America has often been described as a melting pot - a place where people of many different backgrounds and nationalities can come together to form a common identity - transcending individual backgrounds. ... Our study of religion among early Americans also showed a greater diversity than one might think when considering that era. ... Our study of Paine, Franklin, and Jefferson, as well as the Albany Congress and the later gatherings that led to America declaring its independence shows that they were also diverse in thought and opinion as to how the people and colonies should interact. Franklin...

• Word Count: 1162
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Human nature is at the basis of it all, but each disagrees on how humans are wired. ... Contrary to how Hobbes's society has subjective morality, depending on how you view it. ... Those who disagree with Locke might say if the individual's right is primary and natural, why should they, or do they even have the duty to look out for others? ... I have to look out for myself and protect my own interests even if somebody may be impeding them for their own good. ... In certain societies there is a moral code/natural law we are supposed to follow, and this can happen as long as citizens ...

• Word Count: 1819
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

As a Christian I have never really given much thought to other religions. ... This is true even though there are people of all nationalities that practice Judaism and live outside of Israel. ... Christians believe that it is a sin not to follow the commandments of God and when we leave this earth if we have submitted to the will of God we will be with God in his kingdom. ... However, I now think that perhaps some people are unsure as to where they fit in because they have had no religious foundation and are unsure of the role that religion can play in one's life. ... During class we...

• Word Count: 1758
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Appleyard highlights what one of the great quantum theoreticians, Niels Bohr, stressed: "It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how nature is. Physics concerns what we can say about nature" (145). ... One does not have to accept Barbour's understanding of process thought to agree with his caution about what we say about truth and how we attempt to say it. ... Rolston says that "we interpret what we see in order to see it" (8). ... This effort can still be found today. ...

• Word Count: 2403
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

How do we account for religion - its origin, its development, and even its persistence in modern society? ... He worries that people distracted with rituals and ceremonies, the merest "sigh of protest," can not direct any energy towards actually changing their station, as religion "draws off into fantasy the very motives of anger and frustration they need to organise a revolt" (143)*. ... Although he presented his conclusions as universal, Marx's thought concerning religion was based on limited data and a narrow scope. ... How could these systems fulfil Marx's role of offering a bet...

• Word Count: 2462
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

"Unity of thought and practice extended down to every detail of the management of life; effectiveness of its operation did not depend upon thought. ... What are we to do when these answers conflict? ... He worries that people distracted with rituals and ceremonies, the merest "sigh of protest," can not direct any energy towards actually changing their station, as religion "draws off into fantasy the very motives of anger and frustration they need to organize a revolt" (143). ... Even the barbarian army that sacked the city he attributed to Christianity, saying that even though they held no Ch...

• Word Count: 2019
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In my opinion a true religion should encompass more than a step-by-step guide on how to live your life - it should also lead to a new metaphysical understanding of how the world in which we live operates. In this class we have discussed Confucianism at some length, and though I have found the texts to be very interesting, I don't think that I would classify Confucianism as being a religion when compared against my personal view on the subject. ... The teachings of Confucius are well thought out, and they express his desire to focus on the physical realm by his shift from worship of anc...

• Word Count: 1904
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Lonergan defines Conversion as a radical change in a person's apprehensions and values, accompanied by a radical change in oneself, in one's relation with others and with God. ... To think of faith as it was a purely individual decision, uninfluenced by the impact of the community of faith, would be foolish. ... Granted the insufficiency of the two approaches just outlined, we are left with the apparent irrationality of the decision of faith, It is cannot be grounded either in a commonly accessible transcendental faith or in rationally demonstrable historical events, how can convers...

• Word Count: 2454
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Freud, an aggressive atheist, argues that religion is an idea that we humans have developed as a way of dealing with the powers of nature that can harm us greatly. ... The rebellions are usually about people not being able to deal with certain measures of coercion, which raises the question of how far the prohibition of certain things can take a person. ... And this is how a religion, born from a man's need to make his helplessness tolerable and built on the feelings of helplessness from childhood. ... Their answers for grounds on their claims are: believe it because your ancestors did,...

• Word Count: 3198
• Approx Pages: 13
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Since human beings can not exist without a social system, which can not function without politics, it proves Plato's claim that human beings are political animals. ... Plato has noted that human nature will always be the same although tested by time and change. ... The need for belonging and relevance of political involvement remain the same even though the world is completely different from what it was. ... While Socrates definition of justice remains bound to human virtue and soul, his arguments clearly indicate how, as human beings, we share common behavior. ... The need to survive a...

• Word Count: 1092
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

"7 However motion or change in one thing, is caused by motion or change in another thing that affects it. To end the series of causes we must perceive that motion or change must originate in an initial self-moved mover. Plato believed this mover to be the source of change in motion in all that has ever been. ... Copleston argued from Plato that also mere existence can be argued from a said cause, and the argument from contingence stems from this idea. ... 'The Forms could never be encountered in this world, since they are permanent and unchangeable concepts- justice, truth, beauty an...

• Word Count: 2979
• Approx Pages: 12
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In this paper, we will discuss the different approaches of the traditional operational approach and the systematic approach and how it differs and changes in different organizations. ... The Classical School of Thought focuses on efficiency and includes bureaucratic, scientific and administrative management. ... According to Taylor, the utilization of the best methods and best tools of operation can improve efficiency. ... These groups need not be the formal groups set up by management: informal group throughout the factory exercise control over the way individual workers think and act. .....

• Word Count: 2204
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Studying of Religion: Important part of our education Studying of religion is important because we can learn about the history, and how it influences our life. ... Religion includes patterns of behavior but also patterns of language and thought. ... Through ritual, each major change in life is incorporated into the domain of the sacred. ... Religion includes patterns of behavior but also patterns of language and thought. ... The attempt to isolate the distinctive qualities of religion can be seen in the work of a number of influential thinkers. ...

• Word Count: 1578
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The later is true in Huck's experience, because his thinks it is a sin to break the law and not turn in a runaway slave. Religion is an example of collective consciousness that is planned, stable, and widespread, whereas mob rule is an example of how collective consciousness can strike suddenly and easily influence the judgment of individuals. With the mob incident involving Boggs and Sherburn, a town suddenly changed its attitude from placid and cordial to raging and violent. ... The second example, in particular, shows how easily collective consciousness can be altered and manipulate...

• Word Count: 2294
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate