Visible Minority And Immigrant Racism - 1583 Words

Visible Minority and Immigrant Racism in the Canadian Work Environment In the ideal world, every person is treated equally in the workplace whether it be hiring, promotion, assignments or termination. However in reality, racial discrimination and harassment remain pervasive in the workplace, with 1 in 4 visible minority workers who reported that they had experienced racial harassment or discrimination in the workplace [3]. In this essay, I will be discussing the social-history of racism in the workplace, the nature of racism in the labour force, motives and factors, immigration policies, temporary programs and exploitation of employment, the de-skilling of individuals and non-recognition of foreign credentials, the social-history of racism in the workplace, racism in the sociological conflict theory paradigm, and finally, policy recommendations to aimed to eliminate and decrease racism in the work environment. In the Canadian work environment, racism exists as a complex and multidimensional inequality for visible minorities and immigrants, and can be e xamined socially, economically and politically using the sociological Marxist conflict theory paradigm. The Social-History of Racism in the Workplace The scramble to increase wealth began following the ‘discovery’ of the western hemisphere by wealth-seeking European empires. Initially, empires sought for gold but later realized the soil of the new lands were of the greatest wealth, but could only be acquired through the labourShow MoreRelated Prejudice and Racism in Canada Essay769 Words   |  4 PagesRacism is a Problem in Canada A few years ago in Smalltown, CA a burning cross was placed in the lawn of a visible minority family. Although the media seemed shocked at this explicit racial attack and portrayed the attackers as a group of abnormal, twisted deviants, I was not surprised. As an Asian student who is writing her Sociology honours thesis on visible minorities in Canada, I know on a personal and academic level that racism in Canada does exist. Although explicit racial incidents areRead MoreCanada Is Not The Post Racist Utopia1618 Words   |  7 Pagessame Canada â€Å"experienced by the disenfranchised such as Aboriginal peoples, racialized minorities, and the newest Canadians† (Fleras, 2017, p.7). The reality of Canada’s seemingly pristine reputation is routinely glossed over with â€Å"polite fictions of tolerance, fairness, and generosity† (Fleras, 2017, p.6). That is, there is a discrepancy between the ideal – what Multiculturalism says it is doing in combating racism à ¢â‚¬â€œ and the real – what it is really doing in perpetuating a racialized and racist CanadaRead MoreThe Canadian Labor Market Of Canada1274 Words   |  6 PagesThere is a very strong emphasis on human rights systems and laws to address discrimination in Canada. Unfortunately simultaneously, Canadians also have a heritage of racism. It is not targeted only at Aboriginal persons, contrary to a common belief; it is also targeted towards other groups also, consisting of Chinese, African, South Asian, Japanese, Muslim and Jewish Canadians. Even today the Canadian structures and systems are affected by this legacy distressing the lives of everyone and especiallyRead MoreDiscrimination And Immigration Policy Problems850 Words   |  4 PagesDiscrimination and Immigration Policy problems Canadian s immigration policies have been known to discriminate based on ethnicity. are speaks a lot to how Canadians shifted in accepting more immigrants, not necessarily because of an expanded view and approval for other ethnicities, but for labor and economic reasons. The post-war era required skillful workers, and now that European migration stalled Canada removed tightly bound racist policies ( Source 2). Before and during World War twoRead MoreRacism in the United States787 Words   |  3 PagesRacism is the trend of thought, or way of thinking, which attaches great importance to the notion of the existence of separate human races and superiority of races that are usually associated with inherited physical characteristics or cultural events. Racism is not a scientific theory, but a set of preconceived opinions they value the biological differences between humans, attributing superiority to some according to racial roots. Even in such ethnically diverse country as the Un ited States, racismRead MoreMulticulturalism Is A Fact Of Canadian Life1151 Words   |  5 Pagesidentified themselves as a member of a visible minority group which, represented 19.1% of the total population. Multiculturalism is defined as â€Å"the co-existence of diverse cultures, where culture includes racial, religious, or cultural groups and is manifested in customary behaviours†. With this definition, the crucial points become â€Å"co-existence of diverse cultures† and â€Å"customary behaviors†. In Canada, the numbers show that there exists a large number of visible minority people, around 6,264,800 to beRead MoreThe Persecution Of Visible Minorities1935 Words   |  8 PagesAs previously stated, the persecution of visible minorities has occurred throughout Canadian history. Canadian history is plagued with examples of persecution and racism against visible minorities, specifically Canadian history has exhibited overt forms of persecution that exist on an institutional level, such as the segregation of Aboriginals in residential schools and the internment camps that