Ethics and Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethics and Religion - Essay Example This paper approves that speaking about ethics and religion it is impossible to ignore the notion of theology. Theology itself is a science about spirits and God. Theology analyses all the religious features and makes the interpretation of it into a simpler knowledge, it discusses the main religious issues. One of the main tasks of the theology is to define the difference between the religious traditions of every culture, to point out the main factors which determined the formation of the ethical norms in these cultures, to define the reasons of the difference using the historical background of a nation. Speaking about ethics as about a branch of theology we should pay attention to the fact that theology is strongly connected with the mentality of every nation and with the special features of its religion. Theological history of every religion has a great impact on the way of formation of the ethical norms and categories. It proves that these two sciences are interdependent and influ ence each other. According to Robert Gascoigne â€Å"any discussion of the relationship between religion and ethics has to come to terms with misunderstandings that have developed over the centuries, which Christians themselves are often responsible for because of a fundamentalist use of the Bible or because of other aspects of Christian tradition†. This essay makes a conclusion that it is worth saying that the problem of ethics and religion is impossible to solve and to come to a certain points. The process of interconnection of these two notions is developing.

The Practice of Religion in Public Schools Essay -- Prayer in Public Sc

The Practice of Religion in Public Schools The â€Å"establishment† or â€Å"religion† clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution reads: â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof† (Education Week, 2003, para. 2). It is from this clause that the idea of separation of church and state comes. It is also the basis for much of the debate regarding the practice of religion in public schools (Education Week, 2003). One of the big questions regarding the religion issue is where to draw the line between separation of church and state and religious freedom. The practice of religion in public schools can balance these two ends by allowing students to individually exercise their religious freedom, so long as they do not interfere with that of other students. Throughout the twentieth century, the United States Supreme Court has protected students’ rights to practice their religious beliefs, so long as they are not â€Å"disruptive, discriminatory, or coercive to peers who may not share those same beliefs† (Education Weekly, 2003, para. 3). In 1943, the Supreme Court ruling in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette stated that students could not be â€Å"forced to salute the flag or say the pledge of allegiance if it violates the individual’s conscience† (First Amendment Cyber Tribune, 2002). The 1963 decision in Engel v. Vitale made school prayer unconstitutional, and similarly found school prayer at graduation ceremonies in its 1992 Lee v. Weisman decision (First Amendment Cyber Tribune, 2002). Student-led prayer at public school football games was found unconstitutional in 2000 with the Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (First Amendment C... ...il). Religion in Schools. Retrieved April 30, 2003, from http://www.educationweek.org/context/topics/issuespage.cfm?id=60. This website provided a summary of the issue of religion in schools and reviewed several Supreme Court decisions related to the issue. First Amendment Cyber Tribune. (2002, July). Freedom of Religion: An Overall View of Religious Liberty as Defined by U.S. Supreme Court Cases. Retrieved May 3, 2003, from http://w3.trib.com/FACT/1st.religion.html. This website listed several Supreme Court cases dealing with the issue of religion in schools and provided short explanations of each opinion. Riley R. Religious Expression in Public Schools. Retrieved May 3, 2003, from http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/08-1995/religion.html. This website provided a copy of the U.S. Secretary of Education’s guidelines on religious expression in public schools.

Disappearing Frogs

Why are Frogs disappearing around the world? Around the world, frogs are declining at an alarming rate due to threats like pollution, disease and climate change, which makes them the first indicators of ecosystem changes. Many Frogs all around the world are vanishing because the rapid changes in the environment are killing them. Also frogs, and all amphibians, may be sensitive indicators of water quality because they absorb gases and chemicals directly through the skin. Vanishing frogs could be an early warning of serious water problems in the environment. Though fungi and habitat destruction have been implicated in the disappearances, the frogs’ problem comes down to one problem: Amphibians are extremely sensitive to changes in their environment. Amphibians’ physiology and complex water-and-land life cycle expose them to more environmental changes than most animals, and though they have survived climate changes before, today's changes are accelerating too rapidly for frogs to keep pace. Also, frogs’ eggs have no shells, exposing embryos to increased UV-B radiation levels, which can cause harmful mutations. Pollution has contaminated the water frogs thrive in and global climate change is causing higher levels of infectious diseases. What can be done to protect threatened frogs? In some cases, nothing very effective. There are a number of species that now live only in carefully controlled zoo or laboratory environments, and it may or may not be possible to reintroduce them into the wild. In many cases, others thinks it's better to concentrate on saving habitats and letting their endangered amphibians survive or perish in the wild than to catch the remaining animals and keep them in a modern ark in hopes of a later opportunity to reintroduce them somewhere. Part of the reason is that climate change is altering habitats in ways that we can't predict very well, so that conditions that might be ideal in a particular spot might be ephemeral. In the United States, an unofficial Partnership for Amphibian and Reptile Conservation advises private land owners of things they can do to protect frogs and other living things, for example, fencing off just a part of a pond where cattle drink.

Comparing and Contrasting Self-Awareness in the Works of...

Defining Self-Awareness in the works of Emerson, Whitman and Poe Literature in the American Renaissance influenced the Romantic sentiment that prevailed during this period: the emergence of the individual. This materialization evolved out of the Age of Reason, when the question of using reason (a conscious state) or faith (an unconscious state) as a basis for establishing a set of beliefs divided people into secular and non-secular groups. Reacting to the generally submissive attitudes predominant in America at this time, nineteenth century writers envisioned the source of religion within consciousness itself (Chai, 10). This secularization of religion ultimately led to the isolation of the self from others (Chai, 10), and†¦show more content†¦This individual is the Romantic hero, the one who in the midst of a crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude (Emerson, 263). Emerson explains how this transcendence from a dulled state of consciousness to a higher level of awareness is achievable if you insist on yourself; [an d] never imitate (278). In his usual candid style, Whitman identifies himself as this hero in Song of Myself proclaiming, I exist as I am, that is enough, / And if no other in the world be aware I sit content, / And if each and all be aware I sit content. / One world is aware, and by far the largest to me, and that is myself (2759). Improbable as it seems, Poeà ¢s hero begins to resemble the ÃŽmeà ¢ in Whitmanà ¢s last line who trustingly consults and thoroughly questions his own soul (qtd in Rosenheim, 25). This correspondence in self-awareness links these authors to each other, and to Romanticism. Clearly Emerson and Whitman leaned in one direction of Romanticism while Poe sought the other. Perhaps the most fascinating discovery though, is how on every front, Poe demonstrates a strikingly different perspective on self-awareness from that of Emerson and Whitman. Moreover, their ideas were not simply divided by their bias for either a conscious or unconscious state; in