Joseph Smith’s Polygamy (Book Review)

Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint Church, is one of the most, and probably the most controversial religious figure of American history; and his practice of polygamy, something unheard of in all other Christian denominations, is what mainly contributed to the scandalous nature of this person and religion he founded. Brian C. Hales, although an amateur historian, has written what is likely to be the most comprehensive work on the subject: an enormous 3-volume research about 2500 pages long. Himself a member of LDS, Brian Hales has been deeply interested in the history of Mormon polygamy for a long time, but found out that there was no scientific work that would combine all that is currently known on the subject; and thus he decided to create such a book himself. As a result, we have a work based on carefully cited and well-documented sources concerning Joseph Smith and his family, with extensive footnotes that would interest those who want to check the facts. In other words, Joseph Smith’s Polygamy is very likely to become the book future researchers are going to cite when writing on the subject. At the same time, the book will not only be interesting for academic historians, but for everybody who is interested in the history of LDS and Mormon polygamy in particular. However, it is hard to recommend it to those only casually interested in Mormon history – although it is extremely well-documented and presents a very clear picture of Joseph Smith’s life, this book presupposes that you already have some understanding of the topic – enough to benefit from the new ideas introduced by Hales. In addition to that, there are summaries that would be helpful for those who want to learn the bare essentials on the subject without trudging through all the excessive footnotes, sources and fact comparisons. However, if you are not interested in a detailed study, why bother dealing with this book at all? There are other, more general historical works about Mormons that would make a better choice for beginners, like Richard Bushman’s Rough Stone Rolling. The topic of early Mormon polygamy is too complicated, confusing and misleading for an outsider to learn anything of importance from such a specialized work. Polygamy is a very sensitive subject for modern Mormons – many well-meaning members of this church find it to be the stumbling block to faith, something that is hard to accept coming from the alleged prophet of your religion. Mr. Hales does its best to tread carefully on this treacherous ground – he doesn’t assert his own opinion, instead limiting his role to presenting all the facts and alleged facts and leaving it for the reader to decide what he or she thinks about it all. This is what makes it a real historical research rather than an attempt to prove or disprove some suspicious facts of Joseph Smith’s biography. However, it is probably one of the weak points of the book as well – for some people’s taste, there is a bit too much documentation and facts and not enough research per se. Some criticists will certainly say that Joseph Smith’s Polygamy is not so much a research as a laying out of all the documents pertaining to the subject in a form readable for the majority of readers. Although Hales does have some ideas of his own – namely, the difference between ‘eternity only’ and ‘time and eternity’ sealings, some readers are likely to think that more than 2500 pages of text are a somewhat excessive way of proving a point that has a purely theological importance.

The Adoption Of Geneva Conventions - 1882 Words

Introduction Wars have been always a menace and a threat to humanity. Throughout of the ages, the noble spirited and peace loving people have tried to bring an end to the hostility and conflicts among human beings. The adoption of Geneva Conventions in 1949 was seen as a significant break though in this regard and it was hoped that human sufferings resulting from armed conflicts will be minimized to a considerable extent if not eliminated completely. Even after the passage of about eight decades of the adoption of Geneva Conventions, this dream is still far from realization. During all these years we saw different nations interpreting and using the rules of Geneva Conventions in different ways suiting their interest. This differing practice on the part of different nations did a lot of harm to the common cause of protecting the life and well being of human beings. A major divergence from Geneva Convention rules has been seen post 9/11. The 9/11 incidents and subsequent â€Å"war on terror† gave rise to a completely new form of armed conflict which resulted in new legal challenges. As this war on terror is a non-traditional war which was almost unfamiliar by the times when Geneva Conventions were framed so, most of the rules of Geneva Conventions were focused on international armed conflicts. Traditionally, we witnessed armed conflicts in which states stood against other states but in recent decades, especially after the dawn of 21st century, these armed conflicts have becomeShow MoreRelatedEssay Human Rights Violations in the War on Terrorism1036 Words   |  5 Pages Following the September 11th terrorist attacks in which at least 3,000 people were killed, the United States has pursued policies that violate human rights in order to wage the war on terrorism. 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Critque Essay Free Essays

