RELIGION
Peer Responses: Respond to at least two classmates’ initial posts. Posts must be at least 75 words in length and demonstrate critical thinking, engagement with course material, and a meaningful attempt to engage in discourse.
AAISHA’S POST:
Religion is an important concept in many peoples lives and serves as an important foundation which makes up and creates the society that we live in. Religion is an important element in society because it helps maintain social control, and unity. This is done by the use of rituals and beliefs. Certain beliefs help to define acceptable behaviors as well as punishments, also including supernatural consequences, for misbehavior. (Henninger-Rener, 2018) An example of this are the ideologies expressed in the Ten Commandments, which are incorporated in the teachings of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism which prohibit certain behaviors such as theft, murder, adultery, dishonesty etc. Behavior that violates the commandments brings both social disapproval and potential punishment from God. This function essentially provides universal rules in society for everyone who follows a certain religion and emphasizes the need for discipline and restraint to guide people to do the right thing.
Another function that organized religion serves as is in society is the illusion of happiness. According to Karl Marx’s his views expresses that religion is an attempt to justify inequalities in power and status in society (Henninger-Rener, 2018). He explains that Religion can sometimes be a way to help people cope with the difficulties in reality and gives people hope and comfort for the afterlife. This ideology in turn persuades people not to fight for better economic and social conditions in their current life because they have hope for a better one in the afterlife. This is just an attempt to control and justify power so that the poor can stay poor and the rich become richer.
Religion is always going to be embedded in societal institutions no matter, but in regards to education teaching children at a young age what religion is, religion is going to influence children’s behaviors and decisions making in the future. Religion is going to influence peoples actions, and the way they think because its gonna be the only thing that they know. Especially if it’s something that they were taught at a young age.
Although religion is something that can be seen as something positive and help people navigate through life, organized religion can be a method to control society.
Resources:
Henninger-Rener, M.K. (2018). Religion. In N. Brown, L. T. Gonzalez, & T. McIlwraith (Eds.), Perspectives: An open invitation to cultural anthropology (2nd ed.). Press Books. https://perspectives.pressbooks.com/chapter/religion
ALINA’S POST:
Indeed, while there is a diversity of religious practices throughout the world, many of them provide the same functions within society. Society benefits from religion in several ways. Among these are giving meaning and purpose to life, reinforcing social unity and stability, promoting physical and psychological well-being, and motivating people to work for positive social change (Moberg, 2008) In my opinion, knowing or having a purpose to live is extremely important for psychological health.
The best way to prevent depression and anxiety from taking over your life is to find your purpose. A sense of purpose in life is also linked to a healthier physical body and longer life expectancy. The meaning of your purpose or mission in life must resonate with your soul and heart. In this way, you may support your family and friends, express yourself through art or music, teach children to read or encourage officials to clean up polluted rivers and streams. “Having a sense of purpose is recognized as an important resource for maintaining health and well-being over the life span,” according to a report titled “Sense of Purpose as a Psychological Resource for Aging Well,” in the journal Developmental Psychology (Windsor, n.d.)
In Old Testaments, there are the following 10 Commandments that had to be followed:
1. You shall have no other God’s before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it Holy.
5. Honor your father and mother.
6. Thou shalt not kill. — God wants us to protect human life.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. — This means husbands and wives should be faithful to one another.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shall not bear false witness.
10. You shall not covet.
The reason why I am providing the Old Commandments is that back when they were written there were no prisons or any penalties for the crimes that have been committed. That is why #6 states not to kill or if you decide to go ahead and kill somebody you will go to hell. In my opinion, that is why the church and religion were created. Wothout any kind of power over people there would be anarchy and church took control over people in some way.
Religion is being embeded since our birth. After delivering my first son, a nun came into my delivery room and proposed to pray, I galdly acepted becuase as a new mother I wanted to wish the best life for my kid since I was a single mom. I asked God to help me raise my child in peace and health, even thou the nun was Catholic and I am Christian Orthodox. I am afraid of God, sometimes I doubt religion and God but at the end I always come back to believing because what if there is hell and heaven? And if I do not belive in God I would probably not end up anywhere.
Bible and religion have a huge importance in a court room and judical proceedings. By kissing the book, the oath-taker is acknowledging that lying under oath will not result in him gaining any earthly or spiritual benefit from the Word of God or his good deeds. The procedure became standard in American courts, with all witnesses swearing the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. As in the past, British witnesses took their oaths “by Almighty God,” while American witnesses concluded theirs with “so help me God.” (Witnesses and officials may take an affirmation instead of an oath; the affirmation does not mention God and uses the words “I affirm” rather than “I swear.” This formula may be used by other faiths, as well as by atheists and agnostics. (In such instances, no book is used.) That is being done as an act of intimidation of a person’s belief. If in a court room a person would lie he/she by their beliefs will end up in hell.
