The Worldview Issues that Influence Curriculum Decisions in Public Education

As Josh McDowell said in preface to book by David Noebel and Chuck Edwards (2002), â€Å"We are now living in not just a post-Christian culture, but an anti-Christian culture† (p. 2). This statement can be applied to the curriculum decisions in modern public school as well. â€Å"The educational system in the West has progressively replaced the biblical foundation with belief in evolution as ‘truth’. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Worldview Issues that Influence Curriculum Decisions in Public Education specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This system trains the leaders—teachers, judges, media operators, politicians, etc. These leaders then set the social agenda, which gradually becomes written into law† (Manthei, 1998, p. 26). Every person has its own worldview. It is formed through education, certain set of beliefs and attitudes to life. The purpose of Biblical worldview is t o live in harmony with the world and society. The prime goal of education is to guide future adults and prepare them for life (Van Brumelen, 2002, p. 41). The application of Biblical worldview in education can help greatly in achieving this goal and create friendly and positive learning environment. Curriculum based on the Biblical worldview takes the seven virtues that should guide everyone’s life as its basics. Such a worldview not only creates a â€Å"comprehensive framework of basic convictions about life† (Van Brumelen, 2002, p. 58), it also helps building a â€Å"people-centered† curriculum. The aim of such curriculum is to explain students the purpose of human beings, how to fight against evil and work for restoration. It also aims at motivating students to support each other and not to lose hope in future, restore friendship, love and justice. It regulates the flow of curriculum in a way to promote cooperation and mutual aid among students, develop stu dent’s responsibility, courage, patience, self-control and other values. Thus, a Biblical worldview influences on curriculum in a way to assist the achievement of school’s primary tasks: maximize human potential, develop necessary skills and nurture respect for others. One of the most important roles in developing curriculum belongs to teacher, â€Å"Teacher is one who controls curriculum in class† (Van Brumelen, 2002, p. 56). Many responsibilities lie on his/her shoulders. However, before planning a curriculum, teacher should evaluate himself/herself. Does he/she have necessary traits of character? What is he/she going to teach? How he/she is going to teach? Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to Van Brumelen (2002), the teacher who is going to make a Biblically oriented curriculum should remember that everything has purpose and effect; one should practice sanctity of human life and not give preferences to any student and, at the same time, take every student as an individual because as Shelby Steel said, â€Å"whenever you give someone a preference, you discriminate against someone else†. To teach values and create friendly and supportive environment during the lesson is also one of the most important tasks of every teacher. A Biblical worldview has one more important impact on curriculum. It requires from teacher a definite approach to the choice of literature and course books. As curriculum material cannot be neutral, teacher should understand a philosophical position of a certain source of information. Some textbooks can contain errors and wrong facts, some books use irrelevant photographs, experiments and incorrect scientific facts. Many books give an incorrect insight into the material. All these things should be considered and corrected by a teacher. There is a number of worldview issues that influence on curriculum d ecisions in public schools. These issues are related to Biblical worldview that presupposes building a curriculum based on virtues that promotes positive environment in class and help students live in harmony with society. Reference List Manthei, D. (1998). Two worldviews in conflict: Evolution is absolutely opposed to the Bible. Creation. 20 (4), 26–27 Noebel, D., Edwards, C., (2002). Thinking like a Christian: understanding and living a biblical worldview. Nashville: BH Publishing Company.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Worldview Issues that Influence Curriculum Decisions in Public Education specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Van Brummelen, H. (2002). Steppingstones to curriculum: a biblical path (second edition). Colorado: Colorado Springs. This essay on The Worldview Issues that Influence Curriculum Decisions in Public Education was written and submitted by user Remy Larsen to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

