The Fallibility of Man Exposed in The Bible Essays -- Religion Biblica

The Fallibility of Man Exposed in The Bible The story of the Golden Calf illustrates the inherent fallibility of man. It starts out when the people ask Aaron to â€Å"make us gods, which shall go before us.† Despite the fact that God had spoken to them just days earlier commanding them not to make themselves any graven images, Aaron doesn’t argue too strongly against this, immediately asking them to turn over any gold jewelry they have so that he may make them a figure of worship. This choice of material symbolizes man’s covetous nature, perhaps also implying that Aaron feared to go against God’s wishes directly, and so he chose gold in the hope that the people would be loathe to part with it. However, they readily hand over their wealth, which Aaron makes into a statue of a golden calf. In this too, Aaron compromises; while the people asked him to make them â€Å"gods,† he chooses to make a single figure, and states that it is the God that brought them out of Egypt. This concession is intended to sooth God’s wrath when he sees what the Israelites have done. The people seem to be remarkably unconcerned with Moses’ whereabouts at this point considering the fact that he just brought them out of Egypt and is leading them to the Promised Land. In this story they seem to treat him with a great deal of suspicion, stating that they â€Å"wot not what is become of him,† which implies that he’s abandoned them, and that they’re ready to move along without his guidance. This seems ironic, given that he is all that saves them from God’s wrath for this very incident. Upon seeing this idolatry, the Lord becomes enraged, and tells Moses to leave so that he may d... ...ll every man who played a part in the creation of this false icon, even friends or kin. This done, Moses returns to face God in hopes of prevailing upon him to forgive his people. In the conclusion of the story, Moses confesses to the Lord, stating that â€Å"this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold,† reiterating the prior thought that men were worshipping material values over God himself. Moses asks that God destroy him with the rest of his people if he will not grant them forgiveness, implying that the thought of god’s displeasure so disturbed him that he would rather die in hopes of averting this disaster. While God denies him this, he grants that those guilty of the sin shall only be plagued with misfortune, rather than destruction, as he planned earlier. Thus the people are given mercy, but not forgiveness.

My Hometown in the Vietnam

The Vietnamese proverb ‘dat lanh chim dau’, which means ‘wherever there is good soil, there are flocks of birds coming to settle down†, shows that people tend to move to a place in which they can live and make money in a fairly easy way. Ho Chi Minh City is one of the biggest cities in the south of Vietnam, which provides people with a great number of various jobs; therefore, people from many different parts of the country keep on moving to this city, hoping to find out their ‘paradise’. For those who have been living in this city for a long time, more than 10 years for example, their ‘used-to-be paradise’ is getting worse and worse. Sharing these ‘native’ citizens’ viewpoint, I strongly disagree with the flattering statement that Ho Chi Minh city is a much better place to live today than 10 years ago. Pollution is the first thing that makes Ho chi Minh City a worse place to live in. the layout of Ho Chi Minh City was established only for its five hundred thousand residents more than 100 years ago. Its drainage system has been overbooked to drain for a city of over seven million people nowadays. Consequently, the so-called ‘the pearl of the Far East’ is getting more and more polluted. Water pollution is only part of the pollution facing all the dwellers of this biggest city in Vietnam. The air pollution here is no less serious. Thousands of factories are still located inside this city and keep on releasing poisonous smoke. Various means of transportation, especially millions of motorcycles, do contribute to the ever-increasing air pollution in Ho Chi Minh city. The second thing that makes Ho Chi Minh City a worse place to live in is its high cost of living. Nowhere else in Vietnam do you have to pay such great sums of money just to lead a rather simple and really humble life. Food, public utility, means of transportation, tuition fees accommodation and a variety of private services such as tailoring, hairdressing, renovating, etc. here are all much higher than the so-called standard legal income of the majority of the city dwellers. Consequently, they have to struggle hard to make their two ends meet. They do not usually have time to enjoy themselves. In other words, a great number of these city-dwellers just earn enough money to be physical beings, not emotional or spiritual beings. Its increasing crime and disorder also makes Ho Chi Minh City a worse place to live in today than ten years ago. A number of the city dwellers, especially young illiterate guys of lower social classes, cannot earn their living legally. They allow themselves to rob or steal anything they can to satisfy their needs, irrespective of how serious the consequences of their frightening acts are. It is impossible for anyone who dares to live in Ho Chi Minh City to get rid of the lack of safety and order resulting from the above-mentioned kind of crime. In other words, the city dwellers have to face their fate/destiny every minute in their life. To tell the truth, I was born and grew up in Ho Chi Minh City and I am old enough to witness the tremendous, multifaceted changes and social reforms here. However, I can hardly say that I love my hometown very much because I am afraid that it does not deserve my love. Up to now, I have been trying my best to work hard and lead a simple but respectable life here. I do not dare to break any official law or well-established social rule. And I often jeer sarcastically at myself, saying how foolish I am in such a crazy, disorderly environment. Probably, you do not approve of my pessimistic perspectives; but that is me! †

