Can Religion Be Studied Academically Essay Example for Free

Can Religion Be Studied Academically Essay The academic study of religion isn’t a means of just learning scriptures or passages from a sacred text like the Bible. It is a more complex process and can be considered multidisciplinary – it can include art, literature, linguistics, history, philosophy, psychology, sociology and much more. Religion can’t be studied without knowing what we are trying to study, and while some would argue it just doesn’t exist, the similarity among the diverse religious belief systems around the world are strong enough to justify a comprehensive field study encompassing the factors listed above, some of which fall into Livingstone’s ‘seven ways of studying religion’. However, to effectively study religion in an academic way, it is important to include critical analysis, which means it is important not to be biased towards your own beliefs. By doing this you can become more culturally aware of other faiths and beliefs, and thus obtain a greater understanding of religions. Literary criticism plays an important role in the academic study of religion. Religion in the theological way is all about the teachings of a particular sacred text. The Bible for Christianity, the Quran for Islam and Sutras for Buddhism, for example, all contain the teachings and laws of the respective religions, which is essentially how people can understand religion in the first place. Livingstone, in his theories on religion, says questions are the key to studying and understanding the meaning of sacred texts. Is it reliable; who was the author; when was it written and where; how has the work been received, interpreted and passed on? These are the questions that need to be answered before a true understanding of religion can be obtained, and who better to answer them than a literary critic, according to Livingstone. The relationship between religion and language also relates to this idea of literary criticism. Language in religion doesn’t often function like it does in everyday life – it is not found at the surface level of words or signs, according to Livingstone. Understanding language and how it is used in religion provides insight, but it also stretches to include the nature and function of language itself. Because of religion’s role in human cultures, it is impossible to comprehend the flow of history without some basic grounding in a variety of religious beliefs. Livingstone says it would appear obvious that the historical study of religion has to do with establishing what role religious experience and ideas play in the lives of individuals and communities. You only have to look at the Bible and see the Old Testament is dated in years ‘before Christ’. Livingstone gives an example of the Protestant Reformation. The causes of the Protestant Reformation have been a topic of contention among historians, and the debate illustrates both the importance of history in gaining a fuller understanding of that event in western history, and the difficulties in proposing a single casual explanation in history. But the notion of history and religion can be put a little more simply – religious traditions provide structure to the world and provides people with a sense of where they fit in, which in turn affects choices today, for example decisions about politics. The philosophical scrutiny of religion is one of the oldest and most instructive ways of examining religious experience and belief, according to Livingstone. In this century philosophy’s relation to religion is to analyse the uses of religious language and to test its logical status and meaning. It asks whether a religious expression is simply performing an action or evoking the emotions. Livingstone says philosophers believe much of the problems with religion stem from these confusing uses of language. Over the centuries and spanning different continents, the notion of philosophy has remained significant in several religious traditions, which emphasises the importance of it in an educational way – In India, philosophy has remained associated with historical developments in Hinduism and the same goes for Buddhism in Asia. The way in which religion interacts within a social dimension is also a significant element to studying religion. Sociologist, Max Weber, demonstrated that certain forms of social life and behaviour could deeply reflect the religious belief and practice of society. For example: Weber analysed how the new Protestant ethic, which came with the Reformation of the 16th century, proved to be decisive in shaping the spirit of modern capitalist society. All religions have a concept of what it means to be a member of a religious society, how it should function, how it should be organised, and how the society relates to the outside world. Therefore it is important to have an understanding of the sociology behind religion, especially in the instance that culture and religion become hard to distinguish between. It is understood that religions offer critiques of contemporary society based on concepts of an ideal society and must understand the connection between sacred and secular power and the political and religious institutions representing each. This is where a study of sociology and anthropology become important for religion. The relationship between religious and violent conflict is well known. It can be argued that religions are inclined to be absolutist, meaning they don’t allow for the validity of other religions. This discourages the discussions and negotiations and compromises needed to resolve differences of opinion peacefully, which can then have an effect on society itself. Without compromises, it can sometimes erupt into violence – so in terms of the importance of studying religion, it is ideal to know the interconnection between sociology and religion to understand why and how conflicts, for example, can sometimes occur. And then there’s the psychology behind the importance of studying religion. One of the early workers in this particular field was William James. He explored the psychological dimensions of phenomena as conversion, mysticism and saintliness. Livingstone says the connection between psychology and religion is perhaps the most closely associated with great figures in psychoanalysis. He also uses an example of Gordon Allport’s work, who studied the relationship between religion and prejudice. He says studies such as Allport’s show the value of psychological studies in revealing the potential effect of forms of religion on social relations and behaviours. Allport particularly discovered that there were different correlations between prejudice and types of being religious, what he referred to as extrinsic and intrinsic religions. This particular study into psychology and religion is significant because it can warn us against making too-simple correlation between prejudice and religion, according to Livingstone. In addition to Livingstone’s ideas behind studying religion, there are other factors that intertwine, like art, for example. No one can view art without noticing the influence of religion. Every religion provides ideas, tales, cultural symbols, and concepts vital to creating art. It can be argued that without the cultural resources available today that have been created by religions, some art would be impossible to create or even understand. It isn’t particularly essential for making art, but religion’s role culturally makes the connection stronger. In conclusion, it is difficult to seriously or substantively critique religion if it’s not understood. It is for this reason that an understanding language critique, sociology, history, psychology and philosophy, for example, is so important. Livingstone says the academic study of religion can help people to see religion as a whole. These scholarly views and disciplines can help people to see aspects of their own religions that they may be blind to, which in turn can help prosper more appreciation for various religious traditions.

