Experiential Accounting Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Experiential Accounting - Personal Statement Example I expect to learn from experiential accounting how to analyze financial information in order to make better decisions. The knowledge I gain from this course will help me become a better investor. I also expect to be exposed to the double entry journal system that accountants use on a daily basis. I hope to gain a good understanding of the four financial statements and learn the significance of GAAP rules. A trusted business advisor must be honest, reliable, and have the utmost ethical standards. The advisor must have lots of knowledge about business evidenced by a solid educational background such as holding an MBA degree. This person must have great communication skills and analytical abilities. He must be an active listener. A trusted advisor must build close relationships with the client based on a bond of trust. The advisor must keep confidentiality in all business affairs with the client. The advisor must also charge reasonable rates for his

Personal Stat Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Stat - Personal Statement Example ed knowledge in this particular endeavor poses continued learning opportunities and the chance to influence a positive change in contemporary societies. I am keen on pursuing the Doctoral program in Mass Communications to further enhance the theoretical frameworks and skills gained as well as developed from past academic levels. Likewise, I am immensely enthusiastic in the area of new media due to the continuing evolution of the digital and online realm. I have been in the United States since 2009 and realized the fast pace of life brought about by advances in telecommunication. The role of practitioners in mass communications becomes increasingly relevant in the dissemination of information in the digital field. The greater challenges faced by mass communication graduates are confirmed to be sourced from the forces driving globalization. As such, one needs to be adept, not only in social theories, but more so, in cultural theories. Both courses are to be expounded in the Doctoral Program, in conjunction with course modules focusing on developing teaching skills, as well as research. My personal and professional goals are to return to my home land in Dubai and to be an active practitioner of mass communications: either as an academician or an entrepreneur. Actually, I already own a couple successful small businesses in Mississippi. From the experience, I realized the importance of having graduated with a degree in advertising. The theoretical frameworks learned assisted in the design of strategies which assisted in promoting the products and services offered. Yet, I realized that advanced knowledge in mass communications would offer greater opportunities to widen my professional perspectives. The digital sphere continues to evolve and I strongly believe that it would continue to influence the development and sustained success of contemporary organizations. I intend to venture in the international market in the future. As such, advanced knowledge through the

Secularisation in Contemporary Ireland

Secularisation in Contemporary Ireland This study will investigate whether, and in what ways secularisation is occurring in contemporary Ireland. Theories of secularisation, and arguments against the process, abound, and this is a hotly debated topic. How, and in what ways might secularisation be said to be taking place within a given society? This study will attempt to make a contribution to this debateby looking at the situation in Ireland. Attention will also be paidhowever, to what has happened in Britain as much of the researchconcerning secularisation has taken place in that context. It will makesome comparisons between Ireland and the situation in Britain and otherEuropean countries to demonstrate the unique place of religion in Irishsociety. The study will seek to understand: †¢Ã‚  What processes might signify whether secularization is taking place? †¢Ã‚  Whether similarly observed processes might be said to signify that secularization is taking place in Ireland †¢Ã‚  Whether Contemporary Ireland could be said to be a secular society or as Brewer (2005) contends, a post-Christian society. †¢Ã‚  Whether, and in what ways religion may be said to have a unique position in Irish society. The study will draw on statistical and documentary data, along withmedia reports to ascertain whether, and in what ways, secularization istaking place. The study will look at the relationship between religionand the state in the republic of Ireland and also in Northern Ireland.It will also look at the education system and the phenomenon ofinter-religious marriage. In this way the study treats existingdocumentation as primary data by using it together in a distinctivefashion. Structure The study will begin with theories of secularization and a literaturereview which will look at the process in Britain and in Europe andcontrast this with the situation in Ireland to demonstrate in what waysIreland may differ from other industrialized societies and how this mayaffect whether and in what ways secularization could be said to betaking place. Following the literature review the methodologicalapproach to the study will be outlined and attention will be paid toreflexivity in the research process. There will be an analysis of thefindings of the research and finally a conclusion that will establishwhether the research question has fulfilled its aims. Religion is common to almost all cultures. Religious traditions andtheir teachings are, it might be argued, the result of three things,faith, theology, and