Religion in Indonesia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Religion in Indonesia - Essay Example The Indonesian population is estimated to be 88 percent Muslims, 5.8 percent Protestants, 2.9 percent Catholics, 2 percent Hindus and 0.9 percent Buddhism (Slater, 2004). According to the Indonesian Constitution (McLeod & McIntyre 2007, pp 91): â€Å"the state is based on belief in One God† And,â€Å"the state guarantees the freedom of all residents to worship according to their own religion and beliefs† Although this is written in the constitution, the government does not show as much tolerance, as it acknowledges just five religions: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, and Buddhism (Gort, Jansen & Vroom, 2004). Religion in Indonesia was considered to be a complicated and unpredictable matter in the beginning of the 1990s. It could not be evaluated without difficulty in terms of social rank, location or race. Even though Islam, Christianity (Roman Catholicism and Protestantism), Hinduism, Buddhism and other religions had a part in affecting the different parts of life, the Indonesian government did not allow religious parties to play a part in politics. The government assured acceptance of some particular religions (agama) which were monotheistic. These religions included Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism. However, these were only tolerated provided that they did not enter the political arena. Since the mid 1970s the government of Indonesia has officially recognized five religions that are mentioned above. Indonesia happens to be the most heavily populated nation with Muslims, globally (Forshee, 2006); about 88 percent of the Indonesians are Muslims (Slater, 2004). In the country, several of the provinces and islands consisted of a majority of the population being Islamic adherents. The range was from more than 50 percent in Kalimantan Bara and Maluku provinces to the degree 97.8 percent in the Special Region of Aceh. In Indonesia the two sects of Christianity, Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, are acknowledged as two separate religions. The Christians in Indonesia are in a minority. Around 5.8 percent of the Indonesians are Protestants while 2.9 percent are Catholics. Then there is Hinduism. The certified figure of Hindus in Indonesia is 10m (2007). According to this figure, Indonesia is globally the fourth largest country with Hindus. Just like Islam and Buddhism, Hinduism was also very much changed so as to suit the Indonesian culture. Even though the caste system existed in form, it was not at all strictly put in practice. Mahabharata and the Ramayana were the Hindu religious classics and they were made permanent cultures amongst the Indonesian followers (Forshee, 2006). They expressed it through shadow puppet and dance presentations. Sikhs are recorded as Hindus in Indonesia due to the fact that the country does not recognize Sikhism as a religion (Kesavapany, Mani & Ramasamy, 2008). The last of the fifth official religion is Buddhism which happens to be the second oldest religion in Indonesia. The 1990 national census showed that greater than 1 percent of the Indonesian population follow Buddhism as their religion. Initially Buddhism was a scholarly doctrine and just slightly related to the paranormal. However, there have now been plenty of changes in it due to politics as well as the individual emotive wish to be protected from the so many fears by a supreme divinity. In several manners, Buddhism is very much distinctive, with every human being responsible for his own person. Any person can perform meditation by himself and does not require any

Should Creationism Essay Example for Free

Should Creationism Essay Throughout the world, there is a debate over whether the theory of evolution should be taught alongside the stories of Creation. In some states of America, Christian fundamentalists have succeeded in having the theory of evolution banned from schools and colleges. This shows how far people to get what they believe is right. There are two Creation stories; the P source, and the J source. The P source tells us the story of how God made the world in six days whereas the J source shows God in a more hands on approach (in comparison to him creating things by commanding it to be so). It tells the story of how God created Adam out of dust, and Eve out of one of Adam’s ribs. They are put together in the Garden of Eden. The story of creation is the most popular story as evolution does appears to remove the need for a God in the process of the creation of life.. People who are religious, (who believe in God) feel that they cannot believe the theory of evolution when it contradicts the story told by sources P and J. It does have some weaknesses though. It does not explain the presence of fossils or the geological evidence against this story. So called Creationists dismiss this because God may have ‘panted’ the rocks as a test of faith. Those who believe in the story of Creation are known as Creationists. There are two main types of Creationists; conservative and progressive. Conservative Creationists believe that the Genesis story is to be interpreted in a strictly liberal way. Progressive Creationists take a more liberal