What is Religion?

What is Religion? Religion is a special form of awareness of the surrounding world, which is based on the belief in the existence of one (or more) of the gods. It includes a set of moral and ethical conduct, which are usually reflected in the sacred texts. Religions emerged in the form of different beliefs, that appeared almost simultaneously with the emergence of mankind. Despite lacking a clear organization like modern religions, it has always played a prominent role in different societies.[1] Even though, we usually see religion as the belief in one or more gods, this is not always the case. In Buddhism, for example, there are no deities. However, like other religions, Buddhism strongly asserts the existence of a spiritual reality, which is separated from everyday life of the material world. Consequently, perhaps, those who, by their own assurances, believe in the existence of the spiritual world should be called religious people. However, this is not necessarily true: religion, at least partially, can be institutionalized gathering in the shadow of their communities of those who join similar or common beliefs. However, the presence of the community is only one side of religion. Among others lay faith personal beliefs and feelings of reverence and veneration; the cult rites and church premises, collective prayer, and so on, norms moral rules and prohibitions, as well as notions of sin and holiness. However, this does not make religion an ideology. Like religion, ideology such as Nazism or communism require their followers absolute loyalty and direct follow of dogma, but do not need gods or special spirituality. Religion is not magic either. Magic fans believe, that certain rituals produce the desired changes in the material world without interfering with what is happening on the part of a deity. Religious people, on the contrary, pray about something, believing that only God is able to help put their prayers into reality. Religion can also be viewed as a cultural phenomenon, characteristic of various human societies with their system of values and fundamental myths. Some religions, such as Christianity or Islam, affirm their universality, and insist on their own exceptionalism and its special position in the world. Nevertheless, even Christianity and Islam can be seen as a product of historical development under certain conditions.   People throughout the ages have tried to answer the question about the essence of religion. Theologians, base the definition on the value of the word religion, that in Latin means connection. It is about the relationship between God and man. One of the Orthodox dogmatic teachings asserted that religion is a contract or union between God and man.[2] But, to agree with this explanation of religion is impossible, as it is impossible to agree with the simplistic interpretation of the fact, that religion is a fraud and a charlatan. Marxism suggests a scientific definition of religion. Exploring the laws of development of human society, the classics of Marxism-Leninism revealed the social essence of religion. We have convincingly shown that religion   is, for example, politics, law, morality, science, art is a form of social consciousness.[3] Each of the forms of social consciousness reflects a certain aspect of the life of society. Politics, for example, reflects the relations between classes, states, nations, morality the moral qualities of people. In other words, peoples consciousness reflects the objective world. However, this may be a reflection of true and false. Religion is a specific form of social consciousness, which always reflect objective reality as false, ugly, distorted. As Engels pointed out, All religion, however, is nothing but the fantastic reflection in mens minds of those external forces which control their daily life, a reflection in which the terrestrial forces assume the form of supernatural forces.[4] This is manifested in the peoples faith in the real existence of God, as well as different kinds of spirits, angels, demons, faith in supernatural connection between the real existing material objects and their properties. The definition of religion also includes representations, a system view of the world, expressed in the so-called holy books containing various myths, regulations and instructions, as well as by word of mouth of the mythical images, visions, paintings, based on a belief in the supernatural. Another element of religion are the sentiments of the faith. Religion can possess not only thoughts but also feelings of people. Theologians argue that man is born with the religious feelings, that is, with a ready ability to communicate with the supernatural, to feel the power of God, to see and feel his actions. Science denies the allegations and says religious ecstasy, fanaticism, and feelings of believers perversion of healthy human psyche that occurs under the influence of religious beliefs. Specificity of religious feelings is that, they are directed at the fictional, supernatural objects, rather than actually existing ones. The third element of religion is actions. Theologians say that the supernatural world cannot be known by human reason, it is necessary to believe in it, despite the arguments of science and reason, reject the existence of God. Therefore centuries elaborated and corresponding patterns of human behavior, customs and traditions passed down from generation to generation, performing religious rites and rituals following different regulations. All these actions are called worshipping.[5] When talking about religion, the existence of specific groups of people clergy should also be considered. Together with the faith, they constitute a special community or religious organization called the Church. For example, the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and so on. The clergy is promoting beliefs and worship. However, the existence of the clergy cannot be regarded as an indispensable element of religion: there are religious organizations, that do not have a permanent priesthood.[6] Thus, religion and belief is what connects the human with the divine world and gives the person a special state of inner warmth, tranquility and confidence because he does not feel alien to the divine forces that surrounds it. He does not feel thrown out in front of the meaninglessness of life. Life becomes meaningful with its purpose to union with God. It becomes clear and positive. We can say, that religion is one of the universal cultural mechanisms of regulation of human activity, it is through the actions of religious system organizes daily life, with the help of the development of doctrine structures the world, that makes us think about the basics and the meaning of our own life. [1] Kucheman, Cark, Religion, Culture, and Religious Socialism, The Journal of Religion, Jul 1972 [2] Holy Bible [3] Bauer, Andrea, The Marxist view: In the beginning was the World, Apr 2006 [4] Engels, Frederick, Anti-Dà ¼hring, Part III: Socialism, Ch. 5, 1877 [5] Wellman, James, Religon, Ideology, and Belief, Oxford Scholarship Online, Sep 2008 [6] Ibid