culture. Anthropologist Clifford Geertz (1966) describes religion thus: 1. A system of symbols which acts to 2. Establish powerful, pervasive,and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by 3. Formulatingconceptions of a general order of existence and 4. Clothing theseconceptions with such an aura of factuality that 5. The moods andmotivations seem uniquely realistic (Geertz, 1966:4). Religion has many different aspects from personal beliefs aboutspirituality, to institutional structures like schools and hospitals,to the influence of religious bodies over legislation Until theEnlightenment the teachings of religion were rarely questioned becausethey were regarded as direct truth from God. Modernity, with its implicit understanding of the absolute powers of reason, called intoquestion the traditional understandings of theological truth claims anddrastically reduced the cultural influence of theology and religion. The contemporary term ‘secularisation’ has come to represent thedeclining influence of religion in society. The word is contextual inthat it arises from the western tradition and is part of the history ofthe church.It was first used in 1648   to refer to the transfer of landsunder church control to lay political control. The term secular is alsoused to specify that which is inferior to the realm of the sacred. Itwas later used in the context of the priest being allowed to dispensewith his vows, in the Middle Ages the distinction between religious andsecular priests referred to those who worked within a religious orderand those who worked among the laity. From the 1830s onwards the death of religion due to the rise of thescientific age was proclaimed by confident atheists. Comte inparticular decreed that the fiction that was theology would die and be replaced by the truth of science. This viewwas largely endorsed by Marx, Durkheim, Weber and Freud, all of whomwere convinced that the forces of the modern age heralded the birth ofa secular one. Auguste Comte is regarded as the founder of sociology.He believed that with the rise of science religion would, eventually, die out. Weber also thought that religion would loseits significance through the growth of capitalism and the influence ofurbanisation and rising technology. The world would become desacralisedand there would be less reliance on magic and religion. Meaning would be found rationally. Throughout the twentieth century it had been widely assumed that the decline of religion and religious belief was an irreversible process. Sociologists are keen to stress that secularisation is a natural process rather than a polemic againstreligion (which secularism is), some would also argue thatsecularisation is not an ideology (an imposed system of ideas). It is simply a process which has been observed over the last two   or three hundred years. Seen from this vantage point secularisation is largely the result of two things, the increasing complexity of modern society andits compartmentalisation into different areas, for example, politics,education and the law, and religion ceasing to provide cohesion for allareas of human life. Wilson (1966) says that the complexity of thisprocess is characterised by a wide variety of innovations which haveled to a structural change in society. He cites the following;scientific advance and the development of technology, changing patternsof wor k and increasing industrialisation, the rise of individuality,and education characterised by science rather than religion andtradition. Bruce and Wallis (1992) class secularization as the ‘diminishingsocial significance of religion’, directly brought about by threestrands of modernization: ‘social differentiation’, ‘societalization’and ‘rationalization’.   By social differentiation, they mean theprocess by which ‘specialised institutions’ take the place of religiousones; for example, in Britain the provision of education and welfare isnow the responsibility of a secular government, not the church.   Socialdifferentiation also includes the fragmentation of society into distinct social groups basedon differing life experiences, for example a distinction between socialclasses. Bruce allows however that the significance of religion is lesslikely to decline if it can find some social role, other than thecommunication of beliefs, within the wider society. In Ireland for example, the fact that religion has long been a source of contentionhas given it anot her social role. Societalization refers to the disappearance of small-scale communities and their replacement by the idea of ‘society’, largely due toincreasing industrialization and urbanization.   Rationalization refersto changes in the way people think; the rise of science and technologyhas removed uncertainty and the need for faith and has provided rational explanations for questions which in the past were considered the domain of religion.   