interpretation of the Genesis account. They feel that they can accommodate the fossil record through this interpretation. For example, the word ‘day’ in Genesis 1 is taken to refer to a more general period of time rather that 24 hours. During Charles Darwin’s famous expedition to the Galapagos Islands in 1839, Darwin noted that there were variations between animals on each island. Each group of animals appeared to have adapted to the conditions on their island. Darwin devised his theory of evolution to explain how these variations could have come about. This was a strong theory because it is backed up scientific evidence. It is widely known that animals adapt to their specific surroundings. It also explained something that before was just not known. There are also fossils that back this theory up. As with any theory, it has its sceptics. There are many natural phenomenon such as cleaner fish that evolution cannot explain. Cleaner fish are fish that swim into larger fishes mouths and clean parasites and pieces of food out of their mouths. Instead of the larger fishes eating the small fish, we wait calmly, and when finished they swim off to eat other small fish. Why would a little fish want to swim into the mouth of a big fish which usually eats little fish. This suggests that someone Godlike designed these fish to work together in this way. Also some people think there is a fatal flaw in his findings. He said that all living things evolved over many millions of years from the same ancestor, a tiny cell in the ocean. Because, although we can see many differences in the world of nature what we never see is any type of living thing changing into something completely different. Darwin himself admitted there was no evidence for such big changes. Many scientists believe in this theory of evolution as it is commonly seen that animals can adapt. Also, Richard Dawkins created a new strain of Darwinism namely Neo-Darwinism. This introduces the concept of random genetic mutation either giving some advantage to the organism or not effecting the organism. Based from this evidence above, I think that Creationism should be taught alongside evolution as evolution is only a theory and children should not be forced into what to believe but choose themselves. Scientists are happy to work alongside the story of Creation so, even if you don’t believe in evolution, there is no reason why it should not be taught in schools. Obviously, if parents felt strongly, they should be able to withdraw their children from those lessons.

Research on Views of Food Packaging

Research on Views of Food Packaging Introduction To The Report: During the last two decades many important developments in the position of food in daily life of consumers and producers takes place. In earlier times consumers were self sufficient, but during the last two decades things have been changed and there was a rapid development in the industrialization of food packaging communication process. So this research study focuses on the area of Packaging which is one of the most important elements of marketing mix and many marketers had considered packaging as a fifth ‘P , while the other four Ps are Product, Placement, Promotional and Price. So packaging is used as an important marketing tool. In marketing terms, Packaging can be defined as: â€Å"All the activities of designing and producing the container or wrapper of a product, Packaging is a structure designed to contain a commercial food product, i.e. to make it easier and safer to transport, to protect the product against contamination or loss, degradation or damage and to produce a convenient way to dispense the product†. Packaging mainly can be divided into three main types, i.e. Consumer Packaging, Transport packaging and Food Packaging. This study is specified only to food packaging as food packaging industry requires packaging material that provides efficient barriers, preserves product effectively and therefore increases the shelf life of the product 1. However packaging is criticized largely from the environmental point of view, because many researchers think that packaging is depleting natural resources, as certain form of packages are health hazards, and there is a significant problem of disposing of these packages. Marketing researchers have to deal with these criticisms, and must enhance the positive features of packaging, like product protection, preservation, containment, communication, consumer convenience and marketing support 2. In context of above description, this study is basically consists of observations, surveys and interview from the consumers in order to determine how packaging contain, preserve, and communicate the buyer, the importance of packaging on their buying decision process, how they get influence, and how a good quality and attractive packaging convince them to buy particular FMCG food products. Background Of The Study: The professional fields are becoming more and more challenging and competitive in the present arena. So, in order to endure and be successful in any field, you must have the deep knowledge and appropriate skills of the concerned field. In fact this is true about the fields of management sciences, in which the Knowledge and skills of a person can be polished, if he