Social Science Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social Science Studies - Essay Example This has been one of the most profound scientific investigations of man kind. The search for the answers to life have eluded man for decades, although in recent years many evolutionists, researchers, religious leaders, and other renowned historians claim that they are closer than ever to gaining the answers to the questions that have been sought after for centuries. Much of this is based on the phenomenon of religion and what it means to people in society. If anything, religion gives people something steadfast to believe in, and brings a source of inspiration to many lives. Without this specific icon of belief there are many that claim life would be blank and meaningless because religion is a part of the natural history of man. It is also claimed that the concept of religion was developed to exert social control over various groups in society. This is stated because it is known that the body of religion leads to many human emotions and activities. Some of these being very profound emotional states such as fear, wonder, reverence, gratitude, love, prayer, worship, and ultimate sacrifice (Swatos 2006). There is no doubt that those who follow a religious faith turned towards their religion as a guidance to help them in their lives. Also, whether people are going through good times or bad, they are found to worship what they believe in and it dictates many aspects of their life to them, basically in a sense of understanding what is right and wrong. Furthermore, as has been mentioned, many moral decisions are based around the essence of religion. For Christians, they realize that committing an act such as murder might condemn them to hell so by following the structure of their religious teachings they would ref rain themselves from such an act regardless of what might have lead to the contemplation of it to begin with. So it can be seen that another possibility for the science of religion lies in the concept of morals in human kind (Cline 2006). To delve a little deeper into the meaning in behind religion it is found that a great deal of people who are religious turn to their beliefs for many answers. They do believe that what they worship will provide them with the answers that they seek. At times this is very true and others it is not, but it gives purpose to many peoples lives. As it has been stated, those who follow a religious stature would not fully grasp their purpose in life or feel as whole without its presence. In this regard many could claim that it developed to bring a sense of peace to the human race so that they would feel more at ease in times of troubles and strife. It is feasible to see how the scientific context for religion has developed through the ages. The search for how human kind developed lead to the strong need of faith to try and interpret and understand for many, many people throughout the world. Though many religious ideas differ they all hold certain similarities as well. For whatever the reason it has become a very profound state of being in the world for many different ethnicities and cultural groups. Education Education in society has a variety of reasons for developing and playing a big part in the social life of all people. Without the educational system societies all

The Black Death and its aftermath Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Black Death and its aftermath - Essay Example The religious view argued that the "Black Death" was created by the Jews so that they could eliminate all the Christians from this world. They believed that the Jews had poisoned all the wells and springs. Therefore, they persecuted the Jews demanding them to confess their evil schemes. Many of the Jews confessed that they obtained this lethal poison from a foreign land but it was done without the knowledge of the Jewish community. Many communities had to pray hard for rain so that their people could have pure water to drink and cook. Some of the regions that were severely affected by this disease believed that God would want the Jews to be punished for this act. So they began to burn the Jews for poisoning all the wells and springs. As a result of the torture, many Jews were adopted to the Christian faith through baptism in order to avoid undeserved punishment 2 (Horrox, 1994). The religious view also argued that the plague was a punishment from God. They believed that the human race deserved to be punished because of their disobedience to God. People lived lifestyles that were sinful, unrighteous and not pleasing to him. Because of this, God had to demonstrate his sovereign power by allowing humanity to suffer. People could be cured from this disease but in order to be healed they had to humble themselves and totally submit to His authority. In comparison, the practitioners from Egyptian and Mesopotamian nations had 'medicine' to make peace with the gods. They believed that performing certain rituals and incantations before the sick person would cause him to be delivered from the demon spirit, for they all believed that diseases were caused by demons 3 (Horrox, 1994; & Longrigg, 1998). The medical theory presented two main explanations on the plague. Firstly, they believed that the cause of 'Black Death' was associated with "miasma" which means "bad air". They said that when a person inhales 'bad air' it goes directly into their lungs before it gets transmitted into their blood stream. Therefore, it starts to affect the patient's body by generating various symptoms such as headaches, coughing up blood, and a rain increase in the pulse rate. 2 The disease also would spread quickly into the air when the afflicted patient exhaled. This medical theory supported the fact that the air was not the main cause of the plague; instead, the plague was a direct result of the pollution or bacteria in the air that which was the cause for the disease. So when a normal individual contracted the disease through an afflicted person, they were both required to immediately leave the town before they passed it on to more people4 (Horrox, 1994). The medical theory also claimed that the plague was caused by an imbalance in the individuals' diet. For instance, individuals with inadequate nourishment were more vulnerable to the plague than people with malnutrition. People who consume an adequate amount of water were less susceptible to the disease. This indicated that the socioeconomic status was a significant factor in determining the rate at which the disease spread. Therefore, people from low class families were mainly blamed for the elevation of 'Black Death'. The medical view