Thursday, February 13, 2020

Democracy and Religion in Developing Countries Essay

Democracy and Religion in Developing Countries - Essay Example In the Muslim world, particularly developing countries issues concerning political democracy are raised with special force because of the strength of the Islamic resurgence and the intensity of the demands in recent years which demand better political processes. Before examining the application of democracy in Islamic countries, there is a need to analyze the significance of Islam in politics. Islamic politics according to modern Islamic movements and what history tells us is a combination of religion and politics for the reason that medieval Islamic civilization of the Umayyads and the Abbasids followed non-state structures based on the grounds of religious faith and action (Esposito & Voll: 4). This indicates that the true implication of democracy in the Muslim era was followed by the belief that the most pious person among the society was supposed to be selected by civilians as well as by his followers. The current political culture of liberal secular societies never concern about God and never weighs God's approval or disapproval of their policies or behaviour. For this reason one can see that even religious political struggles and negotiations differ a lot when compared to those of the past. This clearly indicates that today's liberal democratic governments pursue people's happiness to the exclusion of God's approval (Sadri & Sadri: 122). Democratic Political Systems The concept of democracy followed in Islamic countries encompasses Islamic activist movements that challenge government while supporting others. What usually happens in this era is that in the political interests of Islamic revivalist groups, revolutionary opposition takes place which leads them either to ruling governments, or such movements may participate in the ruling political system as opposition movements. Many times it is seen that such religious movements are based as they are crucial part of the government or are themselves the ruling force in the political system. Such a perspective of democracy is based on a broad spectrum that gives us an overview of different situations within which Islamic democratization exists. Therefore such situations are: (1) revolutionary democracy to the ruling political government (2) legal or cooperating democracy that works within the boundaries of political system (3) active participation as a democratic government alliance which works wit h other political forces and (4) the system that controls and leads the existing political system. The above situations as practiced by most of the Islamic countries shapes the nature of emerging democratic ideals in the Islamic world as well as the developing and influenced new political orders in Islam. Democracy in the Middle East As far as Islamic law and order is concerned, it is severely implemented in the region except for the positive peace in the Middle East. Countries like Iraq, Iran and Israel are pervaded with armed conflicts in various types and forms like regional conflicts, resource wars, separatist and nationalist conflicts and irredentist conflicts. However some countries are influenced by other ethnic, religious and tribal struggles to the extent where their democratic power is heavily influenced under revolutionary and fundamentalist struggles. The peoples and governments throughout the Middle East are thus confronting pro-democracy anti-colonial struggles. Middle Eastern democratic trend follows violent conflicts and does not fulfil the criteria of positive peace in the region which is the utmost ground for building a democratic

Saturday, February 1, 2020

Alexander Graham Bell 1847-1922 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Alexander Graham Bell 1847-1922 - Essay Example On 3rd March 1847, in the town of Edinburgh, Scotland, Eliza Grace Symonds and Professor Alexander Melville Bell were blessed with a son, Alexander Bell. His father, Professor Alexander Melville Bell, was a famous speech expert or elocutionist and teacher of deaf people. Alexander had two other brothers namely, Edward Charles Bell and Melville James Bell. However, both of them later passed on after ailing from Tuberculosis. Interestingly, the name ‘Graham’ was only added when he was 11 years of age after he made a request to equally have a middle name as the rest of his siblings. Most of his childhood years were spent in Scotland with his father acting as a personal tutor. Evidently, Alexander made his first innovation at the age of 12 by inventing a machine that had the capacity to remove the husks of wheat grains and clean them at the same time. The dehusking machine was composed of revolving paddles and pairs of nailbrushes. The machine was adopted by many mill compan ies since it assisted in speeding up of wheat processing. At age 15, he enrolled at Royal High School but left after only four semesters. At the age of 16, Alexander attained a job at the Weston House Academy in Elgin Scotland. His job description was as a part time teacher and pupil of music and speech. Incidentally, his father was against the idea of him pursuing any career within the department of science. However, Alexander maintained his pursuit of science as he wanted to emulate both his grandfather and father. At the Weston House, Alexander took up some Greek and Latin courses and later became a teacher of the same. His charges for remuneration of services rendered were boarding and accommodation at the institution and 10 pounds per lesson. Alexander later attended the University of Edinburg at the age of 17. Incidentally, his brother Edward was enrolled at the same University before his untimely demise on May, 1870. On April of 1871, Alexander relocated to Boston,