Religious Field Research -- Interview with a Mormon
There are many myths and misunderstandings about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints -- also known as Mormonism -- that are based in many cases on a lack of knowledge. The misunderstandings are also the result of the fact that the Mormon faith is -- to the traditional Protestant, or Catholic, or Muslim or Buddhist or Jew -- somewhat mysterious. Perhaps the Mormon faith is mysterious because it is so very different from other faiths. hen there are misunderstandings about a particular philosophy or religious practice myths and even hateful stereotypes can emerge from society. In this paper some of the most common misconceptions and misunderstandings will be presented along with an interview with a Mormon, a person that will respond to questions and be authoritative in his responses.

Misconceptions / Prior Understandings / Steps to Minimize Myths

There is the ongoing…...

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Works Cited

Givens, Terryl. (1997). The Viper on the Hearth: Mormons, Myths, and the Construction of Heresy. New York: Oxford University Press.

Gordon, Sarah Barringer. (2002). The Mormon Question: and Constitutional Conflict

In Nineteenth-Century America. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.

Mormon. (2011). Meet with the Missionaries / Who are the Missionaries? Retrieved September

Although religious and secular authority have been in conflict practically since religion was first formalized into specific institutions and centers of power, the evolution of religious authority which occurred after 1500 set the stage for the conflicts of the contemporary world by distributing religious authority to the religious populace, rather than a small group of priests and leaders. By imbuing each individual member of any given religion (but mostly Christianity) with the supposed blessing and authority of a god, religion actually increased its influence exponentially precisely by making that influence appear diminished.
hen religious authority was centered in the hands of a relatively small priesthood, it could be easily attacked and confronted because there was a single target of criticism. However, when religious authority was distributed among the faithful as a result of the Catholic Church's split and the rise of Enlightenment ideas, confronting or challenging religious authority became an…...

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Works Cited

Erasmus, Desiderius. The Praise of Folly. London: Hamilton Adams and Co., 1887. Print.

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1922.

Print.

Milton, John. Paradise Lost. London: Jacob Thomson, 1922. Print.

The worship of Mazu shares many elements with other types of Chinese folk religions. Mazu was based upon a historical figure and is said to play a protective role over the people in her region; in Mazu's case, she is said to protect fishermen (Lim 2010). She was worshipped for over 500 years in China, so that many elements of her worship are traditional parts of culture.
However, the modern celebration of Mazu contains elements that were not historically present in her worship. "Facing off at the other end of the square from the Mazu statues is a podium, where government officials from the Communist Party are seated. The ceremony is part political rally, part religious ceremony and part cultural event" (Lim 2010). Moreover, the belief in Mazu is not seen as violating the Communist Party prohibitions against religion; as a folk religion, belief in her is seen as a…...

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References

Lim, L 2010, July 23, China's leaders harness folk religion for their aims. Retrieved July 10,

2013 from the NPR website:  http://www.npr.org/2010/07/23/128672542/chinas-leaders-harness-folk-religion-for-their-aims 

Liu, EY 2013, Religion in China, Sociological forum, 28(2), pp.419-422.

Pittman, P 2003, Belief in control: regulation of religion in China, China Quarterly, 174, 317-

eligious Life of Planet Earth
What does religion look like on Earth

eligion depicts a relationship between spirituality and humanity and also shows how moral values are related to them. It comprises of an organized collection of world views, cultural systems and belief systems regarding spirituality and humanity. Many religions explain the origin of life or Universe through symbols, narratives, traditions and sacred histories. The concepts of ethics, religious laws, preferred lifestyles and morality are derived through their ideas pertaining to human nature and cosmos. Some estimates have indicated that there exist approximately 4200 religions all over the world (The Everything World's eligions Book, 2010).

Clergy and organized behaviors define the structure of holy places, scriptures and membership which are also an integral part of many religions. Mythology also constitutes a significant part of several religions. eligious practices usually comprise of sermons, trance, feasts, rituals, matrimonial services, gods or goddesses, festivals, meditation, art,…...

