Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Issues - Same-Sex Marriages :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Same-Sex Marriages Currently in the United States there has been much debate over the controversy surrounding the legalization of same-sex marriages. There are many people who are opposed and feel it is morally and ethically wrong and others who feel that same-sex marriages are acceptable. Prior to writing about this topic I had no strong feelings toward or against the issue on same-sex marriages. After researching and finding out more information on the topic, I became in favor of allowing those of the same-sex to have there marriages legalized. Many people ask themselves why gays and lesbians even want to attempt to get laws past to be allowed to get married. Why would they want to be married? Are they not happy with the relationship in which they have? Gays and lesbians are just like heterosexuals, they want there marriages to be recognized by the law. They are like any normal couple and want a marriage to prove and show their love for each other. They want that simple document that the government gives to heterosexuals which binds two people into a marriage. What exactly is marriage then? Marriage is a legal relationship between spouses; it is established by a civil or religious ceremony, and takes place between two people who intend to live together as sexual and domestic partners. The AIDS epidemic stirred up many questions and brought public attention on a range of issues surrounding gay and lesbian rights. Legalizing same-sex marriages may help prevent aids. If two people are in a marriage then they are less apt to have many sexual partners and will help stop the spread of AIDS. Other people feel that same-sex marriages are not a proper place to raise children. This is a truly false statement because there are many people who have children and procreate that should not have that right. For instance, murderers, child molesters, drug and alcohol addicts are all free to procreate and raise children and homosexuals are not. This does not make sense. If a person can raise a child and give them love, shelter, food and other necessary resources to raise a child, then they should be given the right to raise a child. Just because a child has more than one mother or father does not mean that they are going to grow up gay or have emotional problems.

Critical Analysis: Public Corruption

Corruption is a problem dealing with economic and social structure of a nation across the globe. Corruption in politics is a public sector phenomenon and is nonetheless one of the central issues facing many nations in modern times. Dealing with both legal and ethical considerations, there are instances that the office or duties are being betrayed in exchange of selfish benefits. Throughout history, failure of the remedies applied to it largely impacted the socio-economic development of the nation. It is good to analyze what motivates corruption, how its different varieties are perceived, what does it serve and what can be done to minimize or even eradicate this. Attitudes towards position and obligations remained to be the prime factors that motivate public personnel to be do corrupt actions. In high level and low level of corruption, the use of public office whether it is a high official or a clerk were initiated with the use of authority giving favors due to self interests that need to be met. For example, alliance in politics servicing an electoral candidate’s campaign if perceived as a power of assuring victory in the electoral process will result not just to gratitude but to a subtle obligation for paying back in terms of influential favors since being a candidate in election required allotment of non profitable amount of money. This can also be applied with clerks who have the ability to give favor in exchange of bribes. This is possible when we consider the low compensation of government employees that in order to survive, or earn more money, they will choose to accept the bribe (U Myint. 2000. p. 40-41) We can have in mind that hard times and great stress will make corrupt people. As we can notice with the way situations are determining the attitude of an individual, we can say that corruption is a form merely not of political choice but of economic choice and if we are talking about economic variables, we should not forget that market will always play its role and price is which will matter most in dealing with it. It remained one of the highly considered points of view in analyzing corrupt acts, but this economic perception applied in high level of corruption revealed that it is incomplete and has discrepancies for there are actual motives beyond such as the immeasurable power of discipline. With the extent of corruption’s effects in the society and with its length of stay in the history of policy making, there can be notions that corruption is becoming part of the culture or that corruption is a culture itself. But any act and practices suggesting lame authority has no space in an ideal society thus making them nuisance and should be acted to totally remove them in the social system. The attitude towards the use of authority apparently needs to be addressed in post conventional manner to keep it on track of servicing solely the public interests. All collective actions done by people in the social group defined and established the culture and if a portion of culture is no longer servicing its functions there should be a way that it can be destroyed and make changes to adopt in better situations. Political planning must address the issue with high authoritative will paired with the sensitivity with the root causes of it.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

