Religious Symbols in Society Church vs. State Essay

In our daily lives, without even recognizing it, there are religious symbols present all around us. If we are carrying money, â€Å"In God We Trust† is a religious symbol that is present on our currency. If we happen to say the pledge of allegiance we are saying â€Å"one nation under God† which alludes to God and the Catholic religion. Around the holidays, there are Christmas decorations present everywhere, which are religious symbols of the Catholic faith. None of these things seem bad or harmful to anyone in any way. They are not harming anyone. Are they? Well, they are not harming anyone directly, but have impacted people because it is through the presence of these symbols that neglects all other religions and is feeding into the issue of the†¦show more content†¦This is when the issue of church and state also arises. Religion cannot be something that the state represents because the state should be promoting equality and not favoring one religion, many pe ople argue. Church and state need to be completely separated because it is when they are both involved that many issues arise. There are many instances where religious symbols are involved in church and state controversies such as the cross as a symbol, religious symbols in public schools, church and state involvement that is broadcasted in the media, and the use of religious symbols in the government; all of these examples prove one outcome which entails chaos, disagreement, and the need to find a solution. The symbol of the cross is an extremely well known worldwide symbol, which represents Jesus Christ who gave His life for His people and their sins. Overall, the cross represents the Catholic religion. A controversy arose and is highlighted in the article â€Å"Wandering in the Desert: Justice Scalia’s Dangerous Plan to Secularize the Cross-,† which states an argument about the cross being changed into a symbol that represents all people of all religions in our country. The problem is that this symbol according to the article, â€Å"is instantly recognizable as a symbol of the Christian faith to people all over the world, Christian and non-Christian,† (p 14). This notorious and meaningful cannot simply be changed overnight. The issue arose when the use of the cross started toShow MoreRelatedThe First Ammendment and Dealing with the Separation of Church and State1741 Words   |  7 PagesDealing with the Separation of Church and State Is it unconstitutional for local, state or federal governments to favor one religion over another? Government can show favoritism toward religion by displaying religious symbols in public places at taxpayer expense, by sponsoring events like Christmas concerts, caroling, by supporting the teaching of religious ideas, or even by supporting the teaching of creationism in public schools. 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Th e Establishment Clause is usually interpreted in two different ways:Read MoreReligious vs. Spiritual Essay1368 Words   |  6 PagesJenna Pagnotta Professor Reklis Faith and Critical Reason In our modern age, it seems as though fewer and fewer individuals are describing themselves as religious, instead opting for the term â€Å"spiritual†. This shift is most apparent in the United States, as mass attendance decreases, and society places more reliance on science and technology rather than religion. Sandra Schneiders’ essay discussing the definitions of spirituality and religion and the link between the two sheds light on howRead MoreEssay about Timeless Work: an Analysis of Marvin Gaye1053 Words   |  5 Pagesart of music. Born in the nations capital on April 2, 1939, Gaye’s ageless sounds and intriguing vocals still influence the world today. Gaye’s father, a minister in the Apostolic Church, played a foremost role in Marvin’s musical education. In fact, most of Marvin’s inspiration for religious topics came from the church music he grew up singing. Through the art of song, musical icon Marvin Gaye uses pathos, symbolism, and imagery with an objective to connect to listeners on tremendously personal levelsRead MoreWhy Polygamy Should Be Legal1728 Words   |  7 Pagesacceptable for a man to marry more than one woman and be open about it? A large number cannot and the practice of polygamy is seen as a taboo. The families usually live private lives, and they do not interact with the rest of America due to anti-bigamy society we live in. Polygamy is the practice of being married to more than one person at the same time. This is not to be confused with an open relationship or an open marriage. This topic was viewed as controversial for years. As a practice that was not