The combined effect of theseprocesses is the decline in the social position of religion. McLeod(1992) maintains that the concepts of differentiation andrationalization are not particularly helpful when trying to understandthe place of religion in a particular society as cultural practicesdiffer widely. Berger (1970) believes that urbanisation and modernisation result insocial fragmentation and this leads to a plurality of cultural andrelgious groups. The monopoly previously held by one group comes to anend. We can see that this has happened, whether or not we subscribe tothe secularisation thesis. Secularisation is a problematic concept however, while Wilson (1982) and Bruce (1996)maintain that the forces of modernity heralded a new secularized age,other theorists differ. The view that modernization inevitably leads tosecularization is often challenged. Martin (1978) contends that inorder to make sense of the process of religion in industrialized societies attention must be paid to the specific cultural andhistorical patterns that pertain in a specific society. In NorthernIreland for example, religion has remained in the public arena as asource of dispute that is connected to issues of national identity.What happens in Ireland is quite different to what has happened inBritain since the Second World War. The Changing Face of Religion in Britain The religious landscape of Britain was significantly different at the close of World War2 than it is now, at the dawn of the twenty first century. In the yearsimmediately preceding the war and on into the late 1940s and 50s themajority of British people still had some form of contact with theChurch (often through their children attending Sunday School, orthrough membership of Scouts, Guides and the like) and many still claimed to hold a belief in God and in the basic teachings of Christianity. They would also have been exposed to explicitly Christian teaching in schools. The General Picture and its Effects in Ireland The growing importance of the ecumenical movement meant a change indenominational attitudes. Mainstream Christianity was endorsed in partby the 1944 Education Act. The Act required that the school day begin with anassembly and act of worship and that religious instruction should beaccording to an agreed syllabus and should be given to all pupils(Parsons, 1993). The Act did not make provisions for other faith traditions, but neither did it specify the form of worship or instruction. The ongoing effect of the Act was to weaken the hold of mainstream Christianity on British society, although this was not considered atthe time the Act was passed. It was felt that non-denominational worship and teaching would make sensewhen co-related with more specific Church teaching that it assumed children would have (Parsons, 1993).   However this assumption proved to be unfounded. Theway in which education has been affected in Ireland is ratherdifferent. In some areas amendment to the education system haveresulted in a reiteration of   Catholic religious beliefs to thedetriment of the Protestant minority. The Picture in Ireland Secularisation has affected the whole ofEurope and surveys undertaken in the 1980s and 90a   via the EuropenaValues systems survey indicated that many young people show little ifany recognition of religious symbols. In Ireland the situation israther different. Although seculaisation may be seen to be having aneffect religion has always had a prominent place in Irish life andpolitics. In Ireland the survey showed that there was a growing lack of confidence in the church and that for the first time a generation who were not connected to the church was emerging. Irelandis quite different from both Britain and the rest of Europe. While in Britain and the rest of Europe the process of secularization has been taking place for the last 300 years, Bishop Bill Murphy maintains that in Ireland it has onlybeen observable for the last 30 years.   In the republic of Irelandthere has, historically been a much closer connection between Churchand state. The refusal of the state to confront the Church iscontributing to the international problem of the unresolved question of those who have been sexually abused by clergy. Doyle (2005) writes poignantly on this matter. Their voice is stifled, their complaint against the church is relegatedto the wings. This is precisely what the Church has sought to doelsewhere, including America, though with much less success and at far greater financial cost. (Doyle, 2005 no p. no.).   The place of education, and particularly compulsory religious educationis a highly controversial subject in sectarian Ireland. From thenineteenth century the education system in Ireland has been split alongsectarian lines and in the last thirty years this has been an area ofmajor concern for some analysts (Darby, 1976). Bowen (1983) maintains that since independence the minority ofProtestants (in the 1991 census only 3% fell into this category) hasfallen further and that this is largely a result of inter-religiousmarriage. In 1996 a study was undertaken to establish the number ofinter-religious marriages in Ireland (Sexton and O’Leary, 1996).Ireland has witnessed a growth in inter-religious marriages (Bowen,1983). Jack White, a Protestant wrote of inter-religious marriage that:   no single cause contributes so much to the continuing division in Irish life and the embitterment of inter-church relations; in any circle of Protestants this will be advanced to justify segregation in education and social activities’(White, 1975: 129). The Research Question This study looks at the process of secularization in contemporary Ireland. It draws comparisons between what has happened in Britain andwhat is happening in Ireland. The argument of this study is that theIrish context is quite unique and secularization may not be occurringin the way that sociologists understand it, i.e. the removal ofreligion from the public to the private sphere. In Ireland theconnection between Church and state and between religion and politicsmeans that religion is constantly in the public sphere and thus thesituation is quite different. This difference has led Brewer (2005) toview Ireland in terms of a post-Christian society rather than in termsof secularization. The use of the term post-Christian originated in the1960s in Britain where the pace of social and religious change and thecontention of many theorists that Britain was a secular society ledsome theologians to speak of the death of God and a post-Christian era.The term was again taken up