Islam Essays - Nation Of Islam, Antisemitism In The United States

Islam The UnIslamic Nation of Islam The mention of the ?Nation of Islam? will undoubtedly cause an immense number of responses in any situation. To some, this organization symbolizes blatant racism. To others, it is seen as a savior of the black community. Regardless of one's opinion of the Nation, though, the differences between Al-Islam(traditional Islam) and the beliefs of the Nation cannot be denied. The Nation of Islam is a social movement. This social movement is undoubtedly rooted in religion, and its principles are derived from those of traditional Islam, but their basic philosophies are so strikingly different that the Nation of Islam cannot be considered Islamic. In 1930, the Nation was founded by an African immigrant who called himself Wallace D. Fard Muhammad. He stated that his mission was to take ?the black nation to the full range of the black man's possibilities in aworld temporarily dominated by the blue-eyed devils?(http://www.forerunner.com/foreruner/X0065_Nation_of_Islam.html). This philosphy was carried on to the next leader of the Nation, Elijah Muhammad, and eventually to the current leader, Louis Farrakhan. The Nation was founded as a black organization, and has remained as such. Islam, on the other hand, is all encompassing. The first, and most astonishing, difference between the Nation and traditional Islam is the role of race in the church's philosophy. the Nation's philosophy clearly states that, ?We believe that intermarriage and race mixing should be prohibitted (www.noi.org/ program.html)?. The traditional wording of the Koran, however, states that diversity in race is one of Allah's greatest creations(Koran, 30.22). The Nation of Islam restricts its membersip to those who are black. the beliefs of traditional Islam, however, state that all persons are born Muslim, and that ?every person is endowed by Allah with the spiritual potential and intellectual inclination that can make him a good Muslim.(4) The Islamic church ignores the issue of race when examining one's spiritual purity. Rather, It is the spirit itself which defines a Muslim. Traditional Muslims and members of the Nation of Islam also differ in their definition of what it means to be Muslim. The belief in Islam is defined by five Pillars: shahada(the belief in only one Allah), salah(prayer), zakuh(obligatory charity), sawm(fasting), and hajj(pilgrimage) (www_leland.stanford.edu/group/Thinker/v2/v2n3/Saudi.html). Of these Five Pillars, the Nation of Islam requires none of its members. The shahada is rejected by the Nation because it belives that Wallace D. Fard Muhammad was Allah incarate. (noi.index) Salah, or the five daily prayers in the direction of Mecca, are also not required of members of the Nation(coolguy). Zakuh is rejected by the nation, as it believes charity is a ?way to benefit the dominant classes of the culture.(coolguy). Sawm is also not required of Nation members, nor is the hajj to Mecca(coolguy). (Ironically, it was the hajj of Malcolm X which led him to abandon his separatist beliefs, and to preach unity). The rejection of the five basic requirements of Islam is representative of the distances between the Nation of Islam and traditional Islam. Because of these differences, the Nation cannot be accepted as just another chapter of Islam, but it must be treated as a different and distinct religion. The third difference between the Nation of Islam and traditional Islam is the manner in which other religions and their members are regarded. Islam accepts the existence of all prophets from Moses to Muhammad. (Koran, 2:91) The Nation, however, believes that Wallace D. Fard Muhammad is the true prophet(Noi.program). Traditional Islam regards members of all religions as holy. The Koran states that, ?those who believe, and those who are Jews, and Christians, and Sabaeans-whoever believeth in Allah, and the Last Day doeth right- surely their reward is with their Lord, and their shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve?(2:62). Farrakhan, on the other hand condemns those of other religions and races. In a speech in January 1994, Farrakhan warned members of the Nation of Islam that ?they(the jews) are plotting against us even as we speak (www.strang.com/cm/stories/emmy/96tl.html).? He proposes that other religions are inferior to Islam, as well as proposing that different races are unequal. The Nation of Islam believes that the white race was created by a botched experiment of mad scientist named Yakub, 6,000 years ago(7). It is beliefs such as this which create the image of the Nation which is common to most: a racist organization which preaches Black supremacy. Some may argue that the often outrageous methods and beliefs of the Nation of Islam have done more good than harm. In 1996, Farrakhan organized the Million-Man March which brought