buy custom Humes Critique of Descartes and Plato essay

buy custom Humes Critique of Descartes and Plato essay David Hume is a controversial Scottish philosopher in the eighteenth century, renowned for skeptical examination of ethics, history, and religion. Such features are seen in his first philosophical works referred to as "treatise of human nature." On the other hand, Plato is an ancient Greek philosopher who examined ideas of politics, metaphysics, morality, and epistemology. Descartes is recognized as the father of western philosophy. He shaped the knowledge of the seventeenth century philosophy. The paper analyzes the way how Humes would critique the views of Plato and Descartes. Plato and Descartes are usually classified as ancient philosophers, but Humes is among the most recent philosophers who signified a break from ancient philosophical concepts and ideals. Undoubtedly, Humes critique would encompass the issue of ideas. Plato believes that the soul is a completely unified and immortal entity that remains the same throughout the life of an individual. However, he is keen to note that there are various challenges related to this view. He compares his thoughts with those of Diotima who argues that a man cannot remain the same as the gods since each day involves new dispositions, thoughts, and desires thereby leading to changes in a person. On the other hand, Descartes ideas are subdivided into three categories such as adventitious, innate, and imaginative. Therefore, he does not completely agree with the view that all actions are innate. Moreover, he insists that for one to achieve clearly reasoned conclusions, he/she has to engage in systematic and wholesale doubting. The process would enable him or her to develop ideas that are solely his or hers and not of others. Therefore, ideas arise from external objects invading on person's senses. Humes critique would be an assertion that ideas come from impressions and personal perceptions. He argues that weak perceptions originate from impressions and one cannot think of something he or she has never seen. Therefore, reasoning has its causeand effect and one cannot infer presence of one object from another unless they are connected to each other. Humes would, therefore, oppose the idea of innate ideas completely. Rather, he would insist on the idea of impression that is guided by cause and effect relationship. However, he can agree with Descartes that ideas are external to an individual. He would use the statement to reinforce his assertion that impressions and perceptions are crucial in the development of ideas. The other philosophical issue that would be subjected to critique is religion. Plato believes that the soul exists separately from the body and continues to survive after the death. Similarly, Descartes argues that ideas about God are innate, just as those involving oneself. He says that since he exists as a true representation of a perfect being such as God, then God exists. Descartes reinforces the dualism view of reality advocated by Plato. Plato believes that there is a realm of a human being that is spiritual and immortal, as well as encompasses conscious thinking. The other realm is material, finite and encompasses physical universe and human bodies. This dual realism worked best for Descartes as he was both a scientist and a loyal catholic. The borrowing of these ideas led him to a conclusion that the soul existed separately from the body. On the other hand, Humes had a completely different perception of the soul. His arguments are based on three different perceptions. First, he argues that there is no single evidence that showed that the soul existed separately from the body. He adds that if it is true that the soul exists, it cannot be generable and could exist before the body. He says that the miracles that people claim to be God accomplishments cannot be seen or be repeated in his presence, so that he can believe in them. The second argument relates to justice of deity where it would be questioned due to the nature of rewards, as well as punishments imposed on finite acts. The last argument is that there is no evidence of surviival and, therefore, such evidence is based on decay alterations. Thus, Humes asserted that he cannot believe in a higher power called God because His actions are unfathomable and beyond reason. He was exposed to the existence of the soul by reinforcing absence of evidence in proving the existence. Therefore, the major critique would presume a fact that their arguments about the soul are not supported by any substantial claims. The other matter of critique would be related to the relationship between the mind and the body. Descartes holds the view about such relationships while claiming that he is a thinking man. Therefore, the mind is supposed to reason and make choices, thereby, causing motion in the body. Plato and his theory of forms also focus on such relationships. He advocates that human beings should detach themselves from their bodies and the material world and concentrate on forms so as to perceive the world, which is open to change. Plato and Descartes, therefore, allude that the bodies in one way or another influence the way people think and see things. On the other hand, Humes believed that human reasoning derived from person's senses. He, therefore, insists that the mind conceive an effect that derives from a particular cause. He adds that the mind can only conceive what can be seen. Therefore, he emphasizes on ideas, impressions, and proof as the main concepts in thinking. The critique of Des cartes would be that the body is not connected with the reasoning process. However, there are various concepts that Descartes and Humes seem to agree. The first one is the idea of skepticism. Descartes assumes that most of the beliefs that a person holds are false and, therefore, asserts that for one to acquire the correct knowledge, he/she has to doubt almost everything. Humes builds his knowledge on this fact and argues that he cannot completely believe in a higher power as there is not enough proof of God's existence. Therefore, both philosophers are skeptics. Buy custom Humes Critique of Descartes and Plato essay

GDP of Russia (full topic follows) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

