Does God Really Exist Essays - Religion, Conceptions Of God

Does God Really Exist? 3-1-00 3'rd Quarter Essay I do not believe God exists. I have many reasons why I think that there is no God. One of my many reasons is that there is no way that one man could have created the earth that we are living in today. The Bible is just one big made up story, and who created God if there is a God? If you think about it, ?God? did not create this earth. How can one man create this earth that we are living on today? That is impossible. Then there is the Bible. The Bible is just one big book with a bunch of stories that are totally bunk. Someone had to sat down and make up all those stories, because how could anybody keep up on the Bible for thousands and thousands of years? The stories in there had to have gotten mixed up. My last theory on why I think that God does not exist is if there is a God, then who created God? There had to have been some other God or something like that to make him the chosen one. Think about it. All in all, I hope that all of my thoughts on whether God exists or not got you to think about whether he does or does not. My three points are: about creating this earth, the Bible being just one big made up story, and if there is a God then who created God gave me the opinion that I have today. Word Count = 274 Religion

Why Women Put Up With Spousal Abuse †Sociology Essay Paper

Why Women Put Up With Spousal Abuse – Sociology Essay Paper Free Online Research Papers Question: Write a well-reasoned essay in which you set forth seven reasons abused wives â€Å"put up with† wife abuse. If you list the reasons, be sure that for each you include enough information to make it clear that you are thoroughly familiar with the â€Å"reason why.† Answer: Women who are abused as wives put up with the abuse for many reasons. One such reason is the fear they have for their husband. Women may be afraid their husband will kill them if they try to leave the marriage. According to the textbook â€Å"An estimated 75 percent of murders of women by their male partners occurred in response to the woman’s attempt to leave.† This means there is a very good reason for this fear, because the facts prove that the terror exists. Another reason women put up with abusive marriages is the cultured norm or norms that exist in our society. The textbook states â€Å"our cultural tradition historically has encouraged women to put up with abuse.† It also states that by English common law a man’s wife is his property and he could physically keep her in line if she stepped out. While these laws no longer exist, the ideas do still exist and even though the laws have changed, the tradition continues to live and be practiced to some extent. Women also stay in physically abusive marriages because of love and hopes for reform. A wife may think she can change her husband’s behavior if she loves him enough or gives him enough support. She also may feel that if she really loves him she should stay with him. By staying with a husband who is abusive, a wife may feel she is showing her true love for him. It’s easy to sit back and see how this is a crazy idea but loves makes the people involved do strange things. Economic dependence is in my opinion the strongest reason women stay with abusive husbands. I think this because all of the other reasons involve a mental aspect that could be overcome with counseling and other support, but if a woman cannot support herself and especially her children, then all the counseling or support in the world won’t do much good. A wife may feel she cannot support herself and her children without her husband. In many situations, this feeling may be unfortunately true. So the wife decides that staying with her abusive husband is an equitable exchange for the monetary support he provides her and/or her children. Another reason for a woman staying with an abusive husband is her childhood experience. The textbook reads â€Å"Research suggests that people who experience violence in the parents’ home while growing up may have an increased tolerance for violence and regard beatings as part of married life.† The textbook also says that women who were abused as children have a higher tendency to attach themselves to abusive men. This eludes to the idea of the never ending cycle of abuse, which reminds me of song lyrics written by Maynard James Keenan from a song that is about the cycles of abuse. The lyrics go like this: â€Å"Thought I could make it end Thought I could take the pain away Thought I could break the circle if I Slipped right into your skin So sweet was your surrender We have become one I have become my terror And you my precious lamb and martyr† Gender roles set up by society, or gendered socialization also can provide reasons for an abused wife staying with her husband. The textbook describes this by saying â€Å"women accept the cultural mandate that it is primarily their responsibility to keep their marriage from failing.† By believing this, a wife feels that she is responsible for the relationship, both her actions and her husband’s. It is this belief that leads her to think she should be able to fix the situation. If she cannot then in societies mind and possibly her own she is a failure. So she might stay and give it her best shot, which almost never works out. Low self-esteem, which seems to be a cause for so many problems, also contributes a cause to the problem of abused wives remaining with their husbands. This causes a woman to place the blame for her husband’s actions on herself. When combined with fear, depression, confusion, anxiety, and other negative emotions, low self-esteem in an abusive relationship helps create the battered woman syndrome. According to the textbook, the battered woman syndrome makes the wife feel â€Å"incapable of making any change.† Of course if a person thinks there can be no change, there won’t be, especially if you consider another quote from the textbook that is especially disturbing. The textbook says that â€Å"heterosexual men go in (to get help or counseling for their abuse) because they’re court-mandated,† not on their own will or want to change. So if the woman doesn’t force the change, it won’t happen, and the battered woman syndrome defeats a lmost all hope for change. Research Papers on Why Women Put Up With Spousal Abuse - Sociology Essay PaperPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenThe Fifth HorsemanAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementHonest Iagos Truth through Deception19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraHip-Hop is ArtCapital Punishment

Religious Tolerance and Hindu Rituals Assignment

Religious Tolerance and Hindu Rituals - Assignment Example This is often not the road that is taken and misconceptions are often allowed to turn people against certain religions and beliefs. Ignorance regarding religions is most often the reason for people’s antagonistic attitudes in relation to people of other faiths. This paper shall look at a religious ceremony of Hinduism and reassess a few ideas about the religion that were proven to be misconceptions after it. Religions like Hinduism are often considered to be similar to or even perceived as variations of Satanism. This is the result of various misconceptions that arise out of religious intolerance in people of other religions (Robinson, 2006). People of other religions tend to think of Hinduism as a religion where idols are worshipped in a very simple manner. This is however, not true. According to the ceremony that I attended, which was to worship the Goddess Durga, an idol is what the Goddess reveals herself as to the devotee. The goddess assumes the form that the true devote e wishes to see her in and this becomes a symbol of the love that God holds for the true devotee. The importance of this can be seen in the care and devotion with which the statue of Durga is made before the festival of Durga Puja begins (Durga Puja Preparation, n.d.). Apart from the philosophical and theological reasons that are offered for this form of worship, it also allows the devotees to converge at a particular spot. It enables people to understand the fact that Hinduism is not a religion but a culture that is a part of a society of people. It is not a compendium of rules regarding conduct and worship. This is evident from the fact that there is no single text that is considered to be the most important one. No person is considered to have laid the foundations of this religion either (Das, n.d.). All of these factors combine to transform Hinduism into a culture of a society rather than a conventional religion. The worship of idols and the use of music are factors that cause p eople to conceptualize of Hinduism as a religion that is a mystic one that is similar to orientalist conceptions that Western Civilization holds about the Indian subcontinent. This is however, not true. The music and the idol, apart from being symbols of social togetherness and a shared culture, also enable people to concentrate their minds on the idea of god. This can be done through an immersion into the atmosphere that is created by the combination of the different aspects of the festival. The ritual turns the festival into an opportunity for people to connect with god. A large part of Indian music is non-secular and this results in the fact that it is a part of the Durga Puja. Investing all of one’s attention in the idol of Durga enables the devotee to dissolve his existence into a union with the Goddess. The idol thus serves the practical purpose of giving the devotee an object to focus his or her attention on (Jayaram, n.d.). My understanding of Hinduism was radically a ltered after the ceremony as many of the common misconceptions concerning the religion were proven to be false following it. The deep philosophical tenets and the practical side of the religion were exposed during the ceremony and this led to a change in the perceptions regarding the religion and its practices. The social aspect of the religion also changed my perception regarding it as it enabled me to place it in a context where it is a part of everyday life. Misconceptions regarding