Racial Identities in China: Context and Meaning

1994 ◽  
Vol 138 ◽  
pp. 404-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Dikötter

This yellow river, it so happens, bred a nation identified by its yellow skin pigment. Moreover, this nation also refers to its earliest ancestor as the Yellow Emperor. Today, on the face of the earth, of every five human beings there is one that is a descendant of the Yellow Emperor.

Oryx ◽  
1955 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mervyn Cowie

Why do we try to preserve wild animals? Why do we set aside delightful scenes of nature? Why do we establish open spaces and national parks? Would it not be better to accept here and now that man in his dominion over all the lesser creatures has every right to divest the land of animals, trees, or anything else which may stand in his way, or hinder him in exploiting the earth for the alleged well-being of mankind? Vast sums are spent in the larger continents to control domestic animal diseases; greater sums are spent in denuding the face of the earth of its natural cover, so that there can be more room for cattle, crops, factories and cities, in an attempt to meet the insatiable clamour of millions of human beings. Should we not pause to assess what irreplaceable assets are being endangered by this scramble and to what extent those assets contribute to men's peace of mind?


2001 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoko Takahashi

Buddhism presumes that all living beings suffer. Even the Buddha is said to have had a little illness and a little suffering (Daichido-ron: Kawada, 1975, p. 33). An ideal health in Buddhism is, therefore, not an absence of illness.The goal of Buddhism is to attain human happiness. The question is not if one has an illness or not but if a person is happy with or without being ill. Nichiren (MW. If. 5, p. 280) wrote to a woman (Myoshin-ama) in the face of her husband’s critical illness. “... illness does not necessarily result in death. Now, this illness of your husband’s may be due to the Buddha’s design, for the Vimalakirti and Nirvana sutras both speak of sick people attaining Buddhahood. From illness arises the mind that seeks the Way.” In chapter fifteen chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the four great bodhisattvas asked the Buddha: “Is the World-Honored One comfortable, with few illnesses, few worries?” The Buddha answered: “Just so, just so, good men! The Thus Come One (Buddha) is well and happy. with few i1Is and few worries.” (Watson, 1993, p. 214)“Health” in Buddhism is the life condition of the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva is basically healthy both physically and mentally. He wi1l become sick not because of his own weakness in his body or mind but because of the unhappiness of others. Bodhisattvas need training. They put themselves into circumstances where people are suffering, and physical, chemical, biological and psychological stresses are manifest (Kawada, 1983). Ikeda (1998) concludes: “Health means the life condition of the Bodhisattva. People are healthy when they dedicate themselves to others.” Rene Dubos (1959) said: “It is a lazy dream to imagine a life without anxiety and stress. Since human lives are dynamic processes, while the idea of utopia is static, it is useless to try to find a utopia on the earth.... Each human being fights not necessarily for the sake of himself, but for the emotional, intellectual, and ethical development of all human beings. To grow in the middle of danger itself is the law of life which is our destiny.” In other words, Buddhism puts emphasis on spiritual strength with a committed sense of mission or purpose of life through a compassionate action for others.


2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (299) ◽  
pp. 620
Author(s):  
Maria Clara Lucchetti Bingemer

