Habits That Hinder Thinking :: essays research papers fc

John and Julie, your two best friends, have just read an article about the death penalty. It explains the reasons why death by lethal injection is a legitimate punishment for certain crimes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As Julie reads the article, she strongly agrees with what the author has to say. â€Å"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,† she imagines. Without examining the ideas that are involved, she’s satisfied with everything the article says because, â€Å"It’s only fair.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  John, on the other hand, is deeply offended before he’s even finished reading the article. He leans heavily on the feeling that God has the only power to decide someone’s fate, not man. â€Å"It’s not right to interfere with another person’s existence on Earth,† he thinks to himself as he keeps reading.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What Julie and John don’t know is that they’ve both used some habits that hinder thinking to come up with their opinions. They both had strong initial feelings about the death penalty. And they both finished with those same feelings because they were the most satisfying. But Julie and John failed to try to learn about their opposing opinion. Without even realizing it, they both became victims of thobbing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Henshaw Ward termed thobbing for considering and evaluating ideas. â€Å"The term combines the th from thinking, the o from opinion, and the b from believing† (qtd. in Ruggiero 53). You can be aware of when you are thobbing by paying close attention to your initial opinions, especially the ones that are very strong.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many habits that can hinder one’s thinking, causing their mind to fall victim to thobbing. Julie and John both used conformity and resistance to change, and rationalizing habits when coming up with an opinion about the death penalty article.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In The Art of Thinking, Ruggiero states that â€Å"harmful conformity is what we do instead of thinking in order to belong to a group or to avoid the risk of being different. Such conformity is an act of cowardice, a sacrifice of indepedence for a lesser good(49).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Julie and John may have been conforming when they developed their opinions about the article on the death penalty. They had probably dealt with the argument before and were exposed to other people’s opinions. Then when they came across this article, they were most satisfied with the belief they were familiar with. They remembered the other people’s attitudes and conformed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  John belongs to a church where he practices his belief in Christianity.

A History of God : The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam by Armstrong, Karen

The writing of Karen Armstrong actually notes the human views of the existence of God in three major designs of religious belief in the society today, namely that of the Judaism, Christianity and Islam.One reason is that the roots of the Jewish religion go back some 4,000 years in history and other major religions are indebted to its Scriptures to a greater or lesser degree. Christianity, founded by Jesus (Hebrew, Ye†§shu†²a‛), a first-century Jew, has its roots in the Hebrew Scriptures. And as any reading of the Qur’Ä n will show, IslÄ m also owes much to those scriptures. (Qur’Ä n, surah 2:49-57; 32:23,  24) Thus, when we examine the Jewish religion, it could be noted that the roots of other religions are well examined just the same.Simply put, Judaism is the religion of a people. Therefore, a convert becomes part of the Jewish people as well as the Jewish religion. It is a monotheistic religion in the strictest sense and holds that God interv enes in human history, especially in relation to the Jews. Jewish worship involves several annual festivals and various customs. (See box, pages 230-1.) Although there are no creeds or dogmas accepted by all Jews, the confession of the oneness of God as expressed in the Shema, a prayer based on Deuteronomy 6:4 (JP), forms a central part of synagogue worship: â€Å"HEAR, O ISRAEL: THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE.†This belief in one God was passed on to Christianity and IslÄ m. According to Armstrong: â€Å"This sublime pronouncement of absolute monotheism was a declaration of war against all polytheism .  .  . In the same way, the Shema excludes the trinity of the Christian creed as a violation of the Unity of God.† The three major monotheistic religions of the world are Judaism, Christianity, and IslÄ m.But by the time Muá ¸ ¥ammad appeared toward the beginning of the seventh century  C.E., the first two religions, as far as he was concerned, had wandered from the path of truth. In fact, according to some IslÄ mic commentators, the Qur’Ä n implies rejection of Jews and of Christians in stating: â€Å"Not (the path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.† (Surah 1:7, MMP) Why is that?A Qur’Ä nic commentary states: â€Å"The People of the Book went wrong: The Jews in breaking their Covenant, and slandering Mary and Jesus .  .  . and the Christians in raising Jesus the Apostle to equality with God† by means of the Trinity doctrine.—Surah 4:153-176, AYA. The principal teaching of IslÄ m, for utter simplicity, is what is known as the shahÄ dah, or confession of faith, which every Muslim knows by heart: â€Å"La ilÄ h illa AllÄ h; Muá ¸ ¥ammad rasÃ… «l AllÄ h† (No god but Allah; Muá ¸ ¥ammad is the messenger of Allah). This agrees with the Qur’Ä nic expression, â€Å"Your God is One God; there is no God save Him, the Beneficent, the Merciful.†(Surah 2:163, MMP) This thought was stated 2,000 years earlier with the ancient call to Israel: â€Å"Listen, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.† (Deuteronomy 6:4) Jesus repeated this  foremost  command, which is recorded at Mark 12:29, about 600  years before Muá ¸ ¥ammad, and nowhere did Jesus claim to be God or to be equal to Him.—Mark 13:32; John 14:28; 1  Corinthians 15:28. Regarding God’s uniqueness, the Qur’Ä n states: â€Å"So believe in God and His apostles. Say not ‘Trinity’: desist: it will be better for you: for God is One God.†(Surah 4:171, AYA)However, we should note that true Christianity does not teach a Trinity. That is a doctrine of pagan origin introduced by apostates of Christendom after the death of Christ and the apostles.

