Religion and Morality Essay Example for Free

Religion and Morality Essay Morality as dependant on religion The idea of whether morality and religion are linked or not was first looked upon by Plato, where in his Euthyphro Dilemma he asks, Is what is pious loved by the Gods because it is pious, or is something pious because it is loved? In other words he is questioning whether things are good because God commands them to be, or does God command them because they are good? I will first examine the view followed by theists today, that things are good because God loves them and that religion and morality are linked. There are a number of ways which you can establish a possible link between religion and morality, the first being heteronomously. Heteronomy is the view that morality depends on religious belief, or things derived from religion. The rules in heteronomous societies are from religious authority so will obviously be linked to religion, however a non-religious person is still capable of being heteronomous as they live and abide by the cultures laws therefore adopting a morality based on religion. To a certain extent it is hard to deny aspects of heteronomy, since words like good and evil are shaped by religion. It would be hard to present an ethical theory free from these terms. A theonomous link can also be made, where morality and religion depend on one source (for example, in Western cultures God) who is the fundamental designer of what is moral. Unlike Heteronomy, Theonomy does not require a religious authority as it is to do with the individuals personal belief in the aforementioned source. The Natural Law theory developed by Aquinas is considered theonomous, in which an uncaused cause is the creative source for all. We can access God directly in this theory by fulfilling our purposes in life set by Him at our creation. The view that things are good through Gods command is directly illustrated in The Divine Command Theory, the common theory adopted by believers in the God of Classical Theism. According to Emil Brunner (1947), The Good consists in always doing what God wills at any particular moment, as it essentially impossible for God to command an evil act. If nothing was commanded or forbidden by God then there would be no wrong or right and arguably, there would be chaos. The DCT can be seen to provide a strong foundation for a stable necessary morality to be built upon as well as personal reasons to abide by it. For example, taken from the views of Kant (although not directly aimed at the DCT) the belief in the existence of an afterlife gives us incentive to live a moral life, which we otherwise may not be able to force ourselves to do. The presence of such an afterlife, and the fear of punishment make it rational (According to William Craig) to go against your own self-interest for the benefit of others, as self-sacrificial acts are looked upon well by God. This provides more answers to the question Why be Moral? The DCT can be accessed through the Decalogue in the Bible (Exodus 20, old Testament), which provides a set of ten absolute, deontological commands by God. Also through the New Testament in Jesus Sermon on the Mount where he makes laws much more situationalist with teachings such as Love your neighbour, which are flexible and apply to many situations. Finally, many theists argue that it does not make sense for morals to exist in a non-moral universe as there is nowhere they originate from, they dont fit into a natural universe. They do however fit into a theistic universe where they were created by a moral creator (i.e God), it is then easy to see why they exist. This is supported by philosophers such as John Newman who states that feelings of responsibility and guilt point to God, and by D.I Trethowan, who suggests that an awareness of obligation is an awareness of God. Aii) Morality as independent from Religion A belief in morality as being totally independant from God is an autonomous belief, and there are many arguments in compliance with Autonomy, very much to do with the idea of free-will. If we really are to act with personal freedom of choice then we cannot act out of fear of Gods punishment, it totally voids the notion of free-will; and if God is omniscient and omnipotent he would know what decisions we are to make anyway and he would have the ability to stop us making the wrong ones. James Rachels concludes that no being like God can exist who requires us to abandon our moral autonomy is worth worshipping. There are theories in concurrence with Autonomy which allow still for a good, firm morality without dependency on religion such as Utilitarianism (greatest good for greatest number) so it can be said that religion is unnecessary There are many autonomous arguments against the DCT, beginning with the fact that God himself is not bound by any moral law. This would mean that Gods Ten Commandments could easily have been totally the opposite to what they are, encouraging acts like murder and we would still consider them to be good as God is the epitemy of good. This worrying problem was recognized by philosophers such as G.W Leibniz, who decreed, Why praise him for what he has done, if he would be equally as praiseworthy if he had done the contrary? There is belief that if God had commanded acts such as murder, people