Love and Memory in Deuteronomy Essay Example for Free

Love and Memory in Deuteronomy Essay Love and Memory in Deuteronomy, is the prompt for this weeks reflection paper. First, we must identify what each of those terms means to us in context to Deuteronomy and for me Love does not just mean love in the sense that we all know. Although you could easily write a reflection amount the many ways God displayed his love to his people, like when he parted the seas for them and crushed the Egyptians behind them, or when he was slow to anger when they chose to worship Baal while Moses was a top Mt. Sinai, but I choose to interpret love in Deuteronomy as Gods continued faithfullness to his people. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. (Deuteronomy 7:9, English Standard Version) Here God is described as a faithful God, and one who will always love those that love him, and follow his word. This is such a powerful verse and really speaks to the faithfullness of God to his people, here it shows that God is obligated to us, that he must love those that love him. I think it also shows that he is bound to look out for us because he is our faithful creator, and that as the creator he is obligated to look out for us, to satisfy us, and provide for us, and ultimately look out for us enough so that we may seek him out and follow him with out Faith. That creation of the Covenant is the ultimate example of Gods faithfullness to us as it takes out all mystery and makes things most certain for us, and shows his commitment to us as a people, because of the covenant we know all the cornerstones of His divine government. The many I wills in Deuteronomy cover everything that we as a people might need in both the past, present, and future. There is no avenue of life that we can venture to where we can not find God, and he has given us clear definition of His heart and intentions by his word and covenant. Gods love in Deuteronomy can best be described as his faithfullness to us, and as mentioned prior, there is no greater example of this than his Covenant, and new Covenant with us through Jesus Christ. And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. (Deuteronomy 8:2, English Standard Version) Memory plays a huge role in Deuteronomy as God is very clear in this verse, that the people are to remember, that all they have been through was a way for God to see what was in their heart, to see what kind of people they were. Memories, in general, throughout time are always a great way to see someones true heart. There were times the people worshipped false idols or cried out against the Lord, and in those moments peoples true natures were revealed, the memories of those times are a great reminder of where people stood, and as it says in that verse that is what it was all about, was for God to measure their true hearts. This principle is still the same today, we are often judged by our past deeds, and it is not because we do not believe people can not change or that people do not deserve new chances, but often times we are what we do, and again the memories of our past actions are a great way to measure who we are as people.

Scattering of Light

Scattering of Light Callum Lim Contents 1. Rayleigh scattering 1.1 Mid-day 1.2 Sunrise and sunset 1.3 Night-time 2. Mie scattering 2.1 Clouds 3. Pollution 3.1 Light pollution 3.2 Haze 4. Personal reflections 5. Conclusion 6. Bibliography 1. Rayleigh scattering When a beam of light travels through particles which are smaller than its wavelength, it is possible these particles scatter the light beam in a process known as Rayleigh scattering. This process is visible everyday whenever sunlight is scattered by the Earth’s atmosphere. As sunlight is composed of different visible wavelengths of light – mainly Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet; ROYGBIV – not all sunlight has the same probability of being scattered. It is possible to determine the amount of Rayleigh scattering that the different visible wavelengths in sunlight experience by calculating the intensity of the individual scattered wavelengths. The intensity of light scattered by small particles (I) depends on the intensity (I0) and wavelength (ÃŽ ») of the light source, the distance of the light source from the particle (R), the scattering angle (ÃŽ ¸), the refractive index of the particle (n), and the diameter of the particle (d). The relationship between these variables is illustrated in the following equation: (Seinfeld Pandis , 2006) 1.1 Mid-day When the Sun is directly overhead, all the wavelengths of light originating from it travel the same distance from the Sun and through our atmosphere and are scattered by the same medium (nitrogen and oxygen molecules). Hence, I0, R, ÃŽ ¸, n and d remain constant and the above equation can be simplified into: With this equation, it can be seen that the intensity of scattered light is inversely proportional to the fourth power of a light’s wavelength and that the shorter a light’s wavelength, the more intensely visible it is. Hence, as GBIV light (400nm to 500nm) have shorter wavelengths compared to ROY light (570nm to 700nm), GBIV light is more intensely visible to us. Due to the shorter wavelengths of GBIV light, they also have higher chances of encountering atmospheric molecules than the ROY light and getting scattered by it, as shown in the figure below. Although scattered light continues travelling in a random direction, a greater proportion of GBIV than ROY light reaches our eyes because GBIV wavelengths are shorter and more easily scattered. However, as our eyes detect the blue component in GBIV light that has been scattered the easiest (Leong, 2006), we see the mid-day sky as blue in colour. 