Special Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Special Education - Essay Example Qualitative research can â€Å"see precisely which events led to which consequences and derive fruitful explanations† (Miles and Huberman, 1994, p. 1). Moreover, it has a higher chance of being able to arrive at unanticipated findings and new combinations and relationships. These reasons are why the qualitative research design had been chosen for this study as it can give a clear view of why students with disabilities drop out of high school. It must be clarified that although quantitative data, such as statistics and percentages, were used in the study, it only acted as supportive numbers that laid the groundwork for this study. Furthermore, it is intended for this qualitative research to act as a recursive study for more accurate and extensive quantitative study on the same topic. The study employed a qualitative research design that was based on active observation. The qualitative research design has been criticized by many for its supposed inexactness due to its â€Å"interpretative, subjective, impressionistic and diagnostic† nature as it has been claimed that there is no unbiased observer (Thomson, 2007). However, when contending with abstract data, like â€Å"the often contradictory behaviors, beliefs, opinions, emotions, and relationships of individuals† and in this case, the reasons why certain people act a particular way, active observation is best employed as its strength lies in its capability to be able to provide a textual characterization of complex events such as human experience (Mack, et al., 2005).

Fallout Book Report Essay Example for Free

Fallout Book Report Essay P.S. I am sorry the summary is so long but I wanted to make sure everything in the book was covered and there being 3 people makes it 2 times longer. The novel is a memoir of the lives of three children of a meth-addicted mother, Kristina, and how her addiction affected their lives. They now live in different homes, with different parents, as well as different last names. Each of them has a different story, some more fortunate than others. Hunter knows about his sisters and new younger brothers, while Summer knows about her brothers and Autumn knows nothing. It starts with Hunter’s story; adopted and raised by his biological mom’s mother and stepfather. He refers to his adoptive parents as Mom and Dad. He works at a radio station in Reno, Nevada. His girlfriend, Nikki, supports him in everything he does. As Christmas approaches, he is living with Nikki and having relationship troubles. Hunter is doing drugs more frequently, and cheats on Nikki with a persistent radio groupie. All the while, Hunter is feeling like a piece of him is missing because of the lack of knowledge about his father. When he sees him, he knows, but his father is the date of his coworker, Montana. Hunter then gets drunk and calls Brendan (his father) out on his actions about how him raping Kristina produced Hunter. Once that situation is in the past, another problem occurs, as Hunter is approached by Nikki, who hears a voicemail left by Leah on Hunter’s phone about the cheating incident. He is kicked out of Nikki’s house and takes the guestroom in his parents house because, thanks to Kristina, his two younger brothers, David and Donald, have moved in and taken his room. Shortly after Hunter has moved back in, he is notified that Kristina will be spending Christmas with them. Autumn’s story takes place at her grandfather’s house in Texas. Her OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) and frequent panic attacks make her a loner at school, so her best friend is her Aunt Cora. Although she promises Autumn they will always be friends, she is wooed by her massage therapist professo r and taken away from her. A new boy comes to her school and is immediately taken with her. She has a hard time opening up to him and even tells him her parents are dead. His name is Bryce and he ends up being Autumn’s first boyfriend, first kiss and first time. When her aunt announces her engagement, the happiness she gets from her new boyfriend fades and she feels alone. Desperate to make sure he stays with her, she has sex with him without protection. Realizing that being drunk makes everything easier to deal with, she begins drinking to make herself feel better. Her fathers and grandmother’s interruption at Aunt Cora’s wedding only makes things worse, bringing her past to her present; then, Bryce finds out her parents aren’t dead. Devastated about the lying, Bryce leaves Autumn, and to make matters worse her drinking has gotten out of hand and she is almost raped by the groom’s cousin, Micah. The wedding ends when Autumn realizes how lonely she is and begins to wish she is pregnant, and her father finds her and tells her how she came to be. In the process, he convinces her to go to Reno for Christmas to see the mother she never knew. The California foster system took Summer away shortly after living with her f ather when they were abandoned by Kristina. She knows everyone in her family except for Autumn. Her father’s ex-girlfriends have molested and used her, causing her to be thrown in different homes with different problems. Her life is pretty stable in one home until one of the meth-using girls that also lives there molests one of the younger girls; it hits close to home and she is unable to control her anger. She gets in a fight with the meth girl and ends up getting sent to live back with her father and his girlfriend of the moment. The day after the fight, her boyfriend, Matt, saw her face and offered no sympathy, so she ran to his best friend, Kyle, who always showed interest. She ends up cheating on her boyfriend with Kyle by having sex with him. She knows that Kyle uses meth and other drugs but his loving nature has drawn her in. When he and Summer confront Matt about their newfound relationship, she sees the side of Kyle she never wanted to and realizes his addiction and anger may cause problems. The living conditions at her father’s house aren’t the be st; the constant smoking irritates her asthma and as Thanksgiving approaches, she starts to miss Kristina. She calls her, but can’t remember why; she was blown away by her mother’s selfishness and when her father is drunk later that night, he reveals that Kristina only cares about herself. Her father being drunk proves to be a much worse situation than just spilling the truth; his drinking costs him a DUI and he loses Summer. She is sent to another home in Fresno. Leaving her boyfriend and life behind, she is unwilling to move far away. When she gets to her new home, she is immediately taken aback by her new foster father. His demeanor worries her and makes her wonder what secrets the other girls in the house might have. She knows from experience not to get close to the other girls in the house, but one of the girls tells Summer her secrets and becomes attached to her. During the few days Summer is there, she hides her cell phone and planned to meet Kyle. When she sneaks from under her foster sister’s watch long enough to escape, she ends up running away with Kyle for Christmas—he is so in love with her that he even attempts to stop using meth for her, which means suffering through withdrawal. She and Kyle save up money and live out of his car while they head to a ski lodge, where Kyle plans to work. The stories collide when Kyle and Summer get in a car accident and the closest place to them is Reno, Nevada. Summer ends up calling her grandfather to pick her up from the hospital the morning after the blizzard hit and the accident happened. Hunter is out picking up Kristina and his grandfather from the airport after spending the early morning making up with Nikki. He knows that things wont quite be merry and joyful Christmas morning with the whole family being together. Autumn and Trey show up before Summer gets there and when Trey sees Kristina, they are immediately drawn to each other and spend most of the day before dinner talking to each other. Summer tries to be sisterly to Autumn and Autumn doesn’t know what to make of all of it. When dinner starts, David asks when he’ll be going home and Kristina says she doesn’t know; Donald gets angry and tells her he never wants to go back—that he never wants to be with her again. Hunter is the first one to jump up when Kristina acts offended and he yells at her, telling her the only person responsible for what happened to her was her. Summer jumps in the argument too when Kristina begins to complain that she doesn’t have the resources to take care of her kids or give them a good life. The book ends with a newspaper article saying Marie Haskins has put her new book ‘Monster’, on indefinite hold while Kristina is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. At this point, Kristina has reunited with her husband, Trey, and with her resources, she is trying to make her life better so she can be the mother she has never been. I can’t personally connect to this book but I can emotionally connect to this book. I have a friend in my life that I like a brother to me and he has parents just like hunter, autumn and summer. Drugs are a very personal matter and mess up your life more than anyone can know until it happens to you. I felt what he felt becaus e he is such a dear friend that all I could do was worry about him and wonder how he was doing in that new foster home he was moved to. I always heard all about the stories and the way he was in the foster home. He said it wasn’t easy and it was painful to know that everyone he loved had bailed out on him. He soon developed many of the problems these kids experienced with drinking and doing other drugs. This life isn’t easy from what I have heard. This book is very easy to relate other books by Ellen Hopkins because all of the books I have read by her seem to be about drugs and complications in life including hardships and suffering. I don’t really watch movies in this type of subject but I did hear that there is supposed to be a movie coming out based on the crank series by Ellen. I’m not sure whether it’s out or not but the books are great and movies tend to ruin the reading of the book. Both crank and glass led up to this point in the book series and was consistent throughout the storyline of all three books. There is so much drug abuse in the books and making right decisions is not one of Kristina’s strong points. I believe that the theme of this book is that drugs can ruin lives especially to the young girls out there. The plot of this story is to tell a story from the perspective from the 3 abandoned children that Kristina left behind. There storied tell about the hardships they went through and how life was for them during this painful teenage years. Even though the plot wasn’t very funny, it is very intriguing and interesting to find out what makes people do this to their own children and why they do the things they do. This story is told from the three kids point of view. And it switched off every so often so it was very suspenseful. The setting of this book is in three different places considering the three different points of view. Hunters’ setting was in Reno while Autumn’s setting was in Texas and Summer’s setting was anywhere the foster system took her. In my personal view the climax of the story was when all three of the children met for the first time and got to be a family together. In conclusion, I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys reading this type of book seeing as how it has sex and drugs in it. I would definitely restrict this book to anyone under the age of 15 or 16. This book is a lot more profane then the others and I feel that you should be at least old enough to understand the meaning and why the book is how it is. Not many people judge books but I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants a good read and interesting enough to make it to when you put the book down you can’t wait to pick it back up. I truly feel her books are amazing and make you see how messed up some situations are.

