William Shakespeare Taming of the shrew Essay Example For Students

William Shakespeare Taming of the shrew Essay On Thursday 22nd May, I saw a performance of William Shakespeares Taming of the shrew. It was a matinee performance and took place in the Royal Shakespeare theatre, in Stratford upon Avon. The play is about a father (Baptista) with two daughters, Katherine and Bianca. Bianca is sweet and well behaved, and there are lots of men that want to marry her, but her father wont let her get married until he can find a husband for Katherine, who is loud, rude and bad tempered. A man called Petruchio is persuaded to marry Kate because of her money, and proceeds to try and tame her. Meanwhile a man who has fallen in love with Bianca. , Lucientio, disguises himself as her teacher so he can get to know her, and they also get married. The story ends happily when Kate, now sweet and obedient, lectures the women on the duty they have to their husbands, and kisses Petruchio. The play was staged on a Proscenium arch stage, with a screen at the back that had scenes like rain projected on it when needed. We will write a custom essay on William Shakespeare Taming of the shrew specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now There were no curtains, and a small floor space between the stage and the stalls. The orchestra were raised to the level of the boxes, stage right that was different from other theatre I have experienced, but I liked it because it meant you werent distanced from the stage. There was a slope at the back of the stage, for a lot of the play, and also several doors, some raised higher than others. These were used throughout most of the play to give the impression of the outside street, or the inside of Baptistas house. There were also two rails that could be walked along, which were raised for most of the performance. For the start of the play the set remained like this for a while, with moving swirls as the backdrop. The big scene change was for Petruchios house, when one rail was lowered, the doors taken off and the backdrop was changed to a thunderstorm, which was effective for showing the conditions they had travelled in. The other scene changes were less dramatic, like the wedding scene, which just had the doors removed, and a scene where Bianca is out in the garden, which had the doors removed, a swing lowered centre stage and a summer backdrop. None of the set pieces were removed manually, instead being raised or lowered automatically which was great because it didnt distract from the play. Altogether the set was comparatively simple, but had all the changes they play needed.

Sample of GED Essay - What You Need to Know

Sample of GED Essay - What You Need to KnowThe sample of GED essay is one of the most important and useful documents when looking for a means to get your GED. You need to consider the document when you are in the process of choosing your means to acquire your diploma. It is necessary for you to have the document when you are considering a means to attain your GED.It is important to study the essay because this is the document that provides you with the background for your preparation. The subject of the essay will be stated in the introduction. The basic reason for including this topic is to make you realize what the college or school expects from you in regard to the essay.An essay that is complete is one that will convince the reader of the ideas that the author has put forth. A complete essay has substance. The document is the tool you use to create the outline of the ideas you would like to include in your essay.Once you have made the choice to go to college or school, it is best to look into getting a sample of the GED essay for your own reference. The document will ensure that you know what you should expect in regards to your essay. An example of the essay can ensure that you have a sample of the essay to refer to when you are writing your own.The document should be provided by the college you are seeking to attend so you will know that you have what you need to prepare for the essay. A sample of the GED essay is considered to be the most reliable means to obtain your GED. It is not always necessary to get an essay from the college you are attending. There are other ways to obtain a sample of the GED essay.There are many ways to get a sample of the GED essay. You can get one from a friend who has already achieved your goal to get your GED. Or you can take advantage of the resources offered to you on the Internet by the colleges that have required these essays.Your samples of GED essay will ensure that you will have a thorough understanding of the topics you will be dealing with in the essay. If you are in the process of writing your essay, the document is one of the most important documents that you need to use in the composition of your essay.