in the 1960s by feminist theologian MaryDaly who called on women to leave the Churches and to participate in apost-Christian spirituality. Methodology This study will investigate the above question through a literature based survey. It will look especially at : †¢Ã‚  Inter-religious marriage †¢Ã‚  The education system †¢Ã‚  Whether the situation in Ireland could be said to be unique in that religion in Ireland still occupies a very public place. Due to costs and time constraints the research will consist of theexamination and analysis of existing documentation, statistics, andmedia reports. Theoretical concerns are: †¢Ã‚  Whether, and in what ways, increasing industrialization and modernization influences the process of secularization in Ireland. †¢Ã‚  How this process manifests and may be connected to any perceptions of the decline of religious authority in Ireland. †¢Ã‚  Whether what is emerging could be called secularization, or as Brewer(2005) maintains might be better thought of as post-Christian The major areas of analysis are through the relationship betweenChurch and state in the republic of Ireland and how this impacts on, oris impacted by, inter-religious marriage and the education system.Questions arising from this are: †¢Ã‚  How far might the relationship between Church and state be said toimply that the Irish situation is unique due to religion’s place in thepublic sphere. †¢Ã‚  Does a growth in inter-religious marriage loosen religious ties anddoes it indicate a decline in adherence to religious authority? †¢Ã‚  Has integrated education been successful and how does this affect the teaching of   religious values and doctrines? †¢Ã‚  How far could there be said to be a move towards a multi-faithorientation in the teaching of religious studies, and what effectsmight this have on the Irish situation? †¢Ã‚  Might Ireland be said to be a post-Christian rather than a secular society. †¢Ã‚   The research will be largely literature based, using existing studies and analyzing them in terms of the above questions. This same process of analysiswill also be applied to media reports and to statistical findings. Onesource of data will be the 1991 census which indicated that 84% of theIrish population still claimed regular church attendance. In addition the study will look at any decline inreligious practices as defined by Wilson 1982. How does societydistance itself from religious traditions? Theorists argue that it canbe seen in the   decline in the number of church baptisms and weddings,and the fact that church officials have less financial recognition. InBritain religious festivals have become increasingly secularised and sohave beliefs with numbers of ministers saying that they no longerbelieve in the virgin birth, the incarnation or the resurrection. Wilson   is of the opinion that there are at least three levels ofanalysis that need addressing if we are to assess the impact ofsecularisation they are: religious practice, religious organisation andreligious belief. While these three levels are dealt with separatelyfor the purpose of this research, they are connected empirically.People are, more often than not born into a religious tradition in thesame way that they are born into a particular culture and these thingswill affect a person’s worldview, their moral values, and their senseof themselves. This study will also ask how far Wilson’s levels ofanalysis could be said to be evident in Ireland and thus relevant tothe Irish situation. The distinctiveness of this study is the bringingtogether of a number of different aspects of the Irish situation andcomparing them (for example attitudes to marriage and to abortion) towhat has happened in Britain. Does going to Church really mean that a person believes in God, or canyou do this without attending religious ceremonies. It certainly seemsthat the power and influence of the Church and perhaps other organisedreligions is declining in Britain if the statistics are anything to goby.   Sunday Schools were another recruiting ground for the Church they were extremely popular in the late nineteenthcentury and remained so until the middle of the twentieth century. Thenumber of attendees at Sunday School is now only ten percent of thenumber in 1900 (Bruce, 1995). The next question is how has thisinfluenced the institutions themselves. At the same time This involves an examination of the extent to which religiousorganisations are involved in the day to day secular order in anysociety and to what extent they are able to exert control over thatsociety. Signs of the growth of secularisation include the following,declining membership of the established Churches, declining numbers ofpeople who are willing to make religion their vocation, and the closingof churches, which in Britain are either sold off or left and allowed to fall into terminal dereliction. Historically, senior clergy were recruited from the same universities,schools and families as the government.   