held Japanese Canadians. Current persecution of racialized individuals has become more concealed and nowRead MoreTo Understand Poverty, It Is Crucial To Understand The1329 Words   |  6 Pagesbasis for poverty to occur. Without this entrenchment of inequality amongst institutions and systems within society, it is clear that poverty would look very different. This paper will delve into the concept of racialized poverty and how racialized minorities have a greater propensity to remain in poverty due to a lack of accessibility to high quality and equal institutions. By examining systems such as the labour market, education and healthcare , it will become evident that racialized minorties areRead MoreThe Culture Of Violence And The Cultures Of Impunity And Intolerance1813 Words   |  8 Pages‘white settler society’,† thus shunning non-whites as a l ower class. Minorities and immigrants were especially treated unfairly throughout the 20th century and labelled as ‘enemy alien’ as a consequence of the many wars taken place during that time period. They suffered through cultural racism and discrimination from the majority of Canada. Past Canadians believed their treatments and isolation towards the immigrants and minorities was an act of protection and patriotism of their people and their countryRead MoreSexual Racial Discrimination Essay840 Words   |  4 PagesScott Kim Communications 10 Prof. M. Goldstein Katharine Hepburn, Harvey Milk, Fred Korematsu, and Kenneth Clark were all leaders representing minorities in America. These deviants to society made efforts to bring about positive cultural changes in times of strong sexual or racial discrimination. Great improvements have been made as a result of the contributions these citizens made to our country. In 1930’s America, the public view on gays and lesbians were not as liberal as they are today

Critical Analysis of The Awakening Essay - 970 Words

Critical Analysis of The Awakening The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, is the story of a woman who is seeking freedom. Edna Pontellier feels confined in her role as mother and wife and finds freedom in her romantic interest, Robert Lebrun. Although she views Robert as her liberator, he is the ultimate cause of her demise. Edna sees Robert as an image of freedom, which brings her to rebel against her role in society. This pursuit of freedom, however, causes her death. Chopin uses many images to clarify the relationship between Robert and Edna and to show that Robert is the cause of both her freedom and her destruction. Birds are a sizable image in The Awakening. Edna feels like a caged bird, and wishes to be freed. When†¦show more content†¦This is represented by Madame Lebruns parrot and mocking-bird. Mr. Pontellier is annoyed by the birds incessant chatter. However, they had the right to make all the noise they wished (43). Edna is caged, and she is doing what ever she can to be free within her limits. Mr. Pontellier is upset by his wifes struggles for freedom. She allows herself to fall in love with Robert, and purchases her own house, despite the wishes of her husband. Just as the birds have no concern that their singing may bother those outside their cage, so Edna does not care that her actions may negatively affect others. Just before Edna kills herself, she sees a bird with a broken wing...beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water (175). Edna is this bird; disabled and heading to her death in the water. Her freedom is not total , and causes her death. For Edna, swimming represents freedom. When she learns to swim, A feeling of exultation [overtakes] her, as if some power of significant import [has] been given her to control the working of her body and her soul (73). Because Robert is the one who teaches her how to swim, he is seen as her liberator. She fears the water, just as she fears freedom. When she does taste freedom, she desires more of it. This is paralleled when she learns to swim. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before (73). Robert aids in her independence, butShow MoreRelatedThe Awakening Critical Analysis1596 Words   |  7 Pages The Awakening by Kate Chopin Critical Analysis The novel, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, was written during the late 19th century, when the feminist movement was in its infancy. During that era, the novel was yet to be discovered and the few considered it as a disgrace. Many thought that it portrayed a negative example of how a women should think and behave. Women during that era expected the book to be more â€Å"sophisticated† and â€Å"ladylike,† but Chopin had a different view of how women shouldRead MoreCritical Analysis Of The Awakening1412 Words   |  6 Pagesand desires, reaching untamed worlds. Turning imagination into realism is denounced as an impossible being, but it s in fact the awakening to our lucid dreaming. Edna Pontellier is a woman with a heart that soared beyond the horizons into a limitless world, forced into cage by the inevitable way of life. Kate Chopin through the beautifully sculpted novel â€Å"The Awakening† condemned Edna with a mindset beyond her years, finding meaning thro ugh her unsocial actions shunned by the eyes of others. EdnaRead MoreCritical Analysis Of The Awakening1899 Words   |  8 PagesThe Awakening LAP #3 Prompt #3 Ivan Jimenez Period 3 AP Literature and Composition 10/27/17 Just like a coin that is divided into heads and tails humanity