A Christian Response To Divorce Theology Religion Essay

A Christian Response To Divorce Theology Religion Essay I sometimes wonder if divorce is really acceptable to God or if he really considers it a sin. There are a number of factors to consider in making this decision. For the purpose of this paper I am going to review my personal life, reasons people get divorced, and some religious documentation and opinion to draw hopefully reach a reasonable conclusion. I was raised by my mother and my step father, my parents divorced when I was two years old. I attended a Catholic School from kindergarten to the fifth grade; I dont recall attending any religious classes even though the school was right next to our Church. We went to Church every Sunday and that is the only time I remember learning anything about God. My mother changed my last name on my school records so it would be the same as hers. She said it was just easier that way but I wonder if that was the real reason, because I know now that Catholics view divorce as sinful behavior so they may have been pressuring her. It was around this time that my mother decided she needed to find a new religion as well. She told me we were converting to Judaism because she needed a religion that was more like a way of life than Catholicism. I didnt really care one way or the other at that point in my life I was just a kid. Divorce was a pretty normal occurrence in my family. My grandmother had eight siblings and three of her sisters, that were still living, were all divorced, they were also Catholic. My mothers only sibling my aunt was also Catholic and divorced. I didnt know until I got older that they were all considered sinners at Church. My older cousin knew because we went to the same school but she never told me. I have been married for twenty years and have never been divorced, not that I have never thought about it, just because I would rather just work out the problems than start over. I couldnt imagine that if I chose to get a divorce I would be committing a sin against God. Some of the time I actually think that it may bring me closer to God which is the opposite of sin so how could that be sinful. The divorce rate has declined slightly since 1982 but the number of divorces are still historically high (Alan J. Hawkins). Estimates are that about 40% of first marriages and an even higher rate of second marriages end in divorce. Some policy makers are trying to change both marriage and divorce laws to combat in the hope of bringing the divorce rate down (Alan J. Hawkins). Another way to combat divorce is to work on marriage and there are many faith based programs that offer workshops, retreats and marriage based enrichment programs. In some states take Florida for example you have to wait three days to obtain your marriage license unless you attend pre-marital counseling, and in Illinois you have to wait 60 days unless youve attended 4 hours of pre-marital counseling (Alan J. Hawkins). Some states are even diverting money from their temporary Assistance to Needy Families Funds to support pre-marital counseling. In the State of Florida marriage education is a class just like driver s education, and in Adrian County Michigan one court will not issue a marriage license without pre-marital education to anyone within its jurisdiction (Alan J. Hawkins). Some people feel that it is just too easy to get a divorce now days, and maybe a change in legislature would keep marriages together. Creating tax reforms that will benefit married couples and differentiating the ease of no-fault divorce laws, especially when there are children involved are two ways to combat the problem. The trend seems to be to keep the sanctity of marriage for economical reasons as well as spiritual reasons but how do the causes for divorce play into this dilemma? The top ten reasons I found were infidelity, poor communication, change in priorities due to having kids or job changes, lack of commitment to the marriage, sexual problems, addictions, failed expectations, physical and emotional abuse and the number one reason money (McCloud). These are all things that we have to go through to live and some look like reasonable reasons to file for divorce but for me to evaluate these reasons I have to figure out if they are harmful or sinful. 53% of American marriages end in divorce due to infidelity (Infidelity Facts). People cheat on their spouse for many reasons but men tend to cheat because of sex. They want to spread their seed or loose sexual desire for their wives especially after childbirth. Ive even heard it said that men are not made to be monogamous, or that their spouse is no longer as much fun as she was when they married. Some men commit adultery to feed their ego because they feel a need to be in control or to feel that they have made some type of conquest. Women on the other hand cheat more times than not because of the emotional deficiency they suffer in the marriage. Regarding poor communication I found a quote that summed it up pretty nicely Lack of communication is one of the leading causes of divorce. A marriage is on the rocks when the lines of communication fail. You cant have an effective relationship if either one of you wont discuss your feelings, cant talk about your mutual or personal issues, will keep your resentments simmering under wraps, and expect your partner to guess what the whole problem is about (Panse). Having a family definitely changes the dynamics in any household and all big changes affect the way a husband and wife interact with one another. It will infringe on the time you get to spend together, your finances will be affected, and your focus is altered. Some people get married because they feel they have to either the biological clock is ticking or they have a child out of wedlock, or maybe there is pressure from family or colleagues to tie the knot. Intimacy especially sexual can be a deal breaker only if you let it. In todays society there are surgeries