The appeal of Islam for politics in South East Asia during the 12th Essay

The appeal of Islam for politics in South East Asia during the 12th 17th centuries - Essay Example Southeast Asia covered the vast peninsula of Indochina and the widespread East Indies. In this location lie the countries of Burma, Brunei Darussalam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Islam manifested a significant appeal for the Southeast Asia in the 12th throughout the 17th century. Over two-fifths of the region practice Islam as a religion. Most of the population involved in Muslim practices live in Malay Peninsula, the Archipelago, and on the Mindanao Island in Philippine Indonesia is distinct in the world as the single largest Muslim country, with a populace of about 212 million persons. Two-thirds of Malaysia is 23 million individuals and are Muslims. Evidently, Islam given that it was and it is still is a popular religion in south East Asia, it must have a greater influence as far as politics and policies of the day are concerned. Arguable, in the period 12th -17th centaury Islam appealed for polities in the South East Asi a with a view to maintain dominance. As of mid 14th century, the Hindu-Javanese kingdom of Majapahit conducted an influence over an island kingdom and applied substantial pressure on the mainland. But it was by now experiencing two pressures to its commercial and cultural fame. . In Malaya it was disputed by the upcoming power of Siam; and in the islands its power was being destabilized by the coming of Islam. The islands had contacted with Islam, via Arab merchants, for long though their traditional cultural beliefs on India barred Islam from being acceptable to them until Islam was firmly recognized via Moslem rulers in the northern India, at during the end of the 12th century. Then, in the 13th century, Indian merchants from Gujerat transformed to Islam particular ports of northern part of Sumatra and from there Islam spread to Malay and through to the Philippines. The rise of Islam in Malaya was connected to the establishment and consequent significance of the resolution of Mala cca on the western coast. Islam was founded in the onset of the 15th century, customarily by a Sumatran prince, Parameswara. The prince was changed to Islam, which in his power and the succeeding rulers extended all through the peninsula. Malacca became the major trading port in the Eastern region due to its favourable position on the trade routes connecting India, South East Asia and China. Malacca upheld its sovereignty, cosseted in its early times from Siamese antagonism by the diplomatic acts of the Chinese Ming rulers for a whole century. Consequentially, Malacca became the South East Asia Islam headquarters. In the meantime in Indonesia, the Majapahit Empire divided into smaller and scrawny Moslem nations and the Philippines The Philippines, was inhabited by a combination of Malays and Indonesians, organised in tribal groups referred to as â€Å"barangays". The units possessed definite culture, and did business widely with Arab, Indian and Chinese merchants; but isolated them selves from the different imperial resistance of South East Asia. Most of barangays were converted to Islam between 13th to 15th centuries, though remained excluded in external affairs till the arrival of Europeans during the 16th century. Islam also made insignificant effect on the South East Asia’s mainland which maintained devastatingly Buddhist. China sent many naval teams and diplomatic missions to all their neighbours proximate to Indian Ocean and the South China Seas between 1405 and 1433. The main intention of the chinece for their missions was to seek trade and military esteem. As the missions ended, the Europeans found permission for entry into the Far East Asia. The Arrival of the Europeans : The Portuguese, the Spaniards, and the Dutch. The Portuguese The Portuguese started massive voyages by the end of the 15th century to seek exploration and determination of trade routes towards the east especially India and China spice

