Abstract This paper discusses the true cohesion that exists between dogma and doctrine within the Catholic faith. The paper defines the terms dogma and doctrine and then relates them to Catholicism and how they are expressed within Catholic faith, individually. It then goes on to show how the two concepts are closely related and used together in Catholicism.
From the Paper "In theory, the Roman doctrine of salvation by faith and works support the understanding of true doctrine. Yet, all subscribed in word, as well as in deed, to the overriding elicitations of a divine love that directed human response to the divine self before it taught the soul volitional self-awareness. Any fair-minded individual of such representative medieval thinkers as these must be impressed by their working acquaintance with the spirit of un-prudentialized agape. Furthermore, one must be conscious, likewise, of categorical explications native to a doctrine of saving works illogically fostered by at least some descendants of the sixteenth-century agape revival. One may remark a sobering fact, not altogether without its humble efficacy, at work in the most diversified Christian soteriologies. The evangelical movements within the Reformed tradition have often acted based on eschatological premises thoroughly redolent of medieval Christian societalism. (Petry, 1956, p. 379)"
Abstract The paper offers a brief overview of the plot and main theme of the film "Dogma". This paper also examines, through examples from the film, the reasons why "Dogma" is the cause of such controversy. It discusses both the protester's and the critic's opinions and views on the film and its message. In conclusion the author of the paper offers a personal opinion and thoughts on the film.
From the Paper "Religion is a topic, which is open to numerous interpretations and a lot of controversy. Whenever a movie comes out that tackles a religious issue, the disagreement that follows is inevitable. Between the clergy, devout conservatives, and free speech-supporting liberals, someone is bound to disagree with the message being delivered by these movies. As a practicing Catholic, Kevin Smith, the New Jersey-born director who has received critical acclaim for such films as Clerks and Chasing Amy, knew just that when he made the film Dogma. Long before Dogma even hit the theatres, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights denounced the film as "offensive, and demanded it be pulled by its production company Miramax" (Jeff Jansen 37). Since Disney owns Miramax, the production company was skeptical about its release, hoping that the controversy wouldn't hurt Disney's family-friendly image. However, as it is always said, controversy helps to sell, and so Miramax decided to cash in on Smith's comedic fantasy, and production went through as scheduled. It was a big decision to make, and as with most big decisions in the entertainment industry, all hell would break loose immediately after. The protests began immediately, and Smith received mixed reviews for the film. The plot, which is considered by most to be a little unorganized and hard to follow, was declared to be an outrage by devout Catholics, and considered a clever, thought provoking story by many movie critics."
Abstract This essay depicts Joyce's rejection of religious dogmas in favor of self discovery. It provides much literal supporting evidence for its claim that the main character, Stephen Dedalus must lose his religious shackles in order to truly find himself as a person.
From the Paper "In his A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Joyce continually and actively seeks to chronicle his protagonist's struggle to discover the truth of life, and his rebellion from politics and religion. It is his struggle to emancipate his mind from the ingrained religious ideals of Catholicism that stifles and frustrates Stephen Dedalus in his quest to "forge" in his soul his own ?uncreated conscience.? Joyce attempts to argue for the artist's quest for existential truth through many different literary devices; the most important of these being the limited omniscience of the narrator."
Abstract This essay examines Stoker's gothic classic, "Dracula", as a novel about the perversion of the Christian myth. It describes several passages in the novel that seem to mimic the bible, not only in intonation, but in connotation. The essay exposes obvious as well as often overlooked parallels between Christian dogma and the "Dracula" novel.
From the Paper "Bram Stoker's late nineteenth-century effort, Dracula, has achieved a mythical literary fame not enjoyed by many other novels. Since its first publishing over a hundred years ago, Dracula has never been out of print, and has spawned literally thousands of movies and modern novels concerning a vampire lore and tradition that Stoker single-handedly forged. What is amazing about this novel is that it not only contains the elements of excellent gothic horror, but social class commentaries, an interpretation of women's roles in society ? particularly with regards to female sexuality and sensuality ? and an ironic perversion of the Christian mythology."
Tags: british, de, fin, gothic, harker, helsing, jonathan, literature, religion, siecle, tepes, vampire, van, vlad
Abstract This paper analyzes and discusses three movies, "Going My Way" (1944), "Stigmata" (1999) and "Dogma" (1999). The paper examines how each movie is different or similar in its portrayal of religion, what makes each film good or bad in its portrayal of the Catholic Church and how each reflects the America society as a whole.
