The Process of Canonization Essay Example for Free

The Process of Canonization Essay The canonization process has existed in Catholicfor centuries. This process is steeped with history, as well as tradition, and rewards people for their unwavering commitment and faith to Catholicism. The process is long, arduous, expensive, and eventually requires authorization from the highest of Catholic officials. This paper will review the history, requirements, and financial expenses involved in the process of canonization into sainthood. History Saints are human, like us, but they personify divine power and have privileged contact with the supernatural. Saints perform miracles, receive visions, and are in love with the spirit. They truly are â€Å"the chosen few† (Dunn-Mascetti, 1994). As Catholics we refer to saints as people who are extremely holy; living their lives as perfect Christians, thus allowing them the right to serve God, on a personal level, in heaven (Schreck, 2004). Canonization is the process in which the pope declares a deceased constituent of the faithful is projected as a model and intercessor to the Christian principles and recognized as a saint due to living their life in a heroic manner or becoming a martyr because of their continued faith to God (Molinari O’Donnell, 2000). This persons name is then inducted into the canon of saints, citing those who are to be given veneration universally into the church. Canonization is an earthly decision, meaning it honors them as a saint on earth, not their entry into heaven (Bunson, M. , Bunson S. Bunson, M. , 1998). According to Molinari O’Donnell (2000), canonization originated during the early formulation of the Christian doctrines of worship, invocation, and intercession. The faithful believed that martyrs were true Christians and saints because they made the supreme sacrifice, by giving their lives, for God, the Gospel, and the good of the church. Their suffering earned them ete rnal life. Toward the end of the great Roman persecutions, the veneration of martyrs was extended to confessors, those who defended and suffered for their faith, but did not die doing so. Those confessors who had been excellent Christians, in austerity and penance, were now eligible to be rewarded with sainthood (Molinari O’Donnell, 2000). â€Å"The first formal canonization came in year 993, when Pope John XV raised Ulric of Augsburg to the altars during a synod at the Lateran Basilica†. As you will see, the qualifications for canonization in the later years became more stringent after previous inductees were found to be of imperfect sanctity (Bunson et al, 1998, p. 17). Requirements The process for canonization is divided into two phases; diocesan and Roman, or apostolic. When a person dies, and it is determined they lived a perfect and holy Christian life, a formal process for canonization is initiated. In the diocesan phase, the investigation is guided by the procedural law of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, by the diocesan bishop who formally conducts the process where the candidate died. A cause defined as â€Å"recent† is one where the person’s eligibility for sainthood can be corroborated through the disposition of eye-witnesses, and can only begin after a five years following the death of the candidate. A cause defined as â€Å"ancient† is where the evidence of virtues or martyrdom can be gathered only from written sources, subsequently, there is no time limit for this cause (Molinari O’Donnell, 2000). The postulator, a person approved by the bishop and responsible for the presentation of evidence for authenticity, also agrees to bear the moral and financial expense of the cause. Their primary job is to supervise the investigation and to determine the candidate’s fitness for canonization, by researching their life, work, and holiness. After the diocesan phase is complete, the postulator will reside in Rome where he will develop the formal argument for canonization with the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, which is comprised of cardinals and bishops. During this time, the postulator will create a Positio, a book containing an account of the candidate’s life and virtue (Molinari O’Donnell, 2000). In the diocesan phase, information, both positive and negative, on the candidate’s life, work, and holiness are collected and documented to establish the validity for the petition to canonize. In order for the nominee to advance to the next step, their published writings will be submitted for approval to two theological censors, selected by the bishop, and will be graded on doctrine and moral teachings. Other writings from the candidate will then presented to a historical commission, also selected by the bishop, which will conclude this particular phase. Evidence must clearly show that the candidate lived a life of faith, hope and charity beyond that of a common Christian (Molinari O’Donnell, 2000). The Roman, or postolic, phase commences when the acts of the diocesan process have been turned over to the Congregation for the causes of Saints, and they have declared the cause as â€Å"valid†. At this point a â€Å"relator†, an official of the Congregation, will be appointed and will assist in the creation of the Positio. Another official of the Congregation, known as the â€Å"promoter of faith†, will be accountable for the assessment of the cau se by historical and theological consultants to whom the Positio may be submitted for their endorsement. At last, all of this information is submitted to the Congregation for the causes of Saints, who will then forward it to the pope upon their endorsement. If the pope determines the candidate as suitable for canonization, a Bull of Canonization is issued, infallibly affirming the candidate’s perfection of the saint’s life and distinguishing their role as a divine intercessor; thus becoming a saint (Molinari O’Donnell, 2000). Even through the long, demanding process involving in-depth research, historical study, and theological manifestation, the decision to canonize lies solely with the pope, and requires a confirmation from God in the way of two miracles, which is scrutinized heavily by the Congregation. Miracles are a product of divine intervention and reinforce the candidate’s holiness as a servant of God. Martyrs are exempt from this miracle requirement because the act of sacrificing one’s life is viewed as the perfection of charity; they need not prove their worthiness in miracles (Molinari O’Donnell, 2000). Financial Expense The tremendously long hours of interviews, research, travel, and other intangibles make the canonization process an exhaustive event. The thoroughness of the process comes at a steep price. After sainthood is declared, the expenses include paintings representing the new saint which is given to the pope, cardinals, and other officials of the Congregation for the causes of Saints. Other expenses include decorations of the Basilica, Pontifical Mass, Sacred Vestments, and incidental expenses that make for a sizeable bill to the postulator of the cause. For example the final expenses for the canonization by Saint Leo XIII of Saint Anthony Maria Zaccaria and Saint Peter Fourier came to the total of 221,849. 