goes through some practical experiences. Therefore this study is mainly conducted to have the knowledge of practical business situations, because the theoretical knowledge might not always match with the practical situations, where we do businesses. Therefore this would be the socialization to the market in a sense of applying our theoretical knowledge in the practical fields. In this regard, I have selected the area of Packaging for my research study which carries a great concern in the present arena because in the last one and half decade the importance of packaging has been actualized immensely and by having packaging knowledge and designing skills, practically you can enhance your capabilities. Packaging has covered all the consumer tangible goods in order to create and enhance the marketing efforts. According to â€Å"International Association of Packaging Research Institutes† IAPRI, the packaging technology has gone through a significant and fast exploitation in recent years, and globally the packaging material and machinery industry is estimated to be worth of $ 500 billion per year representing almost 1-2 % of the GDP industrialized country, and over 100, 00 packaging manufacturing companies have employed approx 5 million people to serve all packaging business manufacturers company 3. Introduction To The Topic: The topic for my research is â€Å"A Hypothetical Study on the Impact influence of FMCG food Packaging on Consumer Buying Behavior† in which we will try to explore the variables of packaging which attracts consumer behavior and influence them to buy. Importance Of Packaging: Many researchers together with Price, Promotion, Placement and Product considers Packaging as a fifth â€Å"P† as a marketing tools, because they think that packaging is a face of a product which actually refers to the material that servers to contain, identify, describe, protect, display and promote a specific product. The main objectives of packaging are to keep the food in good condition until it is sold or have been consumed and to encourage the consumer to buy it again and again. Correct packaging is essential to achieve above given objectives. Yearly billion of pounds are spent on packaging food. Functions Of Packaging: There are many protecting functions and purposes of packaging that influence consumers to buy a particular product. The various functions of packaging can be divided into three main types: Primary, secondary and tertiary (additional Functions). Primary functions concerned with the technical nature of the product while the secondary and tertiary functions are related to communications. The Primary Functions of packaging are to protect and storage of a product from loss, damage or any kind of deterioration from environmental conditions such as humidity, temperature, precipitation and solar radiation. i.e.; the durability of a package, because people wants material that will really protect the product they bought and something that can resist handling and shipping. The Secondary and Tertiary Functions of packaging are the sales, promotional, service and guarantee functions. The main intentions of sales function of package is to promote the sales processes and to make it more effective and efficient, therefore in designing a package promotional materials should be placed at right place, because it plays an important role to communicate about the product functions, features, and other informational elements. The various informational elements such as product features, manufacturing and expiry date, ingredients information, nutritional information, food labeling etc. provides the consumer with details about the contents and use of a particular product. Therefore these promotional materials should be properly placed on the package in order to attract the potential consumers attention and to have a positive impact on their buying behavior 4. Consumer Buying Behavior: The other main concern of the study is to know about consumer buying behavior or consumer decisions making process and how packaging can influence them to buy a particular product. Marella in one of her articles about packaging defines consumer buying behavior as the process by which â€Å"individuals search, select, purchase, use, and dispose of goods and services, in satisfaction of their need and want†. When consumers need to purchase something, they usually go for the brands which are trustworthy and try not to seek other products such as new products or   the brand which they dont know at all 5. Therefore at the point of purchase what communicates or influence consumer to buy particular product is only ‘Packaging. Quality judgments are significantly influence by the product characteristics reflected by the packaging. Because packaging acts as a communicator, and it underlines overall features and functions of a product that lies in it such as informational element s, product features, material used etc. so if the package is well design and attractive enough, consumer will likely to buy it especially in the case of new products. So, it is important that products should be well and attractive packaged to gain consumer attention. Purpose Of The Study: Success of a product depends on developing a strong relationship with consumer through an