Christianity and the Meaning of Life - Essay Example

Christianity and the meaning of life 1. While Hinduism is the oldest religion of the world, Christianity has the maximum followers. Religion concerns the purpose and meaning of life. At the same time, an individual lives in the society so he is also guided by the norms of the society. Thus according to Durkheim, there are three major functions of religion – social cohesion, social control and providing meaning and purpose (http://cwx.prenhall.com/bookbind/pubbooks/macionis7/chapter19/objectives/deluxe-content.html). Each religion has its own values which are handed down from one generation to another. These values influence how an individual perceives of the world. These values influence his thoughts and action and this can be observed in day-to-day life of people. According to Durkhiem, within each culture, activities and objects can either be ‘profane’ or ‘sacred’. ‘Profane’ refers to the ordinary element of everyday life whereas ‘sacred’ is extraordinary and is inspired by a sense of awe and reverence or could even be fear. Religion is a social institution made up of beliefs and practices based on a conception of the sacred. The sacred activities are approached through ritual or even formal ceremonial behavior. Christianity is one such religion which is governed by the Church, which is a formal religious organization well integrated into the society. Christianity believes in a single divine power. The Church works as force of social control as the followers have to follow the dictates of the Church. In Hinduism, which also believes in a single divine power, there is no religious organization and each individual is free to worship the way he feels comfortable and follow his own rules. There is no control function that religion plays in Hinduism like Christianity because Hinduism believes that two individuals can have different perception of a given situation or people. Worship in Christianity is congregational while it is individualistic in Hinduism (http://www.baptistmessenger.com/story/906CFA8108C078A78D7764335C02C247). Hinduism believes that a person suffers due to his karmic field and he has to undergo the sufferings and release them while Christianity believes that Jesus can take away your sins. An individual’s actions, words and thoughts are reflections from his previous birth, according to Hinduism while Christianity believes that you undergo the pains and pleasures in the same life time. Religion is the first sense of community (http://www.freedommag.org/english/spegerm/page48.htm_). The feeling of community arises when people interact and experience with others. This social cohesion as per Durkheim may be true in every religion but this does not necessarily imply that social control is essential. Hinduism does not impose social control which is found in Christianity. An interview with a Hindu friend of mine brought to light so many different ways of looking at the world. Hinduism is not a religion but a concept, a way of life that encompasses many religious thoughts and views. Hinduism has remained the most enduring concept and culture in the world, said my friend. He said in Hinduism there is no compulsion to follow or worship any deity as in Christianity we have to worship Jesus. Hinduism believes that the Brahman is the Absolute and which ever deity in which ever form you worship, all have to ultimately reach the Brahman. The deities or Gods and Goddesses are simply the medium. Religion to them is a ritual to reach Brahman. When one reaches Brahman one realizes that each one is God himself. God or Brahman is not ‘another’ entity but Christianity believes that Jesus is God and He alone can relieve the human beings of all sins. Because of the basic principles, and because of the control of the religious organization, namely Church, the values too differ. Christianity requires that all individuals have to go to the Church at least every Sunday. Hinduism does not make any such demands but Hinduism has many other festivals and rituals connected with God. Because of the religious values, Hinduism relies heavily on the family system. They believe in celebrating the festivals together which is also true of the Christians. Hinduism derives its values from the ancient scriptures and follows the principles of the reincarnations of Lord Rama and Krishna on earth. Christianity too follows the principles laid down by Jesus while on earth. Hinduism believes this world is fictitious, explained my friend. It is seen only to the people who perceive of the world through their external eyes. When one rises above religion but through religion, one discovers that the world is just a mass of energy where all are bound together in love. Each of us is a part of this energy. Because of this, the religion lays stress on going into the innerself to discover the truth. He said Hinduism lays emphasis on being good and doing good so that one can be relieved cycle of birth and death. Christianity however believes that it is in this life that one pays for the sins and also overcomes them. There is nothing carried forward and perhaps it is because of this reason that in Hinduism, there are various practices to ensure one does not accumulate karmas (debts in action). Hence as per Durkhiem, social cohesion is provided by both the religions but social control is not necessary. Hinduism believes that religion cannot be enforced and the spirituality has to come from within. The inner consciousness has to be evoked to walk on the right path. Religion does provide a meaning and purpose because people of every religion base their activities around the religion. Religion is a binding force but religion has to be experienced individually. Each individual has his or her own experiences based on their past karmas. Christianity does not believe in past karmas and hence imposes control so that people receive a guidance to walk in life. Religion does help people to understand nature of sacred things and inculcates beliefs. Beyond this it is up to an individual how he perceives them and derives meaning out of it. Christianity tries to impose social control while Hinduism leaves it to the individual to walk their way to the Brahman. Ultimately all religions preach the same ultimate truth. 