still would not do them as we through our intuition feel they are intrinsically wrong. Another difficulty with the DCT lies in the many different interpretations which can be drawn from God. The existence of lots of different religions all with equal claim to God makes it very complicated as we cannot tell which one is right. Also, if morality depends on God then surely it would be impossible for an atheist to live a moral life, but this is obviously untrue as so many atheists do live morally. Further criticisms of the DCT stem from its assumption that God is omnibenevolent, a claim which is not easy to comprehend for the atheist because of the undeniable existence of evil. Lastly, many people argue that religion is itself immoral, as it is through religion that the most part of suicide bomb attacks, and other horrific acts are carried out. Examples could be drawn from the events in America involving the Twin Towers, or more recently the teacher in Sudan who is imprisoned for allowing a teddy to be named after the prophet Muhammad. If not for religion, these arguably ridiculous acts would never be justifiable. Hume said on the subject, the errors in religion are dangerous; those in philosophy only ridiculous. Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion, clearly advocates the theory that religion is immoral when he discusses the story of Lot. This righteous man is to be saved from the destruction of Soddom and Gomorrah because he is the most worthy man, however he offers his daughters for gang rape. According to Dawkins this emphasizes the serious disrespect for women in an intensely religious culture. B) To what extent is one of these claims more convincing than the other Going back to the basics of the Divine Command Theory, there are 613 commands in the Bible which were originally in effect, but are not now because they are outdated, and theists argue that an omniscient God used them knowing they would be relevant for different times. These theists fail, however to a provide a logical explanation for why there is nothing in the Bible which can be related to biological advances such as cloning, an omniscient God should be capable of filling in these gaps in moral law. Furthermore, as Dawkins relevantly points out how can someone decide that parts of the Bible are now irrelevant, this is just picking and choosing which parts are in your best interest to follow. This suggests that the Bible and therefore the DCT does not in fact provide a stable foundation for morality as there are numerous conclusions to be drawn from relevant parts. It must also be taken into consideration that the Bible is not in its original form, through hundreds of years it has been composed and revised so (as put forward by Dawkins again) does it not seem strange that we base our whole morality on such a distorted teaching. Another feature of the DCT, is that everyone will be judged by God, punished for their sins, often in the form of natural disasters. People could say that the recent tsunami and Hurricane Katrina incidents were a form of punishment, but as Dawkins once again highlights, why did this have to happen? It is hard to believe that everyone who died in these disasters was evil, so why could our omnipotent God of Classical Theism not just strike down the individuals without causing so much collateral damage. Moreover, this persuasively further argues the immoral messages religion can be seen to give. Often, it is argued that the set in stone rules of the DCT inspire people to live a moral life out of the incentive of making it to heaven, and avoiding hell. This may be true, but does it not tarnish the goodness of an act when it is done out of selfish reason? Does it then make that act immoral? Yes it does, so it can then be said that the DCT again fails to provide a stable, reasonable basis for morality. These set in stone rules are also cause for discussion, as they are obviously inarguable to a Divine Command Theorist. To them, consequentialist views such as killing someone to save a greater number would undisputedly be wrong. Even if our intuition is what is telling us that defying a command is right, the believer in DCT would say it is our intuition at fault; They do, however fail to take into consideration that by their own decrees intuition is given to us by God to live morally, so why would we intuitively want to go against God? Dawkins arguments suggest that religion is responsible for the most part of evil in the world and his descriptions of people like terrorists as e.g. Not psychotic; they are religious idealists who, by their own lights, are rational certainly make sense. However he makes it seem that no religious person has the capacity to do good, which can easily be refuted at the mere mention of the names Mother Theresa, or Martin Luther King. He also unsurprisingly doesnt mention the likes of atheist like Stalin who birthed communism in Russia. Despite this, the majority of Dawkins views and the massive flaws in the DCT show the latter statement in the initial question (Is something good because God commands it, or does God command something because it is good?) to be the most convincing of the two. Although the DCT offers a way for humanity to be good, religion itself harbors too many inconsistencies to base everything we stand for on.

