The Knowledge Taught in Vain

If you were to ask a teenager today if he or she would rather study or watch television, what do you think the answer would be? From what I have seen in myself when I was a teenager and in almost everyone that I meet, nobody would rather study. Today's fast food culture has sucked the beauty out of individual thought and the acquirement of knowledge. Schools give an insufficient amount of knowledge on a variety of different topics and sub-topics without any encouragement of critical thought and analysis on the knowledge. Indeed, if schools required children to do so as a part of their education then the politicians, people of elite status, and teachers would be shown that the way they have been doing things, and they way they are doing things, is wrong. Some people who do actually think about things and disagree are rare not only because it's hard to find interest in something public education has made arbitrary but because doing so results in being a social outcast. Some still disagree anyway. It is not allowed in the classrooms so they drop out of schools, die their hair black, get body piercings, become pessimists, and become stereotyped as trash to express their rebellion against being trained to think in a way that does nothing but confuse thought itself. The simple fact is that if young people were encouraged to change our current situation instead of being cast out and beaten down, these same tattooed drug addict losers would be Nobel Prize winners. Its not these rebels that are causing environmental problems, sucking up all the available resources at the expense of people living in poverty, and sending American jobs across the Mexican border for the sake of a greasy buck. It is not the individualist envisionary artists we call elements of a demoralized young generation that are over taxing the people to build machinery for wars that, most of time, are none of our damn business. It is not the gun carrying gangsters that are engaging in the politics of deception and manipulation to lie to the majority of â€Å"honest† people in this country and take their money to fulfill their bloodthirsty wallets at the cost of peoples lives. These proprietary social outcasts are defense mechanisms that result from the disgusting maginalization of the current system. Where does it all begin? In the public schools are the roots of the problem. What helps it? The media with its advertisement propaganda waters those roots. There are many problems in our society that spring from one thing: the miseducation of our children. There are many problems in the education of our children that spring from one thing: students are being taught what to think instead of how to think. The core of our education of children should not be the amount of material covered but the encouragement of thinking about the material which should be presented with a high degree of honesty with emphasis on awareness and responsibility. On many occasions in public school I can remember inquiring on the importance of material only to be laughed at by the class. In eleventh grade English, designed for vocational students, we read â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† by Harper Lee. We read during class and each Friday had tests on the material without any discussion of our purpose for learning it. One day when I questioned why we needed to learn it and the class laughed at me. The teacher told me that it was just part of the curriculum required by the state. I can remember that adding to the anger and frustration of my already rebellious attitude. The rebellion that I felt at the time was against everything that I was being taught. I at the time, like most people, had grown repulsed by learning since the knowledge had been distributed in a way that made it seem like it was a waste of my time. There were seven class periods a day. Each class was less than an hour long and there was little time to go over the things of real importance. When things of real importance were â€Å"taught,† I had six other classes crowding in trying to choke any desire that might have been there to investigate the matters further. Consequently, books and knowledge brought to mind nothing but the meaningless boredom of the manner in which they were presented in school. Whether in school or out, reading books sucked. When that last bell rang it always sparked the conditioned thought of myself hanging out with friends, watching television, listening to music, smoking pot, and doing anything but being productive. Being productive seemed like something that old people do because they need to survive, not because it is something that they loved to do, and its perquisite implied hours of monotonous dedication to memorizing conceptual relics from a former epoch that have no relevant applicability to my modern life. Watching television consumed most of my out of school time since that was mostly what people in my surroundings talked about. Why was it important? It provided for my parents a relief from doing work that they do not enjoy all day. It provided for me and my fellow students an automatic identity and purpose since school had degraded the idea of constructing one from history, science, literature, and philosophy to meaningless syllables that invoked sleep. If a public school student were to actually pay attention in school and manage to get an A, lets say, in history class, that person might be able to tell you that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. That person might be able to tell you that the Declaration of Independence says we are all created equal, but if you told him the truth that Jefferson had slaves and that he cheated on his wife with a slave for the better part of twenty years, she would either think you are dumb, laugh at you, or both. When I was riding the bus to school in the twelfth grade, I saw that a girl with a calculus textbook. I tried to talk to her about it and told her that Kempler, one of the fathers of calculus, developed the subject for the study of astronomical bodies. She was an honors student, smart enough to be in calculus, but she did not believe that what I was saying was true. â€Å"Calculus has nothing to do with astronomy! † she said. All I could think was how boring this subject was because its history and meaning had been negated. It made me angry that the teacher never described exactly what happened in history or how much depth and beauty is in mathematics just because â€Å"it's not a part of the curriculum. † Most people think of mathematics and reading books as boring. This is a direct result of people being showed things like geometrical shapes, the battle of Gettysburg, and the periodic table of elements without indicating their significance at the time that these things were discovered or occurred, or their significance in modern day life. When most people think of school they see one subject, instead of a vast array of topics and interests, and they think of that subject as dreadful, boring, and a waste of time. For instance, Mike Rose wrote about the public education experience in his book â€Å"I Just Wanna Be Average†: The particulars will vary, but in essence this is what a number of students go through, especially those in the so-called remedial classes. They open their textbooks and see once again the familiar and impenetrable formulas and diagrams and terms that have stumped them for years. There is no excitement here. No excitement. Regardless of what the teacher says, this is not a new challenge. There is, rather embarrassment and frustration and, not suprisingly, some anger in being reminded once again of long-standing inadequacies. No wonder so many students finally attribute their difficulties to something inborn, organic: â€Å"That part of my brain just doesn't work. † Given the troubling histories many of these students have, it's miraculous that any of them can lift the shroud of hopelessness sufficiently to make deliverance from these classes possible. This situation is not just applicable to this particular case, but is a good generalization of the majority of people who experience public schools first hand. Put simply, the government designs a curriculum. In that curriculum it is set up for students to cover a certain amount of material; however, I cannot remember one class in public school where we finished a text book. It appears like the government sets unreachable curricular goals because there is no desire for them to invoke critical thought in the minds of the students. They know that if a student were taught to think about too much, the things that are wrong in our government, socioculture, and environmental ecology would be criticized. That would mean a major change in the way that we are doing things, and all those who are taking advantage of the system for their own greed would be brought to light. Many people would lose their status, power, control, and luxuries. So, while people are trained, in a sense, to see education and knowledge acquirement as monotonous and boring, they are being prevented from being able to do anything about the wrongs in our world. To aid in this suppression, â€Å"the powers that be† also use television to inform, and misinform, the masses of the problems and solutions. As a result, people are being spoon-fed what to think without having to think, because thinking is something that is not of primary importance whatsoever, for the reasons above. The few people who do are such a small amount that it is hard to convince the masses who are being â€Å"zombified† that that is in fact what is happening to them. There are a few wonderful exceptions. Some public school teachers deviate from the curriculum because their passion over-rides their fear of not accomplishing their job requirements. For instance, Jonathan Kozol wrote about a teacher in the city of Chicago in his essay â€Å"Corla Hawkins†. She did her best to teach her kids how to think about what they learned, how to teach each other what they learned, and how what they learned applies to their life. The thirty children in her fifth and sixth grade class were seated in groups of six or five called â€Å"departments†. Each department was composed of six desks pushed together to created a table. One of the groups did math, another something they describe as â€Å"mathematics art†Ã¢â‚¬â€œpainting composites of geometric shapes–and the other is studying â€Å"careers,† which on this particular morning in the essay were writing about successful business leaders who began their lives in poverty. Then, they all switched groups while one stayed behind to teach the rest the ropes of that department. This teacher, Mrs. Hawkins, was showing them how to communicate intrapersonally and interpersonally information that would be of use to them. The essay made it clear she cared more about the way her children thought and less what her children thought. â€Å"This is the point of it,† she says. â€Å"I am teaching them three things. Number one: self-motivation. Number two: self-esteem. Number three: you help your sister and brother. I tell them they're responsible for one another. I give no grades in the first marking period because I do not want them to be too competitive. Second marking period, I team them two-and-two. You get the same grade as your partner. Fourth marking period, I tell them ‘Every fish swims on its own. But I wait a while for that. The most important thing for me is that they teach each other†¦ † (178) This is an awesome example of teaching the kids how to think. Sadly, though, these kids are most likely being suppressed outside of school. Although education is something they probably look forward to every day, the society around them does not place much importance on education a t all. In a textbook, â€Å"Invitation to Psychology†, I read the work of psychological researchers Harold Sevenson, Chuanshen Chen, and Shin-Ying Lee. They compared children from 20 schools in Chicago and 11 schools in Beijing. The study, ironically, was on fifth graders, as in the class stated above and eleventh graders who were compared ten years earlier. Their results can show us much on the cultivation of intellect. On computations and word problems, the lowest scoring Beijing schools did better than the highest scoring Chicago schools! Only 4 percent of the Chinese children had scores as low as the average American child. Interestingly, the Chinese had worse facilities and larger classes! The Chinese parents were also poorer and less educated than the American parents! In this case, the government propagates to its society the importance of education because it benefits them. Since it is a Communist society, people who are more productive and intelligent benefit the high ranking political parties. Because of this, Chinese students are expected to devote themselves to their studies, but American students are expected to be â€Å"well-rounded†Ã¢â‚¬â€œto have after school jobs (74 percent of them did, compared to only 21 percent of the Chinese), to have dates and an active social life (85 percent to 37 percent), and to have time for sports and other activities. Contrary to the stereotype of the stressed and overworked Asian student, it is American students who are most likely to report that school is a source of stress and academic anxiety. Asians actually had the lowest incidents of stress, depression, insomnia, aggression, and physical symptoms. American students do not value education as much as Asian students do. They are also more complacent about mediocre work. When asked what they would wish for if a wizard could give them anything they wanted, more than sixty percent of the Chinese fifth-graders named something that related to their education. Can you guess what the American children wanted? A majority said money or possessions. (216) It is not an absurd notion to think that the US government and the economical superpowers of this country propagate materialism, simply because it fills their pockets continuously. The solution to many of our world's social and economic problems would surface rather quickly if we changed our curriculum to promote critical individual thought. Right now the current system may not be intended to fill the pockets of the wealthy and the polititions, but that is sure what it does. Rather than keep filling their pockets with money, lets fill our global, national, and communal problems with solutions. The best way to do this, clearly, is to stop over feeding our children's minds with the water of knowledge and to start planting there more seeds of thought. A very prolific man, Neale Donald Walsch, makes a great suggestion of how to do this in â€Å"Conversations with God†: I am talking about focusing your children's attention as much on understanding the core concepts and the theoretical structures around which their value system may be constructed as you now do on dates and facts and statistics. In your society you have created a system in which little Johnnie has learned how to read before getting out of pre-school, but still hasn't learned how to stop biting his brother. And Susie has perfected her multiplication tables, using flash cards and rote memory, in ever earlier and earlier grades, but has not learned that there is nothing shameful or embarrassing about her body. Right now your schools exist primarily to provide answers. It would be far more beneficial if their primary function was to ask questions. What does it mean to be honest, or responsible, or â€Å"fair†? What are the implications? For that matter, what does it mean that 2+2=4? What are the implications? A highly evolved society would encourage all children to discover and create those answers for themselves. Present Data should not be the basis of Present Truth. Data from a prior time or experience should always and only be the basis for new questions. Always the treasure should be in the question, not in the answer. And always the questions are the same. With regard to this past data which we have shown you, do you agree, or do you disagree? What do you think? Always, this is the key question. Always this is the focus. What do you think? What do you think? (127-128) Through out life I have been fortunate to know very intelligent, charismatic, â€Å"thoughtful† people. The best of them all combine to form the ideal role model. The actualization of their thoughts, each with a distinctive power, wonder, grace, is nothing less than an amazing vision of beauty that cannot be described on paper, only felt in observing. The public school system, if anything, has attacked my comprehension of and capability of contributing to this beauty. The struggle that I call my past could have been a plethora of aesthetics if I had been shown the ways of the thinker instead of the ways of a zombie. Anyone who has felt a personal feeling of deep contemplation would agree that its goodness could not be replaced or taken away by anything external or material. Those people are the ones who evolve the current system. Instead of these people loving themselves through their students, they will love their students through wisdom.

