Teen suicides Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Teen suicides - Essay Example He was a homosexual and his private video with his gay companion was posted on the internet by his colleagues. Clementi did not find any other option suitable and opted for suicide by jumping off the bridge. His suicide was an example of cyberspace bullying and was a tragic happening which laid a great impact (Schwartz 2011). Phoebe Prince was a 15 year old girl who was also new in her school. She was the target of many bullies who used to call her with names and she was physically harassed as well. The internet and the social networking websites were also utilized to bully her. She also committed suicide when she could not handle the pressure and the bullying (Eckholm and Zezima 2010). These untoward incidents are clearly indicative of the fact that bullying has become a major problem in today’s world where it can lead to the deaths of teenagers who are victims of this crime. The involvement of social networking also has a major role to play as can be seen in the two cases. T he death of Tylor Clementi was mainly due to cyber bullying. The improper utilization of social networking websites combined with the inappropriate action taken against the cases of bullying has led to the incidence of teen suicides. Works Cited Schwartz, John. â€Å"Bullying, Suicide, Punishment.† The New York Times. 2 Oct. 2010. Web 4th March 2011.

Augustine and Freedom Essay -- Papers

Augustine and Freedom Evil-doing is neglect of eternal things and love of temporal things to the extent of becoming subject to them. This is done by the free choice of the will . . . Free will makes sin possible but it was given that man might live righteously.1 This is a brief summary of what Augustine believed regarding (1) the origin of sin and (2) the purpose for which humanity was endowed with free choice of the will. Though insightful as it may seem, Augustine's statement will not set to rest all the issues raised by the notion of human freedom and divine activity, since with free choice of the will come perplexing questions that continue to rage in philosophical circles. Some questions, however, can be set forth that outline parameters within which to begin understanding Augustine on the issue of human freedom and its origins/causes. If evil originates in the human will, from where does the will come? Are there any limitations to human freedom? Is the human will neutral or does it have a bias toward good? A bias toward evil? Where does free choice of the will come into play when individuals are saved by God's grace alone? What is meant by free will? On these questions, and many more related, Augustine has been an immense help. In this work an attempt will be made to illustrate Augustine's view of free will. Such categories as God's sovereignty in election and salvation, the origin of evil and its impact upon humanity, the justice of God, human responsibility and the providence of God in sanctification of the believer will be utilized. Augustine's understanding of human freedom should corroborate with (1) the nature and character of God, (2) the integrity of... ...God's relationship to time changed when time came into existence see William L. Craig, "God, Time and Eternity" Religious Studies 14 (1978): 497-503. 32.Norman L. Geisler, Philosophy of Religion (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, n.d.), note 10, chapter 14, 331. 33.Cf., Lewis and Demarest, Integrative, vol. 1, op. cit., 310-328. 34. On Free Will," Book II, xv, 48, AEW, 166. 35. Ibid. 36."The Simplican," The Second Question, 3, ALW, 388. 37.Ibid., 12, op. cit., 394-395. 38.AEW, Book III, vi, 18,181. 39."The Simplican," The Second Question, 13, ALW, 395. 40.William L. Craig, The Only Wise God (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987), 135. Though Craig holds to fallen creatures having power to contrary, it is likely that middle knowledge is still possible given the alternative view of freedom offered here (viz.,

