Creation Perspective Essay Example for Free

Creation Perspective Essay The account of creation as described in the Bible in Genesis 1-3 is totally different to what evolutionary theories of origin have been propagating – which themselves (i. e. non-biblical theories) have been successfully made a part of the populace’s theoretical presupposition in terms of man’s or the universe’s origin. Today, rarely, if there’s any, can one find a completely sold-out creationist (one who hold to the biblical view of creation’s origin). This is basically due to the fact that the government sanctioned standard educational curriculum does not allow for biblical creationism’s view to be taught in schools – even to posit it as one possible theory among many theories like evolution. This state of affairs among schools is indeed unfortunate for students to whom every opportunity for true balanced learning should be promoted. What if there really is a Creator who created all these things? And, if this is a fact in contrast to the supposed origin posed by atheistic presupposition, namely, evolution, then, the deprivation in terms of factual presentation of realities would be immense. Facts About â€Å"Original† Creations Genesis 1-3 did not defensively argue for intelligent design (another technical term for biblical creationism). These three beginning chapters of Genesis, which introduce the readers to the fact of creation, do not have a hint of a feel of laborious presentation as to how it all happened to be. The record just assumes a wise and powerful Creator. For example, the first verse simply stated the fact that before everything ever had their existence there was God (Genesis 1:1), and He is the One who caused the creation – the Uncaused Cause who generated the â€Å"first effect† (the universe). Thus, Moses points his readers to God as the unmistakable Originator of all things. After assuming the presence of the Creator, the next thing he proceeded to tell was the fact of the nature or the way God the Creator created the original universe. By observation, a keen reader would not have failed to notice the repeated expression, â€Å"It was good,† from the mouth of the Creator. In just one chapter (Genesis 1), the phrase was reiterated six times. Note that the emphasis being made here is the perfection of the whole environment of the then newly created world. It was perfect as habitat for all living creation – the whole biological world. Creation researchers today labor to highlight the evidences for this perfect environment just for today’s generation to see the facts of Genesis account. Now, believers of biblical creation can speak scientifically of Intelligent Design because the bulk of the available proofs are staggering (check for example http://www. creationscience. com). In the third chapter though, the Genesis narrative turned sour. Genesis three attests to the historical fact of the first couple’s Fall (â€Å"the Fall† is theologians’ name for that Event of Adam Eve’s defiance of God’s clear command). It was at this point in human history that all of the ugliness and abnormalities of life were introduced. In the New testament, in Romans 5:12-19, the Apostle Paul refers to Genesis 3 as the access point of death. Actually, the doctrine of how sin entered the world is crucially important for understanding the evils of this world. Although it might not explain everything about the problem of evil, it is an essential part of the whole treatment of the subject. And so, one of the major presuppositions of biblical theology is the fact that the world for what it is today – humanity and the entire creation – is not what it was then as recorded in Genesis 1 and 2. The one truth about the human race and the created world which is stressed all throughout the Bible from Genesis 3 onwards to the book of Revelation is: the human race and the whole creation are in their fallen state and therefore in the process of redemption. Genesis 1-3 As The Foundation truth As one reads succeeding biblical records regarding creation, it is notable that the basic elements about creation are retained and therefore sustained all throughout. Psalm 104 is one example among many Scriptural passages. God is affirmed as the Creator and Sustainer. Comparing the psalmist’s attestation to the fact of God’s creating of certain features of creation, like how the Creator ordered certain aspects of ecology (Psalm 104:14, Genesis 1:29-30), and how God set the moon and sun as â€Å"time setters† to indicate seasons, days, and years (Psalm 104:19, Genesis 1:14), the inspired psalmist only buttressed the fact that the opening chapters of Genesis are foundational knowledge as to the facts of the origins of everything about creation. Now, when other biblical narrative such as those recorded by Matthew as Jesus’ teachings like the so-called Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:43-48, 6:24-34), the focus turns to the fact of Adam and Eve’s fall