...Sojourners Newsletter] The Christian Paradox How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong by Bill McKibben, Updated August 3, 2005 Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005. What it means to be Christian in America. An excerpt. Originally from August 2005 Harpers. Only 40 percent of Americans can name more than four of the Ten Commandments, and a scant half can cite any of the four authors of the Gospels. Twelve percent believe Joan of Arc was Noah's wife. This failure to recall the specifics of our Christian heritage may be further evidence of our nation's educational decline, but it probably doesn't matter all that much in spiritual or political terms. Here is a statistic that does matter: Three quarters of Americans believe the Bible teaches that "God helps those who help themselves." That is, three out of four Americans believe that this uber-American idea, a notion at the core of our current individualist politics and culture, which was in fact uttered by Ben Franklin, actually appears in Holy Scripture. The thing is, not only is Franklin's wisdom not biblical; it's counter-biblical. Few ideas could be further from the gospel message, with its radical summons to love of neighbor. On this essential matter, most Americans - most American Christians - are simply wrong, as if 75 percent of American scientists believed that Newton proved gravity causes apples to fly up. Asking Christians what Christ taught isn't a trick. When we say we are a Christian nation - and, overwhelmingly...
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...A Great Nation with Many Questions The American citizens of this great nation, as a whole, are ready to concede that the United States of America was not founded with Christian principles or with any basis of religion. In ten years, no one will question whether we were founded as a Christian nation or not. Is this something that American citizens are willing to concede? Our founding fathers never directly made reference to Christianity or religion, but it certainly was referenced. Think of how the United States of America would be if its foundation was not one with Christian principles, not a united country, a country without good moral values. Historically, whether many believe it or not, the United States of America is a Christian nation. American was founded by the Pilgrims and Puritans in the early 1600’s. They came to America to be able to practice religious freedom and for other reasons. England decided that they wanted to break away from the Roman Catholic Church in the 1500’s, thus the creation of the Church of England, otherwise known as the Anglican Church. The pilgrims not wanting to belong to the Church of England decided that they wanted to establish a colony in the state of Virginia. They wanted to practice religious freedom and have the Gospel as part of their lives. According to you tube video, “Pilgrims and their journey” by Amwess1 the pilgrims left for America in 1620 on the Mayflower. After more than sixty days they made land at Plymouth, Massachusetts...
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...Paul Bohan Section 30 Essay 3 First Draft 3/18/2011 Free Nation Since the first amendment of the United States Constitution was written there has been controversy over the meaning of “ congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercises thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Many people believe that the first amendment clearly states that there is a separation between the church and state, however that language is not included in the first amendment; rather Thomas Jefferson described the separation in a personal letter to church leaders in Connecticut where he states that the first amendment erects “ a wall of separation between church and state.” The main point of contention for people interpreting the portion of the first amendment dealing with religion is the difference between the conservative and liberal points of view. The conservative view point of the first amendment, as spoken by Ronald Reagan, is that “ to those who cite the first amendment for the reason for excluding god from more and more of our institutions and everyday life, may I just say; The first amendment of the constitution was not meant to protect people of this country from religious values; it was written to protect religious values from government tyranny.” The liberal perspective more closely mirrors...
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...University Christian Worldview and Contextualization HTH 655 Professor Robert Prescott-Ezickson October 09, 2013 Kingdoms and Cultures Oscillatory has exercised vast inspiration by what method we abstract the link among Christianity and philosophy. The situation has converted several societies’ circumstances to vision their culture of resistance to foremost characteristics of the common philosophies as rather of which to be humiliated, as well as rather that desires to remain rejected with the intention to convert traditionally liable. Niebuhr debates that Yoder’s forceful analysis of his book has not been offered the extensive revelation it justifies, particularly his reason that Niebuhr's situation is vitiated with a fragile Christology plus an abuse of the policy of the Triad. Niebuhr has initiated vast misperception into the argument by considering the Christ against Culture method as principle imperfect, while the subject remains his personal situation that advances from “Nicene orthodoxy” (Carter, 2003). Culture comprises of the traditions, knowledge, ability, conducts and community relationships that a culture develops. Culture is the contextual in which all individual predictably their daily existence (Atkinson, 1995). The delinquent of “Oscillatory” is generally engaged to define the connection concerning Christians and the fundamental culture in which we reside (GCU, lecture). On the other hand, this disguises a significant opinion: similar when Christians discard...
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...quite a large number of people in Western Japan but towards the end of the sixteenth century, the Jesuits lost their influential power when Toyotomi Hideyoshi reversed the policy of his predecessor and began persecuting Christianity in 1587. Another Portuguese Jesuit missionary, Christovao Ferreira, was sent to Japan in 1609 and held the highest respect and had been a source of inspiration to priests and other Christians in Japan and abroad. Silence begins in 1637, a time when martyrdoms and apostasies are of daily routine. Hearing of Ferreira’s apostasy, Sebastion Rodrigues, alongside two priest companions, set out to Japan to investigate what happened to Ferreira and to carry on as missionaries. When they arrive in Japan in a small town called Tomogi, Rodrigues meets Kichijiro, a Christian and quickly realizes that Japanese Christians are living under heavy persecution. He is limited to administering their faith from a secret hut high upon a hill. Although conditions are not ideal, they have the necessities in Tomogi to practice Christianity. The Japanese Christians have been practicing their religion for the past six years since any priests have lived along them. As a result, they have devised their own religious order, led by the “jiisama” who baptizes children; next are the “tosama” who teach and lead prayers;...