In Britain Church of EnglandBishops were recruited largely from the peerage or landed gentry in1860. This practice has decreased and nowadays clergy often come fromthe poorer strata of society. The Protestant Church was once considereda good living but its wealth has declined and so ordinands usually haveconcerns other than material welfare, it has become   a low statusoccupation. In Britain there was a marked decline in the number ofChurch of England ordinands between 1900 and 1988 (Bruce, 1995). Thisstarted happening much later in Ireland, and at a much slower pace. With the apparent decline in church membership and the marked declinein the number of both Church of England and Roman Catholic ordinandsthe requirement for church buildings has diminished. This has largelyaffected the Anglican Church and in some cases other Protestant denominations. The trend for closingchurches is less marked in the Roman Catholic Church. It could be thatthe Catholics were not so prolific in their church building as theAnglicans were or that they have greater funding capacity formaintaining large buildings. Nevertheless it is not uncommon nowadays,in Britain particularly, to see Church buildings sold off and used aspubs or as retail outlets or warehouses. This has not yet been the case inIreland, particularly the Irish republic, where much of the land andbuildings are still the property of the Catholic church and remainsunder the church’s control. In Britain, between 1970 and 1998 1250 church buildings were closedor sold off. Religion itself appears to be changing, becomingsecularised, it is less likely to provide a lead for people and moreinclined to follow trends than to set them (Browne, 1998).Browne (1998)shows that while the influence of the Anglican Church has declined, andmay continue to do so, the Church still remains important in a numberof ways. †¢Ã‚  Church of England Bishops have seats in the House of Lords. (The Lords Spiritual). †¢Ã‚  Themonarch must be a member of the Church of England, is crowned by theArchbishop of Canterbury, and since the time of Henry V111 has beenhead of the Church of England and Defender of the Faith. †¢Ã‚  The Church of England remains the official or established Church in England. †¢Ã‚  The Church of England is extremely wealthy, with investment funds ofan estimated  £3 billion in 1991, and it is one of the largestlandowners in the country. †¢Ã‚  Since the 1944 Education Act, all schools have been legally obligedto hold a religious ceremony each day, and the 1988 Education ReformAct reaffirmed and strengthened the requirements to hold assemblies ofa broadly Christian nature and teach Christian beliefs for at least 51percent of the time allocated to religion in schools. This still leaves us with the question of whether religious belief is affected by the growth in secularisation. How much influence does religion have in the areas of personalbelief and practice, and how does one measure people’s beliefs?Sociologists identify this type of measuring as a problem and many admit that there is no clear picture ofwhether, and to what extent, secularisation has occurred in this area.One of the problems stems from the different understandings people haveof such a belief. For numbers of people it may be agreement to all ofthe teachings of Christianity, for others a general belief in God andfor some it might be a spiritual awareness and a sense of meaning andpurpose to life. In Ireland, religious belief is closely allied topolitical matters and people are far more inclined to state that theybelong to a particular tradition, in this way they define not onlytheir religion, but also their political and national loyalties. In Britain one way of estimating trends in religious believing is tolook at the rise in the number of New Religious movements, the rise ofthe Bla ck led Churches and the rise in the number of House Churches.There has also been a considerable growth in other forms of evangelicalChristianity and most people in Britain still claim a belief in God.. Bruce (1995) argues that the face of organised religion over the lasttwo hundred years has changed from a dominant Church model to thegrowth of the sect and the denomination (Bruce, 1995). This has been brought about by the riseof cultural pluralism and the reluctance of governments to use force toget people into a state Church. Although the churches were slow torelinquish their privileges the role of the Anglican, Scottish, and Welsh Churches have changed considerable sincethe 19th century, in Britain for example in 1828 a person who heldpublic office was, at least officially, a member of the Anglican faith. Non-members could not holdpublic office. Catholics were not allowed the vote before 1829 (Bruce,1995) and it was 1850 before the Church was allowed to restore its hierarchy. Until 1836 marriagescould only be celebrated by an Anglican minister, irrespective of thefaith of the marriage partners and until 1854 non-Anglicans were not allowed to study at Oxford andCambridge, and unti 1871 all teaching posts at these institutions wereheld by Anglicans. Women were not allowed to be members of thesecolleges before the late 1890s. With each of these changes the Churchof England lost some of its power in society. Bruce (1995) holds that Protestantism by its very nature increases fragmentation inreligion and by extension in society. The rise of the ecumenicalmovement also played a part in the Church’s loss of power. Fragmentation undermines the Church, it has state support for areligious monopoly and this has gradually been removed, this also hasfunding implications, until the nineteenth century the Churches werefunded by the land they owned and by public taxation, this was largelyfinished by the start of the twentieth century. Secondly its personnelbecome increasingly influenced by the psychology of an increasinglypluralist culture. It is not so easy to believe that a religion isright in every detail when other worldviews are becoming more prominent. At the same time the Church retains an illusion of strength from the continuation of communal occasions such as baptisms, weddings and funerals. However, the growth in competition means that this illusion becomes increasingly difficult to maintain (Bruce, 1995). The rise inthe number of denominations eventually increases tolerance anddecreases certainty. The problems that different denominations beenmight be said to constitute a significant feature of the situation in Ireland, particularly