1.2 Sunrise and sunset At sunrise and sunset, sunlight has to travel through a longer distance through the atmosphere than at mid-day before it is visible. As a result, sunlight encounters more atmospheric molecules during these times which results in more scattering of light. Hence, with this increased distance, even the higher wavelengths (ROY) are scattered, and this colours the sky reddish-orange. However, it is only at the horizons that the sky looks reddish-orange because the multiple rays of sunlight travel through different distances in the atmosphere due to refraction. As seen in the figure above, sunlight ray A penetrates the atmosphere very minimally and experiences very little refraction. As a result, it travels the shortest distance through the atmosphere and gets very little scattering. Thus, only the violet and indigo wavelengths are scattered. Sunlight ray B enters more deeply into atmosphere than A and gets refracted more. Hence, it has to travel a longer distance through the atmosphere which scatters most of BIV wavelengths. Before it leaves the atmosphere, however, the remaining wavelengths are scattered which results in a portion of the sky looking yellow. Sunlight ray C penetrates deepest into the atmosphere and experiences the most refraction. As it travels the longest distance of the three rays, its higher red and orange wavelengths are also scattered. This gives a portion of the sky its reddish-orange colour. Hence, this is why only the horizons are coloured reddish-orange while the rest of the sky remains blue during sunrise and sunset. 1.3 Night-time Sunlight reflected off the moon undergoes Rayleigh scattering as well, although its effects are not as visible. As mentioned earlier, the intensity of the light source (I0) and the distance of the light source from the particle (R) also affects the how intensely visible the scattered light is. Although the Moon is much closer to the Earth than the Sun, the light we get from it is much less intense than that from the Sun, thus reducing the intensity of scattered light. 2. Mie scattering Aside from Rayleigh scattering, another type of scattering, in the form of Mie scattering, exists. This occurs when sunlight encounters molecules which are comparable in size to its composite wavelengths. As a result, all visible wavelengths in sunlight are almost scattered equally. 2.1 Clouds On a daily basis, Mie scattering is observable when we look at clouds. As water vapour in clouds tend to be 20 micrometres in diameter (University of Illinois, 2010), all visible wavelengths in sunlight are scattered by clouds equally, thus giving clouds their white appearance. Bigger clouds or rain clouds usually look darker because they are bigger and contain more water vapour molecules. Thus, as these clouds scatter most of the sunlight that pass through them, very little sunlight exits through the bottoms of these clouds. Besides appearing white or grey, clouds can also appear reddish at sunrise or sunset. This is attributed to both Mie and Rayleigh scattering. At these times, sunlight travels a longer distance through the atmosphere and most of the shorter GBIV wavelengths are scattered just as sunlight enters the atmosphere. Hence, the further sunlight travels through the atmosphere, the greater the proportion of longer ROY wavelengths that remain. Thus, it is mainly the ROY wavelengths that are able to reach and get scattered by the clouds; and this causes clouds to appear reddish. Mie scattering is also observable on nights when moonlight is scattered by clouds in the sky and results in clouds appearing white. 3. Pollution 3.1 Light pollution On certain late nights, it is also possible to observe red clouds in the sky even when there is no source of light in the atmosphere. This phenomenon is a result of denser clouds scattering light from the city back down onto Earth. As Singapore is mostly lit up by yellow or orange light from streetlights, a greater proportion of longer wavelengths are scattered by the clouds thus making the clouds look red. However, if the clouds do not contain enough water vapour molecules and hence, are not large or dense enough, less city light is scattered. Thus, the redness visible in these clouds is not as pronounced and this is why red clouds are not always visible at night. Besides Mie scattering, city light also undergoes Rayleigh scattering at night, although its effect is not as obvious as scattered sunlight. While city light is mostly emitted in longer wavelengths and do not experience much Rayleigh scattering, its shorter wavelengths are greatly scattered by atmospheric particles as it travels through the atmosphere. Consequently, the shorter wavelengths of light scattered through Rayleigh scattering, together with the light scattered by clouds, increase the ambient brightness of Singapore’s night sky and inadvertently blocks out dimmer interstellar light that would otherwise be visible. Thus, this is why it is quite difficult to see deep-space objects in most of Singapore with the naked-eye. 3.2 Haze When dust and smoke particles from haze are present in the atmosphere, it becomes denser and causes light to undergo both Rayleigh and Mie scattering. This is because these particles typically range from 2.5 micrometres to 10 micrometres in diameter (Association of South East Asian Nations, 2014) and hence, are larger than visible light wavelengths. Thus, when the PSI is in the moderate range or worse, it is possible to see that all light appears muted and dull. At night, haze also causes Mie scattering of city light not only in clouds but throughout the sky. This results in significant portions night sky taking on a reddish glow. 4. Personal reflections Through this project, I now have a better understanding of why the sky and clouds appear to change in colour over time as well as why it is relatively difficult to observe the cosmos in a brightly lit city at night. The latter was evident when our group spent a day at Changi beach to photograph the colours changes in the sky. Just as we were leaving the seaside after twilight, we noticed that