Possession of Knowledge Tok

TOK Outline Essay title – â€Å"The possession of knowledge carries an ethical responsibility†. Evaluate this claim. What knowledge issues I think are involved †¢How can you possess knowledge? How do you acquire it and do these ways affect your responsibility of imparting it on others? †¢How is the knowledge you have affected by your personal ethics? Some people would have no problem giving out certain pieces of knowledge while others would be very trouble giving out exactly the same information. †¢How can one know when they are ethically responsible?How do you know how big the impact of the knowledge you are giving will have on the recipient? Ways of knowing, Areas of knowledge that are involved. †¢Ways of knowing oReason – Has huge relevance to the essay title. You use reason to decide how the knowledge you have will affect the recipient and if it is ethically responsible to do this. oEmotion – Emotion will always affect your decision s when doing something, For example if you don’t want to say something to someone as it may hurt them but they have a right to know.Introduction: †¢State my view on the claim, whether I agree/ disagree oI agree with the statement above, its up to you whether or not to impart certain knowledge you have, depending on the situation. Person you’re speaking to, what the knowledge is, how it will affect them. †¢Thesis statement. 2nd paragraph †¢Try and explain the knowledge issues; â€Å"How can one know when they are ethically responsible† etc. See above for a list of some knowledge issues. †¢Discuss ethics, ‘possession of knowledge’ rd paragraph †¢State first area of knowledge – Ethics †¢State an example linking the AOK to the title. oAlbert Einstein’s involvement in the creation of the atom bomb. Knew it was going to be used in warfare. †¢Link it to the thesis statement, for and against oAs a scientist e thically responsible to impart his findings to the world. oBut as a human being he could have kept it to himself in order to save people’s lives †¢Make sure that both sides of the argument are stated. 4th Paragraph Same as 2nd paragraph except with second area of knowledge – Natural and human sciences. †¢Biology – example would be Ben Johnson at the 1988 olympic. Doctors ethical responsibility to give him the drugs knowing their effect and the details while Ben Johnson just trusted his professional ability. †¢Economics – Bank crisis in 2008. Did the banks have an ethical responsibility to tell the public that their money was being used for other things, instead of just letting the money be lost and telling them after they had invested it all. th paragraph †¢Explain how ways of knowing will be linked to the claim – Reason †¢Provide example. oIf someone stops you on the street and asks for directions then you use reason to de termine that it seems perfectly fine for you to impart the knowledge you have and that it coincides with your ethics. 6th paragraph †¢Same as above with other way of knowing – emotion oA doctor giving the results of tests to a patient and telling them that they are terminally ill.They may not want to impart that knowledge as they know it will greatly affect the person and emotionally you wouldn’t want to be giving that information. But they are ethically responsible as professionals to give that information. oAnother example that would go with this is a police officer having to tell the next of kin that they family member has died. Conclusion †¢Evaluate all the points that have been talked about. †¢Restate your thesis statement and talk about if you agree/ disagree again. †¢Don’t bring up any new points! †¢Round off the essay nicely, no trailing points.