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...Persuasive Speech Outline Your Name: David Anthony Jones Moraes COMS 101 Section B05 Date Due: July 5th, 2013 Organization: Problem-Solution. Audience analysis: Christian ESL private school teachers in Brazil. Topic: I intend to address the problem of corruption in Brazil, paying special attention to its effect on education. Rhetorical Purpose: To inform my audience about corruption in Brazil, and to persuade them that the church in Brazil should pray for their country in response to this information. Redemptive Purpose: This social problem prevents people from experiencing life as God intended it to be because “God values government as an executor of His righteousness” (Alban, 2012., p. 75) and there is no righteousness in corruption. My proposed solution qualifies as redemptive according to the Alban text because it promotes the fact that “God values the church as an equipper of believers for doing God's redemptive work in the world” (Alban, 2012., p. 75). I. Attention-getter Quote by Nelson Mandela: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” II. Motive for Listening Mention the fact that they are privileged to teach at a good school, but most public schools in Brazil are in deplorable conditions. III. Credibility Statement During my years in Brazil, I have visited many public schools. IV. Thesis Statement To persuade my audience that, in order to change Brazil, they must pray for their country. ...
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...articulated nationalist or other ethnic aspirations while mobilizing workers and peasants behind that ideal. The fear of and hostility toward other ethnic groups are far older and often more entrenched than modern principles of tolerance or equality under the law. No matter how we may wish for it otherwise, we did not leave violence against outsiders behind us as our nations became modern and democratic. Ethnic minorities have been victimized for hundreds of years. One needs only look to the nineteenth-century frontier wars between White settlers and Native Americans in the United States and Chile. Ethnic Conflict Incidents In the early years of the twenty-first century (2000s), like the first decades of the twentieth century (1900s), much of the Third World suffered from ethnic, racial, and religious tensions periodically punctuated by outbreaks of brutality and carnage. When progress was made in one location deterioration occurred in another location. In 2005, the Sudanese government (led by Arab Muslims) signed a peace accord with the Sudan Army representing the region’s predominantly Black (Christian and animist) population. The treaty, granted the South Sudanese considerable autonomy (self-rule within Sudan). The peace treaty ended a 21-year civil war that had left about 2 million...
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...mission trip that I will be going on with Every Nation Ministries. Every Nation Ministries is committed to planting churches, campus ministries and world missions. It is God who placed in our hearts to see the nations being reached with the love of Christ. Ten days Missions is one of our major expressions of world missions. It is our response to the call of Jesus to his followers in Matthew 28: 18-19, it is said, “Then Jesus came to them and said…Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” it is also our method to bless the nations and help establish church plants. This coming first week of November 2015, Victory Lucena will be sending the Ten Days Mission team to Cambodia and I have the opportunity to be part of the team. Cambodia is a nation of 15, 677, 000 people and only 1% are Christians. Our Lord Jesus said that, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few “. That is why we are committed in reaching the next generation for Christ by sending mission team to different nations. Volunteers like me will commit ten to fourteen days of full-time effort to support our church in Cambodia. Our goals are to strategically engage the locals especially students in a hope to lead them to God. You may not be able to go to Cambodia personally but you can be a vital part of the team. Romans 10:14-15 said, “How can they hear without a preacher and how can they preach unless they are sent?” It takes partnership to impact the nations with the Gospel. And the good thing here is YOU...
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...actually say whether one is more right than the other (Gellner, 1-7). Nationalism has been an extremely ancient ideology dating back to primitive people and tribalism (Snyder 1990, 241-249). This concept then manifested itself during Athenian times aiding in the development of the great empires and progressed into England and then jolt started the French revolution (Snyder 1990, 241-249). All these eras of nationalism conjoined political, economical, religious, and ethnic factors to unite peoples and nations (Gellner, 1-7). Nationalism can also be considered an ideology of debate because of its vague definition and complexity. Many people can state nationalism is the appreciation of their country or nation; others can define it as the need for independency (Gellner, 1-7). Both these routes can have negative and positive characteristics and outcomes. The positives are very straight forward, the love of one’s country and bond between citizens can be dubbed vital to the prosperity of a nation or country. What happens when this love of one’s country and the bond between its citizens crosses ethnic and human boundaries? This can be defined as ethnic nationalism, which allows ethnicity to become main component in being a nationalist (Snyder 1990, 241-249). This paper will define nationalism in terms of an egocentric political ideology that uses the love of one’s country and ethnicity to push people to the extremes of segregation and violence. It will also outline this between two world...
