Sunday, January 26, 2020

Religion And Terrorism The World Situation Politics Essay

Religion And Terrorism The World Situation Politics Essay Religion can inspire peoples potential and make them undaunted in the face of death. However, countless disasters have broken out when religious extremism and terrorism combined with each other. Religious- based terrorism has become a major form of contemporary terrorism. Currently, the worlds situation has experienced drastic changes and religion as a supernatural deity worship met the requirements of peoples spiritual sustenance. Therefore, the religious- based terrorism as a type of terrorist activities spread around the world rapidly and it will long exist. This essay will firstly discuss the similarities between terrorism that is primarily religious and terrorism that is primarily secular. Following this, it will discuss the differences between terrorism that is primarily religious and terrorism that is primarily secular by analyzing one act of contemporary religious violence in detail. Finally, it will analyze the reason why it is not possible for terrorists to achieve their ai ms by using violence.. Similarities between terrorism that is primarily religious and terrorism that is primarily secular After experienced the 9 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 11 incident in 2001, a discussion on the so-called fourth wave of terrorism had risen. Unlike the previous several waves of terrorism, religious issue has become the main motive force of this new terrorism (David C. Rapoport, 2001). Religious-based terrorism means for the religious or political reasons, a religious group, organization, government or individuals attacks their religion or other religions and use violence against the innocent civilians or property.  ¼Ã‹â€ Aref M. Al- Khattar, 2003 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° Although driving by different forces, the religious-based terrorism and secular terrorism use violence to solve their problem and bring the society a great panic. First, both the religious-based terrorism and secular terrorism are act of violence. They convey their ideas and intentions to certain social groups by those planned violence. They seek political change by the public impact of violence. Second, the religious-based terrorism and secular terrorism are always unpredictable. Organized terroristic activities have a shelter and it is difficult to predict in advance. When and where will the terrorist activities occur? What are their aims? How terrorist activities start on? All of these issues are unknown until the terrorist events happen. Its unpredictability expanding the effect of terrorist violence and terrorism becomes very difficult to deal with. Third, the victims of the religious-based terrorism and secular terrorism have a symbolic meaning. The potential victims of terrori st attacks are not really randomly selected. These targets are the symbol of what the terrorists want to attack because of their status, their location or their activities. Fourth, the religious-based terrorism and secular terrorisms action usually has a specific political purpose. Terrorism has a political purpose which includes two situations: Firstly, some groups or organizations use such means of violent and terrorist to achieve their own political purposes. Secondly, they adopt that means of violent terrorist to change social political thoughts. Differences between terrorism that is primarily religious and terrorism that is primarily secular The religious-based terrorism and secular terrorism are different in those issues of motivation, legitimization and justification. Some Islamic fundamentalist organizations are the typical delegate of religious-based terrorism. They advocate to restore the original form of Islam and to establish a theocracy country. Terrorism is the stock in trade of the Islamic fundamentalist. The Muslim Brotherhood is a representation of fundamentalist. This organization was established in 1928 and its initial aim is to resist Western cultural influence on the Arab world. Since its inception, the Muslim Brotherhood spread its influence in the Arab world, and gradually evolved from a religious organization to a paramilitary terrorist organization. Hamas is an organization which is derived from the Muslim Brotherhood. They put forward a very aggressive struggle aim: destroy Israel with a holy war and establish an Islamic state in Palestine ultimately. After the Cold War, the terrorism activities of I slamic fundamentalist have become increasingly frequent and prove to be the most dangerous terrorism in the world (Bar S, 2004). Take Islamic fundamentalist terrorism for example. Compared with the secular terrorism, they considered violence as a sacred act or duty and terrorist activities have been given a sacred name. Killing is glorious if it is for the sacred religious. Secular moral fetters, struggle of the human nature dissipated in this glorious. Terrorists use murder and they have no limitation on the political impact, moral and practical conditions that limited secular terrorism.  ¼Ã‹â€ Bruce Hoffman, 1993 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° Religious allow terrorists to find a way to legitimize their acts of terror. Many religious doctrines have violent sanctions content to urge their follower filled with admiration to the God. Terrorism is a natural supporter of violence. It captured this feature of religion, misleading those devout followers. These followers believed that violence is an expression of worship and they were taking away the sinners in accordance the will of God. Therefore, they not only will not feel guilty for the murder, but believes their actions are legitimate and sacred (Sedgwick M, 2004). Compared with the other types of terrorism, their enemy is broader and numerous. This fact doomed religious-based terrorism are much bloody than the other types of terrorism. The religious-based extremism terrorists are both victimizer and victim. Piety to the religious is their spiritual motivate of carrying out terrorist attacks, but not the root causes of terrorism. They had lived quietly in the world which many religions exist there like most people. They protected their religion carefully, but their religion gradually declined under the impact of Western culture. Those desperate followers have to take the extreme method of killing to eradicate those who threaten their religious beliefs and it seems that those numerous religions may erode their faith. Those experiences in the real-life, including the power politics of Western countries, economic sanctions, military strikes, made them feel that they are victims and they have the right to retaliate to these people who bring them disaster. Terrorism will not grow up without any reason and no one born a suicide bomber ( Jones JW,2009; Roislien HE, 2005). Analysis of the possibility for religious terrorists to achieve their aims by violence Since the nineteen eighties, various types of worlds religious terrorist organizations developed rapidly. The ravages of terrorism have brought great harm to the international community and undermine the normal social order. Terrorism intensifies various contradictions and becomes a major threat to the peace of the world. Therefore, many governments condemn atrocities of the terrorist and have made it clear that they will fight against terrorism. In recent years, the international community has joint together to act against terrorism. Many countries recognize that anti-terrorism can not be met by one country alone. They must rely on the strength of the entire international community. Contemporary terrorism is more like cancer, which spread and undermined the body health of the community seriously. It undermines the international peace and social stability, which lead the international community into deep fear. So compromise with terrorists is generally refused by the whole world. Recently, many countries have committed to the fight against terrorism and have made remarkable achievements. Therefore, in this situation, religious terrorism is difficult to achieve their goal by violence. Same example can be used to illustrate the above conclusion. Organizations of Islamic fundamentalists, like Hamas, have not achieved its goal by using violence. Although causing great damage ¼Ã…’Hamas suicide bombing attacks do not destroy Israel and have no positive effects on the establishment of an Islamic state in Palestine. Instead ¼Ã…’Gaza as the stronghold of Hamas has been blockaded by Israel since 2007. As a result, Hamas lost the ability to launch large-scale attack in a long period of time. Conclusion Religion is an important component of human civilization and its contribution to mankind is undeniable. The ethical and legal norms it advocates still play an irreplaceable constraints role of peoples behavior for peace and stability of human society. But religious-based terrorism undermined international peace and social stability, which lead the international community into deep fear. Anti-terrorist is imperative, but it is also essential for each country involved in terrorism to rethink what makes them become the targets of terrorist attacks. If people use violence to combat with religious terrorism, this will only lead to more conflict of civilizations and more severe social panic. However, elimination of terrorism is an extremely complex and difficult task. So the religious-based terrorism will long exist. Therefore, all the countries involved in terrorism need to find the root causes of religious-based terrorism .What they can do now is try to prevent terrorism and minimize los ses caused by terrorist activities.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