Married To Be Alone? Essay -- essays research papers

Married To Be Alone? Although marriage is the symbol of two lives ¡Ã‚ ¦ union, in the real world many people experience it in the opposite way. Gloria Steinem says:  ¡Ã‚ §The surest way to be alone is to get married. ¡Ã‚ ¨ In  ¡Ã‚ §The Story of an Hour ¡Ã‚ ¨ by Kate Chopin, we can certainly realize how well the author describes the loneliness of a marriage. There is another short story that also reflects the same point of view in a relationship; it is William Faulkner ¡Ã‚ ¦s  ¡Ã‚ §A Rose for Emily. ¡Ã‚ ¨ Both works serve as strong evidence for Gloria Steinem ¡Ã‚ ¦s opinion. In  ¡Ã‚ §The Story of an Hour ¡Ã‚ ¨ Chopin implies an idea of that Mrs. Mallard lives as a prisoner. Maybe it is because she grew up in a society in which women used to be properties of men, she has not noticed that fact until she receives her husband ¡Ã‚ ¦s death news. Marriage did not really unify emotionally her life with her husband ¡Ã‚ ¦s. This can be seen in the lines,  ¡Ã‚ §And yet she had loved him  ¡V sometimes. Often she had not ¡Ã‚ ¨ (8). She lived with this man, saw him everyday, slept by his side every night, but she did not even love him. Is that a how a relationship between a couple supposed to be? All those years she spent with her husband were as alone as being a prisoner; isn ¡Ã‚ ¦t that sad? But everything is solved (she thought so), as Mr. Mallard is dead, at last she can be liberated from that prison,  ¡Ã‚ §Free! Body and soul free ¡Ã‚ ¨ (8). This is not a usual expression of a woman whose husband has just died; here we can understand how alon e she has bee...

Management Functions and Roles Essay

This week I interviewed Mr. Bradford, the health care administrator of Willis Knight Health Center. Mr. Bradford has been in the health care field for 17 years. He has been the coordinator and director at the Willis Knight Health Center for 11 years. Human Resources and leadership are two most pressing functions according to Mr. Bradford for his organization. Human resources is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, performance management, organization development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, and training. humanresources. about. com). Human Resource is also a strategic and comprehensive approach to managing people and the workplace culture and environment. Effective human resource management enables employees to contribute effectively and productively to the overall company direction and the accomplishment of the organization’s goals and objectives. (humanresources. about. com) Leadership plays an important role as well. As a leader you should be able to create more leaders, you must be able to have the people following you stand up and get noticed so they in turn have other people following them while a chain of responsibility and cohesiveness forms so you create a well-oiled machine. Working with different individual on daily basics there is no way that you can satisfy each and every one. Creating a safe, healthy and happy workplace will ensure that your employees feel homely and stay with your organization for a very long time. Paying out bonuses or having any kind of variable compensation plan can be both incentive and disillusionment, based on how it’s administered and communicated. Adopt a systematic approach to ensure that knowledge in databases to provide greater access to information posted either by the company or the employees on the knowledge portals of the company. Have open house discussions and feedback mechanism as a leader you should be able to take constructive criticism. (empxtrack. com) There are five key challenges or areas, some strategic and some operational. Leadership, pay and reward, equality and diversity, talent management and service transformation and efficiency. Placing and shaping community leadership and delivering services to empowered and engaged citizens requires a new order of leadership skill and capacity from public sector leaders, both political and managerial. Pay and reward remains the immediate battleground for HR in the short term. National negotiating machinery is increasingly out of touch with the needs of local employers, politically directed by ministers and, as a consequence, is more focused on managing cost managing cost pressures and the broader economic position. Increasingly, the need to ensure organizational approaches to diversity has a true focus upon communities and community cohesion has meant that the role of HR in shaping, supporting and embedding good approaches to equality and diversity. Supply and demand: talent spotting and development and, most importantly, the ability to deploy talent effectively for the future means that HR needs to provide resourcing and development solutions that are faster, more flexible and technology enabled to reduce the bureaucracy and paper-based approaches that many still protect and love. Finally service transformation and efficiency the big challenge, in the future get involved with service transformation and modernisation. (personltoday. com) In conclusion to better services the people we serve is to continue to educate the staff, make winners out of your staff, always make individuals better as you become better and have a great relationship with your staff and patients. Additions to training life experiences can help alone the way, best lessons learned are the ones we learn on our own.

