Human motivation Essay

Human Motivation Essay Examination 1. Compare and contrast the theories of overweight and obesity. Describe how the components of Human Motivation relate to the obstacles dieters face today. Analyze why these obstacles exist and, also, motivations role in dieting. (note to student: feel free to use bulleted lists to make a point of comparison/contrast but then provide, in paragraph form, a narrative explanation. ) From the study conducted by the World Health Organization, they have set a standard on the classification of obesity and overweight. According to them, a person is considered overweight if her/his Body Mass Index is in the range 25 to 29. 9, while BMI value above the range is considered obese. There are many theories formulated regarding obesity. These are the Set Point Theory, Enzyme and Hormone Theory, Fat Cell Theory, Theory of Thermogenesis, Thermic Effect of Food, and External Cue Theory. In addition to these, other eating disorders were considered as one of the causes of obesity. Set Point Theory varies among individual since it is the range of weight where one’s body is set to have and will maintain it if the person allows it to. While the Enzyme and Hormone Theory also varies among individual depending on his/her body program, meaning how much or how less his/her body produces hormones and enzymes that are necessary for digestion and gaining weight. However, this theory shows in some studies that some hormonal problems regarding obesity are inherited and can be passed on to their offspring. The Theory of Thermogenesis on the other hand states that obesity may be acquired if the energy intake is exceeds energy used by the body. The energies unused are stored as fat in various parts of the body. Next is Thermic Effect of Food is the term used to express the energies consumed during the digestion and other processes that requires the burning of energy during digestion. Protein requires the highest energy to be consumed, next is carbohydrates then fat. Finally, External Cue Theory simply states the availability of food and the easiness of its access. In contrast, the theories on overweight are not specifically termed like that with obesity since, it is not yet considered a health problem compared to obesity, it is just a horrible warning that a person may reach obesity if being overweight is not controlled. Overweight is having excess fats and looking bigger and rounder than other people their age and at times may affect their physical activities like running and jumping. Though some of obesity’s theory can also be applied to this. Like for example, the availability of food, the energy intake is more than the energy used, and other eating disorders. Human Motivation is a perspective that can influence a man’s performance, however to achieve such goals, a person should have knowledge on how to achieve it and the opportunity and time to achieve such goals. Usually, overweight and obese people who want to achieve a normal weight faces obstacles in the knowledge and opportunity aspects. Also, some obese people are hindered by the disabilities accompanied by obesity, like being not able to walk or stand. However, to those who can still perform well to achieve normal weight, one can have a strict diet plan, exercise regularly, get into sports or other activities pertaining to weight loss. 2. Explain how arousal affects a humans motivation to either perform or procrastinate. Be sure to explain the physiological aspects of arousal. Create the following real-life scenarios to illustrate your understanding. Arousal is the activating of the brain and the body systems in order to be able to perform. It has two arousal systems – cortical (brain system) and autonomic nervous system (body). Arousal affects human motivation to perform or procrastinate since excessive arousal can dim intelligence and may cause a low performance level of a person on a difficult situation, while moderate arousal can cause a better performance. A real-life example for this is, a woman witnessing a car accident, with victims severely injured. If the woman, panics, activating her cortical and autonomic nervous system on its highest level, then she might be responding in a less intelligent way, than to control her emotion, try to relax to diminish the activating her arousal systems so she can think smartly, make right choices and respond wisely to the incident. a) Create a real-life scenario for a teenage male depicting the role of arousal in performance and include the application of one theory of Human Motivation. For example, using the Hierarchy of Needs Theory, a teenage male survives a plane crash and got stuck in a forest. If the male does not control his arousal it may cause panic and it will dim his intelligence on how to act wisely on the situation, and the opposite happens when his arousal in low.

How Did Shakespeare Portray the Concept of Honor in Henry Iv Part 1

How did Shakespeare portray a concept of honour in Henry IV part 1? In this world, there exists, since the dawn of civilisation of mankind, a thing that we are fighting and dying for—that is honour. Shakespeare explores the theme of honour in Henry IV part 1 in a rather interesting way by having it presented in a different form varying from character to character. Henry IV wants to protect his honour by using any means available to vanquish the rebels, his sinful act to King Richard also keeps haunting him and shakes his own faith in his honour.While his son’s dishonourable acts in the beginning of the play wearies him further. Superficially, one may think Prince Hal is a typical young slacker whose life has been fully lured by the glamorous but immoral world of liquor,gambling, prostitution and crime, the truth is, unbeknownst to anyone, the prince is scheming to reform himself from an idler into a more responsible and competent heir to the throne. Here, his vision of honour of behaving like the royal is an impetus for him to seek new behaviour which will bring him more merits, making him an honourable figure the status he deserves.Or Hotspur, honour is everything, ironically more valuable than his wife. His excess obsession of honour induces many political mistakes, most notably his decision to confront the king at Shreswbury despite having less number of troops. In other words, Hotspur’s passion for honour blinds him from the reality. For all his chivalry and valor in the battle, Hotspur is proved to fail at being a military strategis as well as effective leader. It is none other than the lazy, unscrupulous and coward Sir Falstaff whose existence in the play represents the values that totally oppose the fore-mentioned concepts of honour.His disenchanted view on honour can make the audiences see that the reason behind other characters’ action are single-minded and irrational or more poignantly worthless. Overall, the exhilaration o f the play partially arises from Shakespeare’ way of presenting honour in various forms, paralleling the play to the real world where different people all know honour with different interpretation. King Henry IV whose name is the title of the play, is not in fact the protagonist, however the play speculates what has occurred during his turbulent reign. In Richard II, the audiences see him as dynamic and brave, indicating his kingly qualities.All the audiences must then be bewildered upon seeing him in this play. Suspicious, stressful and sick was the king after all dishonouralbe acts he did to King Richard previously. Shakespeare tries to explore how the sin of being viciously dishonourable comes back to haunt its perpetrator. Despite the king’s regret of what he did to Richard and his passion to redeem himself by going to crusade, this sin seems to block all the means for the king to purify himself. The rebellion of the Percys and rebellious nature of his son led him to grow very ill.Act one scene one, he moaned about his son and mistakenly praises Hotspur’s qualities, saying that Hotspur is â€Å"a son (of Percy) who is the theme of honour’s tongue, implying that Hal brings him with nothing but shame and disgrace. His anger even drives him further to contemplate that if he only and Northumberland could switch sons, â€Å"would have I (himself) his Harry and he mine. Fortuantely, in the end the king gains back honour by defeating the rebels and his son, who used to represent everything he scorns and acts dishonourably, has redeemed himself and proves to be an effective warrior.Henry Momouth or affectionately known as Hal is an interesting character as well as complex. At the beginning,the audiences see Hal as a drunken idler who acts nothing like an heir to the throne. Unexpectedly, Hal, in Act 1scne 2< makes it clear that he doesn’t plan to live the rest of his life in this world of immorality, in fact he claims that he i s pretending to be this sort of person then when the right moment comes, he is going to transform himself into a person with all characteristics of the king. Reformation, glittering over faults, will do more goodly and attract more eyes† expresses his prediction that his â€Å"reformation† would make his subjects surprises and therefore gains more popularity for him which is necessary in order to keep the kingdom stable. Hal has a vision that the great honour of being king will at the eventually fall on him whether he likes it or not. This vision of future honour is the impetus of Hal’s self-reformation. Henry Hotspur was a renowned warrior whose actions and decisions all have been influenced by the concept of honour.Unlike other characters, Hotspur’ was too obsessed with honour, resulting in a single-minded decision making. For all his chivalry, Hotspur was an utter political failure. Act 4 Scene 1, despite possessing less troops, HOTSPUR, without opening his mind for Worcester and Vernon’s suggrstion, decided to confront the king’s troops the next day. Moreove, this sort of obsession makes Hotspur far from being diplomatic. Whenever he is angry, he always bursts and doesn’t listen to anyone but himself. All this proves that, comparing to Hal, he is not deserved to wield the power.However, despite these differences, he and Hal share only one common belief in one respect of honor. Both of them make it clear that in order for one to gain honor, another one must die first. â€Å"Harry to Harry shall, hot horse to horse, meet and never drop til one dropped a corpse† said Hotspur in Act 4 scene 1 before the battle of shrewsbury. This line best exemplified the fore-mentioned point. Falstaff lacked any sort of honur. â€Å"what is honur? A word†, expressed Flastaff, demonstrating his disenchanted attitude towards honour.Although having been opposing this concept, at the end of act 5 scene 4, Falstaff seem s to be sel-contradictory when he commented that he would embrace a new and more honourable lifestyle only if he gains honor and status after the battle. From this, it is clear that Falstaff would embrace the concept of honour only if honor comes to him first. Therefore he does not oppose honour for ideological reason but rather for practical reason as through out the play honour in anyform doesn’t seem to come to him‘ In conclusion, different characters in this play have different concepts of honour How Did Shakespeare Portray the Concept of Honor in Henry Iv Part 1 How did Shakespeare portray a concept of honour in Henry IV part 1? In this world, there exists, since the dawn of civilisation of mankind, a thing that we are fighting and dying for—that is honour. Shakespeare explores the theme of honour in Henry IV part 1 in a rather interesting way by having it presented in a different form varying from character to character. Henry IV wants to protect his honour by using any means available to vanquish the rebels, his sinful act to King Richard also keeps haunting him and shakes his own faith in his honour.While his son’s dishonourable acts in the beginning of the play wearies him further. Superficially, one may think Prince Hal is a typical young slacker whose life has been fully lured by the glamorous but immoral world of liquor,gambling, prostitution and crime, the truth is, unbeknownst to anyone, the prince is scheming to reform himself from an idler into a more responsible and competent heir to the throne. Here, his vision of honour of behaving like the royal is an impetus for him to seek new behaviour which will bring him more merits, making him an honourable figure the status he deserves.Or Hotspur, honour is everything, ironically more valuable than his wife. His excess obsession of honour induces many political mistakes, most notably his decision to confront the king at Shreswbury despite having less number of troops. In other words, Hotspur’s passion for honour blinds him from the reality. For all his chivalry and valor in the battle, Hotspur is proved to fail at being a military strategis as well as effective leader. It is none other than the lazy, unscrupulous and coward Sir Falstaff whose existence in the play represents the values that totally oppose the fore-mentioned concepts of honour.His disenchanted view on honour can make the audiences see that the reason behind other characters’ action are single-minded and irrational or more poignantly worthless. Overall, the exhilaration o f the play partially arises from Shakespeare’ way of presenting honour in various forms, paralleling the play to the real world where different people all know honour with different interpretation. King Henry IV whose name is the title of the play, is not in fact the protagonist, however the play speculates what has occurred during his turbulent reign. In Richard II, the audiences see him as dynamic and brave, indicating his kingly qualities.All the audiences must then be bewildered upon seeing him in this play. Suspicious, stressful and sick was the king after all dishonouralbe acts he did to King Richard previously. Shakespeare tries to explore how the sin of being viciously dishonourable comes back to haunt its perpetrator. Despite the king’s regret of what he did to Richard and his passion to redeem himself by going to crusade, this sin seems to block all the means for the king to purify himself. The rebellion of the Percys and rebellious nature of his son led him to grow very ill.Act one scene one, he moaned about his son and mistakenly praises Hotspur’s qualities, saying that Hotspur is â€Å"a son (of Percy) who is the theme of honour’s tongue, implying that Hal brings him with nothing but shame and disgrace. His anger even drives him further to contemplate that if he only and Northumberland could switch sons, â€Å"would have I (himself) his Harry and he mine. Fortuantely, in the end the king gains back honour by defeating the rebels and his son, who used to represent everything he scorns and acts dishonourably, has redeemed himself and proves to be an effective warrior.Henry Momouth or affectionately known as Hal is an interesting character as well as complex. At the beginning,the audiences see Hal as a drunken idler who acts nothing like an heir to the throne. Unexpectedly, Hal, in Act 1scne 2< makes it clear that he doesn’t plan to live the rest of his life in this world of immorality, in fact he claims that he i s pretending to be this sort of person then when the right moment comes, he is going to transform himself into a person with all characteristics of the king. Reformation, glittering over faults, will do more goodly and attract more eyes† expresses his prediction that his â€Å"reformation† would make his subjects surprises and therefore gains more popularity for him which is necessary in order to keep the kingdom stable. Hal has a vision that the great honour of being king will at the eventually fall on him whether he likes it or not. This vision of future honour is the impetus of Hal’s self-reformation. Henry Hotspur was a renowned warrior whose actions and decisions all have been influenced by the concept of honour.Unlike other characters, Hotspur’ was too obsessed with honour, resulting in a single-minded decision making. For all his chivalry, Hotspur was an utter political failure. Act 4 Scene 1, despite possessing less troops, HOTSPUR, without opening his mind for Worcester and Vernon’s suggrstion, decided to confront the king’s troops the next day. Moreove, this sort of obsession makes Hotspur far from being diplomatic. Whenever he is angry, he always bursts and doesn’t listen to anyone but himself. All this proves that, comparing to Hal, he is not deserved to wield the power.However, despite these differences, he and Hal share only one common belief in one respect of honor. Both of them make it clear that in order for one to gain honor, another one must die first. â€Å"Harry to Harry shall, hot horse to horse, meet and never drop til one dropped a corpse† said Hotspur in Act 4 scene 1 before the battle of shrewsbury. This line best exemplified the fore-mentioned point. Falstaff lacked any sort of honur. â€Å"what is honur? A word†, expressed Flastaff, demonstrating his disenchanted attitude towards honour.Although having been opposing this concept, at the end of act 5 scene 4, Falstaff seem s to be sel-contradictory when he commented that he would embrace a new and more honourable lifestyle only if he gains honor and status after the battle. From this, it is clear that Falstaff would embrace the concept of honour only if honor comes to him first. Therefore he does not oppose honour for ideological reason but rather for practical reason as through out the play honour in anyform doesn’t seem to come to him‘ In conclusion, different characters in this play have different concepts of honour