Síntese: Nossa proposta neste texto é fazer uma leitura da obra de Teilhard de Chardin a partir da América Latina e, nela, de uma situação bem concreta: o consumismo, característica da pós-modernidade, que se instalou aqui em nosso continente. Nossa premissa é que a fúria consumista em um continente marcado pela pobreza dissociou ser humano e cosmos, homem, mulher e natureza, criando uma falta de sensibilidade para os sentidos humanos, que chega a ser extremamente nociva ao próprio ser humano: torna-o sempre mais insensível àquilo que está à sua volta, seja a pobreza que padecem tantos, seja a negligência em relação ao Cosmos e à Terra, pondo em risco a vida e o futuro do planeta onde todos vivem. Em seguida, examinaremos a mística bíblica como mística de comunhão com o universo, de sintonia com o criado, incluindo e colocando em comunicação ser humano e mundo, de maneira a que juntos reflitam a face do Criador. Procuraremos, a seguir, ver como Teilhard se inscreve nessa mística de comunhão com o universo de maneira radical e profunda, fazendo com que a mesma passe a constituir o cerne de sua esplêndida espiritualidade. Finalmente, examinaremos alguns textos seletos de Teilhard, a fim de encontrarmos neles a inspiração para a teologia que hoje se faz em nosso continente. Embora Teilhard não tenha sido alguém com grande preocupação pelos pobres e embora estes não ocupem parte importante em seu pensamento e discurso, não se pode ignorar que seu pensamento sobre o cosmos e a natureza são uma contribuição preciosa para toda a reflexão teológica sobre a ecologia, que hoje se realiza no mundo inteiro, inclusive e de maneira forte e insistente, no continente latino-americano.Palavas-chave: Theilhard de Chardin. Espiritualidade. Consumismo. Ecologia. Pobres.Abstract: Our objective in this text is to do a reading of Teilhard de Chardin’s work from a Latin American perspective and, within this perspective, focus on a very concrete situation: consumerism, a characteristic of the post-modernity that settled here in our continent. Our assumption is that the consumerist fury in a continent marked by poverty dissociated the human being and the cosmos, man, woman and nature, creating a lack of sensitivity to the human senses that becomes extremely harmful for the human beings themselves. It makes them more insensitive to whatever is around them, be it the poverty that is the source of suffering for so many, be it the negligence towards the Cosmos and the Earth, a negligence that endangers the life and the future of the planet where we all live. Next, we will examine the Biblical mystique as a mystique of communion with the universe, of being in tune with the creation, including and fostering the communication between the human being and the world, in such a way that, together, they reflect the face of the Creator. We will then try to see how Teilhard inserts himself in this mystique of communion with the universe in a radical and deep way, so that this mystique becomes the core of his splendid spirituality. Finally, we will look at a few selected texts by Teilhard in order to find in them the inspiration for the theology practiced today in our continent. Although Teilhard may not have been someone particularly concerned with the poor and although they are not an important part of his thought and discourse, we cannot ignore that his ideas about the Cosmos and nature are a valuable contribution to the entire theological reflection on ecology that is being carried out worldwide, including, in a very strong and insistent way, in the Latin-American continent.Keyword: Theilhard de Chardin. Spirituality. Consumerism. Ecology. Poor.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-214
Author(s):  
Ahmad Zainul Arifin ◽  
Khairuddin ◽  
Moh Rifa’i

In the millennial era it is very important in describing the lives of interfaith people on the face of the earth. Various social media certainly become a very important tool for each group to convey ideas quoted based on the teachings of their respective religions. The frequent occurrence of trends in values, morals and ethics causes the relationship between religious people to become increasingly span in the field of trust. Various groups from each religion often complained about their achievements in terms of personality and even on political matters so that such a huge impact is vulnerable to minorities in certain regions. This is where the Qur'an plays a very important role as one of the rejects of Muslim thinking. In addition, the Qur'an also plays an important role for all human beings as social beings without exception. Although al-Qu'an himself has stated that to be one does not have to be the same. Different religions, cultures, nationalities or others is not a limiting thing to build a harmony of living together. It's just that, at the present time many thinkers who stand tall are only for their own sake, don't care about what's around them. For this reason, we are writing a study based on events that often occur on the face of the earth. Inserted with some ideas from several figures and an expert in the interpretation of the Qur'an in order for the writer and the reader to understand more deeply what tolerance is or what harmony is religious life


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Molla Mekonnen Alemu

Every life form is dependent on ecosystem services for food, water, fiber, ecological regulation and societal values. During the past 50 years, human beings interfered in to the wellbeing of these ecosystems and the services they provide, mainly to fulfill the ever increasing demand of humans. Many ecosystems are being degraded by putting their ecological services in jeopardy and causing considerably irremediable losses of biodiversity from the face of the earth. The degradation of these resources is also expected to grow in the years to come by posing a threat to the wellbeing of humanity in various forms. The threat, therefore, needs a collaborated action from grass root to global level entities and bodies. Strong policy, strategy and institutional frameworks and action plans could also play a role in averting the ongoing degradation of the ecosystem services. This paper is therefore, aimed at highlighting the major ecosystem services and some possible measures that will help to mitigate the degradation of their services.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 409-434
Author(s):  
Ibnu Chudzaifah