Hybrid Vehicles: the Dark Side Essay

Abstract In the past decade, hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) have been making a big commotion with the innovative, gas saving technologies that accompany them. The illusion that HEVs are 100 percent environmentally friendly in all aspects also follows the HEV wave. Sadly the illusion often wins over unsuspecting customers the instant better gas mileage is offered. This review on the environmental impact of the hybrid electric vehicle observes the unseen sides of the automotive â€Å"green movement.† The piece compares how an ordinary gasoline vehicle (non-HEV) can achieve gas mileage that is just as good, if not better, than the more expensive hybrid option. This reality check on the newest technologies uproots what manufacturers do not want anyone to know or think about when buying a vehicle including: environmental pollution of the hybrid electric vehicle, non-HEV fuel economy, the lack of pay-back from owning an HEV, and how the HEV lacks the level of versatility required for many Am erican families. Hybrid Electric Vehicles The Dark Side Thesis: Hybrid Electric Vehicles should cease to be produced because of four main issues: environmental pollution has not reduced, better fuel economy can be achieved in non-hybrid vehicles, there is no payback in owning a hybrid, and hybrid vehicles do not possess the same versatility many American families need. I. Environmental Pollution and the Hybrid Electric Vehicle A. Batteries contain Nickel, Lithium, and Lead 1. Mining these materials is hazardous, causes acid rain 2. Shipping these materials is costly and [the transportation vehicle] contributes to pollution B. Car accidents happen 3. Vehicular accidents happen all of the time, HEV batteries are prone to damage and can leak harmful materials (acids) into the environment. 4. Recycling batteries is impossible right now. Where do the batteries go? II. Non-HEV Fuel Economy C. European Diesels vs. HEV 5. For decades European automotive companies have been producing diesel powered cars achieving mpg in the 40-90 range depending on the size of the vehicle 6. Americans have yet to adopt this technology due to discrepancies in emissions controls and standards. D. Alternative Fuel Technologies 7. Hydrogen power is becoming more available to the consumers in larger cities such as Los Angeles and New York City. 8. The technology is still rather expensive, but if the government stopped wasting money on HEV development and started spending on the development of Hydrogen Power, our depending on foreign oil would diminish and we would have a reliable, renewable, and ecologically sound energy III. HEVs Do Not Pay To Own E. Non-HEV vs. HEV 9. Most non-HEVs will tend to pay themselves off in a matter of years because they have small maintenance costs and relatively easy upkeep. 10. HEVs have many new features that are expensive to keep up in today’s market, especially with limited accessibility to replacement parts. F. Maintenance 11. HEVs are filled with a plethora of new costs that can drain a wallet dry! Depending on how long an HEV is owned the owner must maintain both the electric and gas motor along with the battery. 12. A battery costs upwards of an expensive $2,000. IV. HEVs and the Population G. Urban Population and HEV Use 13. Many Americans live in congested cities where fuel consumption is tremendous and pollution is a major problem. 14. HEVs offer the convenience of shutting off the gas motor while stopped and operating only the electric motor when in stop-and-go traffic. 15. More accidents happen in and around the city; it is more likely for a hybrid to be subject to accidents in the city. H. Rural Population and HEV Use 16. Many people living in small towns and villages need four-wheel drive vehicles that can take hard labor. 17. Gas mileage is indispensible to this population. 18. HEV applications in trucks and sport utility vehicles have failed to deliver gas mileage vastly superior to that of non-HEVs. 19. Blue collar workers need vehicles with muscle and power, HEVs do not offer that. Conclusion Hybrid Electric Vehicles The Dark Side The hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) has become an extremely popular choice for many Americans in the past decade. Because it has become so popular, the HEV has lead to many new and harsh environmental impacts on a global level. Hybrids have been viewed as the answer to the United States’ oil dependency. Providing superior fuel economy and lower emissions, a hybrid car was sure to be a hit among city-dwelling citizens; however, the popularity of the HEV is beginning to look like a bad thing. HEVs require a battery to power the electric motor. The batteries contain chemicals that can be released into the environment in the case of an accident or disposal. This is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Hybrid Electric Vehicles should cease to be produced because of four main issues: environmental pollution has not reduced, better fuel economy can be achieved in non-hybrid vehicles, there is no payback in owning a hybrid, and hybrid vehicles do not possess the same versatility many American families need. Environmental Pollution and the Hybrid Electric Vehicle Smog infested cities have been searching for an answer to pollution; the hybrid vehicle was the response or so it seemed. HEVs have been around long enough to leave both a positive and a negative impact on the environment. A hybrid was meant to reduce fuel consumption and minimize harmful emissions and it does the job well; however, the people who see a hybrid as â€Å"eco-friendly† do not see the polluting monster that hides behind the cloak. Hybrids require a plethora of different parts that normal cars do not typically need. The entire process requires a tremendous amount of energy from other sources, such as diesel power. The process through which HEV batteries are made emits more impurities than an HEV will produce in its lifetime. Not only can HEVs produce pollution before they are made, but they can also contribute to pollution while driving down the road. If one of these vehicles were to get in a major accident, the harmful chemicals within the battery could leak into the ground and contaminate water supplies. The same thing happens when HEVs are sent to the wrecking yard. The batteries are not easy to recycle and there has yet to be an efficient and environmentally safe way to dispose of the hazardous materials. The hybrid electric vehicle has started to fuel controversy over the true environmental impact of such vehicles. Most batteries found in HEVs today consist of nickel metal hydride (NiMH), or lithium ion (Li-Ion); two very toxic chemicals. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (2011), the most environmentally vulnerable component of a hybrid vehicle is the battery. Disposing of the batteries is a major concern and manufacturers have yet to present proper disposal instructions. The largest environmental problem with batteries is the mining and manufacturing of the raw materials that go into them. Many human and machine workers are needed to extract the materials from the Earth, producing immense amounts pollution and damaging the health of the humans in the mines (para. 8). HEVs have a long way to go before becoming the optimal eco-friendly vehicle; Dr. Dominic Notter of Empa Technology and Society Laboratory (2010) writes that â€Å"15 percent of the total [environmental] burden can be ascribed to the battery (including its manufacture, maintenance and disposal),† (para. 7). Notter suggests that lithium batteries are not as environmentally bad as they were first understood to be. The Empa team speculates that the biggest environmental impact by HEVs is the sources where the electricity is produced to charge the batteries. The sources can be an assortment of nuclear, coal-fired, and hydroelectric power creating a heavily offset balance between the emissions of the source and the battery itself. In short, HEVs are indirectly responsible for the environmental impacts caused by the batteries (Niederà ¶st, 2010). Non-HEV Fuel Economy Setting aside the problems associated with HEVs, Non-HEVs are plenty capable of achieving tremendously better fuel economy. European diesel technology has come a great distance in the past ten years. Many small diesel cars are able to achieve seventy to eighty miles per gallon with stock configuration, compared to standard gasoline which in most small cars only achieves thirty miles per gallon. Thirty miles per gallon by U.S. standards is pretty good, but it can be better. Today there are large trucks that can achieve twenty-two miles per gallon on diesel fuel, yet smaller gas trucks will get only fifteen miles per gallon. The technology to make Non-HEVs more fuel efficient is there; it just needs to be utilized and executed. Part of the reason that the U.S. has not used new diesel technology is because of the emissions standards difference from Europe’s current standards, but there is no acceptable reason why the U.S. cannot invest bringing smaller, cleaner diesels to the mar ket. Engineers have been improving the efficiency of internal combustion engines for over one hundred years. The article â€Å"Fuel Economy Today—Alt Fuels Tomorrow† (2010) suggests that â€Å"the king of fluid energy efficiency is diesel fuel,† (para. 3). Diesel fuel is a major driving force in the U.S. economy by propelling nearly â€Å"1.3 million long haul semi trucks† on U.S. roads every day (â€Å"Aerodynamic†, 2011, para. 2). Nearly every item on today’s market is delivered by either diesel burning semi truck or locomotive, which constantly raises demand for the most updated diesel technologies as the U.S. economy strives to go green. On another front, diesel is becoming a popular option on smaller, lighter duty vehicles meaning diesel could be the next gasoline. This transition could lead buyers away from the hybrid market as most small diesels provide decent fuel economy and in the long run are a better deal. According to â€Å"Gasoline Panic 2011: Hybrid/Electric Vehicles Not the Answer† (2011), Joe Wiesenfelder, senior editor of Cars.com, believes that, for economic purposes, the purchase of an HEV because of fuel costs makes little sense. â€Å"Buying a [Nissan] Leaf or [Chevy] Volt now is no more logical – and probably less- due to market realities. The new compacts like the Chevy Cruze, Ford Focus and Hyundai Elantra are a better choice in the long run due to lower price and respectable fuel economy,† asserts Wiesenfelder (para. 6). Non-HEVs may not be as efficient as a gas/electric hybrid, but the extra expenses associated with HEVs are enough to say that Non-HEVs are the most economically reasonable choice when purchasing a new car. Alternative energy is another way America can eliminate its dependence on foreign oil. One of the most popular developing fuels is hydrogen. Hydrogen is an extremely efficient fuel that emits only water, while regular 87 octane gas is tremendously inefficient and it emits poisonous gases. If the U.S. strongly invested in the development of hydrogen within the next century, the nation could be fully independent of foreign oil and fuel prices would be minimal. Today hydrogen vehicles are available for lease in some major cities. Currently the technology is not quite ready for mass production as the system is not durable enough for mass production and the technology is still too expensive to make any giant leaps in progress. Politics are the major issue behind the slow progression of hydrogen fuel technologies. Jonathan Gal (2009) noted that the reason why alternative energies are not being pushed for with as much excitement is because the idea is worth billions of dollars and oil companies are taking advantage of the situation and jacking up prices on oil-based products. Big companies know that once alternative fuels become widely available to the public the profits will immediately disintegrate (para.3). Oil barons have been fighting against the move for alternative fuels, which is understandable; however, they do see the profitability in accommodating alternative fuels and are quickly scooping up companies that want to produce the new energies. Hydrogen is a great fuel for America to renew itself. In opposition to the use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel, one might argue that it is far too explosive to use in a passenger car and is simply not safe; the Hindenburg is a prime example of its dangerousness. The Hindenburg was a German airship that was filled with hydrogen and coated with a powdered aluminum and iron oxide paint. The myth is that hydrogen was the main cause of the Hindenburg catastrophe. Although hydrogen was a key player, it was the highly reactive coating that ignited the flame to start the hydrogen on fire. Of course there is more to that story, but it proves that hydrogen is only as dangerous as the machines it is engineered into. HEVs Do Not Pay to Own Over the last decade it has been speculated that owning an HEV will never pay to own within the lifetime of possession. The average non-HEV will typically take five years to pay for itself. Americans want a car that will be useful, reliable, and will pay to own. Typical American families will run their cars for ten to fifteen years before getting a new vehicle because with all other expenses taken into account a new car is the last expense a growing family needs to worry about. HEVs are packed with relatively new technologies that are not easily and economically replaced. Replacement HEV parts are difficult to find and are never cheap. A typical battery for a HEV can run up a bill of more than $2,000. Fleming, Privott, Taylor, and McDuffie (n.d.) have done research regarding the lifetime of a typical HEV battery. Granted many HEVs have not been around long enough to need replacement, the team used a figure of ten years to estimate the annual cost of battery maintenance and replacemen t. After meeting with automotive dealers to gather prices of replacement HEV batteries, the team produced the price of an HEV battery to be â€Å"†¦about $2600, there would be an additional cost of approximately $3400 for installation.† Compare this information with the cost of a Non-HEV battery price of about $30-$40 and the price differential becomes extremely apparent (p.6). Expensive repairs make a vehicle incredibly difficult to pay off within the lifetime of the ownership. Non-HEVs have been around long enough to the point where paying for repairs is relatively cheap and parts are easy to find; many components are interchangeable and can be installed by anybody. The internal combustion engine, according to Virginia Tech’s Consortium on Energy Restructuring (2007), has been the most preferred method of supplying energy to major companies globally because the machines are easy to maintain, familiar to all ages, and high dependability (para.4). Although HEVs are advertised to be the new family vehicle, it is obvious there are many issues that need to be taken into account before the HEV will truly be a family and economically friendly vehicle. HEVs and the Population There are billions of people on this planet, but only a few select groups of the populace really need or want HEVs. Many of the people who live in heavily urbanized areas, such as Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles are the only populations who could benefit from using an HEV. A convenience offered by an HEV is that it can shut off the gas motor when stopped and run solely on the electric motor to reduce the harmful emissions that all major cities are prone to. The use of the electric motor also eliminates gas consumption during stop-and-go traffic, which is when most pollution from exhaust accumulates. Cities are victim to a large number of accidents every year. From fender benders to pile-ups, all types of accidents are highly likely in a city setting. HEVs are equipped with all of the latest safety technologies, but what is most dangerous is the leaking and spreading of battery acid during an accident and afterword, not to mention hybrids are also quieter than gas vehicles making the hearing impaired pedestrian more likely to end up on the hood of an oncoming HEV. Joanne Silburner of NPR’s Health Blog, suggests that without the engine noise, blind people and people listening to music are the most likely to walk in front of an HEV without knowing any better. Silburner also points out that the uneducated driver of an HEV might be a possible risk to pedestrians as HEV engines shut off when the car is not moving; leading to what could be a panic reaction from the driver (para.6-7). In small towns and rural areas across the U.S. many families need fuel efficient, people-moving, and reliable vehicles that are easy to maintain. HEVs do not make the cut when it comes to meeting the needs of a rural-dwelling family. In rural areas, places and locations are commonly spaced widely apart and highways or two lane roads connect them. HEVs are known to get worse gas mileage on the highway than in the city, which is incredibly unappealing to the long distance commuters. Automotive companies have tried to address these problems with hybrid trucks and sport utility vehicles; however, the performance of the vehicles was too poor to achieve a tremendous upgrade in gas mileage. The failure to produce an efficient hybrid truck brought the automotive companies back to the drawing board. Today there are large diesel trucks that can achieve an impressive twenty-two miles per gallon while hauling heavy loads. According to U.S. Department of Energy (2011), diesel vehicles meet the same emissions standards and regular gas vehicles and the diesels are â€Å"more powerful and fuel efficient than similar sized gas engines (about 30-35% more efficient),† (para.1). With the technologies available today humans can fine-tune machines, like car engines, to run at top efficiency and still produce vast amounts of power to add both thrill and utility to the drive. Conclusion HEVs are popular; it is unlikely that the major automakers of the world will even consider pulling HEVs from their lineup of vehicles. The consequences in the marketplace would be too large. Being eco-friendly is a major perk to most people; companies need to accommodate their respective customer base. This accommodation restricts the companies from taking back their promises and providing a true eco-friendly product. Overlooked environmental pollution, non-HEV improvements, HEV cost of ownership and population demands are all reminders of how the eco-friendly revolution has blinded the general public from what happens behind the â€Å"green† screen. It is up to the people to understand that HEVs are not the key to a bright future, but are another obstruction to achieving the real eco-vehicle. References Aerodynamic add-ons reduce fuel consumption of semi trucks by 7-12%. (2011, February 16). Retrieved March 16, 2011, from http://missionzero.org/categories/12-Transportation/saved_entries/8007-Aerodynamic-add-ons-reduce-fuel-consumption-of-semi-trucks-by-7-12- Consortium on Energy Restructuring, Virginia Tech. (2007). Internal Combustion Engines. Retrieved March 23, 2010 from http://www.dg.history.vt.edu/ch5/ices.html Fleming, D., Privott, T., Taylor, J.R., & McDuffie, T. (n.d.). Hybrid electric vehicles vs. internal combustion engine vehicles: Which gives you more bang for your buck?. Retrieved March 22, 2011 from http://education.uncc.edu/cmste/summer%20ventures/2010%20World%20View%20of%20Math%20and%20Data%20Analysis/THomas%20Privott-%20Davis%20Fleming.pdf Fuel economy today: Alt fuels tomorrow. (2010) Fleet Equipment 36(3), 14. General Reference Center Gold. Web. Retrieved March 16, 2011 Gal, J. (2009, July 06). The politics of alternative energy. Retrieved March 24, 2011 from http://www.prlog.org/10275672-the-politics-of-alternative-energy.html Gasoline Panic 2011: Hybrid/Electric Vehicles Not the Answer. (2011, March 4). PR Newswire. General Reference Center Gold. Web. Retrieved March 16, 2011 Niderà ¶st, R. (Ed.). (2010, August 27). The eco-balance of Li-ion rechargeable batteries for electric cars â€Å"greener† than expected. Retrieved from EMPA Materials Science and Technology, Switzerland. Retrieved February 24, 2011, from http://www.empa.ch/plugin/template/empa/*/99149/—/l=1 Silberner, J. (2010, April 19). Hybrid cars’ silence just one factor in high pedestrian death rate. Retrieved on March 24, 2010 from http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/04/hybrid_cars_silence_just_one_f.html United States Department of Energy. (2011, March 24). Diesel Vehicles. Retrieved on March 24, 2011 from http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/di_diesels.shtml United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2011, February 18). Environmental impacts from automobiles. Retrieved February 22, 2011, from http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/OWCM.NSF/product+stewardship/autos-impacts#batteries