How Hiphop Has Changed the Youth in Society Essay

Throughout the past 30 years, there has been much speculation about how negative hip-hop music truly is, and how it actually affects the youth. The hip-hop music of recent years has been the foundation of many controversial issues and has been illustrated negatively by the media countless times. Issues such as gun and knife crime which has escalated heavily within younger age groups in the last 15 years, especially in the USA and UK and also drug abuse, the use of marijuana being used openly within the younger generations. Hip-hop has been accused of influencing the youth to become more misogynistic towards women by constantly having explicit content, such as racist and sexist lyrics in their music. Hip-hip has always been stereotypically associated with violence and black crime. Due to this, older generations have always had an antagonistic outlook on the entire hip-hop genre of music. Although hip-hip music is considered negative in the eyes of many people, there is to consider various questions to have a better understanding and point of view on the controversial issue. Today we speak, dress and drive what the stars do. Where we shop and eat even the types of homes we buy is dictated by what we â€Å"hear† the celebrities are doing. That is a powerful influence over an individual adult but only imagine what type of influence this has over an impressionable pre-teen. Due to the fact that hip-hop/rap music appeals to the thirteen to eighteen year old audiences and the artists performing come from very similar backgrounds of the listeners, rap music is able to control the way that youth think. Teens and pre-teens are using their part-time job pay check to buy grills (a form of jewellery worn in the mouth) and other types of jewellery and even weapons such as knives and guns are seen as metaphorical fashion accessories for the youth, as these things are incorporated into the lyrics of hip-hop and rap music. What is hip-hop music? In order to understand the hip-hop phenomena one must first create a foundation of knowledge through learning its history. Hip-hop began from a mixture of spoken word poetry, jazz drumming, and jazz instrumentations. Hip-hop is one of the most popular genres of music out today and has been steadily growing in popularity since its rise in fame from the late 1970s. With the rise of MTV in the early 1980s, early hip-hop music was constantly being shown with TV shows such as ‘Yo! MTV raps’ and since then has been known to be one of music’s most successful art forms and has remained popular to this day. With over forty years of being around, hip-hop has grown and matured and most importantly expanded from its origin of the south Bronx in New York, to worldwide. The genre and sub culture originated in the early 1970s when a Jamaican immigrant by the name of Clive Campbell aka DJ Kool Herc, first hit the scene in the Bronx. Campbell started DJ-ing his own parties, playing soul, funk as well as R&B records on his turntable set. Herc also brought his know how of the sound system and the popular dancehall/block party scene. Graffiti art had also begun to take shape in the subways of Philadelphia in the mid 1960s. A black teenager by the name of Cornbread began tagging the subways in hopes of attracting a girl he had found feelings for; from this form of youth expression came Graffiti. Fab 5 Freddy, one of the original DJs of Hip-hop, began an art from known as scratching and popularized DJing. Hip-hop consists of four elements, ‘B-boying’ or also known as break dancing. ‘Djing’, ‘Emceeing’, and street art or more commonly known as ‘graffiti’. Djing, also known as the first element of hip-hop began when disc jockeys created beats on two turntables. The way DJs created their beats was simple yet revolutionary in an essence. The DJs would first find a portion of a song that emphasized a percussive pattern, and then looped a portion of the song to form a rhythmic pattern. This procedure is now more commonly known as sampling. With the beat or instrumental now developed, the DJ decided the music needed some accompaniment to the music such as singing or poetry. This procedure is known as rapping or Emceeing. From hip-hop spawned the sub-genre ‘Rap’ in the early 1980s. More and more artists became interested in the new form of music out of New York. In 1981, Rap gained a lot of exposure through popular shows such as 20/20 and Saturday night live. The 1990s saw even more change in the hip-hop industry. Early in the decade, artists fought for permission to sell their albums since most authorities deemed them ‘obscene’ due to the explicit content within the music. A lot which expressed sexual references towards women and talked about the use of drugs. Hip-hop music also spoke strongly about politics and poverty, artists such as Tupac and Public Enemy spoke about such issues. In the 1990s the tension that had been gathering between the west coast ‘Gangsta’ and the East coast artists has exploded and resulted in the shooting deaths of Christopher Wallace and Tupac Shakur. In the present day Hip-Hop is one of the largest and fastest growing sources of capital and has a great influence on its fans. The roles that Hip-Hop and Hip-Hop artist play in America require responsibility, however, many of the performers and labels take none. By using television and other various sorts of visual media Hip-Hop portrays less than positive stereotypes and all but influences the youth to accept these stereotypes as normal behaviour. The detrimental effect that popular Hip-Hop has doesn’t stop at the visual level. Lyrical content in songs have been dumbed down and filled with violence, sex, and drugs. For example the song â€Å"Hate Being Sober† by Chief Keef condones the use of drugs at all times and gives the impression that it is ok and cool. â€Å"While many Hip-Hop songs contain messages about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, few provide an accurate portrayal of the negative consequences of substance abuse† Negative accusations and harsh criticism has always been an issue for the hip-hop genre of music. Some of these accusations include how hip-hop influences the youth to become more misogynistic towards women by constantly having explicit content, such as racist and sexist lyrics in their music. Because of this, Hip-hop music has been criticized greatly by the media accusing the music of affecting the youth that sexism and other such forms of oppression are acceptable to society. Although the media has a major impact on how Hip-hop is viewed by the masses, their is some people who view Hip-hop differently. Famous civil rights leader Al Sharpton was asked on what he believed on this particular issue and said, â€Å"The hip-hop culture is just like electricity, it can be used negatively or positively. The same electric current that lights up your house can also electrocute you. It is the misuse of hip-hop culture to attack our women and promote violence. We must encourage the proper use of hip-hop culture. We are all influenced by the hip-hop generation. † (â€Å"Is hip-hop culture,† 2000) On a survey done to twenty-five people in the 17- 60 yrs of age range, twenty people know someone that is exposed to the Hip-hop culture and twenty-one of them believed that Hip-hop isn’t a negative art form. In Figures 1, 2, and 3 show the results from the survey done. On Figure 2, it shows that most of the people surveyed do believe that Hip-hop music has the most influence on the youth. Rap music generally depicts the lives and souls of many under privileged youths, citing depression and violence during upbringings. The youth of today’s society and in the past, take this music as a way of expression, a way of overruling everything they believe is corrupt and in their own way become corrupt themselves by not caring about the rules. Rap music can be transparently seen as a striking negative influence on today’s youth just by listening to certain songs which praise violence and the use of drugs. Take rapper Wiz Khalifa for instance. This artist is a prime example of being a huge negative influence to today’s society by the extensive amount of marijuana use, portrayed within his lyrics. The artist mentions marijuana in his songs and speaks about it in a positive way, speaking about the stimulating effects it has on him and almost making the drug sound ‘cool’ to the younger generation, making them think that smoking this drug is cool and acceptable as rapper Wiz Khalifa openly smokes it and mentions it. The number of drug references in rap music has raised six fold since the genre revolutionised pop music. Researchers who analysed the lyrics of hundreds of songs say rap has been transformed from one which warned against the dangers of drug abuse to one that routinely glorifies it. And because many of the references are coded, many parents are unaware what their children are listening to.

