Thinking Through Religions 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Thinking Through Religions 4 - Essay Example This is because self isolation and being separate can lead to a mental state of renunciation. There is a perception that when men make vows, they tend to become spiritual men who state separate from the physical world (Merton, 1966). In a sense, this theory suggests that it is possible to subscribe to a personal ideology to the exclusion of the mainstream society (Braght & Sohm, 1987). The illusion theory assumes that men become separate by taking vows that cause them to belong to an interior life. The new reality suggests that while the interior world may be real, it should not lead to denial of physical world which is dominated by the secular (Merton & Bochen, 2000). The reality of the God does not denounce the existence of hatred and corruption in a physical world that has evolved through revolution (Ferch, 2012). The reality of the interior world and the secular world in which we live is brought about by the level of awareness. The new reality is that there are no strangers (Ward, 8). The level of understanding of how we appear in God’s eyes can alter the values of collective existence (Broom, 2003). A telling example would be destroying weapons after realizing the need for friendship and company. As members of the human race, God has designed us to be naturally interdependent. Question 2 Father Maximilian was arrested for aiding Jews and Polish underground. He with four others was deported to Auschwitz labor and death camp. According to the Camp Commandant, Fritsch, Roman Catholics had only one month to live while Jews were entitled to only two weeks. They would then be killed through a crematorium. He was tattooed with 16670 as his number and began hard labor. However, when a prisoner escaped five months later, officers from Kolbe’s bunker were paraded, ready to be taken to death chamber. Ten men were picked at random. One was a sergeant, Francis Gajowniczek. Father Kolbe offered to die of his behalf after listening to his desperate cry. In 1982, during a rescue operation, Lenny Skutnit dived into the icy waters to save a lady. Priscilla Tirado was too exhausted to hold the rope dropped from a helicopter as dozens of people watched, emergency service personnel included. The 30 feet swimming to the river show saved her life. Both men indicated their willingness to offer their lives on behalf of other people with actions as the evidence (Braght & Sohm, 1987). While one incident involved drowning, the other involved prison execution. Fath er Kolbe offered to offer his life for a person who could not reciprocate. These actions reveal that human nature can be moved to act on behalf of others without having a prior knowledge of their existence. The actions also reveal that human beings are naturally in need of each other. Human beings can act heroically on behalf of those in desperate circumstances or dire need of rescue. Question 3 Charles Roberts, 32 year old milk truck drivers killed ten girls before committing suicide. This occurred in west Nickel Mines School in Pennsylvania. The members of the community went through extreme moments of grief and mourning (Kraybill, 2007). However, hours after the shooting, an Amish neighbor had comforted Roberts’s family. The Amish community donated money to the widow and attended the burial ceremony of the killer. They showed love to Roberts’s family hours just a day after some of them had buried their own daughters. The members of the Amish committed offered uncondi tional forgiveness even when it was extremely difficult. The national society might have mistaken their kind acts to mean they were less affected. Many affected families

Contemporary Responses By The Criminal Justice System Towards Victims Essay

Contemporary Responses By The Criminal Justice System Towards Victims And Witnesses Of Crime - Essay Example The accuracy, quality and quantity of the evidence provided by the victims or the witnesses play a crucial role in developing the case and the ultimate outcome of the investigations (Davis et al., 2007). This paper evaluates if the criminal justice system agents need to take into account the background and perspectives of the victims or the witnesses. It discusses the related research background and evaluates available evidence on the importance of including the witness background and perspectives. It starts with a discussion on sensitivity to emotive and cognitive processing style, expectations and ethnic perspectives of witnesses. A large amount of research and scholarly work has been undertaken on the subject of criminal justice system’s sensitivity (or lack of it) toward the victims or the witnesses. This ‘sensitivity’ is, however, studied from the point of view of the victims or the witnesses. The underlying theme is that the criminal justice system officials may inadvertently indulge in a further ‘victimization’ of the witnesses/victims during their investigations (Goodey, 2005). This is attributed to a plausible lack of empathy with the witness and the focus of the officials on getting the crime solved (Mawby and Walklate, 1994). As such, much research has gone into developing programs for educating the criminal justice system agents in being humane, patient and empathic to the victims (Lamb et al., 2008).For example, a research by Bollingmo, Wessel,   Eilertsen and Magnussen (2008) found that police officers tend to undermine the credibility of victims’ accounts if the victim appears to be calm and controlled and does not look harassed or desperate. However, it is more of a personality issue that some people may remain relatively calm under duress while others may become desperate with even little discomfort (Maguire and Pointing, 1988). But the investigating officers’