2. Schools use standardized tests to determine the capability of the student, the challenges, the handicap, and the disabilities to determine of the child should be promoted or retained in the same grade (http://www.fairtest.org/how-standardized-testing-damages-education). The schools also use these tests to guide and control the curriculum content and teaching methods. While standardized tests are problematic at all ages and levels of schooling, they are particularly questionable in the primary grades (http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/stand.testing.html). The growth of the children in the primary school years is uneven and the skills needed for success in school is in a fluid stage. Using standardized tests can lead to failure in many cases and this can be a devastating experience for many children. It leads to inequality and the tests in primary school years must end. Standardized tests can lead to inequality because the capability of a child depends on various on-instructional factors. The differences in children arise depending upon the number of parents living within the home, parents’ educational background, type of community and poverty rate (http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/edweek/staiv.htm). The previous generation American students never had to face so many standardized tests as now and the standardized tests have never played such a prominent role in schooling. Tests like SAT, MAT and CAT was never meant to assess the quality of learning and teaching. These were meant to rank and not to rate the students. They were meant to spread out the scores and not to gauge the quality of students. These tests further lead to inequality as they often measure superficial thinking. It has been found that the standardized tests often measure shallow thinking. There are many who indulge in deep thinking and score well on tests but there are many others who do neither. Some just copy the answers, skip the difficult portion of the curriculum, and engage in guess work but still mange to get high scores. Thus it again is not fair to those who do deep thinking and spend time in understand the basic concepts. Promotions should not be based on the outcome of a single test. To prepare the students for the standardized tests, many schools are extracting the time from various other activities like discussion on current events, eliminating program on the arts or reducing the recess time for children. These are bound to have a negative impact on the children. Increasing testing, results in increasing pressure on the children. The schools that concentrate on the overall development of the children teachers place much less emphasis on the tests. Otherwise teachers feel compelled to spend a lot of time on attaining results. The natural responses of the students are overlooked and the teachers just prepare then for these tests. The students are given instructions to follow a strict sleeping pattern, leave the calculators at home, to remember the test is the most important for them and they need to do well (http://www.acei.org/onstandard.htm). Such instructions create a sense of fear in the children and they feel if they do not perform well, they will be creating a sin; they would be letting down their parents and the teachers. The curriculum is totally fact-based with no guidance on practical applications of the theories in science and mathematics. When deserving students do not perform well under pressure, this can lead to low self-esteem. Some children spend time and effort but become nervous due to the pressure created and the expectations that the teachers have from them. They do not perform well and this is inequality because they do deserve better grades. If the system of testing is changed, they could perhaps do much better. North Carolina standardized tests differ from other states. They have end-of-grade (EOG) tests that cover the curriculum taught over the school year for each grade. The writing test measures the writing skills. They concentrate on reading and mathematic as these are core skills on which other learning is based. The standardized tests in North Carolina concentrate on reading and mathematics ion grades 3, 5 and 8 and on writing in grades 5 and 8 (http://www.meritsoftware.com/standardized_tests/NC.php). The graduation standards require proficiency in broader subjects. The exit exam is given at the end of the 11th grade of the student and is based on n till that point of time. They have a Merit’s Language Arts and Math software program which helps the students to develop and strengthen their test taking skills as well as their reading, writing and math skills. This reading software has been found to increase both student reading comprehension and standardized test scores. In addition they have the end-of-course (EOC) tests that test the mastery of the material covered in high school courses. The SAT measures a student's reasoning, verbal and math skills to determine if the student is ready for freshman level college coursework. It is used as a tool for admissions officials at colleges and universities. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results have shown that North Carolina's fourth graders are above the national average in mathematics and the state's eighth graders above the southeast average and near the national average, also in mathematics (http://www.ncpublicschools.org/sat98/). The African American students also do well in the SAT exams. Since the scores of students have increased in SAT they stand a better chance to get admissions in better universities. The higher the family income the higher the SAT scores. Those who use calculators every day have better scores than those who use once or twice a week. The urban students perform better than the rural students. Thus it is seen that the standardized testing system in US is not fair to all students. It is neither fair to those who spend time and effort and engage in deep thinking nor is it fair to those who lack the capability. All children cannot be equal and hence the standardized tests up to the grade 8th should be done away with. The primary years are the formative years in a child’s life and he shy not be bogged down with routine and pressure of study. He should be allowed to evolve and demonstrate his innate natural qualities. It should be a process of knowing himself. 