¶ … friend who attempted to convince me that Christianity was the only "true religion." He based his argument upon several quotations from the Bible, one of which holds that human beings are only "saved" by Jesus Christ, and by believing in him. Another quotation encourages Christ's followers to evangelize the rest of the world. My friend bases his religious philosophy and beliefs on these two biblical principles. I order to convince me, he attempted to use the emotional and spiritual fulfillment that he and millions of others gain from adhering to the religion.
My problem, from a logical point-of-view, is that he is unable to base his argument on empirical evidence. Firstly, the Bible has been written millennia ago, by several people. Simply because it states in one verse that the Holy Spirit inspired the words, does not mean that this applies to all the books. Furthermore, history has proved several cases of tampering with this religious tome, making it somewhat more than unreliable in a concrete sense. While the Bible may therefore be of great literary and spiritual value, I hardly think it can be used as evidence for justifying the eradication of all other religions in favor of one.
As for his second argument, my friend bases this on arbitrary emotion rather than empirical evidence. He has not conducted any research to measure the level of satisfaction or the exact number of adherents experiencing this level of satisfaction as opposed to other religions. In my experience, religion in general provides its adherents with a sense of spiritual satisfaction. This does not apply only to Christianity. All religions provide a sense of explanation and comfort in uncertainty. Religion provides answers. It is from this sense of security that my friend and many other religious adherents derive their emotional satisfaction. I therefore believe that all religions are generally on the same level. While I cannot prove either the existence or non-existence of God, I can argue against raising a single religion in importance over others.
Oates Arnold Friend is a Stalker There are many nebulous aspects to Joyce Carol Oates short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been," for example, the origins of Connie's troubled relationship with her mother (is it strictly a jealousy thing?), the peculiarity of Arnold Friend's last name (what kind of friend is he?), the relevance of those secret numbers that Arnold Friend rattles off ("33, 19, 17") or even why
Also, the stress related to living one day at a time makes it even more difficult to study and to think and plan for my future and that of my children. As you can probably understand, this is only part of my reason for attempting to obtain a scholarship which will help immensely with not only my financial responsibilities to the school but also to my family. I am currently enrolled
trick-or-treating on Halloween unsupervised with my friends for the first time. I came back with the usual pillowcase full of candy, which my parents immediately appropriated, looking for apples with razor blades, drug-laced baked goods or any other of the dangers the media scared them about that year. One of the treats that was taken away was a red and white, cellophane-wrapped box I hadn't really paid attention to
Grieving It is human nature to grieve over a loss or something upsetting that has happened in a person's life. It should be noted that there are many ways of handling grief. Many experts have given their opinion and talked about how to deal with it. Furthermore, different religions have their own guides and ways of dealing with grief. Lastly, it should be noted that every person has a way of
Anorexia Nervosa is defined in the Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine as "an eating disorder characterized by unrealistic fear of weight gain, self-starvation, and conspicuous distortion of body image. The fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-IV (1994), defines two subtypes of anorexia nervosa -- a restricting type, characterized by strict dieting and exercise without binge eating -- and a binge-eating/purging type, marked by
Utopias Explored: THE TIME MACHINE and BLADE RUNNER Science Fiction and Film Utopian Societies Explored The Ancient Greek work for "no place," utopia has come down to modern readers as something to be the ideal -- the Eden. The actual word comes from the Greek 'ou -- not' and 'topos -- place,' and was coined in the modern sense by the title of a 1516 book written by Sir Thomas Moore. More's Utopia
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