Tag: history
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The Contemporary Relationship Between the U.S. and Canada
Kevin McLeod, Gov 391, 2021 In 1969, Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau spoke at the Washington National Press Club, where he memorably described the relative scale of relations between Canada and the U.S.: “Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast,… Read more
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The UN Tribunal for Rwanda
Kevin McLeod, GOV396, April 15, 2022 Introduction In the spring of 1994 the Rwandan government, military services and extremist groups turned violently on a cultural minority. The ensuing massacre led to ~800,000 deaths in 100 days, ending in mid-summer. Estimates vary on the exact figure of lives lost, but the fact of genocide is not… Read more
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Cultural Differences in Moral Reasoning
Cultural differences in moral reasoning are driven by various influences — history, leadership, religious belief, experiences with peace and warfare, available resources and the strategies for extracting and distributing those resources. These cultural differences are not limited to the scale of nations. There can also be differences in the culture and moral reasoning between schools,… Read more
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Why Parents Shouldn’t Be Able to Refuse Medical Treatment for an Ill Child
[One of 50 articles written and published for Demand Media in 2013] Legally, refusal to provide or access medical care for children can be termed medical neglect. According to the latest available national statistics, documented child abuse and neglect in 2011 affected more than 675,000 children, or nearly 1 in a 100 kids. On average,… Read more
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Evangelism in the Early Seventeenth & Eighteenth Centuries
[One of 50 articles written and published for Demand Media in 2013] The roots of American evangelism go back to 16th century Europe, when Anabaptists began suggesting that church should be separate from the state. This view did not find favor among governments closely aligned with the Catholic church, and consequently Anabaptism was brutally suppressed.… Read more
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Chinese Religion & Ethics in the 17th Century
[One of 50 articles written and published for Demand Media in 2013. Published version here.] The Chinese word for religion didn’t enter the language until late in the 19th century, when scholars needed a term to translate the concept from Western texts. The conception of religion as the West understands it today simply did not… Read more
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Who Advocated Religious Individualism?
[One of 50 articles written and published for Demand Media in 2013] The modern understanding of religious individualism, as defined by the Catholic Encyclopedia, “describes the attitude of those persons who refuse to subscribe to definite creeds, or to submit to any external religious authority.” It is conceptually similar to “cafeteria Christians,” a phrase used… Read more
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Cultural Influence on Morals
[One of 50 articles written and published for Demand Media in 2013. Published version here.] Culture influences morals. But it is not the only influence, nor necessarily the strongest one. Thinking about how culture influences morals raises several questions. What are morals? What is culture? What are their sources and what causes them to change?… Read more
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Globalization & Religious Violence
[One of 50 articles written and published for Demand Media in 2013] Even as the world population has grown, globalization has made our planet shrink. Travel options have expanded, more people are living in cities, and the products we use daily are increasingly made and distributed by multinational corporations. Mass production and its economic advantages… Read more
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Astro-Theology & Shamanism
[One of 50 articles written and published for Demand Media in 2013] Astro-Theology and Shamanism both explore the intersection of ancient astronomy, early religion and psychoactive plants, as part of a genre known as entheogen studies. This focuses primarily on past and present use of psychoactive plants and fungi in spiritual/religious contexts. A variety of… Read more