is divided into male and female. Both are human just the same but equality is a matter that women have never completely attained. As for almost all of human history women were oppressed by men. Living under patriarchal societies women were forced to conform with their roles as housewives. They were told to keep quiet and were never allowed toRead MoreCritical Analysis: Kate Chopins The Awakening Essay1800 Words   |  8 PagesIn the novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin (2005) uses deep symbolism to show how the main character, Edna Pontellier, discovers her own independence in the society in which she lived. Edna was a traditional mother and wife seeking freedom and independence throughout her adult life. Chopin portrays Edna as being a rebel against her own life. The story takes place in the 1960s when women were to follow certain rules made by the society they lived in. Chopin also foreshadows the things that occur in Ed na’sRead More Essay on The Awakening712 Words   |  3 PagesCritical Views of The Awakening      Ã‚  Ã‚   The Awakening, written by Kate Chopin, is full of ideas and understanding about human nature. In Chopins time, writing a story with such great attention to sensual details in both men and women caused skepticism among readers and critics. However, many critics have different views with deeper thought given to The Awakening. Symbolism, the interpretation of Ednas suicide, and awakenings play important roles in the analysis of all critics.    SymbolismRead MoreWolffs Analysis of Chopins The Awakening647 Words   |  3 PagesWolff’s Analysis of Chopin’s The Awakening In her essay Un-Utterable Longing: The Discourse of Feminine Sexuality in Kate Chopins The Awakening, Cynthia Griffin Wolff creates what Ross Murfin describes as a critical whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. (376) By employing a variety of critical approaches (including feminist, gender, cultural, new historicism, psychoanalytic and deconstruction) Wolff offers the reader a more complete (albeit complex) explanation of Edna PontelliersRead More A Deconstructionist Critique of Chopin’s The Awakening Essay536 Words   |  3 PagesA Deconstructionist Critique of Chopin’s The Awakening The multiplicity of meanings and (re)interpretations informing critical studies of The Awakening reveal a novel ripe for deconstructionist critique. Just as Chopin evokes an image of the sea as symbolic of Edna’s shifting consciousness (â€Å"never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in abysses of solitude,†138), likewise the deconstructionist reading of a text emphasizes fluidity over structure: â€Å"A text consistsRead MoreSt. Louis And New Orleans1606 Words   |  7 PagesLouisiana, Chopin was still far from having established herself as a writer whose work was commercially profitable. Under the advice of editors that a longer work would have a broader appeal, she turned again to the novel form, publishing The Awakening in 1899. The Awakening, however, received uniformly unfavorable reviews, and in some cities it was banned from library shelves. In St. Louis, Chopin was dropped by friends and refused membership in a local fine-ar ts club. Chopin had never expected such a stormRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne And The Awakening1416 Words   |  6 Pagesdiscriminated against, but the people close to them as well. This is demonstrated through the novels The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Awakening by Kate Chopin. The Scarlet Letter follows the story of a woman named Hester Prynne who is forced to wear a scarlet letter â€Å"A† on her chest as punishment for her crime of adultery. The Awakening follows the story of a woman named Edna Pontellier and the struggle that she faces when she has an affair and separates from her husband and her familyRead MoreEdna Pontellier and Elizabeth Bennet: Challenge of 19th Century Conventional Methods1344 Words   |  6 Pagesnineteenth century. Both women often challenged conventional societal methods within their works, which inherently caused these literary geniuses to write in complete secrecy. Chopin and Austen gave birth to characte rs such as Edna Pontellier in The Awakening, and Elizabeth Bennett, the renowned protagonist of Austen’s novella Pride and Prejudice. While noble in their respective ways one can easily mistake Edna and Elizabeth to be selfish creatures of society because of their ardent pursuit of happiness

Great Wall of China Free Essays

The Rise and Fall of China’s Great Wall The rise and fall of China’s Great Wall: the race to save a world treasure – Special Report Current Events, Sept 27, 2002 Save a personal copy of this article and quickly find it again with Furl. net. It’s free! Save it. We will write a custom essay sample on Great Wall of China or any similar topic only for you Order Now MADE OF BRICK, STONE, and dirt, the Great Wall twists and turns across China’s landscape like a giant dragon. It seems to rise out of the sea at Bo Hal gulf, a place known to local people as Laolongtou, or â€Å"the old dragon’s head. † The wall then stretches across the plains, crawls along the sides of mountains and scales their peaks as it spans the Asian countryside. This ancient wonder, built entirely by hand, often overwhelms visitors. On a trip to the wall in 1909, French scholar Auguste Gilbert de Voisins said, â€Å"Nothing stops it, nothing gets in its way; seeing it at this point, one