Local Police Response to Terrorism Research Paper

Local Police Response to Terrorism - Research Paper Example It is quite clear that the national security agencies cannot work alone in the fight against terrorism. Hence the situation requires team work among the private and public agencies; most importantly along with the local police. All of them must work in tandem to ensure the security of the country. Getting back to the role of local police it is to be said that local police can definitely identify probable terrorists operating or living in the respective jurisdictions and thus coordinate with the other agencies to prevent or even to respond to terror attacks. However, such responsibilities are of extreme significance and may lead to increase in the work load of the police of force, which to be honest is already quite hectic (Jongman, 2005). The present study looks to analyze the importance of the role of the local police in the fight against terrorism. During the course of the study various aspects such as the effect of political, economic and social changes on the law enforcement agen cies including local police; importance of partnership among local communities and local police along with other critical issues such as related to the role of the local police in the battle against terror has been analyzed. ... It has also been claimed by both of them that this role not much different in the role that the authorities play in case of the fight against local crimes. It has also been argued that counter terrorism should be added into the everyday departments. This should be inducted in to the agendas of every meeting. The officers should be communicated and trained regarding the new role to ensure that the prevention against terrorism becomes a part of the daily thought process and routine. However, things are easier said than done. It is needless to discuss that terrorist attacks are quite rare events. Terrorist attacks would not occur as frequently as a homicide or robbery or theft (Miller and Braswell, 2010). The arguments posted by Researchers are absolutely right and has to be agreed. However, the next question that comes to mind would be: What can the local police actually do? One mat say that the local police can collect intelligence about probable terrorism activities; ensure the prote ction of seemingly vulnerable targets are protected; and there would also be the most obvious response, i.e. the local police should always be in a position to respond to any kind of attack. The last topic is quite controversial and hence in the best interest of the research it has been avoided and hence the first two tasks would be discussed. Such an approach is of great significance because if the phrase prevention is better that cure had to come true then it would be for the battle against terrorism. It is needless to discuss about the devastation of terrorist attacks and hence the prime focus should be on avoiding such disasters rather than any other crime such as murder of robbery, where the main focus would be to ensure that the criminal(s)

Exploration Of Organizational Memory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Exploration Of Organizational Memory - Essay Example The auditing procedures were universally recognized thus rendering the list to be scientifically acceptable. The memory carriers where then revised and incorporated into a more updated quality standard practice to enhance in-company quality competition. The whole research team worked together with the company management and two research members who actually conducted interviews with twenty-eight employees to establish changes in organizational memory which were measured in two stages. A proposal of a longitudinal study using an independent group and complex design experiment to conduct a single case design is used for the Dutch electronics firm using data analysis and interpretation that is both quantitative, and qualitative (Van Der Bent et. al.). Determination of whether organizational learning took place at this company was methodized as follows: (a) a qualitative report of a couple of change strategies were identified and analyzed in order to observe changes; (b) a quantitative across-the-board access was secured allowing observation and effective documentation of cases; (c) specific memory carriers or vehicles are listed to create procedures which are measured to detect and develop variations; (d) a measuring tool is devised to establish different forms of learning, unlearning, and non-learning. The first stage (1982-1986) was composed of an in-depth case study where one research member was a participant observer from the beginning to completion of the qualit y change process. The second stage revisited the original 1980s change process and lasted another two years for a total of eight years of research. The last two years involved qualitative research in which members of the organization were questioned about their learning and memory related to change. The measures of change where accomplished using tools that measured periods of time-related to the rules, culture, system, and structure of the organization.