Marriage and Relationship Annotated Bibliography

Marriage and Relationship - Annotated Bibliography Example Conversely, couples who did indulge themselves into premarital sex, normally report of having poor sex quality. Primarily, this is due to the deprivation of one’s innocence coupled with mistrust that an individual suffered before where he or she extends it into the marriage. Since, the partners in terms of matters of sex seem to generalize their spouses with the numerous sexual partners, which they had before.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hawkins, A. J., & Ooms, T. (2012). Can Marriage and Relationship Education Be an Effective   Policy Tool to Help Low-Income Couples Form and Sustain Healthy Marriages and   Relationships? A Review of Lessons Learned. Marriage & Family Review, 48(6), 524-  554. doi:10.1080/01494929.2012.677751.  Hawkins and Ooms have synthesized diverse researchers’ findings regarding marriages’ support by public through Marriage and Relationship Education (MRE) (Hawkins & Ooms, 2012). The aim is to enable individuals and couples who are low-income ea rners to have satisfaction and stable marriages. Mainly, this is despite challenging economic predicaments that they may encounter and threaten their union. The article also reports how the involved couples and individuals seem to enjoy the mode of education besides preferring its continuance due to the support that they normally get from the program. However, Hawkins and Ooms have observed how the pioneers of the programs are facing challenges in addressing specific and varying predicaments affecting marriages. This is to ensure effective handling of marriage issues.

Email Pragmatics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Email Pragmatics - Essay Example This essay stresses that language is a very unique phenomenon that comes with several types and rules. Different people speak different languages and even within the same sect of people using a particular language, there are several rules that govern language usage. Because of this, language creates a learning process for itself, which cannot be overlooked or under estimated if a person wants to make effect and judicious use of language. One other interesting feature about language is that the learning of language is almost perpetual, being studied at all levels of education, and ever changing in form and principles. One of the levels of studying and applying language is the focus of the current essay, which is the subject of pragmatic conventions. This paper declares that pragmatics has been identified to be an important area or level of language that emphasizes on the use of language in a social context. Even though most social interactions take place in a more physical form, involving utterances and speeches, it cannot be denied that there have been avenues by which social interactions and social networking have existed through written platforms. Some of these include the use of letter writing, social media networking and emails. Pragmatics as a social context of language therefore highlights both utterance and text meaning to language. The exchange of messages between people has been a common practice for ages.

Policy contribution part 3 (final) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Policy contribution part 3 (final) - Assignment Example owever, these policies are all based on the premise that immigrants have a generalized negative effect on the systems in the country, whereby the common belief is that unless someone has a certain level of education, skills or other features, he or she should be denied entry into the country (Bush and McLarty, 2009). Without the specified criteria, the country believes that these people have an overall negative effect on the country and its people including security, economy, culture, politics, and other aspects of modern-day society (McWhirter, 2006). Implementing policy depends on many factors including their effect on the people and the aim of policy makers in implementing the policy. In this case, the immigration policy had the aims of reducing the influx of immigrants into the country, and ensuring that those who gain access into the country are the most productive of all the candidates (Givens, Freeman and Leal, 2009). Consequently, the needs of the country have to be considered, together with the welfare of citizens and immigrants. This ensures that the policy that is passed is the best for everyone, such that citizens will not be at a disadvantage due to the proliferation of the number of immigrants into the country. On the other hand, the policy should be humane enough not to deny immigrants entry into the country of their dreams if they deserve it. In order to achieve an all-encompassing policy, extensive consultations must be held among all stakeholders during the planning and implementation process (Balloch, 2005). In addition, consultations must be held to identify areas of weakness in the policy, or changes that have occurred in the country that would necessitate a change in policy. Therefore, the process of implementing policy is continuous, whereby there is a feedback mechanism, and policies are always in the process of being amended and the amendments are always being implemented (Koulish, 2009). This study uses the Jansson’s approach to policy

