The concept of God is incoherent Essay Example for Free

The concept of God is incoherent Essay The concept of God is incoherent. Discuss God is conceived of as a (supernatural) being that is eternal, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, all good, all just and all merciful. These attributions appear to create logical difficulties, sometimes singly, sometimes when taken together, though it is in some cases necessary to add facts about the world (such as the existence of evil) to create the incoherence. In such cases, it is the whole picture of the nature of God plus aspects of reality that is held to be incoherence. Firstly God is Omnipotence. Omnipotence by definition means that God is all powerful. If God were all powerful, he would be able to do anything, which would include any act which he can overcome with his own power. For example; creating a stone so heavy, that he could not lift it. However the suggestion that God makes a stone so heavy that he himself cannot lift it is actually a contradiction and so logically this makes it impossible. One might react to this by saying that God is indeed so powerful that he can defy the laws of logic. However, a better response, in my view, is that being unable to do what is logically impossible is not a genuine limitation on Gods power, since any proposition that purports to say that some logically impossible act has been performed is in fact nonsense. In such a proposition, no act has really been described. Omnipotence does create problems in other areas. In addition another problematic attribute of God is his omniscience. Omniscience means all knowing. The claim is that if God is all knowing. However this creates a problem, if God knows everything then surely that must indicted that we as human do not have free will. For example suppose I am going to be going on holiday in March God would know that this was going to happen. (Gods foreknowledge) In some way God had already planned what would happen next. Therefore it hardly seems to be my act. However on the other hand if I was to commit a bad act that I am planning to carry out surely in this case we can apply the same method as the first illustration. It seems not fair to blame me for what God knew I was going to do anyway. He could have stopped me! Some people claim that surely we shouldnt be blamed also for our sins Basically in other words, Gods omniscience seems to prevent us having free will. However, I think the theist can give a plausible answer to this particular accusation of Incoherence. If I am free, my doing a particular action X makes it the case that God knows that I have done it, so that the causal relation runs the opposite way from that claimed in the objection. This does not imply that I can make it the case that God knew it before the time when I did X, and therefore that I can affect the past. For God is usually thought of as existing outside of time. (It is perhaps only in this sense that he can correctly be described as eternal-he never begins or ceases to exist.) Of course, it must be Gods decision to give us freedom to perform one act rather than another.

John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln Essay -- Compare Contrast Compari

John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States of America. He served as President when the country was under war. Abe Lincoln was born in 1806 and grew up in the countryside as a pioneer. His mother died at a young age and he had a sister. His father married a widow that had three children and Abe Lincoln liked her very much. Every day he attended school and worked very hard on his father's farm. John F. Kennedy was born in 1917 and died in 1963. John grew up in Massachusetts in a very wealthy and politically powerful family. His father was ambassador for Great Britain and his mother was the daughter to John F. Fitzgerald, who was a congressman and major of Boston. John Kennedy was a Harvard Graduate. He was the one in the family expected to accomplish great things. JFK has 3 children, John Jr., Caroline and Patrick. John Jr. died in a plane crash, while on his way to his brother Robert's daughter Cory's wedding. Patrick died when he was 6 weeks old while JFK was in office. Caroline is the only persona live in this family. JFK's brother Robert ran for President after him but was assassinated in 1968. He was the Attorney General before this. His other brother, Ted is now the U.S. Senator for Massachusetts and also his older brother Joe was killed in World War II, flying a plane. JFK was enlisted in the Navy during World War II and was awarded for being brave. AFter the war, he got a seat in Congress in a Boston district. When he was Senator, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his book Profiles in Courage. Kennedy was elected in 1960. While he was in office, he suffered back pain from injuries from the war. Kennedy was then assassinated in 1963. One of Lincoln's first opponents was Douglas, they were running for U.S. Senate. Douglas was a two-term Senator with a great background and Lincoln was self-educated and only had one term in Congress. The odds were stacked against Lincoln's "vast moral evil" of slavery, he started to make more Republicans like him, and they thought he would be great for the Presidency in 1860. Besides Lincoln who was running was J.C. Breckinridge (Southern Democrat). John Bell (Constitutional Union) and Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrat). Lincoln won the Presidency with 180 electoral votes and 1,865,593 popular votes. Lincoln was part of the republican party. At first, that part... ...ion's stand start to arise. Looking over the evidence the Warren Report is based upon leads to that, the Commission took great liberties in smoothing over contradictions in the information and failed to follow up on evidence suggesting that Oswald had confederates. As evidence came in, the Commission went with what it believe. OPINION I can only imagine how America felt in November 1963. John F. Kennedy created this era of optimism and hope. After he died his dreams he had set for our country went along with him. America was left with sorrow and despair. No one alive then had ever imagined that would happen, not to them, not to their country. I also feel that the CIA killed JFK , just from reading Earl Warren's report, and the JFK Records Act, because some evidence is still being held back from the public and no one really knows what happen from Parkland Hospital to the autopsy room at Bethesda Naval Hospital.Was Kennedy's nody played with? I believe so. Plus i also think that there was more than one shot fired at Kennedy after watching Abraham Zapruder flim because its almost impossible that one bullet went through Kennedy and still wounded John Connally in a few places.

