Religion Does More Harm than Good Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Religion Does More Harm than Good - Essay Example Giving respect to the followers of a religion and believing in one’s own religion is the basis of knowing how and where this harmony can be enacted in essence (Morgan, 2005). Even though religion is respected by its followers, the most significant notion regarding its existence is the banner under which people from another religion respect the other ones which are present in a society. This raises the discussion of tolerance and empathy for one another which remain very vital for understanding quite a few things. Faith is the edifice upon which lives are lived and times are spent. What this embodies is the basis that religion is a major force which asks of the people to understand not only their own lives but also of the people around them, as well as the other living and non-living beings. There are immense understanding and learning which can be easily found once religion is put into the equation. This forms the eventual essence of knowing how one can spend his life in a corrective fashion and what other aspects can be done to bring about a sense of sanity within the living standards (Shaw, 2008). Since faith is the ultimate belief in an entity, it would only be natural to call religion as a belief which culminates just about every other feeling that a human being might have in this day and age. It is the final reckoning upon which many structures can be built easily. These structures are metaphorically denoted and represented by a series of actions and steps, all of which are bent to achie ve greater results for mankind (Hannabuss, 2007). As an example, the Christianity faith emphasizes a lot of people to people contact within this religion. What this embodies is a focus on faith being the center stage of building relationships across the board and that too in a positive fashion.  

The human nature Essay Example for Free

The human nature Essay How much is human frustration worth? Is it worth losing a chance to buy a present for the girl you like? Or is it worth participating in a lottery which is nothing more but a silly tragic fatal ritual? I was asking these questions while reading James Joyces Araby and Shirley Jacksons The Lottery. For me, both stories represent the ultimate point of human despair: at this point, the person is no longer able to control his (her) life and surrenders under the pressure of overwhelming circumstances. I think that frustration is the central element of both stories; it touches the depth of the readers soul and turns into disruptive revelation about the perversity and hideousness of the human nature. Human strength and endurance has no limits; human evil and self-interest are unlimited, too. James Joyces Araby shows human frustration in its powerlessness in the face of insuperable circumstances. Every morning I lay on the floor in the front parlour watching her door. [†¦] When she came out on the doorstep my heart leaped (Joyce 62). The whole life of the anonymous narrator is filled with joy of seeing the young lady walking in front of him, and passing her before their ways diverge. He lives his life from morning to morning, when he will see Magans sister again. This is the life full of waiting; this is the life full of expectation, anxiety, dreaming and almost physical attraction. The same is the life of villagers whom Jackson describes in her The Lottery. It is the life full of expectation mixed with the feeling of threat, fear, and imminence of the coming end: Bobby Martin already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones (Jackson 10). As the young boy cannot wait to visit the bazaar I could not call my wandering thoughts together. I had hardly any patience with the serious work of life which, now that it stood between me and my desire, seemed to me childs play (Joyce 63), the villagers cannot wait to hear when the new victim of the annual ritual will be declared: guess we better get started, get this over with, sos we can go back to work (Jackson 13). The deeper Joyce goes into the young boys soul, the larger is the prairie between his promise to visit the Araby bazaar and the realization of his inability to fulfill the promise: Nearly all stalls were closed and the greater part of the hall was in darkness (Joyce 65). How bright and shockingly sincere Joyces revelation could be, Jacksons story has gone far beyond Joyces reasonable limits. Jackson has gone even deeper to the moment of unexpectedness which emphasized the unlimited nature of human mercenary character. In the light of Jacksons The Lottery, Araby produces an impression of the boy’s relatively mild reconciliation with the surrounding opportunities and circumstances. Moreover, I feel that Joyce still leaves some hope that everything will change: ultimately, there will be another bazaar and another girl, although the young boy does not yet understand it. On the contrary, Jackson uses unexpectedness to emphasize how far human coldness, rationality, and perversity can go; the author shows, how easily humans turn into beasts when they pursue material interests, leaving no hope to escape the lottery’s trap. Jackson shows how human desire to kill turns into a usual feeling, when it becomes regular for and acceptable by other community members: the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten oclock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner (Jackson 10). Conclusion Both stories end up in frustration; for Joyces character, frustration is reflected in the hollow sound of two pennies that fall against the sixpence in my pocket (Joyce 66). A creature driven and derided by vanity (Joyce 66) is the end result of Joyces striving towards recognition and love. For Tessie Hutchinson, frustration becomes real as she holds the slip of paper that has a black spot on it, the black spot Mr. Summers had made the night before with the heavy pencil in the coal company office (Jackson 17). Later, this frustration turns into the feeling of inevitability of tragedy, when a stone hit her on the side of the head (Jackson 17). In both stories, frustration is the shocking reflection of the human hideousness, cruelty, and indifference which leave no chance for spiritual and physical resurrection. Works Cited Jackson, S. â€Å"The Lottery†. 10-17. Joyce, J. â€Å"Araby.† 61-6.