were more stars were visible in the night sky than what can normally be seen in the brighter urban areas of Singapore. Unfortunately, we did not have a good enough camera that was able to photograph the stars in the night sky then. One of the interesting things I have learnt from this project is also why the sky looks red on hazy nights, even when there is no light from the Sun or Moon. This is primarily due to light pollution that is scattered back down to Earth by smoke and dust particles in the atmosphere. Similarly, denser clouds at night appear red due to light pollution being scattered back down by water vapour within them. It is also because of light pollution that the adage â€Å"red sky at night, sailor’s delight† no longer holds true all the time, especially in cities that are brightly lit up at night. This is because the red sky at night might not be due to a high-pressure system in the west bringing calm weather, but due to manmade causes mentioned above (Teitel, 2012). This manmade phenomenon also has an implication on our circadian rhythms that act as our natural body clocks. Brighter skies at night could confuse our brains into thinking that it is daytime (and not time to sleep), thus disrupting our sleeping patterns and leaving us feeling jet-lagged. In the near future, the night sky might become even brighter as gas-discharge lights are replaced by light-emitting diode (LED) lights, which emit a greater concentration of shorter wavelengths (Teitel, 2012). Our circadian rhythms might be even more negatively affected by this increase in blue light, as they are especially sensitive to shorter wavelengths. A potential solution to mitigate this problem is to use warm white lights that emit minimal blue wavelengths. Additionally, understanding how light is affected by minute particles has also allowed humankind to apply these principles in real-life, such as in optical fibres. In optical fibres, light is used to transmit signals through cables made of transparent silica fibres. Since the silica molecules in these fibres are much smaller than the wavelength of visible light (Yao, 2010), Rayleigh scattering occurs within these cables and causes light to be scattered in a random direction instead of travelling through the cable. This is detrimental to signal strength. Hence, as Rayleigh scattering is extremely dependant on a light’s wavelength and short wavelengths of light scatter the most, optical fibres usually transmit signals in longer light wavelengths to minimise scattering. 5. Conclusion One of the most observable phenomena by the naked eye, the sky is often photographed at sunrise or sunset for its picturesque clouds. Besides just appreciating the beauty of these occurrences, I now understand the science behind them as well. Additionally, I also now know why the sky or clouds are red on certain nights even when there is no light from the Sun or the Moon. Besides the theoretical principles and atmospheric observations, scattering of light also has practical applications in real-life. In times before satellite imaging existed to forecast weather, people referred to colours in the night sky to determine if there would be good weather the next day. Today, knowledge of light scattering is also useful in deciding what wavelengths of light should be used when transmitting signals through optical fibres. In addition, understanding Rayleigh and Mie scattering also allows us to minimise to impact that bright skies might have on our natural body clocks. Thus, the study of light scattering not only allows us to better appreciate our atmosphere, but also apply these concepts in real-life. (1949 words; excluding citations) - End - 6. Bibliography Association of South East Asian Nations. (2014). Information on Fire and Haze. Retrieved 07 March, 2014, from ASEAN Haze Action Online: http://haze.asean.org/?page_id=249 Leong, J. (2006). Number of Colors Distinguishable by the Human Eye. (G. Elert, Editor) Retrieved 26 March, 2014, from The Physics Factbook: http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2006/JenniferLeong.shtml Nave, C. R. (2012). Blue Sky. Retrieved 17 March, 2014, from hyperphysics: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/atmos/blusky.html#c4 Seinfeld, J. H., Pandis , S. N. (2006). Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics: From Air Pollution to Climate Change, 2nd Edition. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Siegel, E. (08 September, 2009). Red sky at night†¦ but why? Retrieved 05 March, 2014, from scienceblogs.com: http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2009/09/08/red-sky-at-night-but-why/ Teitel, A. S. (23 August, 2012). Why Is the Night Sky Turning Red? Retrieved 28 February, 2014, from discovermagazine.com: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2012/08/23/why-is-the-night-sky-turning-red/ University of Illinois. (2010). Scattering of Light. Retrieved 29 March, 2014, from WW2010: http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/opt/mch/sct.rxml Yao, C. (20 September, 2010). Optical Fiber Loss and Attenuation. Retrieved 17 March, 2014, from Fibre Optics For Sale Co.: http://www.fiberoptics4sale.com/wordpress/optical-fiber-loss-and-attenuation/ GEK1520/PC1322 | Understanding the UniversePage 1 of 13

Seventh Day Adventist Experience Religion Essay

