Globalisation and Religion Essay Example for Free

Globalisation and Religion Essay Secularisation theory has argued that modernisation has undermined religion. The importance of science and technology on economic development and rational worldview on which they depend on are seen as destroying the belief in supernatural. However religion can contribute to development, but most recently sociologists have examined what role religion may play in development in today’s globalising world. This can be seen in India. Globalisation has brought rapid economic growth and has seen India become a more important player in the world political stage. It has brought prosperity to some, notably the Indian middle class. Nanda shows that 85% of India is Hindu and this is where globalisation has taken place. Globalisation has created a huge and prosperous, scientifically educated middle class working in IT, pharmaceuticals, etc. These are who secularisation theorists say will be the first to abandon religion. However Nanda sees a vast majority of this class continue to believe in the supernatural. A study of developing societies in 2007 shows that Indians are more religious and only 5% claim their religion has declined in the past five years. It also found that urban areas are more religious that rural areas. Nanda goes as far to say that it is becoming fashionable to be seen as religious. She examines what motivates this. Nanda rejects poverty and existential insecurity as a reason for their belief because they are not poor. She also rejects the idea that their religiosity is a defence mechanism to modernisation and westernisation. She argues that their religiosity is to do with their ambivalence to their new found wealth. This has helped to see the relationship between globalisation and religion, as Nanda points out that globalisation has increased the religiosity in India. She also examines the role of Hinduism in legitimating a triumphalist version of Indian nationalism. From a survey it found that 93% of Indians believe they have a superior culture to others. Nanda notes that the Indians’ success in the global market have attributed to Hindu values. These are constantly promoted by media and politicians. Ultra nationalism, worshiping Hindu gods and India itself has become a civil religion. In recent years the East Asia tiger economies such as Korea and Singapore are now becoming industrialised. Also China has become a major global power. Sociologists argue that this success is because of religion acting similar to Calvinism. Redding sees their post Confucian values as encouraging, similar to the protestant work ethic. Similarly Berger argues that Pentecostalism in Latin America acts as a functional equivalent to Weber’s protestant ethic. He says that they embrace the work ethic and lifestyle of Calvinists aspect of life which in result its members continue to prosper. However Berger underlines Weber’s point that religious ideas alone are not enough to produce economic development. He says that natural resources are also needed. For example while Protestantism has grown in northern Brazil, the religion lacks resources and remains backwards. By contrast, the south, which is developing rapidly, has both a work ethic derived from Pentecostalism and the necessary resources. Christianity has also become globalised. Lehmann says that it has done this by accompanying globalisations, imposed my indigenous population and in the past 100 years it has spread because of its popular following. The symbols and imagery from local cultures attributes to their success. They attack cults and perform exorcism, and accept and validate beliefs. This has contributed to the relationship between globalisation and religion as it shows that religion has helped countries to develop and using the idea of protestant ethic in Latin America gives a valid explanation as to why they have grown. A further link between globalisation and religion is explained through fundamentalism. Fundamentalism has a response to globalisation and related trends. Giddens’ describes fundamentalists as traditionalists. He sees that this is a relatively new term and sees its growth, as a production of and reaction to globalisation. He claims that it has undermined traditional norms and values. They say that religion offers certainty to a now uncertain world due to the choice which people have. A contrasting view to this however is Beckford. He criticises fundamentalists for ignoring other important developments, including how globalisations also affects non fundamentalist religions such as Catholicism. Giddens’ groups all types of fundamentalism together, ignoring any differences between them. Jeff Haynes argues that we should not focus narrowly on the idea that Islamic fundamentalism is a reaction against globalisation. For example in the Middle East, conflicts caused by the failure of local elites to deliver on their promises to improve the standard of living are often the fuel that drives fundamentalism. This evidence argues that globalisation has undermined traditional religious beliefs. Religion has also created a cultural defence whereby religion serves to unite communities against external threat. In this situation religion has a special significance for its followers because it symbolises the group or societies collective identity. There are two examples of this from the late 20th century and those are Poland and Iran. It has created war and terror such as the war in Iraq. Therefore the effect of globalisation on religion is a ‘clash of civilisations.’ Huntingtons’ view is that religious defences are creating a new set of hostile ‘us and them’ situation as there is an increase in competition against cavitations for economic and military power. An example of this is the 9/11. Although there are some critics such as Jackson who believe it is a western ideology that stereotypes nations. Also Armstrong argues hostility towards the west does not stem from fundamentalist Islam but to western foreign policy in the Middle East. This shows that’s due to globalisation is has increased religiosity but has created friction between countries. This has had a negative effect in the world. Overall globalisation has brought rapid economic growth and has seen India become a more important player on the world political stage. It has also increased Indians religiosity which is shown in Nandas’ argument which she also says this relationship is because of the optimism about the opportunities globalisations will bring and the result of the ambivalence to their new found wealth. But also like Huntington says, both religion and globalisation has created a ‘clash of civilisations’ and created both war and terror. In conclusion this relationship between globalisations in religion is good as it has helped countries such as India in the economy and has increased their religiosity. However it could also be argued that it has created friction between religions and in result has had a negative impact on the world.