Negative Aspects of The Iraq War Essay -- essays research papers

By attacking Iraq, the United States has shown that they are no better than the villain Saddam Hussein. The assaults on Iraq were criminal and wicked acts while they were also unjust and unnecessary. In an attempt to overthrow Hussein and end his cruel reign of terror, the US sent in an armed military force. Since the beginning of the war, there have been over 3334 military fatalities for the US alone. The US has caused as many, if not more, civilian deaths in Iraq than Hussein did, and in the process we have lost many of our soldiers, in addition to the twenty-six thousand wounded. As England and many other countries try to help us with our fruitless quest, they also lose their soldiers. Not only may soldiers be hurt physically, the images they see in Iraq haunt them forever mentally. Our country had a huge surplus of money before the war started, but now we are in a colossal deficit. This is due to the fact that there were immense funds involved, therefore depriving every one of our country?s inhabitants of the money that is rightfully theirs. It is true that Hussein ruled tyr...

Male Dominance in Marriage Essay

The main female characters in Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper similarly provide the concept of male dominance in a traditional marriage. This is achieved through the vivid description of both Mrs. Mallard and the narrator’s emotional burdens as they fulfill their obligations as their husbands’ wives. Albeit not directly stated in any of the two stories, the very situations of the wives in the hands of their husbands already show the negative effects of male dominance in the emotional well-being of women in marriages. Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour may have started to establish the personality of Mrs. Mallard as a sensitive woman who dearly loves her husband. Gradually, Chopin reveals an ambiguity in the feelings of the character as she describes Mrs. Mallard that, â€Å"When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: ‘free, free, free! ’† (Chopin, ). Gradually, readers are given a wider view of how Mrs. Mallard feelings are becoming. â€Å"There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature† (Chopin, ). However, in the end, readers are implicitly informed that the cause of Mrs. Mallard’s death is due to the realization that her husband is actually alive. â€Å"When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease –of the joy that kills† (Chopin, ). The last statement gives out the message that the joy upon seeing her husband alive is not actually the reason for her death but rather because of the freedom that has been lost when he appeared at their doorstep. In this story, the Mrs. Mallard secretly endures a miserable life with her husband which can be blamed on women’s domesticity. After a moment of grief, she becomes glad that she is finally free from the demanding grasps of her husband. The pressures and demands brought about by the society’s claim that women’s role are merely for domestic purposes pushes Mrs. Mallard into being grateful for her husband’s death. This is, of course, a wrongful act however it is triggered by the character’s desire for liberation. Mrs. Mallard’s suppressed desire for liberation somewhat mirrors that of the narrator’s in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper. The problem of male dominance in a marriage can also be observed as the writer uncovers the mental and emotional effects of male dominance and social pressure to women. It is a story about the wickedness of confinement—literally and psychologically. In the story, the narrator’s husband locks her inside a room with yellow wallpaper because he believes that she would be cured of her post-partum depression due to recently giving birth. He thinks he could cure her by means of rest cure treatment. This symbolizes the very prison that the husband made for his wife when he married her. As a result, the wife resorts and depends on the images that the yellow wallpaper provides her. She begins to see images crawling and creeping inside it and starts hallucinating, thus, worsening the mental state of the wife. The story is an entire symbolism of women being manipulated fully by men. The husband’s way of taking charge of his wife’s mental health signifies the concept of male domination in the story. â€Å"If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do? † (Gilman, ). The narrator’s question reveals the powerlessness of a woman in her society if a â€Å"physician of higher standing† whom she refers as a man has already made a conclusion and solution against her will. In a thorough analysis, the husband symbolizes the patriarchal ascendancy that restricts women’s lives. They are expected to always follow and obey their husbands and fathers as they are believed to know the best for everyone. In Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour, readers are exposed to the concept of a wife trying to bear the news of her husband’s death and the ambiguity of her feelings towards it. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, the author presents the ongoing problem of male dominance over females. Nonetheless, both stories deal with how husbands usually hold the authority in a household and the extremity of such authority can lead to esteem and emotional problems for women. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. â€Å"The Story of an Hour. † Literature and Society: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction. Eds. Pamela J. Annas and Robert C. Rosen. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2009. pp. 358. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper. † Literature and society: an introduction to fiction, poetry, drama, nonfiction Eds. Pamela J. Annas and Robert C. Rosen. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2009. pp. 307

Beowulf Discussion Questions

E4-9-2-Beowulf Discussion Questions #11. Herot was the place in which men would gather with their King, drink mead and listen to bards sing songs of God. 2. Grendel’s lair is like a swamp it is far away from the kingdom and it is where the other monsters live as well. Grendel’s lair compared to Herot which is lavish and elaborate and not swampy and stinky. 3. The significance of Grendel being descended from Cain was so significant because Cain killed his own brother, Abel the first murder in the Bible. 4.Grendel attacks Herot because he does not like the songs about God’s creation of the earth sung by the bards it makes him angry. 5. Herot symbolized the greatness of the kingdom before the coming of Grendel. Unfortunately after it became a place of fear and concern many people stopped coming to celebrate the King’s excellence because they were afraid of Grendel. 6. Hrothgar’s lieutenant was concerned about the arrival of Beowulf & men because he was not sure of what they wanted, he was being cautious. 7.The lieutenant soon realizes Beowulf as a hero when they arrive onshore as outsiders without fear stating his business as being a help to the King by killing Grendel. 8. Unferth brings up Beowulf ’swimming match with Brecca because he wanted to prove Beowulf isn’t the hero everyone says he is. In return, Beowulf responds by saying first of all that he is drunk and that he did slay the monster and eight other sea beasts. 9. Welthow is the Queen and also the hostess in Herot. The narrator praises her for being so kind and serving other before herself. 10. Hrothgar’s speech is significant because he speaks to all telling them to bond together in battle trust no one else other than your men and you will all have true victory. 11. As Beowulf and his men wait for Grendel’s arrival, Beowulf thinks that he is as dangerous as Grendel and that his men fear for their lives doubting if they will even live until morning. 12. Grendel is referred to as a demon or dreadful monster. Grendel symbolizes the evil that is tormenting the Danes.

How to deal when you’re stuck on autopilot in your life

How to deal when you’re stuck on autopilot in your life When you’re just starting out in your career, everything feels significant. You’re learning how to navigate workplace politics, perform new tasks, and balance work and life. After a few years, though, you’ve fallen into routines, and you’re not the New Kid anymore. So how do you shake that rut? Change your routine.This applies both at work and at home. Do you stop at the same coffee place every morning before work and order the same thing? Go somewhere different. Even small changes can help you feel like things are less of a standard drudge. Maybe you drive a different route to work, or take a different train. Maybe you get up half an hour earlier so you have time to fit in some reading or exercise before you head in to work. Maybe you take a break and go outside for lunch instead of listening to podcasts at your desk while you eat. Or try chatting up a coworker you don’t know very well. Making small changes can make you feel like things are less st ale and predictable.Adjust your work-life balance.â€Å"Go find something new to do† was my mom’s usual reply when I’d complain about being bored as a kid, and she was right. She’s still right. It’s on us to seek out new activities that challenge and engage us. If that means setting boundaries about when you respond to work email after hours or carving out time in the evening so you can take a fun class or work on your scrimshaw carvings, do it. Hobbies can make you more engaged and productive overall, because then you have an outlet for de-stressing and focusing your energy.Push yourself.It’s time to do something outside your comfort zone. Don’t do anything that makes you feel physically or emotionally unsafe, of course, but try something you wouldn’t ordinarily do. We get stuck in ruts because they’re comfortable- not because we’re necessarily choosing the mundane over the exciting. Introduce a little excitement by pushing yourself toward a goal that requires you to stretch a little. Maybe that’s starting an off-the-record job search to see what else is out there. Or maybe it’s as simple as taking a public speaking class, when you’ve studiously avoided giving public presentations for years due to stage fright.Set goals.Nothing creates an autopilot rut than focusing on the day-to-day rather than what comes next. You get so mired in the present tense that it can feel like there is nothing to look forward to- hence the frustration and despair that things are not moving forward. It’s time to sit down and plan out your goals- both career and life- and think about what your next phase looks like and what you need to do to start moving in that direction.Feeling stuck happens to everyone at some point, either professionally or personally. The best way to get over that feeling of ennui is to focus on yourself and determine what would make you feel happier/calmer/more sat isfied in the day-to-day. You might be amazed at how small adjustments can change your overall perspective.

USS Maine explosion Essay Example

USS Maine explosion Essay Example USS Maine explosion Paper USS Maine explosion Paper The US Maine, mysteriously exploded in the Havana Harbor, Cuba. Some people say it was a mine planted by a unknown source to try to explode the US Maine, others think it was McKinley making a set up for a reason to declare war on Cuba. But personally I think it was an accidental explosion cause by a fault in the ship. While looking over evidence of the explosion I saw places where the metal was bent out, suggesting the explosion came from the inside, like an accidental fire caused by the set up of the ship. The fuel in the US Maine was kept in the middle of he ship right next to the ammunition, with one small mistake the whole ship could go up in flames with a huge explosion, sinking the ship. The ship looks like the most damage occurred in the center of the ship, supporting the idea that it was an accident from the inside. The other evidence that leads me to believe that it was accidental is the way the media in America portrayed the people living in Cuba. They had pictures of weak, sick, very skinny and poorly clothed people of all ages. To me that suggested that we wanted people to help and feel sorry for the people of Cuba, not to go to war with them. The images make me think that we think they arent able to defend themselves if we did end up going to war with them. Also, there was no evidence that shows the shell of the ship curling inward from the explosion, which means that unless It was missed in the Images, the explosion came from the Inside of the ship. When we did a simulation of the way the shell of the ship would curve In the impact of a projectile by throwing a ball of tin foil threw a sheet of tin foil and looking at the entrance point of the foil ball. When comparing the ships pictures to the recorded observations from the tin foil simulation there Isnt anything In the strictures showing any similarities. The Images Just look like the metal of the ship Is melted from fire. As you can see from all the evidence that I have compared and analyzed from the US Maine explosion It would have been unlikely for It to be sabotage and more likely to be an accident. Thus I think that all other possibilities, such as a set up by McKinley or a mine planted by Cuba or any other reason wouldnt make much sense, or have real evidence to back It. Therefore I think the only realistic reason behind the US Maine explosion Is that It was an accidental explosion cause by a fault In the ship.

