Interreligious Dialogue Essay Example for Free

Interreligious Dialogue Essay Dialogue with respect to theological pluralism Statistics show that most of the world’s population is affiliated with some type of religion, with Christianity and Islam encompassing slightly over 50% of the population. Though interreligious dialogue is beneficial in gaining a better understanding of another’s religion, is it possible to hold one’s religion as being the absolute truth while engaging in an open interreligious dialogue with another religion? Many spiritual people will tend to be theological exclusivists, because a lot of the religions are divided and differ in many ways from one another, but they must accept the values and beliefs of other people if they are to remain truly faithful to the conviction of their traditions. Interreligious dialogue in a broad sense is being in communication with someone of a different religion to increase the understanding of one’s own religion or tradition as well as others. Since half of the world’s population is either Christian or Muslim, we will take a look into the differences these religions shares. One of the main issues is developed in Klostermaiers book, In the Paradise of Krishna. It exemplifies some of the differences religions tend to hold, such as the discussion between Muslims and Christians on where the role of Jesus stands in Senestant 2 connection to God. Muslims agree that Jesus was an important figure and served a purpose as a great teacher of righteousness, but fail to see his true connection with God the Father. They claim that he is only a prophet sent by God but not equal to God. The position Klostermaier takes on Jesus, or ‘Son of Man’, is that he is the movement towards God in every being. He is what ultimately allows for us to have a relationship with God. The Son of Man only makes use of two basic distinctions: My Father on the one side everything else on the other. He doesn’t judge people based off of other people’s judgment or the rules set by man, rather he judges people based on their relation to the Father. Klostermaier also wants us to recognize that Christ is not an ‘avatara’. There were many people before Jesus’ time who were sent on this earth to save God’s people from particular calamities that were caused by mankind. Those people were very important because they were chosen by God to do his will. Noah’s obedience to God’s command to salvage humanity by building an arc to withstand the flood or Moses standing up to the Pharaoh and allowing his people to be set free are just a few instances of God’s sons who assisted in salvation. Saying Jesus is the ‘Only Son of God’ is putting a limitation on the abilities of God and not recognizing his full power. It also confuses the Muslim sect because of their belief that God sent many people throughout history who were a source of deliverance from any disaster that was occurring at the time. They are referred to as prophets therefore Jesus must also be a prophet and nothing more. Instead, he wants us to look at Christ as the movement to God Senestant 3 that will grant us ultimate salvation. He is the deciding factor that will determine whether we will enjoy eternity in the promise land or feel the wrath of God as we torment in hell. A second main issue in the book is dialoguing on a daily basis with familiar and unfamiliar religions. Before dialoguing with other people, it’s crucial to have a great understanding on your own religion. It’s very important to study and learn what your beliefs are founded upon, although it’s very time consuming and doesn’t aid in spiritual progress. While it is good to study and familiarize yourself with the religion you are currently practicing, it is also beneficial to converse with others about your religion as well. People tend to only see what’s on the surface because they are uneducated and misguided on certain areas and fail in attempting to delve deeper to find the true meaning of things. As you enter into dialogue with someone of an opposing religion, you must be very open-minded and unbiased to allow each other to learn things that aren’t obvious at first glance. It allows for a different perspective of who you think you are and helps you identify if you’re living and acting according to your beliefs. It’s also important to have inner dialogue with yourself. Meditating and reflecting on the impact our religion have in our lives and in our hearts. Is the essence of Hinduism and Christianity or any other religion we profess just words coming out of our mouths or does it directly impact our lives and allows us to live in peace and unity? These are the questions we must ask ourselves in helping to determine if we’re living in fallacy and wasting our time, or if we’re in accordance to Senestant 4 our beliefs. A starving old Brahmin talked about four kinds of people praying: â€Å"some pray that God should preserve their wealth, others that God should give them wealth. Those who asked for heavens were better; but those who neither had nor wanted riches and did not ask for heaven, but only wished to serve God for his own sake, they were the best. †(Klostermaier 95) Those people who only wished to serve God know of his magnificence and splendor and being connected to that will enhance their spirituality and respect for man and not traditions. This allows anyone from any religion to become like brothers and sisters. â€Å"If