affective and efficient synergetic marketing mix, in which ‘Packaging† is one of the main elements to influence because packaging is the language of a product which only communicate to the consumer without any interpreter and has an immense effect on purchase decision. Most Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) is low involvement products. In low involvement, â€Å"consumers do not search extensively for information about the brands, evaluate their characteristics, and make a weighty decision on which brand to buy†, and as packaging plays an important role in success of a brand and on a retail shelf it is the last opportunity to influence the consumer to buy, so the main purpose of this research, so this study will be conducted with an idea of knowing the impact influence of packaging on the purchase decision of FMCG food products, which are mostly consumed frequently and also to know the experiences of the ultimate consumers about packaging. The research study is basically conducted to apply my theoretical knowledge of marketing in the practical field of professionals by interviewing different consumers and to know their views and preferences towards the importance of food packaging. The objective of the research study will be focused on: To know consumer awareness about packaging. To examine the influence of existing and new FMCG food products packaging on consumer buying behavior. To examine consumer experience of purchasing packaged food products. To understand how packaging can influence them to purchase their decision powers To know whether a good and attractive packaging of FMCG food products can influence consumers to buy it or not? Beside this the research is the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Bachelors of Business Administration and the submission to the Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar. Methodology Of The Report: This study has been conducted with the following procedures: Reading Articles Reading articles are the formation of the strongest foundation. For this research study I have been reading and looking at different articles and research studies both in libraries as well as through Internet and searching through digital libraries the literature of the my research study.  Ã‚   Questionnaires The data for my research study has been collected from a representative sample of 250 people, who are responsible for purchasing the household food products and are also the ultimate consumers of the packaged food products. The sample from population was derived from shoppers at different geographical areas of Peshawar. The questionnaire was initially put to pilot testing on 5 respondents for clarity and validity. Through the use of questions related to the study, the respondents were highly encouraged to express their opinions. The questionnaire comprised of few questions, grouped in five sections: Visual Impact, Brand Information, food labeling and nutrition information, and new products purchasing. The impact of these variables is analyzed in the Analysis section. Responses of the consumers have been converted to frequencies and percentages by using SPSS software through which I developed the Bar chart or Histogram in order to explain the degree of impact of mentioned variables on the purchase decision I have also used the Pie chart method in order to find the most influencing variable on the purchase decision. Scope Of The Study The Scope for my research study is limited to Peshawar city and the sample for my research has also been taken from the population of Peshawar city for collecting primary data. The market, which has been surveyed, is limited to the consumers in Peshawar region. The reader of this research report will be able to understand the preferences of consumers about the packaging especially the food packaging, because consumers are more connected to the food industry. And also they would be having better understanding that how packaging can influence consumers purchase decision? Besides, this research study will also show the knowledge and understanding of packaging features and roles in the marketing efforts and new demands from the packaging industries as far as consumers are concerned. Limitations The first hurdle that I have faced is the unavailability of the secondary data about our local markets consumers therefore, in this stage I had the difficulty to find the relevant data as far as my study of research is concerned. Another limitation is the difficulty in collecting primary data in the market as I have used Questionnaire method but mostly respondents were not familiar about that how to understand and respond to a question being asked. Third limitation is time constraint, which is again a pressure on us to finalize the research report which might caused this research report be deficient in order to cover every aspect of my research study but still I made the best of it. Sampling The study population comprised of 250 people who are the ultimate consumers of packaged food products. The sample has been drawn from supermarkets located in different geographical areas in Peshawar and also collected data from the respondents in the universities. Scheme Of Report (1) Full Text PDF. (2) Packaging PDF. (3) Article URL: http://www.iapriweb.org/packaging_research.html (4) Information URL: http://www.tis-gdv.de/tis_e/verpack/funktion/funktion.htm#anfang#anfang (5) Merella, Article URL: http://www.helium.com/items/1582891-packaging-affecting-consumer-behavior