Free Essays on Snow Falling On Cedars

Snow Falling on Cedars, David Guterson’s mystery-suspense novel, provides an immaculate interpretation of a small American coastal island’s trial to conquer and expel the ongoing dogmatic narrow-mindedness synonymous with its inhabitants. A novel of love and destruction, Snow Falling on Cedars is satiated with underlying plots and morally exigent themes. {Guterson’s novel interweaves realistic interpretations with romantic accents to fuse these subplots, together with a role-playing setting, into one watertight mystery romance.} The small community associated with San Piedro Island, recently stricken with the misfortune of a mysterious drowning, soon realizes a more complex situation. Murder shortly becomes a possibility, and the unforgotten love affair between a white man and the wife of the accused Kabuo Miyamo seems to rise once again to the surface of an already nervous ocean of underlying conflict contiguous to the American and Japanese-American races. This conflict, though not visible to tourist mindsets, has been subliminally effervescent since the mistreatment of the Japanese Americans during World War II, and its dormancy beneath the everyday smiling faces of Japanese and American bystanders is awakened heightening tension in the small island community. This recently catalyzed restlessness in the community draws an amount of dauntingly familiar reminiscence upon the history of the Island, and contemplates once again the idea of racial superiority and prejudice, be it American or Japanese-American. Snow Falling On Cedars is crawling with decidedly vivid setting descriptions, sometimes with hidden meanings, which contribute to the intelligence of the novel. â€Å"It was precisely the sort of home Carl would build, he thought – blunt, tidy, gruffly respectable, and offering no affront to the world, though at the same time inviting nobody. It sat back fifty yards from the road on three acres of alfalfa, strawberries, r... Free Essays on Snow Falling On Cedars Free Essays on Snow Falling On Cedars Snow Falling on Cedars, David Guterson’s mystery-suspense novel, provides an immaculate interpretation of a small American coastal island’s trial to conquer and expel the ongoing dogmatic narrow-mindedness synonymous with its inhabitants. A novel of love and destruction, Snow Falling on Cedars is satiated with underlying plots and morally exigent themes. {Guterson’s novel interweaves realistic interpretations with romantic accents to fuse these subplots, together with a role-playing setting, into one watertight mystery romance.} The small community associated with San Piedro Island, recently stricken with the misfortune of a mysterious drowning, soon realizes a more complex situation. Murder shortly becomes a possibility, and the unforgotten love affair between a white man and the wife of the accused Kabuo Miyamo seems to rise once again to the surface of an already nervous ocean of underlying conflict contiguous to the American and Japanese-American races. This conflict, though not visible to tourist mindsets, has been subliminally effervescent since the mistreatment of the Japanese Americans during World War II, and its dormancy beneath the everyday smiling faces of Japanese and American bystanders is awakened heightening tension in the small island community. This recently catalyzed restlessness in the community draws an amount of dauntingly familiar reminiscence upon the history of the Island, and contemplates once again the idea of racial superiority and prejudice, be it American or Japanese-American. Snow Falling On Cedars is crawling with decidedly vivid setting descriptions, sometimes with hidden meanings, which contribute to the intelligence of the novel. â€Å"It was precisely the sort of home Carl would build, he thought – blunt, tidy, gruffly respectable, and offering no affront to the world, though at the same time inviting nobody. It sat back fifty yards from the road on three acres of alfalfa, strawberries, r...

Child Language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Child Language - Essay Example They have asserted that behaviorist explanations of language acquisition cannot account for it. According to the behaviorists, to learn language is to learn a sequence of stimulus-response links. The child's internalized "rules" (the sneer quotes are the behaviorist's, who does not deign to use such language) are similar to the "rules" involved in motor sequences like brushing one's teeth and tying shoe laces, or in any other well-learned motor activity. Against this, Chomsky and his followers have argued that the child cannot be seriously maintained to have learned a different set of stimulus-response links for each utterance he makes (Chomsky, 1965). Life is too short for learning all the word strings we use. According to the semantic approach the child learns how different meanings are expressed by different sentence structures ( Quine, 1972). One might have expected such an approach to be formulated very soon as a reaction against behaviorist explanations, with their complete neglect of meaning. But such was the stranglehold of behaviorism on theory construction that the semantic approach was not formulated for a long time. The behaviorist edifice succumbed only to the truculent attacks of Noam Chomsky. Chomsky's linguistic theory, transformational grammar, gave rise to an alternative approach to language (Chomsky, 1986). Chomsky as a b Chomsky as a behaviorist conceptualizes discrimination learning in language Discrimination learning ensues when adult use of a word conflicts with that of the child. The process will be somewhat as follows (Baker, and McCarthy, 1981): (1) the child encounters something that reminds him of a paired referent, whether because it resembles it or because it was previously experienced in contiguity with it; (2) the adult uses for this new instance a word which differs from that learned for the paired referent; and subsequently (3) the child notices certain salient attributes in which the new instance differs from the paired referent. For instance, (1) the child sees a horse that reminds him of the referent of the previously learned word "doggie"; (2) the adult calls it "horse"; and (3) the child notices that the horse, unlike doggie, has a mane. The latter property may henceforward operate as a discriminating cue: It will be a NEGATIVE CUE for the word "doggie", and a POSITIVE CUE for the word "horse". To forestall a possible misunderstanding, I want to point out that this earlier discussion is intended to explain how the child delimits the use of words, and not how he acquires distinctions between things. That is, the previously discussed process is not claimed to lead to his distinguishing between, for example, dogs and horses. On the contrary, the ability to make such a distinction--on the basis of differentiating properties, such as the horse's mane--is presupposed here (for, otherwise, how could he ever find out when to use "doggie" and when to use "horse"). The child may become aware of the difference between a horse and a dog--or between two different dogs, for that matter--without adult prompting. The issue here, however, is the child's use of words: To learn the correct use of a word it is not sufficient just to perceive differences between referents, but the child must also observe how these differences correlate with the applicability and nonapplicability of the word ( W exler & Culicover, 1980). The child is innately not acquiring the correct grammar;