GDP of Russia (full topic follows) - Essay Example The paper will examine the various causes of the change in the GDP during this period. The effect of each cause on the Russian GDP will be examined both individually and collectively. The feasibility of developing a mechanism to test whether the identified factors are indeed critical will be examined in detail. The economic policy of the Russian government with special relevance to property rights, taxation, regulations regarding the entry of private players in various sectors including sectors like energy (which is a crucial aspect of the Russian national infrastructure) is also a crucial to the study of the Russian GDP level over the past decade. The establishment of a macroeconomic structure, the reform agenda of the government and its implementation by the Duma, the oil prices in the international market, the value of the Russian rouble during the period of the study is the other aspects which will have a bearing on the study (Korhonen 1998). We will cover the various sectors contributing to the Russian GDP in the next section, in this section; we will analyze the various types of expenditures which contribute to the GDP. The domestic consumption or the private consumption includes the expenditure incurred by a family on a recurring basis like food, rent, medicinal expenses etc. This is difficult to quantify (McKinsey Global Institute 1999). Next component is Capital investment, the hallmark of capital investment is that money is exchanged for either goods or services; another important hallmark is that after the exchange, there is no liability on the provider of the goods or services for repayment at a later stage (McKinsey Global Institute 1999). After having quantified the domestic and the private sector, it is essential to quantify the expenditure incurred by the government. As a rule it includes the salaries paid to the government servants and the expenses incurred by the government towards the infrastructure establ ishment. An important aspect to be borne in mind while estimating the GDP is that all expenditure which does not translate either into physical goods or services provided is not included into the GDP. This includes savings in banks, mutual funds, investments in stock markets etc (McKinsey Global Institute 1999). The final type of expenditure is the net exports. This is the net difference between the exports and imports of the country (World Bank 2002). The above model attempts to estimate GDP based on the expenditures, we can attempt to quantify the GDP based on the income generated by the economy. In this model, the various parameters of importance are the Gross Operating Surplus (GOS) calculated from the gross profits of the incorporated businesses, the Gross Mixed Income (GMI) which measures the gross profits of the various unincorporated businesses and finally the Compensation of Employees (COE) which measures the total compensation paid to all the workers in both the public and the private sectors. This sector also includes the contributions of the employers to the various social security schemes on behalf of their employees. The total of all these factors is an approximation of the total GDP quantified on the basis of the income model (World Bank 2002). Estimation of various Parameters of the Russian GDP It is important to establish the various param

Conversation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Conversation - Essay Example I had never thought that my grandmother had such a good memory. She would narrate of events that happened decades ago as if thy happened just yesterday. Her name is Cecelia Goddu. She is 90 years old, which is quite surprising since she still, looks and sounds very young. She started by telling me that she was born in South Dartmouth Massachusetts. I was surprised to learn that she had a twin sister called Hilda Rodrigues. This was something I had never known before. Their parents were Antonio and Dimantina Reis, both of whom were born in Azores, Portugal. This was another interesting piece of information I had never thought I had relatives outside United States. She continued to tell m how my ancestors ended up in United States. Antonio moved to United States where he became a prominent farmer after which he invited my great-grandmother whom she married. On Jun 23 1922, 90 years ago, my great-grandparents got twins whom they called Cecelia and Titia Hilda. They both had many children and the family grew large. My father is one of the grandchildren of Titia Hilda. It was interesting to have this wonderful discovery of my

Company Report (on KPMG) Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Company Report (on KPMG) - Coursework Example After the merge, there were disagreements on the name of the firm but in 1990 it was agreed to name the firm as KPMG Peat Marwick McLintock. This name was changed later in 1991 to KPMG Peat Marwick and remained so up to 1999 when the name was reduced to KPMG. The company has presence in various countries in the world. Every national KPMG firm is a separate independent legal entity and is a member of KPMG international cooperative (KPMG PEAT MARWICK, 1980). KPMG offers its services to various markets and industries. Its markets are classified into financial services; where advisory services are offered. It majors in capital management, credit crisis and balance sheet management. Second are Consumer and Industrial Markets; the company works in helping industries to solve challenges associated with changing business and industrial environment. Information, communications and entertainment marker is another great sector. The rapid changes in these sectors require rapid response. As a result, KPMG offer adequate advisory services on ways to cope with these changes. Governments provide the other market (KPMG, 1998). Every government in the globe works toward spurring economic growth. The company provides financial advice, performance improvement and programme management services to governments. KPMG is an international company with its international headquarters in Amstelveen, Netherlands. It has branches in various countries with more than 156 countries around the globe. The company’s global employee’s number total to more than 152000 exceptional professionals. The company’s chairman is in Hong Kong. KPMG offers various products to its clients. First, is auditing services; it offers auditing services to various companies over the globe. They provide audited financial reports and other attestations reports. Second are taxation services; in the current economic world companies outsource taxation services.