3. Information technology, globalization and internationalization have changed the way people think, react and take decisions. Increase in then use of information technology contributes extensively to nearly all of the corporate service activities. Different functions require increasing amount of information and capitalization of knowledge. In the field of medicine, technology is extensively used. To encourage a health culture and offer preventive services, diagnosis, treatment information, and follow-ups, to support both doctors and patients in Mexico, Pfizer launched a three-pronged CRM program (http://www.ogilvy.com/uploads/koviewpoint/pfizer.pdf#search=%22Pfizer%20CRM%22). They set up mobile Pfizer Diagnostic Units (PDU) to diagnose patients free of charge, after which the potential are encouraged to visit physicians and start treatment. The third step involves a follow-up program to cement relationships and provide measurement of key performance indicators. By earning the respect of patients they were able to expand their patient base and build long-term relationships. They could do this through CRM and compliance programs and that too without alienating the physicians. People were also weighed and measured to calculate their body mass index. Blood pressure and cholesterol levels were checked and while the patients waited for the results, they were encouraged to fill out survey forms. In a customer satisfaction survey conducted by Pfizer, 99 percent of the people who had visited or used the PDU in 2004 rated the service as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. Those who did not have a regular physician were referred to physicians. These physicians who received referrals from the PDU doctors were more receptive to Pfizer products. The data collected by Pfizer through this program was the first of its kind in Mexico and is being used by the Ministry of Health to determine the prevalence of certain diseases in the country. Partnering with technology, Pfizer is able to provide customer satisfaction, enhance customer experience, and reap benefits for the company and for the nations as well. Technology has permeated practically every field of life and education is no exception. Today children are exposed to technology from a very early age. Technology plays a critical role in various fields of learning which includes planning. Powerful technologies are now available to significantly augment the skills necessary to convert data into information and transform information into knowledge (http://caret.iste.org/caretadmin/news_documents/StudentLearning.pdf). Blended learning combines e-learning in its various forms with traditional types of teaching and learning (http://rudar.ruc.dk/bitstream/1800/814/1/e459uv_shjln.pdf). It is a way to educate from a distance that is through email, learning management systems and video. Blended learning allows the students to combine materials teaching forms and technologies to provide the maximum support in his style of learning. A teacher too can combine technology, materials and teaching forms to present a subject which would help to achieve a learning goal in a proper and effective way. Blended learning is an instrument which makes teaching and learning more efficient. Since there are no set standards to determine the most effective method of training, it is usually need-based. Virtual schools are now able to open up a world of new courses that challenge students intellectually and open up new avenues educationally and professionally. Even people with health issues, remote areas or family constraints can keep up with education. Technology has changed the way people communicate. Emails and online chat facility provided by popular sites like MSN, Google and Yahoo are commonplace. SMS is another mode of communication even between families. Video games engaged in, by children of all ages keep them away from active social life. When we get back home most people including may parents are either glued to the television watching their favorite serial or the children playing video games on the computer. Due to people working longer hours, communications now rests in the hands of the computer – through emails and chat or often even through the sms on the mobile phones. Social networking and blogging are the latest craze amongst the people. People make their own blogs where they express their own views on a particular subject and hence forums are formed where people with common interest pool in their knowledge and information. These are valuable platforms of knowledge-sharing and knowledge-preservation. Social networking site is an online location where users can create a profile and build a social network that connects him or her to other users. As of 2005 there are over three hundred known social networking sites. In the last five years the growth of such sites has been phenomenal and it keeps tens of millions of users engaged on the internet (http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_SNS_Data_Memo_Jan_2007.pdf). This has generated concern among the parents, school officials and the government leaders about the risks involved when people post personal information on these sites although 66% of the youth claim that their profile cannot be viewed by just anyone on the internet. To take advantage of this concept, some of the top food and beverage brands market their products on such sites that are popular with the teens. Downloadable TV shows were offered by Burger King on MySpace (http://digitalads.org/documents/digiMarketingFull.pdf). The current generation has the ability to customize and personalize everything in their world and daily experience in ways that the previous generation could never do. The social networking sites have become powerful channels of reaching the youth and having them willingly and enthusiastically engaged with brands. People have stopped visiting banks as banks now offer e-banking facilities online. They can sit in the comfort of their homes and offices and conduct all their operations. Online banking is a facility that is provided by many banks and credit unions to conduct banking transactions over the internet using the computer, hand held devices or the mobile phones (http://www.newyorkfed.org/education/ebanking/index.html). This allows access of account round the clock including the weekends. One can receive and pay bills online and even transfer funds between accounts. Online banking services have security in position and it is usually safe to transact over the internet. Some of the banks offer ‘internet only’ facilities and hence their interest rates are higher and service charges lower than brick and mortar banks. Technology has indeed pervaded every aspect of daily life and made things easier to handle. 