Category: Sociology 7256

Education not only passes on knowledge but also teaches an individual to take an active part in societys life. Through education, a person learns about societys history, political, and geographical position (Giddens et al., 2006). Moreover, this social institution provides an individual with credentials, allowing them to get a job and become economically independent from other family members. So, education gives people knowledge, freedom, and independence as well as facilitates their functioning in other social institutions. Religion also helps people to become engaged members of society by giving them a sense of purpose in life and providing them with a common set of norms and values (Giddens et al., 2006). Furthermore, religion features crucial rituals and practices that unite believers and make them members of the community.

Reference

Giddens, A., Appelbaum, R. P., & Duneier, M. (2006). Essentials of sociology. Norton.

Animal poaching  killing and capturing animals in their natural habitats in order to use them or their body parts for profit or protect crops or livestock  poses an imminent threat to the biological diversity. This issue has been a problem for many years as traditional monitoring techniques proved to be inaccurate and ineffective (Gonzalez et al., 2016). However, recent developments in science have presented a new opportunity of using emerging technologies such as unmanned ground and aerial vehicles. This paper examines the use of ground and aerial unmanned vehicles as methods of preventing animal poaching. It is done by analyzing the relevant literature on the matter published in the last five years. The literature review showed the wide use of artificial intelligence, mobile sensors, thermal detection systems, drones, thermal infrared spectroscopy (TIR) and red-green-blue (RGB) imaging, and special systems like Systematic Poaching Detector application (SPOT).

All these methods already prove to be highly effective in preventing animal poaching. However, as the paper shows, there are still challenges associated with using these technologies. Among them real-world uncertainty of sensing adversaries in mobile sensors, ramifications of TIR and RGB imaging, lack of research on unmanned aerial vehicles and their autonomy. The paper addresses these disadvantages and provides possible solutions of addressing them. Moreover, the paper singles out the most efficient models and methods of using ground and aerial vehicles as methods of battling animal poaching. The results of the carried-out analysis could be used for further study and provide useful insights for researchers interested in using unmanned technologies for environmental and animal protection.

Reference

Gonzalez, L., Montes, G., Puig, E., Johnson, S., Mengersen, K., & Gaston, K. (2016). Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and artificial intelligence revolutionizing wildlife monitoring and conservation. Sensors, 16(1), 97-115.

Introduction

We live in times when the voices of self-proclaimed animal rights activists, who suggest that it represents a highly immoral deed to conduct scientific experiments on animals, are growing ever-louder, even though that those that are opposed against animal testing do not seem to be in a big rush to stop exploiting the fruits of scientific progress, associated with such testing. In its turn, this betrays them as double-faced individuals, whose political and social activity derives out their bellyful idleness and corresponds to them being highly judgmental individuals, who seriously believe that it is up to them to define what is moral and what is immoral.

Main body

It is not by pure accident that animal rights activists consist predominantly of White Liberals with pierced noses, lips, and genitals, who despite their talent in finding new ways to celebrate diversity, lack the understanding of objective subtleties of hard science, as objective category, which exists beyond good and evil. These people think that it is appropriate, on their part, to apply labels of Nazis to anyone who would disagree with their point of view, during the process of flower children trying to make this world being more tolerant, by drinking gallons of organic coffee at Starbucks. However, given the fact that the majority of Americans perceive the activists as who they are  a bunch of mentally deviated individuals, the self-appointed guardians of animals welfare are often being left with no other choice but to engage in physical violence against those who dare to express their contempt with Liberal nonsense being jammed down citizens throats. In his article Animal-Rights Militants Say They Put Bomb Under UCLA Scientists Car, which can be found on the website of The Chronicle for Higher Education, Andrew Mytelka provides us with insight on the methods, animal rights activists resort to, to promote their views: In another attempted attack on a UCLA professor by animal-rights extremists, federal and local authorities are investigating the placement of a bomb on Sunday under a car belonging to an eye researcher at the university. The explosive failed to detonate, according to todays Los Angeles Times. The incident resembles one last summer, in which activists claimed to have tried to bomb the residence of another researcher at the University of California at Los Angeles (Mytelka, 2007). And what, according to lefties justifies their tendency to engage in physical violence, on behalf of animals? The article Whats Wrong With Testing on Animals?, available on the web site of Global Action Network, provides us with the answer: Every year, millions of animals are poisoned, blinded, and killed in crude tests to evaluate the toxicity of consumer products and their ingredients& But the suffering and death of these animals are entirely unnecessary in the making of products like your shampoo, eye shadow, and toilet cleaner. No law requires animal testing of cosmetics or personal care and household cleaning products (GAN, 2008). No law requires stores like Wal-Mart, to stock its industrial freezers with tons of freshly produced bacon (pigs holocaust), on weekly basis, yet it happens.

The reason for this is simple  the objective reality rarely corresponds to the wishful thinking of Liberal dreamers. As representatives of Earths dominant species, people are at liberty to treat animals in the way they consider necessary, simply because animals cannot effectively oppose homo sapiens. Do we like chicken meat? Then, we build chicken farms, so that we can have an unlimited supply of chickens and eggs. Do the rodents cause damage to our crops? Then we simply exterminate rodents in a wholesale manner. Do we think cats, dogs, and horses are useful? Then we create even more of these animals pedigrees, by subjecting them to crossbreeding. Do we need to design a medicinal cure for a particular disease? Then we use animals as objects of scientific experimentations because such experiments lay at the core of medicine as objective science. It would be much appropriate to conduct medicinal experiments on illegal Mexicans or Jamaican drug dealers, but then we would be having even more bleeding hearts across the nation, as a result. Whether animal rights activists like it or not, the practice of testing medicine on animals had helped to save the lives of millions of people. In his article, Matthew Hartfields article Animal Testing: No Time for Hysteria contains numerous referrals to the examples of animal testing yielding positive practical results: The efficacy of penicillin, blood transfusions, vaccines or insulin, to name a few, was demonstrated via animal experiments. In the case of penicillin, mice were injected with a lethal dose of streptococci bacteria; half of them were further injected with penicillin. These were the only mice that survived. Penicillin has subsequently saved millions of lives worldwide (Hartfield, 2008). The reason for Liberal lefties to be strongly preoccupied with artificially created fetish of animal rights, appears as having a strictly psychiatric nature. Given their judgmental attitudes towards the people who happen to have a different perspective on socio-political issues, as opposed to their own, Liberal whackos have a hard time finding soulmates. In its turn, this prompts them to increasingly rely on pets, as animals capable of providing their owners with companionship. As time goes by, animal rights activists grow to subconsciously associate all animals with pets. As a result, they naturally become discontent with the practice of testing on animals, without being able to realize that nowadays, pets are not being used as objects of scientific experiments. In his article Animal Testing: Beyond the Protests, Instances of Mistreatment are Rare, Tom Still says: Today, animal research is predominantly research involving rodents and rabbits. At GlaxoSmithKline PLCs London division, for example, only 5 percent of research and development involves animals  and 99 percent of those animals are mice, rats, and rabbits. Protesters may flash disturbing images of monkeys screaming in pain, but primates arent at the core of most animal research today (Still, 2005). Therefore, if animal rights activists would want to do something useful, within a context of striving to combat cruelty against animals, they would be much better off picketing Chinese restaurants, owners of which are known for their tendency to skin cats and dogs, while serving pets meat as chicken or beef to unsuspecting White customers. This, of course, cannot be done in principle, because in time free from whining about the fate of poor mice, Liberal whackos also promote the concept of multiculturalism. Therefore, it is very doubtful whether animal rights activists are being concerned about the animals as much as they would like us to believe.