Addiction Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Addiction - Assignment Example Relapse can be handled in case the client has established that there is a clear plan to deal with the situation; hence, making it easier to manage after it has happened. In the case of a slip, there is a recurrence of behavior where the individual attempts to change but keep on engaging in problem behavior (Lowinson, 2005). Therefore, it is clear that a slip is less serious than a The prevalence of men relapse is more than that of women this is because staying sober requires that a person has outside support where in the case of women they are likely to seek group counseling. Additionally, people who are isolated by the addiction process need contact from other in order to give them moral support. By so doing, they help them with drug or alcohol relapse prevention plans, as well as, reducing stress and depression as they associate with other people. It has been established when individuals who have addiction issues develop a friendship with people who do not encourage their behavior they avoid relapsing (Marlatt & Donovan, 2008). Additionally, having an anonymous source of communication and support plays a vital role in ensuring that the individual has a person to encourage him or her in changing their behavior. Various warning signs that help in knowing that a person has relapsed. They include sudden relapse where there are emotional triggers, physical change and social situations where an individual withdraws from their friends and family. A person may also relapse is they have lost a loved one in a tragic death or illness.

The Palestine Liberation Organization Essay Example for Free

The Palestine Liberation Organization Essay Palestine is a historic region in the Middle East comprising of Israel and the Israeli occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Palestine Liberation Organization, a political entity, had been attempting to establish a separate state for the Palestinian Arabs. In the year 1948, Israel was created in that region. This emergence of the Israeli state and subsequent wars between it and several Arab countries, served to displace a large number of Palestinians. In the year 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organization or PLO was founded, in order to represent the demands of Palestinians for the creation of a separate state for them. At that point in time, Arab military forces were singularly unsuccessful in defeating Israel, in the Six Day War of 1967. Under those circumstances, the PLO emerged as an alternative power, and gained regional and international importance (Stein, 2007). A deep rooted hatred has existed between the PLO and Israel, and this lasted for several years. However, between 1993 and 1998, both the PLO and Israel entered into several agreements, which transferred all Palestinian towns and cities that were under the control of Israel to the Palestinian administration. Moreover, the Israelis transferred Arab dominant regions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to Palestine. In accordance with these agreements, the Palestinian National Authority or PNA was formed to govern these transferred Palestinian areas. In the year 1994 the PNA took complete control over the administrative and negotiating roles of the PLO, with respect to these newly transferred territories. As such, the PLO remained a protector of Palestinian interests in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It also represents Palestinian interests in international agreements and treaties. The PLO and Israel have continued to remain adversaries, despite diplomatic negotiations between them (Stein, 2007). The fundamental objective of the PLO was the destruction of Israel. In the year 1969, Yasser Arafat became the chairman of the PLO. In the year 1970, Jordan expelled the PLO from its territory, and the PLO relocated itself in Lebanon and established its base of operations there and started to attack Israel. It attacked Israel in 1978 and in 1982. In 1982, it withdrew from Beirut and moved to Tunisia. Yasser Arafat’s leadership of the PLO was challenged several times before, during and after the Intifada. However, he remained the supreme leader of PLO. In 1988, Arafat gave up terrorism and discontinued terrorist attacks against Israel. Subsequently, the PLO was recognized as the umbrella group that represented Palestinian interests and the Palestinian state. Arafat became the leader of the Palestine National Authority in 1996 (Palestine Liberation Organization, 2001). The PLO comprises of three important branches; and these are the fifteen member Executive Committee, which includes representatives from the fedayeen; the Central Committee comprising of sixty members; and the Palestine National Council, which has five hundred and ninety – nine members. The PLO has several departments and agencies, which provide military services, health services, information to the public, finance, social welfare, education, and other administrative services. After the creation of the Palestine National Authority in 1994, it has taken over the duties and responsibilities of the Palestinian people, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (Stein, 2007). The PLO was formed, in order to fight against Israel and to compel it to withdraw from Palestine. However, it was unable to unite all the Palestinian groups at that time. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which was under the leadership of George Habash, remained an independent group, and Yasser Arafat of al-Fatah became the supreme leader of the PLO, which launched several terrorist operations against Israel. It killed eleven Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972. In the year 1982, Lebanon expelled PLO from its country. In Tunisia, in 1988, the PLO established a parliament in exile for the newly declared state of Palestine. In 1988, Arafat launched peace and diplomacy initiatives, as a prelude to negotiations with Israel. The United States supported the PLO in these efforts, and in 1993, Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin signed an agreement, after secret negotiations. Thereafter, the PLO relinquished terrorism and honored the right of Israel to exist as a separate state, subsequent to Israel’s withdrawal of its forces from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In 1995, the Palestinians achieved independence and autonomy. The peace process suffered a setback, because the Hamas continued to attack Israel and the latter failed to withdraw its troops. In 1998, the PLO and Israel had signed a land – for – security pact. In 2000, US peace efforts ended in failure, and there was unending violence on both sides (Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), 2003). The PLO is composed of several groups, and each of these has its own founders and organizational framework. The leaders of some of these groups had challenged the leadership of Arafat. Some groups had been branded as rejectionist groups as they refused to recognize the September 13, 1993 PLO – Israel accord. They also opposed interim agreements entered into by the PLO and Israel. These rejectionist groups include the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine or PFLP, led by George Habash, which is a Marxist group. Subsequent to the 1993 Israel – Palestinian Declaration of Principles agreement, the PFLP withdrew from the PLO. Another organization was the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command or the PFLP-GC that had been founded by Ahmad Jibril. It was a Damascus based group, with a pro – Syrian faction, which withdrew from the PLO. Nayif Hawatmeh had founded the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine or DFLP, a partner of the PLO coalition. It was a Marxist organization that had joined the PLO in the year 1999. Moreover, the Palestine Liberation Front or PLF, led by Abu Abbas, continued in the PLO coalition (Katzman, 2002). The PFLP, the PFLP-GC, and the PLF were extremist groups that had indulged in terrorist acts against Israel, subsequent to the 1993 Declaration of Principles. These three extremist groups were termed the Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, DFLP, was categorized as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the State Department in its first FTO list published in 1997. However, at the behest of Arafat, and after it had accepted the peace with Israel; it was excluded from the list of FTO’s in 1999. Other coalition groups in the PLO that were not branded as FTOs included the As – Saiqa, the Arab Liberation Front, which was a pro – Iraq faction group, the Popular Struggle Front, the People’s Party, formerly known as the Palestinian Communist Party, and the Democratic Union that was known by its initials FIDA (Katzman, 2002). The timeline of important events in the history of the PLO – Israel relationship has been appended below: December 1968: On the 28th of December 1968, Israeli commandoes attacked the Beirut International Airport. In this operation, more than twelve airplanes were heavily damaged, while some of them were completely destroyed. This operation was launched in retaliation to the attacks on an Israeli civilian flight at the Athens airport in Greece. In this attack, two Palestinian nationals were charged with having attacked an airplane in Athens. This attack had resulted in the death of an Israeli passenger (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). November 1969:Â  Yasser Arafat and the Lebanese commander – in – chief, Emile Bustani, met in Cairo and ratified an agreement. Under the terms of that agreement Lebanon had to recognize the Palestinian revolution. That agreement allowed Palestinians and the Lebanese to jointly fight against Israel without compromising Lebanon’s welfare and sovereignty. Although the agreement was made for twenty years of joint struggle, Lebanon escinded it in 1987 (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). 1970-1971: Jordan expelled the PLO following a severe battle in their country, which had led to the death of thousands of people. Subsequently, the PLO shifted its base of operations to Lebanon and mounted attacks against Israel from Lebanon. An extremist Palestinian terrorist faction group, Black September, joined the PLO coalition. In September 1970, Jordan initiated a military crackdown on Palestinians (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). 1972: The terrorist group Black September attacked Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in Germany. In these attacks two Israelis were killed and nine Israeli athletes taken as hostages. The terrorists demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for these hostages. Israel refused to accept these conditions and a counter attack was mounted by the West German commandoes, during which four terrorists and one policeman were killed (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). April 1973: In a covert operation, the future Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, led a team of Israeli commandoes, in women’s attire and killed three prominent PLO leaders in Beirut (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). 975: There was fierce civil war in Lebanon between the Palestinians and pro – Palestinian Lebanese militant groups, and Lebanon’s Christian militant groups. They fought each other for fifteen years, until 1990, when the civil war ended officially (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). 1976: Syria deployed its peacekeeping forces in Lebanon to assist Lebanese authorities to end the war. The Syrian fo rces remained in Lebanon for thirty years, until April 2005 (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). March 1978:Â  The PLO attacked a bus in northern Israel, and in retaliation, the Israeli forces entered Lebanon and pushed the PLO forces far from the border. The UN Security Council ratified a resolution, which instructed Israel to immediately withdraw its forces from Lebanon. Accordingly Israel withdrew its forces, and Major General Saad Haddad established a security zone of twelve miles wide, all along the border. This security zone was meant to prevent Trans – border attacks on Israel (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). September 1978:Â  The US President Jimmy Carter was instrumental in bringing about the Camp David Accord. This Accord led to the establishment of a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. It also provided sufficient groundwork for a similar peace treaty between Israel, Lebanon and other neighboring Arab states (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). July 17, 1981: Israeli forces attacked the PLO headquarters in West Beirut, and this operation claimed more than three hundred civilian lives. The United States once again intervened and established a cease – fire agreement between Israel, the PLO and Syria. At that particular time, Syrian troops were deployed in Lebanon (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). 