Discovery of the unconscious Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discovery of the unconscious - Essay Example Nietzsche stated that psychology is the core of the sciences but it was affected by religious, social and cultural prejudices (Watson 996). And this played a significant role in the development of the concepts that formed the foundations of psychoanalysis. This is because for the generations before the Age of Reformation in Europe, religion and spirituality was used to explain everything. Issues like mental illness was seen as some kind of punishment and these are Biblical images that are related to curses and negativity being connected to people who do bad deeds. Thus, at the end of the Middle Ages, whilst the natural and physical sciences developed, aspects of the soft sciences like psychology took a longer time to be accepted into mainstream society. Earlier researchers who sought to develop concepts and ideas that were used in the development of the unconscious came up with various approaches. They based their arguments that the self is double, there was the normal mind and the deeper mystical and esoteric self which had been explored by members of Eastern and oriental religions through meditations and other practices. One thing that was universally accepted was that the â€Å"second† self influenced peoples behaviours and feelings. Great philosophers like Pascal, Hobbes and Edgar Allen Poe mentioned issues relating to the â€Å"second† self which has become known as the subconscious mind. Some earlier philosophers sought to find linkages between external environmental factors and the mind. Some scientists like Franz Anton Mesmer (1734 – 1814) postulated that just as the appearance of the moon caused the tides to rise, there were bodily fluids in irrational or mad people that also rose during the full moon. This thereby caused the impetus for the concept of â€Å"lunatics† (pertaining to the moon). Other approaches came forward and these were based on issues like hysteria and its logical linkage to female sexuality since most of the victims were

