What are the primary perils of and salutary remedies for political powe

What are the primary perils of and salutary remedies for political power? Political power has been an issue plaguing man since the beginning of politics itself. How to gain it, how to hold it, how to properly use it, how to exploit it. Throughout time power has been exercised by those that hold it over those that do not. As with anything, problems are sure to arise. These problems call for solutions if peace is to be restored. The primary perils of political power are a strong desire to keep it, a devotion to anything other than justice, an unwillingness to stand for the right thing, and ruling in a merciless manner. The remedies of political power can be (but are not limited to) confidence that laws are just, a willingness to negotiate, the sharing of power, and staying strong in what is just and right. The first problem (or peril) of power is that those who posses it do not in any way wish to give it up. King stated that â€Å"Lamentably, it is an historic fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily.† (King 68) This often causes a lack of willingness to negotiate with others. Mandela says of the white in South Africa â€Å"Whites had the highest standards in the world-and aimed to keep it that way.† (Mandela 367) There would be no negotiating on the part of the whites. They simply refused to assume the risk of losing what they held. â€Å"Creon will not listen to Antigone, nor does he listen to anyone else but his own inner demons.† (Mandela 456) By not listening to another, Creon threw negotiation by the wayside, which not only aided the corruption of his power, but ultimately lead to his demise. Even when negotiations are made, they must be acted upon, not simply spoken. The fact that King a... ... the devotion to agendas other than justice, the rejection of standing up for the right thing and no mercy are problems King and Mandela address. To remedy4hese perils, the two men suggest that those in power be sure that their laws are just, be willing to negotiate and share their power, and have the spirit to stand strong for what is just and right. Though a single problem can weigh down political power, no one solution can solve it. It must be a combination of these and/or many more in order to solve the true perils of political power. The truth is, when something it so highly desired, so highly revered such as political power, corruption lurks behind every corner. It is up to those in charge (as well as those that influence them to be sure that this power is not corrupted, not abused. This is the preservation of politics; this is the preservation of justice.

The Last Lecture Randy Pausch Reflection

Reflection of Randy Pausch’s â€Å"The Last Lecture† Pennsylvania State University Berks Campus The Last Lecture began as a good-bye speech, made by Randy Pausch, a 47 year old professor diagnosed with terminal cancer. His speech at Carnegie Melon University became an Internet phenomenon. It has also been published as a book. I really thoroughly enjoyed his Last Lecture speech. He had a lot of good talking points and brought up some new perspectives, or ways of looking at life situations that got me thinking. He talked a lot about his dreams when he was a child and was very humorous and inspirational throughout his speech.He also had a lot of quotes that I really enjoyed and they are what I want to focus on. â€Å"When you screw up and no one yells at you about it then they have given up on you. † They yell at you because they care. This is something that applies to my life. I have had presumably some of the worst years of my life my junior and senior year of hig h school through entering college. I always believed my parents never understood where I was coming from, and if I did anything slightly wrong, they would blow the situation out of proportion.This is not exactly the same thing, because I would not say that I have â€Å"screwed up† in my actions, but more, I have done things that my parents disagreed with. My parents would yell at me for reasons that I did not understand, and things that my friends’ parents would never yell at them for. I know that there are individual differences between families and their own beliefs, but at the time, I hated my parents. We would get into the pettiest fights, and my parents never knew how much I did not do to try and please them. I just wanted to run away and leave and or find a way out.These were somewhat dark times for me because my relationship with my parents was just extremely terrible. Our arguments took an emotional toll on me, and it affected all of my relationships outside of my family and my schoolwork; anything that was important to me was not anymore. All this being said, now that I have been in college I have realized that my parents do really care about me and when they ever got angry or would not let me do something, I know now that it was out of love and parental instinct to protect their child and have my best interests in mind.They also were so strict and disciplinary with me because they just wanted a better life for me than they had, and they did not want for me to â€Å"screw up†. I really appreciate all that my parents have done for me to have the life I had, and I am so lucky to have parents who care about me and my future so much. This ties back into another thing Randy Pausch said, which was â€Å"when you do something when you are young, it sticks with you. † My parents are pretty conservative and raised