They simply cannot live without being allowed to whine about the worlds injustices, as their full-time occupation. This is the reason why they also cannot stop talking about the issue of racism. For them, it is like a skin rush  the more it is being scratched, the more it itches, and it is not the prospects of this rush being relieved, which prompts lefties to indulge in their politically correct rhetoric, but the fact that they derive pleasure out of the very process of scratching. The full extent of animal rights activists affection towards the animals is being illustrated in the article Cat-Eating Students Shooed off Facebook, which is available on the website of The Copenhagen Post: Eating house pets in the name of animal welfare is a quick way to raise the hackles of not only animal rights groups, but also the online community, a group of journalism students in Århus have discovered. The group, all students at the Danish School of Journalism, had their Facebook accounts closed by the online communitys administrators after they uploaded pictures of themselves cooking and eating a cat (The Copenhagen Post, 2008). These sickos had taken pictures of themselves cooking and eating the cat while having tears in their eyes (they felt sorry for the poor animal)  all in the name of protection of animals rights!. In its turn, this leaves no doubts as to the fact that neo-Liberalism is nothing but a form of mental illness, which is why the arguments of hysterical defenders of animal welfare cannot even be considered seriously  these people should have been checked into mental hospitals long ago, instead of being allowed to roam free, while promoting their craziness as the legitimate form of political activity. They should not even have the right to own pets  one can never be too sure of what do they do to the poor creatures.

Animal rights activists follow the footsteps of their spiritual ancestors, Christians, and Commies. Christians had succeeded in slaughtering millions of people as heretics, while never getting tired of praising the good book as such that promotes tolerance. Similarly, hook-nosed Communist commissars had succeeded in murdering millions of Russians, simply because they belonged to a wrong social class, during Russia being turned into a workers paradise. Todays animal rights activists, think that it is OK to eat cats and dogs, while screaming bloody murder, over the cruel treatment of mice in the labs!. Rounding up these sickos behind the barbed wire, issuing them with shovels, and telling them to do something useful for a change, like helping farmers to scoop up manure, is the only way to deal with these peoples existential inadequateness. In his book The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness, Lyle H. Rossiter provides us with insight on what constitutes a spiritual foundation, upon which animal rights activists base their arguments: When the modern liberal mind whines about imaginary victims (lab rodents), rages against imaginary villains and seeks above all else to run the lives of persons competent to run their own lives, the neurosis of the liberal mind becomes painfully obvious (Rossiter, p. 5).

There can be no doubt as to the fact that in civilized society, animals must enjoy a certain degree of protection, but this does not mean that experimentation of lad rodents should be banned nationwide, simply because experts on tolerance think that such practice is morally wrong. As we have stated earlier in this paper, such experiments cannot be morally wrong by definition, because of the objective nature of scientific notions. For example, at least 70% of todays medicinal knowledge, as to peoples anatomy, psychology, and their reproductive capabilities, directly derives out of scientific data, obtained during the course inmates of Nazis concentration camps being subjected to various experiments, which often led to their death. Does it mean that we now have to ban this knowledge as morally wrong? It is important to understand that animals cannot have rights in principle, because the concept of political right implies that it was being taken, rather than given. For any normal individual, it would never occur to cruelly treat animals, not because animals have rights, but because mentally adequate people are simply incapable of deriving pleasure out of seeing animals suffer.

It appears that, despite their rhetoric, animals rights activists do not want to have the practice of experimentation on animals being delegitimized, as it would deprive them of one of their excuses to indulge in whining about worlds injustices, as the only activity in which they can excel. Nowadays, the experimentation on animals is not being practiced as widely as it used to be the case, even as recent as twenty years ago, due to groundbreaking discoveries in the field of genetics, which had taken place in recent years. In her article Animal Testing is Both Cruel and Unnecessary, Sharon Howe states: Organisations such as the Dr. Hadwen Trust and the Humane Research Trust are funding vital research into all the major human diseases to replace painful procedures on animals. Cancer research projects use complex 3D human cell cultures and mathematical modeling to improve the targeting of radiation treatments, for example, while new generations of brain scanning techniques  some of them developed at Oxford  are providing far more relevant insights into neurological diseases like Parkinsons than invasive operations on monkeys are ever likely to do (Howe, p. 2006). Thus, it is natural for scientists to strive to find alternatives to experimentation on animals. However, once the practice of such experimentation is being banned, it will not be because of animal rights activists tendency to place explosives under the cars of their opponents, but simply as an objective consequence of empirical science reaching new heights. This is because it is the science and not the religious or Liberal morality that pushes forward cultural and scientific progress in this country. If biologists were given a green light to enjoy full freedom, within a context of them designing new experimentation techniques, there would be no animal testing anymore, as animal rights activists appear to be much more desirable objects for biological experimentation (especially in the field of psychiatry), then the poor rodents, on whose behalf the self-proclaimed guardians of public morality act.

Bibliography

Cat-Eating Students Shooed off Facebook. 2008. The Copenhagen Post Online. Web.

Howe, S. Animal Testing is Both Cruel and Unnecessary. 2006. The Independent. 2008. Web.

Hartfield, M. Animal Testing: No Time for Hysteria. 2008. The Journal. Web.

Mytelka, A. Animal-Rights Militants Say They Put Bomb Under UCLA Scientists Car. 2007. The Chronicle for Higher Education. 2008. Web.

Still, T. Animal Testing: Beyond the Protests, Instances of Mistreatment are Rare. 2005. WTN NEWS. 2008. Web.

Rossiter, L. (2006) The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness, New York: Free World Books.

Focusing on privilege as opposed to oppression has been a mostly comfortable experience for the author. Many of the items on it were not particularly controversial or difficult to accept, and the author went over their boxes without difficulty. The insinuation that some of these privileges are not available to all was slightly uncomfortable, but the author has faith in society and its continued improvement. The exercise was also somewhat entertaining and enlightening, as some of the questions caused them to rethink matters from a new perspective and find unexpected privileges (or lack thereof). However, overall, the experience did not make a powerful impression on the author.