A Quick Tour of Art Through the Ages

A Quick Tour of Art Through the Ages Put on your sensible shoes as we embark on an extremely abbreviated tour of art through the ages. The purpose of this piece is to hit the highlights and provide you with the barest of basics on the different eras in Art History. Prehistoric Eras 30,000-10,000 BC - Paleolithic peoples were strictly hunter-gatherers, and life was tough. Humans made a gigantic leap in abstract thinking and began creating art. Subject matter concentrated on two things: food, as seen in Cave Art, and the necessity to create more humans. 10,000-8000 BC - The ice began retreating and life got a little easier. The Mesolithic period (which lasted longer in northern Europe than it did in the Middle East) saw painting move out of the caves and onto the rocks. Painting also became more symbolic and abstract. 8000-3000 BC - Fast forward to the Neolithic age, complete with agriculture and domesticated animals. Now that food was more plentiful, people had time to invent useful tools like writing and measuring. The measuring part must have come in handy for the megalith builders. Ethnographic Art - It should be noted that stone age art continued to flourish around the world for a number of cultures, right up to the present. Ethnographic is a handy term that here means: Not going the way of Western art. Ancient Civilizations 3500-331 BC - Mesopotamia - The land between the rivers saw an amazing number of cultures rise to - and fall from - power. The Sumerians gave us ziggurats, temples, and lots of sculptures of gods. More importantly, they unified natural and formal elements in art. The Akkadians introduced the victory stele, whose carvings forever remind us of their prowess in battle. The Babylonians improved upon the stele, using it to record the first uniform code of law. The Assyrians ran wild with architecture and sculpture, both in relief and in-the-round. Eventually, it was the Persians who put the whole area - and its art - on the map, as they conquered adjacent lands. 3200-1340 BC - Egypt - Art in ancient Egypt was art for the dead. The Egyptians built tombs, pyramids (elaborate tombs), the Sphinx (a tomb) and decorated tombs with colorful pictures of the gods they believed ruled in the afterlife. 3000-1100 BC - The Aegean - The Minoan culture, on Crete, and the Mycenaeans in Greece brought us frescos, open and airy architecture, and marble idols. Classical Civilizations 800-323 BC - Greece - The Greeks introduced humanistic education, which is reflected in their art. Ceramics, painting, architecture, and sculpture evolved into elaborate, highly crafted and decorated objects which glorified the greatest creation of all: humans. 6th-5th centuries BC - The Etruscans - On the Italian peninsula, the Etruscans embraced the Bronze Age in a big way, producing sculptures notable for being stylized, ornamental and full of implied motion. They were also enthusiastic producers of tombs and sarcophagi, not unlike the Egyptians. 509 BC-337 AD - The Romans - As they rose to prominence, the Romans first attempted to wipe out Etruscan art, followed by numerous attacks on Greek art. Borrowing freely from these two conquered cultures, the Romans created their own style, one which increasingly stood for power. Architecture became monumental, sculptures depicted re-named gods, goddesses, and prominent Citizens and, in painting, the landscape was introduced and frescos became enormous. 1st Century-c. 526 - Early Christian Art Early Christian art falls into two categories: that of the Period of Persecution (up to the year 323) and that which came after Constantine the Great recognized Christianity: the Period of Recognition. The first is known primarily for construction of catacombs, and portable art which could be hidden. The second period is marked by the active construction of churches, mosaics, and the rise of book-making. Sculpture was demoted to works in relief only (anything else would have been deemed graven images). c. 526-1390 - Byzantine Art Not an abrupt transition, as the dates imply, the Byzantine style gradually diverged from Early Christian art, just as the Eastern Church grew farther apart from the Western. Byzantine art is characterized by being more abstract and symbolic, and less concerned with any pretense of depth - or the force of gravity - being apparent in paintings or mosaics. Architecture became quite complicated and domes predominated. 622-1492 - Islamic Art To this day, Islamic art is known for being highly decorative. Its motifs translate beautifully from a chalice to a rug, to the Alhambra. Islam has prohibitions against idolatry, and weve little pictorial history as a result. 375-750 - Migration Art These years were quite chaotic in Europe, as barbarian tribes sought (and sought, and sought) places in which to settle. Frequent wars erupted and constant ethnic relocation was the norm. Art during this period was necessarily small and portable, usually in the form of decorative pins or bracelets. The shining exception to this dark age in art occurred in Ireland, which had the great fortune of escaping invasion. For a time. 750-900 - The Carolingian Period Charlemagne built an empire that didnt outlast his bickering and inept grandsons, but the cultural revival the empire spawned proved more durable. Monasteries became as small cities where manuscripts were mass-produced. Goldsmithing and the use of precious and semi-precious stones were in vogue. 900-1002 - The Ottonian Period The Saxon king, Otto I, decided he could succeed where Charlemagne failed. This didnt work out either, but Ottonian art, with its heavy Byzantine influences, breathed new life into sculpture, architecture, and metalwork. 1000-1150 - Romanesque Art For the first time in history, art is described by a term other than the name of a culture or civilization. Europe was becoming more of a cohesive entity, being held together by Christianity and feudalism. The invention of the barrel vault allowed churches to become cathedrals, sculpture became an integral part of the architecture, and painting continued mainly in illuminated manuscripts. 1140-1600 - Gothic Art Gothic was first coined to (derogatorily) describe this eras style of architecture, which chugged on long after sculpture and painting had left its company. The gothic arch allowed great, soaring cathedrals to be built, which were then decorated with the new technology of stained glass. During this period, too, we begin to learn more individual names of painters and sculptors - most of whom seem anxious to put all things Gothic behind them. In fact, beginning around 1200, all sorts of wild artistic innovations started taking place in Italy. 1400-1500 - Fifteenth-Century Italian Art This was the Golden Age of Florence. Its most powerful family, the Medici (bankers and benevolent dictators), lavishly spent endless funds for the glory and beautification of their Republic. Artists flocked in for a share of the largess, built, sculpted, painted and began actively questioning rules of art. Art, in turn, became noticeably more individualized. 1495-1527 - The High Renaissance All of the recognized masterpieces from the lump term Renaissance were created during these years. Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and company made such surpassing masterpieces, in fact, that nearly every artist, forever after, didnt even try to paint in this style. The good news was that, because of these Renaissance Greats, being an artist was now considered acceptable. 1520-1600 - Mannerism Here we have another first: an abstract term for an artistic era. Renaissance artists, after the death of Raphael, continued to refine painting and sculpture but they did not seek a new style of their own. Instead, they created in the technical manner of their predecessors. 1325-1600 - The Renaissance in Northern Europe It did occur, but not in clearly defined steps as was the case in Italy. Countries and kingdoms were busy jockeying for prominence (fighting), and there was that notable break with the Catholic Church. Art took a back seat to these other happenings, and styles moved from Gothic to Renaissance to Baroque in sort of a non-cohesive, artist-by-artist basis. 1600-1750 - Baroque Art Humanism, the Renaissance and the Reformation (among other factors) worked together to leave the Middle Ages forever behind, and art became accepted by the masses. Artists of the Baroque period introduced human emotions, passion, and new scientific understanding to their works - many of which retained religious themes, regardless of which Church the artists held dear. 1700-1750 - The Rococo In what some would deem an ill-advised move, Rococo took Baroque art from feast for the eyes to outright visual gluttony. If art or architecture could be gilded, embellished or otherwise taken over the top, Rococo ferociously added these elements. As a period, it was (mercifully) brief. 1750-1880 - Neo-Classicism vs. Romanticism Things had loosened up enough, by this era, that two different styles could compete for the same market. Neo-classicism was characterized by faithful study (and copy) of the classics, combined with the use of elements brought to light by the new science of archaeology. Romanticism, on the other hand, defied easy characterization. It was more of an attitude, one made acceptable by the Enlightenment and dawning of social consciousness. Of the two, Romanticism had far more impact on the course of art from this time forward. 1830s-1870 - Realism Oblivious to the above two movements, the Realists emerged (first quietly, then quite loudly) with the conviction that history had no meaning and artists shouldnt render anything that they hadnt, personally, experienced. In an effort to experience things they became involved in social causes and, not surprisingly, often found themselves on the wrong side of Authority. Realistic art increasingly detached itself from form and embraced light and color. 1860s-1880 - Impressionism Where Realism moved away from form, Impressionism threw form out the window. The Impressionists lived up to their name (which they themselves certainly hadnt coined): Art was an impression, and as such could be rendered wholly through light and color. The world was first outraged by their effrontery, then accepting. With acceptance came the end of Impressionism as a movement. Mission accomplished, art was free to spread out now in any way it chose. The Impressionists changed everything when their art was accepted. From this point on, artists had free rein to experiment. Even if the public loathed the results, it was still Art, and thus accorded a certain respect. Movements, schools, and styles - in dizzying number - came, went, diverged from one another and sometimes melded. Theres no way, really, to accord all of these entities even a brief mention here, so we will now cover only a few of the better-known names. 1885-1920 - Post-Impressionism This is a handy title for what wasnt a movement, but a group of artists (CÃ ©zanne, Van Gogh, Seurat, and Gauguin, primarily) who moved past Impressionism and on to other, separate endeavors. They kept the light and color Impressionism bought but tried to put some of the other elements of art - form, and line, for example - back in art. 1890-1939 - The Fauves and Expressionism The Fauves (wild beasts) were French painters led by Matisse and Rouault. The movement they created, with its wild colors and depictions of primitive objects and people, became known as Expressionism and spread, notably, to Germany. 1905-1939 - Cubism and Futurism Picasso and Braque, in France, invented Cubism, where organic forms were broken down into a series of geometric shapes. Their invention would prove elemental to the Bauhaus in coming years, as well as inspiring the first modern abstract sculpture. Meanwhile, in Italy, Futurism was formed. What began as a literary movement moved into a style of art that embraced machines and the industrial age. 1922-1939 - Surrealism Surrealism was all about uncovering the hidden meaning of dreams and expressing the subconscious. It was no coincidence that Freud had already published his ground-breaking psychoanalytical studies prior to this movements emergence. 1945-Present - Abstract Expressionism World War II (1939-1945) interrupted any new movements in art, but art came back with a vengeance in 1945. Emerging from a world torn apart, Abstract Expressionism discarded everything - including recognizable forms - except self-expression and raw emotion. Late 1950s-Present - Pop and Op Art In a reaction against Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art glorified the most mundane aspects of American culture and called them art. It was fun art, though. And in the happening mid-60s, Op (an abbreviated term for optical illusion) Art came on the scene, just in time to mesh nicely with the psychedelic music. 1970s-Present In the last thirty-odd years, art has changed at lightning speed. Weve seen the advent of performance art, conceptual art, digital art, and shock art, to name but a few new offerings. As we move toward a more global culture, our art reminds us of our collective and respective pasts. The technology with which youre reading this article will surely be improved upon and, as it is, we can all keep (nearly instantly) abreast of whatever comes next in arts history.