Donnie Darko vs. Oedipus Rex Essay - 2268 Words

Greek tragedies were often seen as the foundation to literature not only for the Greeks but also on a universal scale as well. Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex was one of the more infamous tales because of its provocative and unorthodox nature. The tragedy features a man on a quest to prevent the events of his prophesized life from coming to fruition. The key components of fate, destiny and time can be paralleled to the cult classic film Donnie Darko. In the movie, Donnie suffers from predictions of the future in his own variation of time travel, as a repercussion he has been â€Å"chosen† to rectify the past in order to preserve what is to come. Between the two pieces of text, destiny and fate greatly affect the outcome for both of the†¦show more content†¦Donnie has to suffer the knowledge that his death would be the only way to prevent the cataclysmic incidents like that of Ashton Kutcher’s character Evan Treborn in The Butterfly Effect. He too understood his role in life was apocalyptic as soon as he was conceived. When Donnie ran into Grandma Death she whispered to him that â€Å"All things die alone,† (â€Å"Donnie Darko†) it can be seen just how tragic and miserable his life was going to be. After assessing the whole film, it can be realized that she was right because Donnie inevitably died by himself without ever having met Gretchen and without resolving his fight with his mother. Another event can be one of the first encounters with Frank in which ended with â€Å"28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 12 seconds† (â€Å"Donnie Darko†) being etched into his arm. He had his very own expiration date and â€Å"end of the world† timeframe given to him. The very thought of knowing one’s own time of death is absolutely frightening and panic inducing. One of the deleted scenes off of the DVD provided more insight into Donnie’s mind and his acceptance of death: A storm is coming, Frank says. A storm that will swallow the children, and I will deliver them from the kingdom of pain. I will deliver the children back to their doorsteps; Ill send the monsters back to the underground. Ill send them back to a place where no one else can see them, except for me because I am Donnie Darko (â€Å"Donnie Darko†)

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Child Beauty Pageants Essay Sample free essay sample

