Report on religious traditions Religion is Tenrikyo Research Paper

Report on religious traditions Religion is Tenrikyo - Research Paper Example Some would even argue that it is still not a separate religion, but remains a branch or sect of Shinto. The name comes from Tenri ,which means "heavenly wisdom" in Japanese, or â€Å"heavenly intelligence ( Morrigan 2013), and Kyo meaning "teaching, and so Tenriko is the teaching of heavenly wisdom as put forward by a benign deity. In its earliest days was mainly a grass roots peasant’s movement, with a strong shamanic element. It set out to meet the needs of ordinary people and also drew its support in the main from the lower stratas of Japanese society. Followers of Tenriko have faith in God, who is known by several names. This God has expressed his divine will through Nakayama Miki's part as the Shrine of God, together with other less important leaders who followed her, such as Honseki Izo Iburi, known when young for his carpentry skills, and who took over Tenriko leadership on the death of the foundress. Morrigan ( 2013) discusses the fact that, despite its female founder , Tenriko can be seen as sexist with leadership often being handed down the male line, father to son , whether or not the new leader is the most suitable , and clearly sees this as something that has gone wrong. Having researched lists of clerics Morrigan has found ( 2013) no sign of a church led by a woman , or any movement asking for the advocating for a greater inclusion of women in leadership in Tenriko. Similarly to the situation found in too many other faiths , and in particular in Christian churches , women tend to have their own organizations and activities, although officially training for ministers is open to both males and females and the idea of equality is an important tenet of the faith. It seems likely that the more patriarchal practices which have crept into Tenriko have occurred as it became established as an officially recognized part of Shintoism and also had to survive the difficult times of the early 20th century, which of course included Japan’s involvem ent in two major wars, as well as the country’s economic collapses during the Great Depression and as a result of World War II. According to Dempsey ( 2013) although there are now followers in many countries, this new religion began in Japan in the mid-19th century, and is based upon revelations to a woman called Nakayama Miki, known to her followers as Oyasama. The exact date of the church’s founding is 10/26/1838, the date on which Miki’s husband Zenbei felt he was complying with the wishes of God by accepting his wife as a shrine, that is he was accepting that God was actually dwelling inside his wife. They had married when Miki was only 13, and she has been described as a perfect and virtuous housewife. The events described took place more than 30 years after their marriage ( Let us reason ministries, 2009). In her 40’s a Shino priest was called to the home to carry out some form of "mystical ritual" in order to cure both Miki and her husband. At this time she went into a trance and had her first revelation. She spoke as if the voice of God was actually speaking through her. Tenrikyo Church World Headquarters can be found in the city of Tenri, in central Japan. I tis built around Jiba, the place where, according to ancient tradition humankind was first created by God the Parent and, so, symbolically, and according to the faith of believers , is therefore the ancestral home of all people. According to the doctrine of Tenriko ,:- In the beginning, the world was a muddy ocean. Tsukihi, God the Parent, finding this chaos unbearably tasteless, thought of creating human beings in order to see the Joyous Life and thus share in that joy.( Doctrine of Tenriko,

Can the theories in Machiavelli's THE PRINCE be used to justify the Essay

Can the theories in Machiavelli's THE PRINCE be used to justify the totalitarian actions and theories of Marx, Lenin and Stalin - Essay Example The totalitarian actions of several great world leaders have walked on the path he laid causing indestructible loss to the humanity as well as morals. Machiavelli's theories do justify the actions of the leaders, who sculpted the history of the human kind, but history had proved again and again total control over any community, unleashed through chameleonic actions, fear and attacking first will only fail sooner or later. Act According to the Situation Machiavelli always argued the leaders should be ready to act in a chameleonic way to preserve their power. According to him it is completely just to lure the people using various philosophies like patriotism, capitalism etc. They should never regret to change it as and when necessary, if there is a threat for their power. He says every leader should be ready to take the help of the evil to sustain power if they are compelled to do so. "...he (the leader of the state) must stick to the good so long as he can, but, being compelled be nec essity, he must be ready to take the way of the evil."(Machiavelli, 63) Both Karl Marx and Machiavelli did agree that there is an existing tension prevailing between the nobles and the common men for centuries. Both challenged the primitive believes of the previous generations. They put forward new ideas to change the world. Marx saw people as social beings whose total history is merely a class struggle. Each struggle leads to some sort of development. Machiavelli actually defines the rules and regulations for these struggles. Machiavellianism seen as a satire helps Marxists understand the evils of bourgeoisie much better. But, Karl Marx’s actions were influenced by the ideologies in the book to a great extent. While Marx and Machiavelli were two different poles when it came to society’s freedom and development, both shared similar views on acquiring power. Machiavelli has personally experienced all the brutalities like Strapeddo and confinement within a short area whi ch Marx struggled to remove from the society. He penned down the Prince with the aim of impressing his Lorenzo di Medici, the then Italian prince who had the capability to reduce his sentence (Wooton, 1994). The struggling did shape Machiavelli’s mind and gave him the capability to analyze the reason behind such issues. Machiavelli clearly described no man is good and there is no point in resolving only good means to fight or rule him. Similarly Karl Marx also agreed every man in a political animal and they need iron hands to rule them until humanity evolves into better state. Karl Marx struggled to establish a communal government where the poorest of the poor who were suppressed in every possible way would get some sort of freedom and justice. He believed it would be possible only through complete power change. His â€Å"Dictatorship of Proletariat† is the best example of how power will be shifted from one class to the other. This is what Machiavelli describes as taki ng the help of evil. Marxism actually lures people into believing everybody will be treated fair, with equality and mercy. But, the means to acquire power to materialize the same will be brutal, crushing everybody possible. In simple word Marxists can take the help of the evil to establish goodness in the world. They can kill the very mob they guaranteed freedom to achieve power. Karl Marx did have close contacts with many elite, rich