Seventh Day Adventist Experience Religion Essay From the very beginning of time many people have asked the same questions: Who am I. Why do I exist. Is there someone or something above us that created it all? Humankind has wondered about God or a supernatural higher authority thru ought history. And since that time cultures and countries have developed their own beliefs and opinions on what is religion and God. From ancient sacred indigenous religions to present day contemporary practices, many religions contain similar basic traditions and beliefs, but yet there are so many sects of the religion and many different followings. From polytheistic beliefs to monotheistic views people have chosen their path based to what best suites their personal self. When focusing on a certain popular worldwide religion such as Christianity you may get lost in all the many diverse teachings and sects. In all these so called Christian denominations you can find teaching from the scripture The Holy Bible being translated in many different perspective views. From theology to soteriology to theodicy and bibliology each denominations chooses its own teachings. There are multiple examples to list , one being many Christian sects that believe in God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, but look at all of those parts of spirituality differently. They range from the very conservative to so called liberal denominations. Even though all Christians read and follow the teachings from the same sacred text The Holy Bible it all comes down to how their bibliology is translated. The theology of the Seventh-day Adventist is similar to Protestant Christian teachings like the infallibility of Scripture. Typical teachings include the unconscious state of the dead and the doctrine of an explanatory judgment. The church is also known for its stress on diet and health, its encouragement of religious liberty, and its conservative principles and lifestyle. (Wilson 4) Seventh Day Adventists were founded by a group of leaders William Miller, S. S. Snow, Joseph Bates, James White, Mrs. Ellen G. White. Ellen G. White has written some books that the Seventh Day Adventists follow up on. Adventists recognize her as the Lords messenger. Her writings are a continuing source of truth which provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction which are listed in the 28 Fundamental Beliefs. Some of the 28 fundamental beliefs are the following; belief in Trinity, Life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Experience of salvation, Unity in the body of Christ, Baptism in full water submersion, lords supper, Spiritual Gifts and ministries, And most important keeping the Sabbath. ( Wilson 1) The sacred scripture that the Seventh Day Adventists use is Holy Bible. They focus on the Old Testament mainly for their doctrinal laws, and use New Testament to follow up those scriptures. Unlike many other Christian denominations the Seventh Day Adventists are very strict on what they believe in. When it comes to salvation the Seventh day Adventist believe that one has to believe by faith that Jesus Christ Is lord and savior and that he paid the penalty on the cross from remission of all sins. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9-10) There are two strong doctrines that the Seventh Day Adventist stress on wich is the returning of the messiah, and keeping the Sabbath holy. Throughout the history of their religion there have been many attempts of individual leaders who proclaimed the day of the revival of the lord. Trial after trial they have failed, but still to this day have hope in the day of their return of the savoir Jesus. When it comes to keeping the Sabbath, they believe that Saturday is a holy day and no labor is to be done from Fri night to Saturday. Due to the Old Testament scriptures when God said he rested on the 7th day after creation. Like most Christian denominations the Seventh Day Adventists believe in final judgment day, where every human being will be judged on how they lived their life on this earth. Then the outcome of their judgment will decide where they will prolong their eternal life in hell or in heaven. My journey starts at the Slavic Seventh Day Adventists in Fort Myers. The church service was on Friday evening and it was located in Ft. Myers Florida where my co workers friend lives and attends service regularly. As I soon found out there are many different rules that apply to dress codes as well as codes of behavior, and even though in a sense this particular division or sect of Christianity has the same basic principles as the church I grew up in there are many marked differences. The first rule that I was introduced to was, that after sunset on Friday night through sunset of Saturday night, no work is to be done, nothing is cooked or cleaned and there is only limited driving is allowed. The Seventh Day Adventist observe the Sabbath and treat it with respect as the day God rested and this is a time for worship and prayer as a family as well as the attending of church services on Friday night and Saturday morning. The family that opened their home for me took me to a Friday night prayer and worship service at their local church, and in fact it was near the home so the family and I walked to service. The females in the family were required to wear long skirts as this is the proper attire for the women of this religion, many of the women do not ever wear pants and shorts for recreational purposes. Now this I thought was really weird and out of date. The no pants rule was actually a little odd for me seeing as I never knew that there was a part of the Bible that disagreed with women wearing pants, but the father of the family pointed out to me that in the bible there is in fact a statement about women wearing mens clothing A woman must not wear mens clothing, nor a man wear womens clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this. (KJV, Deuteronomy 22:5). ). I always thought the Deuteronomy verse was actually talking about women taking on the roles of men and vice versa, however the Ad ventists believe that this is a clear cut rule about dress code. This is just one of the many strict rules they follow. The other requirement that I had a hard time understanding was when the females had to wear head covering, since most women who are married or have children are asked to wear a head covering as a sign of respect to God or their spouse. Thank God we men dont have to wear covering on the head, it