The use of the internet among the youth fosters social cohesiveness Essay

The use of the internet among the youth fosters social cohesiveness - Essay Example While most of the adult population continues to admonish the youths for their addiction to the internet, the platform creates an effective platform for interaction among the group thus fostering social cohesiveness. The internet among many other telecommunication developments have succeeded in making the world a global village thus overcoming the geographical barriers that had impaired human interactions. The use of the internet in the contemporary society coupled with the use of the social network sites such create a virtual society in which the youths interact and widen their networks thus sharing social values most of which they transfer to the actual society thus creating a cohesive society as the essay below portrays. The concern shared among most parents about the internet is that the platform has nor effective regulation and therefore exposes the users to unedited content most of which derail morality in the society. Such parents fear that their children would therefore acquir e undesirable behavior pattern from the internet and lose morality. The internet is indeed creates a cosmopolitan society by pooling people from diverse backgrounds together. Additionally, the internet is an unorthodox media that operates on the pull technology. Unlike the traditional media, internet places the power of choice and censure on the hands of the user. The user thus determines the contents to access and those to censure. Such features present challenges particularly with the adolescent a group of hyperactive individuals always willing to experiment especially with their sexuality (Agosto and June 55). Given the nature of the internet and the resources it pools together, the platform may prove detrimental especially to the young population. The internet creates a virtual reality in which the user determines his or her social grouping without the restriction or limitation of space. Young users therefore become exposed to corruptible and unedited content. Additionally, the internet presents the user with millions of users from all over the world. The social media have succeeded in creating a virtual society on the internet. At such, the internet presents the users with myriad of characters who enjoy the beneficial features of the internet such as anonymity and may therefore post whichever content they deem fit without any form of censure. As such, the internet thus becomes the greatest deterrent feature to the creation of cohesive and ethical societies. Despite the valid concerns raised by most parents and opponents of the idea to expose the youth to the internet, the internet still poses the features capable of developing responsive behavior among the youths thus contributing to the creation of cohesive societies. Just as explained earlier, the internet creates virtual societies by drawing participants from all over the world. Additionally, the intensive interaction on the internet has succeeded in turning the world into a global village in which any one anywhere is accessible and communication is therefore real-time. Among the key factors that people exchange over the internet is culture, culture refers to way of life including sets of human behavior, their attire, dietary and religion among others. The internet is the most effective platform on which the users interact and share views on different social views on a global platform. In the different chat rooms, users inform each other of the latest developments in different parts of the world thus increasing the user’s understanding of the world and their societies (Lupa 30). Peace and unity are social and cultural concepts referring to the cohesive societies in different par

Business Simulation Games Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business Simulation Games - Essay Example The blending of content curricular and design simulation technology gives the students risk-free opportunities that test various strategies that drive corporate activities. Our participation in such games gave us a chance of integrating strategic and financial strategies for their virtual businesses (Blazic, Ribeiro & Arh 2012, p. 13).  Serious computer games from a part of the new and emergent educational environment based on sophisticated technologies and elements of entertainment (William & Klass 2007, p. 4). For this case, there is a need to define a serious computer game. A serious game is one whose primary function is to provide education of any type rather than entertainment. The games provoke active learner involvement and as such, they form one of the best learning platforms for the students. There are unique properties of the games that define their relevance to the education system because they attract concentrations that other methods fail to do. This paper is, therefor e, a personal report of the strategies of a game played for group work projects. The paper has eleven parts, which altogether outline the strategies that the game employed and their relevance of the game to real-life situations. After the introduction, the ten remaining parts will proceed in the sequence outlined. Next, there shall be a competitive strategy, external overview analysis, internal summary analysis, the decisions taken, the results, and strategic directions. The remaining parts will discuss the underlying strategic principles, the key learning outcomes and finally, the reflections and conclusion.

Impact of Globalisation on Land Use and Food Security

Impact of Globalisation on Land Use and Food Security Discuss the impact of globalisation on land use and food security in developed tropical areas. Globalisation over the past decades has impacted on major fields worldwide. It connects the world through trade, human migration, markets and capital flows and social and political institutions (Lambin Meyfroidt, 2011). With the projected population growth of 9 billion in 2030 (Grau Aide, 2008), the pressure on land use has become a major issue, the main reason being that land is a limited resource. There is no doubt that urbanization and technology breakthrough and population growth have a direct impact on the available land. This essay will argue that the impacts of globalisation have been rather negative, causing mass deforestation and pressure on the available fertile soils and yielding to an increase in abandoned lands which in turn have damaged the biomes of these forests. It will also include some possible solution to the problems caused by globalisation on land use. Globalisation has given rise to massive deforestation all over the planet. According to Lambin and Meyfroidt (2011), the land lost to degradation for the period 2000 to 2030 is predicted to be 30 to 87 Million per hectare, (Mha) and for the same period the total land demand predicted is 303 to 845 Mha. These authors further predict that the existing protected areas will continue to expand at a rate of 0.9 to 2.7 Mha per year while 1 to 2.9 Mha will become unsuitable for cultivation for the same period. Thus the available land for cultivation will be taken up rapidly and forests are bound to be cleared for cultivation in the near future. According to the same authors, deforestation is significantly affected by the spatial dynamics caused by displacement, rebound, cascade and remittance. The effect of these four factors are linked to migration of people, international growing trade and land conversion. Furthermore the change in diet and eating habits of the world growing population has contributed immensely to agricultural expansion (Grau Aide, 2008). A clear example of impact of globalization, deforestation and growing food demand can be seen in Brazil. For the past years, Brazil has been producing soy intensively for the South East Asia (soy boom). This phenomenon has a double effect on the world. The soy boom based partly on transgenic cultivars supplies the world with high quality food thus alleviating the increasing food demand and has a positive outcome for the Brazilian economy, but on the other hand this production has caused immense deforestation and damage of Biosystems in Brazil. The principal area of damage is the Amazon basin (Houghton et al. 1991; Laurance 1998; Lambin et al. 2003) cited by Grau Aide (2008)). Paragraph 2 One solution to cater for the diminishing fertile land would be modern agriculture. Modern agriculture can enhance food productivity and efficient use of fertile soils. Paragraph 3 The other factor contributing to depletion of the fertile soil around the world and to deforestation is the rapidly growing population, the constant increase in food demand and  new eating habits. There is evidence that land use has been highly affected by globalisation causing problems worldwide. This essay has discussed the various aspects of the problems. Both Lambin Meyfroidt (2011) and Grau Aide (2008) agree that efficient land management, technological advancement through new high yield crops and second generation biofuels as well as appropriate investments plans for the restoration of degraded lands are potential solutions to sustain food productivity and efficient land use. Furthermore, with modern agriculture, better policies and collaboration within countries, the available land can still produce enough food for the world while preserving biodiversity and our forests. The fertile lands could be used to cultivate high yield crops while the low productive lands could be used to grow crops for biofuels. Moreover technical knowhow in agriculture could contribute immensely towards research and innovation for the promotion of new plants adapted to grow in marginal and ab andoned lands. In this way, these lands could be restored and the plants cultivated would keep the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide as well as the biodiversity of the area. Reference List: Calum Brown, Dave Murray-Rust, Jasper van Vliet, Shah Jamal Alam,Peter H. Verburg, Mark D. Rounsevell, Experiments in Globalisation, Food Security and Land Use Decision Making, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP, United Kingdom, Institute for Environmental Studies, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Eric F. Lambin Patrick Meyfroidt, 2011, Global land use change, economic globalization, and the looming land scarcity, School of Earth Sciences and Woods Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305; and Earth and Life Institute, Georges Lemaà ®tre Centre for Earth and Climate Research, University of Louvain, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium Grau, HR M Aide 2008,Globalization and land-use transitions in Latin America Ecology and Society 13(2):16. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss2/art16/ Patrick Meyfroidt, Eric F. Lambin (UCL/Stanford) et al., Globalization of land use: Global land use trends, potentially available cropland and paths of commodity crop Expansion, F.R.S.-FNRS Università © catholique de Louvain (UCL), Earth and Life Institute, TECLIM research center, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium Rachael D Garrett, Ximena Rueda Eric F Lambin2013, Globalizations unexpected impact on soybean production in South America: linkages between preferences for non-genetically modified crops, eco-certifications, and land use, Environmental Research Letters, Volume 8, Number 4 Schmitz, C , Biewald, A, Lotze-Campen, H, Popp, A, Dietrich, JP, Bodirsky, B, Krause, M, Weindl, I, 2012, Global Environmental Change-Human And Policy Dimensions, Vol.22(1), pp.189-209

Ulysses S Grant Essay -- American History

Ulysses S Grant Although Ulysses S. Grant's contemporaries placed him in the highest position of great Americans along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, the twentieth century has seen him fade. His presidency has been almost universally condemned, and he is consistently ranked second to rock bottom Warren G. Harding in polls of historians to rate the presidents. Although his military reputation has declined as well, it nevertheless continues to win him a steady following. Even his most faithful admirers, however, tend to end their studies conveniently at Appomattox, and one senses a wide regret that Grant's public career extended beyond the Civil War. Taking note of this trend, John Y. Simon observes that some biographers "seem to have wished that Grant had accepted Lincoln's invitation to Ford's Theatre" on the night the president was shot- the night that John Wilkes Booth had intended to assassinate Grant along with Lincoln. Much of what has been passed down as an objective appraisal of Grant's presidency more closely resembles the partisan critiques that were produced by a relatively small group of performers during the 1870's-- in many ways the intellectual ancestors of the present historical profession. Although such a minority can sometimes be a source of enlightenment, in this case, it has contributed a monolithic picture of a complex era that is about as depressing as it is inaccurate. Little consideration is given the checkered nature of Grant's eight years of the Gilded Age. Michael Les Benedict observes that Grant "dominated his era, a stronger resident than most have recognized". In both the domestic and foreign realms, President Grant could claim a wide range of achievements. In the aftermath... ... the corruption / civil service reform issue was more important than such issues as Reconstruction, international crises, Indian affairs, and the multitude of economic matters, all combined. As William B. Hesseltine admits in his definitive study of President Grant, "Grant's enemies....stuffed the ballot boxes of history against Grant..." Bibliogaphy Garland, Hamlin. Ulysses S. Grant; his life and character. New York: Doubleday & McClure Co., 1898. King, Charles. The True Ulysses S. Grant. Philadelphia, London, J.B. Lippincott Company, 1914. Ringwalt, J. Luther (John Luther) Anecdotes of General Ulysses S. Grant illustrating his military and political career and his personal traits. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1886. Richardson, Albert D. (Albert Deane). A personal history of Ulysses S. Grant. Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company, 1868.