How does Shakespeare portray the nature :: essays research papers

How does Shakespeare portray the nature of love in â€Å"A Midsummer Nights Dream†?‘A Mid-summer Nights Dream’ is evidentially concerned with the series of hindrances in the course of true love. Shakespeare reverses the categories of reality and illusion, portraying to the audience with a comic edge that when overcome with the illusion of love couples become blind to the misfortunes that are bound to cross their path. The most basic part of Shakespeare’s plays is the relationship between men and women. In a society so closely woven with Christianity, it seemed natural to take the mandate for this relationship from the bible. This names the husband the head of the household; he can govern his family as he pleases. Despite the pervading view in Elizabethan England of women as the property of their fathers. Shakespeare’s form does not take a firm stance on how he thinks marriage should work. Marriage was considered as a way to establish order most of Shakespeare’s plays have to do with the making or breaking of family ties. The Characters are drawn from three different worlds: the Athenian Gentry, the Craftsmen of Athens, and the Fairy World. The protagonist is the bizarre nature of love, as represented by four couples: Hermia and Lysander, Helena and Demetrius, Titania and Oberon, and Hippolyta and Theseus. The whole play centers on the central idea of lovers, ironically and comically coming together and being free to marry. The opening exposition is first set in Medieval Athens; Shakespeare uses familiar figures from Greek mythology, which would be seen as autocratic and mature mirroring the future portrayal of their love. Theseus as the male is dominant over Hippolyta; her submission brings forth the imminent wedding. Because they meet in an adverse environment it creates dramatic and passionate tension, which is later resolved. This is in stark contrasts with the young lovers, who are erratic and indecisive. ‘Hippolyta, I wooed thee with my sword; And won thy love doing thee injuries; But I will wed thee in another key, With pomp, with triumph, and with reveling.’ (Theseus 1:1 lines 16-19) Oberon and Titania are noble fairies. Although they have high status, fairies were seen to be avid and passionate. This passion causes human-like, vindictive quarrels between them. ‘†¦I have forsworn his bed and company;’ (Titania 2:1 lines 61-62) Oberon plays tricks on Titania to prove his authority over her, but the sight of her humiliation arouses his love and they reinstate their love to one another.