Mass migration from rural to urban areas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mass migration from rural to urban areas - Essay Example In China, the particular phenomenon, has led to the transformation of the country’s existing social and economic characteristics. It should be noted that in China, mass migration is rather a recent activity; indeed, it was just after the 1970s that the initial trends for mass migration towards Chinese cities were identified (Zhou 2009). The changes on the common political and social structure are just part of this activity. As in all countries worldwide, in China mass migration has been a continuous expanding phenomenon, quite difficult to be controlled. In accordance with the literature published in the particular field, the positive effects of mass migration in China have been combined with certain drawbacks, a fact which is made clear in cities across the country. The environmental challenges of the specific activity, as explained below, lead to the assumption that mass migration in China should be closely monitored as threatening the country’s natural environment. T he introduction of appropriate measures could help to the transformation of mass migration in China to a proactive social and economic activity; the damages of this activity on the country’s environment could be also reduced, even in the long term. 2. Mass migration in China – benefits and drawbacks 2.1 Economic, social and political benefits of mass migration from rural to urban areas in China – comparison to the negative effects of this activity The development of Chinese urban areas has been highly supported by the rural population. In accordance with Zweig (1997) because of the needs of rural construction thousands of male farmers have been relocated to cities; their income has been increased and their lifestyle has been changed (Zweig 1997, p.20). Through this process, the structure of workforce in the country’s rural areas has been changed – the percentage of women in the labour workforce of these areas has been increased, a fact that led to the transformation of social life in these regions. The development of mass migration in China resulted to the following economic and social benefits: a) the urban areas of the country were highly developed, b) the economic performance of the country was improved; the services sector – mainly developed in ur ban areas – was improved, along with the manufacturing sector, supporting the country’s growth, c) the living conditions of people were improved – especially in terms of medical support, education and leisure (Ping 2004). However, gradually, mass migration in China has led to the change of employment prospects in the country’s cities. In the past, the level of unemployment in Chinese cities was relatively low – due to the lack of sufficient workforce; however, today, the prospects for work in large Chinese cities have been reduced. This phenomenon is described in the study of Yeh et al. (2011) where reference is made to the increase of street vending in Chinese cities, as a result of the increase of unemployment. It is explained that the labour surplus in Chinese cities has led to the development of the particular mode of work, at such level that today street vending has become ‘the occupation of the 4% of the entire employed populationâ€⠄¢ (Yeh et al. 2011, p.30). The above phenomenon reflects the economic turbulences related to mass migration in China; it also shows the potential effects of mass migration on society. Because of mass migration, a significant part of the population has been led to choose modes of work that offer a low quality of life, such