1982: Until the 6th of June 1982 a cease – fire was maintained. It was broken when Israel attacked Lebanon with a sixty thousand army. This was in retaliation to the killing of Israeli’s ambassador to Britain. However, Arafat and the leaders of the PLO escaped from Lebanon and settled in Tunisia. They remained there until 1994 and then moved on to Gaza (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). On 14th September, Bashir Gemayel, the Lebanese president – elect, was assassinated before his swearing in ceremony. He had the support of Israel, and subsequent to his assassination, Israeli troops entered West Beirut and engaged in what could be deemed to be genocide, in which more than eight hundred Palestinian refugees were mercilessly killed by the Lebanese Christian militant groups in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. The world community accused Israel for its failure to stop the genocide. During this period, a fundamentalist Shiite Muslim extremist group Hezbollah emerged in Beirut, the Bekka Valley and southern Lebanon. Hezbollah was sponsored by Iran, whose Revolutionary Guards had imparted adequate training and had provided weapons to the Hezbollah. Syria also, lent its support to the Hezbollah, whose fundamental aim was to establish a Shiite Islamic state in Lebanon. Moreover, it aimed to expel Israel and the US military from the region (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). April 18, 1983: Hezbollah launched a number of suicide bombers against the US embassy in West Beirut. In this operation nearly sixty – three people were killed. This attack served as a portent regarding the future attacks against Western nations (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). May 17, 1983: The US achieved an agreement between Lebanon and Israel, and both these nations ratified the agreement, which sought the immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon under a conditional withdrawal of Syrian forces. However, Syria refused to accept this agreement (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). October 23, 1983:Â  A suicide bomber from the Hezbollah penetrated into the headquarters of the US Marine and French forces in Beirut and detonated the bomb on his person. This bombing resulted in the death of two hundred and ninety – eight people. Of these, two hundred and forty – one were US Marines and other military staff. Following this attack, the US withdrew its forces from Lebanon (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). January 18, 1984: Malcolm Kerr, President of the American University of Beirut was assassinated (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). March 1984: Lebanon rescinded the May 17, 1983 peace accord, consequent to increasing pressure from Syria (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). September 20, 1984: The US embassy annex in East Beirut was heavily bombarded, resulting in the death of twenty – three people in the attack (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). June 1985: Israel withdrew its troops from Lebanon, all the same it controlled the twelve mile wide security zone along the southern border until May 2000 (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). 1990: The fifteen year civil war in Lebanon was officially ended (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). July 1993: Israel attacked southern Lebanon for a week, with a view to end the attacks waged by the Hezbollah on several towns in Israel (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). April 1996: There was fierce fighting between Israel and Hezbollah for sixteen days. In this battle, nearly one hundred and thirty – seven people were killed. Most of the casualties were Lebanese civilians (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). May 2000:Â  Israel withdrew its troops from southern Lebanon and the United Nations declared the Blue Line to be the actual border between these two nations (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). September 2003: Israel warplanes bombarded southern Lebanon, in retaliation to the launching of antiaircraft missiles by the Hezbollah against Israeli airplanes flying over that region (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). October 2003: Israel and Lebanon exchanged gunfire in the Shebaa Farms, which was a disputed area (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). February 14, 2005: Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister was assassinated by militants, which pressurized Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon. In April, Syria withdrew all its troops from Lebanon (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006). July 2006: Militants belonging to Hezbollah entered Israel and killed three Israeli soldiers. They abducted two soldiers and demanded an exchange of prisoners. Israel refused to accept their offer. Subsequently, five more Israeli soldiers were killed in an ambush. The response of Israel was a blitzkrieg, and Israel blockaded naval routes and heavily bombarded hundreds of Lebanese targets. It also bombed Beirut’s airport and the headquarters of Hezbollah in southern Beirut. In response to these Israeli attacks, Hezbollah launched attacks using rockets on northern Israeli cities. This battle resulted in the demise of hundreds of Lebanese civilians. Subsequently, Israel conducted a two week military campaign in Gaza in retaliation to the abduction of its soldiers (Timeline: Decades of conflict in Lebanon, Israel, 2006).