Essay on Literacy in Song of Solomon -- Song Solomon essays

Literacy in Song of Solomon    Through literacy will come emancipation. But emancipation comes in many forms, as does literacy. The various aspects of academic literacy are rather obvious in relation to emancipation, especially when one is confronted with exclusion from membership in the dominant culture. Most, but not all, of Toni Morrison's characters in Song of Solomon appear to have attained at least a modicum of literacy. But what part does literacy play in the advancement of the individual, and to what lengths will one go to achieve it?    "But if the future did not arrive, the present did extend itself, and the uncomfortable little boy in the Packard went to school and at twelve met the boy who [...] could liberate him [...]" (Song of Solomon 35-36). So says Toni Morrison of Milkman Dead, the boy in the Packard, in Song of Solomon. The other boy of whom she speaks is Guitar Bains, Milkman's mentor-of-the-street. Morrison tells us little more of Milkman's formal education, but we can assume that he goes on to high school because Guitar is in high school when she introduces him. We do learn that Milkman's sisters attend and graduate from college, but their education isolates them from the rest of the community. In fact, at age forty-four, Corinthians eventually goes to work as a maid and enters into a relationship with Porter, one of her father's tenants, much to her father's dismay. Within the class structure of "haves" and "have-nots," Corinthians finds the "haves" side abhorrent, the "have-nots" side attractive, but she can not cross the socioeconomic line that her father has drawn. She must remain within the paradigm that separates her from the lower, uneducated portion of their society.    Milkman's mor... ...ith the earth and at the conclusion of the novel when he finds he is able to fly. Is the state of super-metacognition he enters during these episodes a metaphor for an inherent attachment to the past? something akin to a shared history? something ingrained and transferred with roots deeply embedded in African traditions? Morrison leaves the answers to these questions (and many others) up to her readers, but it is obvious that Milkman finds more in historical literacy than he ever received from his formal education.    Milkman sees hope for the future through a connection with the past. In a certain sense, he finds emancipation through his relationships with literacy.    Works Cited Middleton, David. Toni Morrison's Fiction: Contemporary Criticism. New York: Garland, 1997. Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1987.

An Analysis via Erikson’s Theory Essay

Hillary Clinton is a well-known political figure, with many contradictions in her personality. This difficult Democratic primary election process has revealed interesting features of her personality, from her strong, resolute character, reflected in her perseverance despite political challenges, to her vulnerability, which she has shown in several moments, like that well-publicized tearful scene in the New Hampshire primary, in front of all the cameras. I chose Erikson’s theory of personality to help explain the development of Hillary Clinton’s personality. Erikson proposes that an individual develops her personality by passing through various life stages, each marked by a specific area of conflict. Hence, I will apply Erikson’s stages to Hillary Clinton’s personality development and life events. Erikson’s first life stage is trust versus mistrust, followed by the second stage of autonomy versus shame and doubt. During Hillary’s infancy and early childhood, Hillary was born into a supportive family with a strong religious background. Her parents nurtured her emotional development. In such a supportive environment, her personality flourished, as she found her caregivers and family caring and reliable. Independence and self-reliance were encouraged at an early age in Hillary’s family. Erikson’s third stage is the conflict of initiative versus guilt. Early in her childhood, Hillary was encouraged by her parents to be assertive. Personal drive was strongly encouraged, as she excelled early in school, and as she was encouraged to stand up for her rights. One popular incident was illustrated by Hillary’s mother when one time, Hillary came home crying because she was being bullied. After a long talk with her mother, Hillary came back to school, and punched her bully. Erikson’s fourth stage of industry versus inferiority is a major period of success for Hillary Clinton. From the time of her early childhood to high school, she excels in school, graduating first in her class. Hillary develops a strong feeling of purpose and self-worth, which carries forward her ambitions later in life. Her sense of industry and accomplishment are further validated by her academic achievement in Wellesley College and Yale University. Erikson’s fifth stage of identity versus role confusion is often matched to an individual’s  teenage years, but this stage covers many events in Hillary’s personality development, extending beyond her teenage years. Hillary’s parents allowed her to gain her own voice. She was encouraged to break free beyond the traditional female roles of her time, to pursue higher education and a career. Her political leanings radically changed, as she left her earlier registration in the Young Republican party, to join the Democratic Party. In her valedictory speech at Wellesley College, she embraced the strong sentiment against the Vietnam War and full support for the civil rights movement. Like many members of her generation that time, Hillary tried to find her identity in the turbulent society of the 1960’s. The sixth stage of Erikson corresponds to an individual finding love, in a struggle of finding intimacy versus isolation. As a law student at Yale University, Hillary met her husband, Bill Clinton. While Bill Clinton’s infidelity will challenge this relationship, the relationship between Hillary and Bill Clinton is a true partnership. Despite the proposals of cynics that Hillary stuck with Bill Clinton because of his political connections, many sources still acknowledge that the love between Hillary and Bill Clinton has been genuine. This family unit, also built around their sole daughter Chelsea Clinton, has helped the Clintons weather political turmoil. Erikson’s seventh stage of generativity versus stagnation is a major question that keeps recurring in Hillary Clinton’s life. Hillary Clinton has worked hard on her legacy, and continues to do so. During her husband’s administration, Hillary took up active roles in formulating government policy, including an attempt at health care reform, far beyond the traditional roles of a First Lady. Not content after Bill Clinton left the White House; Hillary Clinton decided to pursue her own ambitions by running for the Senate. Finally, as she attempts to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary strives to make history as America’s first female president. Perhaps, it is this driving force to leave a legacy which is the source of Hillary Clinton’s tenacity during the Democratic primary. The final stage of Erikson’s life development, involving ego identity versus despair, is an open chapter in Hillary’s life. If she fails to secure her lifelong dream of becoming the first American female president, will her personality turn to despair? Or instead – will she instead be satisfied with her family and her political accomplishments? Time will decide how Hillary’s personality  development will unfold. In summary, Erikson’s life stages of development offer a useful framework for understanding Hillary Clinton’s motivations and personality development. The various conflicts in Erikson’s theory highlight the life of Hillary Clinton, who faced many challenges to reach her current unique position of success and historical significance.