10 Italian lira. When we convert that to the U. S. dollar, the total becomes $42,816. 87 (Beccari, 1907). Conclusion Canonization has long been a tradition in Catholicism that goes all the way back to year 993. The process is a thorough procedure that involves intensive investigation of a nominee and standard they maintained in their Christian and personal life. The requirements are tightly scrutinized, and for good reason, due to the nature of the appointment to saint. A saint is in personal contact with God in heaven; we worship and pray to them. We rely, trust, and place our faith in the pope and Congregation to make the right decision, to allow only the most deserving and most holy to be rewarded with the highest honor the church can bestow upon a human being. The cost is great, but the return on the investment is heavenly.

Current State Of Ethics In Business Commerce Essay

Current State Of Ethics In Business Commerce Essay The pace, scale and complexity of modern business has forced a change in how business is done. While it is accepted that it is foolish to do business with someone who is not trustworthy, the question arises whether you can trust those who are not ethical in all of their behaviour. Short timelines, tight supply chains and narrowing margins mean that chances cannot be taken that suppliers or customers will not honour their contracts as expected. Suppliers and customers are now becoming partners and stakeholders in business, and relationships with them are becoming more and more underpinned by trust. Trust is built on expectations of truth in words and consistency in behaviour. It is impossible to do profitable business with someone who says one thing one day and does something different the next. Ethical leadership is vital in business today. It is the backbone to any long lasting successful company in todays business market. It is important for companies to clearly layout their stance on ethical leadership to employees and the public, to have members of the company lead by example, and to reinforce the ethical leadership concept through out the year. By following these steps, the company will sustain or acquire ethical leadership in their companys culture. Although business accepted ethics slightly change through out the years, everyone should know if an action is ethical or unethical before they take an action. The importance of companies clearly defining their stance on ethical behavior will let individuals know how making an unethical decision will impact them, their fellow workers, and the company as a whole. On the other hand members of the company will also know how making an ethical decision will have a positive impact. Once a clear ethical leadership stance is taken, rewarding or punishing ethical or unethical actions should strictly uphold the rules. There should be an unbiased group to facilitate this activity, for example a Human Resources Department. Every employee, from the CEO to the mailroom clerk, should practice ethical leadership. Every member and every group can and should exhibit ethical leadership. This concept should not just be thought of as a manager to his report. Ethical leadership can happen in unexpected situations, for example where a CFO of a company asks the mailroom clerk to do an unethical act and the mailroom clerk refuses the CFOs request. The clerk refused based on the companys stance on ethical behavior. In this example, the clerk presented ethical leadership, but was in no way in a leadership role. The clerk would also feel safe taking this stance because he believes in his companies set rules on ethical leadership. He will not be negatively impacted due to the fact that he can contact his unbiased Human Resources department with issues of this nature, on top of the fact that he maybe rewarded for taking this ethical stance. Reinforcing the ethical leadership concept through out the year is also important for businesses. Not only reinforcing, but also reinforcing with meaning and showing the value of ethical leadership. Making positive examples of employees through rewards, have mandatory yearly training (make it fun), send positive ethical leadership examples out as part of company newsletter, ensure that unethical behavior is dealt with in an ethical way, restate companys stance during large meetings, make ethical leadership apart of each employees personal evaluation each year (make them give examples) and have ethical workshops. All of these examples will ensure that every employee knows the companys stance on ethical leadership through reinforcement. The over all concept of ethical leadership is that it is as important as making a profit in the business world. Profit and ethical leadership should be top priorities for any company that plans to have a long lasting existence. Ethics in itself can become a very pliable term with many grey areas, so focusing on specific ethics may prove futile. However, focusing on doing the right thing along with the reinforcement of ethical leadership may be the answer. Baking ethical leadership into a companys culture is key. Ethical leadership holds a positive outlook with great potential in the current business environment is the improvement that we have seen in ethical issues over the relatively recent years. As we all know accepted ethical behaviors have slightly changed over the years and will continue to do so. Ethical leadership along with the help from laws has driven the implementation of the halt or reduction of racial discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual discrimination. It is believe that accepted ethics have made great leaps and ethical leadership is one of the driving tools to solidify these concepts. Recent huge companies like Enron and World Com have made great examples of the importance of ethical leadership. It is said that the CEO of Enron, who