into sin (Genesis 3) which made the realities of Jesus’ day understandable. Apostle Paul’s teaching on rapture, where believers according to him, will be changed â€Å"in an instant† (1 Corinthians 15:20-28, 15:35-56), supports the fact that redemption is in its process. Paul’s letter to the Romans (Romans 8:18-30) confirms the effects of the curse on earth uttered immediately after the couple sinned (Genesis 3). Thus, different records of various biblical writers are not supposed to be seen as contradictory but rather confirmatory and complimentary when taken together as a whole. The book of Genesis serves as a preface to the whole Bible given its primacy as to its place in the canon (it is the first book of the Bible). It is therefore helpful to interpret and balance the succeeding biblical records to the basic presuppositions found in the first three chapters of Genesis. Jesus, as the Living Word and as the Creator (John 1:1-3), who revealed all these basic truths of creation to Moses should not be taken at His teachings recorded in the four Gospels as contradicting the Genesis record. It is only right to understand Him as affirming the foundational truths of Genesis. The same with other inspired biblical authors; their writings should be understood (especially when they are dealing with sin and its problem inflicted on man and nature), in the light of what they previously understood from early revelations. Works Cited: 1. ) Accessed at http://www. creationscience. com/onlinebook/ 2. ) The Holy Bible. New King James Version. 1982. Published by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Can Computers Understand? :: essays research papers

Can Computers understand? 1) Thinking is the hallmark of understanding. 2) Only special machines can think. 3) If something can think it can understand. 4) Only special machines that can think can understand. 5) "Mental" states and their resulting actions are products of the center of activity (brain). 6) To understand, thoughts must be produced by the brain. 7) A computer's mental states and events are controlled by a program. 8) The program is not a product of the computer. 9) A computer does not produce "thoughts" in its brain. 10) A computer cannot understand. John Searle addresses the point of the ability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to understand, in Mind Brains, and Programs. His main argument is that because AI's are computers and computers have no thoughts of their own, they cannot understand. Any actions being performed to simulate behavior are confined by the programs available to the computer. He presents the example of a man linking Chinese characters and appearing to know the language, but in reality the man is just following the instructions given to him ( the program). This example serves well to explain how although a computer can look like it understands a story, it can do no more than "go through the motions." Of course such a definitive standpoint on an issue as controversial as the capacity of an AI to understand will draw many critics. The criticism of his theory that I find to be the most credible is The Other Mind Reply offered by Yale University. This line of thinking asks: if behavior is what we can determine the presence of cognition through, and an AI passes a behavioral test, why don't we attribute cognition to it? I myself do not believe in the philosophy of AI understanding, because to support either side on this issue one must have a belief for or against the

Applying Ethics in an Ethical Dilemma Essay

I would never have thought that the hardest part of this assignment was to find a good example of a business organization behaving ethically in an ethical dilemma. There are numerous cases of businesses behaving unethically. The list of businesses behaving illegally is similar to a who’s who of top companies. However, I did find one company that appears to have based their business on ethics. The 3M Corporation continually tries to infuse their ethics into their organization, even when they expand into other countries. Applying Ethics in an Ethical Dilemma In March 2011, industrial conglomerate 3M, formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, started to build manufacturing facilities in Russia’s Tyumen and Samara regions. The total investment was approximately fifteen million US dollars. The new facility will produce an insulation material Thinsulate, a very thin, synthetic petroleum based insulation, used in clothing. All branches of the United States military use Gore-Tex cold weather gear and Thinsulate is one of the key materials used in the clothing (Romanova, 2011). Building the plant was the easy part; the difficulty was getting into Russia. According to the Berlin-based Transparency International’s 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index, Russia is ranked 154th among 178 industrialized countries for its corrupt practices (Barr & Serra, 2010). One of the problems 3M faced was the managerial mindset in Russia. They do not recognize or reward their subordinates for exceptional performance. They only care about current profits and they do not plan. Because of the countries high levels of corruption and political instability, they try to get everything they can right now, because they are in fear of what can potentially happen tomorrow. Due to all these factors, most multinational  companies have avoided investing in Russia (Shama, 1997). The environment for business in Russian is full of obstacles. Corruption, bribery and paying of protection money are synonymous in business culture. 