Project Schedule Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Project Schedule - Assignment Example Following are few types of dependencies that are used on Precedence Diagramming Method (Sanghera 2008):- Requirement Gathering Phase Task 1 and Task 2 must be finished before the Task 3 is started. Thus these tasks have a finish to start relationship. Similarly, Task 3 must be finished before Task 4 and Task 5, again indicating a finish to start relationship. Design Phase Task 4 and Task 5 must be finished before Task 6, indicating a finish to start relationship. Task 7 can start immediately after Task 5 has been finished. Thus it has a finish to start relationship with Task 5 and start to start relationship with Task 6. Development and Testing Phase Task 8 and Task 9 must be started after Task 7 is finished. Thus these have a finish to start relationship. Similarly, Task 10 can start when Task 7 has been finished. Also Task 10 precedes Task 12. All showing a finish to start relationship. Deployment and Testing Phase Task 14 must be started after completion of Task 18. Also Task 12 and Task 14 must be completed prior to starting the Task 15. Also Task 13 and Task 15 must be finished before Task 16 is started. Task 17 must start when Task 12 is finished and Task 8 must be finished before Task 18 is started. All the tasks indicate a finish to start relationship. Project Schedule is shown on the next page in form of Project Network Diagram. The red lines indicated the project critical path while blue lines show dependencies on non-critical paths. The total duration of the project is 192 days. Project Management Institute (2008) defines crashing in its PMBOK as a specific technique for project schedule compression performed, after analyzing and identifying the best compromise between project time and cost, to achieve schedule compression for greatest extent and least increment in cost. For example, if the project has a negative float i.e., estimated

Evaluation of alternative growth paths available to organizations Essay

Evaluation of alternative growth paths available to organizations - Essay Example Everything takes some time and any initiative taken by a new entrant takes some time to fructify and yield desired results. There are four different strategies that can be chosen by a new entrant to penetrate a new market. These strategies are embodied in what is popularly known as Ansoff’s Matrix (Pearce and Robinson 2007). The four pronged attack that a marketer must implement in order to make a mark in a new market are aptly embodied in this matrix which clearly identifies between existing products and new products and existing markets and new markets. The pictorial representation of the matrix is: (tutor2u 2009) It is quite obvious that the strategies differ in different situations. If a company wishes to make its presence felt in an existing market with existing products it needs to adopt strategies that would help it in penetrating the market. But if the company is attempting to introduce new product in an existing market, it needs to concentrate more on strategies relat ed to product development as that would help it in creating a firmer hold on the existing market. Similarly, if the company is attempting to introduce existing products in new markets, it must concentrate on strategies that are closely associated with market development. Whereas, if the company has grand plans of entering new markets with new products it must embark on a path of diversification and devise relevant strategies. Market Penetration Product/market placement This strategy attempts to increase the market share of an existing product in an existing market and is generally adopted by firms that want to increase their turnover without altering their product portfolios. Main Principles As the main emphasis is on increasing the turnover, management should concentrate on increasing sales personnel while offering attractive discounts and bargain sales that are made to appear genuinely appealing through aggressive sales promotion and advertising. However, there is no assurance tha t such moves would pay dividends and a firm should adopt such strategies only if it feels the market has not matured or its market share is steadily decreasing due to onslaught of rivals. Organizational Example The best example of such market penetration strategy is observed in the way Airtel is promoting its services in the mobile telephony market in India. Pros and Cons There is bound to be a lot of investment in advertising and promotion and per unit revenue gets reduced due to discounts. So, the sales volumes must be sufficiently large to offset these reductions. But that can never be guaranteed. However, if the venture becomes successful, the firm can earn substantial revenue. Market Development Product/market placement When a firm tries to discover new markets for an existing product it is termed as market development strategy. It is obvious that a new market would result in additional turnover and consequent bolstering of the bottom-line. Main Principles There are two basic m ethods of focusing on a potential market. Such a market can be configured on the basis of geographical location such as state, country, region or even a city, or it could be delineated on the basis of demographic divides as gender or age. It could even be demarcated on the basis of income or educational or family background. This move is obviously riskier than market penetration as the firm is entering new and uncharted territories and should be undertaken only after potential for further expansion in domestic market is exhausted. Organizational Example The best example of market development strategy is exemplified by the ventures made by Pakistan Oil Company in new markets in Afghanistan or the way Chinese products, especially consumer products that have expanded their market all over the world. Pros and Cons A

Interview analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Interview analysis - Essay Example Interviewing Joe, a native resident of Florida, whose early childhood witnessed the effects of Cuban immigration, gave me an insight to the situation back then. It also interested me that what opinions, today after so many years do these locals have regarding the immigrants. Talking about Joe’s early life, he told me he was born in 1959 in Coral Gables. The house he was born in belonged to his mother’s parents which they had bought in 1953. Soon his parents moved out, buying a new house and were not living with Joe’s grandparents anymore. Out of the three houses he lived in, his oldest house, in a further west location, was declared unincorporated during the 1960s. Recalling the name change of the county from Dade to Miami-Dade which was accompanied with the voting of several people exercising their home rule powers, Joe called it ‘one big change in my life’. Joe agreed that the name change validated the acknowledgement of Miami as being internationally recognized and that ‘Miami-Dade County is the most popular County in Florida. He believes that during his lifetime, Miami has become more internationally accessible with loads of immigrants flocking in and people of different races seeking residence in here. I continued the conversation, delving further into the topic of immigrants which he brought into discussion. I asked him that living in Miami-Dade County since his childhood; his interactions with immigrants, specifically Cubans may have been numerous. To this, he started narrating me what had happened on the arrival of two Cuban immigrants when he was in primary school. The whole school threw them a party, welcoming them, since they were the very first Cubans to come to his class and school, Joe told as he indulged in a recollection of memories from his childhood with a smile on his face. I was curious to ask him whether they were very good friends with him or not. On my inquiry Joe let out a little laugh and told me that yes

Corporate Governance in Public Limited Companies in the UK Coursework

Corporate Governance in Public Limited Companies in the UK - Coursework Example The paper tells that in the past years, the increment in freedom has become eminent, in all aspects of business activities thereby creating more opportunities for entrepreneurs. There has been international market development, especially for UK based companies. Cross-borders business relationships have increased dramatically. The UK has also generated a lot of developments. The businesses have clearly indicated that they have the knowledge and the strength to explore new ventures abroad and also in the UK, and have thus helped increase the affluence. The business community wants to show that their enterprises are ready to shoulder this increased responsibly. Many business ventures have realized that by creating good relationships with the stakeholders, there would be more business opportunities that will come up. There should be mutual trust between a company and the public in order to have improved competitiveness and ultimately higher and better living standards of the people. Ensu ring that the business community is trustworthy can be done and achieved by improving relationships between the stakeholders, from the top management to the lowest shareholder. The corporate governance system in the UK has been very effective. Regulations that have been established have assisted enterprises in conducting relations between the stakeholders in companies. It was a firm belief among the UK business community that in order to obtain acceptable results, internal governance and supervision within the enterprises should be increased immensely. There was a lot at stake, and it was important that the initiative came from the business community itself and that it pointed out methods to alleviate the confidence of the stakeholders involved and that the public had the right to demand from enterprises.

Forms and Theories of Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Forms and Theories of Government - Essay Example This is done to have an equitable distribution of property while still giving some economic freedom to the citizens3. Norway is a good example of such a form of government. A republic form of government is one which is led by the representatives of the voters. Each representative is chosen for a set period of time. The management of affairs is open to all citizens. An example of a republic is the United States of America. A dictatorship is a form of government which is autocratic and involves a single leader who is not an elected representative and often uses force to keep power. In a military dictatorship, the army keeps control. Iraq is an example of a dictatorship5. Tyranny is similar concept where the all power is vested in one single ruler who is often harsh, unjust and oppressive. A totalitarian government is the rule of a single political party over all public and private sectors. Such a political system has no limits to its authority and there is use of force and restrictions to ensure obedience6. China is an example of such a state. Anarchy is a state of affairs where there is no proper government or political system in place. This often happens after a civil war where the existing government is destroyed and rival groups fight to take control. Such a situation is present in Afghanistan where there is little writ of the state over its citizens. The United States of America is a constitution-based federal republic with a democratic convention. This means that it is a government which is ruled by representative of the citizen body. In this political system, sovereignty lies with the people who elect their representatives to run the affairs of the state. This is very different from a dictatorship, tyranny, anarchist and totalitarian regimes where there is often abuse of power and the people have little say in who is to run the nation. The person or small bodies in power are not there

Conflict Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Conflict - Coursework Example Relationship conflicts arise between two or more people. It can be between intimate relations or people from due to miscommunication, negative behavior and emotions and stereotype reasons. Larry Alan Nadig who is a family therapist, marriage and clinical psychologist there is no relationship that does not face conflicts. He also says that conflict in a relationship is not necessarily a bad thing. It can teach self-awareness; a person learns about his shortcomings such as communication problems and behavioral and relationship issues. It is often said that conflicts can also make relationships stronger. In a workplace however conflict is more of a negative thing which is why employers try their best to avoid such situations (Boles et al, 2001) According to recent findings conflict at work can also have a positive side (Tjosvold, 1991; Amason and Schweiger, 1994; Jehn, 1994, 1995; Van de Vliert and De Dreu, 1994; Pelled, 1996) for example task-related management team conflict which impr oves growth and overall performance in the organization (Eisenhardt and Schoonhoven, 1990). Data conflicts are raised due to misinformation, insufficiency of information that is required for making the right decision. Sometimes relevance of data is different for different people and so is the way it is collected and communicated. If the data possessed by two different parties is different there is a conflict of data between them. Interest conflicts come into play when two people have different interests because their needs differ from each other. These disputes might be related to issues of money, trust and resources (Thompson, 1993). Conflicts of interest (COI) are basically circumstances forming a risk that a professional decision can be effected by a secondary interest. These conflictscan also be called a conflict of duties. There are five types of conflicts of interest; self-dealing, outside employment, family interests, gifts from friends who are in the same business as them an d pump and dump in which stock brokers inflate prices of a security by spreading rumors about it according to his own interest. Structural conflicts occur due to geographic factors or time constraints. These may also happen because of inadequate physical resources or organizational changes. These types of conflicts have structural solutions if they are mediated in the right way. They are not in the control of the individuals and are caused mainly by external factors therefore solving these conflicts can require the help of external agents meaning anantagonist; a person who are not directly involved in the quarrel. This is the structural conflict theory; the people who have nothing to do with how the conflict started have to help resolve it. There are two types of structural conflicts; symmetrical and complementary schizogenesis. The first kind is one where a lot of negative thoughts and feelings lead to a structural breakdown between the two groups at odds. This leads to an eventual arms race. The second type is the opposite of this situation. Instead of being both parties being hostile the response is more submissive. Surprising as it may seem this scenario tends to escalate a conflict and is more of a compromise rather than being the solution to the problem. The fifth type of conflict is a conflict of values which occurs when individuals form a different group of beliefs or values are in opposition. The clash happens when one person tries to force his belief on the other person. This