Good Advice :: Psychology Advising Essays

Good Advice Good advice has a different meaning for everyone. For me, good advice must be given by someone I trust. They need to be honest and sincere in what they tell me. They must lay the facts down in front of me and tell me what they would do in my situation. In the end the adviser must let me decide to use their advice. If it is good advice what they told me will change my view or action for the better. As I looked back to the notes I had, I made the observation that good advice involves people we trust. Sometimes the people we trust and turn to advice for is our friends. Take for example that, Luke, John, Mike, Cale, Joe, Kristi, and myself choose to use our friends to illustrate good advice. They seem to tell you the truth no matter how it will make you feel because they love you. Others choose their parents. Nate, Jeanne, Rebecca, had their mothers being the advisor. Chris, Nate Hilson, Douglas, and Andrea had their fathers. It seemed to me that they choose for the most part to have the advice come from the parent of the same gender. Sons had their dads and daughters had their mothers as advisor. Maybe this was so because they could relate more with them and had more of a closeness. Still others in the class illustrated good advice from teachers or counselors. Amanda, Lee, and Jackie Brooks took advice from those. Advice works when it is taken or not taken, but is clearly the right way to go. Advice that works doesn’t have to be deep or inspirational. Take for example when a mother gives her children the advice to but a jacket on because it is cold outside. It is nothing new, it is just because she is concerned about her children and knows from experience that when it is cold you need a jacket. Also, in my example, the friend that gave me good advice wasn’t being pushy or saying you have to do this or else. She left it up to me. This means for good advice to work that it must be left up to the person to follow. Nobody likes to be told what to do. They resent it when they are and probably won’t go back for advice again. I know I wouldn’t. Advice that doesn’t work is simple, it doesn’t have a good outcome when followed.

