An extended definition of belief Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An extended definition of belief - Essay Example Langston Hughes mentioned that he was asked to declare his belief publicly as a Christian at the age of 12 by his church. According to Hughes, 12 years is not a matured age for a person to declare his belief publicly (Hughes, p.224). Even adults or old people are sometimes confused while talking about their beliefs. A person’s belief is normally strengthened by what he has been taught during his childhood by others. For example, a Christian child may get education about Jesus from churches during his childhood. Same way, a Muslim child may get more knowledge about Prophet Mohammad during his childhood. It should be noted that the Muslim child may not get proper education about Jesus or the Christian child may not get proper education about Mohammad during their childhood. Thus, a particular belief is cultivated in the minds of people during their childhood. Another interesting fact about belief is that it is highly subjective. Different communities exist in most of the religio ns because of the subjectivity of belief. These communities are interpreting the same information in different ways. For example, the beliefs of Pentecostal communities in Christian religion are different than the beliefs of Catholics even though both relying Holy Bible and Jesus for shaping their beliefs. Same way, Shias and Sunnis in Muslim religion have different beliefs even though both believe in Holy Quran and Prophet Mohammad. In short, belief is highly subjective and it depends on the intellectual abilities and wisdom of the believers. Joel Engardio, belief is all about tolerance. In his opinion, â€Å"people we don’t understand become less scary when we get to know them as real people. We don’t have to be each other’s cup of tea, but tolerance lets a variety of kettles peacefully share the stove† (Engardio, p.229). Nobody can claim that his belief is superior to the belief of others. Neither the Christians, nor the Muslims or Jews claim that what they are teaching is the truth. As mentioned earlier, different people interpret Bible and Quran in different manner and hence different types of beliefs are prevailing in this word even among the same religions. According to Albert Einstein, Nothing is absolute and everything is relative in this world. Even that principle may not be true in the case of religious beliefs. In other words, nobody can claim that their belief is better than the beliefs of others. Under such circumstances, it is better to respect the beliefs of others rather than ridiculing it. Belief is just like how two blind people explain the shape of an elephant after touching different parts of the elephant’s body. The blind person who touches the ear of the elephant may describe the shape of elephant as flat whereas the blind person who touches the tail of the elephant may describe its shape as thin rod. Even though both are right, the ultimate truth is entirely different from the explanations of these two people. Belief is also just like that. The definitions of God by the Muslims and Christians would be right. However, none of these definitions may be perfect. Under such circumstances it is better to respect these definitions or beliefs rather than ridiculing it. John Allen Paulos mentioned that people believe in God even if they are aware of the illogic and gaping holes in the arguments for God. He has mentioned that even though he don’t believe in God, he believes in love (Paulos p.237). Paulos’s arguments seem to be little bit contradictory. All religions

Chinese Coolie Labor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Chinese Coolie Labor - Essay Example es between the Chinese coolie trade and African slave trade was that the coolies were either deceived or kidnaped and then kept in detention centers that were as dangerous as the once used in the slave trade. The difference between the trades was that the Chinese government kept tabs on what was happening to the coolies that had been contracted in the Latin American region, USA, Canada. The coolies were also paid as per the contract agreement as opposed to African slaves (1). According to Hu-Dehart (1994), The coolies that went to Cuba most of them died due to mistreatment or the poor working conditions. Most of them did not out leave their contract that was mostly for around six years. The other difference between the Chinese Coolies and African slave trade is that whereas the African slaves got captured, the Chinese coolie went to work voluntarily due to factors like poverty and famine. The coolie trade is very different from the slave trade and cannot be considered as slave trade. This is because the two are very different. Below are some of the reasons that make the coolie trade different from the slave trade. They included: The coolie workers had a contract: according to According to Hu-Dehart (1994), the coolie workers had a contract of five years under the British and eight years in Cuba and Peru. The contract was between a free employee and an employer. The contract also spelled out the duties and obligations of the employees. It also included the wages and the other kind payment that the employer could receive like food clothing and housing (39). The coolies also had the right to buy out their contract at the end of their contract or when they reached the age of twenty-six years so long as they had the funds to buy out their contraction. In case of a slave, one remained so their whole life that is why it sis unfair to say that coolie trade was slavery since coolies had the right to regain their freedom at the end of the contract (44). The coolies