Teaching And Learning Problem Solving

Teaching And Learning Problem Solving Education nowadays has been criticized by different area and educators try to reform the ways of teaching and learning (Kirkley, 2003). Problem Solving defines as step to reaching the goal or desire state from where we are now ( Medin, Ross Markman, 2004). Kirkly (2003) stated that learner nowadays are short of basic literacy skill and higher order thinking. Basic literary skill is important to learn problem solving largely depend on basic literary skill ( Kirkly). If a learner cannot master basic literacy skill, things that able to represent will be less. As the rising of technology, higher problem solving skill on mathematics and science are needed. They found that students who not able to master literacy skills and cannot not learn and develop higher ordering skills and problem solving ( Kirkly, 2003). Problem solving that mainly can be found while study mathematics. However, Baron (2012) found that a lot of students face the difficulty to pass the test math no matter how much of tutoring, extra classes had given. In addition, not only college students face this kind of problem, children also face similar problem. Types of math problem that face by children is word math problem. Word math problem is type of math that uses English word to explain the question instead of using the equation to explain the questions that need students to be solved. As a teacher, they ways those mathematics teachers teach the next generation also one of the problem that need to discuss. In the old days, teacher only can provide few ways to teach student to solve the math problem. However, not all students have the skill to absorb teaching style on providing information, guideline to solve the question. Moreover, teacher style on teaching students in the few past decade may not be efficient or work on current generation. When a person learn how to solve a particular modal, it will become as a short cut as the person only need to remember the process of solving the problem from the beginning, it only apply on the similar problem that solve before( Kirkly,2003). One of the model that explain problem solving process is when individual doing a problem solving, their cognitive will start by representing the problem then do a solution search, finally implement the solution (Gick, 1986 as cited in Kirkly,2003). If a person successfully find a solution, their cognitive will stop there, conversely, they will redo the step searching solution and representing the problem if they fail to find the solution (Kirkly).When a similar problem is presented, it become short cut as a person cognitive will be able to recall and implement the solution by remembering how they solved similar problem before. Problem solving require a lot of abstract representation that the reason we need to master basic literacy skill. For example, when a learner trying solved a word math problem, learner need to understand the meaning of the word such as increase, product of, less than, equally pieces and others. Then they need to transfer into mathematics symbol and form an equation form to solve the problem. However, human cognitive not able to hold too much representation at the same time and human only able to remember three to seven items ( Medin et al., 2004). Different types of mathematics problem use different types of problem solving method. Types of problem solving method can categorized at algorithm and heuristics. Heuristic have three ways which is using hill climbing, mean ends analysis and working (Medin et al., 2004). For example, a mathematics question that asks how much plus three will be ten? A younger child might use algorithm technique test all the number in order to find the correct answer. As for older child, the will likely use working backward method to find the answer. There are a lot of solution that can be found in educations field. For example, teachers will let provide a lot of similar problem to let their learner or students to solve and in the end createshort cut thinking. By this students will notice the similarity of each problem and able to transfer their skills. This solution can be found in teaching mathematics skill. Students math textbook present a lot of solution to student as an example to solve the similar problem but broader schema that expert are actually use is not available to student (McAllister, 1995). Student dont know which and how is the appropriate first step to do when they faced a problem (McAllister,).Teacher who use explicit translation strategy (ETS ) found to be effective in solving math word problem (INQUIRE, 2008). Explicit translation strategy is to teach students how to translate concrete problem into mathematical equation(INQUIRE, 2008). Research also found that students who teach using the ETS and receive extra learning lesson are able to perform better than other group in the math problem solving that held two weeks later (Darch, Carnine Gersten, 1984). As stated above, students who want to develop problem solving skills need to master basic literacy skills well (Kirkly, 2003). Therefore students need to keep practice different types mathematics problem regularly. Then, students should be teaches by teacher who are expect, more important teachers should be able to provide different method to solve a problem and more complicate example when students able to solve basic mathematical problem. Extra learning material should be given to help students to learn the ability to transform the skill that students learn from other problem. Severin(2007) found students who be given change to learn different type of problem solving strategies able to help student to solve others problem. Technology item also can be use to helps teacher and student improves their problem solving a ability. Teacher can create a learning site and provide different types of fun, stories problem solving question to attract their interest and provide them change to do trial and error while they playing problem solving game while learning. This is because how much a student put effort while doing a math problem will have an effect on their success rate (Severin, 2007). In addition we also can use computer technology to help us in teaching because technology make easier for students to access more information. In the days that computer still not able to own by every family, information on solving a math problem only depend on the knowledge of the teacher. Now, students can asses and absorb more and more idea to solve a math problem. Conclusion, problem solving can be use in different field. By knowing how to teach and learn are the key to teach students and children to develop their problem solving better in the future.

