...Running Header: Secularism vs. Religion 1 Secularism vs. Religion Patricia Nash HIS 104 World Civilizations II Instructor: Kristy Nelson May 18, 2013 Secularism vs. Religion 2 It took the courage of one man to change the way religion was looked upon along the way for others to see that there was more of a choice out there for them. Religion was and is the way one has their own beliefs, what to them is truth, to which way they should be lead in. Each religion believes in something different from another and most of them all believe in one God, only a few does not. The world had outgrown just one religion therefore, when Martin Luther and King Henry decided to separate themselves from the church many more had emerged. Secularism identifies it’s self as something called 'religion' and separate it from the domains of the state, the economy and science. Secularism is the realization that God’s will be done plus the natural evolution of universal morality. Christianity was the spiritual identity of one’s soul, beliefs, spirituality, social, and political foundation. Then those from other countries believed that Christianity provided spiritual connections, organizing principles, and inspirations for their identity. Believers were united by their faith as well as...
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...testo testo testo testo testo testo testo v testo v testo vvvv testo testo vvvv testo v testo csc dfasfdfdfd gdgf gfg g d fadfadsfdsfa dfdf fdfdfdfd dfdfdfdf fff ffdffefef fdfdfdf dfdddfdfdfdfd fdddfaeretrewgtrw qwer weret tt t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t te e e e e e ere r er eedf e erefgt f gfggrg fjthe the mana jjun dfdkfla reithtrg dflfjdf the man ate the afat fafa the man ate the cake oupf fadfda ld fa testo Radric Davis (born February 12, 1980),[1] better known by his stage name Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He debuted in 2005 with Trap House, followed by Hard to Kill in 2006, Trap-A-Thon, and Back to the Trap House in 2007. In 2009, his second studio album The State vs. Radric Davis was released. The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted was released in 2010, and is his highest charting album so far. Gucci Mane has released many other mixtapes and independent albums as well. While serving a six-month jail term for assault in late 2005, Davis was charged with murder, though the charges were later dropped due to a lack of evidence. In 2009, he served a year-long county jail sentence for violating probation for his 2005 aggravated assault conviction. As of 2013 Gucci Mane is currently working & planning the release of his seventh studio album Trap House III: The GuWop...
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...very interested in this subject, and how school districts nationwide are pushing initiatives recently to put intelligent design in their biology classes. These school districts are struggling with the dilemma of whether or not to teach creationism as an alternative view to evolution theory. If, as many scientific creationists believe, God's message is important in defining the content, aims, and conditions of educational practice, then creationism does belong in the classroom. However, those who propose that creationism is not science, and that "creation science" is a misnomer, are opposed to the intervention of religion into the public educational program; after all, public educational programs should be separate from concerns of the church. The Scientific Argument against Intelligent Design “Evolution has three core, defining elements, life forms change over time; they all descended from one or a few common ancestors; and natural selection produces these effects” (Slack 2007). But what exactly is Intelligent Design? Intelligent Design is a recent theory proposed that says that when you examine nature there are too many coincidences...
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...One Nation Under God The United States of America is a country founded on religious principles and freedoms. Protestants escaping religious persecution in England came to the new world and planted the seeds of what would grow into a world superpower. The Native Americans, whose ancestors had been the first men to live there, became nothing but second class citizens. They were forced into slavery whilst dying by the thousands from disease brought by the white man. The pilgrims’ quest for religious freedom had brought ruin to an entire culture. Though it was the greatest, this genocide was not the last injustice done by religious organization in the new world. The framers of the United States constitution granted the right to freedom of religion among others. But all rights are limited; they cannot be exercised if they infringe upon another’s rights. Furthermore, despite claims of separation of church and state Christianity continues to take precedent over the rights and liberties of many citizens. Today one of the chief injustices regarding religion in America is tax exemptions for religious organizations. Proponents of tax exemption for religious organizations claim that there is no breach of separation of church and state. This claim is made on the grounds that by not taxing religious organizations they are not affiliating with them; therefore separation of church and state is attained. This logic is flawed to an unbelievable extent. The government electing not to tax religious...
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...Evan Boiko HIS 112-005 10-16-11 The Scopes Trial The Scopes Trial was one of the most famous trials in the history of the United States due to the intense passion and concern that people had for it. The defense was defending personal freedom and democracy while the prosecution imposed on these values. In the end, even though John Scopes and his defense team lost the trial, they won in the long run by influencing decisions made in the future regarding free speech in the classroom and what teachers were required to teach. Many people had intense feelings for the Scopes Trial. These feelings and concern people had for the trial made it one of the most famous trials in America. Some people simplified the trial to Darwin vs. the Bible. This issue made the Scopes trial a large concern to many because Darwin undermined the literal reading of the bible. Darwin's theory of evolution more specifically struck at two major parts of the Bible, the seven days of creation story, and the story of Adam and Eve and how they were the first humans on earth. Many people also considered Darwin's theory to be a "moral outrage" because of how the process of natural selection worked. For natural selection to occur, the unfit of the species were killed off in extremely large numbers. With this information, Darwin was suggesting that "nature revealed a God who was cruel and wasteful or absent altogether." This particular notion created strong opposition to Darwin's theory because of the possibility...
