more than one half of those surveyed claimed that they would be more likely to vote for a candidate in a national election who supported prayer in public schools. One has to question the intensity of this support because Bill Clinton (not a supporter of bringing religion into public schools) defeated George Bush (a supporter of school prayer) in the 1992 presidential election. Those who voiced their support for school prayer felt that it would strengthen the moral values of young children as they went through school. Those who want a change in the system claim that prayer in schools will instill family values that have...
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...Religion in Cat’s Cradle Mystery surrounds no character in Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle more than Bokonon, the self-aware prophet of the fictitious religion, Bokononism, at the heart of the novel. Bokononism is a rare religion which openly claims to a false construction: the Book of Bokonon, the holy book of Bokononism, actively encourages its practisers to live by “foma”, or “harmless untruths”, and furthermore begins with the claim, “All of the true things that I am about to tell you are shameless lies” (Vonnegut 5). With the invention of Bokononism, Cat’s Cradle manages to be simultaneously both painfully obvious and deceptively subtle in its messages. Bokononism is an admittedly fabricated religion nevertheless accepted by the population because of its ability to make them feel good about their lives. From a non-religious perspective, the parallels with “real” organised religion are quite apparent (the primary difference being Bokononism’s admitted basis in unreality). Indeed, the reader may well experience the alluring song of Bokononism and the way it presents an emotionally comforting and mentally comfortable explanation of life, a possibility both impressive and troublesome. Upon this particular realisation of Bokononism’s potential, the quotation opening the Book of Bokonon develops a clearer context. Bokononism need not necessarily be untrue; in fact, one could interpret its claims to be extremely true (and, furthermore, the claims are quite impossible to confirm...
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...Illiterate America Stephen Prothero, the author of “A Nation of Religious Illiterates” is a Professor of Religion at Boston University. He received his Bachelors’ Degree from Yale College in American Studies and received his Masters and PhD in the Study of Religion from Harvard University. As a historian on American religions he has written six books since 1996 (Wikipedia contributors,"Stephen Prothero”). He is also a regular contributor to CNN’s Belief Blog. In his essay Prothero aims to convince the readers that although Americans are far more religious than Europeans, we know less about religion as a whole and aims to convey to us the importance of religious education to us. He also places blame on the educational system due to the First Amendment. Prothero’s work here left me confused due to his lack of facts and information as he seems like someone who is very well educated on the subject. Religion is somewhat of a hot topic to many Americans and brings much controversy with it. But, if we do not talk about it or read about it doesn’t that make us exactly what Mr. Prothero calls us? Prothero starts off by quoting sociologist Peter Berger “that if India is the most religious country in the world and Sweden is the least, then the United States is a nation of Indians ruled by Swedes.” (Prothero, “A Nation”, p1). Prothero believes that does not hold true anymore and I would have to agree with him. At the time this article was written President George W. Bush...
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