Comparison of Two Versions of Cinderella: Grimm vs. Perrault Essay

A lot of the fairy tale stories that we have seen as young adults and even as adults are original folk tale stories that have been modified and rewritten to accommodate our new cultures. Cinderella happens to be one of these stories that have been changed over the years. There are many different versions of Cinderella, an African Cinderella, a Hungarian Cinderella and even a Chinese version. All of the Cinderella’s are similar in plot, but the author dictates the story’s theme based on the people whom he is writing for which completely changes the story’s tone, mood and other elements. While Perrault's version stresses the values and materialistic worries of his middle-class audience, Grimm’s' focus is on the harsh realities of life associated with the peasant culture. Perrault’s and Grimm’s Cinderella’s have the same plot, but their writing style is different which completely modifies the tale. The main things that changes the way a story is written is the audience, the author must be careful not say anything to offend the people he is writing for. Charles Perrault is a French man who used to write for the nobility and the middle class, so it is expected of him to write with a lighter tone to satisfy his dignified audience. He describes the pampered lifestyle of the two step sisters who put on their â€Å"gold-flowered cloak[s]† and their â€Å"diamond stomacher[s], which are far from being ordinary† (Perrault). He emphasizes the materialistic things that the step sisters posses and describes their wonderful, carefree world. The only concern of the step sisters is the prince’s ball, the girls were â€Å"wonderfully busy in selecting the gowns, petticoats, and hair dressing† (Perrault) that was the only thing they worried about throughout th... ...errault’s â€Å"Cinderella† and Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm’s â€Å"Ashputtle† both feature a young heroine who despite overwhelming obstacles manages to change the course of her life, and live happily ever after with her prince. Both of the stories have a similar plot, characters, and events, but it’s the moral lesson that modifies the two stories and makes them different. The audience also impacts the story and the way it is presented. There are many things that authors consider before writing their story, and all their concerns reflect on the story. Charles Perrault’s concern was his audience, and he made sure that it didn’t offend the upper class. The Grimm brothers were not concerned about the upper class because they wrote their tales for ordinary people and they had no worries of people getting upset. All their feelings about values and morals are expressed in â€Å"Ashputtle.†

Life is full of mystery Essay

Life is full of mystery that will lead us to one experience to another. There are hurtful experiences that we may want to forget but there are happy moments that will surely linger on our thoughts for many years. Allow me to narrate some of the many valuable experiences in my life. The succeeding pages will tell you how blessed and lucky I am as a person in this world. Through the years of my life, I came to know about various people who provided a great impact on my personality and beliefs. It narrates of my experiences about school, family, friendship, acquaintances and discoveries in life. The journey towards one’s success can be measured about the priceless moments that will always remain in mind, heart and soul. I can say that my personal and professional experience made me a better person who is willing to accept more memorable experience to come. Gaze upon the following pages of this booklet and be enchanted about my rollercoaster kind of life. It made me the person that I am now and an individual that will face the future with full optimist. At the end of the day, I always contemplate on things that have happened and ask myself what I have done so far. The contentment that I feel each time I remember gives me enough courage to move on and seek for more adventure in the future. One will never find his/her way forward if he/she never knows how to look back. Yesterday will always be a part of our personality and I can say that life will be meaningless if I was not given the chance to experience the following stories. Memories with Mother Life is best shared with people whom you trust most. As I look back and recall my childhood days, I cannot help but compare the love and care that I receive from my beloved mother. She is one of the most precious gift that God has given me. From the day I was born until I learn how to walk and talk, she is always by my side and never gets tired of giving me the attention and patience that I need most. There was a point in my life that I always get bruised and injured from playing outside. I end up running home with tears on my eyes. But as the door opens for me, Mother is always there giving me the best hug and warm kisses that will cast all my pains away. She reminds me that I should never be depressed from getting those bruises since it will make me a stronger and better person when I grew up. At first I though that I should take that word literally since wound are healed as days goes by and I cannot feel any pain from it. As I grow up and experience having problems about life, school and many more, I came to realize that there is a deeper meaning behind those bruises and it effect on my personality. I clearly remember how I gain problems more serious that getting injured. I get depressed and frustrated by getting low grades but I eventually learn from my mistakes and studies harder than before. Mother’s words of wisdom are priceless because it speaks of courage and confidence about my personality. My perception about bruises and being stronger are changed because as I mature, I realize that life is full of problems that may cause wounds to people but once they recover they will be more stronger and confident than before. As days goes by I will always remember the bountiful encouragements that mother always told me.

