The Bearer Of The Fruits Of Sin :: essays research papers

The world of Puritan New England, like the world of today, was filled with many evil influences. Many people were able to withstand the temptations of this darker side of the spiritual world, but still some fell victim to the supposed Satan’s will. Such offences against God, in thought, word, deed, desire or neglect, are what we define as sin (Schuler 14). In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the reader is able to observe how one sin devastates three lives. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth are all guilty of succumbing to temptation, anger, and desire, causing all to fit the definition of a sinner. Yet, Chillingworth’s iniquities raise him up above Hester and Dimmesdale on the level of diabolic acts. From the very moment Chillingworth is introduced, he is deceitful towards the Puritan society. Chillingworth appears in the novel, seeming to know nothing of the scene at the scaffold. He asks of a townsperson: â€Å"†¦who is this woman? – and wherefore is she here to set up to public shame?† (Hawhtorne 67). Yet, we find in the next chapter that he indeed knows who Hester is, because Chillingworth is the lawful husband of her. He decieves the people of Boston to avoid the humiliation his wife brought upon him. In this respect, Chillingworth sins against the eight commandment, â€Å"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour† (Schuler 26).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Now, one could state that Hester also sins against the eighth commandment. She never reveals the name of her daughter’s father. And it is stated that one must always tell the truth. Yet, it also states that one must keep a secret whenever asked to do so, and not say anything to damage another’s reputation (Schuler 27). So Hester, in fact, did not sin. She never denies that Dimmesdale was the father of Pearl. She also could not admit the truth because she would break a promise to Dimmesdale and damage his reputation. Dimmesdale also may be accused of this crime, but likewise, he never outwardly states that he was not the father of this child, he merely chooses to remain silent on the matter. While Chillingworth is guilty of breaking the eighth commandment, he also breaks the fifth commandment â€Å"You shall not kill† (Schuler 24). It fact that Chillingworth did not directly kill anyone in the novel. Nevertheless, a serious act of anger or hatred is considered a sin under this commandment (Schuler 25).

Taboo

What is taboo? Taboo is human activity that is forbidden based on moral judgment. Anything that is not accepted by society or by your peers is considered taboo. This perfectly awful word has so many meanings ,yet no matter what race, religion, or culture your in it means forbidden or banned. No matter how hard you try not to be taboo you are. So is being taboo part of human nature, or is it how we try to stand out from everybody else and show individuality? Are you taboo, do you know someone who is taboo?There is no taboo that is universal, but some occur in the majority of societies. The dietary practices of some people are considered taboo, for instance some are vegetarians, kosher diets, cannibalism, or meat-eaters. Judaism prohibits the eating of bats, frogs, crocodiles, or snakes. Cow or beef is taboo to be eaten by vegetarian, Hindus, or Zoroastrians. Dog meat is taboo in the United States, they are considered part of the family. While in China dogs are bred for their meat, one example of this is the Chow Chow.Prince Philip of the United Kingdom once said â€Å"If it has four legs and is not a chair, has wings and is not an aero plane, or swims and is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it. † Once again everybody is taboo. I personally love to eat frog and beef. It is taboo in my eyes not to eat meat ,but that is because I am a meat-eater. The way people show or deal with their body function, such as burping, flatulence, defecating, and urinating are all forms of taboo. In the United States it is considered taboo to defecate or urinate in public.While in India, they teach to drink cow urine and eat cow feces. We all try to avoid doing things we think are taboo. People deal with things they think are different in different ways. Some turn their heads when they are faced with something or someone they find ugly or repulsive. The way people stare with added expressions when they see something different then what they consider normal, anything from a personal choice to birth defects. Even in relationships there is and will always be taboos. Sex outside of arriage, adultery, miscegenation, and incest are all forms of taboos in relationships. In the United States adultery and incest are very taboo, but in Wodaabe ,men of Niger steal each others wives even if they already have one. So adultery is taboo here over there it is accepted and condoned. Miscegenation was taboo in the United States until 1967 when they said it was unconstitutional. Taboo is in the politics of everyday living. For the United States fascism, communism, and anarchism are all taboo.While in China and Vietnam both accept and have a communism government. In early German the Nazism was taboo because of the fascism. Taboo was brought to the English language by Captain James Cook, and English explorer who visited Tonga. A famous American author Henry Miller said â€Å" whenever a taboo is broken, something good happens, something vitalizing. Taboos after all ar e only hangovers, the product of diseased minds, you might say, of fearsome people who hadn’t the courage to live and who under the guise of morality and religion have imposed these things upon us. So do not shun or avoid , accept everybody’s taboos because when they look at you they see all your taboos to them. Taboos are everywhere and in everything, because if there wasn’t then this would be a boring world to live. Could you imagine if everybody was doing the same thing, everything going the same direction ,no disorder, or no rebellion it would be very bland. In the end no one is perfect, and even if it might be considered taboo, whatever it is. The taboos we have or don’t have make us all unique and special.