Philosophy paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Philosophy paper - Essay Example Their affiliation determines who they like and don't like. If Euthyphro says "What is dear to the gods is pious, what is not is impious" then it would be proven illogical in Socrates' counter argument that Athena and Ares consider the same group of people both pious and impious. These qualities should be universal but they are not. This is the principle of Euthyphro's Dilemma.(Round 3) The gods can agree and be universal in their choices. Definition Round 3 : "the pious is what all gods love.. and what all the gods hate, is the impious†¦" Socrates gives strenuous opposition because the answer is not straight forward. "Is the pious being loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is being loved by the gods?" Euthyphro agrees that it cannot be answered universally. The gods love some things because they are pious or good. This shows that that the god- loved and pious have to be different. The idea of right and wrong have to have an intrinsic anchor. Socrates goes ahead an explains cause and effect. Euthyphro's arguments cannot only be based on the same laws of the physical universe. He based his laws of piety on the same laws of the physical universe. The laws of piety are not rules and regulations which can been governed by gods or bodies of government. The best answer accepted by both Socrates and Euthyphro is to question one because the pious can be immaterial grammatically as it can be a person or an animal. The moment gods like it the "thing becomes pious. The Euthyphro Dilemma is presented by Socrates as showing that pious cannot be grammatically defined as it was done in ancient Greek. 2)If the Universe is like a watch the universe represents a complex organism of parts which function together . Paley never develops the analogy but compares the universe to a rock in the woods and a watch. He uses this comparison to develop his version of the Design argument which is later refuted by Hume's counter arguments. He knows that a rock would not be easily accepted as having a Designer as a creator. Using the watch as an analogy to the comparison to the world assumes that there is a designer to the universe who must be God. Functionality assumes a designer which assumes the existence of God. The watch analogy shows the complexity of natural order and thus an existence of a creator. The natural events in life cannot be contributed to happenstance. Yes a watch has problems as does nature. A watch has a maker though you don't see him. You cannot see the inner workings of the watch though they exist. They have been put together as the universe was put together. They were designed before they were created. The universe functions because of the work of the presence of an omnipotent designer. Even though the watch can have problems in working properly, it was designed in its inception. A perfect example would be the climatic problems we are having in the world. The weather system was designed but it is not working as it s hould. If the watch is missing a battery or needs to be taken to a watch maker because it is no longer keeping proper time, these are two conditions we would not be able to fix because of our lack of understanding. This does not assume that there was not a designer. The casing of the watch as well as all other items in the world have structure, otherwise there would be total chaos. The watch would not be able to hold together its parts. He uses a deductive argument if noticeable things were

Cross-Cultural Differences Essay Example for Free

Cross-Cultural Differences Essay A central core in any cultural are its values. Values are independent standards where it is determined the differences of right and wrong, good and bad objectives. There are usually some shared values among all cultures; the contrast is the account of different perceptions between different cultures. Asian values have shown to be inter-related in that they view the individual belonging to a larger group or extended family with an expected well being of the group as a whole. To contrast this against American values of the self is that there is a personal expected importance of well being on the individual, emphasizing independence and self-initiative. Education seems to share a common aspect but there are some differential ideals between American and Asian values. Within the Asian culture their family core interactions being the fuel to move them through their individual life practices uses parenting as a fundamental aspect in pushing their children to work harder in their education; even overachieve. However, Americans might consider Asian parents to be overly dominating; there is an in-turn on exceptive goal that parent support their children as they can. Americans do see education as a key to social mobility and economic opportunity. Asians use education as a movement though family structures more profitable than the use of societal roles. Asian values can also be seen with strong dictation for their consideration of others; with benevolence and obligation that must be present to enforce relationships. Asian societies have a history to be hierarchical, in contrast to the American culture where there is a form of equality to an extent between teacher and student, peer to peer, and family members among themselves. The hierarchical relationships in Asian culture involve a lot of obligation that could be seen as domination with the expectation of responsibility and benevolence in return. Example being children in Asian culture obligated to follow guidelines set by their parents in a strict fashion at the expense of their own independence yet their parents with the returning expectation to raise support and educate them far in excess of what might be sought by American family standards. Reference: Asian-American educational achievements: A phenomenon in search of an explanation. Sue, Stanley; Okazaki, Sumie American Psychologist, Vol 45(8), Aug 1990, 913-920. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.45.8.913 Fuligni, A. J., Tseng, V. and Lam, M. (1999), Attitudes toward Family Obligations among American Adolescents with Asian, Latin American, and European Backgrounds. Child Development.