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...trace the philosophical concept of secularism in the writings of Kautilya, a thinker of ancient India, who lived in the 3rd century B.C. The history of Indian secularism the protest movements in the 5th century B.C. The three main protest movements were by the Charvaks, Buddhism and Jainism. All three of them rejected the authority of the Vedas and any importance of belief in a deity. It can thus be seen that the ancient thought had a profound impact on the development of the theory of secularism over the centuries. Writers differ about the origin of the concept of secularism as to whether it had its roots in the eastern or the western thought. D. E Smith says, “The Secular State is, in origin, a western not an Asian Conception. This is not to deny the obvious fact the certain elements of the ‘secular state – have a long tradition in Asia.’ The term “Secularism” was first used by the British writer George Holyoake in 1851. Although the term was new, the general notions of free thought on which it was based had existed throughout history. Holyoake invented the term “Secularism” to described his views of promoting a social order separate from religion, without actively dismissing or criticizing religious belief. An agnostic himself, Holyoke argued that, “Secularism is not an argument against Christianity, it is one independent of it. It...
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...Creating the Next Menace to Society? Amy M. Parsons Rasmussen Grand Canyon University: EDU-310 October 1, 2011 President Theodore Roosevelt is credited with saying, “To educate a man in the mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.” Historically moral or character education happened primarily in the home with reinforcement from the church and schools. Character education in schools appears to have fallen by the wayside due largely in attempts to respect parental rights and emphasis being solely on the success on state mandated testing. Some question whether teachers today should even be involved in the character education of their students. However, to share only knowledge without any context or structure of how one should use it is not only a disservice to the student but to society as a whole. Some would argue that by taking religion out of our public schools we have also taken away the foundation for any sort of morality or character lessons. The separation of church and state is often used to imply that religion has no place in any government sponsored endeavor. The separation of church and state is not to abolish religion or morals in schools. It is simply there to make sure no one is forced to participate or be a part of a religious celebration or practice that is not of their choosing. In an effort to protect every individual’s freedom of religion, teachers and administration are forbidden to “propagate or to endorse in any way the concepts...
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...of China recognizes to be the official religion. However, in the United States, there is no official religion that is control by the government. In the United States, religious belief is dynamic and widespread among Americans. Based on 35, 000 Americans age 18 and older, the U.S Religions Landscape Survey reported that that among adults in America 78.4% were Christians, 4.7% were another religion, 16.1% were unaffiliated, and .8 % did not know what religion they were. (PewResearch Religion & Public Life Project ). Additionally, Christianity is the most influential religion in the nation; however the United States has no nationally established religion because of the First Amendment t in the U.S Constitution. According to the Grey House Publishing stated that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has two distinct clauses affecting religion, each representing a fundamental principle and both designed to protect religious liberty. The Establishment Clause prohibits any law, “respecting an establishment of religion.” The Free Exercise Clause bans laws “prohibiting the free exercise of religion.” (Thomas, 2009, p. 217) Under this amendment, it protects the freedom of every individual to worship whatever religion without the government interference. As compared to China, the government has restrictions on how the society religion is practice and establish in the culture. However, the United States government cannot give the impression that it endorses religious belief...
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...Prayer In School Kevin Magilligan Grand Canyon Univ Prayer In Schools The United States was founded on freedom. One of those freedoms is the Freedom of Religion. Our forefathers knew that there had to be a separation of church and state. This allowed citizens of the US to practice any religion they may chose and the government would not interfere. A plethora of court cases have ruled that having prayer in school is unconstitutional. While having prayer in school that is not sponsored by the administration is constitutional. Groups such as Moms in Prayer are for having prayer in schools. While the American Civil Liberties Union are against having prayers in schools. "To secure the people's right to acknowledge God according to the dictates of conscience: Neither the United States nor any State shall establish any official religion, but the people's right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage, and traditions on public property, including schools, shall not be infringed. The United States and the States shall not compose school prayers, not require any person to join in prayer or other religious activity." Congressman Ernest Istook (R-OK). Prayer in school is a debate that has been going on since the 1960’s with the landmark case of Engle V Vitale. The case found that a school wide solicited prayer recited by the students was unconstitutional. This ruling led to other litigation where school sponsored prayer was not allowed, such as during sporting...