In today’s universe. there are rather a few things that bother us Americans. One controversial subject at-hand would be child beauty pageants. The article. â€Å"Playing at Sexy† written by Peggy Orenstein. goes into item of the negative effects of showcasing one’s kid in a pageant. Hilary Levey takes a different attack to child beauty pageants. She finds them to be merely every bit helpful as kids who take after school lessons in her scholarly article. â€Å"Pageant Princesss and Math Whizzes. † Both articles take two different takes on the kid pageant universe. In world though. pageants can merely be every bit detrimental as helpful. Two of the major concerns are the cause of legion wellness hazards. and the many concerns of sexualising immature misss. Child beauty pageants have been referred to as a athletics. Like any other athletics. child beauty pageants should be purely regulated with regulations that include the child’s wellness and wellbein g. When it comes to beauty pageants. there can be many important wellness hazards when fixing for a pageant. The figure one wellness hazard reported by Dr. Travis Stork on the show The Doctors is the usage of hairspray. A chemical in hairspray. known as phthalates is non good for human inspiration. It is known to be a endocrine disrupter which causes many jobs. There is a connexion between liver malignant neoplastic disease and phthalates. Dr. Stork stated ( â€Å"Should† ) . There is besides a connexion between phthalates and generative harm. We have to recognize that these immature kids are non merely inhaling what is being sprayed onto their ain caputs. but besides what other parents are spraying on their ain child’s caput around them. This increases the sum of hairspray a kid will inhale at a beauty pageant. doing their hazards for jobs higher. Another wellness concern Dr. Stork references is the job with have oning elevated. high heels. Small misss who wear or are forced to have on high heels for competition are at hazards for lower-back jobs and developmental jobs for one’s pess. Dana Points reported to CBSNews. â€Å"At the age of 5 and on up until 10. 12. the castanetss are still organizing. The print is organizing. † she said. â€Å"You can acquire some shortening of the sinews in the heels. So you truly don’t privation to allow them pass more than a small clip every hebdomad in some sort of heel† ( â€Å"Should† par 7 ) . Additionally. some parents force their kid to tan. whether it’s in a tanning bed. of course in the Sun. or spray sunburn. All types of tanning listed above are all harmful. Natural sun-tanning is harmful to immature kids because it increases the opportunity of skin malignant neoplastic disease. but put them in a tanning booth with UV Ray bulbs and the hazard of skin malignant neoplastic disease is enormously increased. The last signifier of tanning is one depicted many times on TLC’s hit show Toddlers and Tiaras is the spray sunburn. Spray-tan contains a chemical known as dihydroxyacetone. which can do skin annoyance. hair follicle annoyance. and lung annoyance if inhaled ( â€Å"Health† ) . Another major negative consequence of beauty pageants is the sexualizing of immature misss. Orenstein explains in her article. â€Å"That sexualising small misss — whether through images. music or play — really undermines healthy gender instead than advancing it. These immature misss are being depicted as sexy. † I did some research on Toddlers and Tiaras. One contestant. Alana Thompson. received her ain show. known as Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. In an episode on her show. she is seeking on wigs and asks. â€Å"Do I look sexy? † This is a perfect illustration on how we can see the media and pageants act uponing these immature contestants to be something they shouldn’t be. Sexy. One female parent who was on the Toddlers and Tiaras dressed her 3 twelvemonth old girl as the Hooker Julia Roberts played in Pretty Woman. Levey found it is the female parent who is â€Å"†¦ responsible for how her kid expressions and performs on stage† ( par. 19 ) . The girl’s female parent told Fox News. â€Å"I love life vicariously through my 3-year-old girl Paisley. † Levey discusses mother’s vicariousness. â€Å"CBP female parents get vicarious satisfaction from the success of their kids and sometimes counterbalance for their ain thwarted dreams by traping their hopes on their children’s success† ( Levey par. 72 ) Paisley has competed in over 60 pageants. but it was decidedly the ‘Pretty Women’ costume that put Paisley’s name out at that place. † This type of attitude is what is advancing sexualising of immature misss. What female parents need to recognize is that female parents don’t look at their kids the same manner other people look at them. such as paedophiles. For illustration. female parents don’t look at their girls as if they want to hold sex with them like paedophiles might make. It’s merely authorising the sexualizing of immature misss that aren’t supposed to be sexy. Although all may non hold with the statements above. some find it a productive activity. It is found to assist to happen contestants about competition. good work moralss. and female parents are deriving net income every bit good. Levey. in questioning parents. has concluded that one large ground parents have their girls compete is that they see the competitions as a agency of geting accomplishments that can be utile subsequently in life. The pageants teach the contestants the regulations and rudimentss of competition. It teaches them how to vie and learn them the values of winning and losing. Levey besides notes that the contestants are â€Å"learning confidence† ( Levey par. 52 ) . They learn how to accept licking and that a large loss will non take them down it will merely do the contestant. and their assurance stronger. This is a valid point in reasoning for the pageants. I feel this could be one benefit of the pageants. Beauty pageants besides teach them good work ethic. Equally long as they are viing. they’re traveling to desire to vie harder and harder to acquire the chief rubric. They work hard to vie in the pageant. If they lose they work harder and harder for the following pageant with hope and finding to win. This is a great point in defence for the pageants. It teaches contestants good work ethic while holding their thought of ‘fun’ . One pageant ma Levey quoted in his article said. â€Å"‘I started doing my daughter’s apparels and she was winning. Then people kept inquiring me for apparels. . . . That’s my concern. That’s what I do. I sew’† ( Levey par. 57 ) . Her girl competing is assisting the female parent bring in income. Some people rely on their kids to vie good and win. It’s their chief beginning of income. Although. a positive. this is a counterproductive statement. Children should non hold this type of duty. They should non be relied upon as income. If the kid should lose. they are left feeling as a failure non merely to themselves. but to the household every bit good. This type of force per unit area may be traumatising to a kid. Child beauty pageants may non be everyone’s cup of tea. It promotes serious wellness hazards to a developing kid. and besides promotes the sexualizing of immature misss. Others see it as a great thing. It teaches them to the values of viing. to work hard to accomplish what they want. and how competing can be a family’s chief beginning of income. Personally. you won’t catch me watching Toddlers and Tiaras. Plants Cited â€Å"Health Risks of Child Beauty Pageants† . AOL. America OnLine. 21 Sept. 2011. Web. 25 Nov. 2011.Levey. Hilary. â€Å"Pageant Princesss and Math Whizzes: Understanding Children’s Activities as a Form of Children’s Work. † Childhood 16. 2 ( 2009 ) : 195-212. Print. McKay. Holly. â€Å"Mother of ‘baby Hooker’ on ‘Toddlers A ; Tiaras’ : Controversy Made Me Famous. † Fox News. FOX News Network. 04 Apr. 2012. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. Orenstein. Peggy. â€Å"Playing at Sexy. † New York Times. New York Times. 13 June 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. â€Å"Should Small Girls Wear High Heels? † CBSNews. CBS Interactive. 19 Jan. 2012. Web. 05 Dec. 2012.