The Adoration of Jenna Fox- Essay Would your conscience be clear knowing that you illegally modified someone to save their life? This choice was made by parents Claire and Mathew Fox. The Adoration of Jenna Fox tells the story of a parent’s hard decision to genetically modify their daughter Jenna with BioGel. With this major decision, comes many side effects, including the loss of most her memory, therefore she questions what it is to be human. This essay discusses the effect on not only Jenna, but her parents, her grandmother Lily and her new friend Allys.Jenna develops anger towards her parents, not for their decision to her modify, but the fact they lied to her. In Details (130), Jenna asks her parents â€Å"Why didn’t you tell me? The minute I woke up? Didn’t I deserve to know? † This series of short rhetorical questions release a lot of Jenna’s feelings of being confused and angry. She also answers her own questions because she doesn’t w ant to hear the answer. When her parents won’t discuss what happened, Jenna starts digging to find answers. In Denied (134), Jenna says: â€Å"The pieces speak, but there are not enough.Yet† Jenna says this to herself to reassure her that she will eventually belong in society. This line also contains hidden meanings including the fact that she cannot understand the events that occurred. Similarly, the line; â€Å"Uploaded? You uploaded my brain? † (Father -117) also uses rhetorical questions. The use of the word â€Å"you† once again, shows her anger towards her parents in a direct manner. It makes them feel bad for their lies and the secrets they kept, therefore Jenna starts to question humanity and what are human qualities.Throughout the book, Jenna questions whether her parents’ decision was right or wrong- not legally, but morally. She constantly asks herself whether the choice to modify her was for her or her parents’ benefit, or whethe r she was just a lab pet for her father’s experiments. In Lily (126), Lily and Jenna have one of their first real conversations; â€Å"’I said good-bye. I grieved. Then a few hours later, your parents told me what they had done. ’ ’And you thought it was wrong? ’ ’I’m not like your parents.I think there are worse things than dying. ’† Jenna is very surprised of Lily’s honesty and starts to appreciate their relationship. Lily is obviously against the Fox’s decision to modify Jenna and believes that Jenna has the right to know. This leaves Jenna to believe that her parents’ decision was for their benefit only. As Lily and Jenna’s relationship strengthens, Jenna is more open to listen to Lily’s onion and what she has to say. One example of this is from The Greenhouse (142). â€Å"’I’m sorry,’ she says. But I’m not sorry I told you. It just isn’t right. à ¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  This is another example of the Fox’s wrong decisions and how Lily and Jenna’s relationship tightens. By this time, Jenna becomes certain that modifying her was for her parents’ benefit and in Control; Jenna confronts her parents to find they are only making excuses. Another bad choice is expressed in Backup (189). ‘I know, Father’. I sit down in the chair opposite him. ‘There’s those three people in the closet, too. Now that’s what I call a disability. † Jenna says this in a sarcastic way. This is when Jenna starts to build anger towards her parents because they are continuing to lie and make excuses. She is at the point where she doesn’t trust her parents and believes that have done everything wrong. Jenna starts to take action against her parents in A Plan (239), and with the help of Lily, they free the minds of Kara, Locke and herself. By this time, Jenna believes that Claire and Mathew have broken any relationship they ever had with her.With the Fox’s decision, they didn’t hesitate to break the law to save their daughter- but at what consequences. An example of this is in Father (121). â€Å"I’m illegal aren’t I? That’s why we live here. We’re hiding out†. Jenna questions bio-medical ethics and the nature of the soul. She not only questions whether bio-engineering legally right, but morally. As soon as Jenna’s parents’ modified her, they pushed their relationship. In Day One/ New Jenna, the following paragraph discusses moral ethics. â€Å"Does that make you an authority on everything?What about a soul, Father? When you were busy implanting all your neural chips, did you think about that? Did you snip my soul from my old body too? Where did you put it? Show me! Where? Where in all this groundbreaking technology did you insert my soul? † This shows one of the consequences of her parents’ decision. Jen na hates them for lying and their choice to modify her. She starts to realise that there’s more to being human and that the choice to engineer her has taken away all humanity within.Similarly, the line; â€Å"At least with the FSEB’s current point system in place, right? † (Viewpoint 200) expresses Allys’ view towards bio-engineering. Both Allys and Jenna question whether the FSEB can regulate humanity and whether it considers emotions from the soul. In conclusion, Claire and Mathew Fox’s decision to modify Jenna had many consequences including the destruction of relationships. Jenna believes that her modification was only for her parents’ benefit and it was humanely wrong. This is expressed through Jenna, Lily, Allys and Claire and Mathew Fox.