Educational Goals and Philosophy :: Education Teaching Teachers Essays

Educational Goals and Philosophy I have many reasons for choosing education. The first reason would have to be that I love being around children. I like to watch them get excited about new things that they learn and see their eyes light up when something really amazes them. The second reason is that my mother is a teacher. I have seen her in class with her students and how they have so much respect for her. I also have much respect for her because I know teaching isn’t easy and there has not been a day in her teaching career that I haven’t seen her amaze the students or me for that matter. I just hope that one day maybe I can be as good of a teacher as her. My last reason is that I hope to make learning fun and exciting for students. When I was a student in grade school I had a teacher that didn’t use any special teaching methods or manipulatives and that class was boring for me. One year I had a teacher that used many exciting activities, such as, treasure hunts to make learning fun. I learned a lot from that teacher and was very excited about what I learned. During my observation experience I noticed that the classroom environment helps to enhance student’s learning. From this experience I would like to display projects that I did at that grade level to motivate my students and encourage them with their work. I would also like to hang pictures and have sculptures that would be fun and educational for them at their level. For example, if I would teach fourth through sixth grade, I would use fossils and skeletons for their learning experience with science. I could also use pictures of famous places for learning history like The Eiffel Tower, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Big Ben, The Taj Mahal, The Great Pyramids, The Sphinx, Stonehenge, etc. I believe that classroom management is as important as classroom environment when it comes toward contributing to children’s learning. From my experience, I feel that if a teacher uses only negative discipline then he/she has a repugnant affect on students, which causes the student not to reach their potential. In my classroom, I plan to use both positive and negative forms of discipline, so that good behavior will be rewarded and students will remember and be motivated toward proper behavior. Educational Goals and Philosophy :: Education Teaching Teachers Essays Educational Goals and Philosophy I have many reasons for choosing education. The first reason would have to be that I love being around children. I like to watch them get excited about new things that they learn and see their eyes light up when something really amazes them. The second reason is that my mother is a teacher. I have seen her in class with her students and how they have so much respect for her. I also have much respect for her because I know teaching isn’t easy and there has not been a day in her teaching career that I haven’t seen her amaze the students or me for that matter. I just hope that one day maybe I can be as good of a teacher as her. My last reason is that I hope to make learning fun and exciting for students. When I was a student in grade school I had a teacher that didn’t use any special teaching methods or manipulatives and that class was boring for me. One year I had a teacher that used many exciting activities, such as, treasure hunts to make learning fun. I learned a lot from that teacher and was very excited about what I learned. During my observation experience I noticed that the classroom environment helps to enhance student’s learning. From this experience I would like to display projects that I did at that grade level to motivate my students and encourage them with their work. I would also like to hang pictures and have sculptures that would be fun and educational for them at their level. For example, if I would teach fourth through sixth grade, I would use fossils and skeletons for their learning experience with science. I could also use pictures of famous places for learning history like The Eiffel Tower, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Big Ben, The Taj Mahal, The Great Pyramids, The Sphinx, Stonehenge, etc. I believe that classroom management is as important as classroom environment when it comes toward contributing to children’s learning. From my experience, I feel that if a teacher uses only negative discipline then he/she has a repugnant affect on students, which causes the student not to reach their potential. In my classroom, I plan to use both positive and negative forms of discipline, so that good behavior will be rewarded and students will remember and be motivated toward proper behavior.