me with strict discipline, placing all their emphasis on my academics.My dad would always make me sit at the dinner tabl e and do all of my homework before I could go play or do anything else. This is something that has stuck with me for a long while. I am not as good at still doing this, but what my dad made me do, helped contribute to my work ethic that would get me good grades, organization, and good time management skills all throughout grade school. Also, like Pausch’s father, my dad taught me humility. I try to live my life as modestly as I possibly can, and I get the most gratification out of the smallest things.Unlike Pausch’s father though, my dad never let me draw and write on the walls, even though that never stopped me from doing it, but rather my dad still let me express my creativity in other ways that would not cause property damage. Having a creative outlet is such an important thing and I was glad I was able explore and let my imagination run. If anything, in today’s society, creativity is something that is being undervalued and sacrificed in the sake of making pr ogress and conforming to an academic standard, where the arts and other areas of study are not looked as highly upon as studying science or business, for example.It also comes down to material goods and earnings when choosing a course of study. A statement that stuck out to me was that â€Å"people are more important than things. † This is an idea that seems to have been innate for me. Since I was young, I always cared a lot about the people in my life, and that has translated to how I am now. I value friendships so much. I believe that yes, you have your family and they should always be there and support you, but having friends creates such more stable foundation in the relationships that you have. You can make a lot of money and buy whatever you want, but money does not equate happiness.I appreciate the people who are in my life and all the experiences we have shared together, which I will continue to reminisce about and keep forever. Money or things could not give me all t hose experiences. Sometimes I feel like people are so driven by their need for a sense of achievement and wealth/power that they push people away and give up any chance of building their friendships and enjoying the fruits of life that you can only get through your interaction with people. These people just end up alone, and that is something I do not want to do.Randy Pausch was very successful at being able to always put people before things. â€Å"Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you want† and â€Å"brick walls are there to show how much people want something,† we two of my most favorite quotes that came out of his speech. The more I reflected on these words, the more I thought about how true they are. I never thought of experience in that way, but I guess that is what results from at least some of my experiences. I feel like I have great experiences, but they are times when I do get exactly what I wanted.No doubt though, many of the best ex periences I have had were ones where things did not go exactly as planned but they ended up being just as great, if not more great, than they would have been if I had gotten my way. Another important thing about experience I think, is that you have to let yourself experience, and not hold yourself back. You could look at something that happened to you and complain and cry about it, but you could look at it from the perspective that you have gained knowledge for future events, and you only grow and learn from your experiences, either good or bad.I know that many times, I feel like only bad things happen to me, and as much as I appreciate gaining experiences from them, it feels like I always have to the route of learning from my mistakes. I got into my first car accident on my way back home from FTCAP at Berks, and clearly that was not something I wanted. But I gained experience from it, and I guess it has made me become a more cautious driver. The other quote about brick walls really struck a nerve with me and that is why it was one of my favorites.I feel like I have come up against many brick walls in my life. Sometimes I cannot break them down, but I guess that means that I did not want something enough. Physically, I know that there are those times where I am in a game, and I am just exhausted. When I feel like I cannot push anymore, something inside me, whether it be my want to be better than someone else, or sense of competition and want to win, I find a whole source of energy and intensity that was not there before. Usually this allows me to overcome my fatigue and perform better.If I looked at every obstacle in my life as a brick wall that I would have to break down or overcome, I feel like I usually come up short and only make maybe a crack in the wall. I believe that when I am really passionate about something, I put literally everything I have into it and hope that it shows how badly I really, truly want something. Most of the time, I will admit, I ge t discourage or frustrated easily. I want to be able to not let these walls stop me from achieving anything.So this is a quote I have up so I can see it everyday, and it is quite motivating to see that I have to put effort into my day to achieve anything. I found the part of his speech where he talked about working on Imagineering inspirational. This was something that was his dream, and once he finally achieved his dream, this forever changed his life. I am not sure if I have an