as it pertains to education. In Northern Ireland, beginning in the 1980s integrated systems ofeducation were introduced and this caused a deal of controversy centredaround conflicting interests (Dunn, 1989). The Belfast Agreement of1998 set out guidelines for the promotion of religious and culturaltolerance and it is thought by some commentators that this was directly linked to the Good Friday Agreement (Morgan and Fraser, 1999).Since the Good Friday Agreement some thinkers have argued that there isan increasing secularization in Ireland and that liberals in the Northmay be considering replicating the multi-faith educational model thatoperates in the rest of Britain. This has led to vigorous debate anddiscussion of the differences between Britain and Ireland (Barnes,2004). Although numbers of commentators contend that there is a growingsecularization, in Ireland in the 1991 census 84% claimed to attendchurch at least once a week. In a survey undertaken in the south ofIreland Greil (1998) found the following listed in the table on thenext page. Table One weekly mass attendance in the Republic of Ireland 1981-1998 Year  %  Comments  Source 1998  94%  older people  Survey of Diocese of Cashel and Emly published in Irish Times 1998  92%  People over 65  MRBI poll for Irish Times 1981  87%  all people  European Values Survey 1998  87%  Connacht/Ulster people  MRBI poll for Irish Times 1990  85%  all people  European Values Survey 1988/89  82%  all people  Mac Grà ©il (1996) 1998  66%  all people  MRBI poll for Irish Times 1998  60%  People 18-34  Survey of Diocese of Cashel and Emly published in Irish Times 1998  60%  all people  RTE Prime Time poll 1998  50%  Dubliners  MRBI poll for Irish Times 1998  41%  18-24 yr olds  MRBI poll for Irish Times 1990  40%  Urban unemployed  European Values Survey While this does show a rapid decline, particularly among the young,for Father Greil the fact that only one percent of his sample professedno religion at all, still leaves him optimistic about the place of religion in Irish life. Greil is of the opinion that there is a lack of community feeling in the cities and that the rapid growth in urbanization is a significant factor in the decline in church attendance.    While there does seem to be a decline in participation in organisedreligion in both contemporary Britain and in Ireland, many people stillclaim to hold orthodox beliefs and a moral judgement based on thetenets of Christianity. At the same time they do not have so muchattraction to institutional forms of religions (Bruce, 1995 and Browne,1998). The nineteen sixties saw rapid social and religious change. In theyears after the war, the rise of the welfare state, the growth in thenumber of Catholic Grammar Schools and the resulting rise in the numberof Catholics to enter Higher Education spurred a transformation inBritish Catholicism. This eventually led, in the 1960s to the holdingof the Second Vatican Council and the resultant Catholic alignment withthe ecumenical movement. By the end of the decade most people owned a television and programmessuch as That was the Week That Was took an irreverent view of religion.This, along with the sixties sexual revolution, brought changingattitudes towards the Church and to people’s attitudes to religiousauthority. The media was highly influential on the Church’s publicimage and became far more critical of outdated morality.   What went onin America had a greater influence on what happened in Britain. Thesuccess of the civil rights movement in the mid-nineteen sixties openedthe way for second-wave feminism and the call for women’s rights. Theabortion reform act of 1967 meant that women had more rights over their own body and the employmentdiscrimination act of the mid-nineteen seventies meant that other thanin the Church employers could not discriminate on the basis of sex. Thelate 1960s also saw the burgeoning of feminist theologies. These havedeveloped and changed over the last thirty years a nd have become achallenge to patriarchal systems across the world. Divorce law reformsaw a huge increase in the number of divorces and traditionalists sawthis as a threat to the institute of marriage and the structure of thefamily. The rise of the Gay Christian movement and the aids threatsfrom the 1980s onward meant an overall rethinking and debate onpersonal morality within the chuches (Parsons, 1993). As stated earlier Brewer (2005) contends that what is happening inIreland is very different to what has happened in Britain and ratherthan the secularisation of Ireland what we are seeing is the move to apost-Christian society. What Brewer means by this is: the declining ability of Christian religion to affect and shapeordinary believers’ lives, a growing liberalisation in what ordinaryChristians believe and in the certainty with which they believe it, andthe appearance of other world faiths, still admittedly very much asminority religions, but a presence that nonetheless challenges theChristian hegemony. Religious diversity and pluralism now has to caterfor differences in practice and belief between the world religions notjust Catholic and Protestant (Brewer, 2005:7).   Sociologists use divorce statistics, abortion and homosexuality figuresto sustain the argument that secularisation is on the increase. Theyuse this evidence to suggest that these factors are a result of thedeclining importance of religious thinking and teaching in people’slives. In Britain many people have a pick and mix attitude towards religious believing and more than half of all marriages are nowcivil or non-religious ceremonies.From the 1950s onward Ireland haswitnessed an increasing industrialization through urbanization and agrowth in the number of people employed in both the industrial, ratherthan the agricultural sector, and in higher education. Religion hasbeen a key factor in Ireland and, since the 1970s, an increasing causeof conflict between Catholic and Protestant groups (O’Leary, 2001).Brewer (2005) has argued that the conflict has not been about religionas such but about identity and political loyalty. Religion is not the substance of this conflict; no one seriouslyargues that the conflict has been about religion. But religion is itsform, the way in which it is experienced. The contestation has beenabout the legitimacy of the state and access to its scarce resources,but this took on a religious form because ‘Catholic’ and ‘Protestant’were the

