African Moral Values Can Complement Christian Moral Values Religion Essay

African Moral Values Can Complement Christian Moral Values Religion Essay Moral values can be said to be the ideals of good and evil, which oversees a persons deeds and choices. Individuals morals can be drawn from society and government, from religious conviction, or self. Moral values can also be defined as generally accepted, empathetic, caring, Christ-like philosophy. The bible states that good moral values can be observed in the ideology and manner of behavior taught by Jesus. It seems just to tie the definition of moral values to what is right and what is wrong conduct held by individuals. II. Morality Morality denotes a coordination of behavior that distinguishes intent, choices, and events between those that are right or wrong. Immorality is the reverse of morality. III. African Moral Values According to Mbiti (1990), the African is notoriously and incurably religious. Hence a conclusion can be drawn that African morals are elaborately entwined with culture (African) which is greatly dosed with spiritual beliefs. Consequently in order to comprehend the African moral values, an outline of African religion and culture is necessary. IV. African culture overview Culture refers to the following ways of life, including but not limited to: Language; Art and Sciences Thought Spirituality Social activity Interaction a) Religion African Traditional Religion (ATR) has proved to be extremely complex to define. There is no single easy and accurate definition to explain it. Sadly, many writers have misunderstood ATR by attempting to define it under deceptive terms such as magic, superstitions, primitive religion, paganism etc. The struggle to describe ATR seems to come from the fact that its propagation is carried out by living it other than preaching it. Its supporters are more preoccupied with its practice than with its theory. ATR influence wraps all aspects of life, from before the birth of a person to long after s/he has passed away. It is a way of life and life is at its core. Thus comments such as: For the African, religion is factually life and life is religion. Mbiti offers a summary of where to search for and locate ATR: belief and customs; rituals, ceremonies and festivals; shrines, sacred places and religious objects; art and symbols; names of people and places; music and dance; myths and legends; pr overbs, riddles and wise sayings. The beliefs and practices of ATR are based upon the faith of the old native people (Ancestors). This is the reason why it is said to be traditional in contrast to other religions, e.g. Christianity and Islam, which are considered as foreign since their dogma and practices came from outside of Africa. There has been considerable awareness of the dialogue between Christian and African Religion. This has been made possible through ways such as bible translation. African moral values can complement Christian moral values through the spirit of interreligious tolerance, dialogue and mutual respect. Also, Christian spirituality is greatly shaped by spirituality of African religion. Praying unites Africans and Europeans (West) at a spiritual level. b) The Supernatural in Indigenous African Religions Intellectuals who study religion in Africa inform us that every African society have a belief in God. Some African religions have faith in one supreme God who formed the world and all that is in the world. Other African religions have faith in more than one God; nevertheless even in these religions, typically one of the Gods is said to be the supreme God who created the world. The way God is seen in most African religions is both alike and dissimilar than the way monotheistic religions characterize God for example Christianity. It teaches that there exists only one God. African religion can complement Christian moral values by sharing concepts about God for example; God maintains creation, God is the creator of everything, God provides for and guards creation, God is omnipotent and omniscient, God supports fairness. The supernatural is also significant to African religious belief. Spirits exists between an all- powerful God and humans. Spirits in African religious traditions share a number of characteristics with angels in the Christian traditions. Good spirits assist in shielding against ill health and misfortune and aid humans by offering rain required for crops as well as animals used for food. On the other hand, not all spirits are good. Some are viewed as evil and are thought to be the responsible for illness, and other. c) Sense of community One African proverb puts across the African sense of community. It says Go the way that many people go; if you go alone, you will have reason to lament. The African thought of security and its value depends on personal identification with and inside the community. For that reason, the authentic African is identified and known, by and through his community. The community is the guardian of the individual; therefore we must go where the community goes. In another meaning, the community offers the African the psychological and decisive security as it gives its members both physical and ideological identity. It must be mentioned that in the African way of thinking, the community as an entity remains, while persons, come and go. As a result, the Africans stress community life and communalism as a living principle of which the fundamental ideology is community-identity. Its goal is to produce and present an individual as a community-culture bearer. Culture is a community asset and must the refore be community-protected. In addition, the individual in an African community is under the clans care. His individuality is not given emphasis at the expense of his community identity. This is the reason why individualism, as a dogma and code of life, is not encouraged in Africa. The social principles spelt out above are expression of African humanism. According to Lambo (127), the African man is first and foremost a member of his family, the extended family, the community and his society in that order before being an individual. Compared to the Wests individualism, the African man has a social and communal nature. The African culture can complement with the Western culture by integrating individualism with the communal nature of life. d) Sense of Hospitality Sense of hospitality is innately crucial in the present survival of African values. At all times, there is always unprompted welcome and accommodation to unfamiliar persons and visitors. Africans effortlessly incorporate strangers and offer them lands to settle hoping that they would leave one day, and the land would be returned to the owner. This is usually carried out with the conviction that one will never opt out of his own community. Unlike the West, no appointment and special invitation are required for one to call on a distant family member or neighbor. On arrival, when there is food the visitor is invited to dine. He is handled kindly, just as one would want to be treated when visiting another home. Africans possess a symbolic way of showing welcome. This is done in a variety of ways for example; in forms of presentation of coconuts, kola nuts, traditional brew, groundnuts etc. in different communities. These are offered to demonstrate that he is welcome and safe. Onwubiko ha s observed that a guest must not harm his host and that when he departs, he should not develop a hunch back on the way home. (Onwubiko, 23). This social value can complement Christian moral values to enhance integrity among Africans. The bible says that we should love our neighbors as we love ourselves. By integrating these values into Christianity, uprightness is enhanced among Africans. V. Conclusion For there to be growth and development, African value system must be promoted by the leadership. Falling into or imitating Wstern values will only wreck humanity as they are strange to the philosophy of humanism which is the basis of the African value system.