Research Memo Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Research Memo - Assignment Example Last but not least Lewis incurs other expenses in terms of purchases made for wigs, fake mustaches, fake beards and special clothing meant to make him appear heavier. According to IRC  §162 (a) deductions are permissible for all the conventional and indispensable outlays or sustained for the period of a tax year. All ventures or trade are, for this reason, taxable. IRC  §165(d) on the other hand applies to gambling losses by just stating that losses from wagering transaction are deductible to the extent of wagering gains. This provision serves to limit the usage of  §162 (a) to the charges made to cover gambling losses. In Offutt v. Commissioner, 16TC1214, the tax court decided that taxpayers’ losses cannot be covered with income from other sources or the gambler’s salary. This means that under limitation of  §165 and Offutt, Kevin’s gambling losses are only deductible to the extent of his gambling gains of $ 1000,000. In Mayo v. Commissioner, 136TC No 4, the tax court judged that a gambler’s business expenses incurred in the course of his trade are deductible under IRC  §162(a) even though these losses may not offset other income. The court reasoning in this case founded on the fact that the court in Mayo held that non-wagering expenses were not within the loss limitation defined by sec 165and reversed Offutt on this matter. To further strengthen the judgment, the court in Mayo quoted Boyd v. Commissioner, 56 AFTR 2d 85-5266, which indicated that restrictions of  §165(d) do not take into account more than direct expenses from wagering. The Boyd case also gave a clear difference in losses arising from wagering and expenses associated with the gambling activities. It, for this reason, makes it easy and clear that the limitation of the  §165(d) does not affect peripheral expenses. This provision, for this reason, implies that losses resulting from direct wagering are subject to the

Outlawing the Ownership of Handguns Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Outlawing the Ownership of Handguns - Essay Example For Americans, any firearm represents equality and individualism. The Second Amendment to the US Constitution provides that ‘A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed’ (Rights of the People). All fifty of the United States have laws recognizing the right to bear arms as contained in the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. By virtue of the Second Amendment and the Constitutions of at least 44 US states recognize ‘the right to use arms for defense’ (The War Against Handguns). Moreover, a survey conducted by Lawrence Research in 1998 reveals that ‘by an 8:1 margin, Americans believe you have the right to use a handgun to defend yourself in your own home. By a 3:1 margin, people believe that to fight crime, getting tough with criminals is more effective than banning guns’. This trend and ideology within the American legal culture to recognize a right to armed self-defense has been criticized for many reasons. The most obvious relates to the incidents of handgun related crimes and the potential for accidental death and serious injury Professor Friedland of the University of Toronto does not feel that the protection of life, liberty or property is sufficient to justify possession of a handgun or any type of firearm. He maintains that ‘Citizens should rely on the police, security guards, and alarm systems for protection.’

Bacteria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Bacteria - Essay Example Once there they physically change. They become smaller in size and lose their flagella and begin to give off a natural glow. There are a number of interesting aspects to this particular bacterium, which includes, symbiotic living, a special relationship with certain species of cephalopods, animals that can actually glow in the dark, and preserving nature’s polluted waters. Again this bacterium is often found inside and one fish and certain species of cephalopods, like octopus and squid (OBrien). However, they are not harmful once inside of another species, in fact, the relationship is actually quite beneficial for both species. The Vibrio fischeri rely on the fish for a protective environment and the bacteria create a very special reaction that is incredibly beneficial to the aquatic species. There are five genes then when active and through the process of oxidation takes place in the system of certain species it causes the host animal to literally glow in the dark (Maiden). Despite how unusual and strange that may sound it is absolutely true. In truth 90% of most fish and sea life carry some amount of these bacteria in their systems or on their bodies, however, some creatures glow brighter than others (Widder).However, it is these bacteria that have been attributed to instances when processing of fish products have on occasion resulted in slightly glowing fish sticks (Maiden).However, one species in particular is the prime example of this phenomena the bobtail-squid, native to the waters of Hawaii, have colonies of these bacteria living on their undersides. Because the squid possesses an organ, called the light organ, which is a unique structure similar to the make-up of an eye, possessing both an iris and a lens, yet it allows the squid to produce a glowing light. To predators looking up at the squid it appears to be

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Critical evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of an exemplar Eco-City - Essay Example The intention of this study is the concept of eco-city as a global strategy that needs s to be embraced across all borders. With population increase and climatic changes due to the industrialization resulting to global warming, the only solution left is to go green. The eco-city of Freiburg in Germany is an excellent example of how a place can be transformed to become environmental, friendly, and at the same time utilize its resources towards the realization of the vision of globalization. With proper implementation and sustainable measures, there is significant hope that the world will be a better place to live. There is therefore, great need for the relevant authorities to push for proper implementation of sustainable development measures. Amid the weaknesses observed in the paper, there is clear evidence that the strong points surpass the weaknesses. It only calls for cooperation among all the stake holders towards the sustenance of the strategies. The growth and development of ec o-cities is one of the recent responses made by the world towards climate change. As a result, of industrialization and over-urbanization of the existing cities, among many other activities induced by human beings; they have resulted to degradation of the environment in the past years. The recent initiatives have been in response to solving climatic change menace, and the environmental degradation, as well as, scarcity in energy. This has been realized with the idea of setting up eco-cities. Developed countries like the United States of America, Germany and the United Kingdom, as well as, developing countries such as Brazil, UAE, India and China have launched projects aimed at the development of eco-cities. Every aspect of life involving complex planning and strategising is bound to experience challenges in the course of its implementation. Not forgetting the global population increase and projected outcome that more than half of world’s population reside in urban areas, it i s imperative that proper planning, development and regeneration are truly essential. The vision of an eco-city involves the planning of model settlements, incorporates appealing and highly fundamental concepts like improving the quality of people’s life and enhancing harmony with the cherished environment. On the same note, the vision and plans considering their attachment to nature contain some elements that to some might appear utopian. This brings about difficulties in predicting to what degree the strategies will be implemented, although implementation that is oriented perceptively in an explicit eco-city requirement. Crewe and Forsyth (2011) argue that planners are bound to aim at creating cities that are more ecologically sensitive. These two writers say that the authorities, planners and designers in every of the world claim to be just coming up with eco friendly urban areas. The legal and policy issues in the development of eco-cities have led to challenges as well as achievements in the realization of eco-cities. With sustainable development being an issue of the present globalization, this paper will substantially dwell on analyzing the strengths, as well as,

Answer 3 required and 3 of the optional questions from the uploaded Research Paper