we insisted on our theologies – you as a Christian, I as a Hindu – we should be fighting each other. We have found one another because we probed more deeply, towards spirituality. †(Klostermaier 99) A third issue in the book is the idea of three persons in one God. Many established religions view God as being absolute and indescribable because of how minute we are compared to God. Other religions are able to grasp the physical nature of God and give him attributes and qualities which can only be possible if this God was visible. However, Christians hold the position that God is both of these things and can go between each form when necessary. This is seen by God revealing himself through his son Jesus Christ. Through him we’re able to become attached and have understanding of where our beliefs lie. When other religions look at Christianity, they view it as a religion without any real philosophy and that â€Å"it has taken its teachings from everywhere and justifies them by claiming to possess the only true revelation, to Senestant 5 dispense the only salvation† (Klostermaier 29). Therefore they see it as being immature when relating to religion. They even go as far as saying they’re uneducated on their religion therefore they can’t hold intelligent conversations and go in depth on the various issues that involve religion. I found this to be very true because as a Christian myself, I attempted to discuss religion with one of my atheist friends. After a few minutes went by, I realized I didn’t know as much as I thought. It led me to examining what I believed in and why. Towards the end of the conversation, I grew more respect for people who weren’t adapted to a particular religion and understood there’s a lot that can be learned from them. It showed me the unimportance of the different sects of religion and only claiming to a religion without close examination of it will lead to immaturity and idiocy. As a Sikh professor in Klostermaier’s book says, â€Å"Religion cannot be proved by logic – religion is inner experience. †(Klostermaier 31) This inner experience is affirmed through meditation as well as the various acts of people around you whom you have no association with. When looking at theological exclusivism versus pluralism, it is confusing as to whether they are relevant in deciding whether to converse with people of different religions. Looking only at theological exclusivism, it is the theological position that holds to the finality of the Christian faith in Christ. The finality of Christ means that there is no salvation outside the Christian faith. By definition, exclusivism seems to be self-contradictory. It contains the fact that Senestant 6 human beings are limited in the amount of knowledge they have and are unable to understand the infinite(God) to its fullness. However, followers of this concept are not restricted in believing that they are the only people that have the ability to be connected to God. They look at people of other religions as being infidels, not actually having a religious belief. They also claim to be the ones most devoted to God, when in all actuality; they are just followers of religious doctrine, created by man. Though the Bible was created by man, it was said to be created through spiritual guidance of the Most High. Every religious person who looks at the Bible sees it as being full of truth, which by nature is exclusivist. So everyone who follows the rules and guidelines the Bible have set in place is partially exclusivist. Since the Bible is considered as be exclusivist, it is only right to dwell on some of teachings it talks about. It talks about a God, who is full of mercy and compassion, one who loves all of his children and continues to love them through all the sins they have committed and continue to commit. It is a God that loved us so much that, â€Å"he gave his one and only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. † (Stoughton 897) A God of this nature does not sound like a God that will only come to save those who believe in Christ. Although that was his only ‘begotten son’, they are many people who do not have the opportunity to believe in such a religion. This can be caused by the way the person was rought up, or where the person was brought up, in which case Christianity was not the religion of choice. They are also instances of when someone dies prematurely and does not Senestant 7 have the opportunity to have a true relationship with Christ Jesus. These people shouldn’t be and are not exempt from the sanctifying grace of God. Th is is a God who created all of mankind in his image and likeness, so that everyone will have the ability to be saved. â€Å"God must be seen at the center of religions / The pluralistic contention is that all religions are fundamentally the same though superficially different. (Hick 42) The pluralist believes that the world religions are true and equally valid in their communication of the truth about God, the world, and salvation. This is also backed by the Larousse Dictionary of Beliefs and Religions, which says that other religions possess â€Å"validity and truth in their own right / These religions are understood as different cultural reflections or expressions of the same divine reality and as such constitute legitimate ways to God† (Larousse 437). This seems to make the most logical sense because we are not sole-bearers of the truth. We were only created to praise and give worship to the Almighty. Since this is true, we will all have our own understanding and interpretations about who God is, what our place is in this world and why we were created, and the steps in receiving salvation. At the core of our beliefs we hold the same truths, but slightly differ in minor details. Some examples are the day in which we should attend mass or how often we should pray. Yes these things are important and are what gives meaning to our life, but God only requires us to recognize who he is and the impact he has in our lives. By whatsoever way men worship Me, even so do I accept them; for, in all ways, O Partha, men walk in My path. † Senestant 8 (Bhagavad-Gita 4. 