Western Cultures overbearing influence has deteriated Indian Culture

Western Cultures overbearing influence has deteriated Indian Culture Free Online Research Papers Western Cultures overbearing influence has deteriated Indian Culture Introduction Indian culture as a hold has been damaged by the increasingly overbearing and more influential Western Culture. The deteriation and damage that Indian culture has experienced can be broken up into three causes and sub groups. The first one being Pursuit of Wealth. The second one the Power of Western Media and the third and final one being Western Complex maybe the most damaging of them all. Thesis The three sub groups being Pursuit of Wealth, Power of Western Media and Western Complex. All Indians no matter if they live in India or are part of immigrant populations outside India experience at least one of these sub groups if not all. Although they all seem different they have one thing in common that being the destruction and dilution of the Indian culture. Pursuit of wealth. In the pursuit f wealth immigrant culture either survives or dies out. The actual culture of the immigrants goes through a change it either becomes radicalised or an it completely dissolved assimilated into the local culture. This process can often lead and is the culporate behind the destruction of thousands of year old culture being damaged. The actual speed at which this process happens till what extent depends on the individual and their family structure. It all depends on what sort of family background they come from. For example a man coming form a poor fishing village in comparison from low caste family will react differently to the pursuit of wealth, compared to a person from a high caste and well off family. A research carried out in the United States of America showed that a poor immigrant families when given the chance to gain prosperity changed their life styles drastically. In that they did things like change their religion and lifestyles which meant they purpously sped up the assimilation process in the pursuit of wealth. Yet at the same t ime the results show that a family coming from India who are well off and are from a high caste family have reacted differently. Because of them having reasonable prosperity and wealth the sudden drive and urge to change their lives for it was not there. Which meant that they did not undergo any drastic cultural changes for attraction of wealth. Human Development ,Jan 2001 v44 il p19 Immigrant Adaptation and Patterns of Acculturation. Margret A Gibson. Yet regardless of these statistics success and the maintenance of ones culture can be achieved regardless of which social background you come from. India and much of its population is from urban middle class background. The type of people this is includes is everyday people only concerned by one thing that being wealth and its accumulation. They range from the taxi drivers to the newspapers sellers with their mobile phones they can be found anywhere, hence being known as the wheeler and dealer. Australian Screen Education, Winter 20 03 i33 p117(3)Monsoon Wedding: raining on tradition.(Film as text) Cynthia Karena . Yet regardless of these statistics success and the maintenance of ones culture can be achieved regardless of which social background you come from. The Power of Western Media Western media has created a clash of culture in Indian Society, through Hollywood influencing Bollywood. Western Media is portrayed in India as Hollywood so realistically Western means American. Bollywood being the equivalent of Hollywood in India is a movie making, idea producing machine. It is not only a entertainment industry it is seen as a role model and the ultimate image. This is because like everyone knows Cinema is the most powerful media force. The Wilson Quarterly, Summer 1999 v23 i3 p56(1) Cinema Paradiso. Richard Schickel. . India is the same as everywhere in the world in where the young want to challenge tradition. This is the result of them watching Indian films that portray a continuous trend of western aspects. This is seen in the production of movies such as â€Å"Monsoon Wedding†. This movie represents the way Indian Culture is traveling. The