Answer 3 required and 3 of the optional questions from the uploaded information - Research Paper Example These financial statements are to be prepared using a predefined set of standards and guidelines, widely known as the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) (Types of Accounting, 2013). Managerial accounting is an accounting process that reportedly produces information for the sole us of management of the organization. The form and the details to be included in the reportorial information would depend on the intricate and extensive requirements and purpose of management. It was actually disclosed that the information could be more detailed, as compared to financial accounting statements which were identified to be prepared exclusively for external uses. Thus, management could require budgets, forecasts, and financial highlights that would be used to make decisions regarding strategies and plans that would achieve identified goals. Cost accounting was noted to be a branch of managerial that focuses on monitoring and controlling costs. Tax accounting, on the other hand, as the term implies, focuses on accounting facets which are tax-related and are reportedly governed by tax rules and regulations, as well as observance to the GAAP. Governmental accounting, or also known as public accounting (or even fund accounting) was noted to be a type of accounting process and information system that is used by government agencies or public organizations. The main disparity of this type of accounting with private organizations’ accounting system is that their funds are governed by budgets set by the federal government. Likewise, the disbursement of funds are to be allocated subject to the aims or goals of the government agency. Internal auditing accounting focuses on an ongoing appraisal of the financial condition of the organization subject to conformity to accounting standards and accounting laws. Finally, international accounting is the type of accounting process or information system governed by international accounting standards, as contrasted with GAAP. 2. Describe the purposes of financial statements and corporate annual reports. The purposes of financial statements and corporate annual reports include the provision of accurate financial information to various users to serve various needs (Purpose of Financial Statements, 2013). For instance, financials statements are mandated to be published to the public to give them a general overview of the organization and provide information regarding the potential effects of the organization to the local community or to the economy, as a whole. Likewise, financial statements and annual reports are needed by management for decision-making purposes. The companies’ shareholders, on the other hand, use these financial information to determine returns on their investments and any potential risks from currently disclosed external or internal factors that impinge on the organizations’ operations. Concurrently, the investors of the organization need to be given accurate information on the financial condition and status through financial statements and corporate annual reports that contain profits, returns on investment, risks, and market value, as needed. In addition to these various users, financial statements are needed by other financial institutions, such as banks or lending institutions when organizations apply for loans or financial assistance in various endeavors. Suppliers also need the information disclosed in financial stateme

Choose a criminal case that has been covered by the media Research Paper

Choose a criminal case that has been covered by the media - Research Paper Example However, it is essential to highlight here that the paper also dissects the case as well as theoretically analyzes it. Introduction Sexual abuse has existed since time immemorial. What is intriguing about the molesters is that they have crept in to church molesting innumerable people. The media reveals that while selecting a new pope, Archdiocese of Los Angeles reached a $10 million defrayal after four men accused the former priest of sexually abusing them. It was also highlighted that the former priest was also criminally convicted in another case (Medina, 2013). It is essential to highlight here that Michael Baker was accused of molestation of minimum 23 boys over a period of 30 years. Moreover, in 2007 he was convicted for sexually abusing two boys. Certain internal documents revealed that Cardinal Mahony and some of his assistants helped the accused priests by protecting them against law enforcement. Priests accused of such a hideous act were sent to treatment centers and were la ter allowed to take by ministry (Medina, 2013). After the release of the internal document additional proofs surfaced that unveiled that the Archdiocese in 1987, signed a plan proposed by one of his most earnest of advisors that emphasized on sending Baker to a psychiatrist to which he agreed. Many officials such as Mr. Fanaldi expressed that such a minor action was taken so that they would know that Baker was in safe hands. He also highlighted that Mahony was apparently aware of the Mr. Baker’ crime than he seemed to acknowledge it. Nevertheless, the lawyer of church, Mr. Hennigan accepted that Mr. Baker was perhaps one of the most serious offenders and that the church should not have given him the ministry back he was accused of such heinous crimes (Medina, 2013). Theoretical Analysis of the Case The case has been presented in the paper time again until the people were thoroughly aware of the case and the justice was done with the molested victims. Basing on the manner of m entioning the case in the article, it is not incorrect in saying that the writer uses a liberation theory through the coverage of the case. However, before the case theoretically explained it is imperative to under the theory journalism. In accord with libertarian theory, the articles usually reflect the truth bearing in mind that individuals are very well aware of it. Hence, the theory implies that individuals are rational beings and it is not easy to cover a crime from them (Biagi, 2010). If the example of the mentioned case is taken, the New York Times presents the article in a libertarian manner to its readers. Like in the article, the writer quotes the lawyer of the church who accepts the crime and quotes the plaintiff Mr. Fanaldi. Both people quoted in the article were very direct and suggestive of the fact that the church’s ministry was involved in the case to the extent where they were able to influence the charges against the accused priest. Moreover, it can also be said that the writer felt that it is the social responsibility to provide the people with a true picture of the case. Perhaps because it will make them aware of the fact that such pedophiles are not only limited to the streets but are present everywhere (Biagi, 2010). Media Involvement in the Case The media generally plays a vital role in the coverage of events

Answer 3 required and 3 of the optional questions from the uploaded Research Paper

Answer 3 required and 3 of the optional questions from the uploaded information - Research Paper Example These financial statements are to be prepared using a predefined set of standards and guidelines, widely known as the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) (Types of Accounting, 2013). Managerial accounting is an accounting process that reportedly produces information for the sole us of management of the organization. The form and the details to be included in the reportorial information would depend on the intricate and extensive requirements and purpose of management. It was actually disclosed that the information could be more detailed, as compared to financial accounting statements which were identified to be prepared exclusively for external uses. Thus, management could require budgets, forecasts, and financial highlights that would be used to make decisions regarding strategies and plans that would achieve identified goals. Cost accounting was noted to be a branch of managerial that focuses on monitoring and controlling costs. Tax accounting, on the other hand, as the term implies, focuses on accounting facets which are tax-related and are reportedly governed by tax rules and regulations, as well as observance to the GAAP. Governmental accounting, or also known as public accounting (or even fund accounting) was noted to be a type of accounting process and information system that is used by government agencies or public organizations. The main disparity of this type of accounting with private organizations’ accounting system is that their funds are governed by budgets set by the federal government. Likewise, the disbursement of funds are to be allocated subject to the aims or goals of the government agency. Internal auditing accounting focuses on an ongoing appraisal of the financial condition of the organization subject to conformity to accounting standards and accounting laws. Finally, international accounting is the type of accounting process or information system governed by international accounting standards, as contrasted with GAAP. 2. Describe the purposes of financial statements and corporate annual reports. The purposes of financial statements and corporate annual reports include the provision of accurate financial information to various users to serve various needs (Purpose of Financial Statements, 2013). For instance, financials statements are mandated to be published to the public to give them a general overview of the organization and provide information regarding the potential effects of the organization to the local community or to the economy, as a whole. Likewise, financial statements and annual reports are needed by management for decision-making purposes. The companies’ shareholders, on the other hand, use these financial information to determine returns on their investments and any potential risks from currently disclosed external or internal factors that impinge on the organizations’ operations. Concurrently, the investors of the organization need to be given accurate information on the financial condition and status through financial statements and corporate annual reports that contain profits, returns on investment, risks, and market value, as needed. In addition to these various users, financial statements are needed by other financial institutions, such as banks or lending institutions when organizations apply for loans or financial assistance in various endeavors. Suppliers also need the information disclosed in financial stateme

Consider a particular real organization of your choice which has an Essay

Consider a particular real organization of your choice which has an international profile. Discuss how the organization is adopt - Essay Example The company is primarily engaged in manufacturing vehicles for the purpose of selling them to the general customers. The company was originally established in the year 1903 by Henry Ford and since then, the company has produced more than 260 millions of vehicles (Austin, 2001). It is worth mentioning that the automobile industry has grown to be much competitive in nature over the preceding few decades, particularly after the advent of the globalisation process. At the same time, the continuous advancement in the technological aspects has also contributed towards altering the business models and forcing the companies like Ford to incorporate radical changes in their respective supply chain and logistics operations for sustaining business in this competitive landscape. The company, during the year 1995 has initiated a plan to restructure its business model and other key areas of its activities such as Order to Delivery (OTD) and Ford Production System. The company with new structuring plan indented to reduce OTD and further desired to convert its supply chain based operations from push type to pull (Cao & et. al., 2010). In its structuring plan, it can be viewed that the ultimate aim of the company is to perform effectual supply chain along with logistics operations in a cost-effective manner (The Saylor Foundation, 2013; Ha, 2008). Correspondingly, this essay intends to discuss the sustainability and the green supply chain in the context of The Ford Motor Company. The Marketing Channels and Logistics Frameworks, Models and Theories and Latest Trends The marketing functions generally focus upon developing the tasks that are executed by the distribution systems and also the associated utilities of these functions. In this similar concern, marketing channels are viewed as the set of inter-reliant organisations that are engaged in the process of making certain products or services for consumption purpose. The marketing channels eventually draw attention to certain g roup of members such as wholesalers, distributors and retailers among the prime. These members are commonly engaged in the distribution system and are generally responsible for deliverance of products or services from the point of inception to the point of final consumption. It is worth mentioning that management of such marketing channels requires planning, organizing, coordinating, directing along with controlling efforts of channel members. For example, Ford Motor has articulated certain global terms and conditions especially for its suppliers that are duly required to be abided by them in order to conduct business with the company. Any supplier, who do not abide by the established sets of code of conduct which formulated by the company is liable to be terminated from the contractual arrangement (Borade & Bansod, 2007). In the contemporary business environment, most of the organisations are involved in providing customer-oriented view of marketing channels. The domain of marketin g channels typically includes market channel structure, governance and relationship management. In this regard, it can be firmly stated that the effort of one group in

Empowerment supports organisational objectives at the expense of the individual worker Essay Example for Free

