Thursday, October 31, 2019

M6A2 Leadership and Ethics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

M6A2 Leadership and Ethics - Assignment Example Implementation Plan The first step of the implementation plan would include the depiction of the ethical issues related to the company (i.e. Tesco). One of the prime ethical issues that the company is facing is regarding coming up with misleading advertisement. It has been observed from the previously conducted analysis that the company showed price cuts for it’s certain products but in reality they had intended to increase their sales through the reduction of price of disliked products and increase in price of the accepted items. This is also considered as one of the ethical issues of the company. It has been further recognized that in order to deal with such issues proper leadership guidance would be quite vital. A leader is a person who would be held responsible for the entire performance of the group (Northouse, 2010). Thus, it is vital that a company should have leaders with appropriate characteristics so that they can handle varying as well as unpredictable situations wi th utmost effectiveness. In this regard, it has been noticed that transformational style of leadership model would be quite appropriate. It has been learnt that this type of leader would enhance motivation and morale of the employees. These would further include enhancing a sense of identity and responsibility of the employees so that they can work effectively by keeping in consideration the ethical aspects (Simic, 1998). The first step a leader should follow with regard to solving any ethical dilemma would be to analyze the concerned issue of the company from different perspectives. He/she first needs to understand about who would be affected the most by such ethical issues. It can be said that the issue mentioned above is immoral as well as illegal. Leader would have to take the responsibility or the accountability of the entire situation. It can easily depict that the whole issue generally take place mainly because it is overlooked when it was actually taking place. The leader ha s a big role to play with regard to tackling these issues. He/she would have to instruct the employees of the company about how these issues could harm the reputation of the company in the long run. It also needs to be discussed by the leader that customers are the sole reason for the success of any business. Hence, it is highly unethical to mislead or cheat customers with such advertisements as they are the biggest asset of the company (McLeod, 2007). He/she would also need to form a set of ethical code of conducts and encourage all the employees to follow the same. These the issues could be resolved by the leader with transformational leadership characteristics. Contingency Plan The contingency plan could be considered as a substitute of the implementation plan. This would be implemented if the first plan fails to create an impact. In this plan, a leader with strict personality would be taken into consideration. In this regard, an autocratic leader can be considered to take the le ad. He/she would need to be quite severe in their conduct. The leader should aim to complete a particular task mostly through negative motivation. He/she would also need to maintain a close supervision on the ethical conducts of the employees. High Penalties would be imposed on employees who are caught following any unethical practices that can ultimately harm the reputation of the organization. This approach could be considered negative but it is mostly observed to be effective (Daft, 2008).

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

International Students challenges in the US Essay

International Students challenges in the US - Essay Example Most of the students especially those from Middle East can rarely spell even an English single sentence without faltering, becoming very difficult to communicate and relate with other students in class. They therefore ends forming the groups according to the language they understands promoting the negative art of discrimination. It even becomes more difficult for them to ask or even answer a question in class for fear of misunderstanding from their fellow students. â€Å"Jumping into these conversations is a challenge for some international students. They might be uncomfortable speaking English† (Lipson 31).Most of them got very funny accent such that whenever they say something the class busts into a laughter making them feel inferior in anything they do. Language barrier also creates a wall between those students and the Professor who they also fear speaking with considering he or she is the master. These students are forced to learn English as an additional unit so as to en hance their communication skills, and therefore ending up wasting time. This is the only solution in order to write and express their view points in term papers, class work and research. Others who have studied English before are always in a better position although some have to master English in order to learn the academic rules understood in USA (Lisbon 36). Getting used to the culture and beliefs in the new environment an issue affecting them. Religious and cultural beliefs differ from one country to another and an international student in US may encounter difficulties in the process of accepting the change. Take for example a Libyan male student who believes that women are tools of house chores forced to accept that the ratio of professionals’ jobs from men to women is 53:47.There are even other cultures which do not believe friendship between male and females yet in US it their culture. International student must couple with this new style so as to be on the

Sunday, October 27, 2019

The Creation of God and the Universe

The Creation of God and the Universe Does God really exist? How can we know? If God made everything, who made God? In our everyday experience, just about everything seems to have a beginning. In fact, the laws of science show that even things which look the same through our lifetime, like the sun and other stars, are running down. The sun is using up its fuel at millions of tons each second. Since, therefore, it cannot last forever, it had to have a beginning. The same can be shown to be true for the entire universe. So when Christians claim that the God of the Bible created the entire universe, some will ask what seems a logical question, namely â€Å"Where did God come from?