Merchant of Venice †a Tragedy or Comedy Essay

* â€Å"The tragic feeling is invoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing, his sense of personal dignity† – Arthur Miller * Leading up to Shylock’s trial he undergoes a lot of struggle with regards to his bond with Antonio where. Antonio deceives Shylock when he doesn’t pay him and escapes the clause of the bond (pound of flesh). * Shylock At the same time Shylock loses his daughter, whom he loves very much, to a Christian man. Shylock was betrayed by his daughter and deceived by Antonio and the rest of the Christians. * I would my daughter were dead at my feet, and jewels in her ear! Would she were hearsed at my foot, and the ducats in her coffin! * Therefore it is tragic when Shylock is stripped of his money and forced to convert religion. Against all his struggles he was just conducting his way of business and has to suffer so much. * This story is also tragic for the Jewish communities: * They were mocked and scorned by the Christians and perceived as â€Å"different† from other people (personality and physical attributes) * They were forced to live all together in a separate part of the city known as â€Å"ghettos† * When they exited the â€Å"ghettos† and went to different areas amongst Christians they had to wear red hats (this is a sign of the segregation of religions) * They could not engage in any other jobs except merchandise. This is why the Jews were mostly known as ‘usurers’. * Revenge is a theme of tragedy * Revenge is dark and hateful and particularly in this play Shylock is consumed with it. * He wants revenge with his daughter because he feels betrayed and hard one by. She disobeyed him and their religion and stole money from him. * He is consumed with revenge towards Antonio and his Christian friends because of the way Antonio deceived him where he did not pay off his bond and the way the Christian friends mocked him. This was emphasised in his famous monologue â€Å"hath not a Jew eyes† where he describes the way he is treated. * The way the director personifies the characters * In most renditions of the play, especially in the most modern movie, the main characters (Bassanio, Antonio and Shylock) are very serious characters and this adds to the tragic mood of the play * When dealing with problems these characters do not seem to be in a light-hearted or joyous mood, they are more dull and serious. * At the time tragic characters had to be very static and weren’t versatile and this is evident, mostly in the characters of Antonio, Bassanio and Shylock.