It is important to remember privilege as an aspect of ones identity to ensure that the progress mentioned above takes place. Peoples experiences should not be dismissed because they do not align with ones own. Instead, they should be taken into account and investigated thoroughly, with the underlying causes addressed over time. Discussing privilege is especially important because it does not often feature prominently in ones life. As such, privileged people may assume their advantages for everyone implicitly, failing to recognize the differences between them and the less privileged. To avoid such misconceptions and the damage they may cause, people should be aware of their privilege.

The existence of multiple identities has a significant effect on how people should treat each other. It is impossible to know ones experiences of privileges and oppression in their entirety, and, therefore, judgments should not be made based on those characteristics. Instead, people should be judged on their character, which one comes to know by observing their actions. Martin Luther Kings (1963) quotation of the Declaration of Independence in his famous speech, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, comes to mind. One should view others as equals, not presume to speak on their behalf, and treat them as one would treat oneself in a similar situation.

One notable type of privilege that has not been considered in this checklist is location privilege. It implicitly assumes that the person responding is in America, a logical assertion given the nature of the assignment. However, if the author were to move to a majority of countries on the planet, they would lose a substantial portion of their privileges. Moreover, when compared to the oppression in those countries, American lacks of privileges, both factual and self-reported, often seem minor. Without taking these locations into account, ones perceived benefits are diminished, as most people around them have the same privileges. Even when one has unusual privileges, they can often ignore it by referring exclusively to some part of their advantages that is lacking.

When leading, one should be mindful of their privilege in all of its aspects. Different advantages are interrelated and can enhance or mitigate each other, and the entire picture has to be considered. One cannot represent a group based on some privilege or lack of it if they do not have the same experience of that privilege due to compounding factors. With that said, privilege is not the sole determinant of leadership. To achieve results, both at the authors campus and in intercampus collaborations, it is essential to have a leader who is competent at their job. They should listen to advice from the people they are representing and make decisions based on their judgment.

Reference

King, M. L. Jr. (1963). I have a dream. American Rhetoric. Web.

Recently, the United States House of Representatives passed the bill that united both Republicans and Democrats. The bills name is the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act that addressed the issues of cruelty and neglect among pets. Primarily, the law makes abuse of animals illegal on a national level (Campbell, 2019). The cruelty is defined by breaking, setting on fire, drowning, strangling, and stabbing. However, puppy mills, or extensive breeding operations, are not considered illegal by the PACT, which was regarded as controversial by the public. The problem that needs to be addressed is how to ensure puppy mills are following the legal regulations established by PACT, as many similar businesses have been accused of animal cruelty. Therefore, it is essential to fully comprehend the level of abuse by such organizations, find the significant obstacle within the issue, and propose a comprehensive solution.

Puppy Mills Cruelty

Puppy mills are industrial-scale breeding operations, where animals are repeatedly bred to produce as many puppies as possible. These are then sold to consumers or pet stores. Puppy mills operate like factories where maximizing output is the goal. As a result, the animals well being, health and temperament are not considered to save on costs (Campbell, 2019). The animals are kept in cramped, unsanitary conditions, to minimize costs to the mill.

Furthermore, puppy mills are relatively unregulated and understudied, although they are widespread in the United States. Some estimates put their number at 10000 in the United States, often operating in rural areas and selling online (Solotaroff, 2017). As many dogs end up unsold, mill operators will simply put them down. In the United States, roughly two million dogs are euthanized each year, a number that does not cover the dogs mill operators kill through overwork and mistreatment.

Major Obstacles

Puppy mills, large-scale puppy breeding business, are not limited by the PACT Act, which means many animals are still kept in poor, unsanitary conditions. Because of the high demand for puppies and no current legal restrictions or regulations, these mills remain open (Campbell, 2019). A lack of awareness among consumers is also to blame, as many do not know of conditions in puppy mills and are not aware that they should only buy from a reputable breeder (Solotaroff, 2017). Instead, many consumers go to pet stores that acquire their stock from puppy mills.

Furthermore, efforts to include banning or regulating puppy mills with the PACT Act are difficult, as the PACT Act is a revision of an older bill. Since the previous version of the Bill did not include laws covering puppy mills, the current PACT Act simply does not address them (Campbell, 2019). As it stands now, a puppy mill operator, if they sell directly to the buyer, either a consumer or a store, does not need any sort of license.

Proposal

My proposal consists of three vital details that can help government agencies ensure the proper well-being of animals kept in puppy mills.

First, puppy mills applicants must attend training on how to take care of dogs. Such mandatory training should include detailed instructions on appropriate animal care and treatment. This would require federal guidelines on minimal comfort levels for animals (Frasch, 2016). Puppy mill operators would have to be registered and receive a license to function.

Second, legal entities should check the organization to ensure that it is clean, has beds, and well-ventilated. A study done in Canada found that chicken farms could operate at the same long term costs while meeting animal comfort standards. It was only short-term costs that prevented some farms from complying (Robichaud et al., 2017). This could drive some puppy farms out of business and ensure that only ones that meet minimal comfort guidelines survive.

Third, a representative from the government has to perform random visits to puppy millers to ensure the dogs well-being. This would guarantee the continuation of the trainings positive effects, as the owners would always be in-check.

Who and What

There need to be changes in legislation regarding minimal comfort levels for animals at the Federal scale. The PACT Act can be expanded to cover more than just anti-cruelty and to set standards for Animal care nationwide. The PACT Act was drafted and passed by a bipartisan majority, indicating enough governmental support for animal rights legislation.

Furthermore, legislators and law enforcement agencies support the PACT Act (Eckerd, 2019). This would indicate that the additional steps outlined in my proposal would have some support. The enforcement of the actions in the project could be done by elements of law enforcement, who could simply carry out the random and scheduled checks in my proposal. This would have the additional benefit of communicating the seriousness of the government in enforcing anti-cruelty laws. Law enforcement agencies have stated a connection between cruelty towards animals and cruelty towards people (Eckerd, 2019). This could indicate the willingness of law enforcement agencies to expand their activities to include monitoring puppy mills for cruelty.

Benefits of the Proposal

The three steps of my proposal would act in tandem to, firstly, limit the growth of new puppy mills and, secondly, to ensure that only mills capable of meeting minimal comfort requirements survive. Forcing puppy mill operators to register and go through training would limit new puppy mills run by individuals with no regard for animal welfare. This change would also work retroactively, meaning that existing puppy mill operators would have to go through the application process.