In the story â€Å"The Operation,† by Pensri Kiengsiri , a story that has a third persons’ point of view. The reader learns that Kamjorn, the father of the kid, don’t have much affection to Danu because Danu is a victim of polio which made Danu a crippled kid. Its conspiracy leads the reader into having a feeling of sympathy for the boy. We will write a custom essay sample on Critque Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now And the story’s setting, contributes well to the growing sympathy of the readers to Danu, as Kiengsiri’s treatment of timing cause the readers to anticipate a shocking things that’s to unfold. The time at which â€Å"The Operation† is set introduces an element of tension between the parents. Kamjorn informed the readers that when he taught about going to Bangkok he first wanted to see his best friend, rather to go to the hospital which is his main reason of going to Bangkok; it is â€Å"his mind strayed to other days in Bangkok, student days and to the old school mates, he would have a chance to look up. † As the reader already knows that Kamjorn intends to catch up with his old friends, the very mention of â€Å"strayed to other days† evokes the sense of a plan that will certainly make sadness to the boy’s feelings. The added suggestion of â€Å"chance to look up† introduces an atmosphere of uncertainty: that planted to the reader’s mind is the notion that all is not normal and right to the world. The sense of uncertainty to Kamjorn that he will not go to his son and doesn’t show to his son it is a big factor to his son operation. Just as the time in which â€Å"The Operation† is set infuses the story with an atmosphere of sadness, so do the physical surrounding in which the bulk of plot unfolds. â€Å"When Kamjorn reached Bangkok, he went to meet his friend and to actually catch up with them. When his daughter haven’t seen any sign that either one of their parents arrived, she was worried and called to their house and somehow convinced her mother to travel. † Both things added to the reader’s sense that there’s something is not right and that something imminent is about to occur. This atmosphere of imminence increases as their mother went to the train and hasn’t heard anything from her until the operation is almost finished â€Å"an accident on an express train†¦fatalities† That’s the only words Kamjorn’s mind ever digested before he fainted. For it is only in the final conversation of the story. The imminence that happened to Kamjorn’s wife that caused him to faint. It has successfully concealed the true sense of Kamjorn tears last before he fainted. Hence, the manner Kiengsiri described the time and setting of â€Å"The Operation† serves to greatly enhance the effect of this tale upon the reader. In accompanying the story’s characters into a world thet grows steadily more gruesome at every turn, the reader’s feeling of sadness and foreboding increases, the reader is doubly troubled the disturbing revelation made in the story’s final conversation. Kiengsiri’s use of setting and timing in this story mirrors the special effects employed in dramatic movies-effects that have the viewers wiping their tears, totally absorbed in plot and atmosphere. It is good that a 6 page short story can evoke with words the same response that movie makers use millions of dollars, efforts and truckloads of technology to create. How to cite Critque Essay, Essays