Wave Overtopping on Coastal Structures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Wave Overtopping on Coastal Structures - Essay Example Traditionally, laboratory experiments and field observations have been used to study this turbulent oceanographic phenomenon and empirical formulae have been derived from these but severe limitations existed since parameters to which these derivations fitted were local (Shao, 2006). Thus, in recent time, universal derivations that can fit across a wide range of parametric requirements of structure geometry, water conditions and wave dynamics are considered essential and desirable. To this end, fluid dynamics proves a somewhat reliable model generator but traditional Eulerian approaches that discretise governing equations over a computational field divided into a grid system based on local parameters develop problems of numerical diffusion that transcends localised grid patterns and tend to encompass the entire grid so that the discretised development of the equation into an unified whole is seriously affected (Shao, 2006). More recently, to solve this diffusion effect for traditional dynamics, a particle method has been developed wherewith the discretised equation utlises individual particles in the flow as centres of development. The diffusion effect is effectively smoothed by a functional kernel that identifies and utilises the combined functions of the angular and linear momentums of each particle (Shao, 2006). The smoothing out of the diffusion effect generated at each particle location within the flow thus allows the fluid, in this case seawater in wave form, to be accounted for as an incompressible one (Shao, 2006). One such method that utilises this unique strategy is the moving particle semi-implicit method (MPS) applied somewhat successfully by Japanese scientists to wave flow patterns (Shao, 2006). The model that this paper will demonstrate is the smoothed particle hydrodynamic (SPH) method as developed and tested by Shao, 2006. The paper shall now study a little of how this manner of computational strategy developed. Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH): The smoothed particle hydrodynamic method was one of the earliest meshfree methods applying Langrangian description of motion. It was primarily proposed by Lucy (1977) and Gingold and Monaghan (1977) (source: Zhang and Batra, 2004) for problems in astrophysics in three-dimensional space (Zhang and Batra, 2004). In the conventional smoothed particle hydrodynamic (SPH) method, for a function f at a point x within a domain , the approximate value of is given as below: = (Eqn. 2.1, p. 137, Zhang and Batra, 2004) In this equation, is the kernel or smoothing function. The approximate value of of f depends upon two parameters - the kernel W and the dilation h, the last providing support for W. It is essential that the kernel W should have the following properties - I) = 0, for , II) , III) , here is the Dirac delta function, IV) , and V) =. (Zhang and Batra, 2004) This conventional SPH method is not even zero-order consistent at the boundaries (Zhang and Batra, 2004). This forced Liu et al, 1995a,b, to introduce a corrective function that is a polynomial of the spatial coordinates, making the method order consistent (Zhang and Batra, 2004). Chen et al, (1999a,b) and Zhang and Batra, 2004, also sought to improve the conventional SPH method consistency in some manner. It is notable that the smoothed particle hydrodynamics method is a macroscopic model but it can be considered both as a continuum and particle method (Meakin et al, 2007). This is in particular context to the fact that the computational efficiency of purely particle methods is low in comparison to purely continuum ones (Meakin

Project Management Managing Projects Assignment

Project Management Managing Projects - Assignment Example This relation is shown in the Network diagram by two rectangles "a" and "b" joined by a directed line going from "a" to "b". This helps the user in tracing all tasks on which a particular task is dependent and in tracing all the tasks which depend on a particular task. It also helps the user in estimating the criticality of a task. Business location is still a primary issue in keeping up a company's competitive position -- whether corporate headquarters are looking forward to recruit and keep top talent or a back office looking forward to reduce the amount of operating costs. As today's business situation alters at an ever-increasing rate, businesses, most of the time, find that their current location is no longer providing the competitive vantage it had once upon a time. (Burke, 1999) Consequently, all the companies should evaluate the chances and hazards of moving to a better location for their company. In this paper we will analyse the key issues that cause a business to change its location as well as the different aspects of a feasibility analysis a manager needs to evaluate the chances and hazards of changing the location of a business. Elaboration and globalization of the world economy causes both new opportunities and new competitors on the other hand. (Boddy, 2002) Companies are finding the location of their business operations not only to purchase global opportunities but also to find a more defensible market position. 2. Alterations in the Need for Labour The global contest for labour especially for knowledge workers, has caused companies to change the position of their businesses and repackage their businesses as an "employer of choice" (Maylor, 2003) to gain a competitive vantage for drawing in and retaining talented labour resources. 3. Internal changes in a Company Businesses are experiencing significant change taken by mergers and acquisitions as well as the want to reduce overall cost for operating, caring knowledge as an asset, sustaining internal business growth, and favourably impact business

Organization and Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Organization and Communication - Essay Example There are employees who feel threatened when they work with other people who are different with age, sex or culture (White 1999, p.477) Also, it could affect the increase in terms of cost of training as the management may have to provide seminars, programs and lectures to counteract the negative effects of diversity in the workplace. The employees need to be taught of accepting the different personalities and ideas or thoughts of their colleagues as well as deal with conflicts (White 1999, p. 478). Another negative effect is that a group for instance may encounter reverse discrimination which usually surfaces due to affirmative action policies. This is common to white males who feel that they have been discriminated unfairly as a result of certain affirmative action policies employed by the management (Brunner, 2003). Increase in conflicts may also arise as a result of the diversity in the workplace. Ignorance is the common root of the conflicts due to some negative dynamics like ethnocentrism, stereotyping and culture clashes. When one feels to be more superior than others, there arises a conflict (White 1999, p. 4 78). There may also be an increase in turnover or absenteeism (White 1999, p. 479). Mismanaged diversity may give way to minority group and majority group. The members of the minority group could most of the time feel less valued as compared to their counterpart which because of stereotype, ethnocentrism and prejudice. The abilities and motivation in this instance could be inhibited which further affects their job performance (Goetz, 2001). Every people in the world has already suffered stress in their lives but until now, the word â€Å"stress† is not yet given its full definition and explanation of what it is all about. When people are asked how they define stress and what makes them stressed, different answers usually come out and different factors are given as to the causes thereof. Stress is one