Furthermore, governmental entities checks on the conditions in puppy mills would make sure the guidelines are followed. The first and second steps enhance each other, as mill operators whose business does not meet the requirements will not be able to claim that they were not informed of the requirements. Lastly, random checks would enforce the necessity to keep the mills operating within the parameters described by the minimum comfort requirements. This would help drive out of business the puppy mills not capable of caring for the animals properly.

Potential Problems and Solutions

The first potential problem is that the proposed regulations might take a long time to pass. Initially, when the U.S. House of Representatives passed PETA Act, the puppy millers were not affected by the new law because it is a product of revision of the bill that was proposed over ten years ago (Campbell, 2019). Therefore, some decisions, mainly connected to animals, take a longer time to be made.

The other obstacle is that puppy mills might go out of business, which might drastically change the contemporary animal market. The entire business model of puppy mills is based on the opportunity to breed animals on a large-scale. Such an approach assumes a certain level of neglect and exploitation involved in the process (Solotaroff, 2017). Therefore, proposing these regulations might lead to some puppy mills leaving the animal industry, which might affect pet stores and other animal facilities.

The last issue with the proposal is connected to the fact that the United States government might not have enough funds and human resources to implement the project entirely. The proposals essential part is focused on government intervention; thus, the lack of appropriate staff can be a significant obstacle to the plan.

The first solution is to focus on State and city level policymakers, as California and Maryland have various preventive laws against large-scale breeding (Campbell, 2019). Therefore, to attract the Federal governments attention, it is efficient first to lobby the State government.

The solution to the other problem is to educate the public on the way many puppy mills are operating, which will encourage individuals to buy dogs from professional breeders or adopt from shelters. Thus, even if the industry will be reformed, there are various alternatives in the market.

Lastly, the solution to the issues is to introduce new public-sector jobs related to animal care, which will positively affect the economy long-term, as more people will be able to find employment.

Conclusion

The PACT Act has recently passed, which focused on the issues of animal abuse. However, puppy mills were not affected by the law, which led the public to question the United States governments decision. The animals are regularly kept in unsanitary and uncomfortable conditions because the primary goal of puppy mills is to bread as many dogs as possible. Moreover, the lack of awareness among people also supports the industry because of the constant demand. The proposal to change the ongoing situation includes mandatory training, legal checks, and random visits from the responsible agency.

References

Campbell, L. (2019). Animal cruelty could soon become a federal crime-but why are puppy mills still allowed? Readers Digest. 

Eckerd, P. (2017). Senate unanimously passes PACT act against extreme animal cruelty. Jurist. 

Robichaud, M., Rushen, J., De Passillé, A. M., Vasseur, E., Haley, D., Orsel, K., & Pellerin, D. (2018). Is the profitability of Canadian freestall farms associated with their performance on an animal welfare assessment? Journal of Dairy Science, 101(3), 2350-2358. 

Solotaroff, P. (2017). The dog factory: Inside the sickening world of puppy mills. Rolling Stone. 

Introduction

In the United States, the social security program is an initiative of the government that is intended to assist retirees. As such, it comprehensively covers virtually all the workers; however a majority of the federal employees, as well as those who have been employed by either the local or state government do not benefit from this program. For these, a special pension scheme has bee put in place (The progressive, 2001). The social security act as an income source for close to two thirds of all he retired employees of the United States. According to recent statistics, it has been projected that by the year 2030, the current 3.2 ration of workers for every single retiree will have shrunk to just 2 workers.

With the retirement of the generation of the baby-boomers, the prevailing system shall have been put under immense strain. The implication them is that the amount of tax payroll that these workers often pays are usually directed at meeting the present liabilities being experienced by the system, instead of helping in the build up of resources that could in the future be relied upon to pay out to the retirees their benefits.

President Bush reform proposals

As far back as 2001 president bush aided in the establishment of a presidential commission. This bi-partisan commission was composed of top congress member experts in the financial markets, and renowned scholars (Kubarych, 2004). The commission eventually gave back their amendments and final report to the president in the middle of 2002. The commission proposed a total of three solutions to the proposals of President Bush as concern the issue of reforming the social security.

The first reform model creates the option of having a personal and voluntary account, with no further specifications on the revenues and benefits of the social security. As such, the proposal has it that the workers are at liberty to invest as much as 2 percent of their wages liable to taxation in these personal accounts. In addition, the personal accounts serve to offset the convention benefits of the social security contributions. This is usually computed at 3.5 percent on that portion of the interest rate falling above the inflation.

It is thus expected that courtesy of this model, the benefits of retirees would increase on the one hand, while the systems annual cash deficit would tend to plummet by 2020. Nevertheless, these events would often lead to a huge financial deficit, thus calling for change alterations on either the substantial novel resources, or in the benefits themselves by the year 2030.

The second reform model that was proposed permits retirees in the future to re-channel about 4 percent of the payroll taxes that they pay, to a maximum of $ 1000 on a yearly basis. There would thus be no other added contribution that would be needed for the workers. Due to this, the conventional benefits of the social security would have to be offset by the contributions made into the accounts of the workers, again by a 2 percent computation on the part of interest rate that happens to fall above inflation.

This plan seeks to establish a more encompassing and progressive social security through the establishment of a bare minimum benefit, that is payable to those workers with a 30 year period of earning a minimum wage. On the other hand, it would be expected that through this proposal, those workers whose earnings falls under the category of the medium income earners who are entering the job market now would be subjected to a price index as from 2009 (Kubarych, 2004).

Moreover, there shall be needed some temporary transfer that would enable the trust fund of the social security to remain solvent from 2025 up to 2054, when those employees who are newly into the job market would be nearing their retirement. Though the White House may not have endorsed either of these plans, this model has been argued to be more preferable to the president.

The third reform has laid down a framework that gives those workers with a personal account the option of either reaching or exceeding the existing benefits laws, on the basis of the current rations of wage replacement. This module attains solvency in the social security system in tow ways. First, it helps in the addition of revenues. Then, it helps in a slowed growth of these benefits, at a lower rate than that of the price index.

Impact of proposals by President Bush

The proposals by President Bush tend to raise two major issues. The first one involves balancing payments and revenues in the social security fund (solvency), while the second one involves bringing about private accounts, leading to a massive diversion of payroll taxes from the scheme (Lochhead, 2005). On February 2, 2005, there was a report that was released by the White House in connection with the plan to privatize the accounts of the social security and there are a few specifics that emerged.

First on the least was that the president was willing to help in the creation of the private accounts. As from 2011, it would be possible for all the workers to divert as much as a third of the tax they pay as payroll, translating into 4 percent, up o a maximum of $ 1,000, into an account that would be privatized. Once the workers have retired, they would be subjected to what the report referred to as a clawback. This means that for all the money that may have been diverted to their personal accounts, the workers were meant to repay it all back.