Who Was Frederick Douglass - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 910 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2019/06/12 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Frederick Douglass Essay Did you like this example? Who was Frederick Douglass and why is he so important you may ask? Well, Frederick Douglass was a African American slave who escaped slavery using a sailorrs uniform and fake identification papers. He had made two previous failed attempts when he was in his teenage years. When he escaped, he wrote an autobiography called the Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass. Frederickrs early life, adulthood, and education, and literary impact helped to influence and change American literature forever. He was born February 14 of 1818. His mother had a hard time during her pregnancy with Frederick Douglass. When he was born his mother became a slave. It was hard to raise and take care of a child to make sure the child is healthy while being a slave. His mother died when he was only ten years old and growing up as a son of a mother who was a slave was difficult. He was sent later after his motherrs death to serve a family named The Auld Family that lived in Baltimore. The family that he was sent to had a wife who was willing to teach him the alphabet. He soon slowly started learning how to read and write. Mr. Auld was not very pleased when he found out that she was teaching Douglass. He forbid her from teaching him anymore. Although it wasnt a long time that Douglass was being taught to read and write, he was grateful for the time that she took out of her day to teach him the most that she could. Douglass was a smart kid, he slowly soon taught himself how to read and write li ke any other white kids who went to school to learn. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Who Was Frederick Douglass?" essay for you Create order During Fredericks adulthood he had met a wonderful woman named Anna Murray who soon changed his life. Anna had helped him escape slavery at the age of twenty. Frederick Douglass had a huge hatred for slavery, he had thought that slavery was not right. It was unfair the way colored woman, men and children were treated just because they were of color. He decided that he was not going to live in a world where people were owned and beaten daily. After his escape, he wrote a book that had talked about his life. He had written the book to notify everyone what he went through and for them to know that slavery is not right. Education and self-improvement were two things that became really important to him. He had said Slavery and Education are two completely different things. His education is what had given him his strength to write his autobiography. His autobiography, that he had written, had soon helped him become free. His book moved everyones hearts, he made it clear that slavery was not something to be proud of and that slavery is something to be ashamed of. There are people who are different from others, but, it does not mean people should be treated differently than others. He had fought and spoke up for people who could not speak up for themselves. Frederick was a kind hearted, courageous, strong and smart African American man. Who was the man that influenced Frederick Douglass you ask? Well, he met a man named William Lloyd Garrison. Garrison was a man who had influenced Douglass to become a speaker and a leader in the abolitionist movement. Although Garrison had impressed Douglass, Douglass himself had impressed Garrison. Garrison had mentioned Douglass in the Liberator. For days on after douglass had given speeches at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Societyrs annual convention in Nantucket. Soon later on the arguments between Garrison and Douglassrs beliefs had set a big dispute between them. Frederick put aside all disputes and had decided to continue his active involvement to better the lives of African Americans. Despite all of the apprehensions that might put his freedom in jeopardy, he published his autobiography. His autobiography was called, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, written by Himself. Frederick always tried to help people who were enslaved. He gave speeches, and wrote a book so he could make a difference to change peoples minds on slavery. He had goals to abolish slavery in all its forms and aspects. He gave lectures on the subject of freedom. He had many thoughts and opinions on slavery. Being a slave did not stop Douglass from helping others, and he pushed himself to make the world a better place. Douglass was nervous and shy but he soon went on to become a great public speaker. Frederick grew up to become a leader in the abolitionist movement and had tried to remove slavery from the world. Over all, Douglass was a very inspirational person. He tried to help us understand about what he had gone through and how slavery impacted him. He made us notice that slavery was not right and that slavery should never be a thing. He made sure that everybody knew that everyone is equal even if someone is colored or not. Frederick Douglass wrote a quote and it speaks a lot. Once you learn how to read, you will forever be free. Douglass is saying that when you learn how to read, you can speak your opinions out loud. Inspire others to speak up and inspire others to help make the world better than it already is. Everyones opinions matter and everyone has a say in everything, even if there really is no conclusion to the situation.