Plantation Epic Essay Example for Free

Plantation Epic Essay Erskine Clarke’s Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic is a product of a decade of research about the biography of Charles Colcock Jones, Sr. Presented in a narrative, the book reflected on four generations of the plantation and its residents. It provided views from the masters and the slaves, the whites and the blacks. It was completed out of the collection of the Jones Family’s papers that included numerous letters, plantation records, journals, archeological findings, sermons for the slaves and marks of the African-American community. The lives of the African Americans, despite the fact that little documentation were provided for slaves, was included in this book based from the individuals that stood out that presented with them histories that tied their stories together. In that way, this book presented different perspectives. It offered the two sides of a coin wherein the whites told of how they saw the inhabitants of the piazzas of the plantation homes at the same time the blacks narrated of their stories from their view around the communal fires of slave settlements. The different experiences of the slaves and their masters were simultaneously portrayed in the book and were labeled as a technique called the â€Å"upstairs downstairs† history. Clarke showed how the history of slaves in the Jones plantations had been typical yet somehow divergent of the common norms of master-slave relationship during those times. The narrative revolved around the Jones Family and the plantation workers. Most of the readers may be familiar to this family from Robert Manson Myers’ Children of Pride: The True Story of Georgia and the Civil War. The book provides a multi-faceted account of the family’s life in the plantation following their portrayal in Myer’s book following the same novel-feel to reading historical accounts. As a standard for slavery in the south, it showed how the relationships of the slaves and the masters were relatively better than those in the north. Even if they were opposed to abolitionist advocacies, they maintained more humane relationships with their slaves. They would be the first ones to advocate religious instructions for the slaves and exercise proper stewardship for them as an obligation from God. Charles Jones, one of the main characters, was the inheritor of the plantation as well as the slaves that resided in it. He was trained for the clergy at Andover and in Princeton seminaries. Charles did his best to integrate his role as the master of the household with his clerical calling. There was indecision within Charles concerning the morality of slavery. He then turned towards the consolation of interceding for the salvation of his slaves as the more important thing over the immorality of the nature of slavery. He had two goals in his life which was to ensure that masters take on the duty of taking the gospel to their slaves and establish a more humane slavery system according to Christian principles. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SLAVES AND MASTERS The book focused on how Charles Colcock Jones led the way for religious instruction for the slaves. He also promoted stewardship of the masters with the slaves as they saw it to be their responsibility to God. Others would oppose teaching religious principles to their slaves in fears of having to teach them to read and write or for their slaves to demand for freedom and equal rights. Charles assured the people of the benefits it would propagate if the masters teach their slaves about God. He promoted that it would be beneficial to the relationship of the master and his slave. Out of religion, the result would be greater subordination and the lessening of the crimes the blacks commit against the whites because of the fear of God. Coming from this argument, Christian masters then considered how the slaves were part of their household. They saw fit that they follow the teachings of Paul in the Bible in their dealings with their slaves. According to Paul, masters should be just to their servants because they themselves have a master in heaven by which they serve and are accountable to. Interdependence In the Jones plantation, a complex relationship formed between the master and the slaves. Their lives are intertwined in away that they share their lives with each other, even the births of their children. The children of the masters and the children of the slaves would soon play the roles of master and children in succeeding generations. Their lives were interdependent in such a way that the masters need the slaves to work their household and the slaves need their masters to provide them with basic necessities in living in America. Like in the case of driver slave named Jupiter, he was trusted by his master and was assigned with numerous tasks as reflected in letters sent to Elizabeth, John Jones’ first wife. The letters show how Jupiter was given a number of obligations. Jupiter knew the settlement very well and it was implied that without his skills and work in running it, it can be very difficult to manage it. At the same time, John Jones had the authority to bring back Jupiter’s wife into the settlement when she was transferred some place else. They master and the slave relied on each other to keep themselves afloat in different areas like the household, the business and even their family affairs. Furthermore, it must be understood that during those times the special relationship of the master and the slaves go beyond the household. Slaves would even get into arguments with other slaves as to whose master is better, kinder, richer or smarter. They perceive their masters’ greatness to transcend towards them. The reasoning behind this is that it was bad enough to live the life of a slave, but it was the worst to be a slave of a poor man. This was their escape from the reality that they had no choice but to serve their masters, good or bad, and put up a contented facade and work as hard as their masters would want them to work. White-Black Sexual Liaisons There were encounters wherein the masters and the slaves would have sexual encounters out of relationships formed and it would only be discovered with the color of the newborn’s skin. In one instance, Mary, a slave girl from the Jones’ plantation married a man named Zaddock from a nearby North Hampton Plantation. When they had a baby, it was more mulatto than it was black. Nevertheless, Zaddock still remained married to her and told her that it should not happen again. There were many theories as to what resulted to such a baby. Thomas Shepard, Zaddock’s master said that it may be Mary’s participation in a consensual sexual encounter with a white man. It could also be one of the common cases wherein a white man would sexually abuse a black girl. There was another case wherein Roswell King, Jr. married Julia Maxwell. In marriages of the planters they are able to combine their slaves into one household. Julia brought with her the slaves that were a gift to her by her father. Roswell’s own slaves included his two slave children from two different slave women. It was not known by his wife during that time until a point came wherein Roswell had to admit to his offsprings despite the fact that they are negroes. During those times, whether the sexual encounters between male blacks and white girls were consentual or not, the males would never admit to stories of fathering a black girl’s child or if they do, they would never admit to using force. Although during that time, sexual abused was so common that black girls who would resist were considered heroines in their own right. PORTRAYAL OF FAMILIES AND RELIGION AMONG THE SLAVES Religion Charles encouraged the imposition of religion amongst the slaves by the masters because he greatly saw how the masters would be accountable to God as stewards of the slaves and thought that masters were responsible for their slaves’ spiritual destination. Despite the fact that other masters saw the dangers of this as wells as the unnecessity, they were convinced under the premise that they would have more ideals slaves as a result of this. Instead of mere external show of authority, the slaves would have a change of heart internally and submit to their masters because of the fear of the Lord. Obedience was a religious principle and this can secure the authority of the masters over the slaves when they are exposed to religion. Charles suggested that complete subordination can be achieved out of religious principles of obedience to God. The slaves would turn away for resistance from bondage in exchange for eternal salvation. Furthermore, religion was seen as an economic benefit. When slaves are faithful they would work better and be less of a liability for their masters, they are also safeguarded from diseases. However, Charles drove the point home when he insisted the main goal of religious instruction for the blacks was still the salvation of the souls of the slaves rather than economic gains. For him, slavery can be justified when a soul is saved. He further reiterated that the blacks are placed under the care of their masters by God’s providence. The benefits and reasons Charles gave his family and friends enough for a Liberty County Association for Religious Instruction of the Negroes to be formed. The theme was dominantly the implementation and importance of religious instruction of the masters to the slaves because the Jones adhered to such mission from God. In those times, other historians of slave history have documented how planters have used religion as a means of social control, as Charles himself mentioned as one of the benefits of religion. For them, when black slaves would hear preachings about obedience and submission they would in turn be contented with their state thus making them more manageable. On the other hand, slaves benefited from being Christians as well. They were allowed to rest and go out on Sundays. They were also treated better by their masters knowing that they know understand and know about the accountability of their masters to treat them better. They know that they have to be treated fairly as they have found out that they had to be submissive and obedient to their masters. Marriages Marriages and forming families were one of the coping mechanisms of the slaves because it provides for them a sense of normalcy and humanity despite their fate under slavery. Most of the time, male slaves did not want to be married. They did not want to witness abuse on their future wives and children. They could not bear having to stand defenseless to a white man sexually abusing his wife as it has been something common amongst them. Nevertheless, the white masters encouraged their slaves to marry. They also encourage that they marry within the plantation and not with others to prevent themselves from sneaking out in the middle of the night. Some slave owners encouraged them to have strong family ties because of their religion. Some take advantage of this to handle their slaves easier. They see a marriage slave to be less of a liability because he would not attempt to rebel compared to a single slave due to marital baggage. Some landowners encourage sexual morality and even punish those who commit adultery and encourage marriages. They have certain punishments for slaves that depart from their marital obligations. Promoting slave marriages, Thomas Clay spoke to the presbytery meeting on improving the morality of slaves in the plantations. He said that slave marriages must be honored by their masters and the male slaves must be warned against beating or abusing their wives. Parental Authority Slave parents experienced little luxury of taking care and teaching their children because of the work the plantations require. They only learn by what is available to them, the time and the people they get to talk to was the limited yet varied means by which they are educated and disciplined. The slave girl would see how their parents interacted with the white masters and learn from there about how she should interact with the whites. Like any other parents, slave parents imposed strict discipline and taught their children the values of society and their community. Most of the time, the father was the final authority in the family and the children were afraid of their parents. They would get disciplined when caught doing wrong or going on some wayward path. However, that authority was limited to whatever the white master would have to say and command. Children spend little time with their parents because of the heavy workload a typical slave needs to finish daily. Their time for education is limited to early mornings and late evenings. Most of the time, they are neglected. They are fed irregularly and not supervised even in the early years. This leads to sickness and disease that the ignorant slave parents had no means of curing or addressing. Slave Families and White Authority The whites, adult or child always had higher authority than slaves. Slave parents had no power to stop a white man from whipping their children. At the same time slave spouses and children can do nothing but watch as the heads of their families are humiliated and whipped by their white masters. During those times, even grandparents or elderly people get whipped until the time that they were bleeding and no one in the family can do anything about it. They knew the mere presence of a white man can make a Negro shudder. MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES OF SLAVES In the Jones Plantation As mentioned earlier, Charles and his family would implement religion as a mission and as a management technique for the slaves. There are instances mentioned in the book wherein Roswell King, Jr. did not care for any evangelical concepts for his slaves. Instead he favored a more utilitarian approach to the slave management. He did not see use for making his slaves happy for them to be better workers. He saw fit clear rules that would be consistently implemented for the slaves as well as some forms of flexibility measures would be sufficiently beneficial in establishing the plantation. Degree of Management Techniques Standard in the South In the south there certain normal norms of management techniques aside from what was highly focused upon in Clarke’s book. Ideal slaves were the ones that respected their masters and obeyed them with whatever orders they had. They are also trust-worthy and loyal to their masters. To have such ideal slaves, written discourses discussed about the proper management of the slaves in the antebellum period to be applied and maintained under strict discipline. The first step the slave owners took was to adapt an army-like regulation for the slaves. Under this circumstance, slaves are expected to obey at all times and under all circumstances cheerfully and with alacrity. According to such discourses, â€Å"unconditional subordination must be the only footing upon which slavery must be place. † The second step to have ideal slaves was to implant in the blacks a personal inferiority. During those times, they would embed in the minds of their slaves that bondage was their natural status and that they should know they place. They must also have a clear concept between a master and a slave. They made them feel that their color was a badge of their degradation and that coming from that ancestral line was caused them to have the lowest status in society, lower than the most wretched white man. Impudence would be something they must avoid. Any answer that has a tone or the lack of answer when being questioned can be interpreted as an impudent act on the part of the slave. The third step is to awe them with their master’s enormous power. This gives an impression that the master is so powerful that they should almost bow in fear. The principle by which slavery was founded was based on fear. If the slaves are not afraid of their masters they would not be slaves. They blame abolitionist groups on the stricter discipline that had to enforce to keep their slaves in check. The slaves must also see his master’s success as his own success. The fourth step deals with having the slave think in the interest of his master’s enterprise. This would encourage them to work harder because their masters’ prosperity would translate to their own welfare. â€Å"The habit of perfect dependence† was something that masters see important in their slaves. They saw how it was highly dangerous for slaves to be trained as artisans or even to be hired for factory work. Once they realized that they are capable to earn money doing other things they become unwilling to work in the normal household with strict demands. COMMON GROUND AND DIVERGENCE When the day has ended, Mary and Charles would sit on the porch to drink some tea and look at the spectacular beauty of Montevideo. For them, it was a place of responsibility wherein they would take care of the needs of the household, from food to clothing, religious instruction, proper control and management. As they look into the view of Montevideo, they realize that what they are looking at is their source of wealth. On the other hand, before the cabins of Carlawter where all the blacks gathered at nightfall, they had the same view of Montevideo. From where they gathered around the fire, they too saw the spectacular beauty of the place despite the fact that it was a place of hard labor. They hear the same murmur of the river that is close by as well as the horizon that indicated daybreak or nightfall. The slaves also considered the plantation their home, it was a place where their family and friends are in the slave community, and it was also the place of their ancestors. Even if it was a place wherein they had restricted freedom, it was also a place wherein they got protection from the more hostile world from white violence and power. Looking at the Montevideo, it can have a lot of different interpretations and stories to be told from different views. It was a constant struggle between those who sat on the piazza and those who sat around the fire near the cabins. But the struggle is part of the reality of the life in the plantation. The differences go further into the education of the children who are black and white. While the children received training and education from a paid tutor, the slave children are educated by their parents in their cabins or learn from the wisdom of the folktales around the communal fire. NATURE OF THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY The reality is, despite the fact that the Jones plantation offered a kinder environment for the slaves; they were still slaves and deprived of freedom. During celebrations of weddings or holidays in the household, the whites enjoy themselves with lavish parties and gatherings while the slave cook, Patience worked arduously in the kitchen preparing for the people. Others would insist that the institution of slavery was a means of civilizing and evangelizing to the African-Americans under the stewardship of their masters. It was discovered that Negroes were less disciplined and improved in slavery compared to their free counterparts as well as a barbarism of the race. Slaves are placed under the impression that they are solely dependent on their masters. They think that they cannot survive without them because they give them everything that they need to live. They have settled instead for the temporary joys that they can get like Sundays and holidays. Admittedly, the true nature of the institution of slavery makes the slaves into mere properties of their masters. This is notable when the death of a Negro is not regarded as an extinction of life but merely a loss of property for the slave owner. Slave management often resulted to ambiguous and complicated scenarios because treating a living and breathing person with human emotions and passions as a mere property or object was very difficult. The very nature of slavery meant the power of the master was absolute to render the perfect submission of the slave. The master can do anything to his slave, except kill or maime the slave intentionally. CONCLUSION If the nature of the institution of slavery was to make the Negroes civilized, they used manners such us humiliating them, and degrading their character and race as a means of being part of the so-called civilized society. The Jones family, in this narrative account exhibited the more ideal ways of establishing civilization amongst the Negroes by means of campaigning evangelism and humane treatment of the slaves. Wills (2006), in her reflections of the book said, â€Å"He challenges me to contemplate the slaves unaccountable perseverance and the whites blind persistence, to credit the distance between them, and to recognize finally that the former was rooted in truth and the latter in nightmarish deception. † BIBLIOGRAPHY Amazon. com. â€Å"Editorial Reviews,† Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic. (2007) [http://www. amazon. com/gp/product/productdescription/030012256X/ref=dp_proddesc_0/105-36748443852456? ie=UTF8n=283155s=books] Blassingame, John W. The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South. USA: Oxford University Press, 1979. Burton, Orville Vernon. In My Fathers House Are Many Mansions: Family and Community in Edgefield, South Carolina. USA: University of North Carolina Press, 1987. Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. USA: Bedford Books, 1993. Clarke, Erkskine. Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic. USA: Yale University Press, 2005. Cooper, William J. Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic. Journal of Southern History 73, No. 1 (2007): 174+. Olmsted, Frederick Law. The Cotton Kingdom: A Travellers Observations on Cotton and Slavery in the American Slave States. New York: Da Capo Press Inc. , 1996. Rawick, George P. From Sundown to Sunup: The Making of the Black Community. USA: Greenwood, 1972. Stampp, Kenneth M. Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South. USA: Vintage, 1989. Wills, Anne Blue. Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic. The Christian Century 30 May 2006, 37+.

A divided America on the topic of abortion Essay Example for Free

A divided America on the topic of abortion Essay Abortion In modern history, there have been few subjects of political and social interest as divisive as that of abortion. Ideologically, many traditional religions such as Christianity have stipulated that abortion itself is an unethical practice and one that is morally wrong. Many Christians assert that there is some divinely unethical nature of the mishandling of the fetus itself. Most arguments of this kind essentially pertain to the status of the fetus as a person, one that has the right to the same advantages and privileges as its human mother. As such, abortion has come to dominate many discussions and people have found platforms to argue for or against the acceptance of abortion as a norm in our society. Much of the opposition surrounding the ethics of abortion pertains to religious belief, and many ascribe to the notion that abortion contradicts divine command theory. As such, there are many factors to consider in interpreting abortion from a theological standpoint, as well as in addressing the positives and negatives associated with the act itself. When the United States first began establishing itself as its own country, many of the states simply transferred English laws to their own and used these as a sort of template for how to conduct their own affairs. Abortion was handled much the same in this way, and the structure for how many states began to approach abortion came from how they chose to handle it within this framework. Many states essentially stated that it was not allowed or permitted after around the 15-20 week period immediately following conception. Anti-abortion laws and statutes officially began to manifest themselves in the United States around the 1820s, and these laws expanded upon previous laws to help supplant the notion that abortion was unethical. In the year 1821, one of the first prominent anti-abortion laws came forth from Connecticut, which outlawed medicines that were given to women to help further abortions. In 1829, New York made abortions that Despite the advances that were occurring in medical science and the developments in these fields, many people in the United States still considered it an unethical dilemma to condone the acts that were associated with abortion, or to facilitate them. As medical sciences grew in support of the belief that fetuses didnt exhibit the same traits or characteristics as fully-born children, many theological centers and individuals began imposing their own opinions of the matter, to stand in stark contradiction to these claims. Scientists in this era concluded that conception was merely an inauguration point for the development of a fetus and that it was a continuous process of development until the child fully possessed all of its human-like traits and characteristics. Criminalization of abortion became a huge trend in the late 1860s, as various doctors and legislators began doubling down on the act and making it illegal. By the year 1900, abortion had become a felony in essentially every s tate in the country. Yet, some states had included clauses or provisions which were meant to ensure that abortions could be conducted in a limited nature, when issues such as the health of the mother became a factor, or if the pregnancy was the direct result of incest or rape. In 1973, the Supreme Court was a group the case of Roe v. Wade, one that would transform the history of abortions in the country and provide a catalyst for a more in-depth examination of the ethical nature of abortions themselves. In this particular case, the Supreme Court came to rule that a statute in Texas which forbade abortion, except when it was necessary to ensure the safety of the mother, was unconstitutional. This decision sparked a tremendous amount of backlash and controversy and has provided a plethora of individuals and groups with a reason to once again oppose the act. Many of these groups and entities have debated on the ethical nature of abortion, and have used the divine command theory to support their claims. The divine command theory is a theological approach to understanding and interpreting the grounds of morality, as well as establishing what is moral and what is not. Unlike the ethics of natural law, the divine command theory is used to establish a clear and present moral direction, and to help supplant a sense of duty and ethical foundation. The theory is developed on the notion that God is the creator of the world, and that the laws which govern morality and ethics are extensions of the commands that God asserts. Furthermore, the argument among many theological representatives is that God would be against the nature of abortion, as it stands contrary to the Commandments that God gave humans. A direct and implicit interpretation of the morality of abortion may be surmised from the scripture in Exodus 21:22-24, in which the scripture itself discusses a woman who has a miscarriage as a result of two men who are fighting in the passage. (The Bible, Exodus 21:22-24) The scripture does n ot directly state that she had an abortion at that moment, but it does provide an inference into the miscarriage and states that it was immoral due to the fact a life was lost in this time. As such, it has become a principle Christian belief that a life of a fetus is equivalent to that of an adult human, in terms of the value that God places upon it. In the passage 44:2, it is stated that â€Å"thus says the Lord who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you. Do not fear, O Jacob My servant, and you Jeshurun whom I have chosen.† (The Bible, Isaiah 44:2) In this bit of scripture, God consults with Jacob and tells him that he should not have any fear because God provided him with life directly from the womb of his mother, which would imply that God has established some level of plan or purpose for Jacob even when he was a fetus. It is this basis that many have used to establish their interpretation of divine command theory. This notion supports the centralized argument that it is humanitys responsibility to provide the most maximum safety for that of all human life, which these theorists argue starts in the womb and immediately after conception. The moral ramifications of abortion, as this theory postulates, is that God will not condone actions which facilitate the likelihood of abortion or the helping of abor tion in any way. While it can be said that the religious groups believe that the life of a fetus is sacred, many people outside of these mentalities believe that there is an inherent right in the mother to control what she does with her own body, and how she goes about doing it. Many of these individuals argue that their belief systems do not correlate directly with this mentality and that it is unethical in itself to subject a woman to the harsh realities of being a mother if it was never her intention to become a mother in the first place. As such, it is worth understanding abortion itself and what it can entail, to better interpret the ethical nature of the act and which side presents a more sound argument. Abortion can be a tremendously devastating act, psychologically. A study that was amassed from approximately 56,000 public records in California concluded that women who had abortions were 160 percent more likely to be sent to the hospital for psychiatric care, as opposed to women who had chosen to see the pregnancy through and deliver the child. (Barlett, 2004, 729) Furthermore, it was noted that the rates of treatment for psychiatric issues were higher by a large margin for upwards of four years, in women who had abortions. Further studies indicate that many women experience psychological issues as early as eight weeks after they have an abortion. These studies have found that approximately 44 percent of women have some level of nervous disorder and that 36 percent note that they have some level of disturbance in their sleep patterns and in their overall regular sleep cycles. (Barlett, 2004, 731) Over 30 percent of these women also note that they openly regret the decision that the y made, and approximately 11 percent of people are prescribed some type of medication to help them cope with the stresses associated with their decision. (Barlett, 2004, 731)   Women who have abortions are more prone to visit psychiatrists than those who have delivered children to full term. Researchers have concluded that there is only one real positive emotion that is correlated with abortions, being that of relief. Yet, this can quickly be supplanted by feelings of numbness or a sense of emotional paralysis. It is often the case that women who have abortions are left with a general inability to express their emotions after the procedure, correlating whatever feelings they have to just a general appreciation for having been able to survive the procedure, with little more being reported. This can lead to a more stable, concurrent level of negative reactions which can continue to manifest themselves throughout the next several months following an abortion-related procedure. Significant studies have concluded that approximately 50 percent of women question their decisions after the procedure, and over 55 percent express some sort of guilt within the 8 weeks that follow the abortion. (Barlett, 2004, 735) Furthermore, approximately forty percent of women who abort report to having sexual complications or dysfunctions, which can last for a short or long period of time in most cases. These can include increased pain or a loss of pleasure from the acts of sex and an aversion to the genitals of their partners, or to males in general. Psychological issues arent the only ones that can manifest themselves after an abortion. Approximately one hundred complications have been associated with the induction of abortion, and all of these have the capacity to affect the women undergoing these processes. Statistics on abortion state that 10 percent of women who are undergoing some type of abortion-related procedure have some type of immediate physical or mental issue that occurs during or after the process and 20 percent of these can be seen as major factors and health-related issues. (Barlett, 2004, 737) Among many of the complications that can physically happen are infections, fevers, abdominal pain, bleeding, vomiting and intestinal disturbances. The most commonly identified major issues that can happen are serious infections, embolism, convulsions, cervical injury, hemorrhaging, perforation of the uterus, bleeding, and shock during the process. A study which cataloged the effects of 1,180 abortions concluded that over 2 7 percent of the patients had some type of infection that lasted more than 3 days after the process. (Barlett, 2004, 741) While it can be said that many of these issues can be immediately treated, a large percentage of them can lead to long-term, more serious results and damages to the reproductive system and other attributes of the womans body and health. 3 to 5 percent of women who have aborted are accidentally left sterile as a result of the effects of the process, and this is even greater when venereal diseases are introduced into the equation. (Barlett, 2004, 740) Despite these factors, there are many potential ethical positives to abortions. Regardless of the health risks associated with abortion, it should ultimately be left to the woman to decide what she will do with her own body. Many experts argue that pregnancies should not be enforced upon the acts of sex. In 2008, a study concluded that 41 percent of all pregnancies that happened in the United States were not planned, or indirectly accidental in some way. (Finn, Moore, 2008, 112) When one considers the size of the population in the United States, there are over 85 million women who identify with this claim. The number of reasons that a woman should be able to cancel a pregnancy should not be so limited, and this affects a large percentage of the population in the United States. Delineating these decisions and the freedom for a woman to have her own say over her body does not pose a significant level of intrinsic value in the life of the woman. Furthermore, the issue becomes more complex when one looks at the availability of contraception. It is often the case that many women who have sex and their partners are not able to readily find contraception, nor do they have the means to ascertain it themselves. Since 1980, there has been a 61 percent decrease in the funds that are available through the Title X program, which helps to provide affordable services to people to help them dictate their family planning. (Finn, Moore, 2008, 110)   Many socially-charged issues and the dissemination of anti-abortion materials have catalyzed a scenario in which women do not have the proper access to the resources that they often need to ensure that they do not get pregnant. When this is considered, enforcing abortions does not have much of an ethical foundation in itself, supplanting the notion that womens bodies and their decisions are not valid or hold the same level of importance as the livelihood of fetuses. Abortion is a tremendously important social issue, and one that has manifested itself in many different ways throughout the course of modern American history. Many opponents of abortion believe that the act is against Gods will, and that God has ordained the value of a fetus existence as comparable to the lives of humans. This coincides with the principles of divine command theory according to many of these individuals, and their belief system is built around the notion that abortion is a fundamentally unethical issue to God. Many ideologies have used this as a principle justification for their unwillingness to understand or accept abortion, which has led to a significant level of controversy in the United States between the groups of people who oppose it and those who support it. As a result, the United States has had a turbulent history with the subject of abortion, which has led to much debate in terms of a womans right to her own livelihood and body. While it can be said that abo rtion can be a potentially harmful action in terms of the effects it can have psychologically and physically, a woman should still be given the freedom to choose how she goes about her own body, and what she chooses to do with it. Socially, it is the responsibility of a nation such as the United States to provide the most adequate resources that it can to help facilitate these processes and the decisions that women make. References Bartlett, LA. Risk factors for legal induced abortion-related mortality in the United   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   States.Obstet Gynecol.Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2004. p. 729-745. Finer, Lawrence B.;   Moore, Ann M.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Reasons U.S. Women Have Abortions: Quantitative and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Qualitative Perspectives Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. 2008. pp..   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   110–128. The Bible: Contemporary English Version, 2000. London: Harper Collins. Weingarten, Karen. Abortion in the American Imagination: Before Life and Choice, 1880-1940,   Ã‚  Ã‚   2000.New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. p. 176.