Framework Essay to Edward Said’s Essay Example for Free

Framework Essay to Edward Said’s Essay In any part in the world, there is no place to be but home. Home is a place where we feel safe and take refuge. But how we’ll feel if this is taken away from us? The essay by Edward Said, â€Å"States†, narrates the story of about his country, Palestine, and the struggle of his country men. He also shares the passion for his homeland which we can relate to. â€Å"States† exemplify the experiences and perceptions of how important a home is to a common Palestinian. Our country is a big part of our self. As we are born, we are destined to become a part of it. It became part of our identity. Things that we grew up with meant something to us. We usually treasure things that became part of our lives. Even unconsciously, we take hold of it. Home brings us memories, memories that we want to hold on up to our last breath. It plays a big role to our development, as a child and as a person fully. Home is part of ourselves which became a foundation of who we are today. To be away from home makes us feel empty or incomplete in a sense. This is experienced by people who are exiled from their own homeland. Exiles are treated as aliens and feel shame to one’s pride. Exile is a miserable thing. Nothing can be so embarrassing than to be taken away from home. It saddens a person to feel a stranger to his own country. One is not only deprived of the social rights but as well as the freedom. As described in the essay of Edward Said an exile is referred as â€Å"present absentees† where to their homeland, they are vanished and as for the host country they are viewed as aliens. However, having troubles cannot stop a person from his will. In spite of the intense conflict between the Palestine-Israel, one cannot take away the momentum of an important occasion like wedding. Circumstances like these were illustrated in the text. A person in the middle of crisis stays positive and hopeful. Palestinians, which travel from time to time for because of occupation and safety, became used to these. One’s true happiness is in the state of thinking. He can stay happy despite of his terrible condition. Said also shares his experiences from his youth and what he knew from his country. One sad part also is the stability of the land, suppression from your own land. One is deprived of being free on his own country. Children cannot play outside without parents worrying their safety. To a place where he grew up and know to be his home became an odd place. I believe that home is very important in any living thing. It doesn’t only provide us shelter but is also a part of our personal development. It helps us build our confidence through the feeling of security. A home is like a mother to us which provides us what we need to sustain living. Our nourishment as a child is fed by the things that happen around us. These things shape the character of a person. Home builds a person’s character. Home is the environment which we live in and has an impact on our lives. To take something away from us bring us the feeling of being incomplete. We are already attached to it. Without the home that we used to be, somehow we feel lost. One feels the sense of belongingness on it. A person learns from his surrounding. We must know how to appreciate what we have considering we live in a democratic and secured country. Home is a place that nourished us when we are young. And as we became old, there is nowhere else we would want to go but home.

Cartesian Dualism and the Union of Mind and Body Essay -- Dualism Essay

Cartesian Dualism and the Union of Mind and Body ABSTRACT: Cartesian dualism and the union of mind and body are often understood as conceptions that contradict each other. Diachronic interpretations maintain that Descartes was first a dualist (in the Meditations) and later on developed his stance on the union of mind and body (Passions). Some authors find here a problem without solution. Nevertheless, in the last two decades, some interpretations have been developed intending to give a positive solution to the difficult relation between Cartesian dualism and the union of mind and body. The problem that I find in most of them is that they try to show no incoherence between Descartes' dualism and his conception of the union and interaction by "weakening" or making more "flexible" the dualist doctrine. I develop a synchronic interpretation, based on textual evidence, in order to show that dualism and union appeared simultaneously in Descartes' works. Under this perspective, my claim is that Cartesian radical dualism and the union of m ind and body can be coherently understood only because they belong to different domains of knowledge. Thought and matter are clear and distinct primitive notions that come from reason, whose role is laying the foundations for Cartesian metaphysics and physics, while the primitive notion of union is acquired by the senses and lacks clarity and distinction even while it serves the objective of founding Descartes' moral philosophy. Rene Descartes is well known for his dualist conception. At the same time, Descartes recognized the intimate relation between the human mind and body. Several authors have understood this as a contradiction within Cartesian philosophy. Truly, when Descartes argues in fa... ... (10) A. Kenny 1968: Descartes: A Study of the Philosophy (Nueva York: Random House) p. 224. (11) D. Garber 1983: "Understanding Interaction: what Descartes should have told Elisabeth," Southern Journal of Philosophy, 21, p. 21. (12) Ibid., p. 27. (13) Ibid., p. 29. (14) Cf. Richardson, Op. Cit.; Garber, Op. Cit. and 1992: (15) Descartes Metaphysical Physics (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press); Cottingham, Op, Cit.; Bentez, Op. Cit. and 1993b: El Interaccionismo Cartesiano y el Problema de la Glndula Pineal, in L. Bentez, ed., Homenaje a Descartes (Mexico: FFyL-UNAM); Madanes 1993: Abandonamos la Partida? Consideraciones sobre el Problema de la Relacin Mente-Cuerpo, in Bentez 1993a, Op. Cit. (16) I am working on this subject, especially on the Cartesian semantics where I think we can find the arguments that point to an answer to this problem.