and so many products available to enhance sexual arousal and drive that it seems easy to overcome. Most addictions can be treated in some type of medical forum but the key is in recognizing there is a problem and getting the treatment. Some people dont take any time to get to know the person they are marrying before they get married or tend to think they can change what they dont like about them. They are too often looking fo r a quick solution when it does not work out (Panse). Abuse is a horse of a different color Ive seen firsthand what mental and physical abuse does in a marriage. It tears people down and strips them of their self confidence. It does not seem rational to do this to another human being. Money, the root of all evil, I see the harm in all of these actions but I believe these are things God will forgive you for if you ask him to and as long as you discontinue the action. If the reasons for divorce are considered sinful it would seem to me that if you get rid of the sin causing the divorce you would no longer have reason to divorce. My findings on rationale for divorce may seem rationale to me but there are others who believe differently. The Bible for one is very clear on how God feels about divorce and there are various scriptures to prove it: I hate divorce, says the Lord God of Israel, and I hate a mans covering himself with violence as well as with his garment, says the Lord Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith (Malachi 2:16). What God has joined together, let man not separate . . . I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery (Matthew 19:6, 9). Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery (Mark 10:11-12). If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him (1 Corinthians 7:12-13) (Brittan). Some people are of a mind that you need to do whatever you have to do to stay married. They would even go so far to say that if you are already divorced for an unbiblical reason and you were a Christian when you got divorced, then you need to face the awfulness and seriousness of your sin (Brittan) and you shouldnt pretend that is was not wrong in the eyes of God. Additionally they give warning in scripture that you should not ask for Gods grace when you get divorced because that too is a sin They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord (Jude 4) (Brittan). I found one ministry that believes based on experience that staying in a non-feeling relationship and enduring the pain was worth going through because of the growth in the Lord they gained by doing so (Matthews). With all of the documentation in the Bible a good Chris tian would just do what the bible said and not get divorced, but I still wondered if there were ever any exceptions. There is also scripture to support divorce under certain circumstances: I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery (Matthew 19:9). Jesus said God only allowed divorce in the Old Testament because of the hardness of our hearts (Matthew 19:8). If you are married to an unbeliever, it is Gods desire for you to stay married (1 Corinthians 7:12-14, 16; 1 Peter 3:1-6). To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is n ot bound in such circumstances (1 Corinthians 7:12-15) (Brittan). Now all of this made me err on the side of caution if there are exceptions for divorce not being a sin in certain situations maybe I could find some documentation to counter all divorce as a sin. I ran across an article written by a Christian woman who had gone through a divorce and she admitted to being one of those Christians who frowned upon people who divorced. She commented on the spiritual crisis she endured and the questions she as a believer asked herself. She wanted to know if there was a Godly way to get through it, where to find God in the process, and if somehow this changed what type of Christian she was (Carsten). In doing so she found comfort in the word and a few passages that led her to the conclusion that when Gods says he hates divorce he is saying it out of compassion because of the destruction it causes. God wants us to be married for the protection and safety that it gives us and for the love it provides us. He cares more about human beings than he does an act like divorce (Carsten). Jesus showed us on many occasions how important rule keeping was in comparison to the needs of a person. One occasion in the Bible that confirms this is in the book of Matthew: At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. [2] When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath. [3] He answered, Havent you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? [4] He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated breadwhich was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. [5] Or havent you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? [6] I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. [7] If you had known what these words mean, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent. [8] For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:1-8) In conclusion I have found that some Christians take the word of God and use it in such a way that they turn Gods condemnation of acts into condemnation of people. They disregard his compassion for people and this discounts the very foundation of their religious faith, Jesus Christ. They speak of sin as sacraments against God when the sin is whatever you do that takes you away from God and causes you to lose faith in him. If you divorce and fall away from God in the process then you are committing a sin, and sinful acts to cause divorce can be forgiven but you have to commit yourself to keeping your faith and staying from those things that you ask Gods forgiveness for. In the beginning I wondered if divorce was acceptable to God or if it were a sin. I am concluding that it is acceptable and it is not a sin because divorce in and of itself is not the sin, the sin of divorce only occurs when you divorce God.