Effect of Plant Densities and Phosphorus Levels on the Growth

Effect of plant densities and phosphorus levels on the growth and yield of vegetable cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. ) var. Arka Garima K. RAVI KUMAR1 AND V. SUDHA VANI2 Department of Horticulture, College of Horticulture, Venkataramannagudem-534 101, Andhra Pradesh, India. E-mail : [email  protected] com ABSTRACT A field experiment was conducted at College of Horticulture, Venkataramannagudem to study the effect of plant density and phosphorus levels on the growth and yield of vegetable cowpea variety Arka Garima under irrigated conditions.The study revealed that the crop responded to plant densities as well as phosphorus levels. The biometric characters like number of primary branches per plant (8. 52), pod length (21. 31 cm), pod girth (12. 35 mm), number of pods per plant (37. 02), number of seeds per pod (16. 85), pod weight per plant (10. 93 g) and pod yield per plant (301. 85 g) were higher at lower density plants (37,037 plants/ha) along with 60 kg P2O5/ha. The growth and yiel d characters like plant height (52. 47 cm), TDM accumulation (3968. 04 kg/ha), days to flowering (34. 73 days), days to first picking (44. 8 days) and pod yield (152. 87 q//ha) were showed better expression in case of high density planting (74,074 plants/ha) along with 60 kg P2O5/ha. The interaction effect of plant densities and phosphorus levels were significant on plant height, total dry matter accumulation and days to flowering, pod length, pod weight per plant, and yield per plant and pod yield /ha. Key words: Growth, yield, plant density, phosphorus level, vegetable cowpea Cowpea plays a substantial role by serving as a grain and vegetable crop mainly for the rural people in the East, West, South and Central parts of Africa (Mortimore et al. 1997). According to FAO (2007), cowpea is produced annually on 11. 2 mha ranking 3rd after common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. ) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum L. ) with Africa taking the lead followed by Asia. It is extensively grown in Sout h India particularly in the states of Karnataka and Tamilnadu. Cowpea used at all stages of its growth including as a vegetable (Ofori and Stern, 1986). Vegetable cowpea variety Arka Garima is a bushy type. Pods are thick, light green, long, round, stringless and highly fleshy. Yield potential of Arka Garima is 18 t/ha.The optimum plant population is an important parameter for increasing the crop productivity and provides the plant with the best environment to express its capacity fully under the given conditions. The optimum plant density with proper geometry and its planting varied with the agro-climatic conditions and growth habit of the plant. Generally, pulses require phosphorus for their growth and nitrogen fixation. It also enhances the nodulation and pod development consequently pod yield. If the phosphate availability from the soil is limited, the growth and nitrogen fixation are affected (Prasad and Sanoria, 1981).Phosphorus being an essential constituent of cellular prote ins and nucleic acids, it encourages the meristematic activity in plants (Black, 1969) and adequate supply of nutrients which might have enhanced the metabolic activity and inturn plant growth. MATERIAL AND METHODS A field experiment was conducted at College of Horticulture, Venkataramannagudem during kharif 2010. The experimental site had red sandy loam with pH 6. 9, EC of 0. 01 dS/m, 0. 34 % organic carbon with 712, 32. 5, 217. 5 kg of N, P2O5 and K2O per ha, respectively. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with three replications.There were twelve treatmental combinations comprised of three plant densities (37,037, 55,555 and 74,074 plants/ha) designated as D1, D2 and D3 and four levels of phosphorus (0, 20, 40 and 60 kg P2O5/ha) designated as P0, P1, P2 and P3. The seeds were treated with captan @ 3g/kg seeds before sowing against wilt. The Arka Garima seeds were dibbled on 29-8-2010 at 60 x 45, 60 x 30 and 45 x 30 cm spacings. During the crop perio d, the total rainfall received was 419. 07 mm. The nitrogen @ 20 kg/ha, potassium @10 kg/ha and phosphorus as per the treatments were applied during the crop period.The metereological data recorded from planting date to harvest are presented below. Table 1: Monthly mean temperatures, relative humidity and rainfall during the growing season of cowpea (Sep-Nov) in 2010 at Venkataramannagudem, Andhra Pradesh. Month Mean temperature (? C) Mean Relative Rain fall (mm) humidity (%) _____________________________________________________________________ September 28. 99 77. 96 19. 3 October 28. 84 71. 86 46. 00 November 27. 33 75. 14 38. 60 _____________________________________________________________________ A sample of five plants was taken randomly from two central rows in each experimental plot at different intervals. The growth parameters like plant height, number of primary branches, dry matter accumulation, days to flowering and days to first picking were recorded. Similarly the yield and its attributes were recorded.For estimating total dry matter accumulation, each sample was first air dried and later oven dried at 60? C to constant weight. The sum of dry weights of all plant parts was taken as total dry matter accumulation per plant (g). The data was analyzed by the method of variance outlined by Panse and Sukhatme (1985). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The results revealed that the effect of plant densities and phosphorus levels on vegetative growth performance and yield were significant. The plant height increased with increasing plant density and decreased number of primary branches per plant at all sampling occasions.Higher density produced tender and widely spread plants. Significant increase in plant height with high density (74,074 plants/ha) might be due to competition of solar energy coupled with shallow root system. Increased plant density limits the availability of space for plant and hence root configuration affecting the crop growth. Increased plant popu lation increased plant height (Ahmed et al. 2010). The TDM accumulation was higher at a plant density of 74,074 plant/ha. The result might be attributed to optimum use of natural resources, higher uptake of nutrients and more number of plants per unit area.Beneficial effect of optimum density on total dry matter accumulation has also been reported by Dwivedi et al. (1994) in frenchbean. Though the number of primary branches per plant, pod length, pod girth, number of pods per plant were higher at lower density (37,037 plants/ha), it delayed the maturity. Higher photosynthesis and higher amount of dry matter assimilation due to higher number of leaves and higher availability of nutrients led to vegetative growth at a longer period and as such the reproductive phase was delayed (Honma and Bert, 1977).The higher pod yield per plant at low plant density (37,037 plants/ha) could be attributed to the significant increase in pod length, pod girth, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod and pod weight per plant. These values were significantly lower at higher density (74,074 plants/ha) due to increased competition among the plants for the space, light and nutrients. Increasing population decreased the number of pods per plant. This reduction may be attributed to the interference among branches. The findings are in accord with the previous results reported by Hamad (2004).The variations in number of pods per plant could be attributed to the variations in number of branches per plant. Hence lower plant densities resulted in maximum number of branches per plant and in turn was responsible for more number of fruiting points. Further, less competition for light, moisture and nutrients associated with wider spacing has an edge in producing more reproductive parts compared to high density plants. The plant growth, yield and its attributes were superior with the application of 60 kg P2O5/ha.Increase in plant growth might be due to hastened meristematic activity, be tter root growth and better absorption of nutrients by increased application of P (Philip, 1993). The translocation of photosynthates by the action of P also showed an improvement in various growth parameters (Verma and Saxena, 1995). The infection of Rhizobium bacteria depends on their interception with the root hair. Under adequate phosphate application, nodulation increases due to high bacterial infection on account of properly developed rooting system and increased density of nodule bacteria (Srivastava and Varma, 1985).Increased nodulation implies greater symbiotic fixation of atmospheric N which also helps in cell division and root extension which might have resulted in vigorous plant growth. Similar results were reported by Joseph and Varma (1994) in chickpea. The phosphorus application @ 60 kg/ha showed a significant influence on days to flowering, days to 50 per cent flowering and days to first picking. Influence of P in hastening maturity is well documented. Phosphorus imp arts quicker vegetative growth to the plant and entering into the reproductive phase early.The same trend of higher levels of P was also noted by Philip (1993) in cowpea and Bahadur and Singh (1990) in garden pea. The increase in yield attributes might be a direct consequence of growth characters. Adequate supply of P is important in laying down the primordia for the reproductive parts of plants. It is also considered important in the formation of pods and seeds. Being a constituent of protoplasm, which may be responsible for increased length of pods, pod weight, number of seeds per pod and inturn pod yield. These results are in conformity with the finding of Sundara et al. 2004) in pea. The interaction effect of application of 60 kg P2O5/ha and higher plant densities (74,074 plants/ha) produced higher pod yield along with rich protein content. The economic returns were more in case of high density as per the results obtained in the present experiment. It is also suggested that a pl ant density level D3 (74,074 plants/ha) and a phosphorus level of P3 (60 kg P2O5) was most profitable for the cultivation of vegetable cowpea cv. Arka Garima under irrigated conditions in coastal region of Andhra Pradesh. REFERENCESAhmed Naim, M. E. and Abdelrhim Jabereldar, A. 2010. Effect of plant density and cultivar on growth and yield of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp). Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 4: 3148-53. Bahudur, V. and Singh, T. 1990. Yield and growth response of garden pea (Pisum sativum L. ) to nitrogen and phosphorus application. Vegetable Science, 17 : 205-09. Black, C. A. 1969. Soil plant relationships (2nd Ed. ) John Wiley and Sons Inc. New York, pp. 792. Dwivedi, D. K. , Singh, H. , Shahi, K. M. B. and Rai, J. N. 1994.Response of frenchbean (Phaseolus vulgaris) to population densities and nitrogen levels under mid-upland situation in north-east alluvial plains of Bihar. Indian J. Agron. , 39 : 581-83. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) . 2007. FAOSTAT http://faostat. fao. org/site/567/default. aspx#ancor. Hamad, M. S. 2004. Effect of planting density on the performance of three cultivars of cowpea. M. Sc. thesis submitted to University of Khartoum, Sudan. Honma, S. and Bert, J. 1977. Growing high density cauliflower. American Vegetable Grower, 25 : 40. Joseph, B. and Varma. 1994.Response of rainfed chickpea (Cicer arietinum) to jalshakti incorporation and phosphorus and sulphur fertilization. Indian J. Agron. , 39 : 312-14. Mortimore, M. J. , Singh, B. B. , Harris, F. and Blade, S. F. 1997. Cowpea in traditional cropping systems. Advances in Cowpea Research, 8: 99-113. Ofofi, F. and Stern, W. R. 1986. Maize/cowpea intercrops system: Effect of nitrogen fertilizer on productivity and efficiency. Field Crop Research, 14: 247-61. Panse, V. G. and Sukhatame, P. V. 1985. Statistical methods for agricultural workers. ICAR, New Delhi. Philip, A. 1993.Phosphorus and molybdenum nutrition in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. ). M . Sc. (Ag. ) Thesis submitted to the Kerala Agricultural University. Srivastava, S. N. L. and Varma, S. C. 1985. Effect of nitrogen, phosphorus and molybdenum fertilization on growth, nodulation and residual fertility in field pea. Indian J. Agric Res. , 19: 131-37. Sundara, T. H. , Vyakaranahal, B. S. , Shekhargoud, M. , Shishidhara, S. D. and Hosamani, R. M. 2004. Influence of phosphorus and micronutrients on seed yield and quality of pea (Pisum sativum L. ). Seed Research, 32: 214-16. Verma, V. S. and Saxena, K.K. 1995. Response of Frenchbean (Phaseolus vulgaris) to graded doses of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in silty loam soil of central Uttar Pradesh. Indian J. Agron. , 40 : 67-71. Table 2 : Effect of plant densities and phosphorus levels on plant height, number of primary branches per plant and days to flowering of vegetable cowpea cv. Arka Garima. Plant height (cm) (At 60 DAS)No. of primary branches (At 45 DAS)Days to flowering (Days) Plant densitiesPhosphorus levels P 0P1P2P3MeanP0P1P2P3MeanP0P1P2P3Mean D145. 6045. 93046. 6748. 8046. 758. 078. 538. 608. 878. 5236. 6736. 0036. 336. 4736. 57 D245. 4047. 4050. 0748. 4047. 828. 008. 338. 138. 338. 2035. 4735. 4035. 3335. 2735. 37 D349. 2052. 6752. 2055. 8052. 477. 477. 808. 078. 077. 8535. 0034. 8034. 6334. 4734. 73 Mean46. 7348. 6749. 6451. 007. 848. 228. 278. 4235. 7135. 4035. 5035. 40 SourceSEm  ±CD (P=0. 05)SEm  ±CD (P=0. 05)SEm  ±CD (P=0. 05) Plant density (D)0. 120. 340. 110. 310. 060. 18 Phosphorus level (P)0. 130. 390. 120. 360. 070. 20 D x P0. 230. 680. 21N. S0. 12NS Table 3 : Effect of plant densities and phosphorus levels on total dry matter accumulation of vegetable cowpea cv. Arka Garima.Total dry matter accumulation (30 DAS)Total dry matter accumulation (60 DAS)Total dry matter accumulation (90 DAS) Plant densitiesPhosphorus levels P0P1P2P3MeanP0P1P2P3MeanP0P1P2P3Mean D1163. 50169. 03174. 85180. 38171. 941945. 661974. 371954. 932001. 671969. 16 3788. 403798. 773810. 643867. 503816 . 33 D2172. 91187. 81189. 64197. 97187. 081965. 171970. 672016. 332014. 281991. 613874. 413885. 983986. 924096. 853961. 04 D3187. 95200. 96211. 37221. 33205. 401951. 191983. 812107. 322094. 432034. 193722. 813865. 744080. 084203. 513968. 04 Mean174. 79185. 93191. 96199. 891954. 001976. 282026. 192036. 793795. 13850. 173959. 214055. 95 SourceSEm  ±CD (P=0. 05)SEm  ±CD (P=0. 05)SEm  ±CD (P=0. 05) Plant density (D)0. 591. 7210. 1029. 637. 6022. 30 Phosphorus level (P)0. 681. 9911. 6634. 218. 7825. 75 D x P1. 173. 4420. 2059. 2615. 2044. 60 Table 4 : Effect of plant densities and phosphorus levels on number of pods per plant, pod weight per plant and pod yield per plant of vegetable cowpea cv. Arka Garima. Pod length (cm)Pod girth (mm)No. of pods per plant Plant densitiesPhosphorus levels P0P1P2P3MeanP0P1P2P3MeanP0P1P2P3Mean D118. 4721. 8021. 8323. 1321. 3111. 8712. 0012. 2713. 2712. 3515. 1316. 4717. 4718. 3316. 5 D218. 5319. 4020. 6720. 5319. 7811. 3313. 1312. 5312. 0012. 2515. 1316. 0717. 0017. 6716. 47 D316. 8017. 1322. 3322. 2719. 6310. 9311. 2712. 0012. 0711. 5715. 1315. 3316. 0716. 9315. 87 Mean17. 6319. 4421. 6121. 9811. 3812. 1312. 2712. 4415. 1315. 9616. 8417. 64 SourceSEm  ±CD (P=0. 05)SEm  ±CD (P=0. 05)SEm  ±CD (P=0. 05) Plant density (D)0. 120. 340. 220. 650. 120. 36 Phosphorus level (P)0. 130. 390. 260. 750. 140. 42 D x P0. 230. 680. 44NS0. 25NS Table 5 : Effect of plant densities and phosphorus levels on number of pods per plant, pod weight per plant and pod yield per plant of vegetable cowpea

Guilt and Shame

The society of traditional  Japan  was long held to be a good example of one in which shame is the primary agent of  social control. The first book to cogently[citation needed]  explain the workings of the Japanese society for the Western reader was  The Chrysanthemum and the Sword. This book was produced under less than ideal circumstances since it was written during the early years of  World War II  in an attempt to understand the people who had become such a powerful enemy of the West. Under the conditions of war it was, of course, impossible to do  field research  in Japan.Nevertheless, depending on the study of members of that culture who were  available for interview and study in the West, namely war prisoners at detention centers, as well as literary and other such records pertaining to cultural features,  Ruth Benedict  drew what some regard[who? ]  as a clear picture of the basic workings of Japanese society. Her study has been challenged and is not relied upon by anthropologists of Japan today. Contemporary  Western society  uses shame as one modality of control, but its primary dependence rests on  guilt, and, when that does not work, on the  criminal justice  system.Paul Hiebert  characterizes the shame society as follows: Shame is a reaction to other people's criticism, an acute personal chagrin at our failure to live up to our obligations and the expectations others have of us. In true shame oriented cultures, every person has a place and a duty in the society. One maintains self-respect, not by choosing what is good rather than what is evil, but by choosing what is expected of one. Personal desires are sunk in the collective expectation. Those who fail will often turn their aggression against themselves instead of using violence against others.By punishing themselves they maintain their self-respect before others, for shame cannot be relieved, as guilt can be, by  confession  and atonement. Shame is remov ed and honor restored only when a person does what the society expects of him or her in the situation, including committing suicide if necessary. (Hiebert 1985, 212) guilt society  is one in which the primary method of  social control  is the inculcation of feelings of  guilt  for behaviors that the society defines as undesirable. It involves an implicit judgment on the being (rather than just the behavior) of the individual: â€Å"You are an  evil  person if you would do such-and-so. It also involves creating the  expectation  of punishment now (when the behavior fails to be kept secret) and/or in the hereafter. One of the interesting features of many such societies is that they inculcate feelings of guilt for feelings and/or impulses that the individual cannot help but feel. Where a  shame societymight tell its members that sexual interactions are to be hidden from general view or knowledge, a guilt society may tell people that they are guilty or sinful for me re  sexual desire.A prominent feature of guilt societies is the provision of sanctioned releases from guilt for certain behaviors either before the fact, as when one condemns sexuality but permits it conditionally in the context of marriage, or after the fact. There is a clear opportunity in such cases for authority figures to derive power, monetary and/or other advantages, etc. by manipulating the conditions of guilt and the forgiveness of guilt. Paul Hiebert characterizes the guilt society as follows: Guilt is a feeling that arises when we violate the absolute standards of  morality  within us, when we violate our conscience.A person may suffer from guilt although no one else knows of his or her misdeed; this feeling of guilt is relieved by confessing the misdeed and making restitution. True guilt cultures rely on an internalized conviction of sin as the enforcer of good behavior, not, as shame cultures do, on external sanctions. Guilt cultures emphasize punishment and forgi veness as ways of restoring the moral order; shame cultures stress self-denial and humility as ways of restoring the social order. (Hiebert 1985, 213) GUILT, SHAME,  and embarrassment are forms of social control.Whether these are cast in evolutionary, psychological, or cultural terms, we should not lose sight of that basic function. These emotions may not always be portrayed in these terms, but that is how they have evolved and become embedded in our cultural beliefs and practices. It is in this context that we should raise the question: Are there shame cultures as opposed to guilt cultures, with corresponding differences in how people within them experience guilt and shame? In American culture (and Western cultures enerally), personal identity is conceived of as being independent and autonomous. Society is seen as a collection of self-contained individuals who are held responsible for their own behavior. One's interests are best served by allowing maximum freedom and responsibili ty in choosing one's objectives. Moral precepts are based on conceptions of justice. Even when these are tempered by interpersonal obligations, the focus remains on individuals who must balance their responsibilities between the self and significant others.THE PRIMARY  moral obligation is to avoid harming significant others. It is when you cause harm, or are unjust, that you feel guilty. Being responsive to the needs of others is desirable, but is not a moral duty. Individuals are free to follow their inclinations within the limits of the law and in consideration of the rights of others. Their obligations to others are defined in negative terms—what they should not do—rather than as positive duties of what they should do. Whereas the failure to uphold justice is a vice, the failure to be beneficent to others is only a lack of moral virtue.By contrast, in Asian contexts, one's identity is defined in relation to the group one belongs to, typically the family. Whereas i n the West, a person would be known as Jane or John Doe, in the East, they would be identified as members of the Doe family. In her study of Indian Hindus, psychologist Joan Miller found that the primary basis of determining moral conduct was not justice but a person's duties to significant others. Among Americans, moral duty is imposed on the individual to constrain that individual's actions.For Hindus, doing one's duty meant both meeting one's obligations as well as realizing one's own nature. Therefore acting benevolently toward others was not an aim