Does God Exist Essay

In this busy world where almost everything is explained by Science and evidence, no one seems to bother questioning the existence of God. They are either apathetic or simply decided to be atheists or agnostics. Many people, especially the youth, are apathetic. They would rather preoccupy themselves with the newest game of Playstation 3, Hollywood blockbuster movies, sexy music videos of Paris Hilton, sports car, and other more exciting things. Topics of religion and faith are none of their businesses for these are the problems of the priests, pastors, and other faith defenders. They believe that they are too young to care and the important thing is that they do belong to a certain religion, attend some religious obligations, and those would be enough and will serve as â€Å"tickets† to their salvation. But do they understand what they are doing? Do they know what God they are worshipping to? Do they really reflect if they really want the religion they’re into, or they just go with the flow? Others would simply negate that there is a God. These are the atheists. They do not believe in a Supreme Being who creates and controls everything simply because they do not want to. Then, there are those who play safe, the agnostics. They do not confirm nor deny the existence of God just because no one can prove both arguments. Another belief is that of Scientology. Their stand is the only things that are true in this world are those, which can be explained by Science and supported by evidences. Obviously, they do not have a God. The question now is what do we get with these different views. What happens if we believe in God or not? Are we free from the sufferings of this world if we chose to believe in Him? The answer is no. Mr.  Tom Cruise, who is in Scientology, seems to get all the luck in the world even if he does not believe in God. Mother Theresa of Calcutta, who devoted her life caring for the unfortunate, suffered and died as a poor nun. Has she changed the lives of the poor she took cared of? No. The Philippines, a Catholic country, belongs to the Third World where people die of hunger, experience heinous crimes, and suffer from poverty. On the other hand, parts of Europe and United States, where religion and faith seem to be buried under material aspirations, are among the 1st World countries. Ironically, those who have deep faith are the ones who bear all the cruelties in this world, while those who do not have been quite lucky. How unfair life is, isn’t it? But our religious leaders are ready for their standard answers – â€Å"Better suffer here on earth! The more you suffer, the greater the reward awaiting for you in your after life! † So, let’s all suffer despite our goodness. Isn’t it logical? One day a child asked me if there’s a God and I said yes. Then, she asked again why could not she see Him? I couldn’t simply tell her to close her eyes, just have faith, and believe for this won’t answer her question. I couldn’t just tell her that I have Master Yoda’s â€Å"Force† with me and she should believe it. I have to show it to her and let her feel it. I have to give her something that she would understand. It was not the atheists or agnostics, who are closed to the fact that God exists I had to convince, it was a curious girl wanting to know God’s existence. I have to give her a logical explanation for all of these. St. Thomas Aquinas offered 5 reasonable ways to prove God’s existence. First, he believes that there has to be an â€Å"Unmoved Mover. † At this point, I picked up a stone and threw it away. Then, I asked the girl if who made the stone moved. She eagerly replied, â€Å"You! † I said she was very smart. Then I asked her again who moved me to pick up the stone and threw it. She replied, â€Å"God? † The first argument of St. Thomas has 3 basic facts – one, that nothing can move itself; two, if an object is dependent on another in order for it to move, then the first object in motion also needed a mover; and three, the first mover should be unmoved, and this could be God. Tired of walking, we sat on a wooden bench. I asked the girl if she knew the maker of that beautiful bench, the replied she made was it’s the carpenter. I then asked her if she had an idea who made the carpenter. She frowned and whispered, â€Å"his parents? † Again, I asked her who made the carpenter’s parents’ ancestors? Isn’t it God? St. Aquinas’ second way is the causation of existence. He believes that there must have been an â€Å"Uncaused First Cause† who created everything and began the chain of existence. Related to this is St. Aquinas’ 3rd way or the â€Å"contingent and necessary beings. A bench is a contingent being made by wood that came from a tree; man planted that, and who was created by whom? There must be something/someone at the end who created all contingents. St. Thomas Aquinas believes that every contingent being should be dependent form a necessary being for them to exist and that there must exist a being which is necessary to cause contingent beings – this could be God. The small girl looked perplexed with all of the explanations I was giving her. I diverted her attention by asking him to compare Mr. Brad Pitt and Mr. Tom Cruise, of which of the two were more handsome. She immediately replied, â€Å"Brad Pitt! † I then told her that even if Mr. Pitt has a slight edge over Mr. Cruise, there has to be someone more handsome than Pitt or this may even be the most handsome of all handsome. This is the gradient of beauty or perfection. One has to be compared to another that may have more or less. And this is the 4th way of St. Thomas, the â€Å"argument from degrees of perfection. † He believes that there are grades or degrees of perfection and that there must be a perfect standard by which all qualities are measured and compared with, this could be God. While resting, I asked her if she has been taught in her school about the different human systems, i. e. circulatory, nervous, digestive, and others. She said no. I asked then how about symbiotic relationships, photosynthesis, and formation of clouds, which she again had no knowledge in. But she said that she knew where the food goes after it was eaten. Then, I asked her if she was not perplexed by how systematic nature works. It is easier to accept that there must be an â€Å"Intelligent Engineer† who planned all of these rather than these were all products of a big explosion. St. Thomas last way talks about an â€Å"Intelligent Designer†, someone or something must have done these, and this could be God. I am not sure if all of my explanations were enough for the girl to believe in God, but what I have presented, based on St. Aquinas’ 5 Ways, were all basics in life. We experience them daily. These are evidences just enough to convince ourselves that someone or something must be in control, caused things, and moved things. This someone may be the creator of everything, including love, happiness, pain, and suffering. These logical evidences may be still absorbed by a child, but not for atheists. Non-believers would argue that, granting there is a God, who is all-powerful, all good, and all knowing, why does he let certain things happen. Why does he let the plane with a suicide bomber inside to land in the World Trade Center killing a lot of innocent people? If Superman, a fictional character, can stop a plane from crashing, so why cannot this Someone who is omnipotent? If this Someone is all good, why can he let this happen? If he’s all-knowing, then he knew that it was bound to happen and he didn’t do anything to prevent it. I cannot personally provide an answer to all of these doubts that are sufficient for them to believe. But what I do believe is that maybe, crimes like this, were part of the â€Å"master plan† of the Intelligent Designer. † Maybe, what is â€Å"perfect† for him is different from our own concept here on earth. Every abstract painting must look chaotic and one cannot figure it out easily. But when you see its meaning, you begin to appreciate and treat it as an art. Maybe, this is really what life should be. Probably, the beauty of life includes sufferings, cruelties, chaos, and other unacceptable facts. Relative to why God allowed such crime to happen, I believe that He is just respecting the law of nature. He created man to be intelligent and free, thus, he has all the freedom to do whatever he wants to. But of course, in every action there is a consequence, and man should face that. If he decided to eat more then he’ll have himself full and a possibility of stomach ache. The same goes with killing. If one wants to take others lives into his own hands then he can. But this act does not differentiate man from animals or other lower beings. An additional feature was given by the Intelligent Designer exclusive to man, which is conscience. After we knew the rightness or wrongness of an act, we have this conscience if we feel we have done something wrong. That’s the way it is, that’s human nature. And God respects it. God does not want the plane to crash, the suicide bomber wanted it. God, maybe, allowed it for He has a greater plan and there’s something good coming from that crime. The crash was terrible, people died, but it made Americans pray hard at least for a day. It caused them to unite to fight against terrorism. It caused them their humility that they do not control their lives even though their powerful. Proving God’s existence is almost impossible if you’re convincing an atheist or an agnostic. But it is not our duties to force others to believe in each of our own faiths. There are so much complexities in a religion, whether its Catholic, Moslem, Scientology, or even Atheists. Perpetual debates are heard daily claiming that their religion is the legitimate one, often times causing a fight between its pastors. But we tend to forget the basic and primal fact of being a human, which is to cause harmony to all mankind. Being human is to show love, respect, and service to everyone. I think in the end, when we face our Creator, religion would not be our only pass to salvation, but on how many lives we inspired and changed for the betterment of the world. Aren’t we tired of proving God’s existence? People spend a lot of time and resources looking for evidences of His existence just to correlate Science and Faith. Yes, there are unexplainable things such as violence, crimes, cruelties, and other unfairness of this world, that cast doubts to His existence, but we still manage to live. There is still air to breathe, food to eat, and water to drink. We don’t need a grand miracle of dead people rising to life and water turning into wine. Miracles happen daily from the moment we wake up and live for another day. It is not God who should prove His existence to us because it is obvious thru the wonders of this world. It is we, man, who should prove our existence to Him. Let us prove to Him that despite the materialistic and busy world we live in, human goodness still exists.