influence that Hollywood has exerted on India can be seen clearly in this film. The west has made it fashionable to wear jeans and tight fitting costumes and have western ideas such as sex before marriage. In the past Indian films have not portrayed any of these ideas and concepts. Western media has portrayed that have so called essentials such as MTV and the newest issue of Vogue is essential. Indian Society have absorbed these things into their lives. Sex is another thing India is cautious about although being the home of the ultimate sex instruction booklet the Karma Sutra, India is very divided and vastly conservative on this issue. This is largely due to the way the cinema has shown sex scenes. They just haven’t shown them unlike Western Movies where they are essential part of the movie. Intact they haven’t even shown kiss scenes and have left it up to the audiences imagination as they saw it more romantic. Traditionally Indian films have been revolved love stories. Yet increasing influence from the West has resulted in that movies such as Monsoon Wedding have started showing i ncreasingly long kissing scenes. Australian Screen Education, Winter 2003 i33 p117(3)Monsoon Wedding: raining on tradition.(Film as text) Cynthia Karena . Production of these sort of movies is on the rise. The other sort of Western influence is from the Non Resident Indians these are Indians that live in the West. As they have lived in the West they have been exposed to Western ideas and morals. The Canadian Indian Deepa Metha a film producer made the film Fire in 1998. The film revolved a house wife and her affair with sister in law. Although the film received awards overseas in India it caused riots and protests as it showed lesbian sex scenes. Metro Magazine, Fall 2003 i138 p132(4) Beyond the Bollywood Blockbuster: independent Indian cinema(Regional Review) Karena. Although sex and lesbians are excepted in much of the West and in its culture, this is not the case in India.This sort of Western influence although is rejected by the vast public it is none the less slowly but steadi ly creeping into Bollywood and through Bollywood into mainstream Indian culture. This infiltration does not always blend with Indian culture and creates clashes. Complex of the West Indians in their mind consider themselves second rate, which leads their assimilation process into the West quicker. The complex that Indians have of the West is not constricted to one area and can be seen throughout their daily lives and in their Physic. A good example of this is the subject of arranged marriage. Traditionally this is the only way Indians use to get married. This system works due to the fact that the bride and groom would have faith in the decision of their parents. Yet now days some youngsters prefer to go and find love marriages even though they know the risk of break ups and divorces. Due to the complex they have picked up from Western influences they would rather run the risk of disgrace than do the traditional ways. . Australian Screen Education, Winter 2003 i33 p117(3)Monsoon Wedding: raining on tradition.(Film as text) Cynthia Karena. This complex that is developed is Indians is a direct affect on the assimilation rate. A experiment was conducted in England t hey asked children of Indian background questions and asked the parents the same questions. The experiment was to prove how assimilated the families were and what were the families attitudes were towards Western culture. This included Western morals of Sex before marriage. The results differed from each ethnic group yet there was a definite connection between assimilation and Western Complex. This showed that the family’s culture and the attitude it had toward the Western culture had an affect on the assimilation process. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Nov 2000 v41 i4 p350 (Stress and Reproduction) Mary Stopes-Roe: Raymond Cochrane Research Papers on Western Cultures overbearing influence has deteriated Indian CulturePETSTEL analysis of IndiaWhere Wild and West MeetBringing Democracy to AfricaInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married Males19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever Product