Human Gene Therapy :: Biology Genetics Essays

Human Gene Therapy Everybody carries about half a dozen defective genes. Many don't know this, unless someone they know is affected by a genetic disorder.(1) The genetics of many diseases are passed from one generation to the next by inheriting a single gene, such as Huntington's disease. Many other diseases and traits are influenced by a collection of genes.(4) About one in ten people has, or will develop, an inherited genetic disorder. Approximately 2,800 specific conditions are known to be caused by defects, or mutations, in just one gene. Most of us don't suffer any harmful effects from our defective genes because we carry two copies of nearly all genes. In most cases one normal gene is enough to avoid all the symptoms of disease. If the affected gene is recessive, and we inherit two copies of the gene, the disease will develop. If the affected gene is dominant, only one copy is enough produce the disease. There are also X-chromsome linked genetic diseases.(1) A potential approach to the treatment of genetic disorders in humans is gene therapy. Gene therapy is the delivery of a correct version of a mutated gene to a cell, where its expression will produce the normal protein and restore normal cellular function. The mutated gene must be delivered to the nucleus of the cell.(2) There are essentially two forms of gene therapy, somatic gene therapy and germline gene therapy. Somatic gene therapy involves the manipulation of gene expression in cells that will be corrective to the patient but not inherited by the next generation.(4) Germline gene therapy involves the replacement of defective genes in the germline cells, which contribute to the genetic heritage of the offspring. It has the potential to affect not only the individual being treated, but also his or her children. Germline therapy would change the genetic pool of the entire human species, and future generations would have to live with that change. It is not likely germline therapy will be tried on humans in the near future due to ethical problems and technical difficulties.(1) In vivo gene transfer is the introduction of genes to cells at the site at which they are found in the body. Ex vivo gene transfer is the transfer of genes into viable cells that have been temporarily removed from the patient and are then returned following treatment.(6) Foreign DNA can be injected into the cell, or its entry can be facilitated by various chemical or electronic ways, but these methods aren't very efficient.

Computerized Accounting System Essay

Background of the Study Every school is dedicated to the improvement of its quality of education. And one of it is by upgrading their school existing system for the convenience of both teachers and students. Though computers become very easy and convenient to use, there are still existing manual system among schools. Technology was endorse to us decades ago, and it’s still growing rapidly up until now and progressing more and more so we have no choice but to catch up to these seasonal change in the field of technological modernization so that we can make our school capable of competing other modernize schools. In high school, they always want to be one of the best schools in the region. And for that, they need the requirements to be strictly implemented into their schools so that students that were graduating in elementary will go to their school. For them to be aim these goals, this is where our system will be needed to raise the schools moral to the students that was enrolled and will choose the school to enrol for on the next years to come. Our study is concerned with the process of calculation and collection of student fees of Saint Louis High School of Balatoc. Computations of tuition fees are done manually that makes it risky because it causes some errors in calculation that sometimes leads to a double payment. As a result of the manual system, students tend to form a very long line before reaching the cashier to pay tuition fees. It’s really a pain in the head for the students because i felt that way too when I was at high school years before. Back to the study, Parents even come to school and complain on double payments because the computation is done manually and we are humans and we can’t afford to make some human errors sometimes. With these, we came up with a study, a computerized account receivable system. With the use of the computerized system, forming lines during payments will be lessened or even eliminated. It will help the student for not getting late on every examination period to their designated classes. It will also facilitate automatic and accurate computation of fees that take less time and effort compared to their existing manual computation system. Double payments will also be prevented and even eliminated because you will  just enter the keywords and the computer will do the rest. Above all, it will make your work faster and easier with ease and less overtime papers works.

