Christians and the Environment Essay -- Environment

The lyrics of Michael Jackson’s Earth Song are sobering. Those who have seen the video of the song probably remember how vividly he passionately sang, â€Å"What have we done to the world? Look what we've done.† While understanding the risks involved, human beings seem to care little about the environment. Every day that passes seems to leave the world with more to be concerned with, the ever-increasing pollution, the deforestation, and the threat of nuclear waste. Taking responsibility for the environment is a duty that Christians should commit to. In fact, Christians should lead the world in taking specific actions in the preservation and restoration of the environment. Some environmentalists have blamed Christianity for the abuse of the environment. The 1967 article by Lynn White suggests that Christianity’s theology of the domination of creation is based on the premise that God created everything that exists for the humankind’s use and should be exploited for that purpose. By this, White alleged that Christians do not feel the obligation to take care of the nature, because it was created to serve them. While it may not be entirely true, many Christians do not object to this accusation. They realize that either their faith has been minimalist in its approach to environmental involvement, or it has completely disregarded environmental issues as irrelevant to the fundamentals of the faith. The Christian church however has realized, in recent times, its responsibility and stewardship of the earth. Allan Effa agrees, â€Å"the Christian community is reexamining some of its theological assumptions and filling in some gaping blind spots in its understanding of the missio Dei† (God’s purpose). Thus with a changing attitude, Christians are... ... Universe. http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/michaeljackson/earthsong.html (accessed May 8, 2012). Santa Clara University "The Common Good vs Individualism." Santa Clara University - Welcome. http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v5n1/common.html (accessed May 8, 2012). Radford Ruether, Rosemary, "Ecology and Theology: Ecojustice at the Center of the Church's Mission," Interpretation: A Journal Of Bible & Theology 65, no. 4 (October 2011), 354-363. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed May 7, 2012). Feuerbach, Ludwig and George Eliote. The Essence of Christianity. New York:Calvin Blanchad, 1855) Google Books, http://books.google.com/books?id=Lsvo-mgtuc0C (accessed May, 7 2012), 361. Effa, Allan. "The Greening of Mission." International Bulletin Of Missionary Research 32, no. 4 (October 2008): 171. MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed May 7, 2012).

Nonconformity vs. Stereotyping

Since the dawn of the first tattoo, there has been a cloud of judgment hanging over the tattoo scene. In the early days, only the wealthy could afford one; however, that all changed with the invention of the electric tattooing machine. After that, tattoos were everywhere, inescapable. The â€Å"degenerates,† as society began to label them, were seen as social abnormalities and have been associated with the mentally insane.The topic of this essay is to debate whether New York Times columnist David Brooks’ â€Å"Nonconformity is Skin Deep† is a better argument than Associated Content blogger Georga Hackworth’s â€Å"Stigmas, Stereotypes in Tattooing: Why the Medical Community is to Blame. † Both articles offer insight to their respective feelings on the subject of tattooing; both are strongly opinionated, yet only one can be the winner of this essay, and that winner is David Brooks’ â€Å"Nonconformity is Skin Deep,† as he excels over th e opposition.David Brooks’ â€Å"Nonconformity is Skin Deep† argument that tattooing is becoming a social trend is persuasive; he backs this by stating that tattoos are everywhere, inescapable. He wants us to assume that behind every judge, teacher, lawyer, housewife, etc lurks ink. Brooks makes a mockery of the â€Å"tattoo fad† by writing, â€Å"these are expressions of commitment†¦they don’t always work out†¦but the longing for permanence is admirable† (Brooks). Hackworth’s â€Å"Stigmas, Stereotypes of Tattooing: Why the Medical Community is to Blame† is just as convincing as Brooks’.She blames the psychology and psychiatry branch for their portrayal of people with tattoos as â€Å"homosexuals, fetish enthusiasts, and barbaric†(Hackworth). She backs up this claim with evidence published in 1985’s â€Å"Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. † Hackworth gives a brief history of the art of tattooing, discussing how in its early days was reserved only for the rich, only later to be adopted by the common man with the invention of the electric tattooing machine.As soon as tattoos became affordable, the rich turned away as they no longer represented a social status. Soon after, only circus â€Å"freaks† and social outcasts became the rep for people with tattoos, a stereotype still reverberated today, a century later. Brooks and Hackworth rely heavily on their own expertise on the subject of tattooing. Brooks is an accomplished editor with a vast audience base of the upper crusts of society. Hackworth is a â€Å"sexpert† blogger who has felt the sting of being unjustly persecuted because of her tattoos.Hackworth’s â€Å"Stigmas†¦Ã¢â‚¬  was written from a first hand account; she, like most of the population with tattoos, has felt this unjustified stereotype as being social outcasts. She claims that ironically the tattoo artist is label ed as ‘barbaric’ yet the medical nurse is the one who jabs at her with various needles. Brooks sees the fad as a consumer product that will soon die out, leaving everyone with a tattoo, left out of popularity. According to Brooks, the trend of trying to stray from being a nonconformist is quickly becoming a conformity that is affecting everyone.Hackworth does not do justice with her piece; she makes many grammatical errors that hurt her article than help it, making her seem unworthy of our time. Brooks comes off as knowledgeable, smart, and humorous making his case more credible.Works Cited Brooks, David. â€Å"Nonconformity is Skin Deep. † New York Times 27 August 2006. Hackworth, Georga. â€Å"Stigmas, Stereotypes of Tattooing: Why the Medical Community is to Blame. † 13 June 2008. Associated Content. September 2010 .