From the Paper ""Dogma" conveys much the same message as ?Stigmata,? that God is
within, humans are the representatives of God, not the churches. That people have given their power away, allowed themselves to be burdened with guilt where none is warranted. "Dogma" also has some of the elements of ?Going My Way.? The nurturing element of God, of his messengers, such as the angel Metatron, all show the same qualities of O?Malley, the hip priest who serves God as God intended. Where "Stigmata" seemed to get lost in the "Exorcist" scenes, none of which were ever explained, "Dogma" stays on tract, disclosing not only the greed of the church, but the absurdity of organized religion. Smith encompasses all the elements into one hilarious look at humans and their bigotry."
Abstract The following is an essay and analysis on W.V. Quine's central arguments in his work titled "Two Dogmas of Empiricism". In particular, this paper will focus on the argument that maintains that there can be no analytic truths with out some consideration of synthetic variables as well. In short, it is argued that synthetic factors have a determining impact in shaping what we have traditionally regarded as 'analytic'. Thus, a consideration and analysis of what Quine regards as 'analytic' and 'synthetic' becomes a central concern.
Abstract The paper relates that Muhammad was a monotheist who preached against the polytheism of the Meccan religion. This aroused the hostility of the merchant leaders of his native city who derived their wealth from pilgrimages to Mecca and its surrounding cities. The author points out that the early Muslim community and its Prophet Muhammad believed that the people of the early Muslim community could trace their contract with Allah (Jehovah) back to the Jewish Patriarch Abraham; however, the Muslims believed that God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Ishmael instead of Isaac. The paper relates that it may not be an accident that the Qur'an has two distinct voices because, in Mecca, Muhammad was a rebel but in Medina he was head of state; the early Meccan verses, which were those recited while his new religion was being formed, are concern mainly religious dogma; while as, in the Medina verses, Allah took a surprisingly detailed interest in the day-to-day problems of Muhammad's community.
From the Paper "Few other religions sanction a man's beating a disobedient wife, as does the Qur'an. But other rules, such as his ban on a woman's being "inherited" as chattel by her late husband's eldest son, were decidedly progressive for the era and remained so relative to the West until the twentieth century. While Allah in his revelations to Muhammad limited to four the number of wives a man could take -- excluding God's Messenger, of course, who was permitted to marry for reasons of state and had at least nine wives (at least one of them a converted Jew) and a Christian concubine when he died -- he did not restrict the number of a man's concubines or slaves. (Slavery in Saudi Arabia was abolished de jure only in 1962). But Allah required that men treat their wives equally, that women retain their own wealth, and that they be permitted under certain conditions to ask a judge to order their husbands to divorce them (men could end marriages at will) -- all progressive measures compared to the practices of pre-Islmaic society, the jahiliyya."
Abstract This paper discusses the issue of sacred representation, particularly those that are Christian in nature, in modern film using the movies. The paper uses the films, "Seven," "The Green Mile" and "Dogma" as examples. The paper also includes an annotated bibliography.
From the Paper "Chris Arthur stated that there are some important questions as yet unanswered as to where film intersects or should intersect with religion in contemporary society Arthur believes that popular film can be an important ..."
Tags: Film, sacred representation, Seven, The Green Mile, Dogma
Abstract This paper discusses how, as the explanatory power of empiricism began to grow apparent, rationalistic modes of belief and dogmas began to conflict with the verifiable truths the empirical approach to knowledge was uncovering. The paper then discusses the different schools of thought from which these philosophies have emerged in the Western tradition. It particularly focuses on the philosophies of Martin Luther and Galileo.
From the Paper "Evolution implied that humans possessed a common ancestry with all animals and even plants. It may have been a matter of interpretation as to whether the earth revolved around the sun or not, but the concept that man is an ape who has been gradually evolving for 3.5 billion years fits nowhere into traditional Christian beliefs. Consequently, the theory--although as close to scientific fact as any fact ever inferred from the natural world--has remained controversial and not widely accepted in the west. So, it has only truly been in the past century and a half that science and religion have come faced off in a battle of wills. Still, the argument should be moot: empirical evidence may indicate one thing, but if an individual is willing to believe in an all-powerful being, they must also acknowledge that such a being could configure the world in any way imaginable--just as Galileo's Dialogue concluded."
Abstract This well-researched and clearly written paper details the numerous differences in both the Samurai and Ninja philosophies. Due to the differences in their religious and social origins, valuing ceremony versus intimidation and their general code of fighting ethics, the Samurai and the Ninja followed different paths of honor. The writer details the religious aspects of both Japanese warriors. The Samurai were strongly associated with religions that enforced inflexible dogmas. The Samurai were generally Shintoists or followers of Confucianism. In contrast, the Ninja were associated with religions that did not have strict unmovable dogmas. The Ninja were mainly Zen Buddhists. This paper examines the Samurai and Ninja's role and status in Japanese society. The Samurai were considered an exalted part of society, whereas the Ninja were perceived as social outcasts. The writer also delves into the fact that the Ninja and the Samurai warriors occupied different social classes and approached life with very different personal philosophies. The fact that the Samurai and the Ninja held such different values helps to explain the vast differences between the two groups of warriors, which are detailed in this paper.
