Religion on the Internet
Religion can be a very controversial topic. There are so many different types of religion and different people who practice and believe in these religions. Some people don’t believe in any, some have their own, some have one, but don’t practice it, and some people even have multiple religions. Religion is not a topic you bring up while having a cup of coffee with some friends, unless you are all of the same religion. Usually discussing different religions it causes nothing but problems and arguments. There is even a country music song that is titled, "Politics, Religion, and Her." The singer goes on in the song to say how he never likes to discuss any of these three topics with anyone and how they only cause problems. When you type "Religion" into Net Search on the Internet, you find there are over 300,000 matches to that search.
Obviously, religion is all over the internet. The World Wide Web allows people to get their opinions out to millions of Internet surfers. Some sites offer on-line help to religious practitioners with questions about their particular religion. Other sites are just plain fact giving information and explaining a particular type of religion. Then there are sites that try to lure you into joining their religion, and even some cults that are trying to gain new, vulnerable members. With the different ways that they present these sites, it is very easy to get caught up in them and possibly even join. The way they present them to the viewer doesn’t make them seem bad or not even close to being a cult. The sites on factual and on-line religion services don’t seem to be a problem, and I will discuss their presence on the web later on in this paper. I would now like to talk about the iss...
... middle of paper ...
...le, web browsers, these cults are attracting more and more people. The internet is one of the largest growing industries right now, but it is also growing many trouble spots. The web has to create some sort of laws and rules about what’s allowed on the net. These cult sites must be monitored regularly, so as to make sure they are not endangering the welfare of the common web surfer.
Works Cited
The Appeal of the Cults, http://www.serve.com/larryi/appeal.htm, (24 March 1997).
Creating a New View of God:, http://www.com!duke.den!conv.lynx.htm, (22 March 1997).
Cult Recruiting Techniques, http://www.serve.com/larryi/recruit.htm, (24 March 1997).
Cult-Think, http://www.alt.religion.scientology.htm, (22 March 1997).
Lefevre, Greg, The Internet as a god and progaganda tool for cults, http://cnn.com/TECH/9703/27/techno.pagans/index.html, (24 March 1997).
It can be said that religion is one of the most controversial topics in our time. Everyone has their own different opinion of how they want to interpret religion,
Recently, one of the most popular proposals in the effort to get tough on crime has been the "three-strikes-and-you're-out" proposal. This law, which is already in effect in Washington state and California, requires that offenders convicted of three violent crimes be sentenced to life in prison without parole. This proposal has received broad-based support from federal and state politicians including President Bill Clinton, Senator Bob Dole, and Governor Mario Cuomo. The law is based on the idea that the majority of felonies are committed by 6% of "hard core" criminals, and that crime can be reduced by getting these criminals off the streets. Unfortunately, the proposal fails to take into account several major flaws in the law and its implementation.
Starting in 1993, over half the states and the federal government enacted some form of “three strike and you’re out” legislation also sometimes called the “habitual offender law” (Marion and Oliver, p.350. 2012). The state of Washington was the first to implement the three strike law; the state of California soon followed with a broader version of the law. The three strike law made mandatory those offenders who have been convicted three times for serious crimes to be sentenced to life in prison. Even though adopted versions of the law vary among states, some states reduce judicial discretion while some states allowed some judicial discretion. For example, the state of California requires twenty-five years to life in prison for any individual
Stolzenberg, Lisa, and Stewart J. D'Alessio. "`Three Strikes and You're Out': The Impact of California's." Crime & Delinquency 43.4 (1997): 457. Print.
Messerli, Joe. “Is the Three Strike Law, Which Provides Mandatory 25-to-Life Sentences for a Third Felony Conviction, a Good Idea?” Balance politics. 15 Oct. 2006. 28 Oct 2009. http://www.balancedpolitics.org/three_strikes.htm.
Following the murders of two young girls, both killed by repeat offenders, the people of California decided it was time to eradicate recidivism and crack down on crime. The general view was that violent criminals needed to be kept in prison where they could not harm the public, and the existing criminal justice system was not doing enough to deter crime. Out of this wave of moral outrage came what was to be the harshest sentencing legislation in the country.
Smart, Ninian. "Blackboard, Religion 100." 6 March 2014. Seven Dimensions of Religion. Electronic Document. 6 March 2014.
People always tell you that there are two subjects never to bring up at a dinner party, one is religion and the other is politics. Why is that? It is because both subjects invoke very strong emotions. Rather than saying something inappropriate, most people avoid talking about religion altogether. But get those same people in a room and ask their political opinions, that is a different story. For many reasons, people are vocal about their political beliefs (Bentz, 2013). Unfortunately, individuals will judge people by their political beliefs first, without notice to other important aspects of their lives. And that is the reason that politics is not brought up in dinner parties.
In 2004, “The Effect of Three- Strikes Legislation on Serious Crime in California” study showed the lack-lustering effect of the Three-Strikes Law. The study displayed that the Three- Strikes Law didn’t have a positive impact on reducing crime. Instead, the policy just increased the incarceration
Religion, “part of the human experience that has to do with a god or gods, a higher power, or the ultimate values of life” (Cason & Tillman 6-7), is one of the most controversial and interesting subjects for humanity. It has been around for as long as anyone can recall and they have difference and similarities in their founders, beliefs, and history. Religion has served to give some sort of a meaning to life and everything around it. In modern society, some religions have grown and expanded significantly. These larger religions have been classified as world religions. In addition, these world religions have been split into two categories known as Eastern and Western religion.
According to Vitiello, (1997) after a threefold increase in the nations prison population between 1980 and 1994, California publicized a “three strikes” legislation. (Vitiello, 1997, pg 1). This was imposed to get tougher on violent crimes.
Lifton, R., foreword, Cults In Our Midst, by Margaret Thaler Singer & Lalich (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995).
In addition, the number of guards compared to inmates are extremely low due to overcrowding. Since there are less guards within the prison, they have to take precautions to keep themselves as well as other inmates safe, which could lead to severe violence that results in the injury or death of either (Davidson, 2012). Since the mandatory minimum laws have become a large controversy, the number of incarcerations within the past decade have decreased, but yet, people incarcerated under these laws make up about 56% of federal inmates. In 2010, there were 108,022 prisoners incarcerated under the mandatory laws and in 2016 it decreased 14% to 92,870 prisoners (“Mandatory Minimum Sentences Decline, Sentencing Commission Says” 2017). But, the issues of imprisonment under the mandatory minimum laws have also created issues regarding the three-strike rule, which states that at any circumstance of getting in trouble, whether it be another drug conviction or littering, would resort back to incarceration specifically under these
The three strikes law has been challenged to be unconstitutional, violating the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment (Cornell Law). A defendant was found guilty of stealing $150 worth of videotapes from various California department stores, which appears a mild crime. However, he has two prior convictions, and per California’s three strikes law, he was sentenced 50 years in prison (FindLaw). This was eventually taken to the Supreme Court in the case of Lockyer v. Andrade, where the punishment was deemed
Religion can be defined as a system of beliefs and worships which includes a code of ethics and a philosophy of life. Well over 90% of the world 's population adheres to some form of religion. The problem is that there are so many different religions. What is the right religion? What is true religion? The two most common ingredients in religions are rules and rituals. Some religions are essentially nothing more than a list of rules, dos and don 'ts, which a person must observe in order to be considered a faithful adherent of that religion, and thereby, right with the God of that religion. Two examples of rules-based religions are Islam and Judaism. Islam has its five pillars that must be observed.