ultimate dream of what I want to be, in the future, but I hope to be like Pausch and enable childhood dreams of others.I do not even know what it would be like to fulfill your own dream or the dreams of others, but I would love to be a part of something bigger than myself and help others. I am realizing that there are so many people out there who are less fortunate than I, and those people work so much harder to achieve their dreams. My parents could even be used as examples. Their dream was to escape commu nism, and lead a better life for themselves and for their children. They worked extremely hard to build themselves up from nothing.I hope to someday have a dream that I want to achieve that badly. Pausch had pancreatic cancer, three kids, and did not want to be an object of pity even though he knew when his life would end. I envy that about him. He continued in his speech to talk about how to live and achieve your childhood dreams. I think that that was very motivational to us, especially as college students, because he is basically saying that we can be whatever we want to be and we should not let anything get in the way of our dreams.Pausch said that you should have a sense of fun and wonder which should never go away. I could not agree more. We are young, and should be curious and enjoy life. Often the flame of life seems to dim until it blows out over time, but like Pausch I hope to be able to have as much fun and fulfillment out of anything that I do. When I get out of school, and begin to work, I hope that I will be able to go to work everyday and be excited about it. I realized that I am basically living out a dream that I laid out for myself, whether I knew it or not.It has taken a lot for me to get to where I am now, and I have worked for â€Å"my dream† for so many years, it has become one of the only things I know how to do and work towards. I guess this dream is become a child psychiatrist, or work with children and help them medically. His conclusion of the lecture gave me a lot to really just think about. Really, his entire speech conveyed that you should never underestimate the value of having fun. You should work and play well with other, tell the truth, and apologize.You should show your gratitude. And not to complain, just work harder. This is such a great way I think to look at life. Life is all about living, and living is having fun and enjoying yourself. That is the only reason for doing anything. I mean it is simple, but why would you want to put all your time and energy into doing anything you do not like? Even those things that are difficult can be made easier if you just look at the situation from a different and more hopeful perspective. I know that I do not show my gratitude enough.I know that I am thankful, but sometimes a simple â€Å"thank you† does go a long way. I know that I do a lot for people and I do it because I want to, but those two words carry a lot of weight. I also know that I tend to complain a lot. His speech definitely was motivational in the fact that so many people, like myself, can spend an excessive amount of time being negative and looking at everything as a long and arduous task, when life is all about just trying to do the best you can and having an optimistic point of view.If you do not complain about things and just force yourself to get them done, you will be so much more satisfied with yourself and the work you accomplished. He went on further to talking about how you should live your life. Pausch said that if you live properly, your dreams will come to you. I am skeptical of this, but maybe if I try to live more â€Å"properly† then things will all fall into place. I realized that I often know what I want, but I do not do anything to help me achieve what I want.Also there are times when I feel like I am trying my best to live â€Å"properly† and make the best of every situation, but sometimes, I just do not want to make myself feel better about myself or any situation I would be in, and I would just rather sulk and pity myself. Randy Pausch definitely had ego integrity as he entered the last stages of his life. His attitude and his approach to facing death was something very awe-inspiring. He is not afraid of death, and he feels as if he has lived a fulfilling life. Even though he is leaving his children and family behind, he knows that they will carry on and live life to its maximum otential because he has shown them how. As upset ting and devastating as it is to lose someone who is very close to you and has made such an impact in your life, I believe that his family will be able to handle his death and have a positive outlook on the future, even without Pausch’s presence there, because he was so positive about his life and what he has contributed and done. I think as much as I would want to be optimistic or realistic about death and accept it, I think I would be more upset and more ego despair than Pausch was.Yes, death is a naturally occurring event and everyone dies. It is just somewhat unfair to me that certain people do not have the chance to live out their life. I also am just more afraid of when my life ends, I will not have accomplished everything that I wanted to, or made any difference in the world. Maybe someday, I will be able to give a â€Å"Last Lecture† speech that is just as motivational and inspirational as Randy Pausch. I also hope to get into the mindset that Pausch talked abo ut in his speech—living life, not worrying about death, having fun, and going after my dreams.