The pool Doctor :: essays research papers

The Pool Doctor The Marketing plan of poll doctor is a little mixed one. Beside the marketing plan of the pool doctor, it is also concerned for the choice of chemicals he has to make as well. Before we begin with the marketing plan of the pool doctor, for reason of ease, I would like to segment the looking ahead section into two parts. The choice of chemical suppliers and the services and products to be offered with the companies marketing plan. As choice of chemicals in an internal procurement decision as well as it influences a major part of marketing strategy. As mentioned in the book, lets start with the first point of the marketing plan, defining the marketing challenge. In this section we need to focus on the marketing strategy in terms of current strategy is it well implemented or a new or modified strategy should be used to improve profitability. The marketing challenge. The marketing challenge facing Jeff is an interesting one. Let us look at the current marketing plan of the poll doctor. In the previous years Jeff had advertised using direct-mail advertising campaigns which had proved futile. Then Jeff tried to put adds in the two news papers, Winnipeg free press and the Jewish post. As we look at the â€Å"selected 1990 media cost† comparing the circulation of the two new paper except the Jewish post, the metro and Winnipeg free press, Jeff has taken a wise decision to advertise in free press because of it’s more circulation. Now as poll doctor wanted to expand it’s operation to St.Boniface and St. vital areas of Winnipeg Jeff should probably try advertising in the Lance, which covers both the areas. As the data provided in the advertising in incomplete, I can not predict in details amount of MAL rates would apply, but a equal amount of adds in Winnipeg Free press should be printed as business is more concentrated in these are as. In addition to direct-mail advertising program Jeff has almost stopped, instead it should be with Aristocrat mailing program and not on it’s own. But there is a need to change the look of the flyer and make it more professional. A sample flyer is included at the end of the plan. As we see the distribution of survey thirty percent of had heard about poll doctor from a friend, thirty percent from fliers, seventeen from Aristocrat and thirteen from Jewish post and rest by others means.