Christian and Biblical References Hidden Within the Rime of the Ancient Mariner Essay

Christian and Biblical references have been involved in the craft of writing since the birth of religion; or at earliest, the composition of the Bible. Biblical Symbolism in â€Å"Rime of the Ancient Mariner† Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem, which was written in 1797, has been widely discussed throughout literary history. Although critics have come up with many different interpretations of this poem, one idea that has remained prevalent throughout these discussions is the apparent religious symbolism present throughout this poem. The Ancient Mariner contains natural, and biblical symbolism; however, the religious and natural symbolisms, which coincide with one another, play the most important roles in this poem. Apocalyptic and natural symbolism dominates the core of this poem. The biblical symbolism found in this poem mainly reflects the apocalypse, as it deals with the Mariner’s revelation that good will triumph over evil, and his acceptance of all nature as God’s creation. Beginning with the main issues surrounding â€Å"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner† it is impossible to believe that Coleridge was not thinking of the mysterious wind that blows on the Mariner, without any awareness of the wind as a Biblical symbol of the Holy Spirit. Coleridge could also associate the murder of the albatross with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The reader is told that the Polar Spirit â€Å"loved the bird that loved the man / Who shot him with his bow† (Line 404). Signifying a strong tie/bond between the two. This bond not only relates to the ‘love between the man and the bird,’ but rather, the connection between an individual and religion. It is doubtful that someone with Coleridge’s Christian background and faith could fail to see an analogy with God who loved his son who loved the men that killed him. Trying to further understand the symbolism tied into this poem, it is important to take other sections of the piece into account. Another example of symbolism is the fact that the albatross is hung around the Mariner’s neck like a crucifix. Ah! Well-a-day! What Evil Looks / Had I from old and young! / Instead of the cross, the Albatross / About my neck was hung† (Line 139). As Coleridge writes, the image of the Albatross slung around the neck of the Mariner symbolizes the crucifixion of Christ. The crucifixion of Christ has been discussed for centuries; this Biblical reference of this image is immense. Through the use of words, Coleridge is able to portray a sense of darkness and a loss of hope, comparable to loss of hope when our savior Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross. Looking deeper into the mind of Coleridge and further analyzing his work, another abstract approach to viewing the death of spiritual and/or Biblical reference can be seen by dissecting the text. The â€Å"cross† in â€Å"cross-bow† hints at the murder of Jesus, which logically places the albatross as a symbol for Christ. Since the publication of Coleridge’s piece â€Å"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner† It is thought by many literary experts that Coleridge deliberately created these symbols and images with Christian meaning in mind; but if true, why? In order for Coleridge to encapsulate the readers full attention and challenge their knowledge these truly hidden symbolisms and literary techniques are needed. Coleridge further attempts to navigate his readers though this work by using references and wording that individual’s can connect with. The apocalypse is heavily reflected upon throughout this poem as Coleridge combined the vivid colors, the ocean, and the death fires of â€Å"The Ancient Mariner† with the terror and desolation of the days of wrath in order to symbolize the true apocalypse. Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down, / ‘Twas sad as sad could be; / And we did speak only break / The Silence of the sea! / All in a hot and copper sky, / The bloody Sun, at noon, / Right above the mast did stand, / No bigger than the moon. / Day after day, day after day, / We stuck, not breath nor motion; / As idle as a painted ship / Upon a painted ocean. † (Lines 107). The section of the poem after the Mariner kills the Albatross is a description of the emptiness and desolation that the Mariners experience, and the curse that is over the ship. This section of the poem has tremendous correspondence to the apocalyptic story. The language and form in this part of the poem represents the images and words, which have traditionally described the wrath of God and the guilt of man in Christian terms. Continuing through the poem one stanza reads, â€Å"The souls did from their bodies fly – / They fled to bliss or woe! / And every soul, it pass’d me by / Like the whizz of my crossbow! † (Line 220). It is at this point in the poem that the Mariner feels the guilt for having killed the Albatross and the deaths of his shipmates. As the Mariner begins to realize the repercussions of his actions he begins to transform. At this point in time the Mariner is beginning to touch the