Pondok Pesantren is one of the Islamic educational institutions that aim to form human beings who have noble character, so that created a human who has a balance between physical and spiritual. Some educational institutions offer various models of learning to balance the current development so that its existence is still recognized by the community. While boarding school in dealing with the development of the times, has a commitment to make new innovations by presenting the pattern of education that can give birth to a reliable Human Resources. Especially pesantren currently has a challenging enough weight in facing the era of "Demographic Bonus". Demographic bonus is a phenomenon in which the structure of the population greatly benefits the community from the side of development in various sectors, because the productive age is more than the non productive age. This means that the dependency burden will decrease with the ratio of 64 percent of the productive age population to bear only 34 percent of the nonproductive age population. With all kinds of scholarships and skills given to students, students are expected to compete in all fields, especially in the face of Indonesia gold in 2020 to 2035.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-103
Author(s):  
Lina Aniqoh

This paper seeks to elaborate on the textual interpretation of Q.S Muhammad verse 4 and Q.S at Taubah verse 5. These two verses are often employed by the extremist Muslim groups to legitimize their destructive acts carried out on groups considered as being infidels and as such lawfully killed. The interpretation was conducted using the double movement hermeneutics methodology offered by Fazlur Rahman. After reinterpretation, the two verses contain moral values, namely the war ordered by God must be reactive, fulfill the ethics of "violence" and be the last solution. Broadly speaking, the warfare commanded in the Qur'an aims to establish a benefit for humanity on the face of the earth by eliminating every crime that exists. These two verses in the contemporary socio-historical context in Indonesia can be implemented as a basis for combating the issue of hoaxes and destructive acts of extremist Muslim groups. Because both are crimes and have negative implications for the people good and even able to threaten the unity of mankind.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 262-265
Author(s):  
Dr.Navdeep Kaur

Since its evolution environment has remained both a matter of awe and concern to man. The frontier attitude of the industrialized society towards nature has not only endangered the survival of all other life forms but also threatened the very existence of human life. The realization of such potential danger has necessitated the dissemination of knowledge and skill vis-a-vis environment protection at all stages of learning. Therefore, learners of all stages of learning need to be sensitized with a missionary zeal. This may ensure transformation of students into committed citizens for averting global environment crisis. The advancement of science and technology made the life more and more relaxed and man also became more and more ambitious. With such development, human dependence on environment increased. He consumed more resources and the effect of his activities on the environment became more and more detectable. Environment covers all the things present around the living beings and above the land, on the surface of the earth and under the earth. Environment indicates, in total, all of peripheral forces, pressures and circumstances, which affect the life, nature, behaviour, growth, development and maturation of living beings. Irrational exploitation (not utilization) of natural resources for our greed (not need) has endangered our survival, and incurred incalculable harm. Environmental Education is a science, a well-thought, permanent, lasting and integrated process of equipping learning experiences for getting awareness, knowledge, understanding, skills, values, technical expertise and involvement of learners with desirable attitudinal changes about their relationship with their natural and biophysical environment. Environmental Education is an organized effort to educate the masses about environment, its functions, need, importance, and especially how human beings can manage their behaviour in order to live in a sustainable manner.  The term 'environmental awareness' refers to creating general awareness of environmental issues, their causes by bringing about changes in perception, attitude, values and necessary skills to solve environment related problems. Moreover, it is the first step leading to the formation of responsible environmental behaviour (Stern, 2000). With the ever increasing development by modern man, large scale degradation of natural resources have been occurred, the public has to be educated about the fact that if we are degrading our environment we are actually harming ourselves. To encourage meaningful public participation and environment, it is necessary to create awareness about environment pollution and related adverse effects. This is the crucial time that environmental awareness and environmental sensitivity should be cultivated among the masses particularly among youths. For the awareness of society it is essential to work at a gross root level. So the whole society can work to save the environment.


Author(s):  
Arianne F. Conty

Though responses to the Anthropocene have largely come from the natural and social sciences, religious responses to the Anthropocene have also been gaining momentum and many scholars have been calling for a religious response to complement scientific responses to climate change. Yet because Genesis 1:28 does indeed tell human beings to ‘subdue the earth’ monotheistic religions have often been understood as complicit in the human exceptionalism that is thought to have created the conditions for the Anthropocene. In distinction to such Biblical traditions, indigenous animistic cultures have typically respected all forms of life as ‘persons’ and such traditions have thus become a source of inspiration for ecological movements. After discussing contemporary Christian efforts to integrate the natural sciences and the environment into their responses to the Anthropocene, this article will turn to animism and seek to evaluate the risks and benefits that could ensue from a postmodern form of animism that could provide a necessary postsecular response to the Anthropocene.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document