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References

The Everything World's Religions Book: Explore the Beliefs, Traditions and Cultures of Ancient and Modern Religions, page 1 Kenneth Shouler - 2010

Durkheim, E. (1915) The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. London: George Allen & Unwin, p.10.

Fitzgerald, Timothy (2007). Discourse on Civility and Barbarity. Oxford University Press. pp. 45 -- 46.

Kevin R. Foster and Hanna Kokko, "The evolution of superstitious and superstition-like behaviour," Proc. R. Soc. B (2009) 276, 31 -- 37

eligious Field esearch
Because of the diversity within Buddhism, the religion is widely misunderstood and misrepresented. Before visiting the local chapter of a Buddhist organization, I was mystified by all of the different groups in the area. I had met a practitioner of Nichren Buddhism last month, and decided to find out if I could attend the religious service as part of my field research. After phoning in advance, it was clear that visitors were welcome as long as we were not disruptive. I was told that the service lasted for about one hour and consisted mainly of chanting.

According to the Nichren Buddhist Association of America, "The purpose of Buddhism is to enable each and every person to eliminate suffering from their lives." The techniques by which the practitioner attempts to eliminate suffering varies. I always knew that meditation was integral to the Buddhist traditions, but I did not know how…...

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References

"The Daily Practice," (n.d.). SGI-USA. Retrieved online:  http://www.sgi-usa.org/newmembers/dailypractice.php 

"Nichiren Buddhism," (n.d.). Religion Facts. Retrieved online:  http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/sects/nichiren.htm 

Nichiren Buddhist Association of America (n.d.). Welcome to NBAA. Retrieved online:  http://www.nichirenbuddhist.org/ 

O'Brian, B. (n.d.). Nichiren Buddhism. About.com. Retrieved online:  http://buddhism.about.com/od/nichirenbuddhism/a/nichiren_over.htm

eligious traditions include laws, beliefs, doctrines and regulations that are found within a specific religion. They are a collection of belief systems and cultural systems which establish symbols that show and establish a relationship between humans and their spirituality. eligious traditions are handed down from generations to generations with significant events being viewed as part of historical time focusing mainly on conduct and behavior. These traditions are either true or false depending on their alignment to scriptures. If they are in accordance to the scriptures then they are true but those which are contrary to the revealed and written word in scriptures is false. The everyday lives of people comprise of religious traditions and rituals (PreserveArticles.com, 2012). The paper will give an explanation on how religious traditions describe and encourage the following relationships; with the divine, sacred time, sacred space or natural world and with each other.it will also look…...

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References

Tangient LLC. (2013).Relationship between sacred spaces and the beliefs. Retrieved June 10, 2013 from  http://cmsor2u2008.wikispaces.com/Discuss+the+relationship+between+sacred+spaces+and+the+beliefs+of+the+religio 

Rossano, M.J.(2010).Understanding Religion through the lens of relationships. Retrieved June 10, 2013 from  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-j-rossano/understanding-religion-th_b_596856.html 

PreserveArticles.com, (2012). Notes on the Eight Basic Elements of Religion. Retrieved June 10, 2013 from  http://www.preservearticles.com/201104296053/notes-on-the-eight-basic-elements-of-religion.html 

Davies-Stofka, B. (2008). Sacred Time. Retrieved June 10, 2013 from  http://www.patheos.com/Library/Islam/Ritual-Worship-Devotion-Symbolism/Sacred-Time.html

Obviously, while the statutes prohibit religious discrimination, the courts will not simply rubber-stamp an employee's claim that something conflicts with his religious beliefs. Instead, the court will look at whether a bona fide religious practice conflicted with an employment requirement, whether the employee brought the religious practice to the employer's attention, and whether the religious practice was the basis of the adverse employment decision. Once that is established, the burden shifts to the employer to either demonstrate that they made a reasonable accommodation or that to do so would have been unduly burdensome. The problem comes when one realizes that many of these issues are very subjective, which means that the solution in one fact-specific situation would probably differ tremendously from the situation in another fact-specific scenario.
For example, when one examines the scenario with Sandy Koufax, it appears reasonably clear that, had the Dodgers chosen to take adverse employment…...