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 4

Economics - Essay Example Indeed, the currency exchange rate policy must be geared towards leveling the global financial playing field. The prior Bretton Woods agreement and the current United Kingdom government’s policy determined the nation’s currency exchange rate. The variance in the United Kingdom currency in relation to another country’s foreign currency may translates to either a currency fluctuation gain or a loss. Romain Veyrune (2007) reiterated the fixed exchange rate system is defined as a pegged exchange rate. The exchange rate of the nation’s currency is matched to another nation’s currency. Likewise, the nation’s currency may also be matched with a precious metal like Gold. The main purpose of the unique monetary rating system is to make the nation’s currency stable, the British pound, in relation to another country’s pegged currency or precious metal. One of the major purposes of the fixed exchange rate system is to stabilise trading betw een the two nations. Many companies can make predicting the current and future sales, purchases, and other currency related transaction between country with the currency that is pegged against the other nation’s currency and the country whose currency is used as the basis for the nation’s currency. ... The electronic currency, e-gold, found in the internet website, www.e-gold.com, is an internationally accepted currency that is pegged or fixed on the value of gold at the time of each sale or purchase of goods or services. Here, the person’s receipt of 20 e-gold currency is pegged the average world market price of gold. As the gold value increases, the value of the 20 e gold currency amount increases; as the gold value decreases, the value of the 20 e gold currency amount decreases. Thus, the value of one e-gold may increase or decrease depending one world value of gold or the demand value of another nation’s currency. Fernando Goncalves (2008) opined the floating exchange rate system is grounded on the economic supply and demand of the nation’s currency in relation to the currency of another nation. Under this system, the currency exchange rate varies depending on the economic situation at the time of the exchange. Under the demand economic principle, the incre ase in the demand for one currency increases the value of such currency. On the other hand, Callum Henderson (2006) reiterated a decline in the demand for a certain currency generated a decline in the value of such currency. In layman’s terms, a Chinese having a strong need to use the American dollar to purchase American may be willing to â€Å"buy† or exchange RMB 10 for each American dollar. On the other hand, the American having a strong need to â€Å"buy† or get the Chinese currency, Yuan, can be willing to exchange one American dollar for only RMB 7 for each American dollar. The British pound is based on the fluctuating or supply and demand economic pricing policy in

Effects of gadgets addiction among teenagers Essay Example for Free

Effects of gadgets addiction among teenagers Essay Hotels and resorts are places for relaxation or recreation; thus they attract visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishments operated by a single company. It is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short term basis. If before, hotels and resorts only provide basic accommodation— consists only of cottages or a room with a bed— nowadays, it has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms and air conditioning or climate control, function hall for events, spa and an in house restaurant. The cost and quality of hotel and resort are usually indicative of the range and types of services available. Due to the enormous increase in tourism worldwide during the last decades of the 20th century, standards especially those of smaller establishments have improve considerably. Today, many systems have used an automation process like using online computer system, due to its efficiency and accuracy. Champ Aqua Farm and Resort is located at 168 Dulong Barrio, Matungao, Bulakan, Bulacan and it offers a resort and reservation of facilities and amenities for the customers. The resort uses manual business transactions with its customers. They are using a manual process in booking, reservations and logging names of customers. The resort has two swimming pools, two function halls, three houses for accommodation (Farm House, Brick House and Summer House), twelve cottages, three floating cottages, one playground, a half-basketball court, one restaurant and two fish ponds. The resort also offers activities such as Fishing, Canoeing, Basketball, and Retreat. They also sell fish like Tilapia, Hito, and Japanese Koi. The purpose of this study is to develop an Online Inquiry and Reservation System for Champ Aqua Farm and Resort. It substitutes the manual system with  computerized system. Project Objectives General Objectives The researchers aim to develop an Online Inquiry and Resort Reservation System for Champ Aqua Farm and Resort. Specific Objectives 1. To be able to design a homepage for Champ Aqua Farm and Resort. 2. To be able to design a log in form and registration form for the guests. 3. To be able to design a reservation form for guests. 4. To be able to design gallery for details about the resort or the property. 5. To determine the design FAQ’s and About Us section for questions, suggestions and other inquiry.