secondary to considerations of justice, nor was it a matter of acting above and beyond the call of duty—fulfilling one's social duty was the primary purpose of moral conduct. These differences lead to contrasting ways of determining what is moral. For instance, if there is no other way to help a friend in need, it would be ethical for an Indian to steal but unethical for an American to do so even if it means failing to help th e friend.These differences are not absolute; nonetheless, twice as many Indians as Americans would give priority to interpersonal considerations over abstract ethical principles. Moreover, Indians were more prone than Americans to make contextual exceptions (where the morality of an action depends on the nature of the relationship and the circumstances of the case), whereas Americans took a more absolute view about an action being right or wrong, irrespective of other considerations. The moral objective in the West, as noted above, is to avoid doing wrong and is more objective; in the East, it is to do what is right and is more subjective.Similar considerations apply in other Asian cultures. In China, the family is the â€Å"great self. † One starts by literally owing one's life to one's parents. One's primary obligation in life is to serve and protect social ties, not pursue personal goals. Similarly, while Americans place a high premium on self-reliance, the Japanese favor interdependence and harmonious integration within the group. Individuals in both groups are highly competitive, but in different ways. Americans want to  get ahead  of others; the Japanese are concerned with not falling behind; instead of pushing ahead, they line up sideways.The personal boundaries of Americans have been compared to the hard shell of an egg; those of the Japanese, to an egg's soft internal membrane. Erich Lessing/Art Resource This individualistic-versus-interdependent basis of moral judgment helps clarify the problematic distinctions between shame and guilt cultures. Instead of these designations explaining differences in such a way that makes one culture seem morally superior to another, they explain cultural differences as the outcome of serving different needs.In the Western context of individualism, guilt, with its emphasis on autonomy, provides a better moral foundation for guiding individuals who are responsible for themselves. With a lesser sense of respo nsibility for others, there is less need for shame as a form of social control. By contrast, in the Asian cultural context, where maintaining harmony in relationships is most valued, shame is a more effective means of moral control. Since personal boundaries extend beyond the individual, it becomes more difficult to generate guilt. When someone does wrong, it is not only the person but everyone related to that person who shares in the guilt.Therefore, shame in Asian cultures fulfills some of the same functions of social control that guilt does in the West and vice versa. These considerations are important to our understanding of differences in the ways guilt and shame are perceived in Western and Eastern religion. . . . For instance, the centrality of shame in Confucianism has led to the general impression that Confucian China is a shame society, and hence is ethically less developed. [Religion scholar] Mark Berkson [MA '92, PhD '00] has raised cogent arguments that this characteriz ation is not valid.Confucian ethics, far from being ethically less well developed, offers much to others to learn from. While generally framed in East/West terms, these differences between guilt and shame can also be seen within Western culture itself in historical perspective. Homeric heroes in ancient Greece were driven by the twin virtues honor and fame. In their warlike society such virtues were best manifested on the battlefield. The self-esteem of heroes like Achilles, Odysseus, and Oedipus depended on their standing in the eyes of their peers, with whom they were in fierce competition and often conflict.Failure led to loss of face and shame. Consequently, shame has been generally assumed to be the predominant moral sentiment that motivated and restrained the ancient Greeks. Their shame culture was based on public esteem. What mattered was where one stood with respect to one's peers, who constituted an honor-group. This view has been challenged by moral philosopher Bernard Wil liams, who argues that Greek conceptions of shame also included elements of guilt. The moral objective in the West is to avoid doing wrong; in the East, to do what is right. These cultural differences are embedded in various languages as well.This makes translating terms like guilt and shame a common source of confusion. For example, when we look for synonyms for shame and guilt in Chinese, we do not find single terms that correspond to them. Rather, we find a number of terms that correspond to various types of shame, making distinctions that do not exist in English. In some contexts, even guilt may appear as a subsidiary form of shame. Even if the terms to designate them vary, are these emotions universal or culture specific? Do an American and an Indian experience guilt and shame the same way, whatever they call them?There are no simple answers to this question. Some emotions appear to be more universal than others; for instance, it is hard to imagine a culture that does not recog nize expressions of fear or anger. However, when it comes to complex emotions like guilt and shame, which are more subject to cultural variation, the picture becomes less clear. Even the fact that a culture has no word for an emotion does not mean that the emotion it represents is absent. Linguists point out that even if certain emotions are universal, their terminology is not.For instance, there is no word for â€Å"disgust† in Polish. And in one Australian aboriginal language, â€Å"fear† and â€Å"shame† are expressed by the same word (associated with the impulse to retreat). The common error is to start with one's own language and look for exact translations in other languages. Ultimately, it is not through specific terms like â€Å"guilt† or â€Å"shame† but throughmetalanguage—descriptions of the essential elements in emotional states— that we can test the universality of the emotions. For instance, the answer to â€Å"How do y ou feel when you have lost someone dear to you? would convey the idea of sadness better than would the answer to the question â€Å"Do you feel sad? † How does the evolutionary view help us in  dealing with guilt? This is not a matter explicitly addressed by evolutionary psychologists. . . . Nonetheless, the evolutionary basis of the capacity for altruism and the capacity to feel guilty provides us with a natural foundation for guilt, and hence the need for its acceptance and usefulness. If guilt is indeed part of our nature, and there are good reasons for it, it makes no sense to fight it or deny it. Related essay: Shame is Worth a TryAccepting guilt as a fact of life therefore makes it easier to approach it in a positive manner, and perhaps helps us to resolve it in more authentic and adaptive ways. HERANT KATCHADOURIAN,  who came to Stanford in 1966, is an emeritus professor of psychiatry and human biology and former president of the Flora Family Foundation. He has received the Dinkelspiel and Lyman awards and has been selected seven times as Outstanding Professor and Class Day speaker. HONOR AND SHAME  IN A MIDDLE EASTERN SETTING| Roland Muller Copyright 2000 All rights reserved. Sociologists have recognized that three social issues have existed since earliest times.As civilizations formed, each of them grappled with the concept of fear, shame and guilt. These are, in essence the building blocks of society. Every society has its particular ways of dealing with these issues. And each of these issues have different importance, depending on the cultural makeup of that society . These three aspects make up the basic building blocks of worldview. It is similar to the three basic colors that an artist mixes to make all the colors of the universe. On my computer, I can mix the three primary colors to make up 64 million other colors. That's the way it is with worldview.There are many different kinds of worldview, but when carefully examined they can be better understood when looking at them in the light of man's response to guilt, shame and fear. Sociologists have used terms like guilt-based cultures, and shame-based cultures for years now. We must be careful, however, not to try and fit each culture or worldview into one specific category such as fear based or shame based. As I stated, these building blocks are similar to an artist, creating thousands of colors from three basic primary colors. How much of each primary color is used, determines what the final color will be when the paint is mixed.In the same way, all three building blocks are present in all c ultures and worldviews, but how much of each one is present, determines the actual type of culture that emerges. Having determined this, one must also consider how people in a particular local culture react to the elements of the overall culture. As an example, when an Arab is shamed, he may react by taking revenge on the one who causes the shame, but when an oriental is shamed, he may react by committing suicide. So while individual cultures may react to sin in different way, in general terms there are great blocks of the world that have similar worldviews.Where are the major blocks? Many western nations (Northern Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand) have cultures that contain mostly guilt-based cultural characteristics. On the other hand, much of the Middle East and Asia is made up shame-based cultures. Most of the primal religions and cultures of the world (such as tribes in the jungles of Africa, Asia, and South America) are structured around fear-based principles. The problem comes when we want to simply classify cultures into these three basic classifications. They do not easily fit, because they are made up of blends of all three.Thus, when analyzing a culture, one must look for the primary cultural characteristics, and then the secondary ones. As an example, many North American Native cultures are made up of elements of both shame-based and fear-based cultures. On the other hand, much of North American culture has been made up almost exclusively of guilt-based principles, although this has changed in the last two decades. As cultures and worldviews developed over the millennia, they have gravitated towards one of these groups. This polarization has created three mega-trends in worldview.While the majority of worldviews fits into these three classifications, many cultures draw equally from two or all three worldviews. This mixing of worldviews is especially noticeable in South America where jungle tribes with fear-based cultures come in co ntact with shame-based cultures originating out of southern Spain, and guilt-based cultures brought by western religion and western business. The goal of this paper