† The Bible makes it clear in many places that God is outside of time. He is eternal, with no beginning or end—He is infinite! He also knows all things, being infinitely intelligent. Is this logical? Can modern science allow for such a notion? And how could you recognize the evidence for an intelligent Creator? The existence of God is taken for granted in the Bible. There is nowhere any argument to prove it. He who disbelieves this truth is spoken of as one devoid of understanding . The arguments generally adduced by theologians in proof of Gods existence are: The a priori argument, which is the testimony afforded by reason. The a posteriori argument, by which we proceed logically from the facts of experience to causes. These arguments are: The cosmological, by which it is proved that there must be a First Cause of all things, for every effect must have a cause. The teleological, or the argument from design. We see everywhere the operations of an intelligent Cause in nature. The moral argument, called also the anthropological argument, based on the moral consciousness and the history of mankind, which exhibits a moral order and purpose which can only be explained on the supposition of the existence of God. Conscience and human history testify that â€Å"verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.† Matthew G. Easton How to recognize intelligence Scientists get excited about finding stone tools in a cave because these speak of intelligence—a tool maker. They could not have designed themselves. Neither would anyone believe that the carved Presidents heads on Mt. Rushmore were the product of millions of years of chance erosion. We can recognize design—the evidence of the outworkings of intelligence—in the man-made objects all around us. Similarly, in William Paleys famous argument, a watch implies a watchmaker.Today, however, a large proportion of people, including many leading scientists, believe that all plants and animals, including the incredibly complex brains of the people who make watches, motor cars, etc., were not designed by an intelligent God but rather came from an unintelligent evolutionary process. But is this a defensible position? Design in living things Molecular biologist Dr. Michael Denton, writing as an agnostic, concluded: Alongside the level of ingenuity and complexity exhibited by the molecular machinery of life, even our most advanced [twentieth century technology appears] clumsy. It would be an illusion to think that what we are aware of at present is any more than a fraction of the full extent of biological design. In practically every field of fundamental biological research ever-increasing levels of design and complexity are being revealed at an ever-accelerating rate. The world-renowned crusader for Darwinism and atheism, Prof. Richard Dawkins, states: We have seen that living things are too improbable and too beautifully â€Å"designed† to have come into existence by chance. Thus, even the most ardent atheist concedes that design is all around us. To a Christian, the design we see all around us is totally consistent with the Bibles explanation that God created all. However, evolutionists like Dawkins reject the idea of a Designer. He comments (emphasis added): All appearance to the contrary, the only watchmaker in nature is the blind forces of physics, albeit deployed in a very special way. A true watchmaker has foresight: he designs his cogs and springs, and plans their interconnections, with future purpose in his minds eye. Natural selection, the blind, unconscious, automatic process which Darwin discovered, and which we now know is the explanation for the existence and apparently purposeful form of all life, has no purpose in mind†¦ It has no mind†¦ It does not plan for the future†¦ it is the blind watchmaker. Selection and design Life is built on information, contained in that molecule of heredity, DNA. Dawkins believes that natural selectionand mutations (blind, purposeless copying mistakes in this DNA) together provide the mechanism for producing the vast amounts of information responsible for the design in living things. Natural selection is a logical process that can be observed. However, selection can only operate on the information already contained in genes—it does not produce new information.distinct kinds of animals and plants, each to reproduce after its own kind. One can observe great variation in a kind,and see the results of natural selection. For instance, dingoes, wolves and coyotes have developed over time as a result of natural selection operating on the information in the genes of the wolf/dog kind. But no new information was produced—these varieties have resulted from rearrangement, and sorting out, of the information in the original dog kind. One kind has never been observed to change into a totally different kind with new information that previously did not exist! Without a way to increase information, natural selection will not work as a mechanism for evolution. Evolutionists agree with this, but they believe that mutations somehow provide the new information for natural selection to act upon. Can mutations produce new information? Actually, it is now clear that the answer is no! Dr. Lee Spetner, a highly qualified scientist who taught information and communication theory at Johns Hopkins University, makes this abundantly clear in his recent book: In this chapter Ill bring several examples of evolution, [i.e., instances alleged to be examples of evolution] particularly mutations, and show that information is not increased But in all the reading Ive done in the life-sciences literature, Ive never found a mutation that added information. All point mutations that have been studied on the molecular level turn out to reduce the genetic information and not to increase it. The NDT [neo-Darwinian theory] is supposed to explain how the information of life has been built up by evolution. The essential biological difference between a human and a bacterium is in the information they contain. All other biological differences follow from that. The human genome has much more information than does the bacterial genome. Information cannot be built up by mutations that lose it. A business cant make money by losing it a little at a time. Evolutionary scientists have no way around the conclusions that many scientists, including Dr. Spetner, have come to. Mutations do not work as a mechanism to fuel the evolutionary process. [For further information, see: Can genetic mutations produce positive changes in living creatures? Answer] More problems! Scientists have found that within the cell, there are thousands of what can be called biochemical machines. All of their parts have to be in place simultaneously or the cell cant function. Things which were thought to be simple mechanisms, such as being able to sense light and turn it into electrical impulses, are in fact highly complicated. Since life is built on these machines, the idea that natural processes could have made a living system is untenable. Biochemist Dr. Michael Behe uses the term irreducible complexity in describing such biochemical machines. †¦systems of horrendous, irreducible complexity inhabit the cell. The resulting realization that life was designed by an intelligence is a shock to us in the twentieth century who have gotten used to thinking of life as the result of simple natural laws. But other centuries have had their shocks, and there is no reason to suppose that we should escape them. Richard Dawkins recognizes this problem of needing machinery to start with when he states: The theory of the blind watchmaker is extremely powerful given that we are allowed to assume replication and hence cumulative selection. But if replication needs complex