The British Judiciary is Both Independent and Impartial

The Judiciary of the United Kingdom is not a single body. Each of the separate legal systems in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland has their own judiciary. The British Judiciary plays a vital part in British Politics. This is unblemished as the judicial system is significantly responsible for a multitude of political roles. The senior judiciary help interpret the meaning of law and directly enforce the rule of law. Similarly they also declare and interpret common law in addition to reviewing executive decision.Essentially the judiciary thrives as a noteworthy system that has been rooted in British history for numerous years. It substantiates to be an efficient system that functions smoothly. So much so that other countries have been influenced to directly copy the system in Britain, many countries are still changing and evolving their current systems to meet the needs of their societies. The British judiciary is widely regarded as one of the best and most independent sy stems in the world.However the question pondered recently is how independent and neutral is the British judiciary? An independent judiciary is Significant as it results in a justice system that is not influenced by either the legislative or executive branch. Moreover it is free to make decisions based upon law and not upon the pressure forced from other groups. The quote â€Å"It is vitally important in a democracy that individual judges and the judiciary as a whole are impartial and independent of all external pressures and of each other (Baroness Butler-Sloss–May 2012) visibly condenses this.Fortunately many argue that the British Judiciary is in essence the most independent of all systems in the world. This is evident due to many reasons. One of which is the constitutional reform act (CRA). The act ensures British Judicial independence as it removes the title of speaker of the House of Lords and also head of the judiciary of England and wales from the office of the Lord C hancellor. This took place when concerns aroused that a member of the judiciary who was also a member of one of the other two branches could not be suitably impartial.Before the CRA was passed, the House of Lords formed some amendments retaining the office of the Lord Chancellor, but significantly reducing his role in judicial affairs. This is not only momentous in the context of Britain but also the European convention of human rights, something the Judicial is responsible for enforcing so that all have the right to a fair trial. At the same time it can also be disputed that the British Judiciary is impartial, this is subsequently because of the broken relationship from the government.The British judiciary is not influenced by politicians as the judicial system is profoundly independent. Fundamentally the judiciary decides matters before the government on the foundation of facts in accordance with the law. Without any restrictions, improper influences inducements, pressures threats or interferences direct or indirect from any sector or for any reason. It is highly prominent that the British judiciary contains an element of ‘impartiality’ as it allows the system to be neutral in the affairs in allocates itself with.There are no major personal biases when administering justice and as a result the following rules under the law are respected; Equality, no one exceeds the law and most importantly everyone is entitled to a fair trial. Ultimately the British judiciary is both impartial and independent, both play vital roles in holding each other securely in place, the absence of judicial independence threatens judicial neutrality and in the same way without impartiality, independence cannot be guaranteed.Moreover, I agree that the British Judiciary is independent as it is assured by the nation and is enshrined in the constitution or the law of Britain. It is essentially the duty of all governmental and various institutions to respect and observe the ind ependence of the judiciary, this is due to the fact that the judiciary has superior jurisdiction over all issues of a judicial nature and has exclusive authority to decide where an issue submitted for its decision is within its competence as defined by law .In addition to this the British judiciary is independent because the judiciary cannot successfully support a government act as it would most likely backfire. This is because it would be upgraded to a European court ruling that takes precedence over a British court decision; in essence the judiciary is free from liability. However it can be argued that the British judiciary is not both impartial and independent. The concept of neutrality can be portrayed as weak due to the understanding that the Judiciary does not include a prodigious deal of Female judges.With the insight that only 23% of the Judges are women it becomes unavoidable that there is gender discrimination within the system. Another factor concerning the lack of indepe ndence and impartiality is the issue surrounding judicial appointments. It can be argued that there is lack