English Life

The and Adventures of Native Americans In the story The Morning the Sun Went Down, Darryl Babe Wilson discusses his personal Journey as a 20th century as an Indian living within and without the dominant American society. The documentary film Even the Rain by Iciar Bollain is about the issue of oppression in the world county and the history of global economics. However, the movie overlaps with not only the production of what is being filmed in the movie, but also as the struggle that the Bolivian people had with the government and water.The people are being overcharged for their water, even the rain water was not permitted to be obtained. Noam Chomsky, author of â€Å"The Zapatista Uprising Profit Over People,† states how the signing of the NAFTA resulted in a big problem for the indigenous people in Mexico. The Zapatista rebellion in Chiapas, Mexico and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the United States and Mexico were eliminated, including labor and environm ental services.The film A Century of Genocide in Americas: The Residential School Experience is about how Native American children were taken from their parents, ere forcedly sexually abused and were sent to residential schools in Canada and the United States because of their race. Each of these authors suffered In The Morning the Sun Went Down, author Darryl Babe Wilson states the nearly simple life spent as a young child growing up in the tradition and ways of his people came to a sudden and tragic end when his mother's life was taken by a large, commercial truck barreling down on the wrong side of an isolated highway while trying to gain speed. The engine had to produce more speed in order to produce money faster† (Wilson 170). When he and his siblings were not in school, they played a variety of games including: hide and seek, making soap bubbles, playing Stagecoach (where some of the children were passengers and others were â€Å"Indians†), running in the woods and swimming in the creeks. The boys tried to take rattlesnakes as their grandfather had. In those few moments, his world had directly intersected with the same unyielding, unforgiving, profit-driven force that has been chasing and decimating his people for more than 500 years.But the story starts much earlier than that. Although Darryl Wilson grew up in the mid-20th century, in many ways his life was no different. The father couldn't raise his family, as the state officials removed Darryl and his siblings from their motherless home and placed them under the Jurisdiction of the state. They â€Å"were now relocatable property of the State of California† (94). After years of being moved from one foster home to another, Darryl was turned over to Juvenile authorities, placed into a lock-down facility, being allowed out of his cell only to go to school.His life had become reduced as the land that once â€Å"simply fed us† (85). His â€Å"life withered and turned a silent gray † (79). Wilson was allowed to go to school for one simple reason: education was, and still is, a major means by which the disenfranchised are dealt with. The film Even the Rain (Tamien La Lluvia) by Iciar Bollain, addresses the issue of oppression in the world country and the history ot global economics. The tilm takes place in Cochabamba, Bolivia, which depicts t conquest of Christopher Columbus.As Sebastian and Costa arrive to Cochabamba, Bolivia, they go into a moral crisis. As the riots in Cochabamba break out on the njustices as the water price arose by 300 percent, resulted in a violent protest against the government by the indigenous Indians and the citizenry of Cochabamba. Therefore, Bolivia who claimed their rights. Unfortunately, Sebastian and Costa engage the cheap Indian population in the minor role by the average daily income for the Indians was $2 dollars a day.Spanish imperialism through incidents taking place 500 years apart, while examining the personal belief systems of the members. Iciar Bollain focuses on the priests Bartolome De Las Casas and the oppression of the Indian population by the Spanish invadors. As Columbus realized the wealth and great prestige that the territories might bring, he got to a point to get obsessed with the gold. He then enslaved the natives to bring gold and if they didn't bring enough gold, they would make them suffer. As Spain conquered the new world of gold 500 years later, water is gold which not much has changed.However, the movie reflects how the higher power not only in the past but the present still hurt these poor innocent people who only want to live. The movie shows how the Indies where being used by the higher power for the gold, which was by Christopher Columbus. The ovie Tambien la Lluvia, shows us how the Bolivian people whom are acting as the Indies are going through similar struggles by not being allowed to obtain â€Å"life† if strict rules aren't followed. These people couldn't affo rd water, in which it reflected life. This all reflects back on the past struggles of the Indies.Neither in the past or present could these people live without giving â€Å"non-obtainable† profits to the higher power without suffering the consequences of life and death. This movie showed me that something as small as water that we as Americans take for granted is something as precious as a life in another country. After seeing these people struggle and fght for the ability to Just obtain rain water hurt me to see. These people risked there Jobs, there city, and even their life's Just, so they could freely get rain water.I honestly would never think something ridiculous like this could be happening in a third world country where these people don't even make a quarter of what most of us make working a part time Jobs. This movies shows us how something like a title of government or power can ruin the lives of millions. It's hard to see how these people struggle and fght for some thing that shouldn't have a price to, but nfortunately that is how life is in other countries. So what is shown in the movie Tambien la Lluvia, the reflection of struggles in the past and present in the South all because of the greed of higher power should be remembered.Just because it happened hundreds of years ago doesn't mean that it's not going on still. It might be different but the struggles shown by the people in Bolivia for life and water should show us that nothing should be taken for granted. Just the way the people in the film do, after all theyre only fighting to survive with water that shouldn't have a price on. Everything in life has a price, but life it's self shouldn't. For the past several years, there has been an on going movement to liberate the large population of farmers in Mexico.These farmers are fighting to win back their pro-claimed rights to their farm land. In the world today the emphasis on human rights is strong, this is why the Zapatistas have gained so much attention. In Noam Chomskys â€Å"The Zapatista Uprising Pront Over People,† notes that â€Å"We are the product ot 500 years ot struggle. † (Chomsky 1) As the Zapatistas declaration of war stated, â€Å"The struggle today s for work, land, housing, food, health care, education, independence, freedom, democracy, Justice, and peace. † (Chomsky 1).Over 17,000 people are in hiding away from the land that they could be using as income for themselves as well as the Mexican government. Mexico's government is trying to come a major player in the world stock market, so why not help themselves by increasing the amount of exports that could be coming from the country by allowing the Zapatistas back onto their land. Furthermore, it reflects very poorly on a country when they have 17,000 people who are refugees in their own country. It simply does not make senses for the government to not allow the Zapatistas back on their land.Who is going to want to do business with a country who cant even find peace within itself? I support the Zapatistas in their movement because I believe human rights are a very import factor in upholding a country. People should be allowed to live off the land in which they were born to. It is not Just for some political fgure to say, â€Å"No you cannot live here anymore, find somewhere else to live. † Peace must be found in order to stabilize Mexico and to do this the Zapatistas must be given back their land.