Is Worship Buddhist

Alexander Johnson Is Worship Buddhist? The most important thing about spirituality is that everyone has a unique experience with it. That being said, nobody has the right to say what is and what is not someone else’s belief system. Then we come to the case of Buddhism, where the initial teachings have evolved over the course of its history, and the question of being Buddhist becomes even more muddied.There are several works, claiming words directly from the mouth of Buddha, which describe methods of worship that will grant a worshipper great amounts of spiritual merit, such as presenting gifts or creating extravagant places of worship, which promise a better reincarnation or other good fortune. When one examines who stands to gain from such actions, however, it is fairly evident that whowever controls the fate of such sacrifices and work has much to gain indeed. This may be necessary for the survival of the religion and better for the entire community, but is not in of itself Buddhist.Then there are other Buddhist works which seem to directly contradict aspects of such worship. One central theme in the teachings is to avoid attachment to physical things; a ritual such as bathing a stone image daily or building a jewel encrusted shrine clearly opposes that idea. For one to attach oneself to even the attribute of being Buddhist is unbecoming of the purest practitioner. For nearly all things, and especially with spiritual practice, there is no black and white, merely shades of grey. Worship, along with all things, is subject to interpretation.

Ageism in America - 1709 Words

Ageism in America The term ageism was coined in 1969 by Robert Butler, the first director of the National Institute on Aging. He used the word to describe the process of systematic stereotyping of people because they are old. Ageism is a term that is similar to other ‘isms in society, such as racism and sexism. Ageism allows other generations to see older people as different from themselves; thus they subtly cease to identify with their elders as human beings (Butler, 1975). All people, including the young as well as the old, can be discriminated against based on age. Today ageism is more broadly defined as any prejudice or discrimination against or in favor of an age group (Palmore, 1990). The Census Bureau estimates†¦show more content†¦In a study published by the American Psychological Association, Yale School of Public Health, Professor Becca Levy and her colleagues concluded that old people with positive perceptions of aging lived an average of 7.5 years longer than those with ne gative images of growing older. Levy said many Americans start developing stereotypes about the elderly during childhood, reinforced them throughout adulthood, and enter old age with attitudes toward their own age group as unfavorable as younger people s attitudes (Levy, Slade, MD, Kasl, SV, 2002). While, in general, the elderly are considered a negative part of American society, some cultures around the world place great honor and bestow high status onto the elderly members of their society. Concerning the aging process, elders are respected for their knowledge and experience. In fact, in some cultures, it becomes their responsibility to pass down their wisdom and learning to the younger members of society. In Native American cultures, all members of a tribe care for the elderly. Death is an accepted fact of natural life, not to be approached with fear. The soul is believed to be immortal, in the sense of experiencing a changing of worlds (Deloria, 1973). In countries in the East, growing older is an outward sign of one s increase in knowledge and experiences. Since this positive attitude of aging is passed from one generation to the next,Show MoreRelatedAgeism in America during the Great Depression504 Words   |  2 Pages2-10 % it is still pretty high (â€Å"Ageism in America†). Though the Great Depression affected most of the people of the United States of America the ones who were affected by the most in everything but physical abuse were the elderly. What exactly is ageism in the 1930’s and who invented the term is a question that should be answered and is. Thankfully it is answered for us. According to Open Society institute who wrote the article Ageism in America said that ageism is a term that was invented by DrRead MoreAgeism : Stereotypes And Stereotyping Of Older People Today Essay1178 Words   |  5 PagesAgeism is a popular and important topic to discuss as it represents a great issue in today’s society. The article â€Å"Ageism in America† focuses on the biases and stereotyping of older people here in America. The elderly is highly discriminated against and we tend to not realize this enough. Ageism is an ever growing concern in the