11) God is evident in all religions that have him in its center. As long as his followers stay true to the doctrine their religion provides, God will have favor on them. Many of the religions out there share these commonalities so they should be treated with equa lity when evaluating their doctrine with respect to God. In the sense of interreligious dialogue, the idea of being a theological exclusivist is irrelevant. It does not bring anything meaningful to the table when people of two different religions come together. Rather it would just be hurtful banter between the opposing religions and nothing worthwhile will be accomplished. Since by definition, an exclusivist can only view their religion and belief as being the only one which holds the absolute truth, to deviate from this by indulging in conversations that can potential alter that belief is dangerous and when placed in a position like that, mockery will be imminent. The only way the strengthen interreligious dialogue is through a pluralist outlook. They both go hand in hand, in that a pluralist will be very open to dialogue. This will increase their knowledge of not only the other person’s religion but also one’s own, since they both stem from the same root. Senestant 9 Works Cited 1)Goring, Rosemary, Frank Whaling, John Marshall, and David Brogan. Larousse Dictionary of Beliefs and Religions. Edinburgh: Larousse, 1994. Print. 2)Lopresti, Matthew. INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AND RELIGIOUS PLURALISM: A Philosophical Critique of Pope Benedict XVI and the Fall of Religious Absolutism (Matthew LoPresti) Academia. edu. Hawaii Pacific University Academia. du. Hawaii Pacific University. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. . 3)Marbaniang, Domenic. Theology Of Religions: Pluralism, Inclusivism, Exclusivism  « Earthpages. org. Earthpages. org. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. . 4)Bhagavadgita. Lewiston, N. Y. [u. a. : Edwin Mellen Pr. , 2010. Print. 5)Klostermaier, Klaus, and Antonia Fonseca. In the Paradise of Krishna: Hindu and Christian Seekers. Ph iladelphia: Westminster, 1969. Print. 6)Hick, John. God and the Universe of Faiths : Essays in the Philosophy of Religion. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1988. Print. 7)NIV Bible. London: Hodder Stoughton, 1997. Print.

Beowulfs Superiority :: Epic of Beowulf Essays

Beowulf, the great Geatish warrior, lives a very adventurous life filled with many voyages, battles, and victories. Through all of these events, he meets various people who are considered to be heroes like himself. These heroes, however, are unable to have the same abilities and characteristics of Beowulf. His great achievements cannot be matched by anything that they have done in their lives. Beowulf is a superior hero to Hrothgar, Unferth, and Wiglaf in the epic of Beowulf because he kills every monster that he fights, becomes a widely feared warrior and king, and dies in battle completing his final heroic act. Beowulf is superior to Hrothgar, Unferth, and Wiglaf because he kills every monster that he faces. When Herot was ravaged by Grendel and his mother, Hrothgar lacked both the strength and the courage to defend his people. Hrothgar was hindered by his old age and lacked the vitality of his youth that would have made him capable of slaying the monsters. However, when Beowulf grows old and becomes king, he is not affected by the factor of old age. Beowulf’s kingdom is attacked by a great dragon just like Hrothgars kingdom was attacked by Grendel. The difference is that Beowulf in his old age still had the strength and courage, unlike Hrothgar, to protect his kingdom. Unferth was considered to be the hero of Herot, but yet when monsters attacked the people that he was suppost to protect, he did nothing to stop it. Grendels reign of terror started many years before Beowulf came, so Unferth had plenty of time to at least make an attempt at stopping him. But because of Unferths lack o f action, Beowulf has to take on the task of slaying Grendel. By killing Grendel and his mother, Beowulf succeeds where Unferth has failed. Wiglaf and Beowulf both fought the dragon, but Beowulf is the one who actually killed it. Wiglaf was in full strength and was unhurt but all that he could do was stab the dragon. Beowulf, however, was badly wounded, but still managed to provide the fatal slice to kill the dragon. Hrothgar, Unferth, and Wiglaf all relied on Beowulf to kill the monsters that they could not kill themselves. This makes Beowulf superior to them because he obtained the strength, courage, and will that they all lacked. Beowulf is superior to Hrothgar, Unferth, and Wiglaf because he becomes a widely feared warrior and king.