References:
Moberg, D. O. (2008). Spirituality and aging: Research and implications. Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging. https://pressbooks.howardcc.edu/soci101/chapter/17-3-sociological-perspectives-on-religion/
Windsor, T.D. (n.d.) Sense of Purpose as A Psychological Resource for Aging Well. Developmental Psychology. https://bostoneveningtherapy.com/finding-your-purpose-in-life-for-better-mental-health/
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Week 8 Discussion
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How to Do Well in Discussions
· Make your initial post responding to the above questions by Saturday, and comment on at least four of your classmates’ posts by Tuesday. Posting late may lose you points.
· Respond to the specific questions posed in the discussion.
· Be sure to base your initial post and responses on course materials, and use 7th ed. APA citations in every post.
· Post your responses over three days and you respond to four or more students to receive full credit for frequency of participation.
· Write clearly and proofread; errors can lose you points.
· Quality of posts, citations, frequency, and timeliness of posts all factor into your discussion grade. See the Participation Grading Rubric for details.
ALICIANA’S POST:
Should the company pay bribes to enter the Chinese market? Why or why not? Although a company may be put at a disadvantage for not participating in a bribe, morally, the company should not pay bribes to enter the Chinese market, (Gilber, 2016). Not only would it be illegal to partake in bribes but it is unethical for a company to participate in them due to the disadvantage it would put other organizations. Furthermore, paying another individual to do a crime is equivalent to partaking in the crime which is highly immoral. Instead, the company should hire an agent and get their license to enter China so that they can begin doing business, (Santa Clara University, 1998). If the company should pay bribes, is this an example of cultural relativism? In other words, is the company simply doing something that Chinese society finds acceptable? Due to the company not deriving from a location where bribery is acceptable, it can be assumed that cultual relativism does not exist when they compare themselves to Chinese society. This is because they do not have the same ideals about the legalization of bribery. Assume that you are a manager at Pegasus and the CEO asks you to manage the company’s entry into the Chinese market. He also makes clear that you are expected to make the Chinese decision makers happy by providing them with sums of money. Using your ethical tools from the class, decide what would you do? If I was the manager at Pegasus, I would contact an agent to get a license to enter the Chinese market legally. I would then speak to the Chinese decision makers to see if we could find a way to avoid payoffs but still figure out a way to do business in China without ruining the company’s reputation and integrity. Before I do this, I would speak to my CEO about our organization and how it values integrity, intellectual honesty, and our reputation between our customers, sellers, buyers, vendors, etc. so that they are aware of how much our business could be impacted if we participated in payoffs.
Gilbert, J. (2016). Ethics for Managers. eds-p-ebscohost. Retrieved May 15, 2022, from https://eds.p.ebscohost.com/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzY5MTRfX0FO0?vid=0&format=EB&rid=1 Santa Clara University (1998). The case of the million-Dollar decision. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Retrieved July 6, 2022, from https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/business-ethics/resources/the-case-of-the-million-dollar-decision/
ANDREA’S POST:
· Should the company pay bribes to enter the Chinese market? Why or why not?
The company should not pay to enter the Chinese market because it is unethical and the money can be spent elsewhere to improve the company and research to advance.
· If the company should pay bribes, is this an example of cultural relativism? In other words, is the company simply doing something that Chinese society finds acceptable?
This is not an example of cultural relativism because not all cultures think bribery is acceptable. Chinese do consider bribery acceptable though.
· Assume that you are a manager at Pegasus and the CEO asks you to manage the company’s entry into the Chinese market. He also makes clear that you are expected to make the Chinese decision makers happy by providing them with sums of money. Using your ethical tools from the class, decide what would you do?
If I was manager at Pegasus and the CEO asks to manage the company’s entry into the Chinese market, I would suggest spending the money on more research or finding a partner who is already in with China. The risk os unethical practices would not be worth it to the company.
ANGELA’S POST:
· Should the company pay bribes to enter the Chinese market? Why or why not?
The company should not pay bribes to enter the Chinese market because this is unethical and dishonest behavior. An organization should be able to enter the Chinese Market fair without manipulating the system or trying to get a way around the rules and regulations
· If the company should pay bribes, is this an example of cultural relativism? In other words, is the company simply doing something that Chinese society finds acceptable?
This would be an example of cultural relativism. While in China, this might be considered normal, as an organization we know that it is ethically wrong to pay for bribes. While it is expected to accept this in another country, it does not make it ehtical nor correct.
· Assume that you are a manager at Pegasus and the CEO asks you to manage the company’s entry into the Chinese market. He also makes clear that you are expected to make the Chinese decision makers happy by providing them with sums of money. Using your ethical tools from the class, decide what would you do?
I would try my best to ethically move forward with the Chinese market, I would immediately let them know that the sums of money are not possible, but would let them know how they would benefit if they put my business in the Chinese market. I would implement the justice and fairness tool, every business has equal opportunity to present their business and be able to present why their business should be in their market.