Keeping it Honest The Essay Experts New Year’s “Ressaylutions” Update

Keeping it Honest The Essay Experts New Year’s â€Å"Ressaylutions† Update In January I reported on The Essay Expert’s New Year’s Resolutions (Ressaylutions). As human beings, we are not designed to keep our promises. I certainly am an expert at making resolutions and then forgetting about them, without ever acknowledging which promises I have – and haven’t – kept. Not this year! I’m taking a look to see how I’m doing, ten weeks after my resolutions were made. Ready? The Essay Experts New Year’s Ressaylutions were: 1. Convert my website to WordPress. This project is complete – sort of. My site is indeed operating now on a WordPress platform, and theoretically I have easy access to edit my pages in any way I want. I have run into some technical difficulties however. For instance, when I tried to edit a page, it made all kinds of changes I didn’t want it to make and â€Å"broke†the page. I received the following email today from the company that handled the conversion: â€Å"The problem of visually editing your page content, without causing the page to break, lies with the page template. I did indicate that the template is dated, with a lot of additional graphics embedded. If you ever switch to a more modern template that contains a whole lot less graphics internally you will be able to edit your content visually. The internal design of most of your pages work perfectly for static HTML type pages, but will require someone who is an HTML coder to add content to them. If the website owner wishes to do this, the editing will require some extra effort when editing anything visually.† Enough said. I’ve got my work cut out for me. As some of you know, my blog link also changed and created a hiccup in my blog postings last week. You might also notice that if you do a search in my blog, you get not only blog postings but all relevant parts of my website in the search results. This issue will be fixed later this week – when I will once again need to change my blog link due to a major â€Å"architecture change.† My apologies in advance for any strange blog digests you might receive next week as a result of this additional change! (P.S. I am thankful as I kvetch about my technical difficulties that I am safely landlocked in the Midwest, without any fears for my safety. My heart goes out to the victims of the tsunami in Japan who have much bigger things to worry about.) 2. Make it easier for my readers to choose the topic they want to read about (create 4 separate e-lists: a) Job Search (Resumes Cover Letters); b) College Admissions; c) LinkedIn Professional Writing; and d) Everything). AND 3. Create autoresponders. (Related to ressaylution #2.) This project is running close to schedule thanks to my incredible intern, Robin Reinke! She has prepared all the autoresponders and we’re continuing to move forward to create the lists. Stay tuned! 4. Guest blog. I haven’t written any specifically targeted guest blogs, though some of my existing articles have been published other places. I did deliver my webinar, How to Write a Killer LinkedIn Profile, for a group of Columbia University alumni and students, as well as for a group of people through ilostmyjob.com. Both events were a hit! I will also be on a blog radio show on March 22, Back in Force Productions, geared toward stay-at-home parents relaunching their careers. 5. Start an Artist’s Way group. I’ve been writing my morning pages every day (three pages a day of journaling), and though I’ve missed some mornings, I haven’t missed a single day. I haven’t been as good about creating Artist’s dates, which are dates with myself to do something fun and artistic. Mostly what has happened is that my priorities have changed since January. I’m surprising myself by finding creative expression through writing resumes and LinkedIn profiles! I am also singing in a newly forming funk/RB band! I’ll post clips when I have them! 6. Continue to write and share about writing issues, job search issues, and sometimes life issues that strike my fancy each week and that my readers care about. Yep I’ve been doing that. Covered topics from early admissions to parallel construction to LinkedIn news to greeting card grammar. Even got political. And now I’m getting honest. How are your New Year’s resolutions coming along? It’s a great exercise to check in and acknowledge where you’re making progress, where you’re stuck, where things have shifted. What do you see when you take a look at how the year is going?