Prison Violence Essay

Prison violence is something that has been an ongoing problem and can be seen in many different forms. It happens in men, woman and juvenile facilities. The level of violence and severity can differ but it is all categorized as prison violence and has become an increasingly major issue on the U.S. It is safe to say people tend to believe males are more prone to violence making violence in male prisons have higher rates than female prisons. Some research indicates women prisoners, unlike men prisoners, do not engage in physical violence (Trammell 2009). They engage in relational violence which is like gossiping and spreading rumors to make each other feel isolated and outcast. Another type is sexual violence such as assault/rape/harassment experiences reported by both male and female prisoners. Male sexual violence involves more force due to the fact of strength and more aggressiveness which is male nature. Male prisoners are subjected to more physical injury and have more excessive f orce used on them so in return the level of aggressiveness is heightened. This is a main factor as to why they try to stop being victims and become the perpetrators and also why violence rates are higher in male prisons. The third issue that contributes in the understanding which gender has higher violent rates in prison is prisoner confrontations and the search for respect. From all of the factors this factor is very unique because it deals with the physiological part of violence. Furthermore, this issue is very important because it shows that physical straight is not the only thing that contributes to violence in prisons, but the psychological factor has a lot to do with it as well. Research has found that prisoners engage in violence for varies reason. I addition, prisoners who have a positive and a stable social interaction tend to engage the least in fights. On the other hand those who have weak and problematic social interaction have more fights with others prisoners (Butler, 2008). In addition, Butler (2008) pointed out found that prisoners that engage in act violence tent to think they have to prove their masculinity by showing their aggression. Furthermore, these types of prisoners have the psychological need to defend this identity. Theses prisoners will react taught when they feel that they are being ostracized, embarrassed, or disrespected. This issue relates to the topic because depending how the inmates feels, the rate of violence can go up or it can come down. The Butler (2008) study presented reasons as to why do  male prisoners are violent in prison. In contract it illustrated what are some of the reason why might male prisons have more violent rates than female prisons. Victimization rates Research done by Wolff, Blitz, Shi and Siegel (2006) found that similar information to other studies. They point out that inmate on inmate sexual victimizations were higher in women prisons than men prisons during the first 6 months of research. Furthermore, nonsensical sexual acts (e.g. forced sex acts) were not as common as abusive sexual contact (e.g. intentional touching), between prisons and staff in the correctional facility. In addition, the scholars point out that depending on the rates of victimization that is how violent the inmate will become. It all depends on which gender is being victimized. In this study the prison staff was victimizing the males. Similarities All of the articles I used to answer the research question had similar founding’s. In addition, all of the empirical articles I found contributed to finding an answer to my research question, which made the date very applicable. However, there were differences and similarities between literatures. Some of the similarities were that most of the articles used a larger size sample of the male prisoners than for the female prisoners in their research. However, with the exception of Trammell (2008) study since it only dealt with female prisoners. Another similarity I found was between Wolff, Shi, and Siegel (2009) and Wolff, Shi, and Bachman (2009) both of these study used the same sample size, 12 adult correctional facilities and one female adult correctional facility. In addition, both studies collected their data in the same state. Furthermore, both study used the same method of research, which was using the Administered Survey Instruction (CASI) to collect their data. Furthermo re, the other empirical literature I used anonymous written assessments, interviews and self-narratives to gain their data (Butler, 2008) Relationship to research All of the scholarly articles I used for this paper were related to one another. Whether it was in a psychological way, victimization rates, respect in prison, or relational violence. All of these issues tied up nicely to  answer the research question. Wolff et all (2006), Wolff et all (2009) and Wolff et al (2008) studies can be put together because they all focused on the rates of victimization in prisons and how it affects the inmates. All of the articles found that depending on the rates of victimization of the behalf of the male and female prisoners, it will show how much aggression the prisoner will engage in. Furthermore, they found that the prison staff victimizes men unlike women; As a consequence the men get in to more fights, which increase the violent rates in male prisons. Research indicates that male inmate have the physiological idea that they need to protect their identity in prison. As a consequence this leads the prisoners to get into more confrontations with other prisoners and with staff at times. In addition, when male inmates feel that they are being embarrassed or ostracized they will act aggressively. However, female inmates are completely opposite instead of physical altercations they will engage in gossip to hurt each other (Butler, 2008) Trammell (2008) research only was based on women correctional facilities, which made it very unique and significant to my paper. Most of the scholarly articles I found were only based on men prisons, but this study focused only on what type of violence is females more consistent with, which was spreading rumors. The theme that is being discussed in this paper is comparing the violent rates between women and men prisons. However, relational violence is not included in the rate of violence unlike aggression is. As a result this lowers the rates of violence in the female prisons. Research conducted Johnson and Johnson (2006) compared the sexual coercion experience between male and female prisons. This factor contributes to the violent rates in correctional facilities. The scholars found that depending on how many experiences of sexual coercion the prisoners take part of, the more it leads to violence making him or her perpetrator. This study also found that men are face more violence sexual coercion compared to women. Consequently the rates of violence in male prisons rise up. Discussion All empirical research provided good data analyses that collaborates with the founding’s. In my opinion the most interesting article I found during my research was the study conducted m Johnson and Johnson (2009) because this study point out that sexual coercion is more commend in male prisons rather  than female prisons. Before doing the research I always thought it was the other way around. My original thoughts about this information I researched were that it was good information to answer the research question. During my research I was trying to find some variables that can help explain what encourages both male and female prisoners to engage in violence. I concur with most of the empirical information I found. All of the articles had something in commend for example, the number male prisons that took part in the study and/or the sample sizes. In addition, as I kept on reading the literature all of the data found were corroborated. Furthermore, all of the scholars found similar information such as, male are more aggressive because they have to go through more violent sexual coercion and as a consequence they fight to protect their â€Å"masculinity†. Moreover all of the information I found has important key issues that proved that male prisoners have more violent rates than female prisons. As a result, all of the articles contribute in answering the research question. However, what I didn’t like about the empirical articles is that the scholars hardly research female prisons. For example, the scholars would use 12 male prisons and only one female prison to compare their violent rates. In my opinion this is extremely unfair because the researcher collects more data for male inmates and not enough for female inmates. Moreover in order, to have more applicable information there needs to be the same number of male and female prisons studied. What I learn doing this research is that in female prisons r ape is very rare. However, this does not necessary mean that female prisoners do not engage in any sexual activities. Research indicated that instead of actual force penetration, the inmates touch breasts and generals. Furthermore, female prisoners do not get molested buy the staff, but rather by the other prisoners (Trammell, 2009). Moreover what I also learn from this research is that females engage in trash talking and spreading rumors to hurt the other prisoners. Before doing this paper I thought that female inmates engage in physical fights like male inmates, but to my surprise they rather spread rumors. Some female inmates reported that spreading rumors hurt more than actual punches. Furthermore, I learn that female inmates fight over guards. They treat the guarders has their boyfriends this gives them extra privileges such as, better jobs and more food. In addition, if the female seeing