looked very uncomfortable. Although I personally believe that the wifes submission to a husband is a necessary but no to a part of religion on closeness with God, but although its odd and uncomfortable for me to see this, it seemed disrespectful to disregard their sense of tradition and faith, because they believe it is sinful for a women to have her head uncovered. Once we entered the sanctuary it was obvious that there were a couple differences there as well. To my surprise the men and the women were sitting on separate sides of the church, even though most of them were married couples. So I was expected to sit on the male side of the church. This again was a little off-putting to me since I was not brought up to see a spiritual difference in the sex of an individual, and I was always taught that we are all created equal in the eyes of the Lord. I was unsure of why exactly the men and the women were separated. But then one individual told me that this was to keep the sanctity of the church and to not tempt people. I still do not understand what the temptation is, but perhaps it is to keep people focused on the message and not on who is sitting next to them. The service itself was very peaceful and mellow. It was a little more serious than what I expected it to be. When it came time for the congregation to sing, I was expecting some loud jamming praise of what I am used to. But to my surprise the congregation stood up and started to sing old, traditional hymns. Now I have not heard such songs in my life before, their lyrics were true and really inspiring. They brought peace to my soul and had tremendous meaning. To my surprise I actually enjoyed their melodious sonnets. Now when it came to the final sermon I was preparing myself for an uplifting prosperity sermon. But once again as the preacher walked up to the pulpit and his face seemed to have humble serious look. His facial emotion made me feel very awkward and curious on what he was about to say. And then he began to preach. Wow was I in for a surprise! His topic was on the lackness of spiritual foundation is our lives. And then he went on convicting individuals on their sins. I felt as if he was preaching Fire and Brimstone like a dooms day type of sermons as if the whole congregation was going to hell. Now as I was intensely listening to the sermon, I started to realize that hes been preaching for almost an hour. This I am not used to at all, most sermons Ive listened to were at most 20 minutes long. After all it was a crazy new experience for me. This made me question a lot of other sermons that are being preached in allot of contemporary liberal churches today. The worship and sermon was then followed by a couple long prayers. Now when prayer comes to my mind, I picture standing up or sitting down praying easy short straight to the point prayers. Well not in this case. Many of the elders and pastors each had a minute to offer their own prayer out loud. I kneeling their on my knees praying to God to have them finish faster because my knees where going numb. The prayers were interesting in the sense that people were weeping out loud, something I am not used to since the worship and prayer services I have been exposed to, were always happy and excited. During prayer every member of the congregation was expected to be kneeled on their knees, which remarkable was very interesting to me, to see the united front they presented in prayer, there were young and old from babies to grandmas, kneeling in prayer together. Now this set a whole new idea of prayer in my mind. The prayer went on for probably fifteen minutes, which felt like a whole day. Now to end the service the whole congregation chanted the Lords Prayer. Our father in heavenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ ect. This I found interesting due to the fact that I never had the experience of praying the prayer in a church with all the members out loud. After service there was a little bit of conversation amongst the people of the congregation, and many of them were very happy to provide me with additional information, and answer my questions in regards to their religion. One of the biggest questions I had was why they choose to follow the old testament more than the newer testament as many of the other churches do. Which one of the elder brothers replied If God wanted only the New Testament to be observed he would have found a way to eliminate the Old Testament first, but as it is there are both there for you cannot understand the power of one without the other. The Old Testament was given by God himself to the people and it was expected to be observed and respected, and that without this beginning there would be no New Testament to follow.(Brother Vasily). This was very interesting to me since in all honesty I was not one to pay much attention to that part of the Bible, but in a sense it was understandable where he was coming from. The Old Testament gives people one clear cut way of doing things, whether staying away from unclean foods, to following certain dress codes, it is a spelled out way to follow God. It is definitely different from what I wa s taught, but it was interesting to see this belief system span generations with little regard to what other people may think or say. It was amazing to be able to ask individuals that follow these set of beliefs. My questions pertaining to the world around them even simple things such as diet. They believe in Kosher to follow the decryption of clean versus unclean animals. Even the topic of family and children was interesting to discuss since in this day and age most churches do not control or even necessarily disregard smaller families or family planning. But in the religious view points of the Adventists there should be no control from the peoples end and that each child is a blessing that should be welcomed and accepted as a gift from God. In other words they dont