4. The seeds for a huge revolutionary resurgence have already been sown in the West. The modern world looks to the future for inspiration. People foresee an egalitarian society without the destructive conflicts between nations (http://djbarney.wordpress.com/2007/04/14/lost-is-modern-society-deserted-from-its-past/). It will be a world where constructive approaches will be taken on poverty and disease without the crippling influence of modern politics. The Web in 2020 will meet the needs of the humans more fully than it does today. This will have social and political implications. There will be a renewed forum for social cohesion and democracy and the platform for information, entertainment, communication, shopping would continue (http://www.sirc.org/publik/web2020.shtml). The year 2020 is just 13 years away and sociologists predicted that it could provide a digital alternative to ‘real life’. The distinction between human and machine will be further blurred. The web applications will have to fulfill a timeless human need. Even though technology changes people do not change. Their basic needs do not change and they also crave for social bonding which allows them to identify themselves in relation with others. This gives a sense of security and this need has not changed even in the last ten thousand years. This need is expected to continue in the human beings. The online communities, shops (virtual high streets), VoIP services, libraries, newspapers, social networking sites, corporate homepages and interest groups found on the internet today are modern mirrors of our ‘real societies’. Social networking and modern communities developed and were embraced by the masses as they provided a modern type of ‘social glue’ or at least a ‘social lubricant’. Sociologist Durkheim termed this as ‘anomie’ which implies that the society experiences isolation and fragmentation as a result of the loss of traditional ties that bind the contemporary society. The basic mechanism for bonding and social cohesion has eroded in the faceless anonymity of modern towns and cities. This has led the human being to re-create new means for satisfying the timeless needs of the society. The tribal groups too have been reinvented which provides a sense of security to the members of the group. Various sub-cultures and groups have been formed like women’s association or adult groups. Nothing much has changed except the external façade. Now these bonds are created and maintained on the web and the social bonds overcome the geographical barriers. Earlier people used to chat with their neighbors across the garden fence and today people can chat across the fence of their country with their neighbors in another country over the mobile phone. The common thing is that even today people do chat and want to chat. The social bonding is still required. Email has replaced the phone calls, telegrams and letters. In 2020 there will be two groups of people – one who are left behind by choice – who would not be able to keep pace with the advancements in information and technology (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060924-7816.html). They would form a separate cultural group and would self-segregate from the modern society. There will be some who would seek peace away from the pace of fast life and find in this a cure for information overload while some others would commit acts of terror or violence in protest against technology. In every age there is a group of people who do not advance with technology and still stick to the old theories and beliefs. This would also be the practice in 2020 where one group pf people would be distinctively different from others. Some believe that immersive fantasy worlds will absorb the users and lead to virtual reality addiction. Technology will advance to such an extent that virtual reality will lead to more productivity than people leading in the real world but this would lead to serious problems of addiction. We would lose people to alternate realities. Artificial intelligence is expected to create chaos as they will cut direct human input completely out of key human activities like surveillance, security and tracking systems. This means technology will be beyond human control and generate dangers and dependencies that will not be recognized. The free-flow of information would blur the national boundaries. The human organizations would be reconfigured and tied together by global networks. It is also expected that "worldwide network interoperability will be perfected" by 2020. This means that worldwide mobile communication would be available to anyone and everywhere at any place in the world at an extremely low cost. Nothing can escape the reach of technology and the mind, social interactions, communication, and emotional states can all be engineered (http://www.ntnu.no/2020/final_report_en.pdf). This sounds both productive and dangerous. Technology will lead to medical self-monitoring and thereby improve decision-making and health. This in turn implies that human end up surrendering their freedom and responsibility to a mechanical world that acts for them. Technology will also have a socially destabilizing effect as economic efficiency produces greater unemployment as targeted medical treatments increases longevity. The divide between the rich and the poor will increase between technologically advanced and traditional cultures. Thus while technology will keep advancing, people feel more and more insecure. These will give rise to greater bonding needs amongst the people as they seek to become affiliated with some group or sub-cultures. Technology will increase the life span thereby leading to greater levels of unemployment. Some groups of people would shy from technology and form their own groups. This too suggests that each type of human character needs the support or backing and this prompts them to form their own groups. This has been the case in every era as basic human needs for survival have not change and will not change even in 2020. The difference would only be in the way people fulfill the basic needs supported by technology. They would be able to transcend the barriers of nations and culture and even language because to access technology there has to be a common platform for communication. Hence in 2020 the only changes would be how people communicate with each other and provide facilities for the society through technology. Read More