Antony Flew: The Existence and Belief Of God Essay -- Philosopher Anto

Antony Flew: The Existence and Belief of God Antony Flew starts by telling the audience this story of two explorers that accidentally came upon a garden in a jungle. In this garden, there were many beautiful flowers and weeds. One explorer says, "some gardener must tend this plot". While the other disagrees, "there is no gardener". So, these two explorers tried to figure out who was right and who was wrong. They waited the whole night, but no gardener was ever seen. Then the "Believer" said that there must be a gardener, that he "is an invisible gardener". He tried everything he could to convince to the "Sceptic" that he was right, barbed-wire, electrifying fence, patrolling bloodhounds. But no gardener was ever found. Still the "Believer" was not convinced. He gave the "Sceptic" many excuses as to why they couldn't see the gardener. The "Sceptic" told him that he was crazy because what started out as a simple assertion that there was a gardener, turned into "an imaginary gardener".   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This parable that Flew is using is clearly an analogy to the existence and belief of God. The garden represents God, "†¦invisible, intangible, insensible†¦". The "Sceptic" says there is no gardener, just as an atheist denies the existence God. The "Believer" says there is a gardener, like a theist telling everyone that God exists. The "Believer" tries to prove that there was a planter, who planted the seeds for the flowers to grow. This planter takes care of them, a parallelism to God supposedly taking care of "us".   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Flew talks about assertions. He states that "what starts as an assertion, that something exists†¦may be reduced step by step to an altogether different status". He uses the example of how if one man were to talk about sexual behavior, "another man prefers to talk of Aphrodite". They don't seem to make sense. How can one confuse the idea of a sexual behavior with Aphrodite? He also points out the fact that "a fine brash hypothesis may be killed by inches, the death of a thousand qualifications". A good example of this is when he said that "God loves us as a father loves his children". He states that when we see a child dying of cancer, his "earthy father" is there, to help him, nurture him, trying his best for his son. But his "Heavenly Father", God, is no where to be found, that he "reveals no obvious sign of concern". The... ...arden in which I find myself, that I am unable to share the explorers' detachment," said Hare. He tried to point out that if he was in the same situation, he would not share the same views as the explorers. Which is a belief in the g ardener, a belief in God. Both of these man had some strong viewpoints. Flew states, if one asserts something, then one must deny something. What Hare is trying to say is that, there is two sides to every idea or "assertions", a blik. That that is a sane blik and a insane blik. Most people have the sane one and those who don't share this view is point as lunatics. But no one is not trying to deny something here. The person with the insane blik is not wrong or that he's not trying to deny something, it's just that his views are different. Flew states, "what would have to occur or to have occurred to constitute for you a disproof of the love of, or of the existence of, God?" Hare's reply to this question is that he calls this "completely victorious." Nothing have to occur because those who does not share this belief in God have an insane blik. They are not trying to deny that God doesn't but rather that they views are just different.

Joseph Estrada and National Service Training Essay

Republic Act 9163 is an act establishing the National Service Training Program (NSTP) for tertiary level students. Its short title is â€Å"National Service Training Program (NSTP) Act of 2001. † It was passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines on December 19, 2001. It was subsequently approved by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last January 23, 2002. RA 9163 or the National Service Training Program (NSTP) Act of 2001 NSTP is â€Å"a program aimed at enhancing civic consciousness and defense preparedness in the youth by develop-ing the ethics of service and patriotism while undergoing training in any of its three (3) program components. † (RA 9163). Section 2 Rule 1 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the NSTP Act states the role of the youth in nation-building. It says: 1.  In recognition of the vital role of the youth in nation-building, the State shall promote civic consciousness among them and shall develop their physical, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being. It shall inculcate the ideals of patriotism, nationalism, and advance their involvement in public and civic affairs. 2. As the most valuable resource of the nation, they shall be motivated, trained, organized and involved in military, literacy, civic welfare programs and other similar endeavors in the service of the nation. ROTC is â€Å"a program institutionalized under Sections 38 and 39 of Republic Act 7077 designed to provide mili-tary training to tertiary level students in order to motivate, train, organize and mobilize them for national defense preparedness. â€Å"(RA 9163). CWTS refers to â€Å"programs or activities contributory to the general welfare and the betterment of life for the members of the community or the enhancement of its facilities, especially those devoted to improving health, education, environment, entrepreneurship, safety, recreation and morals of the citizenry. (RA 9163). LTS is a ? â€Å"program designed to train students to become teachers of literacy and numeracy skills to school chil-dren, out of school youth, and other segments of society in need of their service. † (RA 9163). NSTP Act states that â€Å"all incoming freshmen students, male and female, starting School Year (SY) 2002-2003, enrolled in any baccalaureate and in at least two (2) year technical-voca tional or associate courses, are re-quired to complete one (1) NSTP component of their choice, as a graduation requirement. † (RA9163 IRR). More-over, NSTP component chosen by the student shall be undertaken in two (2) terms and be credited for a 3-unit subject per term. Important and lasting beliefs or ideals shared by the members of a culture about what is good or bad and desirable or undesirable. Values have major influence on a person’s behavior and attitude and serve as broad guidelines in all situations. Some common business values are fairness, innovation and community involvement. 2. The monetary worth of something in areas such as accounting, economics, marketing or mathematics. A value can be defined as your personal belief on a moral or ethical issue. For example, those who have strong family values believe that families should always eat meals together. Those who have strong Christian values find it important to attend church each sunday. Education in its general sense is a form of learning in which knowledge, skills, and habits of a group of people are transferred from one generation to the next through teaching, training, research, or simply through autodidacticism. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts. The wealth of knowledge acquired by an individual after studying particular subject matters or experiencing life lessons that provide an understanding of something. Education requires instruction of some sort from an individual or composed literature. The most common forms of education result from years of schooling that incorporates studies of a variety of subjects. â€Å"

An Argument For Sustainable Agriculture Essay - 3181 Words

An Argument For Sustainable Agriculture Introduction Merriam-Websters online dictionary defines stewardship as the careful and responsible management of something entrusted in ones care (Merriam-Webster, 2015). Sustainable agriculture is a method that does not deplete soil, water, air, wildlife or human community resources (Community Alliance with, 1997). These two principles describe a type of farming that practices responsible management of the land in a way that does not deplete natural resources or the human community. We are living in a time when many environmental issues have come up due to such things as overpopulation, increased waste production, over consumption, depletion of natural resources and other activities†¦show more content†¦Organic farming involves the strict adherence to three standards defined by the federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990. The act includes the stipulation that farmers must be certified, continually increasing soil fertility and are prohibited from using synthetic pesticides and fert ilizers (Community Alliance with, 1997). Thus, sustainable agriculture involves a continuum, containing points where limited use of synthetic products may be acceptable to organic farming where none are used. It can be argued that sustainable methods are very practical today, and are important in retaining healthy land that will be productive in the future. The history of agriculture shows how agriculture has developed to where we are today with traditional methods. By looking at obstacles to organic farming and the problems and solutions to traditional methods, we can see the importance of increasing sustainable efforts. Furthermore, it is important to look at the link between faith and farming and how people can apply biblical principles to farming the land God owns. 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