believe in use of protection in sex. Some individuals go as far as saying that through the birth of children the women is saved or blessed from her past transgressions, this statement kind of made me wonder about the true belief in the forgiveness and life through Christ. The other topic of religious difference that I was interested in is communion and baptism, since in the church I grew up in these were traditional parts that involved all people considered born again. This of course was different as well since the church community I was part of strongly believes that children under the age of eighteen should not participate in the water baptism and communion since they are not truly adults and are in a sense still under the covering of their parents. This religious experience was incredibly different from what I grew up with and what I am accustomed to. The church I grew up in was considered Non-Denominational, where I was also taught about the Holy Trinity and about being saved through Jesus. However the church I was brought up in centered its teaching on the New Testament, so the Sabbath was not a much more important day than any other. Instead Sunday was the holy day. The other large difference was that there were no rules as far as worship was concerned; there was no solemn prayer or a serious undertone which is what I experienced in the Friday service at the Adventist church. Worship in the church was exposed to be a happy occasion with clapping, dancing, laughter and banner waving, these were all considered to be typed of worship and a way to appreciate and come closer to God. From the Adventist point of view however, this show is not only unnecessary but inappropriate in the House Of God, it was considered disrespectful if someone were to laugh out loud or shout, and instead quiet and poised respect was encouraged, almost like a respect for the higher authority. The other big difference for me was that in the church I grew up in it was considered an individuals choice to become baptized or participate in communion as soon as they were able to distinguish being born again and what sin is. This experience was a good one for me to step out of my comfort zone and realize that although the church and religion my coo workers friend followed is considered in a sense a type of Christianity it was as though I stepped into a different world. There is a lot of tradition and strict sense of family, God and respect, in the Adventist church, and perhaps this was an atypical experience since it was at a Slavic division. But it was interesting to see how people who in a sense believe in the same God as the Baptists, Lutherans, Methodist, Pentecostals and many other Protestants believe in, have a completely different interpretation of what this God so expecting ad even desiring from him followers. And although this is not the religion I was able to make a personal connection with, the people of the church I visited were very gracious and even enthusiastic to show me their ways and views of God and religion. They were very welcoming to discussion as well as questions that I had toward s them. It was amazing to see that within one large group of religion such as Christianity, there are so many subgroups with differences that go from mild to drastic.

The Coal Miners in France During the Second Empire Essay -- World Hist

The Coal Miners in France During the Second Empire In this paper I will explain why revolt by the labor against capital in Second Empire France failed. To explain the situation, I will use Marx's theory of capital accumulation as he presents it in {Capital}. Also important in the theoretical description of this phenomena is the role of tradition and the way its restraints deviate from those of the economy in this French society. Based on this description I will discuss how the function of management is enforced by the economy and traditions inherent in a society. From these considerations I will suggest additional elements and relationships necessary for social relations change to transcend the institutional conditions in which they exist. Terminology relevent to a theoretical account of an event is given by Talcott Parsons in {The Structure of Social Action}. Here, action is described as a system that may be divided into unit acts. The unit act consists of four elements. First there is an agent, or actor. Second, the act has an end which is a future state of affairs or goal towards which the action is oriented. Third, there is a situation where the trends of develop- ment differ from the end towards which the action is oriented. The situation is composed of two elements; the conditions are that which the actor cannot manipulate in accordance with his end, and the means are that over which he does not have control. Finally there is a relation between these elements; where a situation allows alterna- tive means to the end, the course is selected from the normative orientation of the actor. (Parsons, 1968: 44) In order to account for the interrelationships in the historical event ... ... change. Events will subsequently no longer happen but attain meaning in the light of the source that the charismatic element advocates. This change in normative orientations relative to the change in other elements of the process must be reflected in the ideology. The ideology of social change may not simply be a reiffication of the old in a reactionary form. The substance of the ideology, in being a response to the divergence caused by the economy and polity, must be such as to transcend that which came before it. This final condition, specifying the relations between elements necessary for revolutionary change, may only be derived in a society which is neither an organic, composite whole nor one of random atomistic ends. Rather, the society must be one where the normative orientation for mediating between conditions and means is one of consensus.