Creon and Koro in the play Antigone by Sophocles Essay

Throughout history, the tragic hero has virtually not changed at all. The play, Antigone, written by the Greek playwright Sophocles and the book Whale Rider, written by Witi Ihimaera, has extremely comparable characters. Regardless of being written thousands of years apart, both story lines are very similar in relation to the tragic heroes. Antigone is the story of a woman who is trying to bury her brother’s body, despite the king, Creon’s, ruling against. The play tells of Antigone and Creon’s struggle against each other leading to Antigone’s eventual death. Whale Rider portrays the story of a young Maori girl who is trying to become the leader of her tribe. The young girl, Paikea (Pai), is persistently blocked by Koro. Creon and Koro, the two tragic heroes are comparable in their lack of equality towards women, their similar tragic flaw of too much hubris and their elitist views directed toward people around them. Creon and Koro both share a lack of resp ect towards woman. Creon continually exhibits his contempt towards women in Antigone. When Creon is talking to his son, Haimon, regarding Antigone’s death, he condemns him by saying that, â€Å"Your pleasure with her would soon grow cold, Haimon, and then you’d have a hellcat in bed and elsewhere† (716). Creon believes that because Antigone is a woman, she can be easily replaced. Creon makes it known that he does not think Antigone is important at all and neglects to acknowledge that Haimon might have any affection or love for Antigone, which is why he thinks that he can always replace her. Koro too has the identical sexist reaction towards women such as Pai right from when she was born. Koro refuses to even hold Pai because she is a girl, and because she is a girl she cannot become a leader. Throughout the film, Koro has hatred that is clearly directed towards Pai. Koro thinks that because Pai is a girl, she is not strong enough to be a leader, or to do anything practical. When Koro tests the male students at his school and none of the boys succe ed in finding the whale tooth and Pai does, Koro chooses to overlook the fact that the gods choose Pai as the next Maori leader. Koro clearly has a harsh sexist attitude that remains until Pai almost drowns, when she is actually trying to save the whales to show Koro she is the leader and is strong. Although Koro and Creon exhibit these anti-female outlooks from the start their stories, the conclusions of each are different. While Creon’s sexist attitude remains until the end of the story, Koro changes in the end of Whale Rider. Koro identifies where he was wrong  and corrects himself, while Creon thinks of himself as higher than women until the end of the story and does not change his sexist attitude. Creon and Koro both have hubris and have way too much pride for their own good. In Antigone, Creon is going to be Antigone’s father in law because of Antigone and Haimon’s love for each other, but regardless of their family relation, Creon shows no compassion or sympathy. When Creon realizes that the person who buried Polyneices is Antigone, he condemns her to death. Creon commands Antigone’s death despite the fact that he does not want to because of their close relationship, all because of his pride. If Creon were to release Antigone it would make hi m look weak and Creon could not have that reputation. This displays how Creon would rather his title be strong than the existence of a family member. When the Choragos attempts to tell Creon to free Antigone, he admits that it is difficult to overcome his pride. Creon tells him that â€Å"it is hard to give in! But it is worse to risk everything for stubborn pride† (731). Creon thinks what he has been doing throughout the story is right and he does not see his mistakes, which lead to his decline at the end of the story. Koro is closely related to Creon in the sense that he is also incapable of conquering his own arrogance. Throughout the movie, Whale Rider, Pai persistently strives to show her grandfather her strength and even goes as far as trying to join the school Koro establishes because she wants to learn the proper way to be the leader of the Maori culture. Koro continuously neglects Pai and denotes her every move because he believes that only a male can be the leader, he cannot put his pride aside to let a new leader emerge. Koro teaches the boys at his school to use a taiaha which is generally something only boys do, however Pai secretly follows Koro’s lessons and learns from her taiaha winning champion uncle how to use the taiaha and ends up beating Hemi, one of Koro’s male students. Koro is furious when he finds out, which only leads to a worse relationship between Koro and Pai, which is not the result Pai was looking for. This shows how his hubris is interfering with an obvious calling for a new leader. When Koro believes that he has failed at finding a new leader, he refuses to let Pai be the leader because he has pushed her away so much. When the whales beach themselves, Pai rides the whales back into the water and saves them. By doing this, Koro realizes and is now aware that Pai, who was the one person he did not allow to try and achieve his  power, was the one person destined to be the leader. His pride keeps him from selecting the leader the Maori culture needs, but Koro learns his mistakes at the end of the story, whereas Creon does not get a second chance to redeem himself. Creon and Koro have very comparable views on higher powers and neither of the men listens to higher powers nearly as much as they should. Creon disregards the gods’ intimations throughout the play up until his own life is at risk. When Antigone takes matters into her own hands and buries Polyneices, Creon’s opinion is that the gods agree with him about not burying Polyneices and whoever disobeys him should be punished. When the Choragos questions him if the gods may be responsible for the burial of Polyneices, he responds, â€Å"’The gods!’ Intolerable!† (703). Creon is enraged that someone has the nerve to inquire that the gods may be against him. Creon intentions are not to please the gods, but have people believe that the gods are on his side, therefore allowing Creon control over his people. Koro is very similar to Creon as he does not ask for help from his ancestors until he is in trouble. Koro’s search throughout the movie is to find a new leader for the Maori culture, however he only uses the ancestors for help when the whales beach themselves and does not ask the gods earlier on because he wants to be the one to handpick his own leader. Koro only eventually called out for the gods after he has been unsuccessful at finding a new leader. Ironically, at Koro’s school, he preaches to the boys to put their trust in their ancestors; however he does not trust in the gods as much as he stresses to the boys because he does not ask for the gods power when he fails at finding a new leader and predictably spends days mourning in his own wrong doings. Both Creon and Koro lack much faith in their higher powers and are hypocritical in the way that they preach to others to believe in their higher powers, but do not do so themselves. Both Creon and Koro exemplify sexist attitudes throughout the Greek tragedy and film, along with their lack of humbleness and their personality that reflects on them thinking they have a higher rank than everyone. The tragic heroes in â€Å"Antigone† and Whale Rider, Creon and Koro, are very similar. Their closeness shows that the tragic hero has not changed in the past three thousand years. The stories both have women trying to persevere in a world where they have less rights, and strong leaders trying to suppress them.