Bacteria Growth and Glucose Percentages

Bacteria’s Growth Affected by Various Glucose Percentages This lab tested whether or not different glucose levels activated bacteria growth. My lab group and I wanted to figure out, if more glucose was spread on the bacteria plates, would there be more bacteria growth in the agar plate. My group predicted that with 25% glucose (the highest percentage of glucose), the bacteria growth would be the greatest. In order to conduct this experiment, my group had 3 ager plates. One plate had 0% glucose, the next plate had 5% glucose and the third plate had 25% glucose in it.Once we received all the plates, we light an alcohol burner. We then used a pipet to sterile collect bacteria from the culture tubes. We then opened the first ager plate (0% glucose) and transferred 10 drops of bacteria culture onto the plate. Then we did the same for the next 2 plates (5% and 25% glucose). Next, we sterilized the spreader by waving it in the flame (alcohol burner) for 15 seconds. Then, we let the s preader cool for 10 seconds, and then opened the first agar plate and spread the bacteria around the plate by quickly and slightly sliding the spreader back and forth across the plate for 5 seconds.Then we closed the plate and did the same thing for the next 2 plates. Next, we sealed each plate with a strip of Para film and then placed the plates with bacteria on the side of the room until the following week. After waiting a week, we received our group’s ager plates back. We noticed that with our experiment, the most amount of bacteria growth had no glucose in it. Our results were the following: with no glucose, there was 25% bacteria growth, with 5% glucose added to the ager plates, there was only 15% bacteria growth, and with 25% glucose added to the ager plates, only 1% of bacteria growth was present.The least amount of bacteria growth contained the largest percentage of glucose. Based off of our group’s results, we can reject our hypothesis. We realized that our pr ediction was not what our results showed us. Our prediction was that 25% glucose would have the most amount of bacteria growth, however we can now conclude that bacteria growth does not need any glucose to reproduce. In fact, the more glucose there is, the least amount of bacteria growth occurs. If glucose is present in the bacteria, it is possible for bacteria to reproduce; however bacteria will reproduce the greatest when no glucose is present at all.

Analysis of ‘Ceremony’ By Leslie Marmon Silko Essay

If Native American community adopts the ethics of white traditions that regards them as less than human being, they begin to look down on themselves. In ‘Ceremony’ Leslie Marmon Silko visibly represents this dual bind sociology called internalized domination. ‘Ceremony’ is one of the most reflective and touching works of Native American literature, a story that is itself a ceremony of curative. Tayo, a World War II experienced person of combined lineage, comes back to the Laguna Pueblo stipulation. He is intensely frightened by his experience as a hostage of the Japanese and later offended by the negative response he came across from his community. Only by throwing himself in the Indian past can he can set in motion to get back the harmony that was taken away from him. Masterfully written, full of sober magnificence of Pueblo saga, ‘Ceremony’ is a use of lasting power. ‘Ceremony’ deals with the gender roles of three women are significant to the development of a character named Tayo who is half-white and half-Indian. These three women are Tayo’s birth mother, Auntie, and Old Grandma. His mother left him when he was four years old and that began his sense of emptiness and abandonment. She could not bear to raise a child that brought the reservation shame by her mistake. Auntie raised Tayo and was the mother figure he lacked. She had no problem accepting to take him, but only to conceal the shame of her younger sister. Auntie was always hesitant toward Tayo as he was not her real son and was also a half-breed. For Tayo, this only added to his feeling of displacement and emptiness. She would give her affection and attention to her real son Rocky, but would let Tayo just sit there alone. After the war Auntie nursed him because he was all she had left after Rocky got killed. He would wake up crying after dreaming about how much Josiah had loved him and always hugged him when he was a little child. Now he realized that there was no place left for him and he would never find peace. Auntie may have been a mother figure to him, but to Tayo she was just someone who looked after him. Old Grandma, unlike Auntie, does accept Tayo and wants what is best for him. When Auntie rejected the idea of a medicine doctor because he’s not full blood, Old Grandma got angry and said that he was her grandson and why should she care what they say anyway. She has been around for many years and doesn’t worry about what other people will say about Tayo or about