is to simply introduce the idea of guilt, shame and fear based cultures, and then to examine how the Nabataean culture fit into this picture.Along the way I will use illustrations drawn from many cultures of the world, including modern Muslim culture. Guilt-Based Culture None of us lives in exactly the same culture. Culture varies from town to town, family to family and sometimes even from individual to individual. All of us are different. We are made up of different fabrics and formed by the different experiences that come into our lives on a day to day basis. Even those who try to define â€Å"American† or â€Å"Canadian† culture can only talk in vague generalizations. Americans come from all kinds of ethnic backgrounds, and have all kinds of values.Some live in middle class housing, some in cardboard box es on the street, and some in large impressive mansions. It's hard to place categorizations and descriptions on people who are so diverse. Despite this, however, there are some general characteristics or mega-traits that fit the majority of people in the western world. Certain basic fundamental beliefs have molded western civilization. These beliefs have laid the foundations upon which these nations are built, and from which the fabric of their society has been formed. One of these basic foundations is their belief in right versus wrong.This understanding is so deeply ingrained in western culture, that westerners analyze almost everything from this perspective. Most western forms of entertainment are built upon ‘the good guys and the bad guys. ‘ It is so familiar to westerners that few of them question its validity. It is such an integral part of religion and society, that they often cannot imagine a world where ‘right versus wrong' isn't the accepted basic underly ing principle. ‘Right versus wrong' is the yardstick used in their culture to measure everything else with.They talk about the rightness and wrongness of someone else's actions. They talk about things being â€Å"right for me. † They are obsessed with knowing their rights and exercising them. Many western societies spend countless hours and billions of dollars debating the wrongs of society. Is homosexuality right or wrong? Is spending billions on the military right or wrong? Is possession of drugs right or wrong? How about possession of nuclear bombs, or weapons of mass destruction? Almost every major issue the west struggles with involves an aspect of deciding whether something is right or wrong.They arrive at this basic tension in life because almost everything in western culture is plotted on a guilt/innocence line. (Innocence being something defined as being right or righteousness). Guilt —————————- Inn ocence The pulls and demands of these two diametrically opposed forces dictate much of western human behavior. Guilt can plague and haunt people bringing fear and condemnation upon them. Many westerners do everything they can to avoid being guilty. Psychologists spend a great deal of their time helping people deal with all sorts of guilt complexes.Evangelical Christians in particular, often live in circles that are governed by guilt principles based on the authority of the Bible. Outside of these circles, guilt is defined in many other ways. It can be a sense of public disapproval, being in trouble with the authorities, or not being politically correct. However guilt is defined, and to what extent it influences a culture varies widely from location to location. However, the understanding of right and wrong has been instrumental in forming much of western society. On the other end of the spectrum, is righteousness, or innocence.This is the unspoken goal of much of western society. â €Å"I'm OK, you're OK† is the most comfortable situation for many. Many westerners express their innocence with the statement that they are as good as the next person. If this is true, then they can get about their business of pursuing happiness and pleasure within the bounds of being OK and not guilty. Most westerners do what they can to avoid being guilty and at the same time exercise their rights. This guilt/innocence thinking is so ingrained in western society that most westerners have immediate reflexes to events that catch them off guard.Being a westerner, I have often noticed some of the reflexes that we have developed. Have you ever noticed what happens in the swimming pool when the lifeguard blows his whistle? Almost all westerners will stop to see who is guilty, and when they realize they are innocent will resume swimming. This is a normal scenario from the western world, but it is not true in much of the eastern world. When we in the western world do something wron g, like unintentionally running a red light, we may feel guilty. This is also not necessarily true in the eastern world. Or, how about this scenario?Imagine a classroom full of grade school kids. Suddenly, the intercom interrupts their class. Johnny is being called to the principle's office. What is the immediate reaction of the other children? In the west the immediate reaction would almost always be: â€Å"What did you do wrong? † Even western children almost always immediately assume guilt. Perhaps the school principal was going to hand out rewards, but much of western society conditions people to expect the worst, and they feel pangs of guilt. So much of western thinking is wrapped up in guilt. Wars are justified on the basis of establishing guilt.During the opening days of the Gulf War, the American government spent many hours and millions of dollars determining if Saddam Hussein was guilty. Once they thought they had established that he was guilty of committing atrociti es they had the right to take military action against him. Throughout the war, they continued to make statements about Mr. Hussein's deranged mental state and irrational actions. All of this helped justify the war. In fact, all during the history of western civilizations, wars have had to be justified, and each side identifies the other as being the ‘bad guys. But some things are not easy to chart between right and wrong. Is a hungry child stealing food guilty? Should he be punished despite his hunger? These questions disturb us, because we feel that everything in life must fit somewhere between guilt and innocence. In fact, western association with guilt has gone so far as to provide an avenue for people to develop guilt complexes. They feel guilt for what they have done and also guilt for what they have not done. They even feel guilt for what others have done. People who struggle with a guilt complex can even be overcome with embarrassment and feelings of guilt from the acti ons of others.The flip side of guilt is innocence, righteousness, and exercising rights. As I mentioned, â€Å"I'm OK, you're OK† is an important philosophy in western culture. In order not to point a finger at people, western society continues to expand the limits of what is acceptable activity. By making homosexuality acceptable, they help thousands of people avoid feeling guilty. This alone is enough to convince many people in western society that it's OK for people to be homosexual. In fact, almost anything is tolerated as long as it doesn't hurt another person.I have been surprised to discover that many people in our western world believe that our fixation with right and wrong is not only normal, but also the only correct way to think. They assume that anyone, who does not think in these terms, does not think rationally or logically. In order to understand guilt-based culture, we must go back to Greek and Roman times, and examine the origin of this pattern of thinking, a nd discover how this has had an impact on society and religion. The Roman Connection The Roman Empire has come and gone, leaving us with a few ruined cities, and a wealth of stories about conquest and heroism.While most of what the Romans accomplished has disappeared, there is one facet of Roman life that has impacted the west, right down to the present. It is the Roman law, or the ‘pax romana' (Roman peace) which was brought about by everyone obeying the Roman law. Roman law introduced the concept that the law was above everyone, even the lawmakers. This idea was not totally new. The Jews under Moses understood this. Greek politicians developed a similar plan with their city-state, but with laws that were man made, not divine. The Romans, however, perfected the system, and put it into widespread use.They developed a type of democracy known as the republic. They put in place a complex legal system that required lawmakers, lawyers, and judges. This Roman system of law left a tr emendous impact on western society. Even to this day, much of the western legal system is still built around the basic Roman code of law. Western civilization today is littered with references to the Roman Empire. Much of their coins, architecture, and language have Roman roots. Legal and economic theories are so filled with Romanisms that westerners no longer see them for what they are.They have become so much a part of their mental furniture, that few people today question them. As an example, Roman law during the Roman Empire assumed that the individual's rights were granted by the state (by government) and that lawmakers can make up laws. Under Roman law, the state was supreme, and rights were granted or erased whenever lawmakers decided. This philosophy is sometimes called ‘statism. ‘ Its basic premise is that there is no law higher than the government's law. Roman politicians were not the first to invent statism but hey did such an effective job of applying it, tha t the Roman Empire has become the guiding star for politicians in the west. Statists see the â€Å"pax romana,† the period in which Rome dominated the Mediterranean world, as the golden days of statism. The known world was â€Å"unified† and controlled by one large government. This unification was symbolized in Roman times by something known as the  fasces. This was a bundle of wooden rods bound together by red-colored bands. In ancient Rome the fasces was fixed to a wooden pole, with an ax at the top or side. This symbolized the unification of the people under a single government.The ax suggested what would happen to anyone who didn't obey the government. The Roman fasces became the origin of the word fascism. During Roman times, pax romana (the Roman peace) meant, â€Å"do as you are told, don't make waves, or you will be hauled away in chains. † Roman Law was supreme. In contrast to this, there was the old way of obeying the supreme ruler. Under this system , the word of the ruler was law. With the Republic, the Romans elevated law, so that it was above the ruler. Now everyone, even the emperor of Rome had to obey the law. The law, not the ruler determined if people were innocent or guilty.It is interesting to note, that as the early Christian church developed and grew, Roman law also had an impact on Christian theology. Since Roman law interpreted everything in the terms of right versus wrong, early Christians were deeply influenced