Empowerment supports organisational objectives at the expense of the individual worker Essay Introduction Companies today are designed in someway, at some level, to develop individuals either for their own sake, the companys sake or hopefully for both. The team has become a sophisticated structure. I t is finely engineered, maintained to a high standard, and when running smoothly it is highly productive (Cole, G, A, 1997: 63). It provides an environment in which energy can be maximised towards corporate needs, which also allows the individual to satisfy his or her own needs within work, rather than only outside of it. So often seemingly dull unimaginative and uncreative employees surprise their companies when they reveal the depth of their energy outside work. However it is the corporate attitudes (Legge, K, 1995: 104) that stifled them, and when released companies recognise they have a pool talent, a wealth of resources, at their fingertips. In the 1980s and 1990s rationalisation and downsizing (Legge, K, 1995: 53) were very much the order of the day therefore empowerment became a business necessity. Empowerment has been in the forefront of quality improvement efforts (Cole, G, A, 1997: 23). Several businesses worldwide have been and still are currently closely watching quality the ability to produce superior and distinguished goods and services to meet customer needs. The commitment to quality today is very present in service industries, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions (Mabey at el, 1998: 48). Total Quality, also known as Total Quality Management (TQM), is seen differently by different people. Organizations are reportedly introducing soft and hard (Cole, G, A, 1997: 67) employee relations policies associated with the shift to human resource management (HRM). Softer aspects of HRM, based on the encouragement of employee commitment in support of management aims, have received particular attention given their proposed linkage with improved organizational performance (Cole, G, A, 1997: 67). This has, in turn, led many organizations to adopt schemes designed to encourage employee involvement. The concept of empowerment has been identified as a recent and advanced manifestation of employee involvement (Cole, G, A, 1997: 68). Empowerment has been defined in different ways. Some have claimed it is a fundamentally different way of working together (Spencer Pruss, 1992: 271) and quite different from the traditional notion of control (Cole, G, A, 1997: 94). Cole (1997) is able to define the concept of empowerment as an application to none managerial roles such as team members. However, he argues there are several possible meanings. These can range from having increased authority (Cole, G, A, 1997: 53) and therefore their ability exercise a wider range of choices at work and to be given a more varied and interesting job in the form of job enrichment. At best empowerment increases individuals discretion over how they do their work. It may also provide additional opportunities for group problem solving on operational issues. Empowerment is seen as ways of giving people more opportunity or power (Mabey et al, 1998: 38) to exercise control over, and have responsibility for, their work. It is intended to encourage individuals to use their abilities by enabling them to take decisions. According to Potterfield (1999), empowerment will be best defined as a way of bestowing upon employees the power to use more judgment and discretion in their work and to participate more fully in decisions affecting their working lives (Legge, K, 1995:84). Others are more sceptical. Armstrong (1996) points out that Empowerment, for example, may mean little more than giving employees the opportunity to make suggestions for change (Armstrong, 1996: 76). In practice, empowerment is intended to release active employee engagement only so long as it falls within the parameters for which it was selected as a strategy. In most organisations it is management which defines and adjudicates and ultimately exercises control (Armstrong, 1996: 78). The concept of empowerment is based on the belief that to be successful, organisations must harness the creativity and brain power of all the employees not just a few managers (Graham Bennett, 1995: 3). The idea that everybody in the business has something to contribute represents a radical shift in thinking away from the old idea that managers managed and the workforce simply followed orders. The fact that empowerment does represent a radical shift in thinking explains why, in many organisations, the initiative has failed. Empowered organizations are composed of empowered persons, although it is not necessarily true that a group of empowered persons automatically creates an empowered organization. Organizations that are truly empowered have moved out of the old paradigm of competition and beliefs in limitation and scarcity (Sparrow Marchington, 1998: 291). The face of the contemporary workplace is drastically changing. More and more companies are realising the value of more flat democratic organisational structure (Mabey et al, 1998: 23) over the traditional autocratic, hierarchical management styles. In contrast to empowered workplaces, disempowered workforce suffers from poor self-esteem, lack of a personal vision and a feeling of hopelessness. These attitudes and beliefs form inner barriers that block growth and proactive development (Legge, K, 1995: 63) and manifest in the worker in the form of reluctance to accept responsibility, hesitance to communicate openly, lack of commitment and ownership and, ultimately, in below average performance. Such employees become passive passengers who are more focused on having their personal needs met than on contributing fully (Sparrow Marchington, 1998: 82) so that the company can grow. Because they feel afraid, uncertain and insecure, they will unconsciously sabotage new interventions and approaches. An example of this is the resistance management often experience when implementing a quality management system (Sparrow Marchington, 1998: 82). In this way employees become a stumbling block to progress instead of much-valued assets. In companies where managers make a concerted effort to delegate and share power and control, the results are not always impressive (Graham Bennett, 1995: 93). The reason for this is either a lack of understanding of the nature of empowerment, or a greater focus on applying a set of managerial techniques than on creating conditions that are essential for empowerment to thrive. Where empowerment does not work it is because people do not think it through (Mabey Salaman, 1997: 83). To avoid such failures it is important to gain commitment for the senior management team, and then to cascade this down to other levels of management. The hardest group to convince about empowerment are middle managers (Spencer Pruss, 1992: 92), because it is their jobs that are most likely to be affected. It is because these managers often have the most to lost that they may have a tendency to undermine or delay implementation of a new policy. The implementation of empowerment in organisations instead of the traditional hierarchies means a flatter organisational structure (Cole, G, A, 1997: 57), which can give rise to considerable resentment and individual resistance. There are, naturally, many problems that can arise in the empowerment process. Many workers may resist these new responsibilities (Mabey et al, 1998: 23); they in fact like having their decisions made for them and will resent the extra burdens (and work). There still may be those workers who resent the implications of greater self-direction, possibly even arising from an obvious fear. There is an interesting theory underlying this reaction. Maslow has called this the Jonah Complex, the fear of ones own greatness (Maslow, 1971: 34). While Maslow discussed this term in a more mystical, spiritual context, it is associated as a sort of classic block to self-actualisation. Since empowerment speaks to the same sort of needs as self-actualisation, it could be drawn that there is the possibility of a collective sort of Jonah Complex at the heart of many conflicts in organizational transitions. Employees may also be cynical and suspicious of this approach (Gennard Judge, 1997: 235, Hitchcock and Willard, 1995:27) as another way to get more work out of them for less money. However allowing employees to take an active part in the change process from the very beginning, and showing them that their organization is truly changing will remove some of their wariness. There is also the danger of the employees feeling too empowered (Legge, K, 1995: 57); in feeling so independent of other facets of the organization that there might also be troubles in transitioning to teams. Empowerment supports organisational objectives at the expense of the individual worker to speed up the decision making processes and reducing operational costs (Sparrow Marchington, 1998: 293) by removing unnecessary layers of management such as staff functions, quality control and checking operations. In retrospect empowerment is usually advocated to release the creative and innovative capacities of employees (Armstrong, M, 1996:386), to provide greater job satisfaction, motivation and commitment and giving people more responsibility enables employees to gain a great sense of achievement from their work therefore. The reasons for empowerment emerging as a concept for our time (Armstrong, M, 1996:385) is the need to generate energy release in employees by providing them with visionary leadership and a supporting environment and by treating them as a valuable asset to be invested in rather then as a cost despite the fact that organisations are driven by profit generating, cost reduct ion and market pressures. Empowerment at workplace level has greater justification for management in HRM terms (Beardwell Holden, 1994:582). Management needs to decide how much power to delegate to employees while controlling their levels of creative energies and at the same time not undermining managerial prerogatives (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 582). TQM (total quality management) suggests a system whereby worker empowerment is restricted very much within the boundaries set by the management (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 582). Training can provide an opportunity to empower and motivate employees (Honold, L, 1997). Empowering workers in this small way (i.e., schedule the training sessions) during the actual implementation of the organizational change can provide workers with a small degree of control over what is essentially a change in process over which they have no control. Empowerment can be argued as an objective in its own right as a means of extending worker satisfaction (Gennard Judge, 1997: 211). This can be related to the concept of Quality of Working Life (QWL). It refers primarily to how efficiency of performance depends on job satisfaction, and how to design jobs to increase satisfaction, and therefore performance. The early psychological basis of QWL and of justifications of empowerment relating to increased worker motivation was Herzberg (1968). Herzberg developed a theory called the two-factor theory of motivation. Herzberg argued that job factors could be classified as to whether they contributed primarily to satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Spencer Pruss, 1992 : 64). There are conditions, which result in dissatisfaction amongst employees when they are not present. If these conditions are present, this does not necessarily motivate employees. Second there are conditions, which when present in the job, build a strong level of motivation that can result in good job performance. Management very rarely discusses the practical problems in attempting to apply empowerment through quality management (Mabey Salaman, 1997:34) therefore employee views and feelings are unheard. The argument in supporting quality management requires an increase in workers skills and results in genuine employee empowerment (Mabey Salaman, 1997:34). However, in contrast to the optimistic approach is the argument that empowerment through quality management results in the increasing subordination of employees in return for little or no extra reward (Mabey Salaman, 1997:35). Recently, empowerment has become an important Human Resource Management tool (Graham Bennett, 1995: 93) in many organisations. It has been portrayed as the ultimate tool to access unleashed potential and help leaders get the best from their people. In reality, however, organisations that are trying to empower people may be fighting an uphill battle. Managers who harbour a fear that affirmative action may jeopardise their jobs, may be more worried about keeping their jobs than about empowering others. With the rationalization of layers of management, promotion is becoming less realistic and, therefore, middle managers share with non-managerial employees growing feelings of cynicism as well as a heightened sense of estrangement from the predominant goals and values of their employing organizations (Denham, N et al, 1997). According to Maslow (1998), people need a sense of self-determination, autonomy, dignity, and responsibility (Legge, K, 1995: 221) to continue to function in a healthy, growth-motivated way. When placed in an environment where any or all of these qualities are removed from them and they are instead forced to submit to anothers will and think and act under constant supervision (Legge, K, 1995: 221), their sense of esteem and self-worth is robbed from them. The implementation of empowerment can be used successfully as a HRM tool as it provides a competitive advantage ensuring organisational survival (Mabey Salaman, 1997:25) and at the same time protecting employees jobs. However, employees maybe compelled to work harder and more flexibly for their own good (Mabey Salaman, 1997:25) otherwise they might be made redundant for the greater good. The aim of empowerment is to enable employees to actually have to deal with problems to implement solutions