their family. The significance of Montano to the novel, Ceremony is very powerful and vital to the recovery of Tayo. She lives up in the rim rock and is in touch with the earth and her surroundings in every way. Being torn between the white world and the Indian world is what leaves Tayo feeling invisible and hollow inside. Montano helps him to become more in touch with his Indian side and to feel the strength and power from the earth. She teaches him the importance of certain plants, flowers, and ceremonies and how they are significant to Indian culture and survival. Tayo falls in love with her, and through his love, he begins to feel alive again. He realizes that he does have a place and that he is not invisible to everyone and to his surroundings. When he is not with her, instead of the nightmares, she fills his dreams. He woke up one night and thought about the overpowering love he felt for her. He shed tears filled his eyes and the ache in his throat ran deep into his chest. Tayo no longer feels like a walking shadow, but finally a real person with feelings and emotions. It is through Montano that he discovers himself and ultimately is able to deal with being a half-breed in a changing world. When she finally leaves him, he is able to go on living and remembering all that she taught him. Conclusion: I really enjoyed this story. It was a great portrayal of how family might mistreat you just because you are a little different than them. Sometimes people can’t deal with the fact that a family member is only half of the race that they are. I would definitely recommend this book to others, especially to anyone who feels that they are secluded and have no friends just because they are bi-racial.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In ‘Ceremony’, the main character, ‘Tayo’ have to come to terms with himself and his near environment upon his come back from World War II. He is distressed from a sort of post disturbing anxiety disorder which has affected him bodily as well as psychologically due to the fact that he has lived as a prisoner of war in Japan. As a result, he must deal with all of the terrible memories when he comes back to stay with his family on the Laguna Pueblo reservation in New Mexico. To complex his problems, Tayo is half Native American and half Caucasian, so he should also deal with the extra pressures of the double culture. He is torn between the Native American world and the white world, and is unable to feel a secure refuge or belonging. Tayo’s friends and family think that they know the personality of and cure for Tayo’s sickness and depression; though it is only the Native American formal procedures which will really help him. He needs to observe the junction of life and actually realize the cyclical nature of his feelings and measures that he has faced. With the help and good judgment of Old Betonie, Tayo ultimately finds harmony in the Native American ceremonial even surrounded by all of the contradictions currently in America. In Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko exposes the many contradictions present in America today. Be it the government’s policies concerning Native Americans, the American model of courage, or the history which the children study in their classrooms, America is full of sarcasm and paradoxes. These inconsistencies do not in any way cut down the magnificence of America as a country, but to a certain extent serve to remind its people that we do not at all times keep in mind those who helped us turn out to be what we are at present. Silko’s novel is a legendary reminder for Americans to recognize our first true nationalized custom and keep in mind that the Native American tradition is still alive and well today. Silko has demonstrated that America has made blunders in the history, but undoubtedly has the power to put right those mistakes today. References Silko M, Leslie â€Å"Ceremony† Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Rep edition (March 4, 1986). ISBN-13: 978-0140086836

Culture of Jamaica

The first settlers of Jamaica called the land â€Å"Xaymaca† which means â€Å"Land of springs† (Pillai, 2013). It is said that this is where the name of the country came from. Jamaica is known for many things like its beaches, wildlife, and reggae music. Jamaica has a mix of people from different races, religions, and countries so its culture is varied. Christopher Columbus discovered Jamaica in 1494, but people have in habited the island for thousands of years before.The Arawaks and Tainos are said to be the first ribes to settle on the island, between 4000 B. C. AND 1000 B. C. (Pillai, 2013). From 1494 to 1655, Jamaica was a Spanish colony. It was a British colony from 1655 to 1962. Jamaica was granted a new constitution in 1944 and gained universal suffrage. The country gained independence August 6, 1962 (Purcell, 2013). The population of Jamaica is 2,909,714 (FindTheData, 2013). 16. 