Celebrities Responsibility to Act as Role Models Essay Example

Celebrities Responsibility to Act as Role Models Essay Example Celebrities Responsibility to Act as Role Models Paper Celebrities Responsibility to Act as Role Models Paper To get down with. stardom. celebrity. wealth and glorification neer comes entirely. It brings a enormous load of standing idiosyncrasy and cautious attitude. Those who fail to make so. non merely set into danger their place in people. but are besides responsible for advancing negative tendencies in their followings. Hence I acknowledge the statement that the famous persons bear immense duties to move as function theoretical accounts. As we are populating in a universe of media today. it is non surprising that these famous persons remain in spotlight and are chased everyplace by cameras. The most influence is done to the young person. The munificent. epicurean. colorfull and expansive life styles of these famous persons can animate anyone who loves to woolgather. The immature people. seek to copy them in vesture. hair manner and even in walking and speaking. At a certain degree. this all remains endurable. nevertheless the job occurs when immature male childs start to detto them in smoke. imbibing and seeking to make all other things in their favorite famous persons manner. Young people do non merely copy their mentality. but besides start conceive ofing the universe from the eyes of these famous persons. alternatively of fostering their ain ideas and thoughts. Young adult females waste a wholesum of money in making the same manner of dressing and purchasing acessories. that are merely a waste of clip and money. nevertheless. really attractive for the business communities. Jerseies with famous persons names and images are one of the illustrations. Young male childs and misss imitate themselves to be Leonardo Dicaprio and Angelina Jolie or anticipate their partners to move in the same mode. This whole attitude of immature people. brings a duty towards media and its people. As famous persons should cognize. that their pes prints are being followed with curiousity and greed. they should keep the symbols of honestness and public assistance. It is frequently seen that interviews of these famous persons are read with acute involvement by immature people. Young male childs and misss are eager to cognize the personal purposes and attitudes of these people. They observe them closely and so copy them in every case of their life. The youth wage great attending to their advises. Even more than their parents. instructors and their sympathizers. It is therefore an huge liability of famous persons to move positively. non merely in public but besides in their private lives. They need to demo trustiness and honestness. A little alteration in their attitude can impact much more than books and talks of instructors and parents. We are populating in an epoch. where media is the most powerful portion of our lives. We frequently blindly follow the tendencies of non merely vesture. but besides the popular tendencies of ideas and thoughts. as spoken or shown on telecasting. Hence the media people. that is the famous persons play an of import function in doing a positive impact on today’s young person.

Risk Assessment for Effective Physical Security Term Paper

Risk Assessment for Effective Physical Security - Term Paper Example ever, not treated with the same magnitude as technical intrusions such as hacking, computer virus and invasion of spyware programs.2 What many security strategists fail to understand is that both attacks carry the risks of equal magnitudes. Whether the intruder gained the unauthorized access by physically bypassing the security systems or electronically infiltrating the firewalls and other measures the potential detrimental effects of having the organization’s data or other possession in the wrong hands is the same. 3 To that end, physical security threats should be treated with the same magnitude as other non-physical security threats. Physical security measures are the measures instituted to prevent any unauthorized access of the organization’s property, secure facilities, data, and resources from damage. These damages could be in form of data or property theft, espionage, vandalism and even gross terrorist attack. The physical security measures, therefore, is a combination of multi-layered security systems which operate independently to prevent physical security threats. This paper will analyze the importance of physical security measures then the critical considerations used for physical security risk assessment in order to institute an effective physical security system. Physical security systems appear in different forms and perform different tasks. It is important to note that none of the systems is capable of independently and effectively protecting the organization against physical intrusion.4 The various systems operate independent of one another, but cooperate with each other in order to form an effective whole. The doctrine of synergy, which implies that the whole is better than the sum of its individual components, has great relevance and application in designing an effective physical security system. In order to ascertain an effective physical security system, it is imperative to determine the different types of systems that interact to create