Race: White People and Color Purple Essay

What does race means? To me race means where we come from, the color of my skin, appearance and the beliefs I follow. Even though for many people is the skin color or the appearance of a person. Many of the minority races had being treated unequally in the United States since early colonization. Over time there has being an increase of Hispanics, Blacks and Asians, each one bringing new experiences to the country and changing it in a good way. I have learned in my choice unit books, that many people just see someone’s skin color to try to figure out how they are instead of their personality. Most of the characters in those books had experience racism, lack of education, and economic statue. Each of the main characters had different stories, and went through different hardships but there is one thing in common. They come from a different culture and a poor family. Racism is one of the main issues of this country since slavery was introduced to the colonies and so did I saw it in different book and films this year. As I notice while reading The Color Purple whites has most of the superiority and so did man of any race. Sofia a big girl who wasn’t afraid of anyone and always talked back when there was something she didn’t like. One time she met a white woman and asked her if Sofia will like to work as her maid. Sofia refused that offered and so the white woman’s husband asked her again and she refused again, so the man slapped her and so Sofia responded back. At the end she was sent to jail for hitting a white person and was sentenced to work on the white’s family house for many years. She couldn’t see her children for many years or any one from her family. This example shows how many whites have superiority over certain race. Before you didn’t have to be rich, to be superior, you just needed to be white in order to set the rules, vote, and to be free in a few days if there was a crime. In my history class I saw a documentary how an African American 14 years old boy was killed just for talking to a white women and his case to get the guilty men in prison wasn’t that successful, and those men were set free and declared not guilty. After a few days a press told them they will receive money if they told the media the truth and so did the white men confessed and were sent to jail. This was a victory for the boy’s mom, but still they left an empty whole in that boy’s family. This is one of the few cases in the early years that a crime was solve to favor African Americans and many were just forgotten. Now days we have seeing that there is a huge percentage of color people dropping school every day. Many of these kids face pregnancy at an early age, they start looking for jobs, etc. In The Color Purple, Celie was abused by her stepfather and had two kids with him. He always lowered her esteem by telling her she was dumb and fat. She didn’t want to go to school for this causes but slowly she started learning how to read and write because her sister helped her. Later on she created her own store and triumph in life. Also in the film A Better Life we can see how a community of Hispanics has lowered education and many of the gangs are formed inside school. Schools are supposed to represent a safety environment so everyone can learn. The school environment I saw in the film was kind of like a jail. Police was everywhere the school and many kids had tattoos everywhere in their body. Many poor cities are more likely to have a lack of education and many of them are black or Latinos. In Macho, the people in Mexico living in that city were struggling for a job. The ones that had a job didn’t make a lot of money to bring food to their families. Since that’s a big issue, many falls in the hands of coyotes and try to immigrate illegally to its neighbor country which is the United States. Many try to get a working visa but also many fail, and the only choice they had was to travel by the desert. A lot of people died in the process of passing border or they were left to die or they were shot but gang members. In conclusion races are the one that define this country because many of us came from different cultures. We came to the United States to find freedom, which the first amendment allowed to us, also to escape poverty of our countries, and give our family a better future. Many of the families that migrate to this country do it in different forms. Many innocent people face discriminations and racism because of their skin color or how they look. Their communities’ faces lack of educations, many of the schools are not receiving help from the government. Poor communities are the ones that have a lot of diversity including blacks, Hispanic and Asians. This people have hardship looking for jobs and sometimes their only choice is to join a gang. Race has changed this country in different ways, and hopefully in years racism will have a different face.