5% of the population lives below the poverty line. Africans make up most of the Jam aican population. After Africans, many of the Jamaicans are multiracial and from Indian or Chinese decent (Pillai, 2013).English is the official language of Jamaica (Purcell, 2013). Jamaican Patois is the de facto national language of Jamaica, which is a Creole language (Pillai, 2013). It is the most commonly spoken language in the country. Many religions are practiced in Jamaica. Tainos, the first settlers, worshipped forces of nature like plants and animals. They believed in the God Yucahu and Goddess Atabey. They also worshipped good and evil spirits to prevent natural disasters (Pillai, 2013). Christianity made its way to the island with the colonizers. About 80% of Jamaicans are Christians.Rastafari developed in the 1920s in Jamaica. It is a â€Å"blend of Old Testament Christian faith, mystic beliefs, and African fundamentalist ideology. † The Rastas keep their hair long in dreadlocks, reject western society, and use marijuana spiritually (Pillai, 2013). Jamaicans have certain traditions and beliefs. A common birth rite is to bury the umbilical cord of a newborn baby, and usually a tree is planted over it, signifying that they are always connected to their birth place. Funerals are an important ritual to the Jamaicans. A big funeral is a sign ofa good life (Purcell, 2013).Nine Night is a Jamaican ceremony or funeral where friends and family sing, dance, and drink for eight nights then sing farewell songs on the ninth night. They rearrange the room of the deceased so their spirit will not recognize it and return. A last meal is set out under the silk-cotton tree, a hiding place for the spirits, for the diseased spirit (Pillai, 2013). Jamaican weddings are big, lavish, and family-oriented. Both families of the bride and groom meet before the wedding and friends start sending gifts like eggs for the cake (Pillai, 2013). Jamaican foods are usually hot and spicy.Their strong spices and herbs make heir dishes popular around the world. The national dish is the Ackee and Saltflsh. Spicy Jerk pork and Jerk chicken are very popular Jamaican cuisines. The national drink is Jamaican rum (Pillai, 2013). Rice is a ceremonial food. Curried goat meat is the main meal at parties, weddings, and tunerals (Purcell, 2 Jamaican attire is a combination of European and African style. Jamaican women wear brightly colored outfits of a skirt, top, and headscarf. Men wear brightly colored western-style clothes with short sleeves. Due to the humid weather, Jamaicans don't wear heavy clothing; they prefer cotton clothing.Rastafarians wear clothes made of natural fibers. These clothes are always in their sacred colors of red, yellow, and green. â€Å"According to the Rastafarians, Red signifies the blood of the black people, Yellow stands for the gold that was stolen from Africa, and Green symbolizes the lost African lands† (Pillai, 2013). The also wear a tam or hat to go over their dreadlocks. The official currency of Jamaica is the Jamaican dolla r (FindTheData, 2013). Manufacturing and services are the main sources of economy. Service includes tourism, which is a great contributor to the economy.Jamaica's main trade allies are the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the Caribbean Economic Community. Major imports are consumer goods, construction hardware, electrical and telecommunication equipment, food, fuel, machinery, and transportation equipment. Jamaica's major exports are bauxite and alumina, apparel, sugar, bananas, coffee, citrus and citrus products, rum, cocoa, and labor (Purcell, 2013). Jamaica's gross domestic product (GDP) is $25,620,000,000. Their GDP per capita is $8,900, which is also the world average. Jamaica has a high inflation rate of 6. 9%.They also have a high unemployment rate of 14% (FindTheData, 2013). The country is in a bad economic situation. Jamaica has a bicameral parliamentary legislative system. They are a member of the British Commonwealth. The British monarch, the governor genera l, the prime minister and deputy prime minister, and the cabinet make up the executive branch. The Senate and the sixty members elected to the House of Representatives make up the legislative branch. The Judicial branch is the Supreme Court and lower courts. The main political parties are the People's National Party and the Jamaica Labor Party Purcell, 2013).Sociologists would need to know about Jamaican custom to know what not to say or do around Jamaicans to not offend them. They would need to know some of Jamaican history which would let them know that there was much slavery and oppression during the colonial period. Jamaicans might get offended if this subject is brought up in the wrong manner. It would be wise for sociologists to know that the Jamaican Patois language is a symbol of defiance from European cultural authority (Purcell, 2013). Their Jamaican identity is very important to them. Their identity ncludes many things like their religion traditions and customs.