Woodrow Wilson s Nineteen Points - 895 Words

Woodrow Wilson’s â€Å"Fourteen Points† Analysis Before World War One much of Europe was expressing nationalism an ideology that â€Å"our† nation and people are better than the other nations and people who occupy them. With nationalism comes the glorification of militarism and having strong armies. When nations have strong military forces other nations become worried about their security. With fear among nations France, Russia and Great Britain joined together through treaties and became known as the Triple Entente. The French feared Germany, Russia feared Austria-Hungary, and the British wanted to keep oversea empires linked. Germany, Austria-Hungary and turkey joined forces and became known as the Central Powers. Most of Europe was now fighting a war over national security. The United States stayed out of the fight for most of the war. Instead of sending men over to fight, the United States were sending guns, food, and materials to mostly France and Great Britain, boosting the economy for the United States. It was no until later in the war that the United States declared war on Germany, because of Germany submarine warfare. At the end of the war punishment and consequences had to be dealt out to the Central Powers. The Paris Peace Conference happened on January 18, 1919 where twenty-seven nations attended to negotiate treaties that would end the war. The real great powers at the conference were the United States, France, Great Britain and Italy. Great Britain, and France wereShow MoreRelatedPublic Administration : The Creation And Enforcement Of Public Policy993 Words   |  4 PagesPublic administration would not exist without its major contributors, and although, there is a large list of those who contributed to Public Administration the focus of most significant philanthropists are Woodrow Wilson, Frederick Taylor, and Max Weber. Bureaucracy is part of the government s administration that reaches every level of the United States Government. However, the application of public administration government bureaucracies differs from levels and as well in education, which also hasRead MoreEssay on Woodrow Wilson2008 Words   |  9 PagesWoodrow Wilson Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the United States (1913-21), secured a legislative program of progressive domestic reform, guided his country during WORLD WAR I, and sought a peace settlement based on high moral principles, to be guaranteed by the LEAGUE OF NATIONS. 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In 2012 Time magazine, named Buffett â€Å"one of the world s most influential people.† Buffett is often referred to as the Wizard of Omaha or Oracle of Omaha, or the Sage of Omaha, and is noted for his adherence to valueRead MoreWarren Edward Buffett : The World s Most Influential People1181 Words   |  5 Pages He is the most successful investor in the world. Buffett is the chairman, CEO and largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway, and is consistently ranked among the world s wealthiest people. He was ranked as the world s wealthiest person in 2008 and as the third wealthiest in 2015. In 2012 Time named Buffett one of the world s most influential people. Buffett is often referred to as the Wizard of Omaha or Oracle of Omaha, or the Sage of Omaha, and is noted for his adherence to value investingRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women1477 Words   |  6 PagesNineteen Amendment Although woman had many duties at home, church and in community, they had almost not political or legal rights. Women were seen as dependents of men and without any power. They were often thought just props that enhanced the social status of her husband by making him appear as a trustworthy family man to his community. By the 1840s a great amount of people began fighting for women’s right to be first class citizens. After the fifteenth amendment was passed in 1870 allowing African