Are Religion And Science One? :: essays research papers

Is it possible that in our search for some basic reality, we humans may discover that although religion and science have always seemed to be in different places, the conclusion they will ultimately reach will be the same thing? What is God? Energy, Spirit, Universal Consciousness, Singular, Unilateral? According to David Hume, God is not different from the order that exists in the universe1. Training our thoughts along this line, one might doubt the commonly held view that Science and Religion are entirely different and exist at the opposite ends of a spectrum. Science is based on observation. Religion on the other hand makes arguments analytical in nature (like the Ontological Argument by Anslem) and requires some unquestioned faith. In spite of leading us through somewhat different paths, both try to find the basic stuff2. The goal thus in both cases is to determine the constituents of what form the reality. The routes though may not seem similar. In the essay, The Dynamic Universe, Fritjop Capra explores the philosophies on which various eastern religions like Hinduism, Taoism and Buddhism are based upon. He is of the view that the world is conceived in terms of movement, flow and change2. He then cites the examples of sub-atomic physics and the field of galaxies and heavenly bodies. Science studies them as units, which are in a state of constant motion. By doing this, he tries to class Science as well as Religion under the same heading, which is concerned with finding the basic reality. The next question that comes to the forefront then is what is the thing that we are after? What constitutes this reality that we all are in pursuit of? A scientist might call this as the order in the universe or the Energy, which is diffused in the world we live in. Religions like to call this ultimate reality as God. The order that the scientists describe implies a mind working behind it. This entity capable of setting an order in the universe is nothing but what religion defines as God. Science and Religion then appear to be tied up like two versions of the same notion. God, I feel, is the ultimate quest for which both these allegedly opposite views are after. His physical form is not visible to us. But his existence could be argued using aposteriori arguments based on the observation of what is around us.