was just sentenced to many years in prison, had the saying that nothing else matters besides profit. This is apparently not the best way to lead a long-term successful company. The fall of companies that disregard ethical leadership cost all Americans, the companys employees, and share holders billions of dollars. Based on this fact, the health of economies depends on companies to lead with strong ethics. One positive aspect that these unethical companies did do for America is to drive home the absolute importance of ethical leadership in business. Due to the unethical acts of these huge companies, everyone has taken notice. Many colleges are driving ethics harder then they ever have, the media attention has been enormous, and US companies are really sticking to ethical leadership programs better now than in the past. Recent changes in the business environment have deeply affected businesses and ethics consultancies that are concerned that the word ethics, in a business context, has lost its original meaning. They consider ethics to be unregulated behavior as well as regulated and talk about what is ought to be done as well as what we is compelled to be done. Not only would an ethical person not break the law or flout a regulation, but he/she also would think hard about doing something perfectly legal that gave the person ethical concerns. The ethics industry, now called the ethics and compliance industry, dwells almost entirely on issues of law and regulation. It is thought that ethics, as an important business tool, has been sidelined. The ethics industry emerged in the 1970s with defense scandals that resulted in the Defense Industry Initiative, a self-regulatory body of defense contractors. It really launched in 1991 with the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations, which helped judges to determine consequences for corporate misbehavior and, critically, identified seven steps that businesses could take to mitigate those consequences. The suggested steps included a code of ethics or conduct, training in the code, and a high-ranking person to oversee the program Many of the early providers were academics and nonprofits, like IGE, who believed that it was possible to guide corporate behavior through improved corporate decision-making. The waves of scandal that culminated in the 2008 financial tsunami have all but erased our formal ethics beginnings in business. A backwash of regulation, prompted by an outraged public, followed each wave. Companies, ethical and otherwise, are drowning in rules, expensive rules and regulations that make global competition difficult. Good companies are still doing the right things, but the focus has shifted from thinking ethically to complying with myriad regulations. In other cases, a whole new workaround ethic focuses on ways to skirt the rules. Following the recession, companies are demanding that people make their numbers while still following the rules, which even ethics professionals see as difficult. Professionals who used to direct their employers ethics programs are disappearing, replaced by legal professionals with specific expertise in bribery and corruption, export controls, insider trading, money laundering, and other topics of special interest. Were unhappy with the retrogressive sea change, but our respondents found some treasure silver lining, perhaps washed up on the beach. Anticorruption has a surprising ally, social networking, which has become a global phenomenon. Although the United States has a new portfolio of laws governing business (especially financial business) called the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which encourages whistle-blowers with offers of cash bounties and protection, social networking already has leapt far beyond. It is almost impossible to escape the reach of texting, tweeting, YouTube, and Facebook. Employees, customers and suppliers stay connected and theres really no place to hide when people take pictures and movies with their smart phones and make their observations public on the Internet. Although staff departments responsible for ethics have experienced cutbacks in funding, they are now working more closely with other departments that help to manage their companys risk. Its common to find close cooperation among ethics and compliance, internal audit, security, health, safety and environment, legal, and human resources. The benefit is that companies are likely to spot and avert misbehavior more quickly. Additionally, ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR) now work more closely because their intentions are similar making the corporation a responsible citizen through attention to environmental and human rights issues. There is also exposure to legal penalties. Companies involved in international trade have to represent their products to potential or current clients based on their expected inputs by the suppliers. Â  A company that is involved in illegal activities, or that knowingly falsifies information on inputs supplied can create serious problems for its business partners. Â  A company with a good reputation and solid brands has much to lose, and should not take chances with its brand value. Another issue challenging the practice of good business ethics is the values, which employees bring to the work environment. Much has been said over the years about the deterioration of employees work ethics. The impact of poor work ethics results in low productivity owed to high levels of absenteeism, tardiness, theft and acceptance of bribe taking. A company that wishes to be efficient and competitive in the future cannot accept this state of affairs. There is a strong business case for the introduction of structured programs to support ethical behaviour in companies, size notwithstanding. These programs should be more than a mere encouragement to be honest, and should be based on clearly articulated values that are linked to the overall vision and mission of the company. The Manual of Business Ethics for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises prepared by the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) and the US Department of Commerce describes the following benefits among others: Enhanced Reputation and Goodwill: A reputation for integrity is important for securing the loyalty of customers, for recruiting and training the best staff, for winning community acceptance and accessing bank and supplier credit. Risk reduction: The process of developing a business ethics program involves the company in identifying and assessing the factors that could pose risks to reputation and financial performance, and developing and implementing the business processes that reduce those risks. Reduced costs: Providing employees with clear guidelines of how to conduct day to day business such as where and when to obtain quotations; how to carry out tenders; how to conclude contracts and how to avoid conflicts of interest can reduce transaction costs and improve the supply chain function. Protection from Unethical Employees: A program would include clear guidance in respect of the misappropriation and unauthorised use of company resources, and the consequences that could flow from violations, information that employees with undeveloped values may not fully appreciate. Recommendations for efforts that build ethical cultures without increasing expenses are as follows: Improve communication practices. Ethics programs are usually well constructed, but poorly disseminated. Require middle managers to train their direct reports and keep the message alive with ethics meetings. Employees often dont know or recognize the CEO and merely tolerate E-learning, but they actually pay attention to their managers. Encourage government to recognize and reward the value of ethics and compliance programs. Focus on corporate culture. Perhaps more emphasis on culture will galvanize corporate intentions and resources toward long-term corporate health in addition to dealing with the emergency of the moment. Operating according to values, accentuating the positives, telling the stories, and removing the negatives would empower good employees and managers and boost productivity. People actually like to work when the culture is right. Ever hopeful, we expect corporate ethics to rebound with serious attention paid to aligning individuals within positive values-driven cultures. It wont happen until the recession fades and businesses start spending the cash theyve hoarded for the last several years to acquire the human and intellectual resources needed to make it happen.

Tragedy of the Commons and Collective Action

Tragedy of the Commons and Collective Action Do the concepts of the ‘tragedy of the commons’ and the problem of ‘collective action’ help you to understand what politics is essentially about? Your answer should include a statement of your understanding of the two concepts and examples to support your argument. I do believe that the concepts of the ‘tragedy of the commons’ and the problem of ‘collective action’ help me to understand what politics is fundamentally about. In this essay I will explain why I believe this to be true. Before I can express how these concepts help with the essential understanding of politics, I must first unravel what exactly the idea of politics is, and I will then continue by applying them to the underlying idea of politics. To help me to do this I will use relevant examples of both in order to back up my opinion and to clearly express my views. It is not simple to define ‘politics’ in just one way as many people have said it to mean very different things. Even respected authorities cannot always agree as to what the subject is about (Heywood, 2013: 2). Harold D. Lasswell famously summed up the idea of politics as being ‘who gets what, when, and how’ (Lasswell, 1936), meaning that it is all about resources. It is about dividing these resources; what these resources are, how much of these resources there is to go around, what system will be used to decide how these resources will be divided up, and how to make sure that after the resources are finished being divided throughout society, that whatever deals were put in place will hold. Politics exists in organisations, groups, and families (Dye, 2002). The broadest definition of politics would be to describe it as the activity through which people make, preserve, and amend the general rules under which the live in society (Heywood, 2013: 2), and this l eads to how politics is undoubtedly linked to conflict and cooperation, which in turn brings us to the ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ concept and the ‘Collective Action’ problem. A ‘commons’ is any resource that can be used as though it belongs to all. Garrett Hardin explained the concept of how tragedy can occur within a commons with a parable (Hardin, 1968). The parable was about farmers using a pasture which was open to all, for their herds to graze. As rational beings, each farmer will seek to maximise their own utility, and by pursuing their own self-satisfaction, we expect that each farmer will try to keep as many animals as possible on the pasture (Hardin, 1968). Eventually overgrazing and overcapacity destroys the system of the commons and leads to the collapse of the resource. This is the tragedy. In a limited world, freedom in a commons brings ruin to all, and it can take just one selfish person to break the equilibrium (Hardin, 1968). Of course the concept spreads much farther than just famers grazing their animals on a pasture. Quite a substantial proportion of the world’s most difficult problems can be seen through the lens of the Tragedy of the Commons; famine in Africa, drought, etc. The Tragedy of the Commons can honestly be seen almost anywhere we look in politics. The government can limit access to commons, but there is no technical solution because once this is done it is no longer commons (Hanson, 1997). If we look at America’s political system of ‘laissez faire’, everything, even people become commons. Money is political power and all political decision are reduced to economic ones, meaning that there is no political system but only an economic one (Hanson, 1997). America is one large commons that will be exploited until destruction (Hanson, 1997). The only seen solution is to invent and introduce a political system that cannot be bought monetarily, and then limit freedom in the commons. Otherwise the population will crash (Hanson, 1997). The theoretical approach to politics known as the ‘rational-choice theory’ is a big notion behind the Tragedy of the Commons, and the Tragedy of the Commons definitely aids the understanding of this political theory. The theory assumes that the majority of ‘rational’ people act on the basis of self-interest and will calculate the likely costs and benefits of any action before deciding what to do and will only proceed if the benefits outweigh the costs (Scott, 2000). This theory is clearly employed and understood through the Tragedy of the Commons. In the parable of the farmers, the private benefits received from increasing their heard are greater than the private costs charged, and therefore the farmers adds more animals to the common grazing field. The commons is a fundamental social institution (Crowe, 1969). Hardin’s parable is a useful illustration of a genuine public-policy problem; how does one manage a resource that doesn’t belong to any one? (Tierney, 2009). Due to man’s pursuance of self-interest, social co-operation doesn’t occur naturally, and problems are bound to arise when trying to make people co-operate in society. Government and social order is all about people coming together to achieve goals, and selfishness will effect many policy outcomes. The way we formulate ideas has a real impact on the society which we live in. People derive private benefits from common resources and the costs can be spread to people around them. We can take pollution as a relevant example. If I am lazy and decide to just throw my rubbish onto the street, I receive the benefit of the ease of discarding my waste without effort, while those around me receive the cost of a polluted town. Exhaust from cars pollutes the air and while the driver in benefited by quick and easy travel to their required destination, everyone around them suffers with polluted air and increase global warming. Politics is centrally concerned with the maintenance and management of scarce resources. This is where collective action appears. Collective action is when a number of people come together to achieve a common objective, when it isn’t necessarily in anybody’s interest to do the right thing. It is about getting people who are busy rushing to do their own things, to do something collectively that will benefit all. We talk of the problem of scarce resources as a collective action problem, because essentially what is behind the idea is how to get people to come together- to cooperate. The ‘collective action problem’ describes the situation where the ‘free-rider’ problem occurs, when rational actors have no individual incentive to support the collective action (Scott, 2000), and despite their unwillingness to cooperate themselves, the still gain from the cooperation of others. Most action taken on behalf of groups of individuals is taken through orga nizations (Olson, 1965:9), and therefore my example will based on organizations in a general form. Rational individuals will join organizations where the benefits of membership and involvement outweigh the costs, but if they can still receive the benefits without joining the organization, they will not feel the need to join it. The rational choice theory is re-introduced here. If every individual views the membership of the organisation in the same way, nobody will be willing to join and there will be nobody left willing to provide the service of the organization. There is also the example of voters. Individual voters have very little influence over the result of elections and they therefore don’t pay much attention to politics or policy decisions. They do not analyse it in depth, and vote irrationally. We therefore end up with worse outcomes than we would have if they had chosen to stick with their lack of knowledge and not vote. Cooperation is at the heart of the notion of collective action. Groups of individuals with common interests are expected to act on behalf of their common interests as much as single individuals are expected to act on behalf of their personal interests (Olson, 1965: 5). Unfortunately, people do not cooperate naturally. When left with individuals who are motivated by self-interest and don’t work for the group, we must think: what kind of society can emerge and how do you force people into action that will make them work for the group. Tax is a social condition. It is not left up to the people to decide what amount they think they should pay, as although tax paid goes towards services that benefit society as a whole, individuals would avoid paying if they had the choice, if they felt they could still receive the same benefits. Making tax a social condition is an example of a solved political collective action problem in a way. In conclusion I feel that I have convincingly explained why I believe that the concept of the ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ and the ‘Collective Action’ problem both aid in the understanding of what politics is essentially about. What fundamentally links these ideas with politics is cooperation, as it is the foundation for them all. The political ‘Rational Choice’ theory can be comprehended when used with examples from both the tragedy of the commons, and the collective action problem. Politics is about managing resources and searching for conflict resolution that may arise, and both ideas can definitely be described as conflicts that may be faced during this process. Bibliography CROWE, L. B. (1969) Science, New Series. The Tragedy of the Commons Revisited. [Internet], November 1969, 166(3909), pp. 1103-1107. Available from: http://www.sciencemag.org/site/feature/misc/webfeat/sotp/pdfs/166-3909-1103.pdf [Accessed 11th January 2014]. DYE, R. T. (2002) Politics in America, Basic Edition. New Jersey, Prentice Hall (5th Edition). Available from: http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_dye_politics_5/6/1739/445252.cw/index.html [Accessed 7th January 2014]. HANSON, J. (1997) Tragedy of the Commons Re-Stated. Available from: http://dieoff.org/page109.htm [Accessed 12th January 2014]. HARDIN, G. (1968) Science. The Tragedy of the Commons. [Internet], December 1968, 162, pp. 1243-1248. Available from: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/162/3859/1243.full [Accessed 7th January 2014]. HEYWOOD, A. (2013) Politics. Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan (4th Edition). LASSWELL, D. H. (1936) Politics: Who Gets What, When, How. New York, London, Whittlesey House, McGraw-Hill Book Company Incorporated. OLSON, M. (1965) The Logic of Collective Action. Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Massachsetts, Harvard University Press. SCOTT, J. (2000) ‘Rational Choice Theory’, in G Browning, A Halcli, F Webster (eds), Understanding Contemporary Society: Theories of the Present. London, SAGE Publications Ltd, pp. 126-139. Available from: http://www.soc.iastate.edu/Sapp/soc401rationalchoice.pdf [Accessed 10th January 2014]. TIERNEY, J. (2009,) The Non-Tragedy of the Commons. The New York Times. Available from: http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/the-non-tragedy-of-the-commons/?_r=0 [Accessed 12th January 2014].

The Study of the Relationship (Satire) Essay -- essays research papers

The Study of the Relationship Introduction A relationship? Something meaningful? Forever? HA! All ploys and devious schemes devised by horifically cruel creatures, in order to have their every wish granted for all of eternity. These terms were created to destroy our lives, they were created by the most evil and demented of all creatures, The Female. Ask any boyfriend, or should I say "slave", and they will tell you that the Female is a very mean creature that gets her every way without any questions. They turn us into their servants and force us into a permanent relationship, or a permanent "slavery", as I prefer to call it. Step One: Scouting Their Prey The First thing you need to remember about these...things, is that they always, without exeption, travel in packs. So remember that when aproaching one of them. Back to the point at hand. When in the proper habitat that these Females inhabit, stay cautious, as they seem to sometimes pounce upon their prey, and ask you to preform something that you are currently incapable of (example: asking you to dance). These manuvers are used to make you semi-embaressed, and thus would do anything to regain your higher status, no matter how long it takes you. Thus they have control before any plans are even made. Step Two: Pulling Out The Whip After the initial request made by the male generally, thye begin to start a "relationship", or so it is called. By this time you are already stuck with her, and all of your friends...

Social Work Interventions and Strategies to promote Health Rights ? A Panel Discussion :: essays research papers

Social Work Interventions and Strategies to promote Health Rights –   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A Panel Discussion Ragland Remo Paul* Introduction: Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the General Assembly of the United Nations on the 10th December 1948 states as follows; â€Å"(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.† This is the basis on which the concept note of this conference has been formulated. People’s Health Assembly on the 8th December 2000 endorsed the People’s Charter for Health, which states as follows, â€Å"HEALTH AS A HUMAN RIGHT – Health is a reflection of a society’s commitment to equity and justice. Health and human rights should prevail over economic and political concerns. This Charter calls on people of the world to: 9. Support all attempts to implement the right to health. 10. Demand that governments and international organizations reformulate, implement and enforce policies and practices, which respect the right to health. 11. Build broad-based popular movements to pressure governments to incorporate health and human rights into national constitutions and legislation. 12. Fight the exploitation of people’s health needs for purposes of profit.† Violations or non-existence of human rights and in specific in health rights is not a result of any single factor. Health is not merely a physical issue. It is a social, economic and political issue and above all a fundamental human right. Inequality, poverty, exploitation, violence and injustice have been instrumental in the violation of health rights for the poor and marginalized (and in some cases the rich and those with access to health care.) Here today at this panel discussion we are going to try and explore the interventions and strategies that we as social workers can do to promote health rights. This paper does not claim to provide for the entire list of interventions and strategies to promote health rights, but will certainly look at some critical areas. The main attempt of this paper is to set our minds thinking in this critical area of human rights, to innovate and formulate strategies to promote health rights.

Bartolomé de Las Casas.. Immanuel Kant, “What Is Enlightenment?” Response Essay

This reading is an account of the discovery of the Americas by Spanish Christians. It tells of the devastation of the many islands around Hispaniola and the mainland of what is now North America for forty-nine years. On the Spaniards arrival the Natives did no harm to them and believed them to be descended from the heavens. That was until the Spanish began to murder and torment them due to their greed for what the Natives had. The choices of converting to the Christian religion or dying were the Native’s only options and anyone showing any sign of resistance were killed. An estimated 12 million Native American souls were lost during those forty-nine years due to the devastation. The motives behind the Spanish’s taking over of the land was supposed to be religious but the killings, violence and theft showed no sign of religion at all. It was all about greed and the Native American’s were treated extremely unfairly. The Spaniards greed kept them from treating the Natives as anything more than beasts. It also makes me wonder how they would have treated the Chinese or Asians, since that is what they were originally looking for on their voyage west. Reading: 18-5 Immanuel Kant, â€Å"What Is Enlightenment? † This reading is an essay by Immanuel Kant going into detail about the lack of enlightenment, explain what enlightenment is and what the public needs in order to be enlightened. Kant explains what dependency is and how it is hard for someone to work themselves out of it and that enlightenment is a person’s emergence from their own dependency. He says that the public can only achieve enlightenment slowly. Freedom is required for enlightenment according to Kant, the freedom to use our own reason on issues. I think that this essay has a powerful message. Kant explains how important it is for individuals to be independent and free in order for the public as a whole to be enlightened. It would seem that these things are common sense to people, because they really are simple and things that we here every day but I have never really thought of it the way Kant explains it. Kant’s words are sort of a guide to what people should strive for in life.