machinery, since the only way we know for complex machinery ultimately to come into existence is cumulative selection, we have a problem. A problem indeed! The more we look into the workings of life, the more complicated it gets, and the more we see that life could not arise by itself. Not only is a source of information needed, but the complex machines of the chemistry of life need to be in existence right from the start! A greater problem still! Some still try to insist that the machinery of the first cell could have arisen by pure chance. For instance, they say, by randomly drawing alphabet letters in sequence from a hat, sometimes you will get a simple word like BAT.So given long time periods, why couldnt even more complex information arise by chance? However, what would the word BAT mean to a German or Chinese speaker? The point is that an order of letters is meaningless unless there is a language convention and a translation system in place which makes it meaningful! In a cell, there is such a system (other molecules) that makes the order on the DNA meaningful. DNA without the language/translation system is meaningless, and these systems without the DNA wouldnt work either. The other complication is that the translation machinery which reads the order of the letters in the DNA is itself specified by the DNA! This is another one of those machines that needs to be fully-formed or life wont work. Can information arise from non-information? Dr. Werner Gitt, Director and Professor at the German Federal Institute of Physics and Technology, makes it clear that one of the things we know absolutely for sure from science, is that information cannot arise from disorder by chance. It always takes (greater) information to produce information, and ultimately information is the result of intelligence: A code system is always the result of a mental process (it requires an intelligent origin or inventor) It should be emphasized that matter as such is unable to generate any code. All experiences indicate that a thinking being voluntarily exercising his own free will, cognition, and creativity, is required. There is no known natural law through which matter can give rise to information, neither is any physical process or material phenomenon known that can do this. What is the source of the information? We can therefore deduce that the huge amount of information in living things must originally have come from an intelligence, which had to have been far superior to ours, as scientists are revealing every day. But then, some will say that such a source would have to be caused by something with even greater information/intelligence. However, if they reason like this, one could ask where this greater information/intelligence came from? And then where did that one come from . one could extrapolate to infinity, for ever, unless . Unless there was a source of infinite intelligence, beyond our finite understanding. But isnt this what the Bible indicates when we read, In the beginning God .? The God of the Bible is an infinite being not bound by limitations of time, space, knowledge, or anything else. So which is the logically defensible position?—that matter eternally existed (or came into existence by itself for no reason), and then by itself arranged itself into information systems against everything observed in real science? Or that a being with infinite intelligence,created information systems for life to exist, agreeing with real science? The answer seems obvious, so why dont all intelligent scientists accept this? Michael Behe answers: Many people, including many important and well-respected scientists, just dont want there to be anything beyond nature. They dont want a supernatural being to affect nature, no matter how brief or constructive the interaction may have been. In other words . they bring an a priori philosophical commitment to their science that restricts what kinds of explanations they will accept about the physical world. Sometimes this leads to rather odd behavior. The crux of the matter is this: If one accepts there is a God who created us, then that God also owns us. He thus has a right to set the rules by which we must live. In the Bible, He has revealed to us that we are in rebellion against our Creator. Because of this rebellion called sin, our physical bodies are sentenced to death—but we will live on, either with God, or without Him in a place of judgment. But the good news is that our Creator provided, through the cross of Jesus Christ, a means of deliverance for our sin of rebellion, so that those who come to Him in faith, in repentance for their sin, can receive the forgiveness of a Holy God and spend forever with their Lord. [Watch The HOPE on-line (streaming video)] So who created God? By definition, an infinite, eternal being has always existed—no one created God. He is the self-existing one—the great I am of the Bible.19 He is outside of time; in fact, He created time. You might say, â€Å"But that means I have to accept this by faith, as I cant understand it.† We read in the book of Hebrews, But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6). But this is not blind faith, as some think. In fact, the evolutionists who deny God have a blind faith—they have to believe something that is against real science—namely, that information can arise from disorder by chance. Can you believe in the existence of something that you cannot see? Have you ever seen your own brain? We all believe in many things that we have never seen. Have you ever seen the wind? Have you seen history? We see the effects of the wind, but the wind is invisible. We have records of history, but it is by faith we believe that certain historical events happened. Television waves are invisible, but an antenna and a receiver can detect their presence. Do you know that you have a receiver? Prior to becoming a child of God, your receiver (your spirit) is dead because of sin (see Ephesians 2:1). You need to be plugged into the life of God, and then you will come alive and be aware of the invisible spiritual realm. Learn more about God and his plan for your life Adapted from author Ray Comfort See these information sources for evidence of God and the accuracy of His Word†¦ The Christian faith is not a blind faith; it is a logically defensible faith. This is why the Bible makes it clear that anyone who does not believe in God is without excuse: For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse (Romans 1:20). For a more in-depth article, read: Who created God? Who created God? A number of skeptics ask this question. But God by definition is the uncreated creator of the universe, so the question Who created God? is illogical, just like To whom is the bachelor married? So a more sophisticated questioner might ask: If the universe needs a cause, then why doesnt God need a cause? And if God doesnt need a cause, why should the universe need a cause? In reply, Christians should use the following reasoning: Everything which has a beginning has a cause.1 The universe has a beginning. Therefore the universe has a cause. Its important to stress the words in bold type. The universe requires a cause because it had a beginning, as will be shown below. God, unlike the universe, had no beginning, so doesnt need a cause. In addition, Einsteins general relativity, which has much experimental support, shows that time is linked to matter and space. So time itself would have begun along with matter and space. Since God, by definition, is the creator of the whole universe, he is the creator of time. Therefore He is not limited by the time dimension He created, so has no beginning in time God is the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity (Isaiah 57:15). Therefore He doesnt have a cause. In contrast, there is good evidence that the universe had a beginning. This can be shown from the Laws of Thermodynamics, the most fundamental laws of the physical sciences. 