Winslow Homer essays

Winslow Homer essays Winslow Homer is regarded by many as one of North America's best painters. His work was enjoyed in the late 1800's and is still popular today. Winslow's use of colour, perspective, and subject matter is still intriguing. Winslow Homer was born in Boston, Massachusetts on February 24, 1836 and was the first of four children in his family. In 1842, his family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Winslow became an apprentice to a lithographer, J.H. Bufford. After he completed his apprenticeship in 1854, he left home to become a free lance illustrator. In 1859, Homer moved to New York and became a student at the National Academy of Design in New York City. There he studied painting with Fredric Rondel. Later he covered Abraham Lincoln's inauguration, and visited the Potomac outside of Washington in October, until 1862. In 1862, Winslow Homer attended a campaign in Virginia, were he painted his first oil paintings. These would be the first of many that would make him famous. For two years, he made trips to the Civil War front where he produced paintings and illustrations. These paintings were of soldiers, horses, and prisoners. Instead of painting scenes of fighting during the war, he painted the casual times, which was unique to the other paintings of the painters at that time. After the war paintings, he went to France to paint the countryside, and to Paris, until 1867, when he came back with prisoners from the front. From 1868 to 1870, he visited the White Mountains in New Hampshire and the Adirondack Mountains painting wilderness scenes. Most of these paintings included wildlife, hunters, and hunts. Winslow spent most of his time doing these types of paintings. In 1872, he moved to Tenth Street Studios in New York to paint privately. That following summer in Gloucester, Massachusetts he did his first water colour series and engravings of the seaside. Two years later, he did his last illustrations for Harper's Week...