Cuba: Then and Now Essay -- Comparison Contrast Government Politics P

Cuba: Then and Now In the Treaty of Paris of 1898, Spain relinquished all sovereignty over Cuba. For a time, the policy of the United States toward Cuba was somewhat ambivalent. The Teller Amendment at the beginning of the Spanish-American War had pledged the restoration of Cuba to the Cubans. However, at the same time the United States was determined that it would not be placed after the war with Spain in a worse position in regard to its vital interests in Cuba than it had been when Cuba was a Spanish possession. The two men most closely associated with the U.S. relationship and administration of Cuba were Elihu Root, Secretary of War, and Leonard Wood, Governor General of Cuba. At his Washington desk, Root spent considerable time keeping a sharp eye on the Cuban constitutional convention and directing the overall campaign.1 On the scene in Havana was Doctor Leonard Wood who had gone there as commander of the Rough Riders in 1898. His first major administrative task in Cuba after the war was in Santiago province where the death rate was two hundred a day, and the filth was terrible. After burning the dead bodies in town, he curtailed the inflation and cleaned up the refuse. In addition, Wood saw that jails were inspected and that schools were secularized. Because of his accomplishments in Santiago, he was appointed Governor General of Cuba on December 12, 1899. He kept the post until the formation of the Cuban Republic in 1902. Wood did well as governor of the â€Å"Pearl of the Antilles.† On September 7, the Chicago Record-Herald reported that Cuba was on the high road to more prosperous times than it had ever experienced. There was no distress among the population of 1,572,797 other than what might be found under... ...is point from 1901-34 aroused increasing bitterness, as Root’s interpretation was not followed. On May 29, 1934, it was abrogated by the United Sates. 11 Lyman Abbott, Reminiscences (Boston and New York: 1915), 438. 12 Congressional Record, 58 Cong., 2 sess., 3379; 180 U.S. 109 (1900). 13 New York Times, September 10, 1901, 5, c. 4. 14 Philip C. Jessup, Elihu Root (New York: 1938), I, 324. 15 Edmond Wood, â€Å"Can Cubans Govern Cuba?† The Forum, XXXII (September, 1901), 66-74. 16 Congressional Record, 56 Cong., 2 sess., 3344-45, 3348, 3375. 17 See above, 33-34. 18 New York Times, September 8, 1901, 3, c. 5. 19 Literary Digest: A Weekly Compendium of the Contemporaneous Thought of the World, XXIII (September 7, 1901), 274. 20 Nation: A Weekly Journal Devoted to Politics, Literature, Science and Art, (September 5, 1901), 180, c. 1.

One God Essay

Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) said: â€Å"If you love me keep my commandments and I will pray to the Father, and he shall send you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever† (John – 14:15, 16) It should be noted that some English bibles have the Greek word Paraclete instead of Comforter; but in Greek the word actually spells as PERIQLYTOS. Rev. David Benjamin Kaldani, B.D. Bishop of Urumiah Persia, the Greek classical scholar and Bible authority who converted to Islam, in his book â€Å"Muhammed in the Bible† has discussed the original Greek word, the actual word which Jesus (pbuh) might have used in his native tongue, Aramic (Dialect of Hebrew) regarding the word â€Å"Comforter†. Dr. Kaldani writes: It is to be noted again that the Greek Text has ‘Periqlytos’ instead of Paraclete. So, if we want to find out the real sense of the word, we must correct the text and supply the corrupted words thus â€Å"I shall go to the Father, and he shall send you another Apostle whose name shall be Periqyltos, that he may he remain with you forever.† One need not be a Greek scholar to know that the Greek word for Comforter is not Periqlytos but Paracloon. Periqlytos, chronologically and literally, means the most illustrious, renowned, and praise-worthy. I take for my authority Alexandre’s Dictionarie Grec-Francais – This compound noun is composed of the prefix ‘Peri’ and ‘Kleotis’ the latter derived from ‘to glorify’ ‘to praise’. Thus Periqlytos means precisely what ‘Ahmed’ means in Arabic namely ‘the most illustrious and glorious’ The only difficulty to be solved is to discover the original Semitic name used by Jesus Christ either in Hebrew or Aramaic. If I am not mistaken, the Aramaic form must have been ‘MHAMDA’ or ‘HAMIDA to correspond with the Arabic name ’MUHAMMED’ or ‘AHMAD’ and the Greek PERIQLYTOS. It is marvellous that this unique name, Periqlytos never before given to any other person, was miraculously preserved for MUHAMMAD, the last prophet or Apostle of God. We never come across any greek gentleman bearing the name of Periqlytos nor any Arab bearing the name MUHAMMAD or AHMAD before the advent of the Holy (God fearing) Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him). In Islam religion, Jesus (peace be upon him) is believed as one of the greatest prophets and one of the greatest messengers of God to mankind. It is not believed in Islam that Jesus is God or son of God. In the Quran, there is a complete chapter (called Surah) titled ‘Maryam’ (Mary) that confirms Maryam virgin birth. The Quran states the following on the birth of Jesus (peace be upon him): (Remember) when the angels said, â€Å"O Mary, God gives you good news of a word from Him (God), whose name is the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, revered in this world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (to God). He will speak to the people from his cradle and as a man, and he is of the righteous.