Gender Stereotype in the Wrong Turn Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gender Stereotype in the Wrong Turn Film - Essay Example Stereotypes are beliefs that men and women believe about the roles of each gender in the society. An example is the stereotype that men are more muscular than women. This belief causes women to underestimate their abilities and fail to take part in activities that require a lot of force (Ross and Lester 36). This gives men the chance to dominate the society in careers, courses, and activities that require extra energy. This paper will determine how the media mediates through the stereotype that men are more muscular than women in the movie The Wrong Turn, and the effects of these interventions to the society. The Wrong Turn is a horror movie that is acted in the Western Virginia Mountains. The movie begins when Chris Finn who has gotten a job in another town drives along the highway. However, Chris is prevented from using the highway by an accident that involves a trunk that has fallen across the road while transporting chemicals (Benshoff and Griffin 60). The man decides to use the route that passes through West Virginia Mountains so that he can arrive early for the interview. Chris meets five youths who were on vacation on the mountains, and they decide to find whether they can get help from anyone. The group meets cannibalistic men with disfigured faces who scare them, chase them, and feed on their flesh (Benshoff and Griffin 61). The movie continues with the cannibals eating the flesh of anyone they come across in the mountains. The film indicates that men are more muscular than women from the beginning to the end. The first way in which the movie portrays this stereotype is the fact that the main actors who are the cannibals are men. These men perform heavy functions in the film from the first episode to the last; for example, they pull the truck that they use to carry the human beings that they kill along their way. The truck is so heavy and huge meaning that the men possess supernatural energy that enables them to pull the heavy vehicle. In real life, the normal people cannot pull such a heavy vehicle for long distances like the cannibals (Harris-Perry 45). The woman who acted as one of the cannibals was left in their creepy house where they stored their food. The woman was in charge of cooking for the men and taking care of the compound. The fact that the men left her at home indicates that the producer of the film predestined that women would not be strong enough to find food for the family. At the beg inning of the movie a man and woman climb on a cliff so that they can access the upper region of the mountain. The man reaches up before the woman meaning that he is more energetic and powerful to carry out such hard tasks than the woman. As the film continues, one of the cannibals uses an axe to slice a woman into two pieces while she was driving on the road. This indicates that the muscular nature of men can enable them to kill their enemies. Apart from the physical masculinity of the men this act also signifies that men also possess the energy to withstand harsh conditions more than women (Hegarty, Watson, Fletcher and McQueen 87). Men can kill without mercy and feel nothing much about the act. The cannibals in the film always become cheerful when they kill and capture the youths in the mountains. They shout and scream with joy as they pull their meat towards their house and as they feed on the meals. The happiness that they show indicates that men are proud of the achievements

Discuss a detail information of the movie Rossie the Riveter Essay

Discuss a detail information of the movie Rossie the Riveter - Essay Example The American culture, for the most part, had seen the ideal of womanhood as staying home and raising the children. Most women did not work outside the home. Those who did had limited opportunities. In 1910 in the United States, more than one third of employed women were maids or house servants. However, during World War II, it became the woman’s responsibility to pick up the industrial work. It was seen as the woman’s duty to support the men at war. They were expected to work in war factories, building ships and planes. â€Å"Rosie the Riveter† portrays 5 women’s firsthand accounts of working in Detroit, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco during World War II. All the women stated that they were led to feel like they had to do their part for their husbands, brothers, and sons off at war. The movie showed government propaganda created to persuade women to work, such as television commercials that compared using machinery to using a sewing machine. Some women were enticed to work in war factories by their patriotisms, others by the hope of making good money. However, all struggled with long grueling days and inequality. Women were still not paid the same as the men who had previously done the same jobs. The movie â€Å"Rosie the Riveter† even states women were often better at these jobs because of their precision and small hands. There women, however, weren’t paid the same as men. African Americans have faced discrimination in the United States, based on their race for centuries. Discrimination based on race was prevalent during World War II. Race, much like gender, is a socially constructed category. Race refers to difference in human physical characteristics used to categorize a large group, in this case African Americans. â€Å"Rosie the Riveter† portrays how African American women were discriminated against in the workplace. The movie discusses how black women made less than white women doing the same job, equally well. Inequality was not just faced at the financial level. Black women were often not given as good of jobs as white women. One African American woman in the â€Å"Rosie the Riveter† discusses about how she went for a job along with three white women. The shipyard gave all three of the white women jobs and then told her that there were no more jobs left for her. Black women also faced discrimination among other female workers. The one woman in the movie discussed how a black woman was not allowed to use the showers at the factory. This was because some of the white women did not want to share a bathroom with and African American. This caused such a problem that no one was allowed to use showers anymore. Throughout World War II, the housework and the children were still seen as the women’s duty. Women were encouraged to work, but they were not excused from the housework or the children. Women were putting in long grueling days at the factories. Hey were then p utting in long grueling nights at home. Women were working twelve-hour days in the factory. They were then going home and doing all the housework, including the care of the children. One woman in â€Å"Rosie the Riveter† describes how she lived with her husband’s family. She would work all day at the factory, the same one as her brother-in-law. However, she had to come home and cook. She made dinner for everyone and then cleaned up afterwards. Her brother-in-law laid on the couch and

How Relevant Are the Early Theories of Le Bon and Freud?

