LBST Assignment 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

LBST Assignment 3 - Essay Example stant faith the head authority is the individual, in orthodox Christianity this authority has been given to the seven ecumenical councils of their church. In other Christian groups, the scriptures are the main guidelines of faith but in the Eastern Church the writings of Greek fathers such as John Chrysostom, and St. Basil the Great are relied on heavily for teachings and some of their faith confessions of the 17th century are seen to have only historical significance (ReligionFacts, 2004). The Eastern churches place their emphasis on an individual’s experience with the truth and was able to produce a lot of what would be considered significant theological and philosophical thought in the first millennium and this is in contrast with the Western churches. Sin is viewed as the cause of the blurring of the human state from being in the image of God to being less human and ends in death according to the Eastern Church. In their opinion, salvation was set to reestablish mans relationship with God and reunite humans with the divine and not as a legal pardon as is the belief with the Western churches. These maintain the belief that human beings had freedom which they abused in the form of sin and it was taken away accompanied by a punishment and this is where grace and the forgiveness of sin through the and salvation comes in. The churches differ in their opinions of the trinity. The Eastern Church delves more into the preexistent and divine nature of Christ contrary to the Western Churches that delve more into the human nature of Christ. The difference in their views of the Holy Spirit led to the 11th century split due to the addition of the word filioque that was supposed to elaborate the divinity of the Son (ReligionFacts, 2004). The Eastern Church holds the belief that the spirit and the son have their origin from the father but the addition implies that the spirit proceeds from the father. The churches do not disagree on all religious view points. Both churches

Legalization of Marijuana Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Legalization of Marijuana - Research Paper Example The economic feasibility of decriminalizing marijuana has become a much-discussed subject in recent years. The federal government presently spends a lot of capital on law enforcement to combat distributors and producers of drugs. By legalizing drugs this could eradicate much of the profit, bloodshed and corruption of that trade. If legalizing drugs is to have a positive effect on the crime rate, drugs must be made both inexpensive and available. Studies have repetitively suggested that prohibiting marijuana in the U.S. has not shown to be efficient or effective. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, â€Å"U.S. federal, state and local governments have spent hundreds of billions of dollars trying to make America ‘drug-free.’ Yet heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other illicit drugs are cheaper, purer and easier to get than ever before. (â€Å"England,† 2006) According to a report in The Economist (Case for Legalization, 2001), concerns that a growing drug-usin g and dependent population would emerge if marijuana was made more available are false. Although the magazine acknowledges that the price of the drug is artificially high, it attributes this to the difficulties involved in circumventing the law. The authors of this report indicate that it is only because of the high cost and the difficulty to obtain it that more individuals have not experimented with it. Instead, they become addicted, either physically or psychologically, to other, often more harmful yet legal substances such as prescription medications or alcohol. To support their argument in favor of legalization even should the numbers of suspected users rise, the Economist article (Case for Legalization, 2001) draws on the theories of John Stuart Mill. Mill’s ideas were founded on the concept that adult citizens should have the right to make their own choices regarding whether or not to participate in activity as long as it does no harm to others. This is a founding theor y that has been mostly ignored in decisions made regarding alcohol and tobacco, both of which have proven to directly cause significant harm to innocent others, but has not been ignored regarding Class C substances such as marijuana. However, the arguments that more people would become regular users of the substance are unfounded. In addition to the fallacies of the anti-legalization side regarding increased use, the damage perpetrated on those involved with marijuana far outweighs the benefits achieved by current legislation and yet continues to exist. Poor countries where the drug is produced are quickly being overrun by criminals and thugs, people who make breaking the law on numerous levels. Because production and exportation is considered a criminal activity, the actual criminals are finding success rather than defeat. Individuals within the rich countries who buy the drugs are often otherwise productive members of society. Smoking marijuana, for medical or other reasons, is of ten their only ‘crime’ yet they face a no tolerance policy that places them in prison, destroys their chances to continue being the productive people they were before and irreparably harms them in many other ways. Under legalization, governments would be able to standardize the quality, regulate the ages