The payback amount would also constitute the interest that had accumulated over the years, as well as the added inflation. This would automatically have to be deducted from the workers guaranteed benefits. The overall interest rate has also been earmark at a rate that is 3 percent above the annual interest rate (Lochhead, 2005). The implication here then is that save for their money in the private account increasing by a rate that is above the 3 percent, then all virtually all the accumulated value of the personal accounts would have to be swallowed by what the report refers to as clawback.

There is also another proposal that refers to the private accounts, which these would lead to an increase in the rate of borrowing, running into trillions. Based on the planned proposal by President Bush, it means that the money which was meant to help in the payment of the present beneficiaries of the social security would not be present (Kornblut & Roberts, 2005). As such the government would have to be forced to seek fro this money from elsewhere, in bid to let the fund settle the benefits that it has promised the beneficiaries. In the absence of such a borrowing, it would then mean that the current beneficiaries would have to have their benefits reduced by a given amount.

The plan by Bush has also been seen a possibility for worsening the financial outlook of the social security. In the event of such an eventuality as the death of a worker, such an account would have to be passed on to the next of kin. Where a divorce occurs, a spilt would thus suffice (Kornblut & Roberts, 2005). With regard to such cases, it would not be automatic that benefits of the social security would be subjected to a reduction, in a bid to recover the amount of money that may have previously been diverted for such a fund. The result of such an eventuality is that there could result a net loss in the social security.

Moreover, there could also be a limitation is as far as investment choices are concerned. Although it is possible for workers to invest in as many as five index funds, it is not yet clear whose role it is to give such a decision, or even how the determination of such an option would be arrived at. As the ages increases it means that investment may have to be channeled to recycle funds, and which seeks to plummet the stock share as the years go by. One a worker has retired; workers would then be coerced to convert a majority of their accounts to the form of lifetime annuities, with a view to attainting a benefit that is on the same level or even greater than the prevailing poverty line.

By the 28^th day of April, 2005, the White House had already given some information regarding how President Bush intended to handle the solvency in social security. First, the cutting of benefits shall be one of the lowest possible. To this end, the president does not in any way favor increasing of the payroll taxes, and neither has he suggested a rise in any other form of funding. Apparently, the White House seems to have withdrawn from its earlier stance of backing the raising of the cap, and which at the moment has been set at $ 90,000.

Beyond this figure, earnings cease to be subjected to taxation by the social security. The White House has also offered that by imposing a cut on the benefits, this could only be achieved once a change has been instituted into the benefit formula. At the moment, the contributions of tax and benefits seem to be growing at the same rate as that of the wage growth (Rizvi, 2005). For those new beneficiaries who by 2005 were earning as much as $ 90,000, the presidential outline provides that the initial earnings would be subjected to a reduced rise, lower than that for the contributed amount in taxes, to equal the rate of inflation.

The individual whose earnings fall between $ 20,000 and $90,000 would also see their benefits rising at a rate that is above that of inflation, but also less than that of tax contributions and wage growth rate. It has also been postulated that the cut benefits that president bush has proposed would have an impact on close to 70 percent of virtually all the workers who pays tax. As such, all those who make more than $ 20,000 by 2005 would see their benefits cut. For those average income earners who shall be retiring by 2075, this cut shall constitute about 28 percent (Kornblut & Roberts, 2005).

On the other hand, those workers that have wage earnings at 60 percent of $ 59,000, and which has been computed to be the average, these would receive a 25 percent cut, should they opt to retire in 20 35, and if this hang around up to 2075, then they would have to receive a 42 percent tax cut (Rizvi, 2005). Another impact is the proposal by the president is in need of additional huge cuts on benefits. This is because the changes occurring in benefits do not embrace all the imbalances in social security.

Conclusion

The proposal by the president to reduce the benefits of the middle class on a massive scale can only aids in the covering of up to 57 percent of computed shortfall. In a bid to address the full shortfall, the president shall be required to either institute added cuts in the retirement benefits scheme, or even go to the extent of instituting cut benefits to the disability funds.

References

Kornblut, A., & Roberts, S. (2005). Pro and con line up as bush presses social security effort. The New York Times, 5.  Web.

Kubarych, R. (2004). Social; security reform: the problem and proposed solutions. Web.

Lochhead, C. (2005). Bushs social security proposal takes a hit.

Rizvi, H. (2005). Privatization social security would drive millions below poverty line-report.

The progressive (2001). Bush bilks the elderly: President Bushs proposals would provide a tax cut fro the wealthy, and seriously damage social security and Medicare

Introduction

Although it is widely believed by many historians and sociologists that civil rights movement in the United States began to shape only in the middle of the twentieth century, especially with the arrival on the scene Martin Luther King, we can say that its origins go back to the nineteenth century. Certainly, there is some difference, especially in terms of organization and development. Our major task is to discuss the relationships between black and white activists. The main points to be discussed are the peculiarities of leadership, structure, recruitment, and resource support for the movements.

Main body

As we have already mentioned the origin of African-American, movement can be found even at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Overall, this period can be characterized as the nadir of American race relationships especially in Southern States. It was mostly stimulated by the laws, adopted in the country, which practically deprived African-Americans of their civil rights. Certainly, it aroused a storm of protest; however, we cannot say that white and black activists collaborated. There were people, among the white population of the United States, who supported the idea of reform, but they did not join their forces. The government de jure opposed to racism and segregation, however, the measures that were taken were not effective (Gayle, p. 67).

Among the prominent representatives of civil rights movement, especially if we are speaking about the nineteenth century, we can single out for example Octavious Catto, It was he, who formed the so-called Recruitment Committee for black people who wanted to struggle for their freedom. As regards the white activists, we may probably mention the prominent writer Mark Twain and his novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Nevertheless, we cannot speak of organized movement, with the central leadership, and structure.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, African-Americans practically turned into some kind of colony within the borders of the United States. Robert Allen in his book Reluctant Reformers describes it as two societies. It is worth mentioning that the author is somewhat pessimistic of the anti-racism struggle in the United States. In his view, such phenomenon as racism in the USA is so deeply rooted, that it will be extremely difficult to eradicate it (Allen, p. 122).

However, we should say that in the middle of the twenty first century Civil Rights Movement in the United States significantly intensified. We may take, for example the famous civil right organization Freedom Riders. First, it was strongly supported by the white population of Sothern States, who also opposed against racial discrimination. Secondly, its organization has hierarchical structure. Its leader was Fred Shuttlesworth. As regards the social background of this people, we can say that they were mostly students. It is not surprising that their attempts were not fruitless, because these people practically put an end the racial discrimination in the United States (Marable, 44). Freedom Riders boycotted hotels, restaurants, and cafes that promoted racial segregation. Certainly, large companies were afraid of losing their profits; therefore, they had to meet the demands of Freedom Riders

Conclusion

Thus, having analyzed the development of civil rights movement in the United States, we can arrive at the conclusion that anti-racism struggle became much more organized in the twentieth century. However, there are some similar features, for example the recruitment. This movements were inspired by intellectuals, or educated people.