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...Obama Inaugural Address 20th January 2009 My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition. Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents. So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans. That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet. These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics...
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...created a law in order to provide all citizens the opportunity and right to receive health insurance “essential health benefits”. This has been one Nationalism was built for diverse groups of people to have sovereignty within surrounding states. They were able to unify into a single region by sharing common laws, central administration, time zones, national markets, and language (Pollard et al, 2015). In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, “nationalism became closely linked to imperialism” (Pollard et al, 2015). Imperialism consists of extending one states control over the surrounding states to form a larger nation that shared common beliefs and traditions. Imperialism relates to a process...
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...some people or groups oppose globalization Political geography 3.1 spiritual organization-states nations 3.2 the modern nation-state 3.4 Geopolitics and critical geopolitics. 3.5 supranational organizations and the future of the state Understanding the current world map POLITICAL GEORAPHY study the effect of political actions on humans geography. spatial analysis of political phenomenon moving around people are going around. Ex china going to Afghanistan for resources The study of states- their groupings and global relations. France cannot stand the US.. their relationship is lost Territory, sovereignty, and boundaries TERRITORITALITY a country’s or local community’s sense of property and attachment toward its territory, as expressed by its determination to keep it inviolable and strongly defended (text pg 53) it’s a space of something its our natural action to protect or control our territory.. and meaning of territory. Must all the land be owned? Ex even when we went to the moon we had to plant a flag and say it was ours SOVEREIGNTYexclusive control over territory a principle of international relations(all the states agree) that holds that the final authority over social, economic, and political matters should rest with legitimate rulers of independent states (pg 53) that’s how recognition is created one nation recognizes that another nation has sovereignty of a specific area. BOUNDRIES Vertical plane between states that cuts through...
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...University of Phoenix Material Appendix A Part I Define the following terms found in Week One and Week Two readings: Term Definition Diversity Diversity is defined as differences in people such as race, religion, and ethnicity. Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism is the idea that a person’s own culture and way of life is greater than all others. Melting pot A melting pot refers to a place that includes both diverse racial and ethnic groups, that have come together to create a new culture. The United States is often referred to as a melting pot. Minority group Minority groups are defined as groups whose members have considerably less power or control over their own lives than the members of majority groups. Emigration The act of leaving one country to settle into another country is emigration. Immigration Immigration is moving to a new country and becoming a permanent resident of that country. Culture Culture is the tradition of a group and is passed down from generation to generation. Part II Answer each question in 250 to 350 words. 1. What are some of the ways groups of people are identified? In the society which we live people find it necessary to group individuals as they see fit. Though these groupings can be offensive and lead the way for stereotyping the grouping of people is done on a daily basis. Each time an application for employment or just about anything is filled out there is a need to know which...
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...Introduction The word nationalism was created in the late 18 centuries, but it only got popular from the 1830s. It used to convey the idea of identification with a nation in which a group of people shares common ancestry in the early time, but later it began to link with patriotism and with aspirations to statehood. This concept became widely accepted by more and more people during twentieth century. Nationalism now is defined as a subjective feeling of a membership in a nation; a belief that a nation should form the state, or a belief that the identification with the nation should be above all other forms of identity. Nowadays Nationalism has set off a wave around the world. Primordialism and constructivism can be used to explain this phenomenon. We will see the key arguments of both theories. The first one is primordialism. Key arguments of two theories The emergence of the theory of primordialism was in the second half of the eighteenth centuries, in general, primordialism assumes political identity are innate and largely unchanged. It comes with when you are born or in nature way. Since the identity is with you by born, so it’s extremely difficult to choose or change it. Primordialism is an argument, which contended that political identity is ancient, natural phenomena. It emphasis that identify of nation is decided by nature. Identify is extremely difficult to change. It advocated that importance of cultural traits exist...
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...Thinking About Diversity and Inclusion Adriana Sardinas SOC/315 January 17, 2011 Professor Joyce Mackey Thinking About Diversity and Inclusion In this content, the author will be using her critical thinking skills to answer questions based on the readings from Understanding and Managing Diversity and Racial and Ethnic Groups. The questions to be answered and discussed are: What are the dimensions of cultural diversity; with what ethnic, cultural, or other groups does the author identify herself; what is the difference between diversity and inclusion; what is the importance of workplace diversity training; and what is the author’s experience with workplace culture. Critical Thinking Questions Cultural diversity, inclusion, groups, diversity in the workplace, and identifying oneself with one or the other is controversial and can become aggressive if society remains close-minded. The author is putting into discussion questions that will help break down the understanding of what it truly is and the importance of it in society. Question One What are the dimensions of cultural diversity? Identification and a brief explanation of dimensions provided. Answer. The dimensions of cultural diversity range from racial groups, a group socially set apart by obvious physical difference; ethnic groups, groups set apart by culture patterns or nationality; religious groups, gender groups and other subordinate groups. Ageism is also considered a dimension. Minorities generally...
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