Assess the View That Cults and Sects Are Only Fringe Organisations That Are Inevitably Short Lived and of Little Influence in Contemporary Society Essay Example for Free (#2)

Assess the View That Cults and Sects Are Only Fringe Organisations That Are Inevitably Short Lived and of Little Influence in Contemporary Society Essay Contemporary society (12) , Cult (8) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints It can be argued that cults and sects are only fringe organisations that are inevitably short lived and of little influence in contemporary society, however some may have views to contrast this idea. A sect is an organization, which usually breaks off from an established religion, which finds itself in disagreement with beliefs and values of wider society and refuses to tolerate the beliefs of others. Although the desire to be a member is voluntary, as oppose to being born into, like religion, sects are rejected by society and claim strong obligation and commitment by its members. A sect is an extremely narrow-minded organisation, which is often led by a charismatic leader. Whereas, in contrast, a cult does not progress from a mainstream religion and does not reject or challenge societal norms. However, as tolerant of other beliefs as they are, they still attract a great deal of negative press, for example brainwashing. Members in a cult are usually more like customers than followers. An example of a cult is Heavens gate, which is a destructive doomsday cult, centered in California. There is a mass of supporting evidence that cults and sects are short lived and insignificant to wider society. Nevertheless, it must be maintained that the matter is complex as there are many sects and cults, which identify themselves differently. There is evidence to support this view of a short-lived nature of sects. This is due to many reasons. World rejecting sects, due to their nature and succeeding societal rejection and stigma of bad press, must be able to compromise with society and becoming a denomination and therefore cease to be a sect, if this is not done then the sect will die out. There is also an argument that sects cannot have a great deal of affect upon society over a long term period as they cannot survive past the charismatic leader’s lifetime and therefore sustain themselves over more than one generation. The American theologian Niebuhr theorises that another reason for transience of sects is that they rarely live past the 1st generation because the 2nd generation usually lacks the belief of the 1st. In this way, their membership dwindles as the 2nd generation chooses to leave the sect and hold other views in wider society. However Wilson disagrees with Neibuhrs view and says that he overates his case and chooses to not pay attention to groups who did preserve a ‘ distinct sectarian stance’. Similarly, evidence proves to discredit the belief that a sect fails to live on past their leader’s death. For example, The Mormons have continued for many generations and also the Amish- however this could be attributed to the protective ‘isolation-like’ in which they live. There is also a possibility that the Moonies surviving is due to the leader preparing for his son to take over his position as the charismatic leader after his death, however this is yet to be seen. Cults have seen a large incline in their number recently and because they are more accepting of wider society and despite receiving bad press, offer a practical solution to peoples’ issues and wishes, seem less likely to die out due to refusal and disapproval. They are also financially rather stable, the Church of Scientology for example has an estimated income of over  £200m per year. This is down to the consumer attitude of cults. There is also a mass of evidence for their importance in society in a sense that audience cults have a mass market of ‘self help therapy’ there are many books available for example, tarot reading, crystals and reflexology regularly appear on the best seller list and often more room is devoted to these books rather than Christianity books themselves. The view that cults are fringe movements is less supported than that for sects. Sects very infrequently continue on as sects but cults such as scientology are not only prosperous but also have a huge celebrity following trend; admired by the public for example Tom Cruise. There is also evidence that sects and cults can be of great influence to society – though it is debatable as to whether or not that is possible today in a society as apparently secular as ours. Weber suggests in his Theodicy of Disprivilege that because they offer a solution to problems: justification and explanation for life and its problems, to marginalised groups such as dropouts or ethnic minorities, world rejecting sects that offer status appeal to people. An example of this is Liberation Theology which was for the poorer people which had great influence upon the priorities of the Catholic Church in Latin America (though it has become more conservative, it continues to represent human rights and democracy). Bruce argues that it is not a religion and is instead a shallow, meaningless thing. Due to the elements of choice it offers, the choice about which bits to believe and whether to take its readings into account, it does not require commitment. This he argues prevents it having religious status. Post Modernists see it