by this thinking. Early Church Theologians Tertullian,  the early church father who first developed a code of systematic theology, was a lawyer steeped in Roman law. Using his understanding of law, and the need for justice, guilt, and redemption, he laid the basis for Christian systematic theology, as it would develop in the west.Tertullian was born shortly before 160 AD, into the home of a Roman centurion on duty in Carthage. He was trained in both Greek and Latin, and was very much at home in the class ics. He became a proficient Roman lawyer and taught public speaking and practiced law in Rome, where he was converted to Christianity. In the years that followed he became the outstanding apologist of the Western church and the first known author of Christian systematic theology. Basil the Great  was born in 329 AD, and after completing his education in Athens he went on to practice law and teach rhetoric. In 370 AD, Basil, the awyer, became Basil the Bishop when he was elected bishop of Caesarea. During his time as Bishop he wrote many books in defense of the deity of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. Basil's training in law and rhetoric gave him the tools he needed to speak out in defense of the church. Next came  Augustine  who was born in 354 AD into the home of a Roman official in the North African town of Tagaste. He received his early education in the local school, where he learned Latin to the accompaniment of many beatings. He hated studying the Greek language so much th at he never learned to use it proficiently.He was sent to school in nearby Madaura and from there went to Carthage to study rhetoric, a technique used in Roman law for debate. He then taught legal rhetoric in his hometown and Carthage until he went to Milan in 384 AD. He was converted in 386 and became a priest in 391. He returned to Africa and became a prolific writer and bishop. No other Christian after Paul has had such a wide and deep impact on the Christian world through his writings as Augustine. Ambrose  was born around 340 AD, in Gaul. When his father, the prefect of Gaul, died, the family moved to Rome where Ambrose was educated for the legal profession.Later, he was appointed civil governor over a large territory, being headquartered in Milan. Upon the death of the bishop of Milan in 374, the people unanimously wanted him to take that position. Believing this to be the call of God, he gave up his high political position, distributed his money to the poor, and became a bi shop. In 374, Ambrose demonstrated his ability in the fields of church administration, preaching, and theology. But as always, his training in Roman law enforced his views of guilt and righteousness. Have you noticed the impact that law and lawyers had on the development of the early church?This trend did not stop with the early church. Reformation Theologians John Calvin  was born in 1505 in northeastern France where his father was a respected citizen. He studied Humanistic Studies at the University of Paris, and then law at the University of Orleans, and finally at the University of Bourges. Sometime between 1532 and 1533 he converted and adopted the ideas of the reformation. The writings of John Calvin, the lawyer and theologian, have had a tremendous impact on our society. Calvin was not alone. Arnauld Antoine the French  theologian (1612-1694), studied at Calvi and Lisieux, first law, then theology.He was made a priest and doctor in 1634. Arnauld spoke out against the Jesui ts and his writings added to the impact of the reformation. There are more examples of theologians who were also lawyers, such as  Martin Luther, but this list will suffice to point out that legal thought and expression had much to do with the development of the theology of the Early Church and the Reformation. Each of these church leaders continued to develop the relationship between Christianity, as it was known in the west, and the legal understanding of guilt, justice, and righteousness.These lawyers were concerned with establishing guilt, or innocence, and they brought this emphasis with them, into their theology. And so the western church that developed used this theology to build their civilizations. In the ensuing years, new nations in the New World would be founded on the theological basis developed by these church leaders. The United States of America was founded on these principles. The American founders attempted to establish a nation built on the Roman principle of a republic, and on the early church's understanding of right and wrong.Today, it is interesting to notice that there are many non-western sources who link guilt-based culture with Christianity. In October 1999, Isaiah Kalinowski, the Opinion Editor for the Jordan Times, wrote an article entitled â€Å"The Shame Culture that is Wabash. † In this article he pointed out: â€Å"†¦ guilt culture is due largely to Christianity. A shame culture is one in which individuals are kept from transgressing the social order by fear of public disgrace. On the other hand, in a guilt culture, one's own moral attitudes and fear of retribution in the distant future are what enforce the ethical behavior of a member of that society. From Kalinowski's perspective, guilt-based culture is linked to Christian theology. This is an unfortunate misrepresentation, as the Bible was written in a shame-based setting and speaks to all cultures and worldviews. On the other hand, Christians, must recognize the incredible impact that guilt-based culture has had on their history and understanding and interpretation of the Bible. The Eastern Scene Christianity in the east, however, developed differently. Eastern theologians did not use Roman law as a vehicle for interpreting the gospel.Rather, the eastern world was caught up in the shame-honor relationship that was prevalent in societies scattered from the Middle East to the Far East. Eastern Orthodox theology didn't deal directly with sin, guilt, and redemption. Chrysostom,  the early church theologian for the Eastern Church, was born about 345 AD into a wealthy aristocratic family in Antioch. He was a student of the sophist Libanius who had been a friend of the Emperor Julian. This man gave him a good training in the Greek classics and rhetoric that laid the foundation for his excellent speaking ability.After his baptism in 368, he became a monk in the eastern churches. Chrysostom rose to being an outstanding preacher, even winning t he acclaim of the emperor. Today we have a record of around 680 of Chrystostom's sermons and homilies and I am told that he never once preached on justification. In the end, he was banished because he spoke out so sharply against the views of the western theologians. In the same way,  Islam,  which rose to prominence around 600 AD, teaches that God remains over all, and that law is in his hands, not the hands of lawmakers.The Qur'an enforces the principle that God is overall with the story about Pharaoh and how he was shown Allah's â€Å"mightiest miracle, but he denied it and rebelled. ‘  The Pharaoh quickly went away and summoning all his men, made to them a proclamation. ‘I am your supreme Lord. ‘  The Qur'an then tells us that Allah â€Å"Smote him,† and goes on to warn, â€Å"Surely in this there is a lesson for the God fearing. † Therefore it would be unthinkable to a Muslim, that a lawmaker could make a law that is over all. This is wh y Islam presents both a religious and a cultural pattern for people to live by. God dictates both moral laws and civil laws.Western Historians Roman law and thinking has also impacted the way we westerner look at history. The danger comes, when we westerners take our Roman understanding of civilization and culture and apply it to those who do not have a Roman-based culture. We fruitlessly spend untold hours and incalculable amounts of energy explaining to what motivates people and shapes society, when in truth, we don't understand the real principles of the other culture. The answer to this dilemma is quite simple. We westerners must put our Roman, guilt-based understanding of culture and history aside, and strive to understand other worldviews and their thinking.Then we need to return to our history books and discover what is happening in a society that is not pre-occupied with right and wrong, or guilt and innocence. Fear-Based Cultures As we drew near to the jungle village, the s ound of drums could be heard. Drawing closer, we could see people dancing and withering on the ground. A man approached us and explained that they could not go further. The village was doing a sacred rite to improve the economy and bring more trade to the area. We were escorted away and not given a chance to introduce why we had come to their village.Later we heard that a human sacrifice had been offered to the spirits that day. In another situation we arrived in a village when a rain-making ceremony was about to begin. They were invited to watch. A black bull was led to the edge of the village where it faced the direction from where the rain would come. The animal's throat was cut and it fell over on its left side, to the delight of all. This indicated that the sacrifice was acceptable. The men then cut up the meat and cooked it. As the meat was cooking, an old man began to shout out a prayer to the spirits for rain. Soon everyone joined in.After the meat was eaten, the shouting tu rned into dancing. The villagers danced all afternoon until the rain came. It rained so heavily that everyone had to run for shelter. Did the rituals bring the rain? To the natives it was obvious and there was no way that we rational westerners convince them otherwise. As these two stories illustrate, there are many people in the world today whose lives revolve around their interaction with the spiritual world. They believe that gods and spirits exist in the universe and they must live in peace with these unseen powers, either by living quietly, or by appeasing these powers.Based on their worldview, these cultures and peoples view the universe as a place filled with gods, demons, spirits, ghosts, and ancestors. Man needs to live at peace with the powers around him, and often man lives in fear. This fear is based on a number of different things. First, man fears man. Tribal wars are endemic, with captives becoming slaves or, sometimes, a meal for cannibals. Whenever tribes encounter people from outside of their own group, they approached them with suspicion and fear. Secondly, these people fear the supernatural.All around them events are taking place that can only be explained by the supernatural. Much like the ancient civilizations, they have developed spiritual explanations for how things work in this world. If crops fail, then specific gods or demons are responsible. If sickness comes, then other gods or demons are responsible. If a tribe fails in battle, it is because of the activity of a god or demon. Sickness is often viewed as a god reaping revenge. Everything in life, even romance, is somehow attributed to the activities of gods or demons. The