other female flirting with her â€Å"boyfriend†(guard) she will  spread rumors about that female to get her in trouble. (Trammell, 2009) Conclusion The topic being discussed in this paper was the rate of violence in male and female prisons. All of the empirical articles that I found contribute in finding the answer to my research question. Furthermore, the main focus of this paper was to report if the rates of violence were higher in male or female prisons and why that was the case. After doing all of the research, I found that men prisons have higher violent rates of violence rather than women prisons. It was proven that a lot of variable contribute to higher rates of violence in men prisons such as males under go more sexual coercion, have high rates of victimization, and they look to gain respect in prison. Moreover overall the articles regarding this topic were helpful and applicable. In addition, the articles illustrated the variable of why? How? , And when? do prisoners engage in violence and how does this raise the violent rates in the correctional facility. Even though all of the studies were helpful in writing this paper, more research should be performed regarding this topic. There should be more research that only focuses on female inmates. This can give the general public a better understanding on female prisons. In addition, it can inform on what type of violence female inmates engage in with more detail. Limitation I was only allowed to use six empirical articles to answer my research question. In addition, none of my friends or family members has spend time in prison. So I was not able to interview someone that has witness violence while in prison. Furthermore , in all of the literature I found authors focused more in the male prison rather then the female prisons. As a consequence this could off manipulate the data that indicates that male prisoners engage in more violence. I think if the authors would of concentrate in male and female prisons equally the findings would off probably show that the rates of violence for both male and female inmates are somewhat the same.

Theme of Social Hierarchy in William Shakespeares Henry...

Theme of Social Hierarchy in William Shakespeares Henry V, Twelfth Night and Macbeth Henry V, Twelfth Night, and Macbeth cover the whole field of Shakespearean genres, but it is amazing how Shakespeare displays a theme and carries it through in any kind of play he wants to. Historic, comic, and tragic plays are about as different as you can get, yet when we take a closer look we see many similarities among them, especially in the area of social hierarchy. In all three of these plays, Shakespeare uses a similar theme, which he conveys and proves through his characters. Twelfth Nights Malvolio, and Macbeths Macbeth, Henry Vs Henry all hold social status, and they spread the social scale, one a servant, one a nobleman, and one a†¦show more content†¦Malvolio is a servant, desiring and seeking to climb the social ladder by marrying his master, a wealthy woman in society. Malvolio is stepping far beyond his bounds as a servant, and he doesnt see that he is out of line. To marry up a class level was unheard of, but Malvolio doesnt even seem to think about thi s. He is set on winning Olivias love from the moment he thinks about the things he can get from it. He isnt really punished for his committal of a social taboo, but he is demeaned and taken back down to a servants level through the joke that Toby, Maria, and Feste play on him. Shakespeare doesnt say that marrying up is wrong, because the marriage of Maria and Toby is given a positive light. Shakespeare does make it very clear that it is not proper for a servant, or anyone for that matter, to attempt to climb the social lattice, especially through marriage. In Macbeth, Macbeth is a Thane, a much higher social status than a slave. This is a position of nobility, and Macbeth is content with it. His and Banquos meeting with the Weird Sisters and the subsequent fulfillment of part of the witches prophecies about Macbeth is what begins to discontent Macbeth. Macbeth says, If chance may have me King, why, chance may crown me (Macbeth I.iii.158), but it is shortly after this that Macbeth is easily drawn in by his wifes enticement with power andShow MoreRelatedThe Renaissance and It’s Affect on William Shakespeare’s Works2369 Words   |  10 PagesIt’s very easy to see William Shakespeare as an amazing literary genius who had a perspective on life that, to simply put it, no one else has ever had. However Shakespeare was the product of the English Renaissance. The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement spanning from the later 15th century until the early 17th century, it is associated with the Italian R enaissance which started in the 14th century. Like most of northern Europe, England did not get the full effect of the Renaissance