(whatever you want) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

(whatever you want) - Essay Example But the 21st century may see the end of this global system. The peripheral regions have been exploited, and new powers and systems are rising up to challenge the established order, namely religious fundamentalism and the failed state. With a lack of new regions to exploit, the primacy of the United States will wane as these other competing powers gain momentum. In the article, â€Å"In U.S. Visit, Brown to Urge ‘New Deal’†, (Sullivan, 2009) we read of Prime Minister Tony Brown’s visit to the United States to visit President Barak Obama. They are there to discuss the global financial crisis that their countries find themselves in. They pledged to cooperate with the other Group of 20 (G-20) countries that have all seen considerable amounts of capital and supposed wealth disappear over the past year. This article exemplifies this theory because the whole meeting is concerned with returning the global economy to a status quo, namely the continuation of concentration of capital in the United States and the other strongly capitalistic countries of the world. Talk centered exclusively on stimulating the economies of the G-20 nations while nations on the fringe of the core capitalistic nations were

Lead Paint and Crime Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Lead Paint and Crime - Research Paper Example Statistics indicate that approximately 38 million houses In the US were painted before the 1978 ban on lead paints (Seymour, 2010). This paper is a critical evaluation of Lead poisoning and its contribution towards antisocial behavior. Lead Poisoning Painting is a technical process, which ensures that an end product such as a house, vehicle, furniture, toys among others, get an appealing look, which is important while dealing with the dynamic nature of tastes and preferences in different individuals. However, not many people take time to question the integrity of the paints being used to satisfy their requirements either due to ignorance or due to sheer lack of interest. However, it is also common to find that in urban areas, where majority of people live in rental houses, it is difficult to establish the type of paint that has been used on the walls or other painted surfaces. Such people are susceptible to Lead poisoning especially if they are living in houses painted using Lead bas ed paints. Small children living in such surroundings are the worst affected especially if the paint has already started peeling off to the ground. This is due to the fact that they are identifiable with the habit of collecting and feeding on anything that comes their way especially while they are crawling on the floor (Seymour, 2010). The paint particles disintegrate into smaller particles after which they mix with the dust on the floor such that it becomes easy for the whole household to inhale them without noticing. In addition, the peelings from the roof and the walls can find their way onto the food and water that is not well covered after which unsuspecting persons can ingest them thereby putting them at risk. It is therefore not a wonder to find that CDC estimates indicate that more than 250000 children in the US suffered from Lead poisoning between 1997 and 2009. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012), Lead concentration in the blood is considered dan gerous if it exceeds 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood. Lead is tasteless and it does not contain any peculiar smell and therefore, it is not easy for a layman to identify it. In addition, people who have ingested it do not show immediate signs and symptoms, which can trigger the urgency to seek medical attention. Instead, it continues to accumulate in the blood system and the bones thereby causing a slow progressive damage to vital organs in the body of the victim until such time when the body begins to react negatively to the poisoning. During this time, the affected person begins to portray symptoms such as; memory loss, erectile dysfunction, kidney failure, and muscle pains (Fancher, 2010). The affected person may also experience constant headaches, depression, and loss of appetite among others, which are common in adults. Young children exhibit some of the above mentioned symptoms and others such as vomiting, abdominal pains, mental disabilities and retarded growth whereby t he child takes long to master basic techniques such as talking. In general, Lead poisoning is highly damaging to some of the most important organs in a human body such as; the brain, kidney, the nervous system as well as the blood. Blood is highly important as it facilitates the transportation of oxygen to the brain and extreme organs such as the limbs (Fancher, 2010). Lead in the blood