might believe it to be eternal. † Today, however, neglect, misuse, and modernization threaten the giant dragon. Although the wall once stretched nearly 4,000 miles across China’s northern border, only about 1,500 miles of China’s Great Wall remain. The rest has fallen apart and disappeared. This year, the World Monuments Fund placed the Great Wall on its list of 100 Most Endangered Sites. The group hopes to protect what’s left of the wall and to encourage the Chinese government and others to save the historic structure. According to a World Monuments Fund report, â€Å"[The wall] was built to protect China; now China must protect it. † The Great Wall of Qin China’s Great Wall didn’t start out so great. Begun nearly 2,300 years ago, the structure was a series of small fortifications. As early as 600 B. C. , people in China built small walls around their homes and cities for protection. Soldiers guarded the gates around the city walls during the day and swung the gates shut at night. During the Warring States period (475-221 B. C. ), leaders struggling for control of China built walls around entire kingdoms. Soldiers occupied forts and towers on the wall and fought to protect the borders of the independent states. In 221 B. C. , Qin Shi Huangdi unified the kingdoms and became the first emperor of China. Qin Shi Huangdi gave orders to build the chang cheng, or â€Å"long wall,† to protect China from northern nomads who were trying to invade China. Laborers built the wall by joining walls constructed earlier and extending the length of the wall to nearly 3,100 miles. With the help of General Meng Tian, Qin Shi Huangdi ordered 800,000 men–soldiers, prisoners, and peasants–to build the wall. Where stones were plentiful, workers used stones to build parts of the wall. Where stones were scarce, workers used dirt. To build the wall, laborers dug up large amounts of dirt and carried it to the wall. The workers then piled dirt into wooden frames about 6 inches deep. They used wooden instruments to pound the dirt until it became a solid mass. This process was repeated until the wall reached a desired height. Workers then moved the wooden frames to the next section of the wall and began the process again. According to legend, Qin Shi Huangdi condemned workers to death for making the slightest construction errors. Today, few traces of the Qin wall remain. After Qin Shi Huangdi’s death in 210 B. C. , workers abandoned the wall and it eventually crumbled into ruins. The Ming Fortress Nearly all of Qin Shi Huangdi’s successors built walls along China’s northern frontier. The fortifications, however, never fully protected China from invasion. During the early 13th century, Genghis Khan, leader of the Mongols, a nomad group from the north, united several nomad armies and conquered much of Asia. In 1279, Genghis Khan’s grandson, Kubilai Khan, overthrew the Chinese emperor and established the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). The Yuan emperors did not maintain the old wall or build a new one, so the wall began to fall into ruins. After Khan died in 1227, a Chinese farmer named Zu Yuanzhang led a rebel army and helped overthrow the last Yuan emperor. When Zu Yuanzhang seized power, he established the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Zu and his successors decided to rebuild China’s Great Wall, which lay mostly in ruins, to keep the Mongols from returning to reconquer China. For nearly 200 years, thousands of workers toiled away on the Ming wall–reinforcing the Great Wall with bricks and stone. The Ming wall eventually blocked mountain passes that Mongol soldiers had used to invade China. When Mongol tribes attacked the wall, Chinese soldiers alerted others by lighting signal fires. When guards from a signal tower saw the fire, they built another fire, passing the warning along the wall. The number of smoke plumes and cannon shots fired indicated to Chinese soldiers how many enemy soldiers were approaching. The Ming government taxed the people of China heavily to pay for construction of the Great Wall. In 1644, the Manchus, a nomad tribe from northeast of Peking, helped rebels overthrow the Ming rulers and started the next era in Chinese history–the Qing dynasty. During the Qing dynasty, Manchu forces drove out Mongol invaders and extended China’s border farther north beyond the Great Wall. The wall no longer protected China’s border, so construction stopped and soldiers abandoned the fortresses. The Wall At Risk Today, Chinese officials warn that the Great Wall is once again under attack. But this time the wall is not in danger from invaders. Instead local people and tourists alike threaten the wall. Dong Yaohui, head of the Great Wall Society of China, recently persuaded a local government to levy a fine on residents in a small village after they demolished part of the wall to obtain bricks for new houses. And in 1999, officials in the autonomous region of Nei Monggol (once called Inner Mongolia) plowed through the Great Wall to build a highway. Nature has also taken its toll. At the wall’s western end, desert sandstorms have worn down much of China’s great wonder. Dong Yaohui said, â€Å"Saving the Great Wall is now the most urgent task facing our country. Its splendor must be rebuilt. † Preservationists also argue that commercial developers are destroying the aesthetic beauty of China’s Great Wall. Developers have turned parts of the wall into a tourist