Characters as Portrayed Through Themes and Images in The English Patien

Characters as Portrayed Through Themes and Images in The English Patient       While the four main characters of The English Patient are extremely powerful, and important to the reader's understanding of the story, they cannot stand alone without the patterns of imagery, symbolism and metaphor which underpin the text, and offer a complexity which extends beyond the literal level. These patterns reveal information about each character, and provide significant links between characters and ideas which lead to a greater understanding of the novel. Likewise, the plot would have little impact upon the reader were the novel not so densely coloured with these patterns of imagery, symbol and metaphor; amongst which skin, hands, mapping and the elements are particularly important.    A metaphorical idea which resonates throughout the novel, and is present in all of the characters (particularly the English patient and Caravaggio) is the concept of man as a sort of communal Book, whereby every aspect of his life, and his relationships with others are "mapped" onto him. This also operates literally, through the obvious markings of scars on the English patient, and in Caravaggio's case, the loss of both thumbs.    ...his black body, beginning at his destroyed feet... ahove the shins the burns are worst. Beyond purple. Bone.    This description of the English patient's body is gruesome and confronting; it addresses the theme of pain, the construction of identity, and of course the physical evidence of his tortured past, which the reader learns more about as this imagery develops. It is almost as if his body is a landscape; a war zone onto which all evidence of suffering is mapped.    Imagery... ...o mirror the horrors of the wa rin which these four people are involved. The themes explored through the elements in particular, are complex and contradictory, just as the elements are themselves. Sometimes harsh, sometimes cleansing, and almost always painful, these elements shape the characters and plot, and reside in much of the imagery explored in the novel. The techniques of symbolism, metaphor and imagery develop the novel's themes of love, war, suffering and identity, which inform a reading of the novel which would not be as powerful through use of characters and plot alone. The subtlety and eloquence through which these themes are explored really inspire thought and reflection in the reader, which in turn credits a more complex understanding of the novel.    Work Cited Ondaatje, Michael. The English Patient. London: Pan Books, 1993   