Made to Order Babies

Imagine sitting down at a table and being handed a menu, but this is no ordinary menu to order food off of. No, this menu is at a medical clinic and it’s the menu to your new customized â€Å"designer baby†. Technology has advanced so much in the past couple years that this situation could happen very soon. If not in your lifetime, then in that of your children’s. What is a â€Å"designer baby†? It’s exactly as the words imply; a baby genetically modified to what the parents call â€Å"the perfect baby†. Today, the sex of the baby, the hair color, and the eye color can all be modified to the choice of the parent. And soon other things will be possible, such as modifying genetic defects in a baby. All of this would probably sound very appealing to someone that is just being introduced to the topic, but what about the side effects? Are there any? Is there any possibility that the baby will come out harmed or with some other defect that was caused by a â€Å"modification†? There are no answers for these questions, because even scientists and doctors do not know. So, should society take the risk of harming innocent babies to try and create â€Å"the perfect baby†? No, we should not. The â€Å"designer baby† is immoral and should be illegal. Nobody knows the side effects of modifying a baby, not even the scientists who conduct the research. Not only physical side effects, but also emotional and societal side effects. We do not know how society would perceive a genetically modified human. Procedures that are done to modify a baby include terminating some embryos. There are a lot of people who would see this action as immoral. If there are riots outside of clinics because they think of abortion as being immoral, those same people would most likely riot in protest to â€Å"designer babies†. There is also the question as to what will happen once everyone is â€Å"perfect† and â€Å"perfectly modified†. What will these â€Å"perfect† people think of those who already have genetic defects? They may think of them as inferior, and look down on them. That could lead to a new type of â€Å"genetic† discrimination (Baird 12-16). If laws were made against being able to design babies, then we would not have to worry about these problems. In 2009 an article titled Designing Rules for Designer Babies was published in the Scientific American magazine. The article says: In the U. S. , no binding rules deter a private clinic from offering a menu of traits or from implanting a woman with a collection of embryos. Physicians who may receive more than $10,000 for a procedure serve as the sole arbiters of a series of thorny ethical, safety and social welfare questions (29). With no binding laws or rules to this, some doctors will do the procedures just to get the money. It would definitely bring up questions about the doctors morals and if he/she really cares about their patients. Take, for example, Nadya Suleman, whom was implanted with genetically altered embryos. The doctor implanted her with a collection of six embryos. Two of those embryos split, making her pregnant with eight children. It does make everyone question her, but also the doctor. Did he take into account that she already had six children? Did he consider her financial status? (Designing Rules 29) Another question to ask is; how far do we go in â€Å"designing† our babies? The same article from Scientific American gives a perfect example of a situation that could happen: We could get carried away â€Å"correcting† perfectly healthy babies. Once we start down the slippery slope of eliminating embryos because they are diseased, what is to stop us from picking babies for their physical or psychological traits? What if this does happen? We could create a whole new generation based on what traits are the best for someone, or how knowledgeable everyone should be. In doing this, are we not doing the same thing Hitler tried to do; create the perfect humans? It didn’t get him very far, and won’t get society anywhere today. Some might say that designing a baby would be a great thing. That we could cure diseases and disorders before the baby is even born. But when a baby is â€Å"designed to get â€Å"rid† of disease and disorders, there are embryos that are killed in order to find â€Å"the perfect baby†. It could be considered the same thing as abortion. Our technological advances in the past couple years have greatly enhanced ociety. There are also technologies that will harm society. The â€Å"designer baby† is one of those technologies. It sounds very appealing to be able to create the child that you have always wanted, but we have always said that we were created the way we are for a reason, and we should keep saying that. No one knows the side effects of creating our babies, they could come out monsters f or all we know. If laws were put into effect against the â€Å"designer baby†, then we would be safe from these â€Å"monsters†.

Miracles of Jesus Free Essay Example, 1500 words

Jesus asked from where the bread could be taken and he was given only five loaves of bread and two fish. He asked his servants to serve the bread to the people present there and thanked the god. By miracle all the people ate as much as they could and after everyone left Jesus asked his servants to collect the leftover pieces so that nothing is lost. When his servants collected the leftover pieces 12 baskets were full (Guided Bible Studies, King James Bible - John 6:1-71 n. d.). This miracle showed the power over food. After this incident a lot of people started believing in Jesus as a â€Å"prophet† and that he was a wonder to the people. A deeper meaning of this symbol is that food here not only represents the physical thing that is used to feed humans but is also talking about that spiritual food that feeds the soul of the person and that none could remain hungry in the presence of Jesus (Signs and Miracles in John n. d.). 5. The fifth miracle that was performed by Jesus Ch rist that eventually affected his deity was that he walked on the water in a sea storm. We will write a custom essay sample on Miracles of Jesus or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now The disciples were going on a ship into sea whereas Jesus had gone over to the mountain but at night they got caught up in a night storm and they saw Jesus coming towards them by walking in the sea. They got fearful but then when Jesus assured them that it was the real him they welcomed him on the boat and that time the ship immediately reached its destination. This miracle shows the power invested by god to Jesus over the natural laws. As the disciples met Jesus they passed over to the safe side and in a deeper meaning this shows the power God has over the life and death of humans (Guided Bible Studies, King James Bible John 6:1-71 n. d.). Through this God’s power over the natural laws was revealed and his closeness with Jesus was revealed. This miracle revealed his deity by implying that even in the storms of life Jesus will always be there with them as he encompasses the rules of the nature. 6. The sixth miracle done by Jesus was that of g iving sight to a blind man. Jesus met this man on a journey and found out that the man was blind by birth. People of the area believed that the man was blind either because his parents had sinned or because he had sinned as they were taught this according to the Jewish law (Keener 1993). Jesus assured the people that this was not the case as no one had sinned and he went ahead and mixed his own saliva with clay and asked the blind man to rub the mixture on his eyes. The man did as he was asked and when he cleaned his eyes again with the water from the clean pool of Siloam the blind man could see again clearly.