Essays on Religion Page 86

ABSTRACT—Despite the commonsense belief that people do not confess to crimes they did not commit, 20 to 25% of all DNA exonerations involve innocent prisoners who confessed. After distinguishing between voluntary, compliant, and internalized false confessions, this article suggests that a sequence of three processes is responsible for false confessions and their adverse consequences. First,…

My life in Western society contrasts greatly with the values and beliefs of Lao Tzu’s philosophy, which emerged around 600 B.C. as a contrasting viewpoint to Confucianism. The Tao Te Ching, written by Lao Tzu, promotes a solitary life centered on simplicity, peace, and inaction to understand the elusive Tao. Embracing these principles would profoundly…

In the book “Talking Heads”, Alan Bennett introduces his characters as ‘artless’, implying that they are unaware of the significance of their words and unaware that they are sharing a story whose meaning they do not fully comprehend. “This is true of most of the monologues that he wrote, except for ‘A Cream Cracker under…

Since all animals, including humans, evolved from nonliving matter, a Secular Humanist sees mankind as “a more pesticides animal” (Wider and Guttering, 2013). In the eyes of a Secular Humanist, man has as much worth as an animal. For a Secular Humanist, the Question of Purpose is best summarized in the Preface of the Humanist…

While the Bible’s depiction of Jesus and his crucifixion remains unchanged, the perception of Jesus among people has evolved over time. “The Dream of the Rood” is an exemplary poem that offers a distinct perspective on Jesus and his crucifixion. This poem is hailed as one of the earliest and most accomplished portrayals of the…

Dams There are many Muslim dams in Spain, a large number of which were built during the tenth century AD, the golden age of Umayyad power in the peninsula. In this period, for example, many small dams, or azuds, were built on the 150-mile-long River Turia, which flows into the Mediterranean at Valencia. (In passing…

Brief Introduction about the chapter             In this chapter, the authors’ Brennan Hill, Paul F. Knitter, and William Madges presented an interesting dialogue between Jesus and Buddha, about the social issues surrounding their respective era as well as the religious differences and similarities between Christianity and Buddhism. According to Hill, Knitter, and Madges, Buddha had…

The New Testament includes four Gospels, referred to as the “Synoptic Gospels,” that exhibit comparable literary patterns and themes extensively analyzed by scholars. Nevertheless, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John possess both similarities and differences. The inquiry into which Gospel was composed first and the extent to which the authors relied on oral tradition, written sources,…

Perkins (103) asserts that my ultimate goal in life is to find my salvation. Jonathan Edwards lacked a full understanding of God’s redeeming love and struggled to explain the simplicity of salvation through Jesus Christ’s love. It is incorrect and contrary to scripture to suggest that obtaining eternal life is a difficult journey akin to…

The Bush Doctrine             Terrorism has been one of the biggest problem being faced by the international community nowadays. Different countries, either rich or poor countries have at some point experienced the wrath of terrorism, whether at the local or international level. And as such the administration of United States’ current president George W. Bush…