1st Law: The total amount of mass-energy in the universe is constant. 2nd Law: The amount of energy available for work is running out, or entropy is increasing to a maximum. If the total amount of mass-energy is limited, and the amount of usable energy is decreasing, then the universe cannot have existed forever, otherwise it would already have exhausted all usable energy the heat death of the universe. For example, all radioactive atoms would have decayed, every part of the universe would be the same temperature, and no further work would be possible. So the obvious corollary is that the universe began a finite time ago with a lot of usable energy, and is now running down. Now, what if the questioner accepts that the universe had a beginning, but not that it needs a cause? But it is self-evident that things that begin have a cause no-one really denies it in his heart. All science and history would collapse if this law of cause and effect were denied. So would all law enforcement, if the police didnt think they needed to find a cause for a stabbed body or a burgled house. Also, the universe cannot be self-caused nothing can create itself, because that would mean that it existed before it came into existence, which is a logical absurdity. IN SUMMARY The universe (including time itself) can be shown to have had a beginning. It is unreasonable to believe something could begin to exist without a cause. The universe therefore requires a cause, just as Romans 1:20 teach. God, as creator of time, is outside of time. Since therefore He has no beginning in time, He has always existed, so doesnt need a cause. OBJECTIONS There are only two ways to refute an argument: Show that it is logically invalid Show that at least one of the premises is false. Is the argument valid? A valid argument is one where it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion false. Note that validity does not depend on the truth of the premises, but on the form of the argument. The argument in this article is valid; it is of the same form as: All whales have backbones; Moby Dick is a whale; therefore Moby Dick has a backbone. So the only hope for the skeptic is to dispute one or both of the premises. Are the premises true? 1. Does the universe have a beginning? Oscillating universe ideas were popularized by atheists like the late Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov solely to avoid the notion of a beginning, with its implications of a Creator. But as shown above, the Laws of Thermodynamics undercut that argument. Even an oscillating universe cannot overcome those laws. Each one of the hypothetical cycles would exhaust more and more usable energy. This means every cycle would be larger and longer than the previous one, so looking back in time there would be smaller and smaller cycles. So the multicycle model could have an infinite future, but can only have a finite past.2 Also, there are many lines of evidence showing that there is far too little mass for gravity to stop expansion and allow cycling in the first place, i.e., the universe is open. According to the best estimates (even granting old-earth assumptions), the universe still has only about half the mass needed for re-contraction. This includes the combined total of both luminous matter and non-luminous matter (found in galactic halos), as well as any possible contribution of neutrinos to total mass.3 Some recent evidence for an open universe comes from the number of light-bending gravitational lenses in the sky.6 It seems there is only 40-80% of the required matter to cause a big crunch. Incidentally, this low mass is also a major problem for the currently fashionable inflationary version of the big bang theory, as this predicts a mass density just on the threshold of collapse a flat universe. Finally, no known mechanism would allow a bounce back after a hypothetical big crunch.7 As the late Professor Beatrice Tinsley of Yale explained, even though the mathematics say that the universe oscillates, There is no known physical mechanism to reverse a catastrophic big crunch. Off the paper and into the real world of physics, those models start from the Big Bang, expand, collapse, and thats the end. 2. Denial of cause and effect Some physicists assert that quantum mechanics violates this cause/effect principle and can produce something from nothing. For instance, Paul Davies writes: spacetime could appear out of nothingness as a result of a quantum transition. Particles can appear out of nowhere without specific causation Yet the world of quantum mechanics routinely produces something out of nothing.9 But this is a gross misapplication of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics never produces something out of nothing. Davies himself admitted on the previous page that his scenario should not be taken too seriously. Theories that the universe is a quantum fluctuation must presuppose that there was something to fluctuate their quantum vacuum is a lot of matter-antimatter potential not nothing. Also, I have plenty of theoretical and practical experience at quantum mechanics (QM) from my doctoral thesis work. For example, Raman spectroscopy is a QM phenomenon, but from the wavenumber and intensity of the spectral bands, we can work out the masses of the atoms and force constants of the bonds causing the bands. To help the atheist position that the universe came into existence without a cause, one would need to find Raman bands appearing without being caused by transitions in vibrational quantum states, or alpha particles appearing without pre-existing nuclei, etc. If QM was as acausal as some people think, then we should not assume that these phenomena have a cause. Then I may as well burn my Ph.D. thesis, and all the spectroscopy journals should quit, as should any nuclear physics research. Also, if there is no cause, there is no explanation why this particular universe appeared at a particular time, nor why it was a universe and not, say, a banana or cat which appeared. This universe cant have any properties to explain its preferential coming into existence, because it wouldnt have any properties until it actually came into existence. Is creation by God rational? A last desperate tactic by skeptics to avoid a theistic conclusion is to assert that creation in time is incoherent. Davies