The Civil War Of The United States - 956 Words

The civil war in the United States of America took place between April 12th 1869 and May 9th 1865. Those are worth a lot of reasons that the North went to war with the south the main reason was slavery. Where the North wanted to either get rid of slavery altogether or stop slavery from spreading to the new states coming into America the South wanted to expand slavery. Slavery has been around since the beginning of time, since back in the old Bible days. America was just one of the last remaining nations to abolish it. It was hard to abolish something that is so infused in the economic culture and in religious culture, not to mention it was also legal by law. Messing with a man s religion his money and his freedom in the south east shore to get you in a sticky situation. At this time in American life Christianity was the main religion. Unlike today where anybody can worship anything a man can even worship the Fonz. Many hipsters today would consider the America during the Civil War to be a very conservative America as far as religion goes. With that being said many believed if it s in the Bible that must be right. This would be one of the main argument that the southerners would use to defend the institution of slavery. Not only was it in the Bible but slavery was found in many religions and mythologies. Many defenders would note that the Greeks and the Romans and even the English until this time period had slaves. They would bring up how Abraham in the Bible had slaves.Show MoreRelatedThe Civil War : The United States1622 Words   |  7 PagesThe Civil War divided the United States with its’ origin in the struggle to preserve the Union from the Confederacy’s succession. A war to maintain the United States quickly progressed to battles fought because of the controversial beliefs on slavery in the North and South. 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