Functionalism Philosophy Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Functionalism Philosophy - Term Paper Example Functionalists have been known to treat terms related to mental states as a mental state functional characterization which differs from input and output terms. Therefore in a (simplified Turing –machine assumption of the theory,) mental states are associated with the states of the Turing-machine, which own on their own are clearly defined by a machine table which mentions outputs and outputs that are explored nonmentalistically. Additionally functionalism empathizes that characterization of mental states ought to include descriptions of outputs and inputs in both its non-machine and machine versions. The variation between Psychofunctionalism and Functionalism brings forth a difference in specifying outputs and inputs. Functionalists are restricted to specification of outputs and inputs that constitutes common-sense knowledge; Psychofunctionalists are not bound by such restrictions. Whereas both sides lay emphasis on physical specification outputs and inputs, Functionalists are keen on classifications that are externally observable. Psychofunctionalists, have the alternative to specify outputs and inputs in terms of internal parameters. ... Even if both the Functionalists and Psychofunctionalism emphasize on physical, or nonmental-specification over inputs and outputs, the requirement by Functionalists remains the externally observable classifications, for example, inputs whose characteristics assume the terms of the present objects within the organisms vicinity, expressed in body parts’ movements. On the other hand, Psychofunctionalists are at liberty to present a specification between inputs and outputs, assuming the internal parameters’ terms; for example, signals in input, as well as output neurons. One problem of the input and output is that it is depended on the premise that outputs and inputs can be distinguished by neural impulse descriptions. The fallacy with such approach is that it is chauvinistic because organisms that do not posses neurons are precluded from having functional descriptions. One way to avoid chauvinism associated with inputs and outputs is by characterizing outputs and inputs si mply as just outputs and inputs. Other functionalists insist that descriptions of output and input be non-mental. The very version of functionalism, however, fails to tack down functional descriptions at the most important point with descriptions of outputs and inputs that are relatively specific. Instead this form of functionalism merely specifies inputs, states and outputs only by insisting that they be outputs, inputs and states. The problem with this form of functionalism is that it is exceedingly liberal. There is therefore the need of specifying, when one describes outputs and inputs so as to avoid liberalism, but general enough to steer clear from chauvinism. Block however has preservations concerning the existence of such a description.

Religion and technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Religion and technology - Essay Example Therefore, the relationship between technology, specifically as a function of science, and religion is characterized by ‘mutually exclusive’ tendencies on both sides that restrict their ability to work together. Religion and theology refuse to acknowledge and often dismiss the technological claims that do not resonate with the role of God in the Universe or that spelled out by the scripture. For example, advancements in technology are meant to increase efficiency in production and make life easier. On the other hand, religion is concerned with the interactions between man and man, man and the environment and man and God. Ethics are a function of religion because, in most cultures, ethics define right and wrong. The values of right and wrong are defined by the religious values of a community. Currently, there are many problems in the use of technology. For example, environmental degradation is a function of technological advancement. In addition, violation of important ethical considerations in the society has increasingly resulted in poverty in poor societies because of a technological handicap compared to the developed countries. On the other hand, the role of religion has been decreasing over the last few centuries. More people are abandoning their religious beliefs because they often feel that the beliefs are outdated or impractical. In addition, the proposition of other theories of the origin of man and sources of answers previously only provided by religion has lessened the role of religion to the people.

Abstract Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Abstract - Essay Example ng to the authors, combining of new and inexpensive technological methods may increase the availability of more flexible ways for dealing with the common challenges in forensic science. They, therefore, intended to present a method of 3-D laser scanning of chewed gum found at a crime scene into a digital file format. In a bid to justify the aim of their research, they point out that the procedure they used in their research project does not include any form of contact and is nondestructive thus more efficient prior to extracting DNA from the gum. The theme of their research is that their method, which involves generating a digital file, could be used to for dental comparison in the future in case the original chewed gum gets damaged by forensic analysis following 3-D scanning. In their research, they used an automated 3-D laser scanner that ensures a reliable, affordable, and reproducible means for scanning a 3-D object fast and at a possible resolution of 127 microns. They scanned a piece if chewed gum that had air dried for 24 hours by placing it on the tip of a tuberculin syringe needle, and then positioning it on the scanning stage of the laser scanner that is fully robotic. Using precise scan parameters of the laser scanner for a 360 degree scan, they used macro 0.005 inches precision, 125 seconds scan speed, and 0.005 triangle size. This process took less than three minutes given that they set the light in color of the target surface to that of the matte finish, and the smoothing had auto-align of the eight segments on with a setting of 1. After all the procedures involved in the process had produced digital files, they were able to come up with a virtual block that showed the shape and contours of the teeth impressions just like those in the original gum. They then used a Web-based prototyping service called Shapeways to order for clear resin as well as white plastic models of the gum from their digital files. All this took less than 10 minutes, and they