Cult Practices in Late Bronze Age Cyprus

Cult Practices in Late Bronze Age Cyprus Assess the evidence for cult practices on Cyprus during the LBA (Late Bronze Age). There is a variety of evidence for cult practices on Cyprus during the LBA although it is often difficult to interpret and scholarly opinion of the significance or meaning of any particular piece of evidence may vary widely.   In absolute terms, the LBA on Cyprus approximately covers the period from 1650-1050BC, some six hundred years, and in relative terms is divided by Steel into the phases LC (Late Cypriot) I-IIIA (Tatton-Brown 1997, 91; Steel 2004, 13).   The later phase down to c1050BC, traditionally termed LCIIIB, may be considered a transitional Bronze/Early Iron Age.   Such a considerable amount of time offers considerable scope for change in religious thought and practice, which may be more or less visible in the archaeological record, and although some material change through time may be observable, any interpretation still poses the danger of imposing a possibly non-existent uniformity on the material.   A lack of any written references such as inscriptions, dedica tions or other texts to deities in LBA Cyprus further complicates matters (Tatton-Brown 1997, 62).   Nevertheless, the archaeological evidence usually discussed in terms of religious or cultic beliefs and practices in LBA Cyprus seems to fall into several interlinked categories: clay figurines, architectural remains (eg of sanctuaries) and artefacts, such as statuettes, imported pottery or bucrania, found in association with those architectural remains.   The identification of any particular deities has been fraught with difficulty, but several bronze statuettes, the most well-known being known as the Ingot God and the Bomford figurine, are often thought to represent Cypriot or sometimes foreign gods and to show a link between cult and metalworking.   This essay shall therefore examine these in turn, focussing on LCII and LCIIIA in particular.   There are various types of figurine from LBA Cyprus and as with figurines from elsewhere, their interpretation and significance is disputed.   Considering the earlier stump and plank type human figures, Tatton-Brown (1997, 62) suggests that whether they were fertility charms or goddesses ‘in practical terms their function would have been the same’.   It is perhaps appropriate to bear this in mind with the LBA figurines.   Karageorghis (2001, 323) has noted two types of female symbolism in the religious iconography of LBA Cyprus: one type of nude female figurine holding or supporting her breasts first appears on Cyprus in the Chalcolithic and continues down to the sixth century BC (see Tatton-Brown 1997, 49, fig. 49); another type, the kourotrophos (or boy-feeder; see Tatton-Brown 1997, 62 fig. 67 for an early plank-shaped kourotrophos) appeared firstly in the LBA and was also present in the Aegean as well as Cyprus.   The former are sometimes known as ‘Asta rte’ type figures, after the Syrian goddess.   This emphasis on female characteristics such as breasts and genitals, as well as the feeding infant or infant in arms, is certainly suggestive of an interest in fertility and the feminine aspect, often thought to be represented by a ‘Great Goddess’ of Cyprus.   Although there is no textual evidence regarding female deities from LBA Cyprus, much later fourth century BC dedications at Paphos refer to ‘Wanassa’ – the ‘Lady’, which seems to be an old title known in the LBA Linear B record of mainland Greece (Tatton-Brown 1997, 63).   Greeks knew this goddess as Aphrodite or the Cyprian in the eighth century BC while Cypriots knew her as the Paphian, from the religious centre at Paphos.   Whatever the female figurines represent – and they may not even represent goddesses, it has nevertheless been concluded that anthropomorphic clay figurines ‘are not a typical element of LC cult equipment in LCII or LCIII’ but become popular towards the end of the LBA (Steel 2004, 205, 211).   Indeed, it seems that especially at Enkomi in LCIIIB, in the Sanctuary of the Ingot God, smaller and larger figurines (wheel-made with upraised arms) became especially popular, perhaps representing worshippers and deities.   The larger figurines seem to be related to Cretan examples (Karageorghis 2001, 325).   Most of the 120 figurines were deliberately broken, which may be indicative of changes in cult practice at this time (Webb 1999, 107). Anthropomorphic figurines are not the only type of figurine that may be related to cult practices on LBA Cyprus.   Another key type may be the bull figurine.   Steel (2004, 178) suggests that ‘most LC cult sanctuaries are equipped with at least a single terracotta bull figure.’   Hadjisavvas (1989) describes the tentative identification of two sanctuaries and a household cult area at Alassa-Pano Mandilaris from LCIIC-IIIA, where in total more than ten bull figurines were found on floors (see Hadjisavvas 1989, 38 fig. 3.6).   Evidence of metalworking and a miniature ox-hide ingot were also found associated.   Since bull figurines tend to be found on the floors of sanctuaries rather than deposited in pits (bothroi) or wells, Webb suggests they served as cult equipment rather than offerings (Webb 1999, 219).   Bucrania had appeared on clay sanctuary models from the Early Bronze Age testifying to the longstanding significance of the bull in the Cypriot mindscape (Preziosi and Hitchcock 1999, 202) and the LBA figures emphasise the continuing importance of the bull in LCIIIA cult practices, reflected in the finds of cattle bones and skulls at sites such as the Sanctuary of the Horned God at Enkomi (Steel 2004, 205).   It may be significant that at several sites, including the Sanctuary of the Double Goddess at Enkomi, no bull figurines were found.   The focus of communal ceremonial activity seems to have changed in LCIIA from the extramural cemeteries that seemed to dominate the ceremonial of LCI to sites specific to religious activity – sanctuaries, that now appear in the archaeological record (Steel 2004, 175).   There are notable examples of specialised cult centres from LCIIA at Myrtou-Pighades, Athienou and perhaps Ayios Iakovos-Dhima and in LCIIC-IIIA at the urban centres of Kition, Enkomi and Palaepaphos (Steel 2004, 176).   As seen above, the religious nature of a place may often be suggested by the finds associated with it, such as bull figurines or miniature ingots, supposing that they are a specialised assemblage distinct from domestic assemblages.   Particular architectural features or installations, such as horns of consecration (a feature from the Aegean, particularly Crete), altars and a cult room, may also be used to identify LC sanctuaries.   The remains of sacrifice, stores cult objects and image s and specialised prestige and religious objects, such as figurines, bucrania and imported pottery should also be indicative of a sanctuary (Knapp 1996, 75-6 cited in Steel 2004, 175).   However, the identification of cult buildings is not always straightforward since as Webb (1999, 11) points out ‘there appear to be few artefacts or architectural or locational indicators exclusively diagnostic of cult activity. Virtually all object types, with the probable exception of horns of consecration, are found in domestic and funerary as well as apparently ritual contexts’ and there is a danger of circular argumentation.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Bearing in mind the problems of identification, Webb (1999, 157-6; 166-88) has nevertheless suggested a number of characteristics of LC cult buildings.   Such buildings are mostly rectangular and freestanding and incorporate an enclosed courtyard or temenos.   They tend to be laid out on an east-west axis and often comprise two or three units of rooms – the hall, sometimes supported by rows of pillars, the cella or adyton and a vestibule.   A range of internal installations may be present, including: benches, for storage and display; hearths, often with burnt animal bone suggestive of sacrifice; stone podia for food and drink offerings or the display of votives or cult equipment; stone platforms or altars with horns of consecration, as at Myrtou-Pighades; terracotta larnakes or bathtubs and pits or bothroi, for the disposal of debris from sacrifices.   Also characteristic of LCII cult places are faunal remains of sheep, goat, cattle and deer, perhaps in the form of ash and burnt bone, the remains of sacrifice and feasting.   The main function of cult buildings may have been to house the deity and any ritual or public assembly may have made use of the courtyard or temenos area (Webb 1999, 162).   There may have been restricted access to particular areas reflecting the specialised role of religious functionaries, as in other ancient Near Eastern societies.   Keswani (1993, 74) has commented that what is striking about LC religious sites is their diversity in architectural form, which might argue for the existence of independent local polities.   However the relationship between religion and its expression in material terms, let alone the relationship between religion and politics, is unclear and, to use an analogy, the similarity of Gothic cathedrals or Christian churches across various countries does not reflect political unity.   Furthermore, whether the modern scholar’s distinction between cult building and non-cult building ref lects any particular distinction between sacred and secular that may or may not have existed in LBA Cyprus is moot. Turning now to the artefacts that are often found in the sanctuaries, Steel (2004, 177) notes that in contrast to the variety in architecture, the cult equipment of LCII sanctuaries is fairly uniform.   