of separation of powers relating to the appointments as the Lord Chancellor still manages a magnitude of power. This illustrates how his influence in the appointment can be unfair as it deprives the ideology behind neutral and independent nomination.Essentially judicial appointments were made by the Lord chancellor and monarch however in the modern age the judiciary cannot run as effectively if it fulfilled its old system and it must appear more transparent to aid the Judiciary with distinctive impartiality and independence. Similarly to this its profoundly comprehendible that despite the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) statistics exclaim that most of the senior judges are white middle class men with attainment of education from ‘Oxbridge’ This ultimately elucidates a separation of powers and goes against the promise of â€Å"more diverse judiciary† made by the JAC.From the information I have gathered I can gain the understanding that the British Judiciary is both impartial and independent as it is engraved in the constitution that the government has to respect the independence of the judiciary, similarly the most prominent factor elucidating this is that there is no major link between politics and the judiciary hence the judiciary can guarantee equal justice to all, judges and juries are free from influence and can make fair and honest decisions about cases subsequently creating a far more efficient system that works for the nation as a whole.Ultimately decisions can be reached without fear of retaliation of other groups or special interests. Despite the fact that the judiciary abstains its imperfections that deprive it of complete independence and neutrality, such as the factor consisting of lack of separation of powers’ and influence within the political system, there is major transmogrification that suggests the judi cial system is becoming more transparent.The JAC announced that 8% of the people recommended for judicial jobs last year were black or Asian and correspondingly 156 new women were chosen for appointment under the new system. The British judiciary ultimately proves to be an efficient and momentous system that works, it does so by being both impartial and independent.

Friday, January 10, 2020

How Was Impressionism in Music Like Impressionism in Art Essay

Throughout history, art and music have developed in parallel with each other. The impressionist movement is no exception. Impressionism in art began in France near the end of the 19th century. Impressionist painters did not seek to show reality in the classical sense of a picture-perfect image; instead, they emphasized light and color to give an overall â€Å"impression† of their subjects. Much in the same way, impressionism in music aims to create descriptive impressions, not necessarily to draw clear pictures. The music is not designed to explicitly describe anything, but rather to create a mood or atmosphere. This is done through almost every aspect of music: melody, harmony, color, rhythm, and form. Melodies tend to be short in nature, often repeated in different contexts to give different moods. In terms of color, notes are often drawn from scale systems other than the traditional major and minor. These include pentatonic, whole-tone, or other exotic scales (for example, Debussy, a major figure of impressionism, was influenced by Asian music). The use (or misuse, as some critics might say) of harmony was a major part of impressionism. Impressionists did not use chords in the traditional way. For nearly the entire history of Western music, chords had been used to build and relieve tension, thus giving the music a sense of direction. Now to provide an example of impressionism, we have â€Å"L’à ®sle Joyeuse† (â€Å"The Island of Joy†) by Claude Debussy. This is actually a musical interpretation of the painting â€Å"The Embarkation for Cythera† by Jean-Antoine Watteau. Both the painting and the piece tell the story of a journey to the mythical island of Cythera, an ideal place of love and beauty. The opening trills suggest the excited anticipation of the travelers; a middle section depicts them floating over the water; their arrival is heralded by jubilant trumpeting; and their ecstatic joy in realizing their destination provides a climactic finish. The chords in this piece sometimes serve no harmonic purpose in the traditional sense; these chords set the joyful â€Å"color† and mood of the piece, and are no longer exclusively used to build and release tension. Sometimes the melody isn’t very clear, but rather implied†¦ we only get an impression of it. Impressionism marked the first major steps into the Debussy and Maurice Ravel. An especially noteworthy aspect of impressionism was the weakening of the concept of tonality. Even though impressionist music was still tonal in nature, the â€Å"non-functional† chords paved the way for the later likes of Schoenberg, and others to do away with  tonality altogether.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Race And Ethnicity Biological And Sociological Factors

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