Role of Media and Islam in Pakistan’s Politics

With the end of the cold war, the drive towards democratization assumed center state. Out of a total 206 states in the world, 195 claims to be either democratic or republican. In spite of it, the nature and function of many self pro claimed democratic systems leave much to be desired. This has led to international efforts, led by the US, to engage in the twin task of democracy promotion and democracy protection. India joined the community of the democracies in 2000, at the turn of the millennium, and later became a member of the UN democratic funds in2005.It has sought to contribute to the efforts aimed at promotion and strengthening of democracy in its own way. The author of the book under review, Professor Muni, calls it â€Å"significant shift† in India’s foreign policy. As a close followers of India’s foreign policy he has tries to isolated the â€Å"democracy dimension† in India’s foreign policy towards its immediate neighbors on an individual country basis over three distinct phases, which makes interesting readings. Professor Muni has enough experience as an academic and a diplomat to comment on such an important issue with great care and diligence.After a brief review of theories of democracies and its interface with foreign policy, the author situates the Indian experience over three different phases. He argues during the first phase (1947-1960s) soon after freedom from colonial rule, India emphasis â€Å"independence and nationalism†. The principal architect of Indian foreign policy, Jawahar Lal Nehru, set out to build of free, cooperative and peaceful Asia. This explained Nehru’s vociferous argument in favor of inclusion of communist china in the comity of nations as an independent state.He went on to fashioned his policy of non alignment as a main benchmark of India’s foreign policy and try to stay out of the bipolar power politics. His policies towards neighboring countries demonstrated his pr edilection for democracies in spite of the compromises he made to protect the strategic and economic interests of India. The author makes a detailed analysis of Nehru’s approach towards Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Myanmar and Pakistan and concludes that Nehru’s preferences for democracies was often trumped by India’s vital security concerns.During the second phase (1960s-2000) the successors of Nehru, the author argues, adopted a pragmatic policy devoid an idealism that marked the Nehru years. The post 1962 (sino-indian war) years, as Nehru confessed shocked him out of his idealism and prepared the grounds for unapologetic realism in Indian foreign policy. Professor Muni demonstrate through his narrative of twists and turns of Nepalese politics that Indian supported democratic moments in Nepal when its suited its strategic interests unencumbered dilemma that characterized by Nehruvian years.All through, the main driver of India’s policy towards neighbors was t o keep the region free from adversarial influences. The security challenges post by china and Pakistan largely determined the parameters of India’s foreign policy since the 1970s. Even as India evolved as a democratic nation and institutions promoting democratic values took firm roots in the country, during this phase there was no enthusiasm to propagate democracy and encourage democratic forces in the neighborhood.Nevertheless, India played an important role in the liberation of East Pakistan in 1971, integrated Sikkim in 1975 and supported exiled democratic forces from Myanmar in 1970s and 1980s. Democracy mattered only when it converged with India’s strategic interests. However, india choose to diassociate it self from democratic forces in the mid 1970s. in Bhutan, india’s sided with the king and discouraged the popular movement raised by Bhutanis of Nepales region. It is quiet and other india forced the nepaled king to negotiate with the democratic forces in 1988.In the case of Myanmar, since the late 1980s, it decided to mend its relationship with the military Junta and ignore the democratic forces to balance china’s increasing proximity to Myanmar. The third phase since the start of new millennium as found India in the company of US, seeking to promote and protect democracy around the world. India has calibrated its policy towards its neighbors accordingly. Despite its aversion from the maost of Nepal, it played a critical role in the mainstreaming of this group and revived the democratic process.Despite playing a modest but critical role in Bangladesh’s return to democracy in 1990, it has maintained a study aloofness from the rough and tumble of Bangladesh politics. In recent years a fresh wave of the democracy swept the neighborhood. The author has appreciated India’s diplomatic responses to these changes. There is also a brief discussion on India’s efforts and indo-US coordination in the process of reco nstruction and democratization in Afghanistan since 9/11.The author implies that in view of India’s strategic interests in Afghanistan, it is imperative for India to continue with its developmental work despite attacks on its citizens by paksitan-sponsopred terrorists. In some author suggest that in its conduct of foreign policy, India should not blindly follow the US at the cost of its strategic interests. The book provides useful insights to India’s neighborhood policy over the last six decades. The author brings to bear his personal interaction many leading actors in both India and Nepal to present his analysis of Nepalese politics forcefully.His study of other neighbors of India somehow struggles to come that level of compliance and intensity. To be share to the author, given india’s leverage in Nepal and its ability to influence its politics, Nepal was certain to attract that much attention and care. However, one wondered if the author have accorded some sp ace to India’s reaction to the imperfect nature of Srilankan democracy with its lack of emphasis on inclusivity and pluralism. Given the threat it posed to the Srilankan polity and deep Indian involvement in the 1980s, Srilanka deserved some attention in the book.To the conclusion reader of the book finds the book and the author holds a strong grip over the material and issue it contained. The book deserve the attention of foreign policy analysts and scholars of international relations in India because in recent years India has sought to spell out its neighborhood policy tentatively with emphasis on building a web of interdependencies the neighbor and finally the book is a good depiction of India’s foreign policy specially in reference to its influences the democratic scenario in the outer world.

How to Make a Stem and Leaf Plot

When you finish grading an exam, you might want to determine how your class performed on the test. If you do not have a calculator handy, you can calculate the mean or median of the test scores. Alternately, it is helpful to see how the scores are distributed. Do they resemble a bell curve? Are the scores bimodal? One type of graph that displays these features of the data is called a stem-and-leaf plot or stemplot. Despite the name, there is no flora or foliage involved. Instead, the stem forms one part of a number, and the leaves make up the rest of that number.   Constructing a Stemplot In a stemplot, each score is broken into two pieces: the stem and leaf. In this example, the tens digits are stems, and the one  digits form the leaves. The resulting stemplot produces a distribution of the data similar to a  histogram, but all of the data values are retained in a compact form. You can easily see features of the students’ performance from the shape of the stem-and-leaf plot. Stem and Leaf Plot Example Suppose that your class had the following test scores: 84, 65, 78, 75, 89, 90, 88, 83, 72, 91, and 90 and you wanted to see at a glance what features were present in the data. You would rewrite the list of scores in order and then use a stem-and-leaf plot. The stems are 6, 7, 8, and 9, corresponding to the tens place of the data. This is listed in a vertical column. The ones digit of each score is written in a horizontal row to the right of each stem, as follows: 9| 0 0 1 8| 3 4 8 9 7| 2 5 8 6| 2 You can easily read the data from this stemplot. For example, the top row contains the values of 90, 90, and 91. It shows that only three students earned a score in the 90th percentile with scores of 90, 90, and 91. By contrast, four students earned scores in the 80th percentile, with marks of 83, 84, 88, and 89. Breaking Down the Stem and Leaf With test scores as well as other data that range between zero and 100 points, the above strategy works for choosing stems and leaves. But for data with more than two digits, youll need to use other strategies.   For example, if you want to make a stem-and-leaf plot for the data set of 100, 105, 110, 120, 124, 126, 130, 131, and 132, you can use the highest place value to create the stem. In this case, the hundreds digit would be the stem, which is not very helpful because none of the values is separated from any of the others: 1|00 05 10 20 24 26 30 31 32 Instead, to obtain a better distribution, make the stem the first two digits of the data. The resulting stem-and-leaf plot does a better job of depicting the data: 13| 0 1 2 12| 0 4 6 11| 0 10| 0 5 Expanding and Condensing The two stemplots in the previous section show the versatility of stem-and-leaf plots. They can be expanded or condensed by changing the form of the stem. One strategy for expanding a stemplot is to evenly split a stem into equally sized pieces: 9| 0 0 1 8| 3 4 8 9 7| 2 5 8 6| 2 You would expand this stem-and-leaf plot by splitting each stem into two. This results in two stems for each tens digit. The data with zero to four in the ones place value are separated from those with digits five to nine: 9| 0 0 1 8| 8 9 8| 3 4 7| 5 8 7| 2 6| 6| 2 The six with no numbers to the right shows that there are no data values from 65 to 69.