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References

Bearden, Tom. Playing by the Rules: Transcript. PBS Online Newshour. (March 14, 1996)

(available at   (accessed October 10, 2011).http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/sports/nba_debate_3-14.html )

Cosme v. Runyon, 287 F.3d 152 (2d Cir. 2002).

EEOC v. Union Independiente de la Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados de Puerto Rico,

eligious Health Care
As a consultant we have identified some of the issues that need to be considered further by the consultant group and perhaps confer it with the governing board and the CEO, and I have discussed these issues to ensure the most critical issues of the eligious Health Care has in order of importance. These concerns must be addressed in order for there to be some changes to the system as it stands, and first and foremost the first function that they should be concerned about it is needs of the community and diversity because living and learning about religion should go together and have successful facilities. The organization must address the needs that are first religious, divine, biased, reasonable, advocatory, individually, or insecure in character to meet the staff and seniors needs. Second, the healthcare board should be devoted to the standards of area, self-sufficiency, and trust that…...

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References

A conceptual framework for the oecd health care quality indicators project. (2006). Oxford journal, 18(1), Retrieved from  http://intqhc.oxfordjournals.org/content/18/suppl_1/5.full 

A guide to computer assisted audit techniques. (2006). Informally published manuscript, Department of Revenue, University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA. Retrieved from  http://www.mass.gov/Ador/docs/dor/Publ/PD/FS/caat.pdf 

Increase your market share. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1079668198

Student governing board of Columbia university missions statement. (2007, March 26). Retrieved from http://www.columbia.edu/cu/sgb/files/constitution.pdf

eligious Discrimination
There is no one who is supposed to be discriminated on the basis of their religion in the workplace. The rights of employees are protected under Title VII. According to Title VII, religion includes all aspects of religious observance and practice coupled with beliefs .Therefore in a workplace situation unless an employer demonstrates that he is not able to reasonably accommodate an employee or even a prospective employees' religious practice or observance without undue hardship on the conduct of the business of the employer (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2009). In this case MaryJo had every right to file a claim to EEOC. The paper will be an evaluation of the merit to the claim that MaryJo wants to file. First of all every employer is supposed to accommodate an employees religious conflict even if the conflict was not existing when the employee was being hired. Clearly MarJo's proselytizing which is…...

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Reference

Bennett-Alexander, D.D., & Hartman, L.P. (2009). Employment law for business (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

At the extreme side, the September 11 attacks and various Islamist violence perpetrated against civilians in the last two decades is an example of how violence and conflict can be justified in religious terms. Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders often quote from the Qur'an and refer to the est as "Crusaders," emphasizing the religious significance of the struggle they conduct (Lincoln; Juergensmeyer). Historical circumstances may also dictate the totally pacifist manifestations of Islam. An example is Abdul Ghaffar Khan in India, also known as the "Frontier Gandhi," a close associate of Gandhi in non-violent struggle against British rule. Ghaffar Khan was not a minority figure but garnered the support of a hundred thousand official followers and even a greater number of sympathizers (Gandhi).
"Violent ideas and images are not the monopoly of any single religion," Juergensmeyer explains. "Virtually every major religious tradition -- Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh…...

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Works Cited

Aslan, Reza. "Harris, Hitchens, Dawkins, Dennett: Evangelical Atheists?" Washington Post, 16 July 2010. Web. 8 May 2011.

Gandhi, Rajmohan. "Mohandas Gandhi, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, and the Middle East Today." World Policy Journal (MIT Press) 22.1 (2005): 89-94. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 10 May 2011.

Gopin, Marc. Between Eden and Armageddon: The Future of World Religions, Violence, and Peacemaking. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print.

Juergensmeyer, Mark. Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2003. Print.

A pair of lovers might marry for physical attraction, and then discover one another's emotional attributes. But will this lead them to a higher form of affection, in the Platonic ideal of erotic progression? A monk would suggest that modern married life is too distracting to allow a full communion with the divine, in the presence of such worldly responsibilities, and thus religious eroticism is fundamentally incompatible with even the best of earthly, married affection.
Of course, there are those such as Bataille, who would suggest the idea of the connection between eroticism and death means that even in the original, first flush of passion, there is a parallel between the divine and the ordinary, bodily erotic. The loss of self sought by mystics and the loss of self more ordinary people seek in the distractions of love through the petite morte or little death of the orgasm are similar,…...