as being spiritual shopping: it is part of a consumerist culture. Despite not necessarily being a religion, there is lots of evidence to show that it has influenced society as a whole and, some sociologists would claim, aided secularisation. There is also evidence to show that it is unlikely to be particularly short lived as it fits in so well with our Capitalist, consumerist society and our individualistic values and is so profitable. Therefore, though there is strong evidence to show that sects and cults are ‘fringe organisations’, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that neither are short lived in themselves either through the Sectarian cycle or demand and supply (though sects tend to become denominations) and also to suggest that the influence of sects and cults on society is greater than expected; though the influence of sects and cults is exemplified by older examples and so one cannot be sure as to how successful they will be in today’s society, except in regards to specific sects and cults. In conclusion, the view that cults, sects are fringe organisations that are inevitably short-lived and of little influence in modern-day society, is on the whole not wholly correct but has some strength in that the permanency of all is arguable as is their status as fringe organisations. Assess the View That Cults and Sects Are Only Fringe Organisations That Are Inevitably Short Lived and of Little Influence in Contemporary Society. (2016, Mar 30). We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you

What sort of freedom is required for moral responsibility Essay

What sort of freedom is required for moral responsibility - Essay Example The forms synonymous to these moral actions are praise and blame. For instance: when one is confronted with a car accident, he/she may be considered as worthy of being praised because they have managed to save a child from the burning car. On the other hand, they can also be blamed, if they fail to call for help. This means assigning moral responsibility to a person on the basis of what they have or left done or undone. It is also possible that the reaction might be self-directed i.e. one can be held accountable. In other words to be held morally or ethically responsible for an action means being worthy of a particular kind of reaction i.e. blame, praise for having performed it. In the context of moral responsibility, there are two theories of free will, which are commonly discussed. The first one is called libertarianism, which is similar to Arminian theology. There has been a debate amongst many philosophers both in ancient and contemporary times. There seems to be a consensus amon gst Christian philosophers that one cannot claim to have a sense of moral responsibility without actually having a liberal view of freedom. According to the liberal view, human decisions and actions, especially religious and ethical decisions are uncaused. The more refined forms of libertarianism posit that these decisions are not usually caused by our desires or character. They strongly cling to the belief that a free act is not an act, which is able to implement our core desires; on the contrary, it goes against our desires. Rest assured, the libertarian is aware that our desires are a function of our heritage, surroundings, our past decisions etc. Furthermore, they believe that if free decisions are based on desires, then they are certainly not completely free and therefore not uncaused. Such a view is considered to be imperative for moral responsibility because no one can be held responsible for an act unless he could have done otherwise. Quoting an example: â€Å"If I am strap ped to a robotic machine which, using my arms, robs a bank, I am not to blame for robbing the bank. I â€Å"could not have done otherwise† (Eshleman, 1). It can be said that libertarianism rather than ensuring ethical responsibility tends to destroy it. The question arises that how can we be held responsible for our decisions, if those decisions are actually psychological accidents, which do not have association with any of our desires. It cannot be denied that such a situation would definitely disregard all responsibility. Undoubtedly, it becomes quite perplexing to be regarded as responsible for something, which was against our will. There is another concept of freedom as well, which is also said to have relevance with the Reformed Theology, and is considered to be held by a number of philosophers. It is frequently cited as compatibilism. It holds the view that while forming moral decisions, we have the liberty to do what we want to and pursue our issues. In this way, there is a clear dichotomy between compatilism and libertarianism. Reformed theology says that every person has freedom in the compatibilist sense. Compatibilist freedom is the most vital type of freedom for ethical responsibility. Rest assured, there are other types of freedom, which are also imperative theologically and morally. But compatabilist freedom is more important because it is believed that every person possesses a distinct freedom, so as to go beyond their surroundings and heredity, and even though these features are compounded of tests, temptations and ethical challenges, they cannot be used as excuses for sin. We cannot declare that we are determined by heredity or our surroundings, which can give us the chance to negate our responsibility in front of