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...Personal beliefs or values: a set of strongly-held beliefs, values, and attitudes that somebody lives by.2 Religion can be defined as a group of people who have shared beliefs who feel their life has purpose or meaning. This feeling or belief that their life has meaning can come from outside of themselves, as well as within. It also contributed long lasting moral, social, and political impacts seen in countless movements reflecting the Christian ideals of truth. The issue of religious freedom has played a significant role in the history of the United States and the remainder of North America. If we trace back hundreds of years to colonial times, religion acted as the absolute driving force that convinced colonists that America was the new haven they had been looking for. Europeans came to America to escape religious oppression and forced beliefs by such state-affiliated Christian churches as the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England....
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...Freedom” How Do Courts Protect Our Liberties? --- For hundreds of years the forefathers of the United States of America had been undertaking the task of creating and constantly amending a constitution that all men shall abide by. Alexander Hamilton, along with other contributors of the constitution, created essays which are better known as the federalist papers. These documents were created as a form of mutual interpretation and moral assurance between the government and its citizens with one major objective, to gain and retain the trust of its citizens. --- It is said within that no state "shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States. A civil liberty is defined as an individual right protected by the Constitution against the powers that be of the government. When our forefathers assimilated to draft the Constitution they anticipated certain belligerencies that might occur between the Federal Government and the individual citizen. It was cause for these concerns that enabled them to include certain civil liberties in the Constitution endowing its citizens with certain inalienable rights. Though civil liberties were put in effect over 200 years ago, over time they have been challenged up until the present day. It wasn’t until the 14th amendment that civil liberties were finally incorporated into state governments. The primary source of civil liberties is found within the first...
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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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...The Dreyfus Affair that begun in 1894 and continued through till 1906 ultimately resulted in the separation of church and state in France. The accusation that Alfred Dreyfus committed treason by selling military secrets to Germany caused a divide within the French community by pitting the Dreyfusards against the anti-Dreyfusards. It was essentially a campaign against the Jewish community in France and how they were disloyal to France and her people. It was eventually found that the evidence that Dreyfus was convicted on was false and was a ploy by the army to bolster its support for court-martialling Dreyfus. It was this point that caused much of the contention and caused his wife to continue her crusade to have her husband freed from life imprisonment on Devil’s Island. One of the main issues of contention is that the press was freed from censorship, which caused the press to exaggerate the initial story. It should also be noted that many of the news publication had anti Semitic feelings and were using the fact that Dreyfus was Jewish to bolster the anti Semitic agenda. Edouard Drumont used his publication La Libre Parole to pressure the army and hasten the trial of Dreyfus. It is clear that the press was using the Dreyfus trial to their advantage by circulating false information to get support and profit from the rapid selling of newspapers. As is seen today when a story is in the press that is going to trial the public are manipulated by what is in the newspapers as was...
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...Journalist Alistair Cooke wrote, “People, when they first come to America, whether as travelers or settlers, become aware of a new and agreeable feeling: that the whole country is their oyster.” This proved to be true with the Puritans and their arrival in the new world. They traveled to the New World to escape religious persecution from the Church of England. They were pushed out for being too extreme. The new land provided so many opportunities yet to be discovered. The new life seemed so promising. With the new opportunities came potential for disaster as well. The Puritans found out quickly, settling in New England was not easy. They had to work hard to keep the colony running. Changes would need to be made if the New England colony wanted to stay alive. In coming to the New World, Puritans found the experience they expected, but not as easily as they anticipated. In all, the tendency of English colonists to form like-minded colonies was crucial to the success of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. To the Puritans, the idea of the “City on a Hill” was perfection. A city where everyone wanted to follow the exact word of the bible. Everyone would live each day to be saved by the almighty God. They wanted their city to be the as if it was the Holy City of God. They quickly found this idea to be difficult. John Winthrop writes home to his wife, “It is now bed tyme, but I must lye alone, therefore I make less haste.”(p. 11). Winthrop continues to write home to his wife telling her...
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...The next lens in the Ethical Reasoning Model is the Equitable Treatment lens. This lens focuses on treating the claimants in a situation the same unless they are different in a way that is relevant to the case. In this case, we need to answer the question: Would allowing the nativity scene to remain be equitable to all involved? The claimants who object to the bulletin board could argue that those who hold to the Christian faith already outnumber those who do not and therefore should not be allowed to promote their beliefs. These complaints could be based on these individuals feeling that the Christian belief system already dominates the school district and the bulletin board makes it appear that other belief systems are not given equal display...
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