How Relevant Are the Early Theories of Le Bon and Freud? How relevant are the early theories of Le Bon and Freud in comparison to more contemporary theories of crowds? One of the earliest theories of crowd behaviour was presented by Gustav Le Bon in 1895, which he referred to as group mind theory (Le Bon, 1895). He viewed crowd behaviour as acting according to primitive impulses which are lacking in reasoning and rationality. Le Bon proposed that individuals in a crowd behave in accordance with a ‘law of mental unity of crowds’ and no longer identify themselves as individuals, instead becoming anonymous members of a group who lose their sense of self and responsibilities (Bendersky, 2007). They become easily aroused or agitated, and descend into barbarism whereby individual conscience is overtaken by the ‘law of mental unity’ (Le Bon, 1908). Due to their large numbers and anonymity, the crowd gains a sense of strength and power, leading to a ‘special state, which much resembles the state of fascination in which the hypnotised individual finds himslf in the hands of the hypnotiser’ (Le Bon, 1908; Ginneken, 1992 : 131), rendering the individual no longer conscious of his actions. Despite its lack of evidence, Le Bon’s ‘mob psychology’ became a popular theory and continues to be a powerful social influence, including by those in authority (Banyard, 1989). Similarly to Le Bon, Freud (1922) proposed that the collective mind is led almost exclusively by the unconscious. According to Freud (1922), the crowd ‘unlocks’ the individual unconscious mind; the super ego, or conscience, which he maintained controls civilised behaviours, is exceeded by the uncivilised id impulses, or instinctual drive part of the psyche, as provoked by the leader of the crowd. Likened to the hypnosis state identified by Le Bon, identification with and desire for approval from the leader suspends the super ego (Freud, 1922) and associated normal judgement subdues the internalised values of right and wrong and impulse control. Interestingly, Freud identifies that crowd members accept the influence of the group due to a need to feel in harmony with the power the group and its leader exerts, observed in later studies of conformity (Hogg Vaughan, 2005). In later years, Freud (1949) moves beyond his basic drive theory towards the acknowledgment and importa nce of social relationships, such as that of the family, leading to advancements in the area of object relations. Le Bon’s observations of the behaviour of crowds led to the development of a concept referred to as deindividuation, which was first introduced in the 1950s (Festinger et al. 1952). While early theories of crowds suggested that they acted as a primitive mob, Deindividuation theory formed a modern counterpart to this idea. Zimbardo (1969) based his approach largely on Le Bon’s general perspective by proposing that people in crowds experience deindividuation; a loss of their own personal identity, enabling them to merge anonymously into the crowd. His proposal that this loss of identity means that primitive, uncivilised tendencies emerge and people are then prepared to act in ways that are aggressive, cruel and anti-social, compared to how they may act as individuals, is similar to the early observations and theories put forward by both Le Bon and Freud. Early explanations of the effects of deindividuation suggested that a reduced sense of public accountability weakens the normal restraints against impulsive and aggressive behaviour (Festinger et al. 1952; Zimbardo, 1969). Explanations of deindividuation have however evolved over the decades; from a focus on loss to the finding that cues that are specific to the situation evoke social norms that guide behaviour within anonymous groups, leading to a reformulation of the mental processes involved in deindividuation (Diener, 1980). This view holds that situations that reduced public accountability, such as group size (Mann, 1981) and anonymity, do not simply lead to a loss of the salience of people’s personal identities but leads to the loss of objective self-awareness (Diener, 1980). The salience of group identities is enhanced and consequently, individuals in the crowd are more responsive to tensions within the group, increasing the potential for disorder (Schweingruber, 2000). This more recent explanation suggests that these same features of group situations promote greater conformity to situation-specific social norms. Emergent norm theory represented a shift from the earlier theories which focussed on pathological crowd behaviour (Reicher, 2001), by considering crowd behaviour as a norm-governed behaviours which are evident in all types of groups. According to Turner Killian (1972), the fact that a crowd has no formal organisation to regulate behaviour makes it distinctive. The uniformity of the crowd is an illusion created by the distinct actions of prominent crowd members (Turner, 1964). These acts imply a norm, and consequently there is a pressure to conform to these norms, which is likely to increase the potential for antisocial behaviour (Cabinet Office, 2009). Emergent norm theory one of the first to refer to crowd behaviour as normal (Reicher, 2001) and allows researchers to consider collective action and behaviour as normal social processes which possess internal coherence, bound by rules and norms. It does not however account for cultural variations in crowd behaviours (Reicher, 2001). The social identity model of crowd behaviour is based on social identity theory and self-categorisation theory (Turner et al. 1987). Social Identity Theory (SIT) differs from the other positions, in stressing that control of the crowd occurs via a new shared social identity (Reicher, 1996a; Stott Reicher, 1998a) rather than a loss of identity or of control over their behaviours. It proposes that when social identity is salient, group behaviour will occur irrespective of anonymity and that people interact with other people as representatives of their social group, which acts as an interface which shape their interactions (Reicher, 2001). Importantly, SIT proposes that control comes from the individual rather than from pressure from others, so when an individual identifies with the crowd, they accept and adhere to the crowd norms as their own. As with Emergent Theory, the norms are evident in the cultural, ideological, political and situationally constructed norms. The SIT fundamental principle of a shared social identity has remained an important concept in subsequent studies of individual behaviours within crowds. Le Bon’s early theories about crowd behaviour led to important research within the area of crowd behaviour and remains important due to the influence his perspective has had in later and more recent theories of collective and crowd behaviours. His general perspective was used in the research on deindividuation, which conveys the power of situations in determining people’s behaviour in a variety of large group situations and remains prominent in the study of group behaviour (Reicher et al. 1995). However, it makes implicit value judgements about crowds, dwells on loss, and suggests that people in crowds lose all manner of rational thinking. While it appears that deindividuation plays a role in understanding the antisocial behaviour tendencies of crowds, research into crowds and the way that people in crowds perceive what is happening, suggests that his theory is not as powerful as described. Freud’s (1922) Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego is one of his most significant contributions to understanding mass psychology and led to many subsequent studies on mass psychology and group dynamics. More recent studies suggest that crowd behaviour is more rational and structured that it is often presented as being. Contemporary theories of crowd behaviour discard the specifics of these earlier approaches and instead move this area of study forward by considering how a norm emerges from within the crowd, which enabled social psychologists to view collective behaviour as a social process bound by social norms. Social Identity Theory enables understanding of the order and purpose of the crowd in terms of the common identity of its members. Theories of crowd behaviour, such as SIT (Tajfel Turner, 1979) and deindividuation theory (Festinger et al. 1952) suggest that crowds often behave in a common manner in yielding to the social influence of the crowd (Myers, 2005). Individual crowd members do however differ in their vulnerability to social influence therefore variables within the situational context may influence behavioural outcomes. Theories of crowd behaviours have significantly evolved over the decades since the ideas put forward by Le Bon and Freud. They are not taken into account in the consideration of crowd behaviours in the present time like more contemporary theories such as the social identity model of crowd behaviour (Cabinet Office, 2009). However, they do present in the evolution of the associated research in the consideration of the development of the ideas specific to crowd behaviour. With the continued development of theories such as the Social Identity model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE) (Klein et al. 2007), which retains the fundamental principle of anonymity (Cabinet Office, 2009), and the Elaborated Social Identity Model of crowd behaviour (ESIM) (Drury Reicher, 1999), research is beginning to reach an analysis which brings together many levels of explanation, which is needed within the area of crowd behaviour research.