Religious Life of Planet Earth
The objective of this study is to assume that the writer is from another planet and has been sent to Earth to determine if it is a religious planet or not. The superiors are expecting a report from this writer who will discuss the criteria employed to determine if people on earth are religious. This work will additionally describe three behaviors or beliefs that are observed to meet the criteria established and based on the writer's observations to explain the function of religion on earth and determine how the observations made could otherwise be interpreted.

Criteria

The criteria that would be used in determining whether Earth is a religious planet or not would include a belief on the part of humans that there is a greater and higher power that is more intelligent and otherwise superior to human beings that has a great deal of control over the…...

Religious Patterns
The Middle Colonies evolved differently from other colonies, as people there had a greater degree of tolerance with regard to religious behaviors and this thus influenced people to develop open-minded thinking styles. Many families that had controversial religious preferences at the time relocated to the Middle Colonies in an attempt to improve their condition. Individuals from large and small sects directed their attention toward the Middle Colonies, as numerous Quakers, German Lutherans, and Amish came to move there.

Many Europeans who came to the New Continent were from England, France, and Spain. This meant that religious ideas in areas dominated by each of these communities were generally supportive toward particular religious ideologies. The prospect of becoming an explorer and seeing rapid gain influenced a great deal of other Europeans to come to America. As a consequence, these people brought their religious preferences with them and established communities in areas that…...

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Works cited:

Lippy, Charles, M., "Introducing American Religion," JBE Online Books, 2009.

The school has accepted to offer different teachings in accordance to the diverse religious groups and movements in the society. Therefore, the school has catered for all the learners so that they are able to learn in accordance to their original faiths. Moreover, this strategy has worked to the advantage of many people in the society as done among learners in the school. The appreciation of different faiths has been made significant and relevant to the existence of a diverse religious setting in the world (Thomas, 2007).

Not all has been well with the application of the strategy involved in my school. However, many learners have appreciated the issue of giving them religious studies based on the faiths of their culture, ethical issues as concerns interaction and replication of the faiths have created differing notions among the learners. For instance, it is hard to manage to believe in the trinity among…...

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References

Murray, W.J. (2007). The pledge: One nation under God. Chattanooga, TN: Living Ink

Books

Thomas, R.M. (2007). God in the classroom: Religion and America's public schools.

Westport, CT: Praeger

On the contrary, Jules initially seems far colder and less redeemable than Vincent. The best example of this is when Jules recites a verse from the Bible, "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you!" (Tarantino). This verse is at least partially derived from Ezekiel 25:17. Later in the movie, Jules reveals that he said those words without believing them, pretending that he…...

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References

Tarantino, Quentin (1994). Pulp Fiction: A Screenplay (New York: Hyperion/Miramax).

You can find information to create this thesis statement by using several different types of sources. In addition to the standard Google search for websites about the topic, there are online and offline books and magazines that deal with religious subjects. Ministry Magazine is a good source to consider, along with Enrichment Journal and Christian Standard. Liberty University's Digital Commons also provides a lot of good insight into growing small churches. Any church can be successful in a small city, as long as it provides the community with what the people need in order to feel their lives are being....

In order to handle this argument, you will need to choose a side based on what you believe. If you think mass media is portraying men negatively, look for a TV show or movie where a man was portrayed in a very positive light. Sometimes these can be religious shows or other types of shows with strong moral backgrounds, but that does not have to be the case. Part of the concern with this question is that what is considered positive or negative may be different depending on who is answering the question. Because of that, consider what you view....

The practice of nursing is strongly guided by ethical theories and principles, because nurses are charged with the duty of taking proper care of patients and ensuring that they do no harm to them. The principles, values, and morals they must adhere to are based on what is needed for them to provide the maximum benefit and level of care to the largest number of patients on a daily basis. The values and morals they hold may differ from those of the patients they care for, and they must be careful to avoid putting down on or otherwise dismissing what....

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