Compare and Contrast: Muslim Empires

Between 1450 and 1750, three great Muslim empires arose—the Ottomans, the Safavids, and the Mughals. The Ottomans arose after the Seljuk Turkic kingdom of Rum in Eastern Anatolia collapsed, which occurred because of a Mongol invasion in 1243. The area fell into a chaotic period after that because the Mongols did not directly rule it. In search of riches, Turkic peoples, including the Ottomans who dominated the rest, flooded into the area. By the 1350s, the Ottomans were advancing from their Asia Minor strongholds.Under Mehmed I, they conquered a large part of the Balkans, and, in 1453, they captured Constantinople of the Byzantine Empire under Mehmed II, â€Å"The Conqueror,† thus establishing an empire from the Balkans that included most of the Arab world. Like the Ottomans, the Safavids arose from struggles of rival Turkish tribes. In the fourteenth century, there were decades of fierce struggles, until, finally, after three successive Safavid leaders died, a Sufi com mander named Isma’il survived. He and his followers conquered the city of Tabriz in 1501, as well as most of Persia in the next decade.They then drove the Ozbegs, neighboring nomadic Turks, back to Central Asia and advanced to Iraq. Lastly, the Mughal Dynasty was founded by Babur, who descended from Turkic warriors. He first led an invasion of India in 1526 and conquered the Indus and Ganges plains. After Babur died of an illness, his son, Humayan, succeeded him and was attacked from enemies of all sides because of Babur’s death. He was expelled from India in 1540, but eventually restored Mughal rule by 1556. Humayan’s son, Akbar, would later succeed him and become the greatest ruler in Mughal history.The Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals constructed significant empires, but each adopted different ways of treating their conquered people and developed diverse methods for managing social, political, and economic systems. In order to promote the expansion of their emp ire, the Ottomans adopted many practices to include non-Muslims in the military. At first, the Ottomans’ first concern was to collect tribute from their conquered people. This first happened in 1243 when the kingdom of Rum was conquered.However, in the fifteenth century, the Ottoman Empire’s imperial armies became increasingly dominated by infantry divisions made up of troops called Janissaries. Most of these Janissaries had been forcibly recruited as adolescent boys in conquered areas, such as the Balkans, where most of the population was made up of Christians. Sometimes the boys’ parents willingly turned their sons over to the Ottoman recruiters because of the opportunities for advancement that came with service to the Ottoman sultans. And although they were legally slaves, they were well-educated and converted to Islam.Some of them even went on to serve in the palace or bureaucracy, but most became Janissaries. These Janissaries, however, later gained politic al influence. Commerce within the empire was in the hands of Christian and Jewish merchants, who as dhimmis, or â€Å"people of the book,† were under the protection of the Ottoman rulers. The Safavids espoused the Shi’a variant of Islam unlike the Ottomans, who espoused the Sunni variant of Islam. These two variants despised each other, and their hatred showed during the battle of Chaldiran on August 1514 in northwest Persia.However, the Safavids were easily killed because of the Ottomans’ advanced warfare technology. Under Abbas the Great, the Safavid Empire thrived with toleration for captured and conquered people. For example, captured Russian youths were educated and converted, and they formed the backbone of the Safavid’s military forces. They monopolized firearms that had become increasingly prominent in Safavid armies. Also, some Russians were granted provincial governorships and high offices at court. Although the Safavids tolerated the Russians, they were not as kind to the other inhabitants of present-day Iran.For example, Sunni Muslims, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and followers of Sufi preachers, were all pressured into converting to Shi’ism. One of the greatest rulers in all of history was the son and successor of Humayan, Akbar the Great. The Mughals, under Akbar, developed the most enlightened social, political, and economic methods for treating their conquered people. He not only extended the Mughal Empire with conquests throughout north and central India, but also made the Mughal Dynasty sustainable because of his social and administrative policies.He pursued a policy of reconciliation and cooperation with the Hindu princes and overall population of his realm. For example, he encouraged intermarriage between the Mughal aristocracy and families of the Hindu Rajput rulers. In addition, Akbar abolished jizya, which was a head tax on Hindus. He also allowed Hindus to be promoted to high ranks in the government . Further, Akbar ended the longstanding ban on the construction of new Hindu temples, and he ordered Muslims to respect cows because the Hindus viewed them as sacred. He even invented a new faith calledDin-i-Ilahi, which blended elements of the many religions with which he was familiar. He believed that this would unite his Hindu and Muslim subjects, but it failed. Similar to the Ottomans’ collection of tribute, Akbar did leave some areas of his empire alone so long as they swore allegiance to Mughal rulers and paid their taxes on time. However, these areas were only left alone because of a shortage of administrators. The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Dynasties each treated their conquered people and non-Muslims differently through political, economic and social procedures.Akbar the Great and the Mughals had the most enlightened approach on how to treat these people, such as encouraging intermarriage, abolishing the jizya, and ending the ban on the building of new Hindu temple s. This approach ultimately led to greater success for the empire as a whole. In contrast, the practices utilized by the Ottomans and Safavids resulted in more discontent for the conquered people and non-Muslims. Overall, these three empires over a three hundred year span conquered thousands of people and had to develop administrative practices and policies. These methods greatly impacted their success.

Role Of The Medical Insurance Specialist - 1322 Words

The role of the Medical Insurance Specialist is very important to the financial operation of a doctor practice, hospital or other medical facility. A Medical Insurance Specialist collects all the information necessary to prepare insurance claims, enter patient demographics and insurance information, enter ICD codes and CPT billing codes, research, correct and resubmit rejected and denied claims, bill patients and answer patient questions regarding charges. The billing process is actually the process of communication between the insurance specialist, medical provider, patient and the insurance company. This is considered the billing cycle. The billing cycle could takes days to complete or it could take months. The patient demographic†¦show more content†¦Thompson (2015) also stated that the insurance specialists always call to verify secondary insurance information and rejections. The rejections may be due to incorrect modifiers, codes or an incorrect insurance ID numbe r. The third step in the process is the healthcare provider examining the patient and recording the patient symptoms and treatment. This is recorded and the medical coder or billing MEDICAL INSURANCE SPECIALIST COMMUNICATION 3 specialist determine the ICD, CPT or HPCS coding. The coder or biller may have to communicate with the healthcare provider if there are any questions on any of the diagnoses, treatments or duration of the office visit (Dietsch, 2011). Because insurance companies are very strict on correct medical billing and coding, a small mistake can cause the insurance company to deny the claim and will then require the doctor to fix the error and the claim will need to be resubmitted (Cocchi White, n.d.). The fourth step is the charge entry, this is where the bill is created. An account is set up for every patient with the demographics and the account is assigned a number. While talking to B. Mcleod (personal communication, May 26, 2015) it was also stated that one of the key functions for charge