A Content Analysis of Organizational Dissent as Portrayed on Primetime

Introduction There has been much research done on organizational dissent, but there is a dearth of research dedicated to how television shows portray dissent over the airwaves. In Deviating From the Script: A Content Analysis of Organizational Dissent as Portrayed on Primetime Television by Johny T. Garner, Emily S. Kinsky, Andrei C. Duta, and Julia Danker, the authors attempted to combine these two theories for their study. Using the data collected by the authors and their research team, the authors resolved to measure how effective the dissent was in creating change. Organizational dissent is important in nonfictional workplaces for a variety of reasons, and these results indicate one potential influence on organizational members that may depict dissent as futile (Garner et al., 2012, p. 620). The authors set about trying to quantify organizational dissent on network television in the primetime hours. The authors also argued that organizational dissent was the challenge of status quo and the be nefits of this challenge was of value to both the dissenter and the organization as well. This review will provide a critical analysis of the article as well offer some insights into where the authors’ research could go further. Hypotheses and Philosophical Perspectives Garner et al. provided three hypotheses for their content analysis of primetime programming. First, the authors hypothesized that dissent would be portrayed as ineffective. In this hypothesis, effectiveness was defined in terms of receiving emotional support and/or achieving instrumental change. The second hypothesis was centered on to whom the dissent would be expressed. The authors used four potential dissent audiences: supervisors, subordinates, coworkers and people ... .... doi: 10.1080/01463373.2012.725001 Gerbner, G. (1990). Epilogue: Advancing on the path of righteousness (maybe). In N. Signorielli & M. Morgan (Eds.), Cultivation analysis: New directions in media effects research (pp. 249–262). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Morgan, M. (2000). On George Gerbner’s contributions to communication theory, research, and social action. In M. Morgan (Ed.), Against the mainstream: The selected works of George Gerbner (pp. 1–20). New York: Peter Lang. Shapiro,M., & Lang, A. (1991).Making television reality: Unconscious processes in the construction of social reality. Communication Research, 18, 685–705. doi: 10.1177=009365091018005007 Shrum, L. J. (1997). The role of source confusion in cultivation effects may depend on processing strategy: A comment on Mares. Human Communication Research, 24, 349–358. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.1997.tb00418.x

Regulatory Competition Among Accounting Standards Within and Across International Boundaries

Financial statements that are simple and comparable to the general public may not be in the best interest of the managers. Managers like to manipulate ?nancial reports to suit their own interests. Financial reporting would be easy to just report whatever is in the cash till. Despite the fact that financial reporting would be simplistic, it is better to have complex account than a simple financial reporting. There is no perfect standard for any corporations in the world. An ever changing corporate world makes it harder to ascertain for the prefect standard.However, experimentation with alternatives in a competitive regulatory environment generates data to help identify with the most wanted accounting standards. No single set of standards has been shown to be the best suited for all ?rms. The argument for regulatory monopoly in accounting is often based on the assumption that in the absence of such regulation, there will be no standards. Financial reporting standards act as a template to prevent managers from taking advantage of the shareholders cost of capital and fraudulent behaviour or thoughts.Despite being a set of rules, the financial reporting standards still has its leeway from country to country. With a centrally planned accounting standards, standards setters are susceptible to lobbying pressure especially when disagreement arises between varies interest party. On the contrary, with regulatory competition, standards setters can avoid the lobbying pressure. This is because those who do not like the standard can freely choose another one that is suitable. Analysis For the first claim above, I agree that a simple financial report is favourable to the public but not so to the managers.However, this may not always hold true as it may paint a biased picture favourable towards the managers. This is mainly attributed to the manipulations of the financial report for their own interest. In addition, a financial reporting that only reports the cash in the till wou ld eliminate all the complexity of financial reporting. However, I feel that a complex financial report that depicts the true situation of a company is better than a simple financial statement that just only accounts for whatever is in the till.Having guidelines may be easier for financial reporting but it may leave out certain â€Å"hard to count† assets and liabilities which are crucial in preparing an impartial financial report for the public. Therefore, I agree with the author that a complex financial report that may arise from regulatory competition is better and more precise compared to a guided and simple financial report. Secondly, my apprehension with the experimentations of alternatives is that in reality, corporation may not have the time or resources to try out different alternatives.A failed experimentation with an alternative accounting standard may negatively affect the capital that will be invested in the company by investors. However, I do agree with the auth or that experimentation with different standards through regulatory competition will eventually lead to the perfect accounting standard for every corporation. This is due to the ever changing rules selected in accounting standards through regulatory competition. 