quickly and without recourse to supervisors (Gennard Judge, 1997: 71) and or higher levels of management. This is increasingly necessary as large and bureaucratic organisations delayer (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 91) management hierarchies in the search for administrative efficiency and lower costs. Employee empowerment is a very important aspect when considering human resource management. The failure of employers to give employees an opportunity to participate in decisions affecting their welfare may encourage union member ship (sparrow Marchington, 1998: 53). It is widely believed that one reason managers begin employee involvement programs and seek to empower their employees is to avoid collective action by employees (Cole, G, A, 1997: 83). Employee empowerment offers the employers and the employees the chance to be on the same level, so to speak. Empowerment allows them to help make decisions that affect themselves, as well as, the company. Basically, through empowerment, employers and employees are in a win-win situation. The employees feel like they are needed and wanted, while the employers gain satisfaction through their prosperity (Mabey Salaman, 1997: 64). Employee empowerment can be a powerful tool. The now advanced leadership style can increase efficiency and effectiveness inside an organization (Graham Bennett, 1995: 13). It increases productivity and reduces overhead. Overhead expenses are those needed for carrying on a business, i.e. salaries, rent, heat and advertising (Mabey Salaman, 1997: 39). It gives managers the freedom to dedicate their time to more important matters. Managers can highlight the talents and efforts of all employees. The leader and organisation take advantage of the shared knowledge of workers (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 64). Managers at the same time develop their own job qualifications and skills attaining personal advancements (Spencer Pruss, 1992: 38). Empowered employees can make decisions and suggestions that will down the line improve service and support, saving money, time and disputes between companies and their customers (Gennard Judge, 1997: 291). Empowerment of qualified employees will provide exceptional customer service in several competitive markets; therefore it will improve profits through repeated business (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 76). Customers prefer to deal with employees that have the power to manage arrangements and objections by themselves, without having to frequently inquire of their supervisors (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 76). Empowerment is a strong tool that will increase revenue and improve the bottom line (Sparrow Marchington, 1998: 280). Empowerment is also the best way to promote a good long-lasting employee-customer relationship (Sparrow Marchington, 1998:32). Empowerment also brings benefits to employees. It makes them feel better about their inputs to the company; it promotes a greater productivity, and provides them with a sense of personal and professional balance (Cole, G, A, 1997: 91). It exercises employees minds to find alternative and better ways to execute their jobs, and it increases their potential for promotions and job satisfaction. It results in personal growth (Mabey at al, 1998: 174) since the whole process enlarges their feelings of confidence and control in themselves and their companies. It is a process that makes workers utilize their full potentials. This enables them to stay behind their decisions, assume risks, participate and take actions. It is a win-win situation (Wilkinson, A, 1998); customers benefit from sharp employees; organizations benefit from satisfied customers and sharp employees; and employees benefit from improving their confidence and self-esteems. Benefits come with changes in the organizations culture itself. Benefits require changes in management and employees (Mabey at al, 1998: 54). For empowerment to succeed, the management pyramid (Mabey et al, 1998: 54) must be inverted. Old-fashioned managers must take a step back and for the first time serve their subordinates and give up control. Old-fashioned employees must also agree to changes. They could see empowerment as a threat (Spencer Pruss, 1992: 147), especially if they became use to the convenient old style of management structure where the rules and decisions always came from above (Legge, K, 1995: 94). Employee involvement and participation schemes are to enhance job responsibility (Legge, K, 1995: 24) by providing individuals with more influence over how they perform their tasks (employee empowerment). Each individual can make a personal decision on how to perform his or her task instead of being instructed on how to do so by management. When employees are involved, they have some influence on how they perform their job. This in turn is likely to increase their contentment with the job (Mabey at al, 1998: 134), the probability that they will remain in that job and their willingness to except changes in the task that make up the job. Individual employees are more likely to be effective members of the workforce (Sparrow Marchington, 1998: 76) if management taps into their knowledge of the job by seeking their opinion on how the job should be performed and how it can be organised better. For employees, the greater empowerment and control given to frontline staff and to their teams has meant a great degree of freedom than ever before in controlling their own working lives (Sparrow Marchington, 1998:166). The power that managers have, the capacity that managers have to influence the behaviour of employees and work responsibilities, must be now shared with employees (Gennard Judge, 1997: 73) through the creation of trust, assurance, motivation, and support for competitive needs. Work-related decisions and full control of the work is being pushed down towards the lowest operating levels (Armstrong, M, 1996: 58). Self-conducted teams have also emerged, which are groups of empowered employees with no or very little supervision. These groups are able to solve work problems, make choices on schedules and operations, learn to do other employees jobs, and are also held accountable and responsible for the quality of their outputs (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 12) Guest (1987) argued under high commitment management workers would be committed to managements vision, and that management would favour individual contracts over collective agreements as a mean of furthering worker commitment and dependence, thus making unions redundant. Employees who feel they are in a stable work environment will feel more secure and empowered (Cole, G, A, 1997: 94). Advancement opportunities and rewards/incentive programs should also be implemented, as they feed into how committed and employee feels to making positive contributions and whether or not they are recognised for their efforts. Morale, too, provides a good measure of the culture of the organisation. Organisations with a restrictive, secretive environment where information is tightly controlled (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 162) will have less informed less empowered employees. Organisations with a more open environment, where ideas are encouraged from all levels will have a freer flow of information, better-informed employees, and thus higher empowerment. Through the process of employee empowerment, employees feel more valued (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 40) because they are able to participate in the planning process and the decision making process. Empowerment gives employees the opportunity to contribute to the companys overall success (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 40). This helps an employee feel that he/she is truly valued, rather than that they are just a back to be stepped upon by those trying to reach the top. All in all, if the employee is happy with their job, than a paying customer will see that and want to return. Empowerment allows an employee to find new ways to express their creativity (Armstrong, M, 1996: 161). Through creativity, employees are able to make sales or transactions an unforgettable and pleasurable experience for customers, thus ensuring the customers return. Employee empowerment can have a profoundly beneficial impact on the bottom line if used correctly (Mabey et al, 1998: 18). Empowerment allocates responsibility to an employee and creates the motivation to surpass customer expectations. In order to keep customers for life, employers must empower their employees to make their own decisions. Empowerment gives employees the opportunity to make decisions and suggestions (Cole, G, A, 1997: 39) that will down the line improve service and support, saving money, time and disputes between companies and their customers. Empowerment is an aspect, which must be considered in negotiating an effective team contract (Spencer Pruss, 1992: 69) .The team must be empowered to seek and find information across the existing management structures. The communication aspect of empowerment means that the team must be clearly shown where their work adds value to the company, where their effects will show results and where their work fits in with the companys objectives. Organizations wishing to instil a culture of empowerment must find a way of establishing systems and processes that do not restrict employees. By concentrating on what behaviour is considered optimal for the employees and what they do well, management can adapt, develop and change the organizational structure to produce the sought after behaviour (Erstad, M, 1997). Culture changed programmes are commonly promoted (Mabey et al, 1998: 132) to increase the power of the worker, through empowerment. However, critics have argued empowerment is a means of increasing work intensity and gaining greater managerial control over labour (Brambell, 1995, Legge, 1989). Conclusion Work place attitudes such as praising teams for success and punishing teams for failure are inherent in our society (Mabey et al, 1998: 32) where winning and survival have become synonymous. Businesses are installing empowerment into their organisations to give people more responsibility and asking them to test the corporate boundary limits (Graham Bennett, 1995: 91). A t the same time, organisations are asking staff to be more entrepreneurial, and take more risks. It can be argued employees who empower themselves can be called troublemakers and those who take entrepreneurial risks and fail are referred to as failures. The business ethic which condemns failure as a bad thing is going to restrict its best people (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 12), force them to avoid taking risks that may one day be beneficial and will prevent the team experiencing the excitement of the empowerment which is vital to motivation and team dynamics. The advantages gained through empowerment are numerous. Employee empowerment allows an organization to unleash the vital, untapped forces of employee creativity and motivation to solve business problems (Legge, K, 1995: 50). Empowering employee also allows them to make decisions on the spot. This is very important when you work in an industry where you work directly with a paying customer. When employees are empowered, the employer enables them to offer full service to their clients and protect them from the competition. The rewards of empowerment outweigh the risks of losing the employees themselves (Spencer Pruss, 1992: 203). The retail industry is a perfect example. Managers are learning to give up control and employees are learning how to be responsible for the actions and decisions (Cole, G, A, 1997: 34). It is fundamental that management shares information, creates autonomy and feedback, and trains and creates self-directed teams for empowerment to work properly. Managers often prefer not to communicate with employees, and not to share some extremely important information (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 247) with them, but an effective leader must have no hidden agendas. They must treat employees as stakeholders for the road of success (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 247). Employees must have a clear vision of success, because if they are not aware of what success means to the company and where the company is heading, there is no way they can feel empowered to help accomplish this success. Empowerment is not something, which can be passed over from management to employees as a pen is handed from one person to another. It is a complex process, which requires a clear vision, a learning environment both for management and employees, and participation and implementation tools and techniques in order to be successful (Erstad, M, 1997). Bibliography Armstrong, M (1996) A Handbook of Personnel Management Practice, Sixth Edition, Kogan Page Beardwell, I Holden, L (1994) Human resource Management- A contemporary perspective, Pitman Cole, G, A (1997) Personnel Management, Fourth Edition, Letts Denham, N, Ackers, P Travers, C (1997) Doing yourself out of a job? : How middle managers cope with empowerment , Employee Relations; Volume 19 No. 2; Erstad, M (1997) Empowerment and organizational change, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management; Volume 9 No. 7; Gennard, J Judge, G (1997) Employee relations, Institute of Personnel Development Graham, H, T Bennett, R (1995) Human Resources Management, Eight Edition, M+E handbooks Honold, L (1997) A review of the literature on employee empowerment, Empowerment in Organisations; Volume 5 No. 4 Legge, K (1995) Human Resource Management-Rhetorics Realities, Macmillan Business Mabey, C Salaman, G (1997) Strategic Human Resource Management, Blackwell Business Mabey, C, Skinner, D Clark, T, (1998) Experiencing Human Resource Management, Sage Sparrow, P Marchington, M (1998) Human Resource Management-The New Agenda, Pitman Spencer, J Pruss, A (1992) Managing your team, Piatkus Wilkinson, A (1998) Empowerment: theory and practice, Personnel Review; Volume 27 No. 1

