"and, "A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for." (1 Peter 2:8) God's desire to give all of his creation the ability to protect themselves has always fascinated me. The "walking stick" an insect that looks like a twig and can hide itself from predators. Butterflies or moths with spots on their wings to give (many believe) the appearance of eyes looking up to ward off anything wanting to eat it. Most famous of all, is of course, the chameleon. Not only can the chameleon adapt to its environment, but it's able to adapt to any environment. It has the natural ability to camouflage itself and hide in the background. …show more content…
As long as the chameleon is still it can fade into the background and become invisible. It isn't seen. It doesn't bother anyone, and nothing bothers it. It becomes completely inoffensive. As a United Methodist, I've always loved our denominational symbol of the Cross and the Flame. It represents the uniting of the Methodist and United Evangelical Brethren churches. It symbolizes both our need for redemption in the cross and the ongoing sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit to bring us to Christian Perfection. It reminds us of our Wesleyan distinctive of both Personal and social holiness (and how the two are intertwined.) There is a lot to be proud of in our symbol. The only problem with it is that it really doesn't truly represent us. Th cross and the flame are bold. They are distinctive. And they are bound to offend someone. And there is the rub. They are bound to offend someone. And if there is one thing in our culture that has become the unforgivable sin it's saying or doing something that offends someone. I'm not sure when it happened but somewhere along the way we went from being the "Greatest Generation" to "The generation that takes offensive at …show more content…
While well done, they go out of their way to not talk about Jesus. Or that He is the only way. Or the Cross. With an emphasis on community service, they could easily be recruitment ads for the Rotarians or the Kiwanis. Both fine service organizations. Bu they aren't the church. The church offers Jesus, And Jesus is always going to be offensive. He just is. Take some time and read, really read the Gospels. Jesus says all sorts of truly offensive things. Things like He is the only way to Heaven. The only way to salvation. He offended the religious establishment by calling out the hypocrites. He offended the rich by lifting up the poor and disenfranchised. He offended the sinner by not accepting his/her sin as a part of the human condition, but as brokeness that God could change. He offended the Romans by hiding that His truth was eternal and not bound to the shifting sands of cultural acceptance. Those who followed Jesus were offensive as well. That's why they were martyred. In fact the closer the followers of Jesus become Christlike, the more offensive they were to the world. We live in a world that doesn't want to see there is a better way. They don't want a God so invasive He can change someone's
The meaning of words change over time. Some of the words that were considered highly offensive and unacceptable in the past are now presently used in a kind hearted manner and a way to communicate in this current generation. A major factor includes the time period. For example the term “bad” is used to describe somebody or something
Regretfully, people act and react because they are offended by things like this, but it is one of our many freedoms as Americans. Although it cannot be prohibited it should be responded to in such a way they do not feel put down or that they are wrong in expressing themselves, but rather suggest to them that it is hurtful and offensive to others. We have the right to be offended as others have the right to display or express their own interests.
Barbash, Use logos to really catch the logical appeal of certain people. He uses the quote, “The issue is whether, because it’s been adopted by some white supremacist groups or because it was flown during the era of slavery, it is so offensive.” to really get the logical minded people thinking. People that this appeals to associate the first American flag with hate and bigotry, because the era it was created in was a
The Army takes great effort to ensure a fair and unbiased force. A force that can rely on all its members to execute as a team and trust all of its members to do what needs to be done. But if members of that force believe a perpetuation of a belief system through a national historical symbol is detrimental, that will undermine that force.
The sad truth here is that we are in an era of out of control political-correctness. Anyone can at any time manipulate a situation to make themselves feel offended. What a pathetic waste of time.
The most obvious metamorphosis is that of Gregor. Throughout his entire life, Gregor has let other people make his decisions for him. The physical metamorphosis that he undergoes is the first occurrence in his life that no one in his family has told him what to do. This change allows Gregor to find his inner self and disconnect himself from the orders and hardships brought out by his family. By means of his transformation into a giant insect, Gregor has been released from his responsibility to support his family without having to assume the guilt of letting them down. He has also changed from the provider to the dependent. Richter brings up the point that the transformation of Gregor was not necessarily a bad one.
From the Golden State Warriors logo to the United States flag they show a preview of what they are like. The name of my island is Lealtad. The symbol is two people reaching out for each other. In an article in the New York Times, Cynthia Miller-Idriss, says that a flag should be respected because expresses the unity of a society. The name and symbol both show what a country or group believes in and shows that they are unique and that the society works together. If you take a look at the Canadian flag it will show a maple leaf, the maple tree is the national tree in Canada. The California flag shows a bear, because the state animal of California is a bear. Each symbol shows that they are special for something, and that each society believes
4b. There are several “lies” that are traditionally taught to American students about this subject. Textbooks include a portrait of full-dressed Europeans with half-naked Native Americans in the 1771 treaty by William Penn. This is a lie because textbook authors are trying to get away with saying that the Europeans were “civilized” and that the Indians were “primitive