Contributions of Siddhartha Gautama to Buddhism

Contributions of Siddhartha Gautama to Buddhism Ilinca Stingaciu Siddhartha Gautama, later known as the Buddha, is considered the founder of Buddhist religion. Many buddhist beliefs and teachings are based on the Buddhas discoveries and teachings. One of the most important ways in which the Siddhartha Gautama influenced Buddhism is by actually spreading the religion, and spreading this teachings to people, which drew in followers who continued to further spread buddhism (Alldritt, 2004, p. 25). After reaching enlightenment, Buddha found the answer to suffering, which is also referred to as the dukkha in religious scripts. Based on his realizations, he founded the Four Noble truths of suffering, an important concept in Buddhist teachings. The first of the truths, known as the Truth of suffering, essentially states that everything in life leads to suffering. The second truth, that of where suffering comes from, explains the realization that suffering stems from selfishness and cravings. The third truth teaches of the cessation or elimination of suff ering within ones life, and to let go of all cravings or desires that cause suffering (Gethin, 1998, p. 59).The fourth truth teaches what to do be able to eliminate suffering, essentially teaching followers how to come about attaining nirvana (Gethin, 1998, p. 80). The eightfold path, a common concept and symbol in Buddhism, was also established by the Buddha based on fourth of the Noble truths. This outlines eight concepts on how to live life, which guide a person to end suffering, and find fulfillment (Gethin, 1998, p. 82). Meditation is a key practice within Buddhist religion, one that like many, can be traced back the the Buddha. He taught followers how to meditate in order to separate themselves from their personal thoughts and emotions (Hope Van Loon, 1999, p. 38). He encouraged ideology that enlightenment and meditation is personal, so each person must find their way to enlightenment on their own (Ross, 1980, p. 4). Born into royalty, Siddhartha Gautama was raised in a life of luxury, sheltered from the realities of pain and suffering (Ross, p. 5). After one day going against his Fathers orders to stay within the palace walls, Siddhartha was given a tour of the city, where he learned of the three sufferings (Ross, 1980, p. 6). Outside, the prince saw the realities of illness, aging, and death. Siddhartha was scared of the fate of pain and death which awaited everyone, and no longer saw a purpose in anything after (Hope Van Loon, 1999, p. 13). He found no more value in wealth he had and in the pleasures of life, as he realized that it would all go to waste in the inevitability of suffering and death (Gethin, 1998, p.15). Siddartha wanted to find out how to find happiness, regardless of inevitable suffering (Ross, 1980, p. 6). He isolated himself from everyone, and sat under the Bodhi tree, until he fully understood suffering (Hope Van Loon, p. 19). Further inspiration came after Buddhas enlight enment. After discovering the true meaning of suffering, and how to accept it within ones life, he made it his mission to help others find this awakening, and understand the truth about suffering (Gethin, 1998, p.15). Although Buddha had attained Nirvana, he chose to stay on earth to teach others how to reach enlightenment just as he had. He believed everyone should have equal right be followers and learn the teachings of their religion (Ross, 1980, p. 5). This was his inspiration to spread Buddhist teachings, rather than to keep his awakening to himself (Ross, 1980, pg. 18). He drew in followers who continued to further spread Buddhism (Alldritt, 2004, p. 25), and encouraged followers to question everything he said in order to find a path to enlightenment on their own, in lieu of only following his word (Hope Van Loon, 1999, p. 7). He did not want to be seen as their religious leader, but rather as a teacher on how to reach enlightenment (Ross, 1980, p. 4). `All created things perish, he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain; this is the way to purity. (The Dhammapada, verse 277). Through this quote are reflected many core buddhist teachings, as many teaching surround the idea of transience, from one life to the next. It exemplifies how in order to reach enlightenment, and to be free of pain and suffering, one must realize what suffering truly is, and why it is present within all life. Buddha saw that suffering stemmed from greed and desire. This belief was outlined through the second of the Four Noble truths, realizing where suffering comes from. He believed that in order to end suffering, one must give up materialistic and selfish desires The quote can be translated back into the ideology of the Four Noble truths, as these truths outline the meaning of suffering within ones life, truths that must be realized in order to find enlightenment (Gethin, 1998, p. 59). The quote alludes to the need for this clarity and knowledge of suffering to achieve enlightenment. One of the many teachings of the Buddha are the three Marks of Existence. The first is dukkha, which is suffering. The second is the teaching of impermanence known as anitya, stating that nothing lasts, as everything is a transition into something else. The third, anatman teaches to be selfless, in the sense that a person does not live forever, so nothing considered to be part of ones personality will live on. Analyzing these teachings, they can be related to the idea set out in the quote, that of continuity and the inevitability of dukkha, or suffering. Out of these, the anitya, the second teaching, provides the clearest link to the meaning of the quote.ÂÂ   Anitya teaches that nothing lasts forever, just as the quote states that everything ends and this must be realized, which are in part done by understanding the Three Marks (Alldritt, 2004, p. 24). References Alldritt, L. (2004, October). Buddhism. Retrieved from ebooks.infobaselearning.com/View.asp x?ISBN=9781438106380InstID=7469 The Dhammapada, (n.d.). Full books. Retrieved from www.fullbooks.com/The-Dhammapada. html Gethin, R. (1998). The Foundations of Buddhism. Retrieved from search.ebscohost.com/logi n.aspx?direct=truedb=nlebkAN=12334site=ehost-liveebv=EBppid=pp_59 Hope, J. Van Loon, B. (1999). Introducing Buddha. Cambridge, UK: Icon Books. Ross, N. (1980). Buddhism: A Way of Life and Thought. Location:Vintage Books.