Medieval Torture Paper

People have these romantic notions that the medieval time period was full of knights in shining armor and fairytale princesses, when in all reality, the medieval time period was a bloodthirsty and violent time period. Government and religious officials used sadistic torture to punish suspects and obtain confessions. Torture is the deliberate and cruel infliction of mental and physical suffering to obtain information or for any other reason. †The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear† ( Lovecraft). The tools and devices used brought extreme pain to the victim.This cruel infliction of mental and physical suffering was said to be done in the name of crime and its deserved punishment. It was also done as a means to intimidate a suspect or for revenge. The laws of this time period did not have any fixed rules for the treatment of prisoners or suspects. The different types of torture were used depending on the victim’s crime and social status. The government tu rned its back on these practices, which lead to the creation of gory torture chambers because of the misuse of freedom.In bigger cities like London, crime was more harshly enforced. A skilled torturer used instruments, methods and devices to prolong life as long as they could, while inflicting the most pain before they executed the victim. Many castles had torture chambers in the dungeon or in the tallest tower, where they can torture many victims at once. Medieval tortures had two types of devices. Devices they used to torture victims and devices they used to execute victims. Torture chambers of the medieval time period are designed to scare the victims.These chambers are built underground or in the tallest tower of the castle. When the victim enters the chamber, there awaits the torturer wearing a black hood with their face covered. The entrance of these chambers were accessed through winding passages, which served the function of muffling the screams of the victims throughout the rest of the castle. The torture chambers are small, usually eleven feet by seven feet. Most of the chambers were dingy, vermin infested and dimly lit.Tortures could hold ten to twenty victims in the room at once and would never clean the blood or flesh, so victims would suffer from diseases and viruses. Physical torture is the most common type of torture during the medieval time period. They created many types of torture devices that they would use on their victims to obtain confessions. Their method of torture depended on the victims crime and social class. â€Å"What strikes us most in considering the mediaeval tortures is not so much their diabolical barbarity †¦ as the extraordinary variety, and what may be termed the artistic skill, they displayed.They represent a condition of thought in which men had pondered long and carefully on all the forms of suffering, had compared and combined the different kinds of torture, till they had become the most consummate masters of the ir art, had expended on the subject all the resources of the utmost ingenuity, and had pursued it with the ardour of a passion† (Parry). During this time period there were no laws that stated how prisoners or suspects should be treated, so people of this time period decided torture was the best.The government knew of these practices and turned their backs to them, which lead to the creation of gory torture devices. They created two different types of devices, ones they used for torture and ones they used for execution. These torture devices were feared among the people because they didn’t want to be the torturers next victims. Some of the most gruesome and feared devices that were created were the judas cradle, brazen bull, the wheel, the stake, the rack, pear of anguish, and the breast ripper.The judas cradle was a terrible medieval torture device. The victims were placed on top of a pyramid-like seat. The victim was usually naked to increase the humiliation and had th eir feet tied together. The tip of the pyramid was placed into the victims anus or vagina. This torture could last between a couple hours to a couple days. The time it took for a victim to die varied from victim to victim. To speed up the dying process, tortures would add weights to the victims legs or they would put oil on the device.Some torturers tried to speed up the process where as others tried to prolong the process as much as possible. Some tortures would lift the victim off the device at night with ropes and continue the torture in the morning. To obtain vital information from a victim, or if a victim refused to talk, the torturer would rock the victim on the pyramid, or make the victim fall repeatedly. The pyramid was never washed, so if the victim did not die quickly enough, or if the torture was interrupted, they would end up dying from and infection.The brazen bull was a hollow statue made out of brass to look like a bull. First the victims tongue would be cut out, then they were placed in the hollow statue. After the door was shut, a fire would be lit around the bull. The movements and screams made the bull seem alive, which brought amusement to the audience and took away from the fact that a person was being burned alive inside the bull, because the people could not see or hear the victim. Legends say that the brazen bull was made by a Greek named Perillus. He made it for a tyrant.Expecting a reward, Perillus was the first person put into the bull. The wheel was one of the most adaptable torture devices the medieval time period used. Earlier torturers would tie victims to a wheel and send them rolling down a rocky hill side. Through the medieval time period torture devices became more elaborate. Torturers mounted the wheel to a frame so it could spin freely. They would tie the victim to the wheel and place fire under the victim or spikes to rip the