Management and Leadership Concepts on Operations Management

Management and Leadership Concepts on Operations Management Khurram Inamullah P1 Introduction It is required for a worker who enters an organization to have the ability to recognize a leader and an administrator with the goal that it turns out to be easy for him to comprehend the duties of both, at time of any issue he ought to know who to go to. (Candy, 2016) ROLE OF LEADER AND MANAGER With a similar goal of driving an organization and utilized by business improvement, a manager and a leader still differ in a number of ways. LEADER MANAGER Leader is alluded as a person who impacts a group of different people to get a goal for the advancement of an organization. A leader orchestrates with employees in a particular venture. A man who is in charge of controlling and managing different people while focusing on the goals of the organization. A leader imagines your fundamental target with his own creation. Urges and affects others to enhance their drives and data for the improvement of the organization. A leader leads his own particular association as well as tries to put his endeavors in different sectors to guarantee the organization is doing great. The leaders identity ought to be a tenacious one and a strong one. A manager is responsible for controlling all people to take after their work methodologies and leads with the rationale of getting the most advantages for the organization. This is finished by legitimate correspondence at all levels and common comprehension. A nice supervisor portrays a motivational aura and proper prioritization. Role of Leader when Working With New Team Members It is necessary for employees in a company/group to have a person, who pushes them forward to achieve their end goals, so a leader plays a gigantic part in controlling the partners and goads them to stay concentrated. He sets the targets and desires every part to lock in with their most extraordinary capacities. He makes every move to convey the associates closer to each other and breaks the ice among accomplices. The leader is the delegate of gathering or an affiliation, so he is the individual who controls and organizes everyone in the gathering remembering the true objective to improve all. When it comes down to new team members, the leader must ensure that the team members are on track and on-board with the working standards, aims and objectives. For example, a leader would welcome the new team members into the group and brief them about the project at hand. The specifics of their jobs will be left out and he or she will motivate the new members to achieve their tasks efficiently with an added factor of praise and motivation. Role of a Leader when Working on New Projects Leader is basically responsible for carrying out all new activities as he is the one behind the masterminding and view of the collaboration. The leader needs to know that this vision obliges him to check the definitive goals which will further be trailed by the wander head. Leader has all the learning and information anticipated that would control and direct the wander. Every last decision taken by the leader will directly affect the last result of the wander. The pioneer ensures that there is honest to goodness correspondence among the accomplices, himself and the manager. He manages them to adjust up to each possible condition as requirements are. The leader will make sure that the new project is on track and keep regular updates. The leader may choose to go out of their way and ask individual team members about the progress in their tasks. Role of a Manager When Working with New Team Members: Working with new associates requires more commitment from the administration as compared to the leader; a manager must be in direct contact with each new individual from the gathering freely. He needs to help them and sets destinations for every single individual in the gathering. He sets up relationship among partners and is responsible for setting up mutual correspondence and cooperation. Manager gives suitable course and helps the new comers emphatically. For example, the manager will take over from the leader after his initial briefing and assign specific tasks to each new team member in the group. The manager will then constantly monitor their performances and help them achieve their tasks by answering queries and helping with any confusion that the new team member might have in their mind. Role of a Manager When Working on New Projects Manager has a little yet basic influence in new endeavors. The supervisor chooses a group pioneer while setting up the gathering for another wander. For this circumstance, manager ensures that all endeavors in new pursuits are granted profitably and the work should be done before the due date (Candy, 2016). A manager working with a group of people on a new project would have to make sure that each member is on track with their tasks while keeping the big picture in mind. The manager serves as a mediatory between the leader and the team which makes his job more important on a project.ÂÂ   Consistent hypotheses that have been connected to the parts of pioneers are recorded beneath: THEORY FUNDAMENTAL POINTS Situation Leadership Theory The theory says that all the primary part must be done by leader and manager in such a way that all people should simply work remembering the ultimate objective to achieve their total target. In situational activity, the leader should have solid lead to give complete bearing to the new people from the gathering. There are fundamentally four endeavors that are must to be done by the leader. To be specific they are: Telling: where leader coordinates the group however has low strong direct Selling: in this, the leader co-ordinates and backs the gathering Participating: where leader appreciates the venture himself and portrays incredible support Delegating: Where leader neither shows high request conducts nor guides. Systematic Leadership It infers that the affiliation must apply new activity system. Right when working with new partners, a director doesnt consider any individual here yet focus on the target of the affiliation, which infers manager needs to expert new things to make method which incorporates the total effort of the gathering not just one person. Systemic power allows the routine reductionist perspective in light of the new connectivist perspective keeping the ultimate objective to more sufficiently approach relationship challenges. Contingency Theory The hypothesis concentrates on part of Leaders personality and the conditions in which he works. Contingency hypothesis communicates that the authority has two essential styles: Task-inspired: fulfillment of assignments Relationship-inspired: interpersonal associations The speculation depicts three main considerations: Relationship amongst partners and Leaders, their level or trust and assurance on each other. The structure of the wander/undertaking. The position control. (McNamara, no date) Scientific Management Theory This speculation improves the organization fiscally and with productive work. Its spotlights are on definitive framework for the change. By numerical examination and intelligent approach, changes can in like manner be made in the consistent assignments. This is proficient for the headway of every individual which consolidates all organizations and specialists. Behavioral Theory Behavioral theory communicates that there must be some specific personality properties and practices that differ people among leaders and disciples. The conduct of the pioneer must be relentless and a plays a crucial role in the accomplishment of association. Leadership traits and Styles Characteristics that make a pioneer not exactly the same as the different people, the consistency and his support to various people can be the refinement. Leadership styles varies from individual to individual however the style must incorporate assurance, obligation and completion. Analysis of Differentiation between the Role of a Leader and Function of a Manager: ROLE OF A LEADER Scientific Theory Behavioral Theory Leadership traits and style Should devise unmistakable systems and attempt to make the operation more practical. Should focus on his part while trying to make the work intense. Should be focused and inspirational. FUNCTION OF A MANAGER Scientific Theory Behavioral Theory Leadership traits and style Keep track of the work so that it could be completed within the time frame set by the leader. Should corporate with the associates reliably to get the latest updates. Should be participative and committed to his duties. Working with new team mates: Strength: Shared Workload Complete Motivation Combination of new mentalities Weakness: Risks increased Less proficient Decrease in the pace of work Intense need of a good leader Working on new project: Strength: New tactics to be followed Employees should be motivated for a kick start Weakness: Increase in work load Stress of meeting deadlines Contingency Approach: Contingency hypothesis shares its perspectives keeping in mind the target to enhance the approach for the leaders and managers regarding the circumstances with a specific end goal to make it more powerful. Working with new team mates: Strength: Adequate working Open to suggestions and adaptable strategic procedures Weakness: Risk of failure of new strategies Standard may decline Working on new project: Strength: Change of style could be a positive approach Weakness: Time administration could be an issue New activities could be a weight with the current ones (Business Organization and Management Gutierrez Pura Garcia) In the midst of the impermanent position in the affiliation, I have found that managing new endeavors and working nearby new accomplices can be a troublesome yet valuable errand. The leader and the part with regular understanding can ensure the effective eventual outcomes of the wander. There can be various frameworks by the leader and he has each one of the rights to change it amidst the operation with a particular ultimate objective to make the wander and operation more supportive. While working with new partners, the likelihood speculation can be associated, as it has more chance to show signs of improvement, Contingency theory works effortlessly when associated with the general circumstance of new partners and furthermore the new pursuit. Introduction: Operations management works on planning, designing, handling and overseeing different processes involved. (Operations Management- Stevenson) Some crucial approaches to manage operation organization are: Kaizen Continuous Management. Total Quality Management. Just In Time Management System. Kaizen Continuous Management Kaizen gathers solid change. It was shown by Masaaki Imai in his book Kaizen: Key to Japans Competitive Success in 1986. It for the most part imparts that a not that entire awful outcome can be obtained from a normal strategy, supplements on joint exertion and teaches to settle the basic driver concerning the issue. Kaizen aims to develop a coherent workplace by creating quality within the practices as well as the processes of business. It aims to bring a change by enforcing good and healthy ideas as well as practices which provide ease to the workers as compared to stress. According to Kaizen, an eased worker is a productive worker. Therefore, a leader would be required help the team do a better job by motivating them and eliminating fears related to workplace or job security. The leader would be required to glue the team together by encouraging them to improve constantly but at their own desired pace. Managers would follow the lead of the leader and pay specific attention to those who need extra help. This would increase the overall productivity of the team and ensure that everyone has played their part on the project. Leaders would be required to become a unifying force while managers would act as mentors. Just in Time Management Just in time Management would like to amplify the sufficiency through which stock is directed. Keeping stock can be disadvantageous to the relationship for a couple reasons in this way it is favorable for the relationship to keep adequately simply stock with a specific extreme goal to keep the period spouting. The technique also centers in enhancing operational association at the provider level and the affiliation level where the provider to maker correspondence ability is broadened. With just in time management, the company would aim to keep as much less stock at hand as possible. This automatically would mean or lead to more cash on hand for the company and more credit for other uses. Keeping the inventory empty requires constant monitoring of demand and this creates a certain pressure on the team working on the project. Constant monitoring and update in real time can be extremely difficult to achieve. The leader would be required to push the team on each task making sure that the team performs at its optimum level. The leader would be required to stay one step ahead of the game at all times which might lead him to put extra pressure on the team. The manager in this scenario would be required to delegate the tasks efficiently and help the team hand in hand if required or if any slacking is noticed. The manager would have to play a crucial double role of a higher authority as well as a team member as required by the situation. Total Quality Management Total quality management wears out the standard of consistently assessing and investigating operational association methodologies to guarantee that the capability of an alliance is continually overhauled from inside the connection. This alteration in quality is judged by the reaction from the clients that is refined through client criticism. TQM is an outstanding procedure since it handles an even secures of correspondence not in any way like other association approaches that work through a vertical chain of correspondence. The leader would be required to commit to the task at hand and make sure all steps of the way are laid out in an orderly fashion. The manager would be required to increase the overall performance by empowering employees and taking their inputs on the project into account. It would also include recognising any and all significant inputs presented by team members. (Operation Management by Jay Heizer) Operations management is the framework that joins the association of the broad number of operations got a handle on by the alliance. This joins evaluating and isolating the techniques performed by the connection and ensuring that they are performed in the best course as would be wise. Viewing operations management as the centralized governing mechanism for a company translates its role in business operation. For example, operations management defines designs and implements inter-office communications utilized every day, such as business and financial forms. It also designates tasks to departments, supervisors and subordinates. This coherence leads to a more focused and targeted production approach and helps to improve the overall efficiency of the business. While operations management is focused on the making of things furthermore benefits in an alliance, its criticalness to the general association cant be had a poor feeling of. Right when an alliances operations are truly dealt with, the segments of every single other division are smooth, and when a connections operations are coordinated despicably, all phenomenal work environments drive forward. With operations management, the whole process is being monitored constantly. This includes inventory management as well where the probability of waste is maximum. An inventory must be kept as empty as possible to ensure more cash on hand or credit for use. It also ensures less material waste within the company and leads to a more coherent and easier management. Therefore, operations management not only improves the overall efficiency but also reduces waste. Quality can entail the overall excellence of all operations and policies of the company as a whole. For example, it can determine how employees perceive the companys ability to provide for and protect staff in order for them to focus solely on satisfying the clientele. Operations management includes this definition of quality and makes sure that not only the desired output is up to the mark but that all processes are being taken care of to their maximum potential. (Operations and Supply Chain Management- F. Robert) The principle factors could be: Factors Influencing the Operations Management Worldwide Competition Customer Service Monetary Challenges Quality Modernization of the technical world Service sectors growth Lack of operations resources Social obligatory issues There are distinctive parts that can affect the Operations organization and fundamental power of an alliance. The style of movement, the wastefulness of work, accessibility or inaccessibility of advancement and honest to goodness culture can all effect the Operations administration and basic activity of a connection. Customer service provides feedback to the team which is necessary for constant improvement that may be missed by the management. This therefore becomes a crucial part for operations management. As customers provide their feedback, it is discussed and added to the loop of constant improvement within the company. Worldwide competition and monetary challenges go hand in hand. For a company to take on other companies, it needs to invest its finance to better people and technology. This automatically entails that within the global village today, other competitors would provide fierce competition to challenge this change. Consequently, a company must decide of how much monetary resources it wants to invest with a thorough analysis of its payback and profit in regard to taking on the competition as well as the fruitfulness of it in the current market being held by the company. With a monetary investment, quality also becomes a major issue since the company would want a positive change in terms of its quality if it chooses to invest in it. Quality is one of the core elements of operations management and a no-compromise policy is applied in large multinational companies. Therefore, quality is one of the crucial factors on which other factors depend on and decisions are made by the management. The leader has a commanding part on operations management. The association must be fit for taking split second choices in the wake of breaking down the dangers required in settling on that choice. The structure of a connection moreover regulates how the choice is made and who is attempted and genuine once the choice has been made. All choices made must be according to the vision and statements of purpose of a relationship since these portray the authoritative values and rouses agents to do a similar thing. Innovative advances and specialist limits can comparatively affect the Operations organization and central activity. New progressions may require new gifted work to be selected and new developments may comparatively incite to two or three operators being laid off. Appoint limits then again may help them to climb the dynamic walk of association which can incite masters to improve their aptitudes which will profit the alliance also. An operation administrator goes up against errands anticipated that would enhance capability and help with the headway of the alliance. One of the commitments of an operations director is to review work limits and comprehend what gear updates would enhance productivity. This joins the hoarding operations, office limits, for example, the PC structure and office gear and changes to the building itself. The operations supervisor understands which fixing changes will overhaul affiliation ampleness, profits related game plan for understanding the developments and after that shows the data to the official social event for thought. Enhanced correspondence inside an alliance can develop profit. Right when data can get starting with one office then onto the accompanying rapidly and certainly, it can animate the pace at which the affiliation can work and guards that uncommonly basic get-togethers get the data they should be significant. An operations pioneer or director is in charge of ensuring that the devices basic to bolster competent correspondence inside the alliance are set up. For instance, he may set up a sufficient PC bookkeeping structure that learns current stock and sends that data to the social occasion office to keep up thing levels for satisfying requests. The operations supervisor is in charge of charging and wage gathering. By investigating compensation total methods, the operations official can make procedures for get-together pay rapidly to ensure the affiliation has money close by. This reinforces the affiliations capacity to build up its operations and driving force buying supervises merchants. For instance, an enhanced wage through an updated pay gathering technique can affect merchants to make more noteworthy credit extensions and expansion the measure of materials the affiliation can buy to make thing. Operational supervisors work with the HR division and departmental administrators to grow more gainful courses for representatives to finish their organizations. Dissecting work points of confinement is one of the various errands that an operations supervisor plays out every day. Over the navigation of looking into the capacity of the work technique, the operations manager picks ways that the specialist can build adequacy. The operations manager then builds up an arranging program, in conjunction with the departmental supervisor that the specialist can attempt to enhance his own specific capability. (Harvard, 1999) Some key segments could be: The style of force can acknowledge a fundamental part on how operations are coordinated. An untidy pioneer would go for individual great conditions and no idea would be paid to the concentrations and goals of a connection. Then again, a capable pioneer would reasonably appreciate all choices made by the alliance, guaranteeing that every choice is made to the best of different leveled limits. Inefficient work including heads would not be able to perform and complete attempts in a given measure of time. This would depict a wasteful connection and operational administration where either the pro or the heads are not performing up to their potential. This would additionally prompt to a general overlap of operational administration. A time tested pioneer would ensure that the experts are incited and on track with the given errand. Honest to goodness structure supervises how correspondence between divisions happens. Applying Kaizen to this chain of thought, a phenomenal authoritative culture will in actuality get marvelous outcomes from every level of association. Operations administration goes for controlling every single part of the systems required in order to guarantee that the operations happen in the most ideal way. This fuses fortunate and made dispersal out of commitment, able utilization of foul materials and work and balanced examination of all segments that effect the reasonability of yield. The objective is to ensure that procedures helpfully change over the duties to stock or associations with scarcest disaster. At long last, the part of the concerned authority cant be distorted. The power of the authorities must push the specialists to satisfactorily partake in their assignments and stay before date-book to keep the surge of data smooth and fortunate. In such way, the style of association may move from individual to individual or relationship to alliance. For instance, applying the probability theory would help the pioneer to reliably overview variables and reasons affecting Operations organization and keep the staff stirred and skilled on each meander. WEB REFERENCES: [1] Candy, L. (2016) Leadership versus management: What is the difference? Available at: http://www.educational-business-articles.com/leadership-versus-management/ [2] Terms, P.I. (2016) Situational and contingency leadership theories. Available at: https://prezi.com/deurcxwytc5i/situational-and-contingency-leadership-theories/ [3] McNamara, C. (no date) Historical and contemporary theories of management. [4] Harvard (1999) Operations management. [5] Definition of Kaizen (2016) Available at: https://uk.kaizen.com/about-us/definition-of-kaizen.html BOOK REFERENCES: [6] Schedlitzki, D. Edward, G., 2014. Studying Leadership: Traditional and Critical Approaches. London: SAGE. [7] Slack, N., Brandon-Jones, A. Johnston, R., 2013. Operations Management. Harlow: Pearson. [8] Cheng, T.C.E., Podolsky, S., Jarvis, P., Cheng, P.S. and Jarvis, P.G. (1996) Just-in-time manufacturing: An introduction. 2nd edn. London, Angleterre: Springer-Verlag New York. [9] Westcott, R.T. and Krivokuca, M. (2013) The certified manager of quality/organizational excellence handbook. 4th edn. United States: ASQ Quality Press. [10] Hill, A. Hill, T., 2011. Essential Operations Management. London: Palgrave. Pettinger, R., 2013. Introduction to Managemnet. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Priesthood Of All Believers Theology Religion Essay