Bibliography

1. Gayle T. Tate, Lewis A. Randolph. Dimensions of Black Conservatism in the United States: Made in America Palgrave, 2002.
2. Robert L. Allen, Pamela P. Allen. Reluctant Reformers: Racism and Social Reform Movements in the United States. Howard University Press, 1974.
3. Manning Marable, Leith Mullings. Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices of Resistance, Reform, and Renewal. Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.

There is a problem with the way the teenagers and youths are abusing alcohol and underage drinking has become an acceptable behavior in many societies in the world. However, there is a contemptuous issue of whether the drinking age should be lowered and some people are advocating for this. They argue that the minors should be educated about the dangers of drinking and not putting a limit on the age they should be able to access alcohol because this is not working. The authorities concerned should instead of putting a limit to the acceptable age of drinking be concerned about the educating the minors about the dangers involved in irresponsible drinking and binge drinking (Eigen, p. 2).

National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984

This act was enacted into law on July 1984 in the United States and it was viewed as a mechanism which would act as a basis for all of the states to limit the age of accessing alcohol to twenty one years. Any state that would not comply with this law would be punished in being deducted a ten percent in the annual highway apportionment from the federal government. The United States Congress did not enact this act to make it an offense for the under twenty ones drinking but many states put an outright ban on underage drinking and put a provision that the legal age of drinking was twenty one years and above. But still there are some states that allow underage drinking provided it is done privately or under the consent and presence of an adult or adult family member or under various religious festivities (Hanson, p. 85).

This act has had its fair share of opposition and key among its opposer is the Conservative Party which opposed the enactment of the act into law from the first time it was discussed in congress. The party has since then not deemed it important to lower the age of drinking to eighteen years like it had been before. Another opposition came from Felix Ortiz a New York State Assembly member who came up with a bill that was supposed to lower the legal drinking age from twenty one to eighteen years. He commented on the act being unfair and that its enforcement was very difficulty (Eigen, p. 232).

The most audible opposition however came from the National Youth Rights Association which was founded in the year 1998, and its main agenda upon its foundation was to lower the age back to eighteen from twenty one. Even as of today, the National Youth Rights Association are still fighting for the act to be reconsidered and the drinking age to be lowered back to the traditional eighteen years. There have been other people especially college principals who feel that the legislation is socially bad and has intensified the drinking problems that are associated with college students and this has received a remarkable support from other quarters as well. In 2008, about 110 college principals from all over United States publicly stated their discontentment with the legislation and asked the government to reconsider the drinking age law in a movement that is commonly referred to as Amethyst Initiative (Heather, 152).

The United States is among the countries that have the highest drinking age in the world being in the league of United Arab Emirates, Oman, Japan, India and Iceland. Opposition also comes from other quarters where people feel that the law infringes the rights of the states and violates the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which grants and reserves a states power.

Other better approaches to underage drinking

The Amethyst Initiative being a movement organized by various college presidents in the United States have called for the reconsideration of the countrys laws concerning drinking age. The movement enjoys the support of over 130 college presidents who have signed a statement calling on the government to reconsider the laws. It is under the umbrella of Choose Responsibility (Komro, p. 9).

The initiative argues that they have experienced first hand the problems that alcohol is subjecting the students to and they say that the law seems not to be working. They are calling on the law makers to rethink the law and also not to feel shy to incorporate some more policies like the education of the hazards that alcohol is associated with. They say that the best way to tackle the alcohol problem is through the use of policies which will ensure that the minors are educated about the dangers of engaging in binge drinking which are very rampant in the colleges in the United States (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, p. 256).

They insist that rising the drinking age is only bringing more problems in the colleges because the students will just take the opportunity of being in college to engage in binge drinking. These has resulted in some problems like the students being unruly and sometimes health problems have been reported which have ended up being fatal. The performance of the students is also another issue and the initiative is concerned that with the continuation of the way things stands, the college graduates will not be responsible people in the future (Hanson, p. 90).

The initiative is calling on to the government to lower the age of drinking, but they are quick to say that the debate is not lowering the drinking age. The debate is a mechanism of the government taking responsibility and coming up with policies which instill abstinence to the minors and how this can be achieved. Right now the government policies which are concerned about alcohol do not offer a guideline on how the minors are supposed to handle alcohol with responsibility. They also argue that the government should come up with policies which give a guideline about how the minors are supposed to handle alcohol which would reflect on the future way the students would become responsible adults as far as alcohol is concerned (Voas, p. 584).

The authorities have the task of inviting new ways in which they can prepare young adults most of whom are in the campuses to come up with responsible decision concerning alcohol as this will also reflect on how they will use alcohol in the future. The authorities should have by now realized that the only legal option left for them is to come up with policies which aim at educating the young adults on the importance of abstinence from alcohol and the responsible use of alcohol. The policies should also be concerned about educating the young adults on making the decisions which are responsible in all issues pertaining to alcohol (Heather, p. 169).

The authorities also need to be realistic about the college life and consider their stand on the drinking age and see if these two things are really compatible. There is a high risk binge drinking in many campuses around the country and the authorities should not stick to their drinking age laws when the students need to be educated about the use of alcohol irregardless of the age they are in. What the government should be involved in is instilling the spirit of responsibility in the students and this can only be done if the government is realistic enough and comes up with policies which encourage this. However, the government is not even considering being engaged in a discussion to see if the drinking age should be lowered and whether the young adults should be educated more on issues concerning responsibility especially when alcohol is concerned (Hanson, p. 94).

The government and educators should be engaged in a debate which should be dispassionate, informed and civil in nature which should highlight the possibility of the drinking age being lowered and responsible drinking behavior being taught to the students. The educators have a problem because they are supposed to lead the students in responsibility and well being of the students is also a responsibility of the educators and they need the intervention of government to come up with policies which not necessarily lowers the drinking age, but at least creates an environment where the students can be educated about alcohol and responsibility in younger years (Eigen, 236).

The government should treat this in urgency because some students are already wrecking their lives when they are involved in binge drinking. This has contributed to a lot of social evils because the students once drunk can engage in any activity which include immorality and irresponsible sexual activities which could lead to a lot of problems. There are also health issues that are concerning to the educators and parents as well, and that is why the government should come up with policies which focus on the education of young adults on all fronts concerning alcohol.

