All Churhes Are Cults Essays - Cult, Pejoratives, French Law

All Churhes Are Cults Most people go to church to maintain their faith in God; for me, going to church made me loose mine. The church I attended was called Faith Baptist. It was a small, shabby, old church, not an exceedingly old church with stunning architecture, but a plain, modern church that had grown old and run down. The building consisted of a square gymnasium with worn tape marks on the floor, about five or six tiny classrooms, a nursery, a chapel, and of course, the sanctuary, lined with rows and rows of wooden pews facing towards a wooden cross stretching form the floor to the ceiling. Every Sunday I would walk into the church across the worn brown carpet and up the stairs to the musty room where my Sunday school class met. Every week the teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Sweet, would present to us unusual ideas and unbelievable stories from the bible and try to scare us into believing whatever they told us. They would tell us about the ?Rapture?, which most simply states that one day Jesus will come back to earth and kill everyone that doesn't believe in him. They told us how abortion is wrong; it's the same as killing someone. They told us how homosexuals will go to hell because they are horrible sinners. They told us how Jesus died and ?rose again?, and most importantly, they told us how God is the only one who could judge us. I always listened to them, and I thought that I believed, but something was never quite right. As time progressed, the thing that wasn't right became very clear. So many of the things they had taught us contradicted each other, like ?You don't need money to worship God?, yet they passed around an offering plate. The contradiction that bothered me the most was that they said God was the only one who could judge people, and they judged people all the time. They judged people who were homosexual, people who were divorced, people who had abortions, and people who had a different religion. This contradiction led me into the experience that finally pushed me over the edge. It was when Mr. and Mrs. Sweet decided to do a study of ?cults? during Sunday school class. They came prepared with pamphlets and printed information from books about other religions. They gave each of us a forest green folder and a copy of the information for each religion, so we could save it because it was so important. Then, each week we would take out our folder and Mr. and Mrs. Sweet would give us a new cult religion to put in it. We started out with Buddhism and Muslim religions, which were so different from baptism that calling them cults didn't seem too unreasonable. However, after that, we moved on to Mormon and Catholics religions, and I could see no way in which they could be called cults. Mr. and Mrs. Sweet came up with a way to show that every religion besides baptism was a cult. But it didn't even stop there; Mrs. Sweet told us that The Lion King, yes, Disney's The Lion King was a ?cult ic movie? and she regretted every letting her grandchildren watch it. She said because the movie talked about the circle of life that it was about reincarnation, something Baptists don't believe in, thus making it cultic. When she said this to us I had to hold my mouth shut so I wouldn't laugh in her face. That was and still is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. After those eight weeks of ?cult? study I could no longer comprehend how people could go to church and listen to and believe anything that was said there. I realized that those people and their beliefs were insane, unfounded, and of no use to me, so I quit going to church. I quit forcing myself to believe in something that didn't make any sense, and had no proof or logic behind it just because I was scared of what would happen to me when I die. I still don't know what will happen to me, and I'm still scared, but I

Blissful Quotes About Love

Blissful Quotes About Love Have you ever noticed that when you are in love, you always go around with a smile on your face? Indeed, love brings immense happiness to the lives of those who are experiencing it. The following happy love quotes talk about the bliss that those in love experience. Jennifer Aniston True love brings up everything - youre allowing a mirror to be held up to you daily. John Sheffield Tis the most tender part of love, each other to forgive. Nora Roberts Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delight the heart. And they both take practice. Teilhard de Chardin The day will come when, after harnessing the winds, the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire. Erica Jong Love is everything it is cracked up to be. Thats why people are so cynical about it... It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you dont risk anything, you risk even more. Helen Keller The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched; they must be felt with the heart. George Elliot I like not only to be loved, but to be told that I am loved. Leo Buscaglia The life and love we create is the life and love we live. Barbara De Angelis Love is a choice you make from moment to moment. Joseph Conrad Woe to the man whose heart has not learned while young to hope, to love - and to put its trust in life. Michael Dorrius Love transforms; it simultaneously makes us larger and limits our possibilities. It changes our history even as it breaks a new path through the present. Saint Jerome The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart. Karr Love is the only passion which includes in its dreams the happiness of someone else. T. S. Eliot Love is most nearly itself when here and now cease to matter.

Human Recources about Rewards and recognition Essay

Human Recources about Rewards and recognition - Essay Example This paper discusses strategies that can be employed in business to improve the system of reward and recognition both for the staff and the customers. Increased action may not be the necessary outcome of reward. The quality of work is more important than the quantity of work. Some managers give equal importance to both. Therefore, reward should encourage the employee to increase both the quality and the quantity of work. The difficulty with a standardized reward and recognition program is that it is a completely impersonal process. Instead of thinking about the specific people involved, the company provides the same generic rewards to everyone. But when an element of fun and play is added to a financial reward or bonus, the experience becomes personalized and much more memorable for the award recipient. (Weinstein, 1997). The approach to reward and recognition proposed by Zigon is consistent with Victor Vroom’s Expectancy Theory according to which, different employees have different likes and dislikes so standardizing a set of rewards and patterns of recognition may not work for all. Managers’ efforts should be directed at aligning the rewards with the interests of individual employees (University of Minnesota, 2010). In her article, Ryan (n.d.) has evaluated the effectiveness of the non-monetary incentives in comparison to the monetary incentives. Ryan (n.d.) expresses that she could not find any strong empirical evidence to say whether the non-monetary incentives work. However, objective empirical evidence elaborating the strength of the non-monetary incentives is there. Malotte, Hollingstead, and Rhodes (1999) found that the non-monetary incentives like grocery store coupons were 86 per cent effective in returning the patients for the skin test reading whereas efficiency of the monet ary incentive of $10 was 95 per cent. While it is important to take measures to enhance the productivity of the staff, it is equally important to do the needful

Mind the Gap Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Mind the Gap - Essay Example Table of contents Abstract 1. Introduction 2. ‘The Small and Medium- sized Enterprises’ 3. Financial crisis on SMEs’ capital structure 4. Sovereign debt crisis which affects the bank’s credit standards, credit margin, and funding conditions 5. Regulatory changes on policies that deal with bank lending activities 6. â€Å"The Federation of small Businesses† 7. Recommendation 1) Introduction â€Å"The Small and Medium- sized Enterprises† abbreviated as SMEs is defined by the European Commission as â€Å"an enterprise employing not more than 250 employees; having an annual turnover of not more than â‚ ¬50m and balance sheet assets of â‚ ¬43m; and that has less than 25 per cent of its capital.† However, SMEs are defined using three concepts and they include small, local, and single. They are small in nature when considering the number of employees, capital and assets, and turnover. They are also owned by a single owner who could only be the sole employee. SMEs are also local in nature because their markets are usually based on local areas or places of residence (Fielden, 2003). In the European Union, Small and Medium- sized Enterprises faces a number of issues in term of financing. These issues include effects of financial crisis on SMEs’ capital structure; the sovereign debt crisis impacts on bank’s credit standards, credit margin, and funding conditions; and the effects caused by comprehensive regulatory changes on policies dealing with bank lending activities. However, â€Å"The Federation of small Businesses† abbreviated as FSB, has come to rescue these SMEs by representing them in the issues for financial market (Ministry of defence, 2013). Its functions revolve around practices dealing with financial lending â€Å"of the small and medium-sized Enterprises.† 2) â€Å"The Small and Medium- sized Enterprises† The SMEs have been recognized as the key contributors of the econo my in the European Union, due to the way they have changed the union into a market oriented economy. Currently, statistics shows that 96% of the registered firms are recognized â€Å"as small and medium sized firms,† with SMEs accounting for approximately 82%. These small businesses actively contribute to 25% of the annual Global Domestic Product of the European Union (Villa, 2011). Despite their great contribution, SMEs are faced with financial crisis, cause by various factors hence affecting the capital structure. The financial sector within the European Union is characterized by a system based bank where SOCBs or state owned commercial banks play an important role. SOCBs provide 78 % of the overall loans in the economy, with half of its credits being channeled into SOEs. This, therefore, makes it difficult â€Å"for the small and medium size enterprises† to access bank loans. 3) Financial crisis on SMEs’ capital structure However, there are a number of factor s which leads to financial crisis that affects the SMEs capital structure. The first one is firm growth. It is suggested that firm’s growth is relatively negative to its capital structure. A SMEs’ information asymmetry may demand an extra premium for it to raise external funds, despite the true

Management and Labour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management and Labour - Essay Example They can either make or break it. Thus, cooperation between the two, working as one unified body towards the goal of the organisation, is crucial, especially so that what brings profit to the organisation is no other than employee’s productivity. Yet, the source of strength of any organisation is also its weakest point because the required unity between management and labour is something elusive to achieve. Worse, it is oftentimes the source of hostility that usually brings the organisation down. As management represents the interest of the capital – gaining super-profit at the expense of exploiting labour – to achieve employee’s trust and full-cooperation for utmost productivity is a century-old challenge to management. This inherent contradiction between management and labour is seen as the usual reason why do employees restrict the level of their output. But as organisational relationships evolve in the course of time, giving more attention on human relations, and as technology displaces labour giving more leverage to management, problems of lessened employee productivity is no longer attributed to labour exploitation but to poor management. Labour is the most productive force of production because no else has the power to produce but the worker’s productivity. Even with the modernisation of technology, the crucial role of labour in capitalist production remains. Thus, ensuring worker’s high performance rate is key function of management, because anything that may cause reduction in the worker’s level of output is detrimental to the interest of the capitalist. But what makes employee restrict their output level –is it the management or the worker’s exploited working condition? To answer this question, it would be best to understand first man’s concept of work. What is work to man? What makes man work? What discourages man to work? Man works not simply to work

The Relationship Between Terrorism and Religion

The Relationship Between Terrorism and Religion RELIGIOUS TERRORISM IS THERE A LINK BETWEEN ISLAM AND TERRORISM Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.† George W. Bush Address to the US after hijack attacks on the US World Trade Centre and Pentagon, September 11, 2001 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1. When the terrorists attacked the United States on the morning of September 11, 2001, they set in motion a sequence of events that demonstrated unequivocally the power and influence ofterrorism. Less than two hours of unimaginable violence by nineteen terrorists led to repercussions felt around the world. â€Å"Beyond the death and destruction that the terrorists caused more than 3,000 people were killed in the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They also inflicted a deep psychological wound upon United States and the rest of the world†.[1] 2. Although the United States had experienced major terrorist attacks on its soil in the past, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the September 11 attacks were beyond most peoples worst nightmare. Hijacked planes crashing into U.S. landmarks and live television coverage of the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsing images that will likely be etched in ones mind forever. 3. The tragedy of September 11, 2001, has revealed the roots of deep planetary contradictions that threaten the world community and indeed life itself on planet Earth. This act of unprecedented terror against thousands of innocent people ought, at last, to start humanity thinking about the stark incompatibility of modern achievements in the areas of scientific knowledge, human rights, and the establishment of human moral standards with ideological, nationalistic, or religiousfanaticism in any form. 4. Lately, most of the terrorismseems to be about Islam, and it all seems to be the same. By all accounts the specter of jihadism looms large. Even if we suspend the belief for a moment and simply cast aside all those terrorist groups that clearly have nothing at all to do with the Islamic religionthe Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, the FARC in Colombia and the IRA in Ireland (to name but a few)we are still left with a slew of seemingly similar groups all motivated by and distorting Islam to suit their own ends[2]. The anatomy of propaganda 5. The document found in a suitcase belonging to leading September 11, 2001, terrorist Muhammed Atta further strengthens this belief. The suitcase document is reproduced below and analysed in the ensuing paragraph: â€Å"Pray during the previous night. Remember God frequently and with complete serenity. Visualize how you will respond if you get into trouble. Read verses of the Quran into your hands and rub them over your luggage, knife, and all your papers. Check your weapons, perform ablution before you leave your apartment, and remember God constantly while riding to the airport. Take courage and remember the rewards which God has promised for the martyrs†. [3] 6. The suitcase document is remarkable for four reasons. First, it embodies a classic ascetical strategy for applying formulaic principles to intended actions. Second, it shares much in common with repetitive techniques for self-hypnosis. Third, it bears a striking resemblance to mainstream traditions such as Catholicism in ascetical manuals like The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola or The Rule of St. Benedict that says, keep death daily before ones eyes. Whether or not such manuals threaten human freedom depends, of course, on the various contexts in which they have been presented. If in the wrong hands they can function as formulas and meditations both for indoctrination and for fighting holy wars. Fourth, the document from the suitcase directly connectsreligiousformulas and meditations with intentions to perpetrate mass murder. Practical checklists of objectives, terrifying in magnitude, are interwoven withreligiousstatements and then repeated and applied as mantras o f self-indoctrination. Religion — The Terrorists Best Weapon 7. Whileterrorism even in the form of suicide attacks is not an Islamic phenomenon by definition, it cannot be ignored that the lions share of terrorist acts and the most devastating of them in recent years have been perpetrated in the name of Islam. This fact has sparked a fundamental debate both in the West and within the Muslim world regarding the link between these acts and the teachings of Islam. Most Western analysts are hesitant to identify such acts with the bona fide teachings of one of the worlds great religions and prefer to view them as a perversion of a religion that is essentially peace-loving and tolerant. Western leaders such as George W. Bush and Tony Blair have reiterated time and again that the war againstterrorismhas nothing to do with Islam. It is a war against evil[4]. 8. Modern International Islamistterrorismis a natural offshoot of twentieth-century Islamic fundamentalism. The Islamic Movement emerged in the Arab world and British-ruled India as a response to the dismal state of Muslim society in those countries: social injustice, rejection of traditional mores, acceptance of foreign domination and culture. It perceives the malaise of modern Muslim societies as having strayed from the straight path (as-sirat al-mustaqim) and the solution to all ills in a return to the original mores of Islam. The problems addressed may be social or political: inequality, corruption, and oppression. But in traditional Islamand certainly in the worldview of the Islamic fundamentalistthere is no separation between the political and thereligious. Islam is, in essence, both religion and regime (din wa-dawla) and no area of human activity is outside its remit. Be the nature of the problem as it may, Islam is the solution.[5] 9. The role of religion of Islam needs closer examination since the majority of terrorists of contemporary times are practising the religion of Islam. One of the enduring questions is what religion of Islam has to do with this. Put simply, does religion of Islam cause terrorism? Could these violent acts be the fault of religion—the result of a dark strain of religious thinking that leads to absolutism and violence? Is religion the problem or the victim? 10. When one looks outside ones faith it is easier to blame religion. In the current climate of Muslim political violence, a significant sector of the American and European public assumes that Islam is part of the problem. The implication of this point of view is the unfortunate notion that the whole of Islam has supported acts of terrorism. 11. Most Muslims refused to believe that fellow members of their faith could have been responsible for anything as atrocious as they September 11 attacks—and hence the popular conspiracy theory in the Muslim world that somehow Israeli secret police had plotted the terrible deed. 12. Recently, however, â€Å"Islam† and â€Å"fundamentalism† are tied together so frequently in public conversation that the term has become a way of condemning all of Islam as a deviant branch of religion. But even in this case the use of the term â€Å"fundamentalism† allows for the defenders of other religions to take comfort in the notion that their kind of non-fundamentalist religion is exempt from violence or other extreme forms of public behaviour.[6] CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY Statement of Problem 1. Terrorism has been a persistent feature of warfare and the international security environment for centuries. The magnitude and impact of terrorism has not remained consistent but rather has ebbed and flowed over the course of time. Today terrorism has emerged as one of the most significant international and regional security issues. 2. The terror attacks of Sep 11 have brought about a lasting change in the way contemporary society perceives the religion of Islam. The perception of the people all across the globe has been that Islam is source of violence. Scope 3. Islam is a vast religion and consists of various facets. The dissertation would aim to study the historical perspective of terrorism, conceptualise terrorism and then determine how religion is used as a motivator for terrorism before studying the Quranic interpretations associated with the violence and finally aim to answer the question â€Å"Is there a link between Terrorism and Islam†. 4. The scope does not cover the causes and motivators of terrorism like cultural conflict, globalisation, and economic disparity e.t.c. but is limited to investigate the general belief that Islam is associated with the terrorism. Methods of Data Collection 5. Data for this research has been collected from the following sources: (a) Books, journals, periodicals and studies on the subject. (b) Authenticated information from selected web sites. 6. A bibliography of the books, periodicals and web sites referred to is appended at the end of text. Organisation Of The Dissertation 7. Topic is intended to be dealt in the sequence enumerated below: (a) Introduction (b) Methodology (c) The Genesis of Terrorism A historical perspective. (d) Conceptualising terrorism Definitions. (e) How religion is used as a motivator for terrorism. (f) Interpretations of Quran and Terrorism. (g) Conclusion Is there a link between Islam and terrorism? CHAPTER III THE GENESIS OF TERRORISM A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Introduction 1. Terrorism is as old as the human civilization and the use of violence has been integral to the human beings in the entire process of evolution. This chapter aims at tracing the genesis of terrorism to arrive at the roots of contemporary terrorism. 1st -14th Century AD[7] 2. Zealots of Judea. The earliest known organization that exhibited aspects of a modern terrorist organization was the Zealots of Judea. Known to the Romans as sicarii, or dagger-men, they carried on an underground campaign of assassination of Roman occupation forces, as well as any Jews they felt had collaborated with the Romans. Eventually, the Zealot revolt became open, and they were finally besieged and committed mass suicide at Masada fortress. 3. The Assassins. The Assassins were the next group to show recognisable characteristics of terrorism, as we know it today. A breakaway faction of Shia Islam called the Nizari Ismalis adopted the tactic of assassination of enemy leaders because the cults limited manpower prevented open combat. Their leader, Hassam-I Sabbah, based the cult in the mountains of Northern Iran. Their tactic of sending a lone assassin to successfully kill a key enemy leader at the certain sacrifice of his own life (the killers waited next to their victims to be killed or captured) inspired fearful awe in their enemies. 4. The Zealots of Judea and the Assassins were forerunners of modern terrorists in aspects of motivation, organisation, targeting, and goals. Although both were ultimate failures, the fact that they are remembered hundreds of years later, demonstrates the deep psychological impact they caused. 14th -18th Century 5. The period between 14th and 18th century was of relative calm. From the time of the Assassins (late 13th century) to the1700s, terror and barbarism were widely used in warfare and conflict, but key ingredients for terrorism were lacking. Until the rise of the modern nation state after the Treaty of Westphalia[8] in 1648, the sort of central authority and cohesive society that terrorism attempts to influence barely existed. 6. Communications were inadequate and controlled, and the causes that might inspire terrorism (religious schism, insurrection, ethnic strife) typically led to open warfare. By the time kingdoms and principalities became nations, they had sufficient means to enforce their authority and suppress activities such as terrorism. 7. The French Revolution. The French Revolution provided the first uses of the words Terrorist and Terrorism. Use of the word terrorism began in 1795 in reference to the Reign of Terror initiated by the Revolutionary government. The agents of the Committee of Public Safety and the National Convention that enforced the policies of The Terror were referred to as Terrorists. The French Revolution provided an example to future states in oppressing their populations. It also inspired a reaction by royalists and other opponents of the Revolution who employed terrorist tactics such as assassination and intimidation in resistance to the Revolutionary agents. The Parisian mobs played a critical role at key points before, during, and after the Revolution. Such extra-legal activities as killing prominent officials and aristocrats in gruesome spectacles started long before the guillotine was first used. The 19th Century 8. Narodnya Volya. The terrorist group from this period that serves as a model in many ways for what was to come was the Russian Narodnya Volya (Peoples Will). They differed in some ways from modern terrorists, especially in that they would sometimes call off attacks that might endanger individuals other than their intended target. Other than this, they showed many of the traits of terrorism for the first time. These traits included clandestine tactics, cellular organisation, impatience and inability for the task of organising the constituents they claim to represent and a tendency to increase the level of violence as pressures on the group mount. Internationalisation of Terrorism 9. Modern Terrorism. The age of modern terrorism might be said to have begun in 1968 when the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked an El Al airliner en route from Tel Aviv to Rome. While hijackings of airliners had occurred before, this was the first time that the nationality of the carrier (Israeli) and its symbolic value was a specific operational aim. Also a first was the deliberate use of the passengers as hostages for demands made publicly against the Israeli government. The combination of these unique events, added to the international scope of the operation, gained significant media attention. The founder of PFLP, Dr. George Habash observed that the level of coverage was tremendously greater than battles with Israeli soldiers in their previous area of operations. At least the world is talking about us now.[9] 10. Cooperation. Another aspect of this internationalisation is the cooperation between extremist organizations in conducting terrorist operations. Cooperative training between Palestinian groups and European radicals started as early as 1970, and joint operations between the PFLP and the Japanese Red Army (JRA) began in 1974. Since then international terrorist cooperation in training, operations, and support has continued to grow, and continues to this day. Motives range from the ideological, such as the 1980s alliance of the Western European Marxist-oriented groups, to financial, as when the IRA exported its expertise in bomb making as far afield as Colombia[10]. Current State of Terrorism 11. The roots of todays terrorism began to grow in 1990s. The largest act of international terrorism occurred on September 11, 2001 in set of coordinated attacks on the United States of America where Islamic terrorists hijacked civilian airliners and used them to attack the World Trade Center towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. After September 11, it is very easy to be nostalgic about the 1990s. In fact, the post Cold War decade was a very chaotic period. Americans were absorbed by domestic issues and lulled by the fact that the Cold War was over[11]. Summary 12. There were two great forces at work through the 1990s. First, there were the forces of integration, including global economic growth, cross-border development, the communications revolution and the spreading of democracy. The power of these forces was captured in the popular phrase, â€Å"The End of History.† Thats what seemed to be happening after the fall of the Berlin Wall and all of the other great events that were affecting world history. But there was also a second set of equally powerful forces—the forces of disintegration—including religious and ethnic conflict, an ever-widening North-South gap, religious fundamentalism (Islamic and otherwise) and terrorism. The power of these forces was captured in the phrase, the â€Å"Clash of Civilizations.† While I disagree with the ultimate conclusion of Samuel Huntington, the author of that phrase, that the clash is inevitable, Huntingtons words nonetheless capture the import of the forces that were prod ucing post-Cold War conflicts CHAPTER IV CONCEPTUALISING TERRORISM 1. A few terms that are important to the study of violence in Islam are: terrorism, religious terrorism and Islamic terrorism. A discussion of these terms will permit a comprehensive analysis on the way in which the use of violence sanctioned by the Quran and its interpretations amounts to Islamic terrorism. Terrorism 2. Terrorism is a non-political act of aggression in which the extent of violence used is â€Å"outside the realm of normative behavior[12]†. Terrorists use or threaten to use this violence against combatants and non-combatants to achieve political, social, economical or religious change within a given community. These reforms appeal to the terrorists and do not represent popular opinion of the society from which terrorism arises and â€Å"terrorists are no respecters of borders[13]†. 3. Thus Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir says that â€Å"there are no well defined or internationally accepted criteria to designate †¦an organization as ‘terrorist. However the UN Security Council has, on occasion, adopted resolutions putting in place specific sanctions and measures against individual countries or†¦certain terrorist organizations[14]†. 4. According to Kofi Annan the Ex Secretary General of the United Nations, the manifestations of terrorism are limitless. The â€Å"only common denominator among different variants of terrorism is the calculated use of deadly violence against civilians[15]†. 5. Terrorists are those who violate the â€Å"right to life, liberty and security[16]† vested in each civilian by the UNs Universal Declaration of Human Rights Resolution: 217 A (III). Thus the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of the United Kingdom defines terrorism as a movement in which terrorists â€Å"directly challenge the authority of democratically elected governments to manage their countrys affairs peacefully, according to the rule of law and internationally accepted fundamentals of human rights[17]†, to satisfy their own liking. Religious Terrorism 6. Religious terrorism occurs when the use of terrorism is systematized by an ideological and fanatical interpretation of a religious text. Religious terrorist groups functioning in the absence of this pretext, create â€Å"junk terrorism[18]†. 7. According to Charles Kimball, religious terrorism functions on the basis of five essential principles. These are: means justify the end, holy war, blind obedience, absolute truth claims and the ideal times. Kimball explains that ‘truth claims are essential points in a religion â€Å"at which divergent interpretations arise[19]†. Extreme interpretations of ‘truth claims provoke the ideology upon which religious terrorism is based. However the â€Å"authentic religious truth claims are never as inflexible and exclusive as zealous adherents insist[20]†. The staunch ‘truth claims professed by religious terrorists, allow them to use â€Å"religious structures and doctrines†¦almost like weapons[21]† for their movement. 8. In the process, â€Å"religious convictions that become locked into absolute truths can easily lead people to see themselves as Gods agents. People so emboldened are capable of violent and destructive behaviour in the name of religion[22]†. This conviction creates fanatical interpretations and ideologies that give rise to religious terrorism. Nancy Connors Biggos[23], states that foreign observers are unfamiliar with the extreme interpretations of religious terrorists. Thus scholars often dismiss the rhetoric of religious terrorism as one that is devoid of any strategic motivation. This creates a dearth of quantifiable data that can be used to assess religious terrorism. However Biggo explains that the lack of understanding or data cannot dismiss the fact that religious terrorism is systematized by extreme interpretations of a religious text. Therefore Wener Ruf, states, â€Å"where God was pronounced dead all notions of morality have been turned into nihilism[24]†. Islamic Terrorism 9. Islamic terrorism is a movement in which the violence caused by terrorism is derived from and used to preserve extreme interpretations of the Quran, in an Islamic community. An in-depth discussion of the how Islamic terrorism is invoked from the Quran, will be discussed in a separate chapter. However, preliminarily speaking Islamic terrorism exists where there is â€Å"a controversy over sacred space[25]†or a Kuranic tenet has been violated. Participants of this movement call for â€Å"unquestioned devotion †¦ and blind obedience[26]† to the word of God in order to ameliorate un-Islamic conditions. 9. Islamic terrorism is itself a controversial phrase, although its usage is widespread throughout the English-speaking world. Ordinary Muslims who have nothing to do with terrorism find it reprehensible because it forces upon them a label simply because they, too, are believers of Islam. In fact, the common Muslim believes that you are making him a racial hate target by using the word Islam with terrorism. Bernard Lewisbelieves that the phrase Islamic terrorism is apt, because although Islam, as a religion is not particularly conducive to terrorism or even tolerant of terrorism. In his own words: â€Å"Islam has had an essentially political character from its very foundation to the present day. An intimate association between religion and politics, between power and cult, marks a principal distinction between Islam and other religions. In traditional Islam and therefore also in resurgent fundamentalist Islam, God is the sole source of sovereignty. God is the head of the state. The state is Gods state. The army is Gods army. The treasury is Gods treasury, and the enemy, of course, is Gods enemy.† CHAPTER V RELIGION AS A MOTIVATOR FOR TERRORISM One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter.[27] 1. Introduction. The dynamics whereby religion becomes a motivator for terrorism is complex but highly understandable. What terrorists groups using this dynamic have begun to understand is that most ordinary citizens are not highly interested in politics nor dedicated to working for social change. Many ordinary citizens are however interested in religion as it relates to their personal lives and morals and because of this they can be emotionally manipulated when they learn of social injustices particularly if they view them through the lens of religious rhetoric. This is specifically true in todays world of instantaneous news coverage where it is possible to whip up political and religious outrage over events that are seen to be bordering on religious threshold. This is certainly true in the case of al Qaeda and its loosely affiliated groups within what is now commonly referred to as the global salafi jihadist movement[28]. 2. Religious Brainwash. Following the Afghan war in which Islamic peoples from many nations came together to successfully throw out the Russian â€Å"infidel†, Osama bin Laden and similar groups have successfully managed to continue to widen their global appeal by showcasing social injustices against Muslims. This helps to create within a wide group of otherwise less connected Muslim ethnic groups identification with the victims and with each other as a caring and responsive community for their â€Å"Muslim brothers.† Typically, these groups make use of the human rights abuses occurring within the Israeli/Palestinian and Russian/Chechen conflicts and now also include the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. 3. The making of a Terrorist. While instantaneous and repetitive satellite coverage of worldwide events is enough to show injustices and to even create identification with victims sharing similar ethnic or religious backgrounds it is not sufficiently enough to fuel terrorism. However, with the addition of religious rhetoric it is transformed into a potent mix. This transformation is achieved via the following means:- (a) Great Moral Wrong. First the event is presented as a great moral wrong, a threat to religious morality or purity and as one that must be corrected. The message, which is crafted for unhappy persons, social outcasts or those who are already suffering from religious guilt, is framed as one of good and evil and the listener is admonished to be on the side of good. (b) Mind of God. The second tactic in which religion is used to motivate terrorism is convincing the person that it is possible to know the mind of God. For this purpose scriptures are used, and misused, to clearly identify the social wrongs as evil, immoral or impure. Once identified as threats to morality, this tactic is used to take it a step further with additional scriptures that are used to justify violence in order to destroy the evil. In this way religion is co-opted as the means to morally justify violence in the pursuit of social change. While the world debated about the first strike in the Iraq War (to be carried out by the U.S., Great Britain and their coalition forces), moralists all over the world debated about the doctrine of â€Å"just wars†, thereby holding forth about the â€Å"mind of God† on these matters. (c) Overcoming Guilt. Thirdly, because nearly all religions hold human life as sacred and forbid murder the scriptures are used to break down these prohibitions against taking innocent human lives. Islamic rhetoric for example refers to the infidels, nonbelievers, defiled, impure, outsiders, and sinners. In this manner the intended terrorist act in ways that take innocent human lives without suffering guilt for having done so. (d) Common Cause Fourthly, by using religion as a motivator the terrorist group creates a sense of cohesion and belonging to a higher cause. They prey upon individuals who are alienated and disenfranchised. When these individuals find a cause to belong to, especially when it espouses religious rhetoric of brotherhood, love and hope for the future life they can become powerfully motivated to act in behalf of the group simply for the sense of identity.[29] (e) Heroic Martyrdom. The One of the ultimate uses of religion to motivate terrorism is to hold forth a view of the afterlife, promising rewards in the hereafter for sacrificing oneself in the here and now. This is a particularly potent tactic used with those who feel guilty about their actions in this life and uncertain of their standing with God, and with those marginal members of society who suddenly find themselves centered in a group with a purpose. The Muslim interpretation of afterlife while dying for jihad states that the â€Å"Prophet will be waiting to welcome the martyr with thousands of virgins lined up for his pleasure†. Referring to afterlife one martyr also states, â€Å"I will have God welcome me with open arms. I will be a true hero in the sky.†[30] 4. Between the two recent wars in Chechnya (1994-96 and 1999) similar means were used to convince vulnerable Chechen individuals to sign on the â€Å"new Chechen jihad† which began making use of suicide terrorism in 2000. During this time period terrorist sponsored schools used were opened in the capital Grozny which recruited young boys and girls who lost their fathers in the Russian/Chechen conflicts promising their widowed mothers a good education for their sons and daughters. Unknown to their families these vulnerable young students were indoctrinated into militant Islamic ideas foreign to Chechen experiences of Sufi Islam and some became convinced that the price of belonging to higher glory is to be willing to sacrifice oneself for the group. In the words of a hostage who conversed with one of the Chechen terrorists :- â€Å"He explained to me that while his greatest dream was to continue his education and go to university and that while he wished to live, even more important for him was to die a martyr. He had become totally convinced that martyrdom was his highest calling in life†.[31] 5. Conclusion. Religion has always been used as a means of constructing social justice, expiating wrongdoing or â€Å"sins†, and of modulating emotional states. These means however can also be used to manipulate vulnerable individuals into taking social actions that they might otherwise never have considered or consented to take part in. For instance a colleague in Chechnya reports that the children who attended terrorist based schools were taught to rock and chant repeating Koranic verses that invoke jihad, ideas that their masters consider important to instil. This practice can easily make use of inducing a suggestive hypnotic state; a light trance in which susceptible children who have already reason to want to avenge a murdered parent might be induced to do so. People interacting with such persons mentioned that â€Å"these young terrorists were â€Å"brainwashed†, rocking, singing and praying often, and readily embracing death†.[32] CHAPTER VI QURANIC INTERPRETATIONS AND TERRORISM 1. Approximately fourteen hundred years ago, Prophet Muhammad, the last in the line of the prophets of Islam, received revelation from God known as the Quran, which is the Final Testament. He came with a message of peace and reconciliation, mercy and compassion. Yet, ever since the beginning of the call of Islam, its image and that of Muslims has been subject to distortion, misconceptions, and misinterpretations. This chapter aims at establishing the link between Quran and the distortions in its interpretation which has manifested itself in the form of jihad or the holy-war. Quran and Sanction of Violence 2. The Quran permits violence as an act of defence waged to protect the Shariat in an Islamic community. The Shariat can be explained as a system of ordinances outlined in the Quran and Hadis[33] through which â€Å"God lays down for mankind the rules of conduct[34]†. The Shariat is the â€Å"guidance for all walks of life individual and social, material and moral, economic and political, legal and cultural, national and international[35]†. 3. Muslims are advised to closely follow the Shariat to acquire the well being that God has envisioned for the Islamic community. Preservation of the Shariat is an â€Å"obligation of every able-bodied individual[36]†. â€Å"Oppression, despotism, injustice and criminal abuse of power[37]† of the Shariat by Muslims or non-Muslims[38], must be punished. Quran and Jihad 4. The Quran identifies three main kinds of Jihad that can be used for the punishment of oppression and injustice. These are: internal[39], external[40] and inter-communal[41]. The Quran permits the use of violence as an optional method for all three forms of Jihad but it limits the use of violence in ‘internal[42] and ‘external Jihad. It expands on its doctrine of Jihad and violence, mainly in the context of ‘inter-communal conflicts. In these cases, Muslims can individually determine the nature and extent of Jihad based on the ‘freedom of interpretations, and the geopolitical conditions in which the conflict arises. However the most essential prerequisite in the Qurans discourse on violence is that, forc The Relationship Between Terrorism and Religion The Relationship Between Terrorism and Religion RELIGIOUS TERRORISM IS THERE A LINK BETWEEN ISLAM AND TERRORISM Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.† George W. Bush Address to the US after hijack attacks on the US World Trade Centre and Pentagon, September 11, 2001 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1. When the terrorists attacked the United States on the morning of September 11, 2001, they set in motion a sequence of events that demonstrated unequivocally the power and influence ofterrorism. Less than two hours of unimaginable violence by nineteen terrorists led to repercussions felt around the world. â€Å"Beyond the death and destruction that the terrorists caused more than 3,000 people were killed in the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They also inflicted a deep psychological wound upon United States and the rest of the world†.[1] 2. Although the United States had experienced major terrorist attacks on its soil in the past, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the September 11 attacks were beyond most peoples worst nightmare. Hijacked planes crashing into U.S. landmarks and live television coverage of the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsing images that will likely be etched in ones mind forever. 3. The tragedy of September 11, 2001, has revealed the roots of deep planetary contradictions that threaten the world community and indeed life itself on planet Earth. This act of unprecedented terror against thousands of innocent people ought, at last, to start humanity thinking about the stark incompatibility of modern achievements in the areas of scientific knowledge, human rights, and the establishment of human moral standards with ideological, nationalistic, or religiousfanaticism in any form. 4. Lately, most of the terrorismseems to be about Islam, and it all seems to be the same. By all accounts the specter of jihadism looms large. Even if we suspend the belief for a moment and simply cast aside all those terrorist groups that clearly have nothing at all to do with the Islamic religionthe Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, the FARC in Colombia and the IRA in Ireland (to name but a few)we are still left with a slew of seemingly similar groups all motivated by and distorting Islam to suit their own ends[2]. The anatomy of propaganda 5. The document found in a suitcase belonging to leading September 11, 2001, terrorist Muhammed Atta further strengthens this belief. The suitcase document is reproduced below and analysed in the ensuing paragraph: â€Å"Pray during the previous night. Remember God frequently and with complete serenity. Visualize how you will respond if you get into trouble. Read verses of the Quran into your hands and rub them over your luggage, knife, and all your papers. Check your weapons, perform ablution before you leave your apartment, and remember God constantly while riding to the airport. Take courage and remember the rewards which God has promised for the martyrs†. [3] 6. The suitcase document is remarkable for four reasons. First, it embodies a classic ascetical strategy for applying formulaic principles to intended actions. Second, it shares much in common with repetitive techniques for self-hypnosis. Third, it bears a striking resemblance to mainstream traditions such as Catholicism in ascetical manuals like The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola or The Rule of St. Benedict that says, keep death daily before ones eyes. Whether or not such manuals threaten human freedom depends, of course, on the various contexts in which they have been presented. If in the wrong hands they can function as formulas and meditations both for indoctrination and for fighting holy wars. Fourth, the document from the suitcase directly connectsreligiousformulas and meditations with intentions to perpetrate mass murder. Practical checklists of objectives, terrifying in magnitude, are interwoven withreligiousstatements and then repeated and applied as mantras o f self-indoctrination. Religion — The Terrorists Best Weapon 7. Whileterrorism even in the form of suicide attacks is not an Islamic phenomenon by definition, it cannot be ignored that the lions share of terrorist acts and the most devastating of them in recent years have been perpetrated in the name of Islam. This fact has sparked a fundamental debate both in the West and within the Muslim world regarding the link between these acts and the teachings of Islam. Most Western analysts are hesitant to identify such acts with the bona fide teachings of one of the worlds great religions and prefer to view them as a perversion of a religion that is essentially peace-loving and tolerant. Western leaders such as George W. Bush and Tony Blair have reiterated time and again that the war againstterrorismhas nothing to do with Islam. It is a war against evil[4]. 8. Modern International Islamistterrorismis a natural offshoot of twentieth-century Islamic fundamentalism. The Islamic Movement emerged in the Arab world and British-ruled India as a response to the dismal state of Muslim society in those countries: social injustice, rejection of traditional mores, acceptance of foreign domination and culture. It perceives the malaise of modern Muslim societies as having strayed from the straight path (as-sirat al-mustaqim) and the solution to all ills in a return to the original mores of Islam. The problems addressed may be social or political: inequality, corruption, and oppression. But in traditional Islamand certainly in the worldview of the Islamic fundamentalistthere is no separation between the political and thereligious. Islam is, in essence, both religion and regime (din wa-dawla) and no area of human activity is outside its remit. Be the nature of the problem as it may, Islam is the solution.[5] 9. The role of religion of Islam needs closer examination since the majority of terrorists of contemporary times are practising the religion of Islam. One of the enduring questions is what religion of Islam has to do with this. Put simply, does religion of Islam cause terrorism? Could these violent acts be the fault of religion—the result of a dark strain of religious thinking that leads to absolutism and violence? Is religion the problem or the victim? 10. When one looks outside ones faith it is easier to blame religion. In the current climate of Muslim political violence, a significant sector of the American and European public assumes that Islam is part of the problem. The implication of this point of view is the unfortunate notion that the whole of Islam has supported acts of terrorism. 11. Most Muslims refused to believe that fellow members of their faith could have been responsible for anything as atrocious as they September 11 attacks—and hence the popular conspiracy theory in the Muslim world that somehow Israeli secret police had plotted the terrible deed. 12. Recently, however, â€Å"Islam† and â€Å"fundamentalism† are tied together so frequently in public conversation that the term has become a way of condemning all of Islam as a deviant branch of religion. But even in this case the use of the term â€Å"fundamentalism† allows for the defenders of other religions to take comfort in the notion that their kind of non-fundamentalist religion is exempt from violence or other extreme forms of public behaviour.[6] CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY Statement of Problem 1. Terrorism has been a persistent feature of warfare and the international security environment for centuries. The magnitude and impact of terrorism has not remained consistent but rather has ebbed and flowed over the course of time. Today terrorism has emerged as one of the most significant international and regional security issues. 2. The terror attacks of Sep 11 have brought about a lasting change in the way contemporary society perceives the religion of Islam. The perception of the people all across the globe has been that Islam is source of violence. Scope 3. Islam is a vast religion and consists of various facets. The dissertation would aim to study the historical perspective of terrorism, conceptualise terrorism and then determine how religion is used as a motivator for terrorism before studying the Quranic interpretations associated with the violence and finally aim to answer the question â€Å"Is there a link between Terrorism and Islam†. 4. The scope does not cover the causes and motivators of terrorism like cultural conflict, globalisation, and economic disparity e.t.c. but is limited to investigate the general belief that Islam is associated with the terrorism. Methods of Data Collection 5. Data for this research has been collected from the following sources: (a) Books, journals, periodicals and studies on the subject. (b) Authenticated information from selected web sites. 6. A bibliography of the books, periodicals and web sites referred to is appended at the end of text. Organisation Of The Dissertation 7. Topic is intended to be dealt in the sequence enumerated below: (a) Introduction (b) Methodology (c) The Genesis of Terrorism A historical perspective. (d) Conceptualising terrorism Definitions. (e) How religion is used as a motivator for terrorism. (f) Interpretations of Quran and Terrorism. (g) Conclusion Is there a link between Islam and terrorism? CHAPTER III THE GENESIS OF TERRORISM A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Introduction 1. Terrorism is as old as the human civilization and the use of violence has been integral to the human beings in the entire process of evolution. This chapter aims at tracing the genesis of terrorism to arrive at the roots of contemporary terrorism. 1st -14th Century AD[7] 2. Zealots of Judea. The earliest known organization that exhibited aspects of a modern terrorist organization was the Zealots of Judea. Known to the Romans as sicarii, or dagger-men, they carried on an underground campaign of assassination of Roman occupation forces, as well as any Jews they felt had collaborated with the Romans. Eventually, the Zealot revolt became open, and they were finally besieged and committed mass suicide at Masada fortress. 3. The Assassins. The Assassins were the next group to show recognisable characteristics of terrorism, as we know it today. A breakaway faction of Shia Islam called the Nizari Ismalis adopted the tactic of assassination of enemy leaders because the cults limited manpower prevented open combat. Their leader, Hassam-I Sabbah, based the cult in the mountains of Northern Iran. Their tactic of sending a lone assassin to successfully kill a key enemy leader at the certain sacrifice of his own life (the killers waited next to their victims to be killed or captured) inspired fearful awe in their enemies. 4. The Zealots of Judea and the Assassins were forerunners of modern terrorists in aspects of motivation, organisation, targeting, and goals. Although both were ultimate failures, the fact that they are remembered hundreds of years later, demonstrates the deep psychological impact they caused. 14th -18th Century 5. The period between 14th and 18th century was of relative calm. From the time of the Assassins (late 13th century) to the1700s, terror and barbarism were widely used in warfare and conflict, but key ingredients for terrorism were lacking. Until the rise of the modern nation state after the Treaty of Westphalia[8] in 1648, the sort of central authority and cohesive society that terrorism attempts to influence barely existed. 6. Communications were inadequate and controlled, and the causes that might inspire terrorism (religious schism, insurrection, ethnic strife) typically led to open warfare. By the time kingdoms and principalities became nations, they had sufficient means to enforce their authority and suppress activities such as terrorism. 7. The French Revolution. The French Revolution provided the first uses of the words Terrorist and Terrorism. Use of the word terrorism began in 1795 in reference to the Reign of Terror initiated by the Revolutionary government. The agents of the Committee of Public Safety and the National Convention that enforced the policies of The Terror were referred to as Terrorists. The French Revolution provided an example to future states in oppressing their populations. It also inspired a reaction by royalists and other opponents of the Revolution who employed terrorist tactics such as assassination and intimidation in resistance to the Revolutionary agents. The Parisian mobs played a critical role at key points before, during, and after the Revolution. Such extra-legal activities as killing prominent officials and aristocrats in gruesome spectacles started long before the guillotine was first used. The 19th Century 8. Narodnya Volya. The terrorist group from this period that serves as a model in many ways for what was to come was the Russian Narodnya Volya (Peoples Will). They differed in some ways from modern terrorists, especially in that they would sometimes call off attacks that might endanger individuals other than their intended target. Other than this, they showed many of the traits of terrorism for the first time. These traits included clandestine tactics, cellular organisation, impatience and inability for the task of organising the constituents they claim to represent and a tendency to increase the level of violence as pressures on the group mount. Internationalisation of Terrorism 9. Modern Terrorism. The age of modern terrorism might be said to have begun in 1968 when the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked an El Al airliner en route from Tel Aviv to Rome. While hijackings of airliners had occurred before, this was the first time that the nationality of the carrier (Israeli) and its symbolic value was a specific operational aim. Also a first was the deliberate use of the passengers as hostages for demands made publicly against the Israeli government. The combination of these unique events, added to the international scope of the operation, gained significant media attention. The founder of PFLP, Dr. George Habash observed that the level of coverage was tremendously greater than battles with Israeli soldiers in their previous area of operations. At least the world is talking about us now.[9] 10. Cooperation. Another aspect of this internationalisation is the cooperation between extremist organizations in conducting terrorist operations. Cooperative training between Palestinian groups and European radicals started as early as 1970, and joint operations between the PFLP and the Japanese Red Army (JRA) began in 1974. Since then international terrorist cooperation in training, operations, and support has continued to grow, and continues to this day. Motives range from the ideological, such as the 1980s alliance of the Western European Marxist-oriented groups, to financial, as when the IRA exported its expertise in bomb making as far afield as Colombia[10]. Current State of Terrorism 11. The roots of todays terrorism began to grow in 1990s. The largest act of international terrorism occurred on September 11, 2001 in set of coordinated attacks on the United States of America where Islamic terrorists hijacked civilian airliners and used them to attack the World Trade Center towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. After September 11, it is very easy to be nostalgic about the 1990s. In fact, the post Cold War decade was a very chaotic period. Americans were absorbed by domestic issues and lulled by the fact that the Cold War was over[11]. Summary 12. There were two great forces at work through the 1990s. First, there were the forces of integration, including global economic growth, cross-border development, the communications revolution and the spreading of democracy. The power of these forces was captured in the popular phrase, â€Å"The End of History.† Thats what seemed to be happening after the fall of the Berlin Wall and all of the other great events that were affecting world history. But there was also a second set of equally powerful forces—the forces of disintegration—including religious and ethnic conflict, an ever-widening North-South gap, religious fundamentalism (Islamic and otherwise) and terrorism. The power of these forces was captured in the phrase, the â€Å"Clash of Civilizations.† While I disagree with the ultimate conclusion of Samuel Huntington, the author of that phrase, that the clash is inevitable, Huntingtons words nonetheless capture the import of the forces that were prod ucing post-Cold War conflicts CHAPTER IV CONCEPTUALISING TERRORISM 1. A few terms that are important to the study of violence in Islam are: terrorism, religious terrorism and Islamic terrorism. A discussion of these terms will permit a comprehensive analysis on the way in which the use of violence sanctioned by the Quran and its interpretations amounts to Islamic terrorism. Terrorism 2. Terrorism is a non-political act of aggression in which the extent of violence used is â€Å"outside the realm of normative behavior[12]†. Terrorists use or threaten to use this violence against combatants and non-combatants to achieve political, social, economical or religious change within a given community. These reforms appeal to the terrorists and do not represent popular opinion of the society from which terrorism arises and â€Å"terrorists are no respecters of borders[13]†. 3. Thus Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir says that â€Å"there are no well defined or internationally accepted criteria to designate †¦an organization as ‘terrorist. However the UN Security Council has, on occasion, adopted resolutions putting in place specific sanctions and measures against individual countries or†¦certain terrorist organizations[14]†. 4. According to Kofi Annan the Ex Secretary General of the United Nations, the manifestations of terrorism are limitless. The â€Å"only common denominator among different variants of terrorism is the calculated use of deadly violence against civilians[15]†. 5. Terrorists are those who violate the â€Å"right to life, liberty and security[16]† vested in each civilian by the UNs Universal Declaration of Human Rights Resolution: 217 A (III). Thus the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of the United Kingdom defines terrorism as a movement in which terrorists â€Å"directly challenge the authority of democratically elected governments to manage their countrys affairs peacefully, according to the rule of law and internationally accepted fundamentals of human rights[17]†, to satisfy their own liking. Religious Terrorism 6. Religious terrorism occurs when the use of terrorism is systematized by an ideological and fanatical interpretation of a religious text. Religious terrorist groups functioning in the absence of this pretext, create â€Å"junk terrorism[18]†. 7. According to Charles Kimball, religious terrorism functions on the basis of five essential principles. These are: means justify the end, holy war, blind obedience, absolute truth claims and the ideal times. Kimball explains that ‘truth claims are essential points in a religion â€Å"at which divergent interpretations arise[19]†. Extreme interpretations of ‘truth claims provoke the ideology upon which religious terrorism is based. However the â€Å"authentic religious truth claims are never as inflexible and exclusive as zealous adherents insist[20]†. The staunch ‘truth claims professed by religious terrorists, allow them to use â€Å"religious structures and doctrines†¦almost like weapons[21]† for their movement. 8. In the process, â€Å"religious convictions that become locked into absolute truths can easily lead people to see themselves as Gods agents. People so emboldened are capable of violent and destructive behaviour in the name of religion[22]†. This conviction creates fanatical interpretations and ideologies that give rise to religious terrorism. Nancy Connors Biggos[23], states that foreign observers are unfamiliar with the extreme interpretations of religious terrorists. Thus scholars often dismiss the rhetoric of religious terrorism as one that is devoid of any strategic motivation. This creates a dearth of quantifiable data that can be used to assess religious terrorism. However Biggo explains that the lack of understanding or data cannot dismiss the fact that religious terrorism is systematized by extreme interpretations of a religious text. Therefore Wener Ruf, states, â€Å"where God was pronounced dead all notions of morality have been turned into nihilism[24]†. Islamic Terrorism 9. Islamic terrorism is a movement in which the violence caused by terrorism is derived from and used to preserve extreme interpretations of the Quran, in an Islamic community. An in-depth discussion of the how Islamic terrorism is invoked from the Quran, will be discussed in a separate chapter. However, preliminarily speaking Islamic terrorism exists where there is â€Å"a controversy over sacred space[25]†or a Kuranic tenet has been violated. Participants of this movement call for â€Å"unquestioned devotion †¦ and blind obedience[26]† to the word of God in order to ameliorate un-Islamic conditions. 9. Islamic terrorism is itself a controversial phrase, although its usage is widespread throughout the English-speaking world. Ordinary Muslims who have nothing to do with terrorism find it reprehensible because it forces upon them a label simply because they, too, are believers of Islam. In fact, the common Muslim believes that you are making him a racial hate target by using the word Islam with terrorism. Bernard Lewisbelieves that the phrase Islamic terrorism is apt, because although Islam, as a religion is not particularly conducive to terrorism or even tolerant of terrorism. In his own words: â€Å"Islam has had an essentially political character from its very foundation to the present day. An intimate association between religion and politics, between power and cult, marks a principal distinction between Islam and other religions. In traditional Islam and therefore also in resurgent fundamentalist Islam, God is the sole source of sovereignty. God is the head of the state. The state is Gods state. The army is Gods army. The treasury is Gods treasury, and the enemy, of course, is Gods enemy.† CHAPTER V RELIGION AS A MOTIVATOR FOR TERRORISM One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter.[27] 1. Introduction. The dynamics whereby religion becomes a motivator for terrorism is complex but highly understandable. What terrorists groups using this dynamic have begun to understand is that most ordinary citizens are not highly interested in politics nor dedicated to working for social change. Many ordinary citizens are however interested in religion as it relates to their personal lives and morals and because of this they can be emotionally manipulated when they learn of social injustices particularly if they view them through the lens of religious rhetoric. This is specifically true in todays world of instantaneous news coverage where it is possible to whip up political and religious outrage over events that are seen to be bordering on religious threshold. This is certainly true in the case of al Qaeda and its loosely affiliated groups within what is now commonly referred to as the global salafi jihadist movement[28]. 2. Religious Brainwash. Following the Afghan war in which Islamic peoples from many nations came together to successfully throw out the Russian â€Å"infidel†, Osama bin Laden and similar groups have successfully managed to continue to widen their global appeal by showcasing social injustices against Muslims. This helps to create within a wide group of otherwise less connected Muslim ethnic groups identification with the victims and with each other as a caring and responsive community for their â€Å"Muslim brothers.† Typically, these groups make use of the human rights abuses occurring within the Israeli/Palestinian and Russian/Chechen conflicts and now also include the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. 3. The making of a Terrorist. While instantaneous and repetitive satellite coverage of worldwide events is enough to show injustices and to even create identification with victims sharing similar ethnic or religious backgrounds it is not sufficiently enough to fuel terrorism. However, with the addition of religious rhetoric it is transformed into a potent mix. This transformation is achieved via the following means:- (a) Great Moral Wrong. First the event is presented as a great moral wrong, a threat to religious morality or purity and as one that must be corrected. The message, which is crafted for unhappy persons, social outcasts or those who are already suffering from religious guilt, is framed as one of good and evil and the listener is admonished to be on the side of good. (b) Mind of God. The second tactic in which religion is used to motivate terrorism is convincing the person that it is possible to know the mind of God. For this purpose scriptures are used, and misused, to clearly identify the social wrongs as evil, immoral or impure. Once identified as threats to morality, this tactic is used to take it a step further with additional scriptures that are used to justify violence in order to destroy the evil. In this way religion is co-opted as the means to morally justify violence in the pursuit of social change. While the world debated about the first strike in the Iraq War (to be carried out by the U.S., Great Britain and their coalition forces), moralists all over the world debated about the doctrine of â€Å"just wars†, thereby holding forth about the â€Å"mind of God† on these matters. (c) Overcoming Guilt. Thirdly, because nearly all religions hold human life as sacred and forbid murder the scriptures are used to break down these prohibitions against taking innocent human lives. Islamic rhetoric for example refers to the infidels, nonbelievers, defiled, impure, outsiders, and sinners. In this manner the intended terrorist act in ways that take innocent human lives without suffering guilt for having done so. (d) Common Cause Fourthly, by using religion as a motivator the terrorist group creates a sense of cohesion and belonging to a higher cause. They prey upon individuals who are alienated and disenfranchised. When these individuals find a cause to belong to, especially when it espouses religious rhetoric of brotherhood, love and hope for the future life they can become powerfully motivated to act in behalf of the group simply for the sense of identity.[29] (e) Heroic Martyrdom. The One of the ultimate uses of religion to motivate terrorism is to hold forth a view of the afterlife, promising rewards in the hereafter for sacrificing oneself in the here and now. This is a particularly potent tactic used with those who feel guilty about their actions in this life and uncertain of their standing with God, and with those marginal members of society who suddenly find themselves centered in a group with a purpose. The Muslim interpretation of afterlife while dying for jihad states that the â€Å"Prophet will be waiting to welcome the martyr with thousands of virgins lined up for his pleasure†. Referring to afterlife one martyr also states, â€Å"I will have God welcome me with open arms. I will be a true hero in the sky.†[30] 4. Between the two recent wars in Chechnya (1994-96 and 1999) similar means were used to convince vulnerable Chechen individuals to sign on the â€Å"new Chechen jihad† which began making use of suicide terrorism in 2000. During this time period terrorist sponsored schools used were opened in the capital Grozny which recruited young boys and girls who lost their fathers in the Russian/Chechen conflicts promising their widowed mothers a good education for their sons and daughters. Unknown to their families these vulnerable young students were indoctrinated into militant Islamic ideas foreign to Chechen experiences of Sufi Islam and some became convinced that the price of belonging to higher glory is to be willing to sacrifice oneself for the group. In the words of a hostage who conversed with one of the Chechen terrorists :- â€Å"He explained to me that while his greatest dream was to continue his education and go to university and that while he wished to live, even more important for him was to die a martyr. He had become totally convinced that martyrdom was his highest calling in life†.[31] 5. Conclusion. Religion has always been used as a means of constructing social justice, expiating wrongdoing or â€Å"sins†, and of modulating emotional states. These means however can also be used to manipulate vulnerable individuals into taking social actions that they might otherwise never have considered or consented to take part in. For instance a colleague in Chechnya reports that the children who attended terrorist based schools were taught to rock and chant repeating Koranic verses that invoke jihad, ideas that their masters consider important to instil. This practice can easily make use of inducing a suggestive hypnotic state; a light trance in which susceptible children who have already reason to want to avenge a murdered parent might be induced to do so. People interacting with such persons mentioned that â€Å"these young terrorists were â€Å"brainwashed†, rocking, singing and praying often, and readily embracing death†.[32] CHAPTER VI QURANIC INTERPRETATIONS AND TERRORISM 1. Approximately fourteen hundred years ago, Prophet Muhammad, the last in the line of the prophets of Islam, received revelation from God known as the Quran, which is the Final Testament. He came with a message of peace and reconciliation, mercy and compassion. Yet, ever since the beginning of the call of Islam, its image and that of Muslims has been subject to distortion, misconceptions, and misinterpretations. This chapter aims at establishing the link between Quran and the distortions in its interpretation which has manifested itself in the form of jihad or the holy-war. Quran and Sanction of Violence 2. The Quran permits violence as an act of defence waged to protect the Shariat in an Islamic community. The Shariat can be explained as a system of ordinances outlined in the Quran and Hadis[33] through which â€Å"God lays down for mankind the rules of conduct[34]†. The Shariat is the â€Å"guidance for all walks of life individual and social, material and moral, economic and political, legal and cultural, national and international[35]†. 3. Muslims are advised to closely follow the Shariat to acquire the well being that God has envisioned for the Islamic community. Preservation of the Shariat is an â€Å"obligation of every able-bodied individual[36]†. â€Å"Oppression, despotism, injustice and criminal abuse of power[37]† of the Shariat by Muslims or non-Muslims[38], must be punished. Quran and Jihad 4. The Quran identifies three main kinds of Jihad that can be used for the punishment of oppression and injustice. These are: internal[39], external[40] and inter-communal[41]. The Quran permits the use of violence as an optional method for all three forms of Jihad but it limits the use of violence in ‘internal[42] and ‘external Jihad. It expands on its doctrine of Jihad and violence, mainly in the context of ‘inter-communal conflicts. In these cases, Muslims can individually determine the nature and extent of Jihad based on the ‘freedom of interpretations, and the geopolitical conditions in which the conflict arises. However the most essential prerequisite in the Qurans discourse on violence is that, forc

Billy Sunday Essay -- essays research papers

Billy Sunday The book I read was Billy Sunday. It consists of 189 pages and was written by William T. Ellis in 1959. Billy Sunday starts off with the author representing Billy Sunday as â€Å"one of God’s tools.† He is described in great detail as to how God used him to stir up millions to change their ways and â€Å"hit the sawdust trail.† In 1862, William Ashley (yes, his middle name was Ashley) Sunday was born to a fatherless home in Ames, Iowa. His father had died whilst serving for his divided country in the Civil War. Billy had received his name from his brave and valiant father. As a 20 year old youth in 1883, Billy played baseball in the lots of his neighborhood in Marshalltown, Iowa. One day the captain for the Chicago White Sox, A.C. Anson, was in the lots watching all the teenagers, young adults, and Billy Sunday playing baseball. Anson was so impressed with what he had seen in Billy’s baseball performance that Billy was signed unto the White Sox soon after. According to the author, Sunday was a wonderful baseball player. He was known to be the acknowledged champion sprinter in the National League. Sunday’s teammates enjoyed him as well did the fans. Billy was described as a â€Å"man’s man†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ I’ll leave it at that. In 1886, Sunday was led to the Lord by a street preacher named Harry Monroe in Chicago. Will this decision jeopardize his baseball career? Stay tuned for the next paragraphs. In 1891, Billy quit baseball forever to work as an Assistant Secretary in the ... Billy Sunday Essay -- essays research papers Billy Sunday The book I read was Billy Sunday. It consists of 189 pages and was written by William T. Ellis in 1959. Billy Sunday starts off with the author representing Billy Sunday as â€Å"one of God’s tools.† He is described in great detail as to how God used him to stir up millions to change their ways and â€Å"hit the sawdust trail.† In 1862, William Ashley (yes, his middle name was Ashley) Sunday was born to a fatherless home in Ames, Iowa. His father had died whilst serving for his divided country in the Civil War. Billy had received his name from his brave and valiant father. As a 20 year old youth in 1883, Billy played baseball in the lots of his neighborhood in Marshalltown, Iowa. One day the captain for the Chicago White Sox, A.C. Anson, was in the lots watching all the teenagers, young adults, and Billy Sunday playing baseball. Anson was so impressed with what he had seen in Billy’s baseball performance that Billy was signed unto the White Sox soon after. According to the author, Sunday was a wonderful baseball player. He was known to be the acknowledged champion sprinter in the National League. Sunday’s teammates enjoyed him as well did the fans. Billy was described as a â€Å"man’s man†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ I’ll leave it at that. In 1886, Sunday was led to the Lord by a street preacher named Harry Monroe in Chicago. Will this decision jeopardize his baseball career? Stay tuned for the next paragraphs. In 1891, Billy quit baseball forever to work as an Assistant Secretary in the ...

Proposed HR Program for CompuLearn Essay

CompuLearn is a private sector provider of IT-based teaching and learning programmes in business and management based in the UK, with corporate headquarters in Preston, Lancashire and with trading centers in Mumbai, Nairobia and Dubai. Its current global market is focused in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, with 200 education centers in 30 countries. CompuLearn partners with UK universities which validates its programs so that   students are able to qualify in the University programs leading to academic degrees. Its current manpower complement numbers 50 employees mostly based in the corporate office in Preston, Lancashire doing the following functions: Program Development, Customer Service, HR, Marketing, Finance, Sales, IT, Quality Assurance. CompuLearn has embarked on a mission to be market leader in e-learning delivery of University validated programs and foremost learning company in the world. It is on an expanded growth program and it adopted a new strategy to extend to 500 education centers in 60 countries over a span of 3 years. The role of HR is very critical in this new strategy, which is to attract top IT experts. It could be a relatively easy task if not for the following: 1. There is a high turn over in the IT industry in UK and new employees leave after only one month for a new job that offers better pay. 2. CompuLearn has a limited training system in place. Its strategy is to recruit highly trained staff instead of training them in house. The allocated budget for training is almost used up and was used to train the Sales team. 3. Employees have limited management skills as they are mostly technical staff whose training is not in the soft skills development. 4. The company does not have a Performance Appraisal System in place. 5. The staff at the corporate headquarters do not have a comfortable relationship with the staff of the UK universities largely due to complaints of attitude. 6. The HR Director’s strength is in micro-managing and does not have expertise in long-term management plans for the company employees. The Limitations and Constraints Faced by the Company The HR Department will play a very strategic role in supporting the growth of CompuLearn. Among other things, it needs to address the following limitations and constraints faced by the company, whether internally caused or faced by the industry in general: 1. The high turn over rate in the IT industry in UK 2. The lack of a professional or well-developed training and development program for employees 3. The employees’ limited skills in management, customer service and other soft skills 4. The lack of a well-placed Performance Appraisal System 5. The not-so-friendly attitude of the academic staff of the Universities towards the company employees at the corporate headquarters 6. The limited knowledge and skills of the HR Director in long-term planning for the management of the employees Recommendations The HR strategies recommended are based on the following assumptions: 1. Budget The company is working on a limited budget, which is just around 30% of the  annual budget of 25,000 Euros. 2. Lead Department The HR Department will take the lead in implementing the strategies. The HR Director shall formally appoint the section heads to serve as lead persons in implementing the strategies in their respective sections. The HR Director has the free hand in creating working committees to participate in the entire process from planning to implementation. The process will be participatory and with some amount of consultation from the employees. 3. Timetable The strategies are proposed for implementation on a focused basis within the first year (Year 1 – Month 1 to Month 12). Beginning Year 2 (Month 13) the focus of the activities will be on monitoring, evaluation, and implementation of improvements. 4. HR Management Perspective/Model Available literature identify different HR Management models that attempt to explain the various strategies adopted by different companies. General classifications fall under the â€Å"soft† and â€Å"hard† models, based on the definitions of employees considered as either â€Å"human† or â€Å"resource†. The hard versions consider employees as resource and adopt a rational approach to managing them, aligning their HR strategies with the strategies of the business. The soft version, on the other hand, considers employees as human and adopts strategies to train and develop them (Bratton and Gold, p. 5). The recommendations adopted in this case will be based more on the soft version of human resource management. Focus will be more on training and development as well as in developing commitment from employees. A limited form of the hard version will however allow the HR to link the strategies with the overall corporate strategy of the company. In analyzing the challenge faced by CompuLearn, a simplistic framework was designed around the following questions, based on the limitations/constraints faced by the company and to become the basis for the strategies: 1. On the high turn-over rate in the IT industry How can CompuLearn keep its employees from leaving the company after short- term engagement only? Or how can the company motivate its employees to stay longer? 2. On the lack of a professional training and development program Should the company train in-house or continue to hire experts from outside? 3. On the employees’ limited skills in management, customer service, and other soft skills. How can the employees learn the soft skills and apply them at work? 4. On the lack of a well-placed Performance Appraisal System Is there a need to formulate or adopt a Performance Appraisal System? 5. On the not-so-friendly attitude of the academic staff of the Universities towards the company employees at the corporate headquarters How can there be a more cordial relationship between the two parties? How can the company make the employees appreciate the importance of having good relations with the University staff? Can this be done through training or should the company replace those who transact with the University staff with other company employees, either through job rotation or job enrichment? 7. On the limited knowledge and skills of the HR Director in long-term planning for the management of the employees. Should the HR Director undertake refresher courses in management? Or should the company hire a new HR person who has the skills in long term planning to assist the HR Director? Below is a presentation of the proposed HR strategies and programs, in matrix form,   that can be implemented under the leadership of the HR Director. They are composed of both short term and long term strategies. The short-term strategies are those that can be immediately implemented, within the first six months from the time the recommendations will be adopted. The long term strategies are those that can be adopted over a longer period and on a continuing basis like the periodic reviews of policies and developing a system whereby improvements can take place every so often whenever warranted. It will be observed that most of the strategies will be newly introduced to the company and it can be expected that certain difficulties will be met. This will include among other things, resistance to the changes to be introduced, the difficulty of the HR Department to implement them for lack of the appropriate knowledge and skills, and with some â€Å"difficult† employees. This is all part of the process of the HR accepting the initial resistance  to the changes. The HR should be firm and consistent but at the same time adopting an attitude of openness and willingness to see through the improvements. Education and training are two important components of an empowered workforce. The saying that a company is only as good as its weakest employee is very much applicable here. Each employee is responsible for knowing about his company and performing according to the expectations set at the time of his engagement. However, it is the job of HR to find the employees who have the potential to learn more and continuously give them the opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills.

The Righteous Deceit of Helen Turrell

Helen Turrell is portrayed at first glance as an independent caretaker of her nephew, Michael Turell in the short story, â€Å"The Gardener† by Rudyard Kipling. However, upon reading between the lines of this character's story, her facade of honesty is peeled away. In it's place is a of lies exposed by the story's namesake, the Gardener. Her experience with the public is through a veil of her lie. Instead of going to France to cure her lung trouble as the public thought, Helen was actually there bearing Michael into the world. Besides this secret, Helen's honesty is a well-known trait to the general public.To her son, however, her honesty and lies are a strain on their relationship. By ten years old he discovers that he is an illegitimate child. When Michael unexpectedly dies fighting in World War I, Helen meets Mrs. Scarsworth. They meet while traveling to visit Michael's grave, and Mrs. Scarsworth prompts the first introspection of Helen's lie. The Gardener at the graveyard confirms the illegitimate son to the reader. The story seems to be told from Helen's version of the happenings, and the public's gossip about it. Outwardly, the public's gossip defines Helen's appearance outside of her deceit.Rudyard Kipling builds on his theme of the effects of deceit buy developing the character Helen Turrell into an innocent, selfless, yet deceitful person through her twisted interactions with the public in general; her unfulfilled relationship with Michael Turrell; and her short, strained relationship with Mrs. Scarsworth. Helen's relationship with the public was a deceitful one, but both parties gained from the relationship. The beginning paragraphs of the story aren't quite from the authors omniscient narrative. The sentences are short and information is sparse and sometimes absent, as though it was gathered through gossip.From this it can be concluded that the public gossip is writing this part of the story. The opening paragraph explains that Helen Turrell i s sister to recently deceased George Turrell; when he died he left a scandal in his wake of an illegitimate baby in India. Helen was suffering health issues and recovering in France, but she returns back to her home in Hampshire with her nephew Michael. As far as her relationship with the public, â€Å"All these details were public property, for Helen was as open as the day,† and â€Å"scandals are only increased by hushing them up† (Kipling).Her honest reputation shows how well the Helen kept her secret from the public. The gossip on Helen seemed to sometimes focus on how much of an honest person she was, and this can be interpreted in two ways. Her honesty made the public respect her relationship with her nephew, even though she reveals that she lets him call her â€Å"mummy† at bedtime. No foul play was suspected. However, focusing on how honest someone is begs for attention to the fallacious human condition, and this is a subtle hint to the other side of Hel en's facade. This may have eaten away at her, causing some of the distress in her relationship with her son.Helen Turrell has a unique relationship with her son that significantly defines her character into one of innocence and goodwill despite her facade. When her son, Michael, is around 10 years old, he realizes that his â€Å"civil status [is] not quite regular,† and then he proceeds to â€Å"[break] down her stammered defences† (Kipling). The question of Michael's legitimacy will obviously be a sore point for Helen that she isn't interested in talking about much. She has been hiding it her entire life, and that is not a small feat, for it is her own son!This, combined with allowing Michael to call her â€Å"Mummy† at bedtime shows that she still considers him her son, with all the attachment and emotion that comes with it. After hiding it for so long, Helen doesn't have anything other than a tentative response to Michael's attacks. Her tentative response ref lects that Helen does not dwell on her deceit. She understands that deceit is morally incorrect, and she is embarrassed by its evil nature. Because Helen is somewhat foreign to her lie, her innocence is preserved through the amoral facade. Her lie is so her son can have a better life; it is selfless, and therefore Helen is arguably moral.This isn't to say that Helen regrets her predicament as Helen's meetings with the flustered Mrs. Scarsworth reveal. Helen's relationship with Mrs. Scarsworth shows that Helen almost doesn't realize the extent of her deception, and her deception is further shown as good compared to Mrs. Scarsworth's pathological lying. Helen meets Mrs. Scarsworth through her journey to visit the grave of the now deceased Michael. Mrs. Scarsworth is visiting the graveyards under the premise of seeing commissions for friends who would be comforted knowing someone made the trip. She ends up staying in the same hotel as Helen. In the middle of he night, Mrs. Scarsworth d isturbs Helen to confess that one of her commissions was her love. Helen â€Å"desperately† asks, â€Å"But why do you tell me? †(Kipling) Helen's desperation is an obvious response to being disturbed so late at night. It is obviously annoying to be awoken in order to tend to someone's moral dilemma, but Helen is paying more than flustered attention to the problem of Mrs. Scarsworth. Helen's lie is close to revealing herself at the question of why Mrs. Scarsworth would reveal to her. Helen fears that Mrs. Scarsworth feels an inherent kinship with Helen and the night time intruder might guess at Helen's deception.That is why Helen truly feels desperation towards Mrs. Scarsworth. Helen shouldn't be worried though, for Mrs. Scarsworth confesses of â€Å"always lying† for about â€Å"six years†(Kipling) of deception total. This pathological lying is a circumstance of evil that serves as an antithesis of Helen's situation. Mrs. Scarsworth is visibly and audibl y troubled by her lying, whereas Helen was only troubled by the necessary strain it put on her relationship with her son. Helen has lived with the deception for so long without worrying as much about it that it doesn't matter so much to become the crippling and defining trait that it is in Mrs.Scarsworth's life. Through Helen's emotions in her relationship with Mrs. Scarsworth, it is really revealed that Michael is her son and not her nephew. Here there is no mention of public gossip, but perhaps Helen can now embrace her innocence and confess now that Michael has passed away. Helen's character is developed as such through her relationships with the other characters in this short story. Her development is especially shown in her unique interactions with each different character because of her deception. But in the end, her deception is an act of selflessness and love, and cleans Helen's moral slate.As a character, Helen's selfless innocence is finally proved by the appearance of the gardener. The gardener's â€Å"endless compassion† â€Å"Unending love† in his eyes when his omniscience shows Helen where her â€Å"son†(Kipling) was redeems her. The Gardener's traits match Christian Christ himself, and in showing Helen where her son is, forgives her. The story ends here, but if it was told in reference to what public gossip knows, Helen must have confessed after her trip to the graveyard. Thus, Helen finally opens up and moves on with her life past her righteous deceit.

Selecting great descriptive essay topics

Selecting great descriptive essay topics Descriptive vs. narrative Being a student you have to do a wide range of assignments. One of them is writing different types of essays such as descriptive, argumentative, narrative, etc. Surely, all academic works discuss particular ideas. However, each of them has its peculiarities of writing and purpose. For example, papers produced on descriptive essay topics portray places, people, or even events, while narratives are like literary compositions. They tell us stories about the participants of some events. Essay Writing Battle: Descriptive vs. Narrative Narrative Papers These works deal with describing writer’s experience. Thus, they explain how particular events or situations have influenced the author. Narrations have a lot in common with stories. The main purpose of such type of essays is to inform readers about the events that the author has participated in. As to topics for writing narratives, they are numerous. Therefore, you may write about your new job, first day at college, a key moment that has changed your outlook, etc. A fine narrative essay example may help you find out how to concentrate on the central point of the work. Note that narrations do not necessarily talk about author’s experience. For instance, book reviews are also considered narratives as they retell the events described in a book.Descriptive Works When writing descriptive essays, you should provide vivid details of the discussed objects or people to help readers imagine the described events clearly. Thus, when reading your work, users will sense the atmosphere of the described time period. It will not be hard to select a topic for your paper as there are a lot of original subjects. Therefore, you may write about your favorite things, your best friend, ideal journey, etc. By the way, great descriptive essay examples may help you understand how different topics are analyzed.Similar Features Descriptive and narrative papers have the same structure. They include an introduction, body section, and conclusion. Analyze clear personal narrative essay examples to see how your piece of writing should be constructed. Note that a thesis statement should be written at the end of the introductory paragraph. It usually presents the aim of writing a particular work. Therefore, you need to explain why the analyzed subject is worth examining. Both types of papers should state concrete facts in the body section to develop the point presented in the thesis. Contrasting Peculiarities If you examine narrative essay examples, you will see that this paper is written in the first person unlike a descriptive one. Thus, such pronouns as â€Å"I, me† are often used. Besides, narration describes people’s actions, while descriptive works do not. Furthermore, narrations provide a logical flow of information. On the contrary, works written on descriptive essay topics may be organized in the way the author wants. Astonishing Narrative Essay Topics for Producing Unique Essays Describe your phenomenal non-academic success and explain readers how you have managed to achieve it. Specify who you would like to carry out an interview with. Characterize your image in the social networks. Explain what sports clubs mean to you. Tell readers how you have received an excellent grade in the most challenging college project. Talk about the gadgets, which you consider irreplaceable (one of the narrative essay topics which you will consider engaging). Describe the most pleasant time, which you have spent with one of your family members. Talk about the position of males and females in the society. The most wondrous deed you have ever performed. The place of TV programs in your life. State the reasons for writing/not writing a journal. Describe your feelings when you have undergone unusual experience. Talk about the moment when you have realized that physical appearance can be deceptive. Specify the books or films that have changed your outlook on life. Tell what supernatural powers you would crave to have. Explain what kind of vacation you are dreaming of. Describe the most memorable trip you have gone on with your friends. Describe your way of spending spring vacations. Does your family follow any unusual traditions? Tell readers about them. Where would you go on holidays if you could choose the location? What holidays spent with your family do you consider unforgettable? Would you like to go into space? How can you describe your space journey? Have you ever thought about changing the place of living? Talk about your diving experience. Assess the impact of travelling on your life. Describe the sights which you regard the most impressive. Tell about the most fascinating vacation. Exceptional Descriptive Essay Topics Describe your mother or any other family member. Portray your role model, e.g. your favorite singer, painter, etc. Do you believe John Kennedy deserves appreciation? Tell what your favorite movie or cartoon character is and describe it. What is your favorite antihero? Why? What qualities of your classmates do you find superior? State what traits of your husband/wife, girlfriend/boyfriend make them special. Which of the mentioned characters do you find attractive: Xena, Charmed, or Wonder Woman? Write an essay describing your favorite professor. Why is Margaret Thatcher regarded as an outstanding political figure? Present her contribution to the political development of Great Britain. Provide the arguments proving that your favorite singer is better than other well-known artists. Analyze the behavior of a specific person in a concrete situation. What influences your own behavior? Indicate the main situational factors. Portray a person whom you detest. Describe the movie, which you consider awful. Create an essay about the movie character, which you find extremely scary. What would you say to one of your favorite superstars if you met them on the street? How would you identify the notion â€Å"true friend†? How would you describe your enemies? State why you consider friendship between men and women possible. Share your own experience. Write a paper focused on the business person who you regard successful. What qualities should an experienced top model have? The place of Abraham Lincoln in the development of the USA. Prepare an essay illustrating the traits that make your mother outshine other mothers. What makes your father the most caring father in the world? Describe your house in detail. Is there anything about it what you would like to alter? How do you consider moving to another house/city? Where would you desire to go the next summer? Describe an impeccable place for having a rest in winter. What winter spot do you find the most dangerous? Some learners desire to describe their rooms in their dorms. Put forward constructive ideas about what steps should be taken to make the campus a better place for living. What is your favorite place in your home country? How do you see a suitable place for celebrating a golden wedding anniversary? Present your ideas in a coherent essay. Vividly describe the place where people can see the Moon eclipse (this is rather an unusual theme among other narrative essay topics). What a perfect place to organize a loud party should look like? What countries do you crave to visit? My native city is the place where I belong. Why is Melbourne considered the soul of Australia even though it is not its capital? Tell readers about the most boring spot you have ever visited. What is the most spectacular spot in the word from the tourists’ point of view? Write an essay providing information about the educational establishment you are studying. Talk about the places you have visited with your parents when being a child. Describe the most thrilling flower festival you have ever been to. What location would you select to organize a pop concert? Describe Seven Wonders of the World in an extraordinary way. What things/sights do you consider the major wonders of the world? What feelings do you experience when meeting friends from your childhood? Compose an essay highlighting the benefits of living in your home country. Describe your route to a specific place. Where can one organize a wild student party? Your favorite place from a historical fiction. Describe the feelings that arise when you think about a close friend whom you have lost. What activities do you like undertaking together with your grandparents? Tell readers about a significant event which you have participated in during studies. What did you feel when you first rode a horse? Describe the event that has changed your whole life completely. Perhaps it was a conversation with someone, photo shoot, etc. What things do kids memorize best of all? Create a piece of writing describing the feelings a person experiences when walking in the mountains.