Friday, January 31, 2020

French secularism and the ban of religious symbols in public places Essay

French secularism and the ban of religious symbols in public places - Essay Example The French law does not particularly mention the religious symbol, but most people are of the opinion that the law was targeting the veil worn by Muslim women. The law seemed to have stemmed from a controversial occurrence that happened in 1989 and 1994; in 1989, three female students were expelled from schools for declining to remove their hijabs (veil). In 1994, the minister in charge decreed that that ostentatious symbols’ were to be banned in public schools around the country, but discreet symbols were to be allowed to the discretion of the school or the teacher in charge. The Muslims in France France has the largest number of Muslims in Europe, the population of Muslims in the country stand at about 5 to 6 million, representing approximately 8.3% of the French population (Lenze, 2013). Majority of the Islamic population in France are moderate, but there are fundamentalist, the headscarf worn by Muslim schoolgirls is a symbol of the Islamic religion and culture and it is w oven into the Muslim society all over the globe. Researchers have often enquired into the reasons for the lack of integration into the entire French society, and the reasons why the emerging generations are drifting towards fundamentalist Islam. Writers have often pondered on the reasons why the community cannot be integrated into the French secular society (Sarat, 2011). The Secular State France is founded on the principle of cuius regio eius regio this means that what the leader believes so should the subjects, even though the state disowns religious adherence (Herb and Kaplan, 2008).   Religion is very important to the secular state, although the state has the ultimate power to interpret the significance of certain signs and symbols. This particularly implied that the veil worn by Muslim women and girls was taken to be a religious sign, this being in contradiction to the secular principles of the French society. It has often been stated by Muslim clerics that the wearing of the headscarf by women in public places is a religious duty (Valsiner and Rosa, 2007).   The wearer of the veil assumes the obligation bestowed upon her by the Islamic faith , and in addition the state should realize the fundamental human right, that if a person’s conscience compels one to wear the veil they should be allowed only to the extent that they do not violate other people’s right. The law on the on the other hand merely depict the veils as symbols and signs without determining the reasons why Muslim women wear them. The principle of a secular state may have an implied meaning that reflects on a state that is not bounded by any religious belief but it allows her citizens to assume any they deem fit. However, the law banning of wearing scarves in public places seemed to be intoned on forcing the citizens of the French republics to be secular (Jones, 2011).  This perception was cemented by a top European court ruling after a case was brought before it pitting t wo French Muslim girls versus the state (D W, 2008). According to the law, secularism does not contend on the religion being restricted to the secrecy of integrity, to its being deprived of public views ( Graff, 2004). It merely implies that only the free expression of the religious signs is a major component of the liberty. Therefore, a fundamental question that arises is that in any secular state such the one in

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Free Henry IV Essays: The Reign of a Tyrant :: Henry IV Henry V Essays

Henry IV:   The Reign of a Tyrant  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Although the blame for the fall of Richard II and the rise of Henry IV can be shared by them both, Henry IV having established the precedence of usurpation finds England wracked with civil strife after only one year on the throne. Henry IV discovers the impossible situation of a monarch who in making any choice or decision must face the opposition of those who disagree with him and support the other side of the issue.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Henry IV has desired to lead a Crusade perhaps as penance for the death of Richard. However, civil problems prevent his actions at every turn. The Percys with young Hotspur's recent victory against the Scots find themselves with many nobles among the prisoners. They refuse to surrender these prisoners to Henry IV but elect to use them for their own purposes. Amongst themselves the Percys reveal their desire to be free of Henry and their sorrow that they ever turned from Richard. One of their relatives should be king instead of Henry since Richard II had named Mortimer as his heir. All their discontent, ambition to have a king in their family, and doubts about Henry IV's right to be king combine to bring them to a point of uniting the various centers of rebellion against Henry IV into one united effort to usurp the throne and restore it to Mortimer, Richard's heir.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Perhaps even more distressing for Henry IV is the behavior of Prince Hal. Henry desires a son who will mirror all his strengths. Instead he finds in Hal a mirror of his weaknesses. Hal is consorting with thieves learning to steal even as his father stole a crown. Just as his father courted the affections of the common people before he became king, Hal spends his time with common people and the low pursuits of drinking, whoring, and stealing.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Impact of Globalization Essay