United States and is an issue that needs to be resolved. There is a concern of what will become of ageism in the future. The term ageism is based on an individuals or societiesRead Moreageism1028 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Ageism Kristen Dorman Ageism is the discrimination against an individual or group due to age. While ageism is a real problem, many people tend to ignore it because it is so often practiced, people don’t even realize it is happening. The forms of ageism range from the very obvious to the more discrete, almost unrecognizable discrimination. While ageism is evident in all age groups, it tends to be more dominant among the elderly and teenagers or young adults. When most people envision an elderlyRead MoreAgeism Essay881 Words   |  4 Pagesrest of the world. Most of them live in nursing homes where they are far away from their families. Others live by themselves where they have no family members visiting them and leaving them to take care of everything. Some researchers believe that ageism, in the form of negative stereotypes, directly affects longevity. In a study published by the American Psychological Association, Yale School of Public Health professor Becca Levy and her colleagues concluded that old people with positive perceptionsRead MoreEssay on Ageism or Agism621 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"Ageism, or agism, is a prejudice or discrimination against an individual or group in society on the basis of ones conception of age. A  prejudice is a  preconceived  mentality, judgement, or opinion that may have no  reason nor basis. Discrimination is the expression of prejudice resulting in differential treatment of different groups or individuals in society. This may include unjust behaviors, actions, language(s) and degrading terms, or limitations  restricting anothers rights. A person who participatesRead MoreDiscrimmination against the Elderly Essay955 Words   |  4 PagesRobert Butler (1975) was one of the first writers on ageism and he defined it as â€Å"a process of systematic stereotyping of and discrimination against people because they are old. . . . Old people are categorized as senile, rigid in thought and manner, old fashioned in morality and skills† (p. 35). Ageism is a form of oppression of elders by youth and adults. Ageism intersects with classism and sexism to produce differences in distribution of retirement resources for the elderly. Women of all ethnicRead MoreReducing the Divide between Young and Old1299 Words   |  6 PagesThe area of diversity that we will look at here is Ageism. First we will discuss some of the more important barriers that are present because of age. We will discuss how this group is affected by discrimination, prejudices, and stereotypes and some of the sources that perpetuate it. Finally we’ll attempt to show some strategies that both young and old can use to promote communication and understanding to hopefully reduce the divide between the young and old. In ancient times the old we’re valuedRead MoreAgeism : Ageism And Prejudice Against The Old Age1506 Words   |  7 Pages Like sexism and racism, ageism is discrimination, a deep and profound prejudice against the elderly. Elderly individuals constantly face negligence because of Ageism. In this society of isms, racism, sexism, and ageism; these things create labels, stereotypes, and categorizes people, by shape, size, color, and age. The elderly in their later years should be able to have a peaceable life and be treated with dignity and respect. However, pretty much anyone over the age of 50 is a target for an attackRead MoreAgeism Still Alive And Lurking Still This Day Essay1139 Words   |  5 Pageswill forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel,† (Maya Angelou). Ageism still alive and lurking still this day. I believe that people are prejudice to anything and everything. Today ageism is big in the world today. This really play a huge role in the elderly life span. The history of ageism is the process of stereotyping against people because their old. To me ageism is like sexism and racism, they treat older woman like they’re not human. Like they have these seniorRead MoreAgeism : An Underestimated Type Of Discrimination1609 Words   |  7 PagesAgeism: An Underestimated Type of Discrimination When the suffix â€Å"-ism† comes to mind, one typically thinks of the more common forms of discrimination throughout society today: racism, sexism, elitism, ableism, ethnocentrism, classism... the list could continue. Ageism, coined by Robert Butler in 1969, however, is one of the many forms of â€Å"isms† that may not be immediately conjured up, or even considered a threat to society at all. It is a fact of life that all living organisms age. I will, you will