correctly points out that since time itself began with the beginning of the universe, it is meaningless to talk about what happened before the universe began. But he claims that causes must precede their effects. So if nothing happened before the universe began, then (according to Davies) it is meaningless to discuss the cause of the universes beginning. But the philosopher (and New Testament scholar) William Lane Craig, in a useful critique of Davies,10 pointed out that Davies is deficient in philosophical knowledge. Philosophers have long discussed the notion of simultaneous causation. Immanuel Kant (17241804) gave the example of a weight resting on a cushion simultaneously causing a depression in it. Craig says: The first moment of time is the moment of Gods creative act and of creations simultaneous coming to be. Some skeptics claim that all this analysis is tentative, because that is the nature of science. So this cant be used to prove creation by God. Of course, skeptics cant have it both ways: saying that the Bible is wrong because science has proved it so, but if science appears consistent with the Bible, then well, science is tentative anyway. A final thought The Bible informs us that time is a dimension that God created, into which man was subjected. It even tells us that one day time will no longer exist. That will be called â€Å"eternity.† God Himself dwells outside of the dimension He created (Titus 1:2). He dwells in eternity and is not subject to time. God spoke history before it came into being. He can move through time as a man flips through a history book. Because we live in the dimension of time, it is impossible for us to fully understand anything that does not have a beginning and an end. Simply accept that fact, and believe the concept of Gods eternal nature the same way you believe the concept of space having no beginning and end—by faith—even though such thoughts put a strain on our distinctly insufficient cerebrum. Paul S. Taylor, adapted from author Ray Comfort Further Reading More information can be found in the following works. Unfortunately they are too friendly towards the unscriptural big bang theory with its billions of years of death, suffering and disease before Adams sin. But the above arguments are perfectly consistent with a recent creation in six consecutive normal days, as taught by Scripture. Craig, W.L., Apologetics: An Introduction (Chicago: Moody, 1984). Craig, W.L. online article â€Å"The Existence of God and the Beginning of the Universe† http://www.leaderu.com/truth/3truth11.html Geisler, N.L., Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker, 1976). How does archaeology conclusively demonstrate the Bible to be reliable and unique among all the holy books of world religions? Archaeological discoveries verify the historical reliability of the Old and New Testaments. When compared to other religious books, the titles, and events mentioned in the Bible; and the language and literary formats used to compose the Bible. Many scholars today question the validity of Biblical accounts, supposedly based on the findings of archaeology (i.e. misinterpretation of evidence, lack of evidence, or poor scholarship) and not with the Bible. How can archaeology prove helpful to someone seeking for truth to the basic questions about life? The discoveries of archaeology can be helpful in removing doubts that a person might have about the historical trustworthiness of the Bible. The places, and events of the Bible are real. What Gods Word? Any one discovery can be explained away as coincidence, or an alternative interpretation can be given to disassociate it from the Bible. It is the weight of a myriad of discoveries that demonstrates the Bible to be the Word of God. These discoveries fall into three categories: Archaeological evidence demonstrates the historical and cultural accuracy of the Bible. The Bibles message of a salvation stands in sharp contrast to the pagan fertility religions of the ancient world as, revealed by archaeology. Archaeological findings demonstrate that the Biblical prophets accurately predicted events hundreds of years before they occurred—something that lies beyond the capability of mere men. Where did Cain get his wife? We dont even know her name, yet she was discussed at the wife in history? Scripture and, thus, the Christian faith. For instance, at the historic Scopes trial in Tennessee in 1925, William Jennings Bryan, the prosecutor who stood for the Christian faith, failed to answer the question about [3] lawyer Clarence Darrow. The worlds press was focused on this trial, and what they heard has affected Christianity to this day—Christians are seen as unable to defend the biblical record. And skeptics then make the logically fallacious jump of concluding that the biblical record is indefensible! The agnostic Carl Sagan used this same question in his book ContactContact,† which was based on Sagans book, also used it. In the book, the fictional character Ellie could not get answers about [6] Sagan cleverly used common questions—such as â€Å"Who was Cains wife?†Ã¢â‚¬â€questions that are often directed at Christians in an attempt to prove the Bible cannot be defended. Sadly, most Christians probably could not answer these questions! And yet, there are answers. But, since most churches are lacking in the teaching of 1 Peter 3:15). Why is it important? Many skeptics have claimed that, for New Testament doctrines depend. Defenders of the Genesis 4:1-5:5.) Before we answer this question, we will first show how important it is to the meaning of the gospel. The first man Therefore, even as through one man Romans 5:12). We read in God did not start by making a whole group of men. The sin of rebellion, also passed on to all his descendants. Since return to God! Because a man brought Romans 3:23). What is the solution? The Last Adam pay the penalty for sin: â€Å"For since by a man came [8] God. Since the Bible describes all human beings as gospel could not be explained or defended. The Hebrews 2:11-18). Thus, only descendants of the first man saved. All related Thus, there was only one man at the beginning—made from the Genesis 2:7). This also means that Adams descendants. The first woman In Eve—she was the first woman. marriage of one man to one woman. Also, in animals, he could not find a mate—there was no one of his kind. All this makes it obvious that there was only one woman, Eves descendants. If Christians cannot defend that all humans (including gospel and all that it teaches. Cains brothers and sisters Genesis 4:25), were part of the first generation of children ever born on this earth. Even though only these three males are mentioned by name, Genesis 5:3) before Seth was born. During their lives, Adams children, as says the old tradition, was thirty-three sons and twenty-three daughters.† The Genesis 1:28). The wife If we now work totally from Scripture, without any personal prejudices or other extra-biblical ideas, then back at the beginning, when there was only the first generation, brothers would have had to have married sisters or there would be no more generations! We are not told when marriages and children, but we can say for certain that some brothers had to marry their sisters at the beginning of human history. But what about Gods Laws? Many people immediately reject the conclusion that Gods law originally when close relatives (even brothers and sisters) married each other. Remember that Moses laws that forbade such marriages. Biological deformities Today, brothers and sisters (and half-brothers and half-sisters, etc.) are not permitted by law to marry because their children have an unacceptably high risk of being deformed. The more closely the parents are related, the more likely it is that any offspring will be d