It has gradually evolved from the 1970s after the advent of different forms of high speed transportation and communication to the age of information technologies around the millennium, to make a single unified community where all the major sources of various social conflicts have disappeared (Scheuerman, 2010 and World Regional Geography, 2009). There are several ways of defining Globalization. As defined by Dr. Nayef R. F. Al-Rodhan (2006), â€Å"Globalization is a process that encompasses the causes, course, and consequences of transnational and transcultural integration of human and non-human activities. The effects of Globalization are manifold. It influences industrial sector, financial sector, labour markets and consumers of a particular country. On one hand it gives rise to more jobs and industries, however, on the other hand, countries are becoming dependant on the other country for a specific product/raw material. Additionally, because of outsourcing jobs from developed economy are being transferred to the developing economy, which has a negative effect on the developed economy and positive on the developing economy. 2. 2 Consumer Packaged Goods and Globalization Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) are sold at relatively low price and are non durable goods like grocery items, soft drinks etc. Large CPG manufacturer has an advantage of strong brands, greater geographical coverage and having major retailers. CPG industry is affected by the change in fashion, fads and consumer preferences, which in turn effects the purchasing decision of a consumer. Therefore, I believe that in the fast and ever changing world of Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) it is imperative to discuss the effects of globalization on this industry. Additionally, there is immense pressure and intense competition between the manufacturers globally to fulfill the demand of consumers. 2. 0 Impact of Globalization on CPG Industry 3. 3 Costs and Benefits of Globalization on CPG Industry There are diverse ways in which globalization impinge on CPG industry. Some are beneficial for the industry and some aren’t. The good side of globalization is explained as follows: a. Profits from emerging markets: Procter and Gamble in year 2006, showed a total sales of US $ 68 billion, out of which US $ 21 billion was from emerging markets. Additionally, from 1992 to 2006, globalization has boosted the American economy by US $ one trillion in Gross Domestic Product (Veiders, 9th July 2007, Supermarket news). b. Consumer’s advantage: The consumer gets the advantage of choosing from wide variety of goods, in addition to the comparative advantage. Additionally, the offshore markets are producing goods at a price which is lower than the domestic production of a particular country. Though this is an advantage to the consumer, this could hamper production and associated profits in some countries (Oline Thompson, 2006, CPG Manufacturing) c. Foreign capital access: Foreign capital access is the main driving force of globalization. This in turn increases the investment power of a particular country to produce better produce economically (13th February, 1996, WTO News (press releases). The other side of globalization illustrates some problems faced by CPG Industry: a. Cultural disparity: A product that might be a necessity in one country might not be even known or used in the other, which would have a negative effect on the CPG industry while trying to encourage its use in a particular country. To cite a salient example, Brazilians usually don’t have breakfast, because they sleep late at night and consumers in China for breakfast eat hot, soft and savoury, while the North Americans love cold, crunchy and sweet breakfast. This was the difference analyzed by Kellogg Company in 2007 (Veiders, 9th July 2007, Supermarket news). b. Global Competition: In this fast paced environment any CPG company have to constantly innovate and differentiate their product, to maintain or increase their market share. Every year large number of new products are being roduced and capture the shelve space of the existing labels and compete with them.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Knightriders, By George Romero - 2057 Words

The film, Knightriders, is a quirky Indie movie made in 1981 by George Romero. It is a modern retelling of the tale of King Arthur. Billy, â€Å"King William†, leads his group of motorcycle knights to various towns to perform their jousting routine. His vision is to lead the group under the traditional Camelot Arthurian rule. Along the way, a rival faction emerges from within the group to compete for the throne, with Morgan leading the mutinous faction. After multiple issues arise within the group such as a coercive police officer wrongfully arresting Billy and Whiteface, a promoter contacting the group, and a fight breaking out between members of the group, some members abandon the group while others go with the promoter. Eventually the group†¦show more content†¦The police officer that arrested Billy and Whiteface used his coercive power to falsely arrest them. One of the main ideas through the plot of the movie was centered around the rivalry for the throne. They j ousted for power of the throne and it ended up carrying over into the relationships of the group. At one point the group was divided over who should be the king, with some preferring Morgan and others loyal to Billy. The rivalry was centered around their traits and personality types. The characters showed that no one can really change who they are; they did change some parts about themselves, but overall was it proved that important character traits are difficult to change. Morgan and Billy changed the most, but it took almost the entire movie for them to do so. They had to go through various issues, see that they were wrong, and change their ways of thinking. That’s when the group achieved the greatest cohesion. Both of them had things that they needed to change about themselves, and they prove that too much of one of the Big Five traits can be negative. Billy was shown to be too closed off to openness when he would not change anything about the group or even consider the promoter’s help, while Morgan was too open to the changes going on around them. Both of them had extremely low neuroticism; they did not remain calm when being tested by an issue or another member and both took