« Divine Flaws The question of whether gods are capable of being flawed has long preoccupied theologists and philosophers alike. The ...» Document abstract
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humanities/philosophy
term papers
date published
07/05/2007
review : not yet assessed
level : General public
requested 3 times
The question of whether gods are capable of being flawed has long preoccupied theologists and philosophers alike. The mythological deities of the ancient Greek pantheon possessed a myriad of humanistic attributes, including a wide range of notable character flaws; Zeus, of course, was infamous for his sexual hedonism just as Helena was continually characterized in ancient myths by her jealousy and bitterness. But when a culture is based on a single deity that has control of absolutely everything in the universe, such as in modern days, it is common belief that God is both omnipotent and flawlessin fact, such monotheistic religions are largely predicated upon the notion that God must be flawless in order to maintain universal order and exert His sovereignty over man. But divine texts, in many cases, fail to substantiate this widely accepted claim. Analysis of Holy Scriptures such as the Bible yield evidence that God actually can be flawed; in fact, particular passages from Genesis and Exodus not only insinuate that God is not omnipotent, but that he is actually a entity characterized by vulnerability. This largely unacknowledged vulnerability shifts the religious paradigm significantly, suggesting the existence of a system not only in which man fears God, but in which God fears man as well.
- The American Heritage Dictionary defines vulnerability as the state of being 'Susceptible to physical or emotional injury' [or] attack?
- Such developments are clear evidence that God feared the increasing power of ambitious men
- God's vulnerability is also evident due to his fear of humans' worshipping a different deity
- There is a tension, however, in the assertion that God is vulnerable
- Though God exhibits signs of omnipotence, aspects of the story of Abraham suggest that God showed some concern for His potential vulnerability
- Just as Greek deities were gods to whom the common people could relate, a flawed God in a monotheistic religion could have similar effects
- The Old Testament includes clear implications that God, in his constant worrying over how to maintain His sovereignty in the universe, is a man-fearing entity
« This sudden, striking contrast between normality and divine, between a humble implications throughout the movie, slight conflicts and character flaws that build ...» Document abstract
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ancient history
school essay
date published
19/10/2007
review : not yet assessed
level : Advanced
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Joan of Arc never lived to hear her own name; she never lived to see her own deliverance. Jeanne la Pucelle (Joan the Maid) died a heretic. Redeemed twenty-five years later at the nullification of the Rouen trial that sentenced her to the stake, Joan finally earned the honor behind the surname DArc, but not before cementing a dichotomy larger than the split between England and France. Was Joan of Arc truly a messenger of God, or merely a girl spawned by satanic delusions or personal vendettas? History fails Joan; it is not even known for sure her date of birth or her exact age at death. Régine Pernoud, in her book Joan of Arc: Her Story, paints a portrait of Jeanne left incomplete by lack of fact and verification. Even her accompanying collection of interviews and transcripts, Joan of Arc: By Herself and Her Witnesses, presents a one-dimensional Joan void of any emotion beyond her devotion to God. Such reckless piousness is hard to believe. Most fictional accounts of the Maid sacrifice spirituality in the name of humanity. Even William Shakespeare in his theatrical representation of King Henry VI presents Joan as the basest of villains, weak to the point of embracing Satan to save her own life. This English propaganda, common in decades following the end of the 100 Years War, presents a strikingly human Joan in comparison to the French obsession with her as icon alone: it is easier to sympathize with Joan as a lost girl torn on the eve of her death than as a devout Christian unbreakable even by the thought of fire and damnation. In his film The Messenger, Luc Besson attempts to find understanding in the story of Jeanne la Pucelle, a kind of humanity disallowed by history and Joan herself.
- Joan of Arc never lived to hear her own name; she never lived to see her own deliverance.
- Aside from information gathered at Domrémy during both the original Rouen trial and its subsequent nullification trial, Joan the Maid's childhood is for the most part an empty slate.