Friday, October 25, 2019

Essay --

John Keen English 101-003 Amy Borders 14 March 2014 The Media Bias That Affected the 2012 Presidential Election President Barack Obama was re-elected to a second term as President of the United States in November of 2012. When giving his acceptance speech Obama was quick to thank his wife and family, his campaign officials, the voters, and everybody that worked so hard to help him get re-elected. One group left out of this display of gratitude, and perhaps the most influential one, was the mainstream media. The media plays a huge role in how viewers formulate their opinions, which in turn become deciding factors when choosing a President. The mainstream media has a responsibility to present the candidates in an unbiased manner, so that the electorate can make a truly educated decision as to the best candidate for the office at hand. While some may argue that the media presents an unbiased view of each candidate, this is not always the case. When looking back at the 2012 Presidential election, there are several examples where the media coverage aided the candidacy of Barack Obama and hindered the candidacy of Mitt Romney. The media outlets handled the candidates very differently when came to blundering comments. For example, the media came down hard on Romney for his comment about 47% of Americans not voting for him. In a secretly recorded conversation about campaign strategy, Romney made the statement the 47% of voters are dependent upon the government, and they believe that the government should provide them with food, healthcare, jobs, housing, along with whatever else they need. He made the comment that these voters would vote for the current president â€Å"no matter what,† and he said that his job was not to worry ... ...ced a great deal of negative reporting during the 2012 Presidential election, the majority of that reporting was about insignificant matters and came during the Primary stage where he did not face any competition. Once the election became between himself and Mitt Romney, the coverage was overwhelmingly positive toward the President. Opponents argue that the criticism that President Obama received over high gas prices, the bad economy, and national health care were unjustified and presented an unbalanced attack on the Obama Campaign. Factual reporting of current events but where were they when the media was criticizing President George W. Bush? National Healthcare has been a subject of debate since the early Clinton administration In weighing the evidence both for and against a media bias in favor of Barack Obama it is important to look at a variety of evidence. Essay -- John Keen English 101-003 Amy Borders 14 March 2014 The Media Bias That Affected the 2012 Presidential Election President Barack Obama was re-elected to a second term as President of the United States in November of 2012. When giving his acceptance speech Obama was quick to thank his wife and family, his campaign officials, the voters, and everybody that worked so hard to help him get re-elected. One group left out of this display of gratitude, and perhaps the most influential one, was the mainstream media. The media plays a huge role in how viewers formulate their opinions, which in turn become deciding factors when choosing a President. The mainstream media has a responsibility to present the candidates in an unbiased manner, so that the electorate can make a truly educated decision as to the best candidate for the office at hand. While some may argue that the media presents an unbiased view of each candidate, this is not always the case. When looking back at the 2012 Presidential election, there are several examples where the media coverage aided the candidacy of Barack Obama and hindered the candidacy of Mitt Romney. The media outlets handled the candidates very differently when came to blundering comments. For example, the media came down hard on Romney for his comment about 47% of Americans not voting for him. In a secretly recorded conversation about campaign strategy, Romney made the statement the 47% of voters are dependent upon the government, and they believe that the government should provide them with food, healthcare, jobs, housing, along with whatever else they need. He made the comment that these voters would vote for the current president â€Å"no matter what,† and he said that his job was not to worry ... ...ced a great deal of negative reporting during the 2012 Presidential election, the majority of that reporting was about insignificant matters and came during the Primary stage where he did not face any competition. Once the election became between himself and Mitt Romney, the coverage was overwhelmingly positive toward the President. Opponents argue that the criticism that President Obama received over high gas prices, the bad economy, and national health care were unjustified and presented an unbalanced attack on the Obama Campaign. Factual reporting of current events but where were they when the media was criticizing President George W. Bush? National Healthcare has been a subject of debate since the early Clinton administration In weighing the evidence both for and against a media bias in favor of Barack Obama it is important to look at a variety of evidence.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Cafo

If Pollen were to view Cafes purely from the aspect of Job reference, then he would find himself quite pleased with the operation. Cafes are doing a spectacular Job of comfortably feeding Americans and their ever-growing rate of meat consumption; they're satisfying at a satisfactory price tag too. Unfortunately, Pollen finds this seemingly great solution to easy and cheap meat too good to be true. He believes concentrated animal feeding operations may be feeding Americans more negative human health and environmental problems than any kind of positive factors.After my look Into the views and pollens of others, I thoroughly agree with him. It doesn't take much effort to visualize a place housing thirty-seven thousand objects of any sort to be anything but a comfortable environment-?let alone thirty- seven thousand large, living, farm animals. When there are such a high volume of animals in such a â€Å"concentrated† space, health complications would naturally occur. Pollen state s, â€Å"What keeps a feedlot animal healthy-?or healthy enough-?are antibiotics†(78).Some of the antibiotics you can expect seasoning your next pork