hands of God; he is beginning to see the beauty in all of God’s creatures and the significance of life. Preceding this realization the Mariner begins his transformation as stated above; he understands the curse of the Albatross and the reasons for the death of his crew. His actions haunt him and death appears the only way out. â€Å"An orphan’s curse would drag to hell / A spirit from on high; / But oh! More horrible than that / Is the curse in a dead man’s eye! Seven days, seven nights, I saw that Curse, / and yet I could not die† (Line 257). Cleary seen in the quotation above, the curse resulting in the murder of Albatross left the Mariner viewing death as the only possible option to relieve himself of the haunting, tragic images that left his crew dead. Under the moonlit sky as the Mariner’s ship still sails cursed, but then he witnesses something that changes his perception of God and his faith. â€Å"Beyond the shadow of the ship, / I watch’d the water-snakes: / They moved in tracks of shinning white, / And when they rear’d, the elfish light / Fell off in hoary flakes. Within the shadow of the ship / I watch’d their rich attire: / Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, / They coil’d and swam; and every track / Was a flash of golden fire. / O happy living things! No tongue / Their beauty might declare: / A spring of love gush’d from my heart, / And I bless’d them unaware: / Sure my kind saint took pity on me, / And I bless’d them unaware. / The selfsame moment I could pray; / And from my neck so free / The Albatross fell off, and sank / Like lead into the sea. † (Line 272). It is at this point that the Mariner begins his transformation; leading him closer to God allowing him to see the beauty in ll of God’s creations and creatures as he forms a respect for the presence of God in nature. This reconciliation in the Mariner’s life breaks the curse and shines a light of hope into the eyes of a man who was praying for death. Coleridge uses the wrath and guilt of the apocalypse, but adds his own ideas of divine love and conversion, which lead to paradise. Even though the Mariner must continue with his penance, he is free of God’s wrath and is able to appreciate and love all of nature as God’s creation. Throughout this poem there are many examples of biblical symbolisms in nature. Coleridge uses different elements of nature, such as the sea, as symbols of religious thought or beliefs. The sea is where the decisive events, the moments of eternal choice, temptation, and redemption occur. While at sea, the Mariner makes the eternal choice to kill the Albatross. This choice is eternal because once the Mariner has committed the act of murder; there is nothing that he can do to change it. As a result of the Mariner’s decision, a curse falls over the ship and the Mariner is sentenced to eternal penance. The eternal penance that he must serve is a reminder to the Mariner of the choice that he made. However, even after the death of his soul, the Mariner experiences redemption when he recognizes and learns to love all of God’s creations. It is a known fact that Coleridge’s thoughts and feelings where rarely affected by his beliefs, especially the apocalypse. The apocalyptic story deals with God’s freeing the soul of man from the pains of sin and death, and lifting it into paradise. After the Mariner kills the albatross, he feels as if he is under some sort of curse. However, the Mariner goes through as conversion, which thus releases his soul from the pains of sin and death so that he can once again obtain happiness. There are two essential steps in the conversion process. The first step occurs when imaginative powers mythological appearances of nature, so that the slightest willful act appears to bring down a terrible vengeance. The willful act that the Mariner partakes in is the killing of the Albatross, and the terrible vengeance that occurs as a result of this action is the curse that is cast over the ship. The second part of this conversion process takes place at the greatest moment of hopelessness. At this point, the presence of divine love within humankind appears, and emphasizes the appearance of the natural world. â€Å"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner† is not a direct religious sermon, but there are many strong references to the Christian religion throughout the poem, which stem from Coleridge’s own religious beliefs. Although Coleridge did not take the religious images in this poem directly from the Bible, much of his inspiration for the poem seems to be based on religious ideas, especially that of the Apocalypse. To conclude, Coleridge integrates natural symbols, which are associated with the religious symbols, in to this poem in order to further emphasize his belief that God is present everywhere in nature, and that one can be sent into this state of paradise when this love for God is discovered. By using imagery from the apocalypse and religious symbolism in nature, Coleridge created an incredible poem, which expresses how the realization of divine love within oneself has the power to heal pain and suffering, while bringing oneself to a state of clarity, tranquility and enlightenment.