Karl Rahner And The Anonymous Christian Theology Religion Essay

Karl Rahner And The Anonymous Christian Theology Religion Essay Before we go into talking about Karl Rahners idea of the anonymous Christian, let me tell you a little bit about Karl Rahner himself. Most of my information about Karl Rahner comes from the Karl Rahner Society. When you get a chance, you should check out the website. There is a lot more information on there about his life and some of his works. Karl Rahner was born in Freiburg, Germany on March 5, 1904 and died in Innsbruck, Austria, March 30, 1984. In 1922, Rahner entered the Jesuit order and he was soon one of the most influential Roman Catholic theologians in the Vatican II era. He wrote many essays that covered a broad range of topics. Most of these essays were on what concerned the Catholics from the 1940s to the 1980s. His essays provided many resources for both academic and pastoral theology. Karl Rahner was very popular in his native German-speaking countries. He became popular through his teaching, lectures, editorial labors and membership in learned societies. Rahner was published in international publications like Concilium and he had a large collection of works. Rahner also enjoyed a positive reception of his contributions by many Protestant thinkers. After Rahners service as an official papal theological expert from 1960 to 1965, his influence became more evident. The term anonymous Christian was thought up by Karl Rahner in an attempt to explain how non-Christians could still be saved by the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ. To better understand how Rahner arrives at his concept of the anonymous Christian, it is important to first understand the basis of Rahners ideas. Karl Rahner was greatly influenced by Immanuel Kant and two contemporary Thomists, Joseph Marà ©chal and Pierre Rousselot. Marà ©chal and Rousselot were said to play a major role in the influence Rahners understanding of Thomas Aquinas. The basis of Rahners thoughts comes from his belief of Gods self-communication. Rahner says the self-communication of God is transcendent. It transcends all of the tangible means in history by which we have known God, such as holy people, places, and things. He says we all know God when he communicates to us. God communicates by becoming immediate to us. We recognize God as a supporter, or someone who fills an emptiness when we need help because God hears our unconscious call and fills that emptiness. Through this communication God offers people forgiveness. This thinking process is what leads Karl Rahner to the idea of the anonymous Christian. Rahners first two books were Spirit in the Word and Hearer of the Word. Through these books and in Rahners essays, it shows his way of thinking and believing. Rahner believes that God is in all things and he shows a deep devotion to Jesus and the Catholic doctrine. Rahner talks about the anonymous Christian in an interview provided to Rev. Norman Wong Cheong Sau in an article titled Karl Rahners Concepts of the Anonymous Christian an Inclusivist View of Religions; in this article, Rahner provided his personal definition of an anonymous Christian: We prefer the terminology according to which a man is called anonymous Christian who on the one hand has de facto accepted of his freedom this gracious self-offering on Gods part through faith, hope and love, while on the other he is absolutely not yet a Christian at the social level (through baptism and membership of the Church) or in the sense of having consciously objectified his Christianity to himself in his own mind (by explicit Christian faith resulting from having hearkened to the explicit message.) We might therefore, put it as follows: the anonymous Christian in our sense of the term is the pagan after the beginning of the Christian mission, who lives in the state of Christs grace through faith, hope, and love, yet who has no explicit knowledge of the fact that his life is orientated in grace-given salvation to Jesus Christ. In another interview with the State of Catholic Theology Today, Karl Rahner answers a question about his anonymous Christian idea. Interviewer: Tell us something about your ideas on what you call anonymous Christianity. Rahner: Anonymous Christianity means that a person lives in the grace of God and attains salvation outside of explicitly constituted Christianityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Let us say, a Buddhist monkà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ who, because he follows his conscience, attains salvation and lives in the grace of God; of him I must say that he is an anonymous Christian; if not, I would have to presuppose that there is a genuine path to salvation that really attains that goal, but that simply has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. But I cannot do that. And so, if I hold if everyone depends upon Jesus Christ for salvation, and if at the same time I hold that many live in the world who have not expressly recognized Jesus Christ, then there remains in my opinion nothing else but to take up this postulate of an anonymous Christianity. A non-anonymous Christian is someone who has accepted Christ into their lives. Someone who lives with the grace of Gods grace, love, hope and understanding. A person who declares themselves a Christian is someone who has been baptized and lives by Gods laws. Rahner basis his belief in the anonymous Christian as someone who lives a Christian lifestyle, but has not yet declared himself a true Christian. According to Rahner, to declare yourself a true Christian, you must be baptized, attend mass, and pray in the traditional standard way. A true Christian should live in a Christ like manner and follow Gods laws. This type of person declares themselves a Christian in every way possible: the way they talk, the way they pray, and their absolution from original sin. Think of Mother Teresa, she would be a good example of a declared Christian. She followed Gods words and teachings and accepted Jesus in her life. Rahner accepts the idea that there is more than one way to reach God. He says through Jesus is only but one way. Gandi can be an example of an anonymous Christian. Although, he did not call himself a Christian by name, he lived in a Christ like manner. Gandhi followed his religion faithfully and lived by Gods laws. On page 75 of the Rahner Reader there is a quote that describes how Gandhi could be called an anonymous Christian, The mind of even the anonymous Christian is raised to the supernatural order by the grace of Christ, philosophy is not purely secular activity. The best of modern philosophy should be considered the self-reflection of a mind to which God has revealed himself implicitly through his grace. Through Gandhis self-awareness and through his though process, he has Christian like beliefs. Though Gandhi is not a declared Christian, he would be considered an anonymous Christian because his lifestyle and beliefs brought him into the grace of God. Can just anyone become an anonymous Christian The answer is yes, but the answer to this question is also based on a persons beliefs, their way of thinking, and their supernatural salvation. God denies no man. Gods grace is open to all men, according to Rahner. Jesus Christ died on the cross for all mens salvation. Even the ones who dont realize it will still be saved. This must mean that the non-Christians who end up in heaven must have received the grace of Christ without their realizing it. Again, this is where we get the term, Anonymous Christian. This idea and thinking can cause some mind-boggling issues. Upon doing my research on this subject on the internet, I came across some other peoples point of view on the subject. The main question that really stood out to me was If I am going to be saved anyway, then why should I convert to Christianity? While this is a good question and made me do some further research. When you take a minute and actually think about the question at hand, it is a horrible way for someone to think. Yes, you will probably get into heaven anyway because Jesus already died on the cross for our sins, but wouldnt you want to convert to Christianity to give yourself an even better chance of getting into heaven And there again, it all depends on the person and their personal beliefs. The Catholic Church believes that, although Christ is the Savior of the human race, a person does not have to know him personally to be saved. I think Rahner is just trying to get that message across to people through his works and his idea of the anonymous Christian. Salvation can only come through Christ, but God makes offers of salvation to non-Christians through their culture and own religion. Those who accept this offer are these anonymous Christians. Rahner says that even though they are not aware of Christ, they are saved by accepting Gods supernatural offer of grace through Christ. I can believe in this. If someone shows that they are a good person and does good things for themselves and other people (Think back to Gandhi and Mother Teresa) then I believe they will get into heaven regardless of their religion. I believe this because God sees that they are good people and that they have accepted Gods grace (knowingly or un-knowingly) into their lives. A persons actions determine whether or no they are worthy of Gods grace. The world is full of anonymous Christians. Some are people we walk by every day. In a summary, the term anonymous Christian to Karl Rahner could refer to a person who believes in the teachings of Jesus Christ, but is also someone who is not associated with any organized religion. Anonymous Christian could also be a term used for someone who does not wish to reveal their religious identity. Basically Karl Rahner is keeping to the Catholic religion in his belief that ALL people have a chance to be saved because Christ is the Savior of the human race. A person does not have to know Him personally to be saved. Rahner also insists that people should not give up on all missionary efforts. A persons chances at salvation are better if that person has an understanding of the Christian offer of grace.