Womans Day and Vogue Essay Example For Students

Womans Day and Vogue Essay The media is a very powerful force. Within the western world we encounter its forces everyday, and whether we choose to be consumed by it or not, it influences our culture and the way we view ourselves. Womens magazines play a huge role in shaping how genders and races are perceived and perceive themselves. Power, culture and representation are all at play to varying degrees within womens magazines. However, it is the way that these concepts interact, which has the greatest impact on our society. It is the representation of genders and races within womens magazines, and the degrees to which they are empowered or disempowered that ultimately impacts heavily on our culture. Power is generally defined as a form in which groups or individuals can implement control over other individuals or groups. However, as Michael Foucault argues, power is not an asset which people have; it is something that is exercised within relationships and interactions. (1998: p93) Power is everywhere; not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere. We will write a custom essay on Womans Day and Vogue specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Power is not an institution, and not a structure; neither is it a certain strength we are endowed with; it is the name that one attributes to a complex strategical situation in a particular society (The History of Sexuality, Volume One: the Will to Knowledge 1998. p93) Representation is continuously at play within our civilization. Everything we read, watch and hear through the media represents something about our society. It may not adequately represent the reality, but it does represent certain ideals within society. Therefore, it is essential to look at representation in its many forms. As Leisbet Van Zoonen asserts There is no such thing as a delivered presence or truth in cultural discourse, but inevitably a re-presence or representation (Questioning the Media: A Critical Introduction 1995: p 319). Van Zoonen follows Edward Saids suggestion that analysis must therefore focus on a variety of discursive elements, not the correctness of representation nor its fidelity to some great original (cited by Van Loonen 1995: p 319) Culture is the world that surrounds us. It is a set of values that draws a group together and which we grow to understand. Tony Thwaites defines culture as the ensemble of social practices by which meanings are produced, circulated and exchanged. (Tools for Cultural Studies 1994: p1) However, he is quick to point out that culture does not produce one standard meaning. Meanings migrate from one context to another, sometimes ending up very far from where they started they are always getting displaced, diverted, reworked and exchanged. It is the very process of meaning. (1994: p1) The world has its own culture, countries have their own culture, cities have their own culture, and it is the influences within those boundaries which produce a culture. Gillian Rose uses the metaphor of a watershed encompassing a city to describe the way in which many different beliefs, customs and values are geographically bound to produce a culture in itself. Cities are a cultural watershed, for in the city there are diverse cultures, customs, beliefs and values(Gillian Rose; cited in Key concepts in Cultural Theory 1999: p. 102). In todays society it is incredibly important to understand the way the media functions. The media not only provides information, it is a very powerful signifier of who we are as a whole, and has the ability to exert large amounts of influence. Therefore, it is important that we understand and are able to critically examine what is being fed to us everyday and why. By analysing the way power, representation and culture are at play we are able to gain a greater understanding of how the media functions, which subsequently enables us the discerningly evaluate its influence and content. .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16 , .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16 .postImageUrl , .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16 , .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16:hover , .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16:visited , .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16:active { border:0!important; } .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16:active , .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16 .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u6c000d86f431d0061705eb1fc5488a16:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Booker T. Washington EssayDespite the fact that within the media, womens magazines generally fall into the same category, the enormous range of titles do not contain the same content and target a diverse set of female audiences. To understand the way power, representation and culture are at play it is essential to look at womens magazines as a whole and individually. Consequently, I will look at womens magazines covering an array of demographics from Dolly to Cosmopolitan to Womans Day and Vogue.