Technology in the film Tron Essay -- Film Movie Tron Technology Essays

Technology in the film Tron Introduction The purpose of my project is to discover how technology is represented within the film Tron. To answer this research question, I viewed and analyzed the movie and incorporated information from the text and various websites. While studying this film, I took into consideration factors such as images and language used, how technology is related to society, and what symbols the creator used to convey certain qualities of technology. In this research paper, I will begin by explaining the significance of this project and my areas of research. I will then relay the focus of my investigation, the methods I employed to gain my research, analyze the film, and discuss the implications of my analysis. I will conclude with a summary of the main points. Rationale and focus A film such as Tron, with a plot that centers on science and technology, is an important artifact to study because it demonstrates our capabilities and understandings of technology in 1982, when the film was released. It also illuminates societal views of technology in the 1980s, and possible debates over proper uses of technology. It serves as an example of the manner in which technology was communicated to the public at that particular time. In my Rhetoric and Public Life class I learned that artifacts such as Tron are part of our social construction of reality. I have learned that popular culture and the film influence each other. I now have an overall understanding of how technology was represented in the movie. I first prepared for this project by researching the movie on the Internet. I found that Tron has several websites dedicated to it, one of which is maintained by a fan named Guy Gordon. From this si... ... symbols the creator used to convey certain qualities of technology, I discovered that technology is represented in this movie as a threat to society. By incorporating course concepts, I realize that people often have this reaction when encountering a new medium. I have also learned that there are many benefits, as well as drawbacks to this medium, but it is neither the destroyer of civilization nor the savior of impending doom. It is important to understand how it fits into our lives. References Adams, Tyrone and Clark, Norman, (2001). The Internet: Effective Online Communication. Harcourt College Publishers. Gordon, Guy, (2002). The Tron Page. Retrieved February 20, 2002 from the World Wide Web: www.Tron-movie.com. Mcoran-Campbell, Adrian, Tron. The Unorthodox Reel. Retrieved March 26, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.un-reel.co.uk/Tron.htm.