The Potential of the Raëlian Movement through Humanism Essay -- Religi

The Potential of the Raà «lian Movement through Humanism The Raà «lian Movement, which began in late 1973, is a relative newcomer to the scene of world religions. While its late arrival has presented some difficulty in drawing followers, the movement has significant promise. The Raà «lian Movement is overtly optimistic in its belief of the innate ability of humans to live prosperous lives. The Raà «lian Movement combines principles of secular humanism effectively with scientific accounts of religious events to create a philosophy that has significant potential. On December 13, 1973, a French man named Claude Vorilhon claimed that he encountered an extraterrestrial being. The alien, called Yahweh, explained that he was a representative of an advanced race of beings, the Elohim, who created humankind is their image via cloning techniques. As an experiment, humanity failed to achieve equilibrium within itself and the world it lived in. Throughout history, the Elohim sent prophets to Earth to guide people’s way of life based on that of the superior race. A primary reason that people failed to achieve that peace is that the prophets, â€Å"whose teachings, actually scientific and not religiously oriented, had been misunderstood.† (Laderman 248) Religions thus misinterpreted the Elohim’s teachings, and their different understandings of them separated humanity. Shortly following his encounter with Yahweh, Vorilhon changed his name to Raà «l, â€Å"The Messenger.† The Elohim told him that he is the 40th and final prophet. On August 6, 1945, America dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, representing the apocalypse. In this sense, ‘apocalypse’ refers to humanity’s revelation that, in the age of... ...d. James R. Lewis. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1995. 105-135. Shuck, Glenn W. â€Å"Raà «lian Movement.† Religion and American Cultures: An Encyclopedia of Traditions, Diversity, and Popular Expressions. Ed. Gary Laderman and Luis Leà ³n. 3 vols. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 2003. â€Å"The Raà «lian Revolution.† International Raà «lian Movement. 11 April 2004. 1â€Å"The Affirmations of Humanism: A Statement of Principles.† 4 December 2003. Council for Secular Humanism. 19 April 2004. â€Å"A Secular Humanist Declaration.† 4 December 2003. Council for Secular Humanism. 19 April 2004.

Ways has gender expectation changed over generations

Gender expectation generally means sets of behavior that society decide how female or males should think, act or feel. Many people get confuse about thinking that sex and gender are the same; however, Ashley Grossman, sociologist, explains â€Å"sex is biologically assigned while gender is socially constructed, socially created†. (Grossman) Therefore, gender is influenced by cultural, family, environmental, religious, educational, socioeconomic and geographical setting; in other words, it Is more nurture than nature. Many theories have been written to describe the gender role, how It Is formed.For example, The Evolutionary Psychology Theory of Gender says that different roles in reproduction places different pressures on males and females, which creates gender roles as the man being the more competitive and violent figure, while the women being more involved in nurturing activities. The Social Role Theory of Gender says that gender roles are formed by psychological gender diff erences caused by contrasting social roles of women and men. The Social Cognitive Theory of gender states that children's gender development occurs through observation and imitation of gender behavior.While my conclusions will not be based on these theories, they do help explain the formation and change of gender roles across time. Let us have a jump in the past. For more than 7000 years of human history, since agriculture and early States emerged, men were dominating the society they lived in, from the micro-world of families to the public macro-world of education and work. They have been tasked to provide for their family, from hunting and bringing home food for survival, like In our earliest days, to go to work and earn a paycheck and bringing home the bacon, like in our recent times.On the contrary, women were not even considered legal entities, persons in the legal sense. Until the end of the 19th century, an educated woman that was actually able to read books and have her own opinion, was not considerable a desirable wife. That's how strong the Institutionalizing of differentiation between women and men within society was. Even today, In some society, women are the slaves of men, completely disemboweled and vulnerable; some they must cover their faces In public or forbidden to appear outside their home without the presence of their husband.Back o 18th Century, sex role were rigid, with women assigned to be caregiver, mother. â€Å"In classic German phase, women were expected to dedicate themselves to the four KS : Creche (Church), Chuck(Cooking) ,Kinder (Children), undo Killdeer (and cloths)†. (Tier-Anna 13) This is female expectation In the past, and If a woman tried to break out of these roles , she might risk getting server disapproval. Regarding the education of women, the intellect of woman was limited by an unjustifiable restriction: the education was not objectively given to women. They were excluded from the subjects which men were trained .In the case of few people, male or female, attaining some education beyond basic reading, writing, and little math, the higher education was reserved primarily for men. Moving on the political point of view, women were not allowed to get Involve In pollute: had no right to vote, had no chance to be a governor, been changed drastically, generation over generation, more in women than men: women have come a long way; they are getting married later in life, giving birth later and they are getting more opportunities in which in the past generation were not allowed to.Likewise, men have more responsibilities in many roles which in the past were expected from women. We can list the main differences from the past in family rules, education and work. In recent years there has been a redefinition of man and woman roles in the family. The man tends to spend more time with their children, taking advantage of a working woman. Statistically though, only the time spent with children has increased from the father side. The mother, despite working, still spends the same time with her children, which is still higher that the father. Eventually, the chores are done from a person they both hire.The role of father has changes so much that there has been a rise of men's groups which feel been disadvantaged in this society where the legal system and the family court (in matters relating to access, child care and associated financial costs) is definitely in favor of women. Glen Sack shares his idea regarding to being househusband or stayed home dad (SHAD) that â€Å"Men need not fear a loss of power when they become a SHAD. While Shads are sometimes stereotyped as being at the mercy of their stronger wives' commands, in reality, I have more power in the family now than I ever did hen I was the family breadwinner† ( Sacks 266).This example shows that staying home and taking care children, which is expected to be a woman Job, not only man can do, but also been accepted from soc iety. Coming to education, women have finally gained access to all kind of education, even if there is still a margin of higher paid salary among the male gender. While there is improvement, for the social status of women in education and work participation rates, women still are experiencing conflict and differences in power in the workplace. For centuries there has been a sexual division of Jobs' rates of pay were women were paid much lower than males.This difference was Justified by the idea that men had the responsibility to support their family, whereas women tent to work less because of family commitments, childbirth and child-bearing ; therefore, occupations dominated by men tend to be more lucrative. Today a woman has access to all kind of Jobs, but because not all women want to dedicate themselves to a career, many women prefer to work part- time or accept less demanding positions. But it is only a question of choice, a woman choice. It is important to notice that change fo r women in society has led to men re- evaluating their roles.In the 21st century, a group of fathers meets regularly. Their agenda is that divorce, family law and economic crisis are reducing many males to a marginalia role within society. They feel that their situation is very similar to women in the past. Many men feel that due to divorce, unemployment and shifting of social norms, they are in an inferior position. Coupled with females outperforming males in different areas, from school grades to Job performances, some males do not feel it is an advantage to be a male.Eventually, this historic conflict about social differences between men and women has come to a point where cooperation between the two could be helpful to both. The shifting of power from a man dominance world to woman dominance world means still inequality and discrimination. Maybe equality of opportunity and outcome can be better achieved difference. In the end, the competition of a Nation depends significantly on whether and how it educates its female and male talent to maximize its competitiveness and development potential; it means that each Country should strive for gender equality.