From the Paper "Although the Ninja were considered social outcasts, they were not solitary. In fact, the Ninja worked in organizations, which were separated into three layers: jonin (high ninja), chunin (middle ninja), and genin (low ninja). The ninjas all worked under a daimyo. Structure within Ninja groups ranged, with some having little structure and others being organized almost like an army unit ("Ninja"). However organized, all Ninja followed the ninpo or okite. The most important rule of the ninpo was to keep the secret of the Ninja. In fact, the most severe crime was to leave a Ninja family and not return ("Ninja"). Those who did so were called nukenin, and their family members would bring them back, whether dead or alive ("Ninja"). This was done in order to prevent ninjas from revealing the secret of the Ninja or of revealing the identity of the daimyo for whom the ninjas were working."
Tags: japanese, philosophy, buddhism, religion, theology, society
Abstract This paper argues that the US should legalize same-sex marriages. The paper looks at both sides of the contentious debate over same-sex marriages and points out that much of the opposition to same-sex marriages is based on religious dogma and tradition. The paper then argues that all individuals in the United States deserve the same rights and to achieve these rights, legislations should move away from being heavily influenced by religious dogma. The paper further contends that by denying this fundamental right, the US is moving backwards with respect to human rights and personal freedoms and liberties.
From the Paper "Same-sex marriage has been called a lot of different things. Most predominantly, the media in the United States has called it gay marriage. The use of such terminology provides a good starting point for an analysis of the topic of same-sex marriage. The term "gay" is used to refer to homosexual men. However, the word 'gay' has many greater connotations within American society. Gay is used as a common slag word to imply that something is stupid, worthless, unmanly, or useless. For many Americans, the word brings of connotations of the grotesque, and of the unknown. Often these connotations of the grotesque are born not out of personal experience with other gay men, but of mental imagery, fear of the unknown, ignorance and homophobia (Saunders, 1994). Thus, the media's use of the word gay in describing same-sex marriages places a connotation on the phrase before any other details of the issue are described. "
Abstract The writer of the paper examines modern Egyptian society which, whilst democratic, is heavily influenced by religious beliefs and dogma. The paper attempts to examine the effect of religious dogma on the development of modern Egyptian society by concentrating on the struggle of Egyptian women for equality and emancipation.
From the Paper "The emergence of women in the Egyptian society came as a result of constant Western influences in the 20th century. More precisely, the feminist movements which crossed the barriers of the equality of the individual in the social environment had effects in the Muslim society as well. Thus, at the middle of the century "women began to enjoy their rights to a similar extent as men, in all spheres of life (e.g., education, employment, politics). Thus, the gender gap during this period was undeniably reduced, though not eliminated" (El-Safty, 2004) In this sense, the woman came to have a particular role in the society, especially in its development. Nonetheless, they were unable to express themselves to their full capacity precisely due to the religious aspect which is often invoked to limit the activities of women in the social environment as well as the political framework."
A critical paper on the nature of Marxist philosophy on materialism and an examination of whether or not the theory is of a 'scientific' nature as it claims.
3,051 words (approx. 12.2 pages), 10 sources, 2000, $ 89.95
Abstract This critical paper illustrates in a number of ways that dialectical materialism is arrived at through a process of scientific inquiry. The author gives a distinct definition of the meaning of what it is that warrants the description of a theory as "scientific". Next, she applies this definition to Marx's historical theory and shows how it corresponds to this description. Finally, she reflects and responds to some of the ways that Marx's critics are in disagreement with her argument that dialectical materialism is, in fact, a study of history that is based on scientific theory and objectivity.
From the Paper "As a student of history, I believe that there is validity in Marx's "scientific" postulation. The study of history is very important, I believe, in discovering what lies ahead of us and how best to avoid repeating past mistakes. Although there are no "concretes" in history, and at this point, I diverge from Marxian historiography, there must be an objective way of looking at the past in order to theorize about how we have arrived at our current situations. Although I do not believe Marx's theory of history to be entirely correct, I do argue that this theory is arrived at objectively and scientifically."
Abstract This paper deals with Galileo's arguments with church officials, and his attempt to reconcile his scientific findings with teachings from the bible. Emphasis is placed on Galileo's conviction that scientific truth and the biblical message are not contradictory, but can complement each other. Historical and religious figures are discussed with respect to their influence on Galileo.
From the Paper "Perhaps the most relevant and convincing argument that Galileo posed to clear up the relationship between
scientific truth and the bible was that the bible was often unclear and ambiguous (GAL 214, 206, 199), which could cause the true meaning to be misunderstood by people attempting to translate it's meaning. An example of this posed by Galileo was from the commonly known story of God stopping the sun in the sky to allow Joshua to win a battle."