3M is different from the few other international companies that operate in Russia, that try to distance themselves from such practices by simply banning them. 3M Russia actively promotes not only ethical behavior but also the personal security of its employees. 3M Russia also strives to differentiate itself from competitors by being an ethical leader. For example, it holds training courses in business ethics for its customers and employees. (Langlois & Schlegelmilch, 1990). Ethical Framework Applied by the Organization In order to understand the ethical frameworks that drive this corporation, I feel it is imperative to read their principle statement. 3M employees and third parties to which this principle applies must make good, ethical decisions based on 3M’s fundamental values of honesty, integrity, promise-keeping, fairness, respect, concern for others, and personal accountability. When the law and 3M’s Code of Conduct are silent on the issue, employees must nevertheless make decisions that are legal, ethical, and consistent with the Code of Conduct (Thulin, 2012). Initially, the ethical framework the 3M Corporation used appears to be the Utilitarian approach. Defined as, create the greatest good for the greatest number sometimes referred to as maximizing the good in the world (Dahl, Mandell, & Barton, 1988). In this theory, we weigh the positives against the negatives and against the cost versus risks. This theory emphasizes that all people should reap the benefits in a society, a community or a family. I believe 3M felt that since they were expanding globally into a new continent or country, they were trying to bring their solid ethics with them. 3M faced a difficult task of bringing ethics into a country that unfortunately, ranks low for their ethics (Barr & Serra, 2010). Another ethical framework I believe the 3M Corporation used in establishing their new factories in Russian is the deontological approach. This states that actions judged as ethical or unethical based on the inherent rights of  an individual and the intentions of the actor (Dahl, Mandell, & Barton, 1988). In Deontology theory, an individuals or organizations code of ethics is not supposed to be situational but they should be constant and always followed, to ensure that in when facing adversity their morals remain the same. When 3M went to Russia, they could have easily changed their ethics to fit the societal norm but they did not. They maintained the same high level of ethics as they do in other countries with less corruption, bribery and payments of protection money. They not only maintained it at a higher level, 3M even taught classes to their employees on ethics. For some, this was their first exposure to structured ethics training. Many deontologists believe that the rights of individuals reside in â€Å"natural law.† The individuals are a means and not end (Dahl, Mandell, & Barton, 1988). In their principles, all employees must apply honesty, integrity, promise-keeping, fairness, respect, concern for others and personal accountability (Thulin, 2012). They even emphasize when a situation occurs that is not covered by law or plainly outlined, they hold their employees responsible. They should make decisions that are fair, honest and above all in keeping with the company’s policy on ethics Negative Consequences of the Decision Negative Consequence of the situation is that board members in Minneapolis Minnesota decided to enforce American ethics in another country. Although the decision, based on good intentions, begs the question, do we have the right to enforce or impress upon our workforce in another country American ethics. Often the United States and American companies receive accusations of nation building, or where we go into another country and try to impress American laws and customs onto the indigenous population. Do we have the right to endanger our employees to make ourselves feel better? Here in America, corruption, bribery, and paying of protection money is socially unacceptable. When that is the norm, do we have the right to force our beliefs on another country or culture? For example, when the United States Armed Forces works with a foreign Army or government, we try to follow the host’s countries rules. When I was in Iraq, it was illegal to possess, purchase or consume alcoholic beve