Successful Public Relations Campaigns

Successful public relations campaigns no longer have to stop at billboards, store greeters and newspapers. In this age of social networking, media and technology, there are numerous opportunities to explore various methods of implementing effective public relations campaigns and a variety of companies have been capitalizing on these different methods. Following, you will see examples of employing the Internet, nature and a host of other methods in order to catch the eye and attention of consumers.In this day, the options are so vast that marketing, advertising and PR professionals have their work cut out for them. In February 2011, Rayovac initiated a Rapid-Response Twitter campaign to engage consumers who likely had spare time on their hands due to the snowstorm that a big part of the country was experiencing. The campaign was essentially a virtual snowball fight that included consumer changing their profile picture to a Rayovac-branded avatar and each related tweet utilized the has htag #snowball.The virtual snowball fight lasted for roughly 48 hours and thereafter Rayovac hosted a two hour snow day tweet-up where Rayovac followers could tweet about the weather in their area, activities they partook in and weather related trivia complete with prizes. This particular campaign was seemingly successful, generating 1188 click-throughs to retrieve the branded avatar, becoming a worldwide trending topic (#TT) and a 30% increase in Twitter followers. With the popularity of Twitter, this was a genius marketing/public relations plan.It gave consumers something to do while home on their snow days and one could assume that some participants were introduced and others may have become more familiar with the brand Rayovac. There’s not much that I would have done differently. I think that the only component that was missing was something to target the non-Twitter users. Since this was solely an online public relations effort, this same campaign could have been tweaked a bit to have also been done on Facebook, Google Plus or another site for those who do not use Twitter. Converse has taken one of their current PR stunts to the streets of Australia.Strategically placed in all of Australia’s major cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Perth are fire emergency type boxes that contain a pair of sneakers behind a glass window. The slogan of the campaign is, â€Å"Let’s Take This Outside† and written across the top of each fire box is, â€Å"IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, BREAK GLASS. † Upon breaking the glass, one can actually retrieve a pair of free, brand new, Converse tennis shoes. The sneakers being spotlighted are from the 2012 Chuck Taylor All Star collection. This feat has been constructed to bring awareness to the brand as well as fully engage the citizens of Australia via a few different means.There are clues on the company’s website as well as their Facebook page in a picture album leading consumers to the locations of these fire boxes. Converse has similar PR stunts going on in other countries as well. This campaign fully encompasses every facet of consumerism. From the scavenger hunt-type clues to encouraging giving to one another if they find shoes that are the wrong size to capitalizing on the public’s love of free goods, this is a fun, genius public relations task that will run through June 10, 2012.I can’t think of a single thing that could be done differently. Converse utilized every form of media. No stone was left unturned. Print media, online social networks, in-store advertisements and television commercials were all incorporated. Even the â€Å"prizes† themselves are outside and available to those who are off the grid. There is no discriminating demographic either, because the target audience is anyone who wears sneakers. This was well planned, very well executed and done in such a way that is preventing mass hysteria.I think that would be the only apprehension that I would have as a company is public reaction since everyone would be interested in a free pair of sneakers. I’m certain there were many precautions that had to be taken in order for this to come to fruition. Zoning, permits, and backing from law enforcement departments had to be among the kinks that needed to be worked out, but they dealt with them in a way that is seemingly flawless. Converse has managed to concoct the perfect formula to keep the campaign enjoyable and safe.