The United States Economy During The Great Depression

The United States economy has never been as great nor as equal as it was during the late 1940s-1970s, a period commonly known as the Great Compression. It is extremely ironic that the United States economy boomed and strived after only a few years succeeding the Great Depression. One may ask what stirred this dramatic change from a damaged economy to one that was striving and strong in so little time. To answer this question, one must look closely at the history of the United States economy. To be more specific, one must take a close look at how damaged the economy was during the Great Depression and how much the New Deal and other political and social factors impacted society to ultimately create the Great Compression. To begin with, the United States economy during the 1920s, prior to the Great Depression, was one that consisted of individuals pursuing to live the American dream at all costs. The time period of the 1920s was also known as the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age suffered fr om immense inequality. There were rich individuals and many poor individuals, and yet hardly any class in between. Many individuals were consuming immensely in order to live the American dream. Individuals were taking credit. Doing so allowed them to borrow and spend whenever they pleased which is great for capitalism. However, individuals were borrowing much more than they could afford to pay back. Many individuals were in great debt and could not afford to pay it back. Capitalism needs debtShow MoreRelatedThe Real Causes of the Depression1020 Words   |  5 PagesStatistics show right now in the United States the unemployment rate is high. A lot of people are saying that this is bad and the economy is slowly going downhill, but most people forget to think that these things are normal and is nothing worse than the Depression of the 1930s. Although some people say that the Depression was caused by the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, it was strictly due to many reasons that were unrelated to the Act. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was signed by President Herbert HooverRead MoreThe Causes of Canadas Great Depression of 1929-1939 Essay1679 Words   |  7 Pagesclosest to him heard. â€Å"It’s all gone.†# The term ‘Great Depression’ according to Kristin Brennan evokes black-and-white images of thin men in threadbare suits and worn-out shoes selling five-cent apples on city streets, of â€Å"grim-faced women lined up three deep to collect bread and milk at relief stations.†# The Great Depression of the 1930s was a devastating time toward many Canadians, where the collapse of the stock market was the beginning of the Depression, a period of severe economic and social hardshipRead MoreWorld War II And The Great Depression1658 Words   |  7 Pageshad positive and negative effects during and after the war. 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The events that leading up to and caused the Depression date all the wayRead MoreEconomics...In Real Life1567 Words   |  7 PagesThe 1920s were a time of luxury and economic stability in the United States, that is, until the day the stock market crashed and the country was plummeted in to a time of misery and uncertainty called the Great Depression. The ten year span from 1929 until 1939 is one of the worst episodes the United States has ever experienced; it held a great shortage in the money supply, massive unemployment, and despair and doubt for all of the people who lived through it. Frederick Lewis Allen’s book Since Yesterday:Read MoreThe Great Depression1148 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿The Great Depression The major causes of the Great Depression in the United States all began with the expansion of the US economy as a result of World War I during the 1920s. 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Cloning, Triumph or Tragedy Essay - 1842 Words

Cloning, Triumph or Tragedy? The creation of life through scientific experiments is not a new concept. The idea has been in existence as far back as two hundred years. Mary Shelley was far ahead of her time when she brought the human like creature to life in her writing of Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheus. The story of Frankenstein was written as a myth, yet it continues to leave the world intrigued today. The idea of creating human or animal life is now in the making, except there is a twist to creating this new life. It is known as cloning, bringing an exact replica of cells to life to create an animal or a human that is already in existence. Though human life has not yet been a part of cloning, the cloning of one lamb has†¦show more content†¦Much credit should belong to scientists for making important technological and medical discoveries in the world. In Bishop,sEnemies of Promise, well known scientists point out views regarding their belief in science. Representative George E. Brown, Jr., who h as been trained as a physicist admits that his faith in science has been shaken. He feels that as our knowledge of science increases, so do the occurrence of social problems. Brown, Jr. Feels that the progression of science should lead to diminishing social problems rather than an increase.(238) The real question is, is science to blame, or are the humans creating science to blame? Critics such as Brown and Lamm blame science for what are actually the failures of individuals to use the knowledge that science has provided. Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheus, is a good example of a myth about a scientist who took science to an extreme. Little did scientist, Victor Frankenstein know when he took his experiment much too far, spending endless nights, disregarding his family and friends in the quest for perfecting his human like life creation. Frankenstein truly believed that creating life would make him a more powerful and respectable man. He thought that his human like creation would validate him as a person. When this did not happen, Frankenstein felt that he had created a mistake. (232-233) Ithought that if I could bestowShow MoreRelatedHow Does Mary Shelley Create a Sense of Dread and Horror Up to Chapter 5 in the Novel ‘Frankenstein’?6870 Words   |  28 Pagesrage and sorrow, which after causes him to become evil. It may be symbolic of the parent child relationship. The monster grows up unloved, nameless and untutored-it is a moral lesson to parents about their obligations to their children. Shelly’s tragedy is similar. She lost her mother 10 days after she was born and grew up alone most of the time, so she could be making the monster symbolic of her. It symbolises destructive nature of dangerous ambition in psychological tale. It also considers theRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pages interconnected manner. The ontological spirit of modernism expresses confidence in the future, in technology and in the human ability to create forms that enable progress and adventure. What is exciting about modernism is that it represents the triumph of the intellect over opinion and superstition. It holds promise for liberation from the oppression of living in a society in which people cannot be free from authority. What is threatening about it is that these positive features c an themselves come