An Analysis of Brokeback Mountain Essay

Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain is a tragic story of forbidden love. It chronicles the romance between Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, two cowboys who fall head over heels for each other in the spring of 1963. Their relationship endures for twenty years, never fully resolved, never fully let go of, and always surrounded by fear, confusion, and above all, by love. Brokeback Mountain depicted a story that was both accurate in its portrayal of queerness in the setting of its story, and in making it relatable to queerness and homosexuality today. Later, when turned into a movie, it broke even more barriers, and furthered its social effects on Hollywood and Society. Brokeback Mountain accurately describes the attitudes of society towards homosexuals in the 1960’s, specifically of those that live where the story took place. In the 1960’s, police raids of gay bars were routine, and extremely violent. The stigma associated with even the idea of being homosexual was crippling. It was considered a disease, and looked down upon severely. But finally, the gay rights movement was gaining its footing. During this time, influenced by the model of a militant black civil rights movement, the â€Å"homophile movement,† as the participants dubbed it, became more visible. Activists, such as Franklin Kameny and Barbara Gittings, picketed government agencies in Washington to protest discriminatory employment policies. But the south, the setting of Brokeback Mountain, was very different. Although these were great steps towards equality, many states in the south and west were very far behind. The treatments of gays shown in the story were painfully accurate. At one point, when Ennis and Jack reunite after four years, they fear what would happen if they got caught. Ennis tells Jack the story from his childhood, saying: â€Å"There was these two old guys ranched together down home, Earl and Rich- Dad would pass a remark when he seen them. They was a joke even though they was pretty tough old birds. I was what, nine years old and they found Earl dead in a irrigation ditch. They’d took a tire iron to him, spurred him up, drug him around by his dick until it pulled off, just bloody pulp. What the tire iron done looked like pieces a burned tomatoes all over him, nose tore down from skiddin on gravel.† (29) Incidents like this were not uncommon in the 60’s, and as horrifying as it seemed to read this passage in the book, what made it worse was the Proulx was in no way exaggerating, but rather relaying the harsh truth of the events that would occur during this time. Brokeback Mountain is still relatable to by many people, especially by those that can identify with the characters in the story. Wyoming, the state where Ennis and Jack met, is in an area of the United States that is still not completely supportive of the gay rights movement. In an article published in The New York Times in 2005, after the release of the film based on Brokeback Mountain, many people who identified as homosexual came forward to speak about their experiences. They grimly spoke about the intolerance they still face, and Derrick Glover, a 33 year old gay rancher said, â€Å"Where I live, you can’t really go out and be yourself. You couldn’t go out together, two guys, as a couple and ever be accepted. It wasn’t accepted in the past, it’s still not, and I don’t think it ever will be.† Glover came from a family of ranchers, and his family had herded the lands around their home for generations. He grew up â€Å"herding, branding, culling and haying, horses hobbled on picket lines and calves pulled forcibly from their mother’s bodies during spring calving,† and every summer he would set out with his brother in a panel truck carrying their two quarter horses, to compete in calf and steer roping competitions. His tale sounds just like that of Jack and Ennis, growing up and knowing nothing but being a cowboy, but just like Jack and Ennis, he would never have been accepted for who he was. Because of this, he was leaving his home and moving to an area with more people and more tolerance. This situation, oddly reminiscent of Stephen in â€Å"The Well of Loneliness,† is something that occurs shockingly often. At one point in the story, Ennis declares, â€Å"I ain’t queer,† despite the fact that he had sex with Jack. He refused to acknowledge that he could possibly be a homosexual, and that somehow, maybe, he could be falling for another man. Ennis is more masculine of the two, and in declaring his homosexuality, even to himself, he would be losing an aspect of his masculinity. Ben Clark, another man who spoke of being growing up on a ranch and being gay, said of it, â€Å"†But I had no idea what to do about it, ever. I was raised in a ranching, rodeo world – wrangling, packing horses, riding bucking stock, working in hunting camps – but always with the sense that I had to conceal who I was because cowboys could never be gay.† Cowboys have always been seen as men who are rough and wild, who face nature with stern faces and no fear, men whose masculinity was literally one of the main essences of their being, and this stereotypically cowboy image is w hat hinders the acceptance of so many homosexual men in the west. Of this image, Mr. Clark said, â€Å"†I could not accept being gay because of the stereotypes that were drilled into me†¦Gay men are emotionally weak. They are not real men. They are like women.† This sentiment, unfortunately, is echoed throughout much of the United States, and the rest of the world as well. By showing that these macho, strong, ranch hands and cowboys could be gay, Brokeback Mountain rejected the normative ideas of what is considered â€Å"queer† and â€Å"gay.† It showcased two homosexual men as regular men, and didn’t attempt to fit them into the stereotypical, effeminate image of gay men. Homosexual men used to be seen as perverts, men who just wanted to have sex with other men, but Brokeback Mountain destroys that idea. It shows queerness and homosexuality as what it truly is- love. It showcases the intense affection one person can have for another, regardless of their gender. In 2005, Brokeback Mountain was turned into a movie, and was met with great approval. Starring Jake Gyllenhall and Heath Ledger, the movie went on to receive many awards, including three Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Score as well as four Golden Globe awards for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, Best Song, and Best Screenplay and four BAFTA Awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Jake Gyllenhaal). The film also received four Screen Actors Guild nominations for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Ensemble, more than any other movie released in 2005. It was a hit. More than that though, it reached thousands more people than it did as a book. What was once just a short story by a Pulitzer Prize winning author was now a major motion picture being shown all over the United States. It opened up people’s eyes, it started discussions, and it helped break down barriers in the normative stereotypes of what gay men were. Instead of just imagined characters, Jack and Ennis now had faces put to them, and these faces were well known actors. Leonard Maltin, a film critic and historian, said that Brokeback Mountain was â€Å"†¦ in some uncharted waters, because it shows what it’s like for two men to feel that kind of longing and passion for each other, and people aren’t used to that†¦No one movie is going to turn things around, b ut they can be building blocks. That could be this movie’s legacy.† The movie helped in attempting to erase Hollywood’s homosexual stereotypes, and to raise consciousness of gay rights. Gay rights groups immediately embraced the movie after it came out. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation (GLAAD) established online resource guides for the movie. The guides had links to both articles and support groups for cowboys and ranchers who identified as homosexual, and who often felt confused and alone in the struggle with their sexual orientation. The Human Rights Campaign also joined in, issuing â€Å"Oscar Party Kits,† with posters of Brokeback Mountain, and cards that read â€Å"Talk about It† to encourage the discussion of gay rights. Brokeback Mountain put a new spin on cowboy stories. It showed the life of two queer cowboys, who could never fully give in to their love. It created a story that could have been plucked straight out of Wyoming in the 1960’s, through its accuracy and effectiveness. It was raw and real, and it was unapologetically showed the struggles faced by homosexual cowboys and ranchers, both in the 1960’s, and even today. The movie of the same name attempted to break down barriers in Hollywood, and it spread the story of Jack and Ennis even further, opening more people’s eyes to the reality of queer relationships, and how they don’t always fit into certain molds. Brokeback Mountain is a classic piece of queer literature, one that will continue to be both authentic and relatable for years to come.