victims flesh to shreds. The wheel itself could have spikes on it so pain came from all the differ ent sides.The worst torture by the wheel was when the torturers broke all four of the victims limbs and threaded them through the spokes on the wheel. The wheel would be attached to a tall pole and left outside. â€Å"The rack is commonly considered the most painful form of medieval torture† (Medievality). The rack was a wooden frame with two ropes tied at the bottom and two tied into a handle at the top. Using a handle that pulled the ropes, the torturer pulled the victims arms. After so long of the victim being pulled, the victims bones were dislocated.If the torturer kept pulling, the victims limbs could be torn apart. This method was mostly used for obtaining confessions, but it was also used to bring psychological fear to the victims. If a torturer went too far, they could leave the arms and legs useless. As the medieval period advanced the rack was also advanced. Spikes were put on the wood frame to penetrate the victims back as their limbs were being pulled apart. Bein g burned at the stake was the last stop for the tortured victims, because this torture was always fatal.All torturers had to do was make a pile of dry wood with a stake in the middle to tie the victim to, then light the wood. Most of the time it only took thirty minutes for the victim to lose consciousness, unless it was windy, then the victim could endure up to two hours of being burned alive. Before being burned at the stake, victims were tortured using other devices. Being burned at the stake was a public event where people brought their kids to watch, hoping to put fear in their minds, so that they wouldn’t grow up and break the law. Torturers had special practices they used on women.Women only torturers were designed to destroy and mutilate aspects of femininity. The practice of sexually torturing women can be traced back to the roman times. â€Å"Female victims were given to soldiers to be raped, or sent to brothels. They might be tied up or paraded through public stre ets naked. These public humiliations were sometimes followed by bizarre sexual mutilations† (Grabianowski). Torturers were fixated on womens breasts. They would burn, brand and amputate them. The worst device used on a woman was the breast ripper. The breast ripper was a metal claw that pierced the skin of the breasts.The victim would be tied to the wall and the claw would pull the breast away from the body, shredding them. This method was used as an interrogation practice or it would be used to punish women that had children without being married and or were convicted of hearsay, adultery or an accomplice of another crime. The pear of anguish of anguish was a torture device that was worse than the breast ripper. This torture device was a pear shaped device made up of four metal leaves joined by a hinge at the top along with a key or a crank. The pear could be inserted into the anus, vagina or the mouth.When the torturer turns the key, the pears leaves open up causing internal damage. The orifice that received the pear was symbolic. If the victim received the oral pear they were convicted of hearsay. Anal pears were received by homosexuals and the vaginal pear was received by women. Tortures not only use physical torture, they also use psychological torture. Psychological torture uses non-physical methods of torture. Psychological torture of the medieval time period is not as well known as the physical torture the tortures inflict on their victims.Psychological torture is subtle and easier to conceal than physical torture. This type of torture uses extreme stressors and situations, like shunning, mock execution, violation of sexual or social norms and solitary confinement. Psychological torture can induce severe psychological pain, suffering and trauma with no visible effects. Tortures often use physical and psychological torture in combination, to make the effects more terrifying. If the victims survived the hours, even days of torture and weren’ t put to execution, they suffered lasting physical and psychological effects.All the devices and torture tactics used in the medieval period left the victims permanently disfigured, mutilated and crippled. â€Å"Prolonged confinement in a scavenger’s daughter would render the victim permanently unable to stand up† (medievalwarefare). The torture brought immediate pain, but just because the torture stopped, doesn’t mean the pain stopped unless the victim were put to execution. Victims of torture would suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder with symptoms such as flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, anxiety, insomnia, nightmares, depression and memory lapses.Victims also feel emotions like quilt and shame brought on by the humiliation they have endured. Victims may also feel betrayed not only by themselves but by their family and friends. Not only do victims suffer from psychological effects, they also have physical effects that go along with their torture. Physical effects can be wide ranging. They can suffer from sexually transmitted diseases, musculo-skeletal problems, brain injury, dementia and chronic pain syndromes. The medieval time period was a blood thirsty and violent period.They created numerous torture devices that they used on victims to obtain confessions. They also created torture chambers that were used to add psychological harm to the victim before they were tortured and then executed, depending on their crime and social class. They used psychological torture and physical torture like the judas cradle and the rack. If the victim was spared or wasn’t killed by being tortured, they ended up with lasting mental and physical problems. They were left permanently disfigured, mutilated and crippled and also ended up with post-traumatic stress disorder.