struggle that these people face is simply one of needing power.Using their voodoo, charms, and other methods, they seek to gain control over other people and over the controlling powers of the universe. The paradigm that these people live in is one of fear versus power. At the end of the 19th century, E. B. Tylor attempted to understand the difference in thinking between Europeans and other peoples living in Africa and South America. In his writings he coined the word ‘animism' from the Latin word  anima  for ‘soul. ‘ He saw the animistic worldview as interpreting everything from a spiritual philosophy rather than a materialistic philosophy.Many sociologists of Tylor's era saw mankind moving from an ancient worldview based on the supernatural to a modern worldview based on science and reality. Dave Burnett states in his book  Unearthly Powers,  that H. W. Turner later advocated the use of the term primal religion, meaning that â€Å"these religions both anteceded the great historic religions and continue to reveal many of the basic or primary features of religion. † Almost everywhere you find animists or primal religions you find people living under the influence of a fear-based culture.Burnett goes on to state, â€Å"Power can be understood in many ways: ph ysical, political, economic, social, and religious. The secular worldview tends to regard all power as originating from within the material world. †¦ In contrast, primal worldviews see such powers not only as being real within the empirical world but as having their primary origin outside the visible world. † In this way, those whose lives operate in the fear/power paradigm see themselves living in a physical world that co-exists and is influenced by unseen powers. These powers may be present in people or animals or even in inanimate objects like trees or hills.In some cultures, powers may be perceived in personal terms such as we would use for living beings. These powers are often regarded as having their own particular character, feeling, and ability to relate to others, and often, even have a will of their own. Like people, they may be angered, placated, or turned to in time of need. Power is an important concept in fear-based cultures. In the Pacific Islands it is oft en called ‘mana,' while the Iroquois of North America call it ‘orenda,' which particularly refers to the mystic power derived from a chant. The Eskimos have the notion of ‘sila,' a force watching and controlling everything.The Chinese have the concept of ‘fung shui,' or the powers within the earth and sea. In folk Islam the term ‘baraka'  (blessing or holiness) sometimes embraces many of these concepts. In most fear/power cultures, the main way of dealing with a power is to establish rules to protect the unwary from harm and procedures to appease those powers that are offended. These rules and procedures are generally referred to as taboo. Taboos come in the form of things like special people, forbidden or unclean foods, sacred objects, special acts or rituals, and special names.Appeasements are usually made in the form of sacrifice or dedication to the invisible powers. These powers can take various forms, such as: ghosts, demons, ancestors who live around people, spirits in trees and rocks, and totems (clans associated with certain animals or inanimate objects. ) In order to deal with these powers, rituals are established which people believe will affect the powers around them. Rituals are performed on certain calendar dates, and at certain times in someone's life (rites of passage), or in a time of crisis.In order to appease the powers of the universe, systems of appeasement are worked out. They vary from place to place. Some civilizations offer incense while some offer their children as sacrifices to gods. However it is done, a system of appeasement, based on fear is the norm for their worldview. Wherever this system of appeasement comes into being, religious persons come to the forefront to control these systems. In some cases they are known as priests. In other cases they are known as witch doctors, or shamans. Whatever their title, their role is the same. They are the ones who hold power.Often they are the only ones who u nderstand the needs of the gods or demons, and they are the ones through whom the demons or gods communicate. In every fear-based culture, the pattern is much the same. The witch doctor, priest, or shaman controls people through the use of fear. They are very effective in their roles, and as a result, whole cultures and people groups are held in their iron grip. Early Religion As archeologists and historians have dug through the sands of time, they have uncovered temples and signs of religious activity that reflect strong fear-based elements in early civilizations.Along with this, the structure of civilizations where rulers held absolute power reflects a fear-power base for their civilization. Kings, pharaohs, and rulers held supreme authority and wielded power through the fear that they instilled in the members of their civilization. This allowed civilizations like the Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians and others to conquer wide areas of their world. While we can deduce the fear-po wer aspect in these civilizations from ancient buildings and military records, it is much harder to detect the importance of shame and honor. Shame-Based Cultures Our taxi screeched to a halt.Lying in the middle of the street was a teen-age girl, dying. She had been shot in the head four times. Just then her brother walked across the street with two policemen and stated, â€Å"There she is. I killed her because she was in an immoral situation with a man. † Under the laws of the country, the young man was innocent. He had not committed murder but had preserved the honor of his family. In another case, a girl ran away from home. Later her family learned she had married someone from another religion. They were furious. The police imprisoned the girl so that she would be protected from her family.Elderly grandmothers taunted the brother and father. â€Å"How long do we need to keep our heads to the ground in shame? Won't you do something to cleanse the shame from our tribe so we can raise our heads and live in honor once again? † The family finally agreed to pay the police a $50,000. 00 guarantee that they would not hurt her and she was released into their custody. Within hours her father and brother shot her thirteen times. The entire family was pleased that honor had been restored. The guilt/innocence perspective in which westerners live dictates much of our thinking in the west.However, not everyone in the world operates within this paradigm. As I mentioned earlier, while living in the Middle East I noticed that when the lifeguard at a swimming pool blew his whistle, the westerners all stopped to see who was guilty, but the Arabs kept right on swimming. As I observed this and other phenomena, I began to realize that Arabs and Arab society were operating in another whole dimension. Guilt did not have the same power and influence as it did in the west. While they were aware of guilt, it didn't have the same strong connotations for them as it had for me.If a policeman pulled me over, I immediately felt guilty, thinking that perhaps I had done something wrong. But when my Arab friends were pulled over, they didn't display any sign of guilt. They talked boldly to the policeman, and even argued loudly with him over the issues at hand. It was only after many years of living in a Muslim culture that it started to dawn on me that the Arabs around me were not operating on a level of guilt versus innocence. Nor were they operating in a fear versus power paradigm. I had heard much about this from missionaries living in Africa but it didn't seem to apply to the Arabs of the Levant.Rather, I discovered that Arabs were living in a worldview where the predominant paradigm was shame versus honor. Once I clued in to this, I began to explore this concept and tried to verify it on all social levels. I was amazed to discover what I found. When I would visit my friends, I would try to act correctly and they would try to act honorably, not shamefu lly. I was busy trying to learn the rights and wrongs of their culture, but somehow my framework of right versus wrong didn't fit what was actually happening. The secret wasn't to act rightly or wrongly in their culture.It wasn't that there was a right way and a wrong way of doing things. The underlying principle was that there was an honorable and dishonorable way of doing things. Every part of the Muslim culture I lived in was based on honor and shame. When I visited my friends I could honor them in the way I acted. They could honor me, in the way they acted. Three cups of coffee bestowed honor on me. The first, called ‘salam' (peace) was followed by ‘sadaqa' (friendship), and the third cup of coffee was called ‘issayf' (the sword). The meaning was clear in their culture.When I arrived I was offered a cup of coffee that represented peace between us. As we drank and talked, the cup of friendship was offered. The last cup, the sword, illustrated their willingness t o protect me and stand by me. It didn't matter if I was right or wrong, they were bound by their honor to protect me. Everywhere I moved in the Middle Eastern culture there were things that pointed to honor or shame. What chair I chose to sit in, who entered the door first, the way I expressed myself in Arabic, the very way I walked and held myself, all communicated to others around me ‘my place' in the world.The cultures of the Middle East are filled with thousands of tiny nuances that communicate messages about shame and honor. Shame is a popular topic today in western society. Shame, however is closely identified with a lack of self-esteem. Shame often stems from some form of abuse where children fail to learn trust. This is quite different from the shame societies of the east where shame and fear of shame are used as controlling forces in people's lives. (As compared with right and wrong being used as a controlling factor. As western parents, we teach our children to act r ightly. If they don't, we teach them that feelings of guilt are the proper response. In a shame-based culture however, children are taught to act honorably, and if they don't, feelings of shame are the proper response. But it goes farther than just feelings. Shame and honor are positions in society, just as being right (and justified) is a position in our western culture. In the west, young people are free to act as spontaneously as they want, as long as they are within the framework of right and wrong.They can be loud, boisterous, and happy, as long as they don't break things, or abuse others. Our rule in the west is â€Å"As long as I don't hurt someone else or their property, I'm generally ok. † Young people in a Muslim setting are different. Wherever they go, they represent their families and tribes. Young people are not free to act as they want. They must always act honorably, so that the honor