Leadership of General George S. Patton Essay

The purpose of this research paper is to explore the different leadership styles that General George S. Patton Jr. used throughout his life, (November 11, 1885 until December 21, 1945). General Patton is often thought of as one of the most controversial generals in history. This paper will concentrate on events that happened in his life and how his determination, will and hard work helped him overcome and became a better leader. It is evident that in a review of the research General Patton was able to achieve many his success by determination and hard work to be the best in everything that he set his mind to accomplish. He was never happy, except when he was given the challenge of commanding men into battle. General Patton was a leader, a warrior and the most feared General by the Germans. General George S. Patton was a man who is often referred to as a great general, and leader of men who was equally just as controversial. His career in the Army was often a struggle for him to advance and receive the recognition that he deserved. This paper will cover the leadership styles of General Patton during the early, then during World War I. Next it will cover World War II and finally I will give my opinion on the subject. George S. Patton, who was sometime called Georgie, was an average child with the hopes and dreams of becoming a great military leader like his Grandfather, Great-Grandfather and many of his other relatives (Regan, 1960). He worked hard with his academic career to tried to get into West Point the United States Military Academy, but he was not accepted at first. Not deterred by this set back, he went to Virginia Military Institute (VMI) for a year (Reda, 2004). Even though he was going to VMI, he continued tirelessly to get accepted into West Point. Finally Patton was accepted into West Point, but he found it far more challenging then he imagined it would. The major reason that he had difficulty with the studies was because he was suffering from dyslexia, a disorder that caused everything to look backwards (Reda, 2004). Although faced with these difficulties, George never gave up, even when he was forced to repeat his plebe year, due to poor academic performance. However this failure to progress only strengthened his resolve and determination to better. In an effort of almost memorizing everything from his textbooks, he was able to achiev†¦

Critical Review of a Research Article - 2093 Words

Manchester University MEd Educational Psychology Student Registration Number: 440880 MD699 Research Issues in Psychology Critical Review of a Research Article Pupils who exhibit gifted characteristics along with another disability are referred to as ‘twice-exceptional students (Morrison, 2001; Nielsen 2002). This term is used in the article that I have chosen to review, which analyses the responses and perceptions through interview, of one particular individual (Andrew) who was identified as being gifted and talented (G/T) and who had emotional and behavioural disabilities (EBD). What the researchers aimed to accomplish through this analysis was a clearer understanding of Andrews community and school experiences, as they stated that†¦show more content†¦In this study there was no deficit in the amount of data collected by the questions asked by the researcher, with Andrew providing ‘depth and clarification (p.3) in some replies. The findings that the researchers identified (p.3) form the next part of my critique. The themes which were found through analysis of the data compare to other researchers who find that gifted children in particular suffer from various social vulnerabilities as a result of their special needs (Porter, 1999; Lovecky 1992; Schuler 2003). What strikes me about some of the data is the bias which comes across from Andrews reflections. He states, They uprooted me and put me in a classroom because of my behaviour instead of trying to deal with the behaviour in the classroom (p.3). The researchers analyse this as being the participants anger and frustration towards his labelled disabilities. He then goes on to describe, I dont remember a single thing that we did in there that I considered as being educational (p.3). Were these statements an actuality of what he would have stated at the time in question, or were they the result of his ability to reflect from a teachers perspective? 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