destination. Visitors to the wall at the Badaling section near Beijing can take one of five cable cars to the top of the wall, bungee-jump off a section of the wall, paraglide along the wall, or ride a toboggan down the mountain. William Lindesay, an Englishman living in China, organized a group to protect and preserve what is left of the wall. Lindesay’s group, the International Friends of the Great Wall, works with local villagers to pick up garbage along the wall and make sure the wall is protected from vandals. â€Å"The wall is in grave, grave danger,† Lindesay said. The Chinese government also hopes to protect the national treasure. Officials in Beijing are considering legislation that, if passed, would convict anyone caught littering or defacing the Great Wall to a jail term of up to seven years. Arthur Waldron, a historian, wrote, â€Å"Whatever the future brings, the image of the wall †¦ as a symbol of China †¦ seems bound to endure. † Get Talking Ask students: why do you think the Great Wall of China was built? What is the approximate length of the wall? What might have been some of the challenges faced by the wall’s builders? What might the wall be threatened today? Background The Great Wall is among the most popular tourist destinations in China, along with the Forbidden City in Beijing, and the Terra Cotta Warriors at Xi’an. Qin Shi Huangdi (the first emperor of China) unified the nation of China and built the first Great Wall. After Qin Shi Huandi died, he was buried in a tomb with an army of terra cotta warriors and horses at Xi’an. In 1974, Qin Ski Huangdi’s tomb was discovered by a group of archaeologists. During the Qin Dynasty–when the first Great Wall was built–workers toiled for ten years to build the wall, at a rate of about 25 miles per month. Portions of the wall have been rebuilt during the past century–including the section of the wall at Badaling, near China’s capital of Beijing. Many myths surround China’s Great Wall. One of the most prevalent is that the Great Wall is the only man-made structure visible from the Moon. However, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), â€Å"The Great Wall can barely be seen from the Shuttle, so it would not be possible to see it from the Moon with the naked eye. † Doing More After students have read the story, ask them to research other sites listed as endangered by the World Monuments Fund. What are the biggest threats to those sites? Why are the sites considered important? When students have finished gathering the information, have them present their findings to the class. How to cite Great Wall of China, Essay examples

Science V Religion Essay Example For Students

Science V Religion Essay Since the dawn of man, humans have striven to explain the many mysteries of the universe, and to justify our existence in it. Throughout this journey of self-understanding, numerous standpoints on human existence have evolved and merged into a complex, abstract manifestation called religion. However, as the human race has grown and advanced itself, many ideas expressed by religion seem less and less plausible. Advances in science and technology have yielded a new breed of human thought that has disturbed and shaken the foundations of religious ideology. Our new, scientifically grounded understanding of the universe has unfolded a plethora of answers to age-old questions, which are antithetical to the explanations offered by religion. As strong scientific evidence has surfaced which is contrary to the prevailing religious view, open-minded believers have adapted their beliefs accordingly, but many fundamentalists refuse to accept scientific evidence. This is the root of the dilemma between science and religion. Many philosophers and theists have offered their views concerning the ongoing battle between science and religion. Reconciliation between science and religion is impossible, because the claims made by religion and the evidence provided by science are so extraordinarily different. The advance of science has caused many theists to compromise traditional religious beliefs in order to facilitate scientific evidence, thus proving that scientific explanations of the universe are more plausible than the rationales offered by religion. An excellent example of this can be seen in the question of the age of the planet Earth. According to religious theology, the Earth is less than ten thousand years old. However, there is an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence that proves the Earth to be many billions of years old. Many religious thinkers have responded to this evidence, by claiming that the methods used to ascertain the Earths age are inaccurate. They argue that radioactive dating; a widely accepted method of determining the age of rocks, is inaccurate because there is no available rock sample of a known age, which the method can be calibrated to. However, this argument is obsolete, because the only calibration required to find the age of a rock is the measurement of decay rates, which can be found in the laboratory in a controlled experiment (Badash 90). Because of the evidence provided by scientific research, many religious thinkers have been forced to compromise their position, and have attempted to blend scientific fact with biblical accounts of the age of the earth. Many theists contend that the words of the bible are metaphorical, and can be interpreted in a way that reconciles the biblical account