- Besson also introduces a sister of Jeanne, Catherine, who is killed and raped by the advancing English army while saving Joan in Domrémy.
- For the most part, Joan of Arc was an onlooker.
- Most attempts to view Joan of Arc beyond a simply religious context, and consequently, as a person instead of as a spiritual icon, revolve around her military campaigns.
- Miracles, visions and voices are things most people do not believe in.
- When asked, she admitted to the voice of God having told her to carry this sword alongside the banner He designed in greatest detail.
- Simply stated, Luc Besson presents a Joan who does not even believe herself.
« There are very innate and obvious flaws to this potentiality. sect of people who disagree with the opinions of science and hold childbirth as a divine right of ...» Document abstract
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biology
school essay
date published
19/12/2007
review : not yet assessed
level : General public
requested 5 times
Society is no stranger to technology it has been adapting it and advancing it for decades. Technology has completely revolutionized the way we interact each other as well as ourselves. Due to this complete integration, there has been an addiction formulated. Human beings now thrive on technology and the way it facilitates life. However, not only does society allow society to facilitate life, it now alters it completely. The worlds technology has now gotten so incredible that science can edit the genetic makeup of human beings. This opens a realm of possibilities ranging from the treating and elimination of diseases to the potentiality of cloning. Genetic engineering has the ability to completely skew the human perception of self versus other, as displayed in the 1997 film Gattaca and is supported by the thoughts of doctors Michael Sandel and Yury Verlinsky.
« O, these flaws and starts, Impostors to true fear, would well become A woman's deaf pillows will discharge their secrets: More needs she the divine than the ...» Document abstract
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literature
school essay
date published
12/10/2007
review : not yet assessed
level : Advanced
requested 0 times
Dyke, hiss the schoolboys, to the girls with grass-stained knees and dirt-streaked cheeks. To the girls who run faster, throw further, tackle harder than the prides of fatherhood manifest. A word, but so much more a performance. A stereotype, but so much more an expectation. Sometimes, these girls are wronged. Sometimes, these boys are right. Playground dykes: a first acknowledgment of sexual beings, independent of sex, distorting the being.
I find it impossible to live separate from the homosexual lifestyle. To pass as straight is to deny gay culture, but to embrace gay culture for the sake of camaraderie is to perpetuate a false image. Sexuality and gender are not interchangeable ideals, nor do they obey the certain analogous formula of normal is to normal as abnormal is to abnormal. I can be gay and still be female.
I find it impossible to live separate from the homosexual lifestyle. To pass as straight is to deny gay culture, but to embrace gay culture for the sake of camaraderie is to perpetuate a false image. Sexuality and gender are not interchangeable ideals, nor do they obey the certain analogous formula of normal is to normal as abnormal is to abnormal. I can be gay and still be female.
- To the girls who run faster, throw further, tackle harder than the prides of fatherhood manifest.
- But I Shame to Wear a Heart So White
- I can easily paint a portrait of Lady Macbeth as a lesbian, victimized by the ultimately homophobic culture of the Renaissance.
- The conventional split between masculine and feminine in psychology and culture, that is, the contrast masculine/feminine, speaks also to pleasure, activity and passivity.
- Freud believed homosexuality in women to be caused by an unsuccessful resolution of the oedipal complex.
- Much of Lady Macbeth's masculinity is forged from the natural analogy between sex and violence.
- This idea of creating an other, a foil, is integral not only in the formation of Lady Macbeth's masculinity, but in her careful maintenance of it as well.
- What seems to be at the end of the play Lady Macbeth's downfall, the fall she shares with her husband from the invincible to the vulnerable, is not a fall at all.
- Ironically enough, not only does her masculinity forbid the return of feminine traits, the lack of those feminine traits does not allow for her to admit her changes.
- I Am Not from Your Tribe
- The qualities Lady Macbeth adopts to become a man, her journey toward her dreams of unsexing, become the qualities expected of lesbians.
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