Police Abuse Of Discretion And Discretion - 2015 Words

Police Abuse of Discretion William Powell Jr. American Military University Professor Robert Arruda CMRJ303 Criminology January 17, 2014 Abstract Utilizing the research from several sources and personal experience, this paper will discuss police abuse of discretion. The paper will begin by defining discretion. The paper will examine several types of discretion variables. The paper will discuss its use in the field and office settings. The paper will discuss the benefits and problems associated with police discretion. The paper will examine methods of controlling discretion. The paper will examine how police abuse discretion and provide examples. Lastly, the paper will close by recapping how police abuse discretion, its use in the field and office settings, benefits and problems associated with police discretion, and methods used today to control discretion. Keywords: discretion, abuse, control measures, law enforcement. Police Abuse of Discretion Law enforcement officers face a plethora of dangerous situations day in and day out and make split second decisions with little to no advice. They must exercise due diligence and good judgment when enforcing the law. They face dangerous subjects and conditions that are never the same no matter how routine citizens may think a particular event or call may be. The environment in which law enforcement officers are compelled to work in is tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving. WhileShow MoreRelatedEssay on Police Abuse of Discretion2738 Words   |  11 Pagesthis bad. I dont know what I did to be beat up. Rodney King, March 3, 1991. Police Brutality has been a long lasting problem in the United States since at least 1903 when police Captain Williams of the New York Police Department said the phrase, There is more law at the end of a policemans nightstick than in a decision of the Supreme Court. 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