Priesthood Of All Believers Theology Religion Essay Luthers greatest contribution to Protestant ecclesiology was his doctrine of priesthood of all believers. It was a central teaching of Luther in the formation of Christian communities. Eric W. Gritsch has claimed, Luthers doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, developed particularly in his treatises of 1520, is one of the most revolutionary doctrines in the history of Christianity.  [1]  It is the clear biblical idea that we could see from the Genesis to Revelation. The doctrine of the priesthood of all believers opposes the unbiblical doctrine of sacerdotalism  [2]  and the existence of a Brahman-like  [3]  priestly class within the church. When Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses on the door of Wittenberg Castle Church on October 31, 1517, he was declaring war against the idea that salvation comes through the priesthood via the sacraments. His theses were anti-sacerdotalistic and he spoke against the theology that ex opere operato  [4]  supernatural li fe could be created through baptism, brought to growth by confirmation, nourished by the Mass, and healed of all diseases by penance and extreme unction. Luther vehemently rejected the idea that through sacraments a priest could control an individuals life both here and hereafter. Luther claimed that everyone who does have faith in Jesus Christ is a priest. He wrote that his hope was for a day when we shall recover that joyful liberty in which we shall understand that we are all equal in every right, and shall shake off the yoke of tyranny, and know that he who is a Christian has Christ, and he who has Christ has all things that are Christs, and can do all things.  [5]  The concept that all who believe in Christ are priests came into mind to Luther after he became convinced that Scripture was the only authority for a Christian. Believers are called to be the salt and the light (Matthew 5:13), this is only possible when the believers understands Christs priestly ministry and its own priestly role. This also has serious eschatological implications, as Christ comes to be united with his bride, the Church. Will He find a fragmented body or a united family of believers? Hence this paper mainly examines that where from the concept of priesthood of all believers begins in the Bible and for what purpose; what is the context that steered Luther to raise this idea of priesthood of all believers; the coherence between Luthers idea and the biblical idea of priesthood of all believers; and its implication to the present church of India. I. THE ORIGIN OF THE CONCEPT OF PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS IN THE BIBLE A priest is one who performs the sacrifices, makes the rituals and doing the work of mediator between God and man. He is the one responsible for offering the divinely appointed sacrifices to God, for executing ceremonies relating to the worship of God. In other sense, he is the representative between man and God. Scripture says, For every high priest, being taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.  [6]  The priestly office came first in time, when our first parents sinned and fell from the high estate into which they had been created. God Himself performed the priestly office when He slew animals and provided a covering for Adam and Eve.  [7]   A. PRIESTHOOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT There were three orders of men in the Old Testament times such as the kingly, the prophetical and the priestly orders. They were set apart by anointing with holy oil for a particular vocation. A king in the Old Testament was one who ruled men for God. A prophet was one who spoke for God to men. And a priest was one who spoke for men to God. Among all these three orders, even from the very beginning of the human race, the believers have performed priestly works. In the particular period, the head of the family was doing the priestly office. He would build an altar and offer a sacrifice for the help from God. Scripture gives enough evidence for that. 1. Priesthood in the Patriarchal Age In the Bible history, the first period is commonly known as Patriarchal Age. The word patriarch comes from two root words meaning father rule. It encompasses the period between the creation events, and the time when Israel was separated as a special nation at Sinai for the preparation of the coming Messiah. In Genesis 4:3-5 both Cain and Abel functioned in the capacity of priest in that each was responsible for his own offering to God. We could see that when Noah disembarked the ark following the great flood, he offered sacrifices on behalf of his family.  [8]  Abram, after a long march from Ur, came into Canaan and built an altar at Shechem.  [9]  Again and again, Abraham offered sacrifices to God, as did his sons and grandsons. Thus, originally in mans relations with God, every individual functioned as his own priest before God with no particular location established for sacrificing and with no intermediary between him and God.  [10]  When He gave the Law at Mount Sinai , the people of Israel had been given an opportunity to become a kingdom of priests. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  [11]   Here God makes a covenant with all the people of Israel. Based on the above text, the people of Israel become Gods possession and are chosen for the privilege of service. God instituted the priesthood of Israel as a congregated unit for the purpose of service to the world. This is the vocation of the people of God of which each member stands under Gods call, and each is accountable for his or her response to it. 2. A Shift on Priesthood But Israel disobeyed and God removed the opportunity for becoming a kingdom of priests. When Moses went up to the mountain to receive a list of rules and regulations for the newly freed nation, God also gave him instructions to form a professional priesthood. Now each layman would no longer be his own priest, the individual could no longer take his sacrifices directly to God.  [12]  Here God selected Aaron and his family and the tribe of Levi to be His priests. They were set apart that when Israelites entered the Promised Land, the priests and Levites received no inheritance of land as the other eleven tribes. They had been set apart for the service of God and were to be supported by the tithes and offerings of the peoples sacrifices. The sons of Aaron and the tribe of Levi had at least three distinctive as priests. 1. They had direct access to God. At appointed times they went into the Holy Place and even the Holy of Holies to communicate with God. 2. The priests represented God to the people of Israel. They were mediators who communicated the Word of God to the people since they were considered holy. 3. The people represented the people of Israel to God. The people could not approach a holy God directly because of their sin. The priests were mediators for the people as they brought sacrifices before the altar. The high priest entered the Holy of Holies yearly once on the Day of Atonement to offer an atoning substitute of a bull or lamb offering. One of the most important features of the priestly system was to emphasize the absolutely holy nature of Almighty God. This is a concept repeatedly affirmed in the Scriptures.  [13]   B. PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIVERS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT This was the situation continued Jesus Christ was crucified. At the same moment of Jesus death, the veil of the Temple was ripped from top to bottom.  [14]  From then on there has been no need for select group of priests. At that point in time and ever since then believers became priests, a part of Gods royal or kingly priesthood. The elimination of the office of priests as a select group of people is based, then, upon the physical sacrifice of Jesus, the ultimate High Priest. Jesus completed and fulfilled the role of priest in His substitutionary death. . . . but He became a priest with an oath when God said to Him: The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: You are a priest forever. Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant . . . because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to savecompletely . . . Such a high priest meets our need-one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. . . . Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered Himself. For the law appoints as high priest men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.  [15]   The priest, then, is the person who himself has access to God and whose task it is to bring others to Him. While in the ancient world this access to God was the privilege of the professional priests, and in particular of the High Priest who alone could enter into the Holy of Holies. But now through Jesus Christ, the new and living way, access to God becomes the privilege of every Christian. The word priest comes from the Latin presbyter and the Greek presbyteros which simply means elder. This word was later used to describe the leader of a community. In modern usage the term priest seems to be derived more from the actual Greek word for priest hiereus.  [16]  In the New Testament this word is never used to describe a class or caste of people separate from the people of God. Instead, it is used in the sense all Gods people are a chosen race, a royal priesthood  [17]  The New Testament believers constitute the succession to the priesthood in old Israel, having been given the right of direct access to God through Christ. Furthermore, the ministry in the church has replaced the ancient priesthood. Hence, all the believers in Christ are priests in the New Testament. Put into historical perspective, the priesthood concept would look like this: for the first several thousand years mankinds history as recorded in the Bible, each man was responsible for functioning as a priest before God. Then, for approximately 1500 years, the time between Moses and when Christ appeared on earth, the priesthood of the professional existed. From the death of Christ until He returns again, we have reverted to the pre-Sinai days of the priesthood of the believer.  [18]   II. THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF MARTIN LUTHERS REFORMATIVE THOUGHT It is better to look back the history of the church to understand that how the New Testament idea of priesthood of all believers was perverted into the Roman Catholic Idea of Institutionalism. A. PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS IN THE EARLY CHURCH HISTORY The doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is found throughout the Scriptures and was practiced in the early church. As Dr. R. Laird Harris writes, First century Christianity had no priests. The New Testament nowhere uses the word to describe a leader in Christian service.  [19]  But this glorious doctrine was gradually replaced by sacerdotalism beginning in the third century, especially by Cyprian (c. 258) Bishop of Carthage. Cyprian treated all the passages in the Old Testament that refer to the privileges, the sanctions, the duties, and the responsibilities of the Aaronic Priesthood, as applying to the officers of the Christian Church.  [20]  He completely failed to grasp the central thesis of the Epistle to the Hebrews. He was blind to the fact that the only High Priest under the Gospel recognized by the apostolic writings is our Lord Himself  [21]  and not a solitary pope or bishop or priest of the church. So from the third century onwards the priesthood of all believers was not visible in theological thinking. But the Roman Catholic theologians justified sacerdotalism by saying that Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom to Peter, the rock upon whom Jesus would build his church. Further they says that Peter was the first pope of Rome, and so the pope of Rome by succession has the power of the keys of the kingdom to bind and loose, and even to save. Salvation is deposited in the Roman priesthood and dispensed through the sacraments. The sacraments are effectual ex opere operato, meaning the subjective condition of the priest or the recipient does not matter. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that there is no salvation outside of the priesthoods mediatorial function, and no person by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ may approach the Father with confidence! B. PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS IN THE MEDIVAL PERIOD By the successive centuries, the Roman Catholic hierarchy and other religious groups make a sharp distinction between the laity and the clergy. Such distinction was foreign to the early church where the ultimate authority in ministry traces back to the risen Lord. Along with the structural hierarchy is the sacrament of ordination. The church in Rome imposes the sacrament of ordination that results in the marked separation between the clergy and the laity.  [22]  Christianity had been plagued with it ever since. More and more the church began to structure itself on the basis of the former Levitical order, rather than on the purely New Testament idea of each man is a priest perspective. The change was slow and evolutionary, but pastors gradually came to be called priests and the believers laity. The communion table became an altar and the elements a sacrifice. At the dawn of the Reformation Era, the institutionalized church already would have two major distinguished bodies within the community of believers: the clergy and laity. The status lay people, both in principle and in practice, would not only subordinate to the priests, but also widens the gap between clergy and laity. The gap became synonymous with the sacred and the profane.  [23]   But godly men such as Peter Waldo, John Wyclif and John Hus saw the distinct difference and distance between the clergy and laity. They didnt like it, for it was in opposition to the teachings of the New Testament. Until the dramatic impact of the Protestant Reformation, these smaller movements had little pervasive influence.  [24]   C. PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS IN THE REFORMATION ERA During the Reformation era the concept of the priesthood of all believers became very contentious within the structures of the Institutional church. The Reformation era provides a framework in tracing the concept of the priesthood of all believers. An elucidation on how Martin Luther formulated the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers will be dealt with in the pages to follow. The concept that all who believe in Christ are priests occurred to Luther after he became convinced that Scripture was the only authority for a Christian. As he studied the Bible, especially Pauls Epistle to the Romans, he discovered that in and through Jesus Christ a believer possessed the righteousness of God, and therefore, immediate access to God without the mediation of an arrogant priesthood. Thus, the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is a sequel to the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone. Those who are clothed in the perfect righteousness of God are welcome in the presence of God. No Christian needs a pontiff, meaning a bridge builder, because Jesus Christ alone is the way to the Father. There were other efforts at reforming the Catholic Church, seeking to bring it back to a more biblical posture, but they all fell short of their goal. It was not until such reforming seeds germinated in a favorable political climate that fruit would be born. The date was October 31, 1517. The place was Wittenberg, Germany. An obscure priest named Martin Luther nailed his grievances to the church door, the Reformation was born. A number of changes were called for by this bold, imaginative priest, but at the very core of the Reformation was the conviction that all believers are priests of the living God. He felt that all believers had the right and responsibility to study Gods Word, involve themselves in the ministry, make confession to God on their own, and even administer the sacraments.  [25]   What had started in 1517 as a protest against indulgences by an unknown monk, developed in 1520 into an irreconcilable conflict dividing the Western Church. The three treatises of To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, and The Freedom of a Christian are the heart of Luthers protest against the church of his day. The first was written in August, the second in October, and third in November. In great part, Luthers tract is a catalog of the deplorable state of Christendom. The pope exalts himself over secular rulers as well as over the church, and lives in unconscionable luxury. Rome is a moral cesspool where licenses to live in open debauchery can be bought and sold. The Church has become a machine for making money, and the popes henchmen, having bled Italy dry, have now turned their attention to Germany. Because of their inability to live up to the arbitrary rule of celibacy, many pious priests keep wives, yet do so secretly and with a bad conscience. The universities ignore the Bible and lecture on commentaries, and on commentaries on commentaries. The common people are ignorant even of basic Christianity.  [26]  In such a situation, Luther did write his treatises. Primarily, his first treatise of To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation occupied the central theme of the priesthood of all believers. Here it is better to examine the background that led Martin Luther to raise the concept of priesthood of all believers. 1. To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation a) Priesthood of All Believers As Social Implication In his first treatise of To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation the concept of priesthood of all believers has social, ecclesiastical and spiritual implications. At the dawn of the Reformation era, the institutionalized church already would have two major distinguished bodies within the community of believers such as clergy and laity. Socially, he accepted the context of western Christianity, where temporal rulers belong to the body of Christendom. Within the Christian social order, the rulers are ordained of God to punish evildoers and protect those who do good. When pressed by the temporal power the Romanists have made decrees and declared that the temporal power had no jurisdiction over them, but that, on the contrary, the spiritual power is above the temporal.  [27]   Luther argues against the medieval division between the temporal and the church authorities and their separate jurisdictions in all matters. First of all, he attacked the social distinction that emphasized by the Romanists, It is pure invention that pope, bishop, priests, and monks are called the spiritual estate while princes, lords, artisans, and farmers are called the temporal estate. This is indeed a piece of deceit and hypocrisy. Yet no one need be intimidated by it, and for this reason: all Christians are truly of the spiritual estate, and there is no difference among them except that of office.  [28]   He maintains that all Christians are equally Christian so that none is superior to any other as far possessing what is essential to the church, because we all have one baptism, one gospel, one faith, are all Christians alike; for baptism, gospel, and faith alone make us spiritual and a Christian people.  [29]   Relying upon 1Corinthians 12:12-13, which describes the Church as the body of Christ and each member a part of that body, Luther acknowledges differences between Christians, not as questions of status, however, but as occasions for service to others. All are not the same in what God has given them to do, but they are all the same in what God has given them to be in the Church, viz., His very own people. All Christians, therefore, have the same status. By quoting 1Peter 2:9 and Rev. 5:9-10, Luther describes that status as priest and ascribes it to every Christian, As far as that goes, we are all consecrated priests through baptism.  [30]  So what differentiates Christians is simply the work that God has given them to do: There is no true, basic difference between laymen and priests, prices and bishops, between religious and secular, except for the sake of office and work, but not for the same of status. They are all of the spiritual estate, al are truly priests, bishops, and popes  [31]   As part of the divine economy, God has given to each Christian a particular calling in this life whereby he serves others, Everyone must benefit and serve every other by means of his own work or office so that in this way many kinds of work may be done for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the community, just as all the members of the body serve one another (1Cor.12:14-26).  [32]   As examples of such vocations in the body of Christ, Luther mentions cobblers, smiths, peasants, and temporal authorities besides the clergy. But what is noteworthy about the last, those who have as their vocation the administration of the Word of God and Sacraments,  [33]  is that they are exercising an authority that belongs in the first instance to every Christian. For besides designating ones status before God, Luthers concept of the priesthood of believers also includes spiritual power in the church. b) Priesthood of All Believers as Ecclesiastical Implication Luther rejects ecclesiastically, the clergys monopoly on interpreting Scripture. He attacks the second wall of Romanists that only the pope may interpret the Scripture, determining correct doctrine, forgiving sins, and exercising discipline. There is no Scriptural warrant at all for the claim that only the pope may interpret the Bible. Here Luther clarifies the illusion that some of the Romanists claim of the power that was given to St. Peter. Although they allege that this power was given to St. Peter when the keys were given him, it is clear enough that the key were not given to Peter alone but to the whole community. Further, the keys were not ordained for doctrine or government, but only for the binding or loosing of sin.  [34]   As handlers of Scripture the Romanists are manifestly incompetent, and this makes their claim to hold a monopoly on biblical interpretation absurd. The Romanists must admit that there are among us good Christians who have the true faith, spirit, understanding, word, and mind of Christ. Luthers main point is that the Pope isnt the only person able to read the scriptures. He writes, Has not the Pope often erred? Here Luther implies that the Pope isnt God, and that he makes mistakes.  [35]  The Pope, therefore, can misinterpret the Bible. Luther shows that the Pope is like everyone else, so therefore others can interpret the scriptures as well. Luther then uses the Bible as a way to prove the second wall wrong. Luther quotes Christs words, And they shall be all taught of God(St. John vi. 45). Everyone should be able to interpret the scriptures and be taught of God, without the Popes help. Furthermore he questions, Besides, if we are all priests, as was said above, and all have one faith, one gospel, one sacrament, why should we not also have the power to test and judge what is right or wrong in matters of faith? What becomes of Pauls words in 1Corinthians 2:15, A spiritual man judges all things, yet he is judged by no one? And 2Corinthians 4:13, We all have one spirit of faith? Why, then, should not we perceive what is consistent with faith and what is not, just as well as an unbelieving pope does?  [36]   Even more, Luther attacks the third wall of Romanists. He argues that there is no basis either in the nature of a Christian society or in Scripture for the Romanists refusal to call a council. Luther brings up that St. Peter wasnt the only person to call a council: Thus we read in Acts 15 that the council of the Apostles was not called by St. Peter, but by all the Apostles and the elders.  [37]  Also, nowhere in the scriptures does it say that the Pope is allowed to call a council by himself. Therefore their threats can be safely ignored, and a council should be called without delay to deal with a long list of abuses in the Church. Ordinary people and temporal authorities have the right and duty to do this, not only by virtue of their status as kings and priests before God, but because the crisis in the Church demands it. Would it not be unnatural if a fire broke out in a city and everybody were to stand by and let it burn on and on and consume everything that could burn because nobody had the authority of the mayor, or because, perhaps, the fire broke out in the mayors house? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦How much more should this be done in the spiritual city of Christ if a fire of offense breaks out, whether in the papal government, or anywhere else?  [38]   Therefore, Luther concludes that it is the duty of every Christian in the Church as having the responsibility of priesthood of all believers; he has to espouse the cause of the faith, to understand and defend it, and to denounce every error. c) Priesthood of All Believers as Spiritual Implication Luther declares that since we have one baptism, one gospel one faith, and are all Christians alike; for baptism, gospel, and faith alone make us spiritual and a Christian people. He quotes 1Peter 2:9, But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, Gods special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Yet all are alike consecrated priests, everyone must benefit and serve every other by means of his own work or office so that in this way many kinds of work may be done for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the community, just as all the members of the body serve one another. Mainly all should share the three priestly functions such as prayer intercede with God on behalf of others, proclamation speak the gospel sharing it with the neighbor, and sacrifice living a cross-centered and servant oriented life. Since the Church is in a state of crisis and someone has to act. The temporal authorities and ordinary lay people can and should do so because there are no inherently unspiritual vocations, because all Christians in all vocations are kings and priests, and because the deplorable state of the Church is the concern of every Christian. 2. The Babylonian Captivity of the Church Nevertheless, the second treatise of Luther, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church also has the influence of the idea of priesthood of all believers. In this treatise, he discusses and dismantles the medieval sacramental system. In a measured but powerful way, Luther subjects each of the seven medieval sacraments such as baptism, Eucharist, penance, confirmation, marriage, ordination, and extreme unction to the critique of Gods Word and concludes that there are, strictly speaking, but two sacraments in the church of God baptism and the bread ( Eucharist). For only in these two do we find both the divinely instituted sign and the promise of forgiveness of sins  [39]   Not surprisingly, in his di