rages. It was illegal to possess, purchase, and download any pornographic material. Iraq is a strongly Muslim  country, and those are two of its major offenses to their faith. We changed our policies to comply with the host countries norms and values. Should our businesses follow that same example, to protect its workers and its interests? Conclusion Ethical Frameworks attempt to provide a guideline for how an organization or even a society should interact with one another. The strength of this analysis is that it showed that when an organization practiced good ethics, the principles are truly universal. The behavior of the 3M Corporation in their expansion into Russia should be the norm not the exception. When foreign organizations with different ethical codes of conduct meet, they should be able to create a common ethical cooperation framework, keeping strong basic values and adapting moral principles to best meet everyone’s needs. References Barr, A., & Serra, D. (2010). Corruption and culture: An experimental analysis. Journal of Public Economics, 94(11), 862-869. Thulin, I. (2012, February 24). 3M Code of Conduct – Principles. Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/businessconduct/bcmain/policy-/principles/ Romanova, M. (2011, March 11). American 3M to Expand into Russian Regions. Russia Briefing News. Retrieved October 11, 2014, from http://russia-briefing.com/news/american-3m-to-expand-into-russian-regions.html/ Shama, A. (1997). From exploiting to investing: A survey of US firms doing business in Russia. The International Executive, 39(4), 497-518. Langlois, C. C., & Schlegelmilch, B. B. (1990). Do corporate codes of ethics reflect national character? Evidence from Europe and the United States. Journal of International Business Studies, 519-539. Dahl, J. G., Mandell, M. P., & Barton, M. E. (1988). Ethical frameworks of â€Å"Tomorrow’s Business Leaders†. International Journal of Value-Based Management, 1(2), 65-81.

Essay about The Pros and Cons of Government Welfare...

For a long time now, since the accomplished formation of a stable government, the U.S government has had programs and passed laws that either dealt with issues of or influence family. Many of these â€Å"family† programs and laws currently in place today are frequently and commonly debated. One of the most debated and most labored over â€Å"family† programs or law is Welfare. The argument is whether or not to, and how welfare should be cut or minimized. The debate is simple enough, but the argument on welfares benefits and drawbacks is not. On the pro side of the argument, on which I stand, welfare aids poor families as well as the economy and may help to reduce crime. Welfares benefits far out weigh its drawbacks. Welfare†¦show more content†¦The purpose of welfare is to aid a person with monetary need in getting by until they can find a job to support themselves, but this seldom occurs. Some argue that there are plenty of poor families that get along without welfare and its benefits. These people argue that the heads of these families have multiple jobs and work extremely hard to get by, while others just sit and collect a welfare check from the government. I feel that this is unfair to the hard workers, and unfair to us tax payers. Others say that these people are in their present situation because of their own ill choices in life and that the government owes them nothing. It is also true that there exist a great number of people that abuse the welfare program. These individuals may enroll in welfare without the intention of ever getting a job. Others trade foodstamps for cash or drugs. These ideas, or facts, can be used as a valid argument for the dismantling, or at least minimizing, of the welfare program. Currently steps are being taken by the government to reduce the number of welfare recipients as well as to minimize spending on the program itself. The president recently introduced his â€Å"Workfare† plan. This plan, by forcing individuals to both work and search for work and by ultimately truncating their welfare benefits, should reduce both the number of peopleShow MoreRelatedWelfare Drug Testing Essay1383 Words   |  6 PagesWelfare Drug Testing Trevor Brooks, SOC 110 11/09/2011 In today’s America, government aid is highly depended on. The US government has spent $498 billion dollars this year on welfare alone. The state of Tennessee has an average of 250,000 residents on welfare and has $3 billion dollars this year alone. To help cut costs and help tax payers, 36 states, including Tennessee, have proposed a bill to drug test all welfare recipients. Since the beginning of the year, the welfare rateRead MoreEssay on Immigration Pros and Cons2655 Words   |  11 PagesImmigration Pros and Cons It is historically acknowledged that the authentic Native-Americans are the Indians and there is documented theory that their origination possibly evolved from Asia. 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