chop include (but not limited to): erythrocytes, clinician, tetracycline, Virginians, ND pantomimic. All of said antibiotics, with the exceptions of pantomimic, have been approved for use In Cafes by the FDA. Antibiotics are used In Cafes for either monomaniacal or clinical use. The monomaniacal usage of antibiotics Is used merely to promote the growth of healthy animals, versus clinically administering them In order to simply treat sick animals.It's nice enough for these operations to somewhat consider the wellbeing of the animals they're slowly gorging to death with food they arena evolved to stomach, but what repercussions are being felt in the human race? Pollen outlines-?very clearly-?a horrifying end result, â€Å"Most of the antibiotics sold in America today end up in animal feed, a practice that, it is now generally ack nowledged (Except in agriculture), is leading directly to the evolution of new antibiotic-resistant superb†(78). Vegetarians beware!Multiple studies headed by lead researcher Kellogg Schwab -?funded by The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future-?proved that â€Å"†¦ Ingestion of pork products Is not the only pathway of exposure for the transfer of resistant organisms from swine to humans. Environmental pathways of exposure may be equally Important† (Schwab â€Å"Airborne† 137). CAFE animal manure, that Is often times reapplied to the land, can result in scattering of resistant bacteria. Inappropriate also lead to the spreading of said bacteria. After testing surface/groundwater, it was determined runoff can affect the waters surrounding concentrated animal feeding operations.Lead researcher confirms, â€Å"†¦ Bacteria in rural surface water and groundwater sources is important to human health because exposure to these sources could enable the transf er of resistant bacteria from swine to humans, contributing to the spread and persistence of antibiotic resistance† (Schwab â€Å"Antibiotic† 1040). Interestingly enough-?or disturbingly enough-?as the testing of said surface/ground water was being conducted, it was noted that a number of young children were seen ignorantly playing in the same water that was being sampled.They were swimming in the runoff of a CAFE; it was situated only 500 m away. The likelihood of these children becoming exposed to harmful microorganisms -?such as E. Coli-?is quite high. One of the participants of the ground/surface water study was the owner of a well, and that well was the sole provider of drinking water on the property-?prior to the establishment of the local CAFE. Once the CAFE was fully functioning the owner had the well water tested, and â€Å"the water was subsequently deemed unbootable† (Schwab â€Å"Antibiotic† 1044).The majority of my findings through-out the pro cess of surfing the numerous databases-?found on Boohoos-?were very supportive in the aspect of Pollen's argument. You would be hard-pressed to find someone enthusiastic about taking the platform opposing the idea of Cafes inflicting negative health and environment implications on the human race-?and the wonderful Earth that houses us. Somehow all of the factual data proving the negativisms of these operations aren't enough to UT an end to the madness.Apparently, appeasing the appetites of our nation's people takes precedence to our nation's health. After Pollen's up-close and personal experience with this nightmare of a place, he openly states that he couldn't ever imagine wanting to eat CAFE processed meat again. Meet I'm sure that after enough time goes by, and the stink of this place is gone from my nostrils, I will eat feedlot beef again† (84). Eat what you may, but remember you are what you eat; as Pollen would put it, â€Å"†¦ For you are what what you eat eats, t oo† (84). Works Cited Kellogg Schwab, et al.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Sexuality in Bram Stokers Dracula

In this article we will examine the role of sexuality in Bram Stokers Dracula and how major a role it plays in the book. Because of certain aspects in the writers life and because of certain symbolism a great deal of sexual meaning has been given to every aspect of the book. The character and physical description of Dracula in the novel are very sensual in nature. The other female vampires appear to the reader to be even more sexual and the male characters are strongly attracted to them despite the ever-present realization that the vampires are foul beings.Sexuality in the novel There are many scenes in the novel which despite Bram Stokers denial to admit it appear to have many sexual connotations. These suggest that enhanced sexuality almost a by-product of vampirisim. One of which occurs with Jonathan Harker while trapped in Draculas castle gives very physical descriptions of the vampire one of which I have quoted below:‘There he lay looking as if youth had been half-renewed, for the white hair and moustache were changed to dark iron-grey; the cheeks were fuller, and the white skin seemed ruby-red underneath; the mouth was redder than ever, for on the lips were gouts of fresh blood, which trickled from the corners of the mouth and ran over the chin and neck’ (Stoker- Chap 13) Other scenes involving Lucy are also intensely physical. Lucy even as a human an unstable woman who is attracted to three different men between whom she cannot decide.When she becomes a vampire it seems that she has cast aside any sexual inhibitions. The following description shows the intensely sexual desire she is creating ‘†¦ her breast heaved softly †¦ And then insensibly there came the strange change which I had noticed in the night †¦ the mouth opened, and the pale gums, drawn back, made the teeth look longer and sharper than ever †¦ and said in a soft voluptuous voice, such as I had never heard from her lips: ‘Arthur! Oh, my love, I am so glad you have come! Kiss me! ‘(Stoker- Chap 16, 4)When the sexual aspect of the book is admitted to then it can be seen as symbolic of a breaking out of the repressed environment of the Victorian ages. Indeed after the novel was explored it was seen as full of all forms of sexual symbolism. Professor Miller complains repeatedly in her article that the book is being over examined for sexual references Although as she states that the book has probably been over analyzed for sexual references there are many sexual references in the book. A quote from Eric Kwan-Wai Yu’s article‘Whatever shapes of fear vampirism might evoke elsewhere, in this novel the dominant form has to do with sexual menace or the dreadful perception of sexual perversity. In fact, even the most erotic scene ends with utter revulsion and the chilling recognition of demonic threats posed by the Other’ shows that his interpretation indicates a great deal of sexual connation and the confusion created by the use of language between blood-letting and the sexual act. ‘Lucy is described as seductive, demonic, and bestial at the same time, and there is again the deliberate confusion of sex with cannibalism’However Professor Miller states that there is no conclusive proof within Bram Stokers life or the novel which would justify the kind of interpretations that have been made. However there are many indications that repressed sexuality is a powerful undercurrent in the book which both repulses and attracts. Jonathan Harker is unwillingly attracted to the three vampiric women and is sickened by himself . The scene in which Dracula subdues Mina is interpreted as such by Eric Kwan-Wai Yu explains that Stoker ‘subverts gender definitions and behavioral expectations which keep the imperial subject in place.’ He suggests that there is the feeling of something missing as he compares the time when Harker lies by when Dracula comes to Mina and when Dracula fi rst comes to Mina. He draws similarity in their behaviour. Feminist interpretation Another important accept of the sexuality in Dracula is that it is associated with evil and corruption and in contradiction with the divinity of God. There is a distinctive clash of good and evil in the book although these lines get blurred when Mina is bitten.The two characters of Van Helsing and Dr Steward are specifically very aware of their duty towards God. ‘Thus are we, ministers of God's own wish: that the world, and men for whom His Son die, will not be given over to monsters, whose very existence would defame Him. He have allowed us to redeem one soul already [i. e. , Lucy's], and we go out as the old knights of the Cross to redeem more. Like them we shall travel towards the sunrise; and like them, if we fall, we fall in good cause. (Stoker, 278 , )’(qtd by Yu)The sacrifice of Lucy is an example of how far they are willing to go to fulfill this duty. How sexuality is associated w ith the evil and corruption of vampirism is associated with is made clear in Eric Kwan-Wai Yu’s essay when he talks about how Lucy’s â€Å"voluptuousness,† is a projection of men’s suppressed desires and how this guilt of desiring her is turned into shameful brutal aggression and the act of destroying the vampire Lucy can be interpreted as destroying what is sexual in her and ‘murdering the â€Å"devil temptress† can be further rationalized as an honorable duty’Here they are destroying Lucy the vampire but it can be interpreted as suppression of her sexuality if we read the description of Lucy after the stake has been driven. ‘but Lucy as we had seen her in life, with her face of unequalled sweetness and purity ,†¦. One and all we felt that the holy calm that lay like sunshine over the wasted face and form was only an earthly token and symbol of the calm that was to reign for ever’. The association of sex with evil is an extremely common one.Many visual interpretation of the devil show him a creature with over-sized genitals so the symbolism of vampirism with sex does make sense. This if interpreted as a suppression of women’s sexuality can be seen as a suppression of women. Judith Weissman states the fight against vampirisim and the fight to reclaim Mina is to keep women from knowing what men and women all of the ages have known that women’s sexual appetites are greater then mens. (qtd in Miller)It is also interesting to note that Mina after the destruction of the vampire Mina goes back home to be a wife and a mother but when she is infected and Dracula is alive she is an intelligent women who is an integral member of the group who destroys Dracula. She shows mental fortitude by going to mental contact with Dracula while struggling to maintain her own identity and not be overwhelmed by him. Perhaps the interpretation can be extended further then sexuality over here it could be see n as an effort and a fight to keep women on the same roles as they have been performing and to avoid change.The scene in which Dracula cuts his breast and forces Mina to drink from it drink from it as mentioned in earlier seems to have ‘subverted gender definitions’. Protestant Work ethic An important point in Eric Kwan-Wai Yu’s analysis is that this sexual fear and repression creates a powerful Puritan work ethic in the ‘Crew of Light’. Minas vampirism and her deep fear of turning into the ‘Undead ’ is what pushes her to work hard and use her intellectual capacities to their fullest.Yu states ‘The main thrust of my argument is that fear aroused by the paranoiac perception of sexual perversity begets a curious kind of work ethic in the imperial subject, reaffirming Enlightenment reason and scientific progressivism while, at the same time, betraying the very unreason in reason and the profound anxieties underneath the confidence in progress ’Yu also sees Dracula as a highly educated man who is thirst for more knowledge. The sexual aspect can lead us to forget this.He also states that one can see Van Helsing as representative of objectiveness of all the qualities of rationality that the Enlightenment extols and vampirisim is representative of everything that violates reason . Vampirisim explains what is uncanny and ‘unplaceable’ in the enlightened age and the violence of reason itself. This violence of reason is the brutal way in which Lucy has to be killed so that her soul is reclaimed and she is saved.Van Helsing is the voice of this reason who remains calm even when planning in what way to finish Lucy. The fear of this group from vampirism which pushes them towards hard work is shown as being symbolic of the sexual fears that created the Puritan work ethic. This theme again connects vampirism and sexuality. Symbolism Also a part of the book are the sexual symbols. For example the stake be ing symbolic of the phallus. However Professor Miller believes that perhaps at times a wooden stake is just a wooden stake.Even William Myers despite his assertion that the book is erotic in content also states that it is important to note that our interpretation depends on the time we live and all the movies depicting Bram Stoker’s Dracula as intensely sexual are bound to do this because today’s movies require that they do and not necessarily because the book itself is that sexual. ( For the Purity of Our) Conclusion In conclusion it can be said that book does allow for sexual connotations and despite Bram Stokers denial it can be said that repressed sexuality is a part of the book.This allows for an interesting conclusion by Yu which states that the book is symbolic of the fear of sexuality resulting in the Puritan Work ethic. The feminist perspective states that it can be linked to suppression of specifically female sexuality. A scene considered representative of th is is the staking of Lucy who is so sensual and voluptuous before the staking and is purified and redeemed after its There is of course the sexual symbolism in the book.However it is important not to over-interpret or read into works simply because it suits the age in which we live. Work Cited Stoker, Bram. Dracula Bibliomania Online Yu, Eric Kwan-Wai ‘Productive fear: labor, sexuality, and mimicry in Bram Stoker's Dracula. (Critical essay)’ Texas Studies in Literature and Language. 06/22/2006 Miller, Elizabeth ‘Coitus Interruptus: Sex, Bram Stoker, and Dracula’ Romanticism on the Net Issue 44, November 2006 Meyer William ‘For the Purity of Our Precious Bodily Fluids: an Essay on Eroticism in Vampire Films’ Latent Image Spring 2000