of their family and tribe is upheld. If they act shamefully, then the family or tribe will react against them. Shameful deeds are covered up. If they can't be covered up, they are revenged.It is the unwritten rule of the desert. The whole concept of shameful deeds can be traced back to the early Bedouin code of practice, which existed even before Islam arrived. This code, still much in existence today, affects not only the way individuals act, but also the actions of entire nations. As I have visited with people from other eastern countries, I have continued to explore the concept of honor and shame among these other countries. It has helped me understand and communicate with people from places such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, Japan, and Korea.In fact, I have discovered that the concept of shame and honor makes a great discussion topic. I have often asked people from shame-based cultures what are honorable or shameful acts or actions in their cultures. The discussion that follows is often highly stimulating, and usually reflects or cont rasts similar attitudes right across the shame- based countries of the world. In some cases however, there are distinct differences between cultures. As I mentioned earlier, if someone is badly shamed in an Arab culture and the shame cannot be hidden, then it is revenged, and the person responsible for the shaming is killed.In many eastern cultures, if a shame cannot be hidden, the way out is suicide. Even here, however, there are many similarities, as I have known of a number of students in Jordan committing suicide because of their poor school marks, just as happens in Japan. In order for shame-based cultures to work, shame and honor are usually attached to something greater than the individual. Honor is almost always placed on a group. This can be the immediate family, the extended tribe, or in some cases, as large as an entire nation; as was demonstrated in Japan just previous to World War Two.In most Middle Eastern cultures, honor is wrapped up with one's tribe. Everyone grows up within a tribal concept. If someone is from the Beni Hassan tribe, he thinks and acts, and dresses as a Beni Hassan. His actions reflect on the honor the Beni Hassan tribe. If he acts honorably, the Beni Hassan tribe is honored. If he acts shamefully, the whole tribe is shamed. If the act is vile enough, the Beni Hassan tribe will react, and execute the offender, even though he is a member of their own tribe, and perhaps even their immediate family.Thus the honor of the tribe is restored. Many years ago an Arab soldier's gun accidentally discharged and killed his friend and companion in the army. After serving seven years, he was released on condition that he leave Jordan. He lived for nearly twenty years in the United States, but decided to return one day to see his family. When it was learned that he had returned, several young people, some of whom had not been born at the time of the killing, surrounded the house where he was and riddled his body with bullets. Their honor was restored, and shame removed.If someone shames another tribe, tribal warfare could result, and often only the skilful intervention of a third party ends the strife. Arab lore is full of stories of how wise and skillful men have intervened in difficult situations. In fact, many national rulers gain their fame and reputation from their skills at ending tribal strife. In the Middle East two methods are recognized. First, a skillful ruler, through diplomatic efforts and displays of great wisdom, can end disputes. Solomon's dealings with the two mothers who claimed the same baby displayed the kind of wisdom that Arabs appreciate and desire in their rulers.The second kind of ruler crushes all of the tribes and by force makes them submit to himself. Peace may then rule, but once the controlling power is removed, old animosities return. This is well illustrated in the Balkans conflict where the domination of communism brought about a measure of peace. Once freedom returned however, old confl icts and animosities flared again. The storytellers who frequent the coffeehouses of the Middle East excel in telling stories of both kinds of rulers and heroes, especially heroes who can effectively deal with shame and restore honor.This is very different from the entertainment styles of the west, where the hero determines who is guilty, and punishes him, and right and goodness reign again. This is because in our worldview, we try to hang onto the concept that in the midst of a crooked and perverse world, right still reigns and has the upper hand. Those from a shame-based culture, on the other hand, cling to the idea of maintaining honor, in the midst of a shameful and alienated world. For many western people it is very hard if not impossible to try and comprehend a culture that is based on shame, not right versus wrong.In most western cultures, telling the truth is right and telling lies is wrong. In the Middle East, people don't think of lies as being ‘right' or ‘wron g. ‘ The question is, â€Å"Is what is being said, honorable? † If a lie protects the honor of a tribe or nation, then it is fine. If a lie is told for purely selfish reasons, then it is shameful. Thus, in the west we debate ethics, by trying to determine if things are right or wrong. In the east, they debate ethics, by trying to determine if things are honorable or not. Shame in Western Culture In the past, shame has played a role in western culture.One has only to read Tolstoy's  Anna Karenina, or any of Shakespeare's works to see the role that shame used to play. Shakespeare uses the word shame nine times as often as he does guilt. In time, however, our culture has changed and guilt has become much more important. Then, during the last twenty years, we have begun to move away from such a strong guilt-bases for our culture. Why is this? I suspect that the popularity of Freud's teachings is one reason. Sociologists generally credit Freudian psychology for the removal of guilt from western culture.Since his teachings have become popular in many universities, the concept of guilt has become unpopular and guilt has been assigned to others, such as our parents. Other factors, like the lack of responsibility within modern politics have influence young people today. Nixon and Watergate, and Clinton and Lewinsky have illustrated to people today that ‘right versus wrong' is not the only way to think. During the period of 1960 to 2000 western civilization has begun a slow but steady shift away from the ‘right versus wrong' paradigm. Today young people are very reluctant to label anything as right or wrong.Instead, things are assigned the label as â€Å"cool† or â€Å"not cool. † In the eyes of many high school students, being cool is equivalent to being honorable. Being not cool is the equivalent of shame. I believe that this slow shift in worldview is responsible for many of the differences between boosters, boomers, busters, and Generation X'rs. Shaming in History Early Roman culture started out in the fear/power paradigm. Events of nature and history were interpreted within this paradigm. The worship of a pantheon of gods carried on during their whole civilization until Christianity became the state religion.When the Romans adopted the Greek pattern of placing the law above the emperor, they began to interpret events in their society on the guilt/innocence paradigm. This soon came to the forefront of their civilization, and fear/power was pushed to the back. When the Romans conquered shame-based civilizations the people they conquered had a profound impact on their own culture. Shame was always present in Roman culture, but it slowly came more and more to the forefront and eventually into Mediterranean culture today. In republican Rome, criminals had the doors to their houses burned as a public sign that a criminal was living there.Those who had been wronged could legally follow the criminal around, ch anting and accusing him in public places. The concept of public shaming carried on into the Middle Ages, and even into Victorian England where criminals were put into stocks. These stocks were located in public places, so that the criminal would be known and shamed before all. Pillories were rife during the Victorian age, when those who were pilloried had to endure the shame of publicly having rotten vegetables thrown at them. Branding criminals was practiced in England until the eighteenth century.Brands were often placed on the hands or face, so that the criminals would be publicly shamed wherever they went. The major difference between east and west, however, is not the presence of the shame concept, but rather, the structure of society around either the group mentality or individualism. Eastern shame became much more powerful than western shaming activities, simply because in the east the shame rests on the person's group rather than the individual. Since many eastern society fu nctions in a group setting, the whole group suffers rather than just the individual.If the crime is bad enough, the group itself may oust or, for a severe offense, kill the offender. In 1999 at least twenty-five women were killed to maintain the honor of their families in the country of Jordan. Hundreds of others were killed in countries like Egypt, Sudan, Syria, and Iran. In many countries where shame-based culture is predominant, the names of criminals and those being ousted from their families for shameful activities are publicly printed in the newspapers. In western countries we tend to isolate criminals from their surroundings, and then determine if they are guilty.Criminals are then locked away out of sight, rather than publicly shamed in stocks in the public square. It's interesting to notice that in the Crow Indian culture in North America, mocking of some one else's inappropriate behavior effects shaming. This is sometimes called â€Å"buying-of-the-ways. † If you im itate someone else's inappropriate behavior, you are buying his ways. In some cases a person actually offers money to buy someone else's inappropriate behavior. This is the ultimate shame. In many shame-based cultures, rather than encourage others, people criticize and question others.This is seen as positive, as it keeps them from becoming too proud. In the same way, Arabs are often quick to criticize leaders, especially elected ones, if they perceive that they are too ambitious or proud. They are sometimes publicly questioned or shamed, and often they leave public life. Even new language students discover that their neighbors are quick to point out that someone else speaks better than they do, or they are asked why they speak so poorly after being there for â€Å"a whole four months! † The criticism is often meant to keep them from being proud of how well they have done.Arabs understand that the criticism may be a compliment, but the poor westerner is often crushed. Clash o f World Views As I mentioned earlier, there are three basic planes on which worldview, function. On each of these planes, there