Impact of Cage-Free Labeling on Consumer Sustainability Consciousness

Question: Discuss about the Impact of Cage-Free Labeling on Consumer Sustainability Consciousness. Answer: Introduction The cage free labeling of the chicken products in the retail stores suggests that the chickens were raised in an open and healthy condition without any cage. Such a labeling is implemented by the manufacturers of the chicken products to lure the customers into the thought that they are buying high quality and healthy products. The manufacturers also intent to show their compliance to the guidelines provided by the government or other animal welfare regulatory body in the country. This type of labeling is a marketing concept in which the manufacturers try to convince the chickens whose meat or eggs are being sold, were raised in an open farm in a healthy condition, without being cramped up in small cages. This report focuses on the effects of such labeling strategy on the consumer sustainability consciousness (Meijers, 2012). The consumers across various markets in the globe are becoming sustainability conscious due to the deteriorating health and quality of the environment and the ec o-system around the globe. The sustainability consciousness of the consumers leads them to purchase the products which have minimal negative impacts on the environment or the eco-system. This report tries to analyze the possible effects of the cage-free labeling of the chicken products on the sustainability consciousness of the consumers in the corresponding market along with the ultimate profits gained by the manufacturers of these products. The report mentions several hypotheses for the research along with the methodology used for the research processes and the surveys used for the collection of data from the current and potential customers (Heng, 2013). Hypotheses This section of the report defines three hypothesis statements for the research. These statements are used in the research process to gain insights into the market of operation and the effects if cage-free labeling on the consumer sustainability consciousness. People are more likely to purchase cage free egg. This hypothesis is based on the assumption that the people in various societies will be inclined more towards buying cage free eggs more than the normal eggs. This hypothesis can be used for the research activities in order to gain information on the feelings of the general public in various societies, towards the cage free labelling of the eggs (Van, 2014). Sustainable conscious consumers are more likely to purchase cage free eggs. This hypothesis assumes that the sustainability conscious consumers in various societies are more attracted towards the eggs which are labelled cage free. The research activities will analyze this hypothesis by gathering information about the opinion of the sustainability conscious consumers towards the cage-free labelling of the eggs (Smithson, 2014). The cage-free labeling of the products allows the consumers to believe that the chickens were raised in a cage-free and healthy environment. This hypothesis assumes that the cage-free labeling on the products allows the consumers to accept the fact that the chickens were raised in a healthy environment without being cramped up in any cage. This in turn allows the consumers to buy the products without any doubts regarding the quality of the products or their negative impacts on the environment (Sheehan, 2014). Literature review The cage-free labeling is currently used as a marketing strategy for the meat products or eggs to provide a value proposition of high quality and healthy products. The companies provided chicken meat and eggs ensure the utilization of such labeling strategies for convincing the consumers that the chickens were raised in a healthy condition. The increase in the demand of the chicken meat and eggs in the current societies has causes the companies to create chicken and hen farms in the most profitable way possible. This in turn leads to the chickens or hens to be kept in cramped up cages, which is neither a healthy nor a free space. This causes the chickens to be very sick and unhealthy till they are killed for their meat. This raises a lot of complaints against the company due to animal cruelty and keeping the chickens in an unhealthy condition. The cage-free or free-range labeling of these products suggests that the chickens were raised in a cage-free environment, where they lived a h ealthy life. Such labeling strategies of the chicken meat or egg providers suggest that they avoid animal cruelty in their farms and provide very high quality and healthy products to the customers. The consumers in a number of regions across the world actually believe these labeling strategies used by the companies. There are a number of companies which use these labeling strategies just to show that they are compliant with the animal welfare guidelines and to convince the consumers that the products are of high quality and healthy. But the general public in various societies fall for the labeling strategy and buy the products without gathering more information about it. The cage-free labeling of the products also allows the consumers to perceive them to have minimal negative impacts on the environment and eco-system. This in turn allows the sustainability conscious consumers not to be worried about the negative environmental impacts. Thus the sustainability conscious consumers get assured of the absence of the negative environmental and eco-system impacts due to the consumption of the products labelled cage-free (Heng, 2016). The cage-free labelling of the products leads the customers to believe that the chickens were raised in a healthy condition. Most of the times, people assume that the labelling of the products are valid and authentic enough and assume that the chickens were actually raise in a healthy condition (Peacock, 2013). Methodology This section of the report focuses on the methodologies used for the research of the corresponding topic. Research design The research of the topic will include a number of questionnaires and surveys with close-ended questions to the actual and prospect customers in the corresponding market. These questions with focus on their perception of the cage-free labeling and its impact on their sustainability consciousness (McCluskey, 2016). The research will be based on the quantitative methodologies, which will gather data from the surveys and will allow them to be measured and compared with each other. Data collection As mentioned earlier, the data collection methodology used in the research will be through the surveys and questionnaires. The surveys will be carried out online on a number of social networking sites along with personal interviews (Kraus, 2014). Sample and sampling process The interviews in the research process will contain a range of customers from different socioeconomic backgrounds. The surveys will also consider the sample of the consumers on the basis of their eating habits and lifestyle. This diverse collection of people going through the survey allows accurate data to be collected from the surveys and questionnaires (Jones, 2010). Analysis techniques The analysis of the data collected through these methodologies allows relevant information to be gathered regarding the impact of the cage-free labeling of the products on the sustainability consciousness of the consumers. The analysis technique used for the research will be the comparison of the answers provided to the survey questions by the consumers with a set of expected answers and recording their respective emotions towards cage-free labeling (Barnes, 2014). The analysis of the data gathered through the surveys will be based on the quantitative methodologies, which in turn will allow effective insights to be gained from these data. All of these questions can be asked to the consumers to gather information about their emotions towards animal cruelty and cage-free labeling. This information allows the research to have accurate results about the impact of cage-free labeling on the sustainability consciousness of the consumers (Chen, 2014). References Barnes, W., 2014. Food Security in the Contemporary World: Making Security Sustainable. Interstate-Journal of International Affairs, 2013(1). Chen, R.J., 2014. An integrated sustainable business and development system: Thoughts and opinions. Sustainability, 6(10), pp.6862-6871. Heng, Y., Peterson, H.H. and Li, X., 2013. Consumers Preferences for Farm Animal Welfare: the Case of Laying Hen. Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 38, pp.418-434. Heng, Y., Peterson, H.H. and Li, X., 2016. Consumer Responses to Multiple and Superfluous Labels in the Case of Eggs. Journal of Food Distribution Research, 47(2). Jones, D.R., Musgrove, M.T., Anderson, K.E. and Thesmar, H.S., 2010. Physical quality and composition of retail shell eggs. Poultry science, 89(3), pp.582-587. Kraus, A., 2014. Environmental Impacts of the Battery Cage Industry Depicted Through Sculpture. McCluskey, J.J., 2016, February. Changing Consumer Preferences. In 2016 Conference (60th), February 2-5, 2016, Canberra, Australia (No. 235408). Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society. Meijers, M.H. and Van Dam, Y., 2012. Sustainable food purchases in the Netherlands: the influence of consumer characteristics. Journal on Chain and Network Science, 12(2), pp.181-198. Peacock, D.L., 2013. Market for Drug-Free Poultry: Why Robust Regulation of Animal Raising Claims Is the Right Prescription to Combat Antibiotic Resistance, The. J. Food L. Pol'y, 9, p.223. Sheehan, K.B. and Lee, J., 2014. What's Cruel About Cruelty Free: An Exploration of Consumers, Moral Heuristics, and Public Policy. Journal of Animal Ethics, 4(2), pp.1-15. Smithson, K.R., 2014. Effect of Information Displays on Cage-free and Organic Egg Sales: Evidence from Two Field Experiments. Van Wilgenburg, H., 2014. An Exploration of Chicken and Egg Sustainability on Dalhousie Universitys Halifax Campus.