3 No single standard setter knows the perfect standards for different industries and circumstances.Hence, I believe that in order to have the perfect standards it is for the best to leave it to the market. Like I have mentioned above, accounting rules are always carefully chosen according to different regulatory competition. Just like the laissez faire concept. Hence, with regulatory competition, the market will decide which standards are the best by allowing corporations to experiment with alternatives. Subsequently, the main argument favouring the harmonisation of accounting tandards is the fear of having no standard with competitive regulations. However, better firms can engage the best quality of audit as an attempt to c onvey their quality over to investors. 2 Firms can convey such message by paying a price premium charged by audit ?rms, which are perceived to provide services of higher quality. This further proves that even without regulations there will still be standards; in fact the reports prepared will be better quality as better audit firms are employed.The up side of using accounting standards set by standard setters is that it is prescriptive. I agree with the writer that in this case, by having prescriptive standards are actually positive as it restricts managers from exploiting the cost of capital belonging to the shareholders. In addition, not all standards that are prescriptive lack flexibility which will hinder professional judgement. An example would be the flexibility between UK GAAP, US GAAP as well as International GAAP despite all coming under the same accounting standards.Finally, I disagree with the author to a certain extend that it will lessen the lobbying pressure. I believe that having regulatory competition may provide for more lobbying opportunities as pressure to conform to authorities who are usually the big corporations or political government are futile to resist. 4 Nevertheless, I agree with the author that regulatory competition will not eliminate lobbying pressure but lessen it. With regulatory competition, accounting standards are diversified hence reducing its vulnerability to lobbyist.Critical appreciation Throughout the whole paper, the author has a strong stand on the differentiation of accounting standards by putting more weight on discussing on the advantages of regulatory competition that arises from differentiated accounting standards. Even though there are discussions on the advantages of having standards towards the end of the paper, there is not much emphasis. However, I agree with the author that his arguments for regulatory competition are not for the elimination of accounting standards.I strongly believe in the Pareto efficient solution for setting accounting standards; for every accounting standards set it will not benefit everyone but as long as it benefits the majority it will be a considerably good standard. Overall, I love this article as it opens up my mind regarding the benefits we can get by adopting regulatory competition by having different accounting standards at the same time emphasised about the consequences of just having regulatory competition.

No More Couch Potatoes Essay

There is no doubt that there is too many obese people in this world, and that is clearly a problem, but we are focusing on the wrong things in our searching for a solution. It is not the overweight itself and the thinking of a better look when all the kilos are gone, no, it is a good physicality that is the main drive or motivation that leads to a good and forever being los of weight. Too many of the obese people do not keep being thin when they have lost weight, because they are not supported on their personality, the particularly obese young boy or girl, have being abused and bullied because of their overwhelming weight, and look. That breaks the physical motivation in those young kids, and makes them take a part of this way of being treated, they accepts it and puts on a role as the â€Å"fat dude†. Personality and losing weight has to expand i the same tempo to keep the necessary motivation, not just to loose more weight, but to get a stronger and more confident personality. One of the newest answers to the obesity problem, is the â€Å"TV-cycle†, a bicycle connected to the TV, so to watch television, the kids now has to get a movement in the pedals, if not, the TV will turn off. That is not a way to get rid of the obesity. Treating the obese kids otherwise than regularly weighting kids in average teenage activities is giving them the fat-kid role, and that will not strength their outer persona. Respect and accept from other kids is important to get the essential feeling that creates a confident personality, a person who believes in him/herself. Wathing Tv, playing computer, and eating fastfood, those things are not the main problems, they are just a part of what the physical breakdown effects. Everyone do those things once in a while, and everyone should do it if they want, but everything is healthiest in small doses, and that is on thing that the obese kids has to learn, i a way so it feels natural in their minds to think of exercising, healthy food and so on. Once i had a rule that everytime i eated couch potatoes, i also took an apple from our fruit bawl, and everytime i had been surfing on the internet for too long, i went to my garden and played football. Everyone can do that. Everyone do like some kind of good and healthy food, and everyone do know how to run, kick to a ball, hop, whatever. If we just treat everyone the same, there will be a place to evolve, from overweight to regular weight, and from unconfident to confident about ourselves, and our surroundings.