Although she comments that this may suggest ‘a certain degree of uniformity of cult practices and religious beliefs’ it should be borne in mind that material similarities and even similarities of ritual action do not necessarily betoken similarities in religious belief – the number of religions ancient and modern that utilise, for example, ritualised drinking (eg Christianity), while having very different sets of beliefs, should warn us of this.   That said, the cult equipment is largely made up of ceramics that suggest certain features of cult practice.   Liquid containers are common finds, especially Base Ring carinated cups which may have been used for wine consumption during feasting, for pouring libations or both (Steel 2004, 177).   The pottery in the se contexts is usually fine Cypriot ware with some Mycenaean imports, mainly in the form of kraters, probably for mixing wine.   Some Mycenaean rhyta, often conical vessels used for pouring libations, have been found, for example at Myrtou-Pighades and Kition (see Preziosi and Hitchcock 1999, 201 fig. 134) and a locally made imitation in ivory was found at Athienou, although they may not have been fully incorporated into Cypriot ritual (Steel 2004, 178).   Other vessels such as Mycenanaean kylikes may have been used for libation ceremonies.   The ceramic focus on drinking seems reminiscent of the mainland Greek LBA palace of Pylos, with its storerooms full of drinking cups.   Another shared feature is the practice of using miniature votives, either ceramics or ingots, such as at Alassa-Pano Mandilaris (Hadjisavvas 1989, 38).   Apart from ceramics, Steel (2004, 178) also mentions the presence of objects that may have been used in divination: incised ox-scapulae, astragalis and worked shells, and other valuable items such as faience, ivory, glass, alabaster, bronzes and sealstones, which may have been involved in competitive display, at least on the urban sanctuaries.   Three of the most famous and enigmatic bronze finds, perhaps representing deities, are the Ingot God from Enkomi, the unprovenanced Bomford statuette and the Horned God from Enkomi, all of which would seem to belong to LCIIIA (Carless Hulin 1989; Steel 2004, 180, 205 plate 25). The Ingot God is a warrior with a horned helmet, holding a small round shield and spear.   He appears to be standing on a characteristically shaped bronze ox-hide ingot.   The Bomford statuette resembles an ‘Astarte’ figurine but also seems to stand upon an ingot.   Many interpretations have been offered, including suggestions that the Ingot God is a Babylonian or Levantine god (Nergal) or the Greek smith-god Hephaistos; others have linked it with Syria-Palestine or the Aegean (Carless Hulin 1989, 127).   The Bomford figurine, reckoned to be a local Cypriot goddess, has been assumed to be the consort of the Ingot God, since it also stands on an ingot, and thus Carless Hulin (1989, 127) ha s suggested that its identification must be seen in light of that figure.   While these two figures have posed significant problems in interpretation and in particular origins as deduced from style have been a major concern of those examining them, they do seem to show a connection between religion and metalwork (Steel 2004, 180).   This is not entirely surprising since such a link is suggested by the miniature ingots from cult areas mentioned above at Alassa-Pano Mandilaris or those from Enkomi, some with inscriptions.   Further representations of ingots have been noted that seem to show them in a ritualised sense – ie being carried in a procession   (unless this is mere transportation or loading), on sealstones, and in combination with human figures, trees and bucrania, the association of which would seem to indicate ritual significance (Knapp 1986, 37).   Another link between religion and metalwork is shown by the physical proximity of cult and metalworking areas .   This was the case at Alassa-Pano Mandilaris (Hadjisavvas 1989, 41) and can be seen clearly at Kition-Kathari (see Steel 2004, 179 fig. 6.13) as well as many other sites.   Hadjisavvas (1989, 41) concluded that there was a relationship between elite control (priesthood/priest-king) of craft production and trade in copper and other commodities and between cult and metalworking.   As with drinking, the relationship seems reminiscent of that of Pylos as a specialised production centre with close links between production, storage and religious/political authority. The Horned God has also been classed as a warrior god (Steel 2004, 205), though it does not possess the military accoutrements (the spear and shield) of the Ingot God.   The impractically horned helmet may in fact be arrogating or representing some aspect of the bull divinity in human aspect.   The sanctuary of the Horned God at Enkomi in fact revealed cattle bones, skulls and possibly traces of an Aegean bull’s head rhyton that might be taken as supporting this conjecture.   Although these three bronze figures are commonly referred to as gods, the problem of interpretation nonetheless remains.   Do the statues represent deities and were they venerated?   Are they votives or substitutes for worshippers or individuals?   Perhaps they were simply items of cult equipment used in ceremonies, perhaps revealed during ceremonies of divine appearance or the enactment of myths.   Their deposition seems to suggest deliberate closure ceremonies (Steel 2004, 206), suggesting that these rituals and statuettes are tied to specific times in LBA Cyprus and presumably responded to specific social needs.   Thus it is perhaps unwise to draw period wide generalisations from such evidence. Another type of evidence appearing in LCIII that should be mentioned briefly is the terracotta masks from the urban sanctuaries of Enkomi and Kition (Steel 2004, 204).   These have been divided into anthropomorphic and demonic types, both of which are slightly less than adult life size.   Some have traces of paint and eight of the anthropomorphic masks show a bearded male with cut-out eyes and a closed mouth.   The demonic faces are deeply grooved.   The masks have been interpreted as ritual objects worn during rites of passage from childhood to adulthood – the demonic masks representing the wild state of childhood and as masks used in mythological re-enactments connected to metalworking (Steel 2004, 205). This essay has attempted to outline and assess the evidence for cult practice in LBA Cyprus.   Inevitably not all of the evidence has been mentioned here but it is hoped that reasonable coverage has been given to the main points.   It has shown that while there is much evidence linked to cult in the LBA, such as figurines, sanctuaries and specialised artefacts, their interpretation is often problematic.   Even when it is fairly certain that items may have been involved in cult in one way or another, any more specific comment is often impossible, even when deciding if a figurine represent a divinity.   It has also been demonstrated that to link variety in architectural form to any interpretation of the political geography of LBA Cyprus may be problematic, since the wider relationships between material and non-material remain obscure.   Furthermore, the essay examined the significance of several bronze statuettes, usually taken to be divinities, and the problems in their inte rpretation as well as the novel terracotta masks that appear in LCIII.   On the other hand, it has been shown that there seems to have been lively religious activity on LBA Cyprus that involved drinking and feasting using particular ceramics and in particular places, the pouring of libations and sacrifice of animals, as well as the deposition of valuable items.   There seems to have been a particular reverence for bulls and their imagery as well as the female aspect represented by figurines and the Bomford statuette, as well as a significant link between metalworking and religion, as demonstrated by both the proximity of cult and metalworking areas and the presence of miniature ingots.   Another important aspect of LBA Cypriot religion seems to be the willingness to incorporate features from outside Cyprus, the Cretan horns of consecration, for example, rhyta, Mycenaean cups, kraters and the like and the ability of Cypriot religion to change over time. References Carless Hulin, L. 1989. The identification of Cypriot cult figures through cross-cultural comparison: some problems.   In Peltenburg, E. (ed.) 1989. Early Society in Cyprus. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp127-39. Hadjisavvas, S. 1989. A Late Cypriot Community at Alassa. In Peltenburg, E. (ed.) 1989. Early Society in Cyprus. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp32-42. Karageorghis, V. 2001. The Great Goddess of Cyprus Between the Aegeans and the ‘Etrocypriots’. In Laffineur, R. and Hagg, R. (eds.) 2001. POTNIA. Deities and Religion in the Aegean Bronze Age Aegaeum 22. Gà ¶teborg: Gà ¶teborg University pp323-27. Keswani, P.S. 1993. Models of Local Exchange in Late Bronze Age Cyprus. BASOR 292: 73-83. Knapp, A.B. 1986. Copper Production and Divine Protection: Archaeology, Ideology and Social Complexity on Bronze Age Cyprus. SIMA Pocketbook 42. Gà ¶teborg: Paul Astrà ¶ms Fà ¶rlag.    Preziosi, D. and Hitchcock, L.A. 1999. Aegean Art and Arc hitecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Steel, L. 2004. Cyprus Before History. From the Earliest Settlers to the End of the Bronze Age. London: Duckworth. Tatton-Brown, V. 1997. Ancient Cyprus. (2nd edition) London: British Museum Press. Webb, J.M. 1999. Ritual Architecture, Iconography and Practice in the Late Cypriot Bronze Age.   Jonsered: Paul Astrà ¶ms Fà ¶rlag.