† She said, â€Å"My Lord, how can I have a child when no mortal has touched me?† He said, â€Å"So (it will be). God creates what He wills. If He decrees a thing, He says to it only, ‘Be!’ and it is.† (Quran, 3:45-47) Jesus was born as miracle by the word and command of God. This command is, as said in Quran, the same command that had brought Adam into being with neither a father nor a mother. God has said in Quran: The case of Jesus with God is like the case of Adam. He created him from dust, and then He said to him, â€Å"Be!† and he came into being. (Quran, 3/59) During the prophetic mission of Jesus (peace be upon him), Jesus performed many miracles. God tells us that Jesus said: â€Å"I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. I make for you the shape of a bird out of clay, I breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by God’s permission. I heal the blind from birth and the leper. And I bring the dead to life by God’s permission. And I tell you what you eat and what you store in your houses†¦.† (Quran, 3/49) Muslims believe that Jesus was not crucified. They believe that the enemies of Jesus (peace upon him) plotted and planned to crucify Jesus. However, God miraculously saved Jesus and raised him up to Him (to God). God, the all powerful and the all capable, put the likeness of Jesus (peace upon him) over another man. The enemies of Jesus (peace upon him) thought that the this other man is Jesus and they took him and crucified him. God has said: †¦They said, â€Å"We killed the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of God.† They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but the likeness of him was put on another man (and they killed that man)†¦ (Quran, 4/157) Quran says (meaning translation): â€Å"Jesus said I am indeed a servant of ALLAH (God). He (God) has given me Revelation and made me prophet and He (God) has made me blessed wheresoever I be and has enjoined on me Prayer and Zakat (Charity) as long as I live. He (God) made me kind to my mother (Mary). Peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day I shall be that I shall be raised up to life again†¦ It is not befitting to the majesty of Allah (God) that he should beget a son. Glory be to him (God) when he determines a matter, He (God) only says to it â€Å"Be† and it is. Verily ALLAH (God) is my Lord and your Lord: Him therefore serve ye: this is a Way that is straight† (Quran 19/30-36). Accordingly, in Islam religion, Jesus (peace upon him) is neither God nor son of God. He is human and God prophet. It is worthwhile to emphasize that both Jesus (peace upon him) and Mohamed, or may be spelled Muhammad (peace upon him), came to mankind to call for worshiping only and the only one God. Neither of them nor Moses came to change the basic doctrine of the belief in one and only God. this doctrine that was brought by earlier prophets from including Noah, Abraham, Isac, Jacob, David, Solomon, and others. Both Jesus (peace upon him) and Mohamed received the revelation from God to confirm and renew the doctrine of worshiping one (and only one) God.

Dance Jazz

Dance Jazz Education is a tiny seed that needs to be nurtured and cared for so it can grow and blossom into a big strong tree that can withstand even the toughest storms. This was shown to be true even in dance class this semester for me. Through dance I find a sense of pride and satisfaction that I don't think anyone could understand or appreciate. Even when I mess up or it takes me three weeks to get something right, I still enjoy dancing and everything it has taught me. You have been one of the best instructors I have had in dance. I really enjoyed your class.This semester I have learned that I need to have more self-confidence. I have learned that I can do things I didn't think I could. I have learned that practicing really does help. I learn best by doing things over and over. I am a very hands-on type of learner.Scene at square dance in rural home in McIntosh Co...I need to be able to do more than just see or hear something before I can fully understand it.Dancing had been an important pa rt of my life for more than ten years. When I was four years old my mom had enrolled me in my first dance class. I really enjoyed it and continued to take classes almost every year. In high school I decided to join the drill team. It was ok at first, but then the instructor changed and it just wasn't fun any more so at the end of football season my junior year I quit the team. This was my first dance class since quitting drill team. I thought it would be a lot harder to go back to dancing than it has been. I didn't really remember much of the technique, and it has...