Allen Stanford free essay sample

Adding to the case are charges against a former Antiguan official who has allegedly taken bribes from Stanford and his companies, a lawsuit against insurance group Lloyds of London by Allen Stanford, and a lawsuit by investors against Stanford’s auditing firm BDO. Despite the fact that his Chief Financial Officer testified against him in a plea bargain agreement, Stanford pleads not guilty to all charges. Adding drama to this high profile case, Stanford required medical treatment after getting beaten in prison and claims to have developed amnesia. The Stanford International Bank offered returns that were consistently double digits on its CDs. In their pitch to investors, SIB employees claimed it was due to smart portfolio management and investment in safe, liquid securities. SIB also claimed that a team of 20 talented analysts manage the portfolios carefully. However, the SEC claims that this is all false. In its complaint filed in February 2009, the SEC described Stanford’s operation as a â€Å"massive ponzi scheme. We will write a custom essay sample on Allen Stanford or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † The CDs were not reinvested in liquid securities – SIB’s portfolio mainly consisted of illiquid assets like real estate. The value of these assets was grossly overstated to pad the company’s financial reports. SIB offered returns based on fabricated performance data and claiming as historical data and portfolio management was done solely by Stanford and the CFO, James Davis. In addition, Stanford misappropriated more than $1 billion of investors’ funds. The money went to a fleet of yachts and jets, hosting an international cricket match, Caribbean real estate and bribing Antiguan regulators. Another layer of Stanford’s deception was the assurance of BDO, an independent auditing firm that issued unqualified audits of Stanford’s companies. Investors have filed a $10. 7 billion suit against BDO for â€Å"ignoring signs of potential fraud. (Bloomberg) Investors also claim that BDO should have been aware that Stanford’s company â€Å"was operating as an unregistered hedge fund illegally disguising itself as a bank. †(Bloomberg) The complaint also calls into question BDO’s close relationship with Stanford Financial Group and raises issues about conflict of interest. The SEC claims that Stanford International Bank sold unregistered CDs. Had they been registered, the SEC would have been able to verify the value of the CDs. The SEC suggests that the scheme goes back to at least 1995 where the bank reported identical returns in consecutive years. The SEC also charges Stanford and his companies of not cooperating with the SEC’s investigation and claims that about 90% of their investment portfolios â€Å"reside in a black box shielded from any independent oversight†( SEC v. Stanford International Bank, Ltd. , et al. ) Ironically, Stanford has sued SEC, the FBI, and members of the Justice Department for preventing redemption of CDs by investors by freezing his companies’ accounts. The SEC also took action to help compensate investors by filing suit against Securities Investor Protection Corp (SIPC) in order to force the company to pay investors. The SEC is getting heavily involved and taking a very aggressive stance in this case likely due to heightened alert from the recent Madoff Ponzi scheme. Stanford’s assets have been seized by the authorities and are in the process of liquidation. Auditors that are reviewing financial statements of investors that were involved in the Stanford case will have difficulty assessing how much their clients can recover. It is difficult to track investors’ funds in Stanford’s portfolio since it was managed by two people who worked in secret and because the CDs were unregistered with the SEC. The case is still undecided as Stanford is pleading not guilty. On another front, the SIPC is being coerced by SEC’s lawsuit to compensate investors but the SIPC plans to defend itself. On yet another front, some of the investors are involved in the lawsuit against BDO. In an audit of an investor involved in this case, it would be difficult to value the client’s portfolio. Some investors may face business risk contingent on the outcome of these trials. Investors seeking securities in off-shore banks should always consider the saying â€Å"if it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t. Investors should also look into the regulatory environment of the institution. While off-shore banks claim that savings from less regulation is translated into better returns, it should raise flags when it consistently performs above market for 15 years. BDO’s reports should have also raised flags as it did not examine Stanford’s portfolio.