Children And The Internet Essay -- essays research papers

Children and the Internet Many children nowadays use, or at least have access to the internet. But most people are blinded by all the benefits of the internet, and fail to notice any of the problems that can come from overuse. Since the internet is a new technology, not many studies have been done to determine how beneficial or detrimental it can be to children. Although the internet may have many benefits to children, it can also be very harmful to them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most obvious problems with children using the internet is the chance of getting addicted. Internet addiction is a serious thing, but hasn’t drawn much attention due to the fact that it is a newer problem in society. Children that have grown up using computers will naturally be more susceptible to getting hooked on the internet. Many children spend more time on the computer than they spend watching television. Most of the time children spend on the computer can be attributed to the internet. This computer overuse results in less time for children to study, do homework, read, exercise, or participate in any out of school organizations. Such a pattern will eventually affect the child’s grades, health, and social life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Spending too much time on the internet isn’t the only problem that children can encounter. The content which children access on the internet can be harmful as well. There is no regulation of the content on the internet. Children can acces...

Things They Carried Essay: Rebirth of a Spirit :: Things They Carried Essays

Rebirth of a Spirit in The Things They Carried Speaking of courage is a story found in Tim O ' Brien's The Things They Carried about a solider named Norman Bowker who has returned home from the Vietnam War. As Bowker circles the town's "source of pride" he comes to realize that the town that he left so many years ago will never be the same. While his life was paused by the war, theirs weren't. He also comes to understand that while the people he once knew have changed that he has also changed. He has been consumed by a war and it will forever alter his being. When Norman Bowker returns to his hometown after the war things seem to have moved on without him. It seems that while his life was put on pause, his friends and family had moved on to their lives. His simple wish is for the past to be the present once again. He speaks of his friends Max Arnold and Sally Kramer. Now, Max was dead and Bowker refers to him as an idea. He talks of how things would be different if Max was around to listen to all his stories and how Max would have enjoyed them. The irony is that Max is gone. At one time Bowker had carried a picture of Sally in his wallet. He talked of how he would stop and talk to her when he saw her while driving. He decided that he might impress her with his knowledge that he had acquired during the war such as his ability to predict the time at any point during the day within 10 minutes. He repeatedly said "if she was to listen". Just like the others she did not want to think about the war, it was in the past. Page 143 makes a clear po int that "The town could not talk, and would not listen.. It (the town) did not know shit about shit, and did not care to know". As Bowker continues what seems to be a trip back to what is reality he circles the town lake nearly 13 times. This lake is the life of the town and is very symbolic in itself. On one side of the lake the houses are "modern, with big porches and picture windows facing the water" on the opposite side the houses were described as "handsome, though less expensive and on a smaller scale".

Intercultural Tensions

Theme 1) Insiders and Outsiders: Although strategies for reducing intergroup tensions do exist, it is unlikely that misunderstandings and hostility can ever be entirely eliminated: agree or disagree. Name: Student #: Seminar Section: Professor: Class: Course Code: Due: Submitted: It is through extensive research in international relationships with the ever-present theme of insiders and outsiders that this essay has been cultivated. While strategies to reduce intergroup tensions exist; religious, ethnic and racial reasons will continue to cause violence and disputes in the international community and will never come to an end. For centuries, discrimination between races has caused harm in society through slavery and segregation. Ethnic cleansing, ethnic pluralism, multiculturalism and any other attempts made to bring ethnicities together or to separate them are too often the causes of disputes and wars. Religion has produced an immeasurable amount of damage worldwide to society, and is one of the largest creators of separation between people. The above statements will be examined further in the following portion of the document. It will use; wars, disputes, bad political decisions and the past thousand years of history to express the point that intergroup tensions will always exist. Religious tensions Religion is one of the greatest proponents for violence between people of all time. Christianity has caused wars since it was erected roughly two thousand years ago, not to mention, the religious wars that were fought before that time. Some explain the violence as consequences of different religion’s dogmas, to their specific faith. For instance, if a person lives their life abiding by the Ten Commandments and following Jesus then hey can go to heaven. However, that means that they must sacrifice their ability to steal, kill, covet thy neighbour’s wife, et cetera. Now, if a person from another religion is also sacrificing certain actions so that they can reach their promised afterlife, then there is a direct conflict on a religious basis in that monotheistic world. If these made up people both bel ieve that there is only one god, and they are both under different expectations in order to be allowed into the holy afterlife, then of course there will be conflict. When considered on a much larger scale, the conflict becomes increasingly dangerous. The war between the United States and Iraq right now was started over religion. The Islamic terrorist organization Al-Qaeda attacked U. S. soil on September 11th 2001 in the name of Allah, which caused the U. S. to retaliate. Currently, the war is still prevailing, seven years later. There are many efforts to end the war in Iraq however after analysis of the situation, the answer is that the soldiers must stay there as a present force. Ethnic Tensions Persistent clashes among ethnicities are a major indicator of the never-ending hostility and misunderstanding of cultures. Ethnic pluralism has caused countries to revaluate their heterogeneousness, labour migration and expulsion, which has caused interethnic catastrophes that often result in civil war. When different ethnicities start migrating into an area the locals of that land become worried about preserving their culture. This worrying, usually evolves into negative impacts on the community due to hostility felt towards the forced change on the locals. The term â€Å"ethnicity† is defined as a way to identify characteristics, such as cuisine, traditions, common ancestors or nationality to a specific group. From that, the volatile actions and conflicts that are disputed among ethnicities are more understandable when considering the family involved. The sense to protect ones family may provoke a person to fight, â€Å"If group members are potential kinsmen, a threat to any member of the group may be seen in somewhat the same light as a threat to the family. † (Horowitz, 1991, p. 4). The hostility against other ethnicities comes from the inherent will to protect ones family members. One of the most famous ethnic disputes is that which is fought over the Gaza Strip, â€Å"Perhaps the longest-lasting, and still problematic ethnic clash is that of the Israelis and the Palestinians. † (McCannon, 2006, p. 411). Even after establishing peace for over half a decade in the 1990s the Israelis and Palestinians returned to war with each other. The strategy of a cease-fire between Palestine and Israel temporarily stopped the war between the two countries, however, the persistency of continuous ethnic conflict prevailed. Racial Tensions Tensions between races are still very common all over the world and discrimination will continue to separate races. A recent study proves that in the new millennium people of different colours feel the need to have more distance in between them. The traditional more abrupt style of racism is less commonly used, however, now it is a quieter type of discrimination. The term used for the racism today is called institutional racism. It is a way of tactically disadvantaging specific races through policies and barriers to employment. It keeps the black community in the poor houses with the low paying jobs and bad health. An example of institutional discrimination hurting the ethnicities and races is bank loans. The bank has set up a system of which they follow in order to see who is applicable for a loan. One of the features of the bank’s system is calculating who is in the highest financial percentile group. Seeing as white males have dominated the business world for hundreds of years the bank considers the white male to be in the top percentile group. This would then give the white male the advantage for a loan over a black male because their average incomes are not as much as the white male group. The way this bank system works in the first place is only benefiting white males, which is discriminatory towards all other races and ethnicities. The whole political and institutional system needs to be reviewed and reconstructed in order to create equality among all races. This is unlikely to happen soon because it is a functional system, and possible replacements could wreak havoc across the U. S. So the racial discriminated against populous is left to wait for a new system that is not racist. The intergroup conflict continues once again without resolve. Conclusion To compile everything covered so far, the following are strong proponents for why the intergroup tensions are forever existent. The religious wars that have been continuously destroying lives and whole countries for thousands of year will not ever reside in peace. The large scope of ethnicities around the globe have the opportunity to reframe from wars and complete turmoil, however, they choose to continue fighting regardless of peace treaties. The racially discriminated against population in North America, primarily the United States, are subjected to many more years of institutional racism. Finally, to conclude the point that has been reiterated over and over again. Even though strategies to reduce intergroup tensions do exist, the global system will be plagued with hostility and misunderstandings because of religious, ethnic and racial conflicts. Works Cited 1. McCannon, J. (Ed. ). (2006). Barron's how to prepare for the ap world history advanced placement exam. New York City, New York: Barron's Educational Series. 2. Frymer, P. (2005). Racism revised: courts, labor law and the institutional construction of racial animus. American Political Science Review. 9, 373-387, 15. 3. Gonzalez, J. C. (2007). The ordinary-ness of institutional racism: the effect of history and law in the segregation and integration of Latinas /os in schools. American Educational History Journal. 34, 331-345. 4. Proudford, Smith, K. K. (2003). Group membership salience and the movement of conflict: reconceptualizing the interaction among race, gender, and hierarchy. The Journal of Philosophy. 19, 223-234, 11. 5. Williams, R. M. (1947). The reduction of intergroup tensions: a survey of research on problems of ethnic, racial, and religious group relations. The Annals of The American Academy. 1, 166-167, 2. 6. Wilson, J. Q. (2008). The downside of diversity. The Wilson Quarterly. 32, 67-68, 2. 7. Hughes, G. (2008). Words, war and terror.. English Today. 24, 13-17,5. 8. (2007). In god's name. The Economist. 385, 4. 9. Sekulic, D. , Massey, G. , & Hodson, R. (2006). Ethnic intolerance and ethnic conflict in the dissolution of Yugoslavia.. Ethnic & Racial Studies. 29, 797-827, 30 10. Horowitz, D L. (1991). Ethnic groups in conflict. Los Angeles, California: Berkeley University Press. 1-66, 4.