Morality And Where Is All Common Ground On Where Augustine...

An Analysis of the concept of morality in Augustine reveals questions facing humankind: what is morality and where is it based. This is the common theme throughout Augustine’s writings, he seem to struggle with making the right choices. His natural desires tend to take over whenever he comes to tough decision. Throughout this paper we will be analyzing this theme, to see if we can come to some common ground on where Augustine stood and what he had to say on the issue. First let’s analyze Augustine’s thoughts on natural desires and free will. The history of free will and natural desires goes back to an earlier religion. Before Christianity there was a religion called Manicheanism. Manicheanism was extremely influential among early Christians. Manicheanism was a cult that first arose in Roman North Africa, begun by a Persian named Mani, who died around A.D. 276. This cult combined elements of Christianity with elements of Zoroastrianism, the ancient religion of Persia. Mani taught that the universe was a battlefield of two opposing forces. On one side is God, who represents light and goodness and who seeks to eliminate suffering and evil from the world. Opposite him is Satan, who represents darkness and evil and is the cause of pain and suffering. Human beings find themselves caught in the middle of these two great forces. According to Manicheanism, the human body, is the product of Satan and is inherently evil, whereas the soul is mad e of light. The only escape from evil isShow MoreRelatedEuthanasia And Physician Assisted Suicide - Good, Bad, Right, Or Wrong?1860 Words   |  8 Pagesconsent of the patient or his family. Tribal Customs: There are accounts of tribes, ancient and more modern, who abandoned their aged and infirm, choked, starved, or even stomped or clubbed them to death. Sometimes these things were done at the person s wish; in other cases they were done because the person had arrived at a certain age or stage of deterioration of health. Similar things were done to unwanted infants. â€Å"Tribal Greece†: The city-state of Sparta in Greece practiced a form of euthanasiaRead More The Theological Dilemma of Pain and Suffering Essay examples2744 Words   |  11 Pagesby examining the origin of religion and discussing the three elements associated with all developed religions, in addition to an added one in Christianity. The first element is the experiences of the Numinous. Humans are capable of sensing the divine and spiritual presence through the Numinous. The Numinous is a mixed feeling of awe and dread and distinct from fear. Lewis states that there are two possible views of Numinous. The first is that it is simply in the mind and serves no biological function;Read MoreExistentialism vs Essentialism23287 Words   |  94 Pagesas a free amp; responsible agent, determining their own development through acts of the will. Existentialism * is a philosophical term which posits that individuals create the meaning and essence of their lives. Existentialism asserts that â€Å"existence precedes essence,† which is in opposition to the classical doctrine that â€Å"essence precedes existence.† The claim â€Å"existence precedes essence† is a rejection of the idea that human nature has an end or goal. In this sense, humans are free toRead MoreAn Analysis of Terrorism Essay9824 Words   |  40 Pagesbrought terrorism into the timelight. Terrorism is a term of uncertain legal content. The term itself has no definition of illegality, except when terrorism commits acts which do apply to common law. Some of the acts that a terrorist commits are murder, bombing, kidnapping, hi-jacking, hostage taking and theft. All these acts have a law in the civil penal code that makes a terrorists activity a crime against society. Terrorism is also viewed as a political act against a government and it’s citizenryRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagesscholarly debates on modernism and postmodernism, and provides an advanced introduction to the heterogeneous study of organizations, including chapters on phenomenology, critical theory and psychoanalysis. Like all good textbooks, the book is accessible, well researched and readers are encouraged to view chapters as a starting point for getting to grips with the field of organization theory. Dr Martin Brigham, Lancaster University, UK McAuley et al. provide a highly readable account of ideas, perspectivesRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 PagesSacramento Sacramento, CA 95819 USA ii iii Preface Copyright  © 2011-14 by Bradley H. Dowden This book Logical Reasoning by Bradley H. Dowden is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. That is, you are free to share, copy, distribute, store, and transmit all or any part of the work under the following conditions: (1) Attribution You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author, namely by citing his name, the book title