Works cited

1. Eigen, Lewis D. and John Noble. (1994) Drinking Under Age 21: Problems and Solutions. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration.
2. Hanson, David J. (1990) The Drinking Age Should be Lowered. In Controversies in the Addictions Field, ed. Ruth C. Engs, vol. 1, 85-95. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co.
3. Heather, Nick, and Tim Stockwell. (2004) The Essential Handbook of Treatment and Prevention of Alcohol Problems. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
4. Komro, Kelli A. and Traci L. Toomey. (2002) Strategies to prevent underage drinking. Alcohol Research & Health 26 (1): 5-14
5. Voas, Robert B., A. Scott Tippetts, and James C. Fell. (2003) Assessing the effectiveness of minimum legal drinking age and zero tolerance laws in the United States. Accident Analysis & Prevention 35(4): 579-87
6. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2007) The Surgeon Generals Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Introduction

Max Weber (1884  1920)  an outstanding German sociologist. One of his major works, The Protestant Ethic and the spirit of Capitalism, in which Weber has written a comparative analysis of the most significant religions along with analyzing the interaction of economic conditions, social factors, and religious beliefs. For the first time, the aforementioned book was published in 1905 in Germany, and since then, it is considered one of the best works that analyses the reasons of the occurrence of modern capitalism. This paper analyzes the aforementioned book providing a detailed approach to the ideas presented, such as capitalism and religion in the context of sociology and the relationship between ideas and action.

Overview of the Book

In the beginning of the book of Weber carried out a detailed analysis of the statistical data that reflects the distribution of Protestants and Catholics in various social strata. On the basis of the data collected in Germany, Austria, and Holland, he came to a conclusion that Protestants prevail among capital owners, businessmen and the highest qualified layers of workers.

Besides, there are abundantly clear distinctions information. So, if among Catholics people with humanitarian education were prevailing, among the Protestants preparing, according to Weber, to a bourgeois way of life, there were more people with a technical education. He explained it with the original mental set that was developed in the course of the basic education.

As Weber noticed, Catholics, without occupying key posts in politics and commerce, they denied the tendency that the national and religious minorities, resisting as subordinates to any other dominating group, concentrated their efforts in the field of business and trade. So was with Poles in Russia and Prussia, with Huguenots in France, Quakers in England, but not with Catholics in Germany.

He asks a question, with what was related such accurate definition of the social status in interrelation with religion.

Despite that there are really objectively historical reasons of prevalence of Protestants among most well provided levels of population, he nevertheless tends to that it is necessary to search for the reason of various behavior in a steady internal peculiarity, and not just in historic-political position.

Further, an attempt to make a definition of the so-called spirit of capitalism follows, as the title of the book implies. Weber understands the following as the spirit of capitalism: a complex of relations existing in the historical reality which we in concept unite as a single whole from their cultural values point of view.

Analysis

Weber in this given work, conducts a big sociological research, having the purpose to show feature outlooks inherent in the Protestant direction, in general, and concerning business and capitalism in particular. So he rather analyzes the interrelation between adherence to one or another Christian confession and its success in commerce. In his work, Weber leads the researcher sufficiently in enough detail with well, simple literary, and informal language by the way of versatile comparisons, i.e., compares the same features, considering them from different parties.

In explaining the relation between ideas and actions in the way of people of past time he stated that they had very concrete ideas of what awaited them after death, that they held firm views on how best to improve their chances in this regard, that they designed their actions accordingly, and that how they did this, which depended on the different views regarding the conditions to be met in order to guarantee salvation, was important for cultural development. Such points of view can be regarded as ideas of rationalism where logical signs of reliable knowledge cannot be extracted from experience rather than from built in ideas, thus the actions were based according to that context.

According to Weber, rationalism dominates over the world. It is rationalism that defines the relations of the person to the nature, human relations, and at that rationalism domination grows together with technology and science development. Weber has proved rationalism of the science and art, which did not mean at all that art and science were combined.

The truth, beauty, and rationality will always be different, but the question was put about the development of these values in the West. The big estrangement from the world, peculiar to Catholicism, ascetic lines of its higher ideals should bring up known indifference to earthly blessings in its adherents.

This argument really underlies the comparative estimation of both creeds extended today. Protestants, using this scheme, subject to criticism ascetic ideals of vital way of Catholics and Catholics in turn reproach Protestants with materialism to which they led by secularization of all life contents.

Weber attempted to analyze all forms of religion and those ways of peoples action which they generate. His deep sociological research consists of such ideas.

Webers sociology is a science which is engaged in social actions, interpreting them as a way of understanding these actions. In such way, actions are followed by ideas in the form of a proper interpretation. Thus, a social action is a subject of its study, i.e. sociology.

The sociology forms typical concepts and searches for general rules, opposite to historical science, which aspires to explain only particular events.

Explaining the ideas of capitalism, Weber considered that for capitalism development, some surplus of the population providing presence in the market of a cheap labor is necessary. But the low earned payment is completely not identical to cheap work. Even purely in a quantitative sense, labor productivity falls when it does not provide requirements of physical existence.

The low wages do not justify itself and the yield only return results when it is a question of professional and qualified work, and about the technological equipment. In other words, where it is necessary to have both, a developed sense of responsibility, and such system of thinking at which work would become end in itself. Such relation to work is not peculiar to people and can be developed only as a result of long education.

In that sense, radical distinction between traditional and modern capitalism is not in the technology, but rather in human resources. More precisely, it lies in the relation of the person to work. Ideal type of the capitalist, to which some German industrialists of that time came close, Weber designated as shuns ostentation and unnecessary show, spurns the conscious enjoyment of his power, and is embarrassed by the outward signs of the social esteem in which he is held. His conduct of life, in other words, is often characterized to a certain degree by a form of asceticism&

Wealth gives him an irrational feel of a well executed duty. Therefore, this type of behavior so was often condemned in traditional societies, as a question of the necessity to work the whole life and then carry your wealth to the grave.

Additionally, Weber analyzes the modern society and comes to a conclusion that the capitalist economy no longer does require the sanction of religious doctrines and sees in any influence of church on an economic life the same hindrance, as an economy regulation from outside of the government.

The world outlook is defined now by interests of trade and social policy. All those phenomena are related to the epoch, when the capitalism gaining a victory, rejects unnecessary support. Just as it managed to destroy in due course the old medieval forms of economy regulations only uniting with the developing government, it might have used religious beliefs. For the profit concept that contradicts moral views of the whole epoch hardly needs a proof.

Webers social theory starts with an individual, from the subjective intelligence of the actions. His work The Protestant Ethic and the spirit of Capitalism shows Webers depth of thought. Much of what was delivered in his works and researches are widely used in contemporary society and in social and scientific teachings that accordingly show the importance of his works for our time.

References

Weber, M. (2002). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism: and Other Writings (Penguin Twentieth-Century Cla. Penguin Classics.