of the Earths age with scientific fact. According to Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, the earth was created in six days: And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day Genesis 1:31 (Catholic Information Network Online). They argue that other passages in the book of Genesis can be interpreted to mean that a day to God can be thousands of years, and because of this, the Earth could have been created over a much longer timeframe than six days, and can thus be as old as science proves it to be. However, this seems to be a weak point in the argument on behalf of the biblical age of Earth. In questioning the validity of the Bible as a literal work, it opens up the possibility that Christianity may be wrong. When religious thinkers accept scientific fact and try to harmonize it with the bible, the validity of the entire faith has been undermined, and this puts any biblical based argument on shaky ground. Another quandary sought to be resolved by both religion and science, is the question of mankinds origin. Modern science has provided many explanations concerning the origin of man, which contradict the traditional idea of creation. The best known of these explanations is the theory of biological evolution. Simply stated, biological evolution encompasses the changes experienced by a particular species over thousands and millions of generations as it reproduces varying offspring, more of which are generally better suited to survive in their environment than the generation before (Britannica Encyclopedia Online). Evidence for biological evolution can be seen in the diversity of life that surrounds us. It is estimated that there are over two million species on Earth, all of which have similar defining characteristics. Diary of anne frank Essay Although creation science does a good job of stretching the words of the bible in order to keep up with the fast paced findings of science, I find it hard to believe in creationism. The overwhelming amount of evidence in support of evolution makes it a far more plausible explanation for the origin of species. Another problem between science and religion concerns the existence of god. The field of physics describes the universe in relatively simple concepts. Although the explanations of the mechanics of the universe offered by physics may not appear to be simple, as we learn more and more physics, the structure of the universe does in fact seem more and more uncomplicated. However, theists postulate that an infinitely complex god is necessary to explain the simple structured universe. Descartes argues that god is a very complex being, having qualities of omnipotence and omniscience. The theists position replaces the question, How did our simple universe get here? with the much more difficult question How did an infinitely complex god get here? The principle of Ockhams Razor posits that simpler explanations are more likely to be correct than complex explanations (Britannica Encyclopedia Online). This scientific principal cuts God out of the picture. According to the most well known scientist of our time, Albert Einstein, the more a man is imbued with the ordered regularity of all events the firmer becomes his conviction that there is no room left by the side of this ordered regularity for causes of a different nature (Larson and Witham 313). In other words, the more a person understands about the workings of the universe, the more he or she is aware of natures simplicity, and the less likely he or she is to believe in god. This is the reason why 93% of the members of the National Academy of Sciences are nontheists (Larson and Witham 313). However, theists claim that the existence of god can be proven through scientific fact. Rev. William Paley in his 1802 book, Natural Theology, argues that, an artifact exhibiting a complexity of parts that collaborate to create a purposeful function requires a designer (Foster 58). Paley argues that if we see evidence for a similar design in the creations of nature, then the object also needs a cosmic designer, or God (Foster 59). I find this position hard to accept. Everything in nature can be seen or measured. However, god is intangible, and to believe in god is a complete act of faith. Many theists point out that certain aspects of nature are also invisible, such as gravitational fields and magnetic fields (Foster 60). However, a parallel cannot be drawn between the invisibility of these natural phenomenons and the invisibility of god, because these aspects of nature can be measured. God, on the other hand, cannot be proven to exist through empirical evidence. If scientific evidence exists that refutes the teachings of the bible, then why do people believe in religion? Religion gives humanity a sense of security, a sense of individual purpose, and most importantly, brings people together. Arguably the most important aspects of any valid religion is its belief in a code of conduct, a set of moral teachings that define how people should behave towards others. Religion is one of the major ways one generation passes on its values and morals to each succeeding generation. Religion has also been viewed as a way to control the masses. According to Karl Marx, Religion is the opium of the people (Microsoft Bookshelf CD-ROM 1998). Despite the scientific arguments that challenge the teachings of religion, religion will always remain an institution in our society.Words/ Pages : 2,087 / 24