Novel Room Analysis

Jack's mother however has a tougher time than her son even though she was once part of this society. Because of her isolation for seven years and he birth of her son, Jack's mother struggles to readjust to her old life. Since her new life revolves around Jack her concern towards him at the beginning makes her adaptation a slower process but as she realizes his true importance in her life he becomes the reason for her sudden improvement. The birth of Jack gave his mother a purpose to live and a reason to believe that escape was still a possibility.When Jack's mother is being interviewed in front of a live audience, she explains Jack's impact on her life, â€Å"Jack was everything. I was alive again, I mattered† (Donahue, 233). After her unsuccessful attempts to escape from Old Nick's imprisonment, Jack's mother loses all of her faith and gives up on believing that she could have a regular life once again. This only changes when her son is born and she acquires a new purpose, re sponsibility in her life. Because she was the only person present in Jack's life, she had to pass on to him everything that she was capable of.This included simple things such as teaching him how to brush his teeth or how to take a bath. Jack would not have learned these things if it were not for his mother. She knows how important she is to him when she says, â€Å"l was just afraid Jack would get ill – me too, he needed me to be K† (233). This idea of being needed by someone is what Jack's mother needs to keep going and to forget the circumstances that she was living in. As a consequence of being born hidden from society, Jack grew in an imaginary world which was created by his mother.This was done to prevent Jack from dreaming of a life that he could never have and to give his mother control over things. However, this only worked until they were rescued exposing Jack to the real world. When the interviewer asks his mother if it will be easier to untie raising jack i n this new world she says it will be more difficult. She says, â€Å"Its actually harder. When our world was eleven foot square it was easier to control. Lots of things are freaking Jack right now. But I hate the way the media call him a freak, or an idiot savant, or feral, that word† (236).Jack's mother is not only worried about her son's future but she is also wondering whether this fantasy she created for her son was a great idea. This concern she has towards Jack is making her life miserable because she has not only to take care of herself but also of her son. The mother was locked up for seven ears and just like Jack she has to adapt to society once again. The way the media sees and talks about him affects her because she does not see him that way. She is afraid that he will suffer for the rest of life if this image others have of him does not change.The overwhelming pressure and responsibility Jack's mother experiences causes her to try to take her life away. When Jack returns from a trip with his uncle he notices that something is wrong, â€Å"l see Ma's pill bottles open on the table, they look mostly empty. Never more than two, that's the rule, how could they be mostly empty, where id the pills go? ‘ (249). Swallowing the extra pills is the best way Jack's mother sees to avoid having to face her problems. She knows attack's adaptation to society will not happen suddenly and for it to move forward she needs to participate.However, she does not think that she is well and ready enough to play the supportive and strong mother figure Jack needs at this moment. The way she deals with her desperation by giving up on everything and everyone around her shows her lack of maturity. If she dealt with her problems as a mature adult she would not have done what she did because at first she loud have thought about Jack instead of herself. The constant attention and questioning from the media makes her doubt whether she would be up for the challenge of taking care of Jack.When she is being interviewed, Jack's mother demonstrates how tired she is of the all the attention they have been getting lately, â€Å"I'm not a saint. Wish people would stop treating us like we're the only ones who ever lived through something terrible. â€Å"(235). Besides doubting herself there were others including family members that disbelieved in her capacity. It is clear that her insecurity is worsened by other people's pylons. When Jack's mother realizes of the mistake she is done, she decides to start from the beginning with her son.When Jack sees her mother for the first time after her incident she says, â€Å"Guess what, Jack, you and me have our own For someone who is been through a lot, the idea of living on her own with a five year old child is not an easy decision. This strength she shows is a result of her immense love for her son. The mother at this point has already realized that she needs Jack just as much as he needs her. Jack instead of making her adaptation a slower process helps his mother o see that moving on by building a new life could be the answer to all of her problems.When Jack's mother mentions to one of her counselors that Jack has been enough for her, she is told that this is a result of her becoming a mature and responsible mother (314). She is not the same woman she was before she was taken. Raising Jack is the only pride she has left and the only thing that keeps her going. Regardless all of the suffering and sacrifices, she raised a perfectly healthy child that has the potential to be successful in the future. The love Jack's mother has for her son is the major factor for err improvement, well – being.