Deaf Like Me by Thomas S. Spradley and James P. Spradley

Have you ever felt like there was nothing that you can do for your child? In this book, Deaf Like Me, by Thomas S. Spradley and James P. Spradley, I can see the journey that Lynn’s parents took to get her help. (Spradley Spradley, 1978). This book was an excellent read. I really liked the way that they described the ways they tried to help Lynn to understand the world around her. The book, is a great asset for any family that might be unexpectedly put into a situation that they know nothing about such as a deaf child. The author Thomas S. Spadley is Lynn’s father. He is the one that was with them all the time and saw all that his wife Louise tried for their daughter to understand them. The greatest qualification for him to write†¦show more content†¦Overall, his perspective helped to make the book a little more interesting in that he was not all the time there. Lynn’s deafness was found through a series of many events. These events consisted of seein g many doctors to see if she could hear or not. Lynn was taken to a doctor to make sure that her ears where fully developed, this doctor said that she was fine. Lynn was also taken to a speech therapist that told them that she could learn and that all she needed was to be talked too. Just talking to her would do it all and that one day she would be able to talk to them. This information gave them some hope that she would be able to communicate someday. They also tried the John Tracy course to help her better learn to lip read to be able to talk to them. This had over a thousand classes to it and things for the family to do. Which they tried intensely with Lynn and did the games and things that came with it with her on a daily basis. (79). Some of the reasons that they thought Lynn could hear where: that when she was six months old, Lynn, had started to make noises and babble (27).No baby could do that except if they hear the noises around them. Then when she was about two she was taken to get a hearing test done. The Audiologist told them,† That she could hear at 90 decimals at her hearing test†. The Audiologist did not say that she was completely deaf, so there was hope (45). This is when they started other things to help Lynn. They got in touch with people aroundShow MoreRelatedDeaf Like Me by Thomas S. Spradley and James P. Spradley1606 Words   |  7 Pages Have you ever felt like there was nothing that you can do for your child? In the book, Deaf Like Me, by Thomas S. Spradley and James P. Spradley, I can the journey that Lynn’s parents had to take to get her help. This book was excellent I really liked the way that they described the ways that they tried to help Lynn to understand the world around her. In this book, I also saw how a mother and father will do anything for their child so that they can understand all that is around them. This book,Read MoreEssay on Deaf Like Me1324 Words   |  6 PagesClayton 4/15/ 2010 ASL Research Paper Deaf Like Me By Thomas S. Spradley James P. Spradly Epilogue By Lynn Spradley Deaf Like Me is a story compiled together by Thomas and James Spradley. It is a compelling story about two hearing+ parents struggling to cope with their daughters overwhelming deafness. This powerful story expresses with simplicity the love, hope, and anxieties of all hearing parents of deaf children. In the epilogue, Lynn Spradley, herself, now a teenager thinks back about Deaf Like Me by Thomas S. Spradley and James P. Spradley Have you ever felt like there was nothing that you can do for your child? In the book, Deaf Like Me, by Thomas S. Spradley and James P. Spradley, I can the journey that Lynn’s parents had to take to get her help. This book was excellent I really liked the way that they described the ways that they tried to help Lynn to understand the world around her. In this book, I also saw how a mother and father will do anything for their child so that they can understand all that is around them. This book, is also a great asset to any family that might be unexpectedly thrown into a situation that they do not expect such as a deaf child. The author Thomas S. Spadley is Lynn’s father. He is the one that was with them all the time and saw all that his†¦show more content†¦In this school they wanted for all the children to be oral by the time that they got to kindergarten and be ready for regular academics. (148) this was there second time with professionals that had their ide as of what a deaf child should be able to do. Lynn started school with a teacher named Ms. Taylor that began to teach the children so that they could recognize what they needed to be successful later on in their schooling. Dr. Barrington, a psychologist, taught a class to the parents of deaf children on how to read to them so that they understand. (175) this is where the Spradleys’ learned that the more they read to Lynn the better she would understand them and be able to lip read what they were saying. Lynn also went to the Starr school that they wanted to keep as an Oral school, so she had to learn to speak. (207) When going to a PTA Meeting for the school, this is when Louise and Tom saw a deaf couple signing to each other. This is when they met with Bill and Kim that taught them that Lynn could learn to sign and that it would be a good thing for them to learn also. In the first week Lynn could sign thirteen words that she had already knew and just did not have anything to go along with the word. As the family learned more and more about Lynn and her deafness, the reader can see that they began to accept it. The changes all came slowly, the more that they learned about the disability that Lynn had. The reader can see that at first they did notShow MoreRelatedDeaf Like Me by Thomas S. Spradley and James P. Spradley1665 Words   |  7 PagesHave you ever felt like there was nothing that you can do for your child? In this book, Deaf Like Me, by Thomas S. Spradley and James P. Spradley, I can see the journey that Lynn’s parents took to get her help. (Spradley Spradley, 1978). This book was an excellent read. I really liked the way that they described the ways they tried to help Lynn to understand the world around her. The book, is a great asset for any family that might be unexpectedly put into a situation that they know nothingRead MoreEssay on Deaf Like Me1324 Words   |  6 PagesClayton 4/15/ 2010 ASL Research Paper Deaf Like Me By Thomas S. Spradley James P. Spradly Epilogue By Lynn Spradley Deaf Like Me is a story compiled together by Thomas and James Spradley. It is a compelling story about two hearing+ parents struggling to cope with their daughters overwhelming deafness. This powerful story expresses with simplicity the love, hope, and anxieties of all hearing parents of deaf children. In the epilogue, Lynn Spradley, herself, now a teenager thinks back about