There is an African Swahili proverb that says, two giant bulls cannot share one cattle shed. I believe it must be because they would tear each other to pieces. Religious groups around the world cannot peacefully co-exist with each other for the simple reason that they unbendingly believe that they are right, and everyone else is wrong.

One would argue that since most, if not all world religions purport for the spiritual, physical and emotional well being of humankind, for the preservation of the environment, and harmony within oneself and surroundings, it would be plausible that the major world religions could work together to attain these. However, it is only hypothetically possible that the major world religions can co-exist peacefully. Taking a realistic approach, this is not feasible.

It would be beneficial to everyone if for a change religious groups stopped squabbling with each other and within their own organizations to present a united front to work together for such advantageous discourse as world peace.

Why is man so obsessed with religion?

Peter Retzinger (2003) succinctly summarizes religion as a concept that originated from the imagination of the human mind in an attempt to explain phenomena that they could not readily grasp. Religion, he says, calls for a herd psychology, where the adherents follow blindly and without question traditions and practices laid down by ancient forefathers, and whose meanings have grown obsolete but cannot be discarded because of irrelevant superstitions. Religion, he says, calls for blind, unquestioning obedience.

Though we are living in a very civilized world, not much has changed in the arena of religion. There are the same rights and practices carried on as they were two millennia and more ago. There are more and more diverse religious groups as individuals arise to express their understanding of the enigmatic controller of the universe, the mystery of life and spiritualism (Smith, 1983).

According to data compiled by the Adherents Website, by the year 2005, there were six major world religions. The biggest proportion of these were the Christians who made up 33%, with Muslims making up for 21% of the world population, Hinduism 14%, primal and indigenous religions took up 6% and the remaining 12% was shared equally between the Chinese traditionalists and Buddhists. Only 16% of the world population considered itself nonreligious (Adherents.com 2008).

There are numerous cults and religious sects, most of who break away from the major religious groups, mainly because of disagreement in the interpretation of doctrine, to establish themselves as independent religious organizations. Even within the major religions, there are splinter groups. Taking Christianity as an example, the Adherents Website gives the sub divisions as being eight and these subdivisions are further subdivided (Adherents.com 2008).

Why peaceful co-existence between religions is almost impossibility

The history of religion is one that is blood stained. It is ironical that though most religious groups call for peace, repeatedly in the course of history, these same groups have opted to shed blood when enforcing their beliefs upon others.

Often times, war has been conducted in the name of God. Christian soldiers fighting in His name during the dark ages were referred to as Milites Christi, who slew thousands with fanatical zeal because they believed that they were under divine protection and guidance. These soldiers received a lot of support from both the church and the state though the latter had ulterior political motives of conquering the pagans and heathens. Christianity was just a vehicle to achieving this end. The cross, which is the symbol of Christianity was often used on the crest of shields and other weaponry when soldiers went to war.

The bloodiest of the Christian wars in history are the Crusades from the eleventh through to the thirteenth centuries. They were in reaction to the Muslim Conquests and were endorsed by the Papacy. Though the Crusades were begun with the aim of getting back Jerusalem and the Holy Land-Israel from the Muslims, these objectives soon expanded to incorporate other religious or political reasons as well (Vikler, 1996).

Islam sanctifies war if it is fought in the name of Allah. Islamic religious war is known as Jihad, a term that translates to mean striving in the name of God. There is unanimous consensus in the Muslim world that resorting to warfare to perpetrate or defend the Islamic religion is pardonable, even encouraged (Adherents.com, 2008).

In recent years, terrorists bombers have caused fear and mayhem in the lives of many as they commit atrocities in the name of jihad and fighting the infidels, the West, who are their enemy. It does not matter to them that the West cannot be lumped into one large religious sack. In the name of jihad these terrorists carry out political ambush that most times has no religious connotations at all.

Doctrines, practices, rituals, customs and traditions define any religion. These features set it apart from the others. The major religions of the world tend to be fixated with their own set of beliefs and dogma. Religious groups view others as adversaries who are lost and need to be shown the true path. This firm belief that there is only one truth, which varies according to whatever religion an adherent believes, colors the world into either black or white. Such an attitude hinders inter-religion co-operation (Vikler, 1996).

If within the religious groups, there are disagreements brought about by the understanding and interpretations of doctrine, by individuals who claim t believe in the same god, how much wider can the gap be between different religions? The major difference between Christianity and Judaism is the debate on whether the messiah came or is still being waited upon. This single variation in doctrine was enough to generate a completely new religious group. The worlds religions are too diverse to come together in any way (Vikler, 1996).

Members from within any religious group, are taught to look upon the rest of the world as a lesser, ignorant lot who need to be redeemed and brought to the light. If not, then they are regarded with suspicion, distrust or pity. There is a great amount of religious intolerance. In countries where there is a majority religious group, persecutions of the minority is not a rare occurrence (Vikler, 1996).

It is sound to promote religious freedom and tolerance which gives room for a person to practice without fear the religion of tier choice. Constitutions in practically all the nations of the world with a few exceptions have captions that protect a persons right to worship (Smith, 1983).

Religious freedom as Aristotle declared, constitutes has room for religious pluralism, where the society allows for multiple sets of belief as well as forms of expression (Smith, 1983).

Religious pluralism, which is dismissed by most of the worlds monotheistic religions as polytheism, is the concept of there being more that one ultimate truth, of the pathway to finding God. This could actually be the answer to quelling the dissent between warring religious groups. However it cannot work because these groups are strongly monotheistic and intolerant of the idea of having more than one God (Smith, 1983).

Conclusion

The world is rapidly continuing to shrink as technology constantly brings people closer together. We are continuously buffeted with new and varied cultures, peoples attitudes and religions that might not be comprehensive or, in our opinion unacceptable. However, since the world is not ours alone, we must learn to live with these people in the greatest state of harmony that we can afford because it is not only us who have to put up with them; they also have to put up with us.

It is irrefutable that religion, under whatever guise it may adopt, is a pillar in societies the world over. Religion gives a guideline for a positive code of ethics. It preaches love and consideration for others. Ritzger aptly summarizes by saying:

I believe that love, kindness, compassion, tolerance, and peace can be implanted in the psyche of man only when fear, paranormal illusion and ignorance are removed. We can then shift our attention more to matters of peace, rather than to matters of war.

Our religious beliefs are fundamental to us and they are indispensible. However, the well-being of other human beings is even more important. Thus, even if religious groups cannot come to agree, we should strive to accommodate and respect what others believe in.

Works cited

Adherents Website, Major World Religions, 2008. Web.

Retzinger P, To Abandon Reason, to Fear Freedom & the Human Condition, 2003.

Smith S, Ways of Wisdom: Readings on the Good Life, University Press of America, 1983, MD

Virkler A H, Hermeneutics: Principles and Processes of Bible interpretation, Bake Pub Group, 1996