Analysis of grammatical structures Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analysis of grammatical structures - Assignment Example Using metaphors and personification The grammatical dissemination of sentential structure explores metaphorical development. This extension is fully explored by complementing the domain discourse evidently demonstrated in the extract. â€Å"Blocked out the July sunlight in a small dark room that smelt of ashtrays and disappointment† July sunlight represents a correlative construction of a noun and the sentence is also personified†¦ dark room that smelt of ashtrays. These two contingent structures propel the image of the sentence and provide the complex extension of the two-part sentence. The sentence path undertakes subsequent proceeding with initial reaction of non-standard English being meaningfully applied. The prerequisite of the metaphor offers systematic reduction of the actual meaning of the sentence and it creates the typical grammatical category needed to vaguely generate completeness in the domain of space and time. The noun established in the passage also defines typical grammatical inconsistencies. The language is quantified and it hosts critical path which is rationed in order to reduce subsequent link between the relative statements and the positives of the language. Yet grammatically the provision for categorizing the noun is equally determined by the actions relative to Scott’s personal speech and the referential functions. Ideally, these sentences are consistent with the works of Joan et al, (1994) and Bernard, (1996). For the constrained sentences, the specific modifications are relevantly ideal and the constructs of the

Honor Killing by Stoning Innocent yet Inconvenient Essay

Honor Killing by Stoning Innocent yet Inconvenient - Essay Example The nature of the crime seems to have involved a lot of ideologies. Soraya Manutchehri, who was thirty five years of age by then, happened to have been the victim talked about in this case. Not to forget is that she was also a mother of seven. She was considered an â€Å"inconvenient wife† due to her own prophetic words (Sahebjam, 2011). This came about after she was forced into a marriage at a tender age of thirteen and was left with no choice but to get married to a trivial criminal by the name Ghorban –Ali. Soraya who got married to a twenty year old man, managed to bear nine children despite the kind of tribulations she went through (Ebert, 2011). Her husband being a criminal did all sorts of evil things that made her life uncomfortable but still made no move fore she had no powers having been forced by some external powers or ideologies that she could not run away from (Muchelemba, 2003). In the lawless days of the Iranian revolution, Sorayas husband found a fourte en year old girl who he was planning to marry having met her in a town where he was employed as a prison guard (Sahebjam, 1994). Being that polygamy was encouraged in Ayatolla Khomeini’s Iran, Ghorban had to find ways of divorcing her first wife Soraya as he was tired of her (Saigeon & Sapergia, 2009). Divorce was also allowed but Ghorban did not want to return Soraya’s dowry (Saigeon, 2011). Due to this, he was left with no other alternative but to accuse Soraya of infidelity. The accusation was backed by Ghorban’s cousin even though he did not have any evidence to support his back up (Green, 1920). Soraya after the accusations was convicted by the â€Å"sharia† court and had to serve a death sentence by stoning (Green, 1920). The village or nation did not practice freedom of speech especially to the feminine. Existence of freedom of speech could have helped Soraya out of the mess. The idea of free speech is one of the most controversial issues in libera l societies and in case the liberty to express oneself is not greatly valued, as has been the case in most states, there is no problem since freedom of expression is merely condensed in errand of other values. When free speech is valued extremely it becomes a variable issue due to the fact that it is only at this point when the precincts placed upon freedom of speech become contentious. The right to free speech is one of the dearest rights an individual has as a citizen of the United States of America and is also practiced in other continents including Africa. Liberty to speech is a human right that provides people with a chance to express their feelings and opinions of what they think that it should take place. Throughout history such rights have been questioned and exercised, and have produced extremely positive things in a number of cases. The questioning of these rights is not isolated to one era of time; they have been questioned several times in the history of man and in dissi milar manner. Currently, individuals have been going on rampage on the roads and streets usually complaining about the right to speech and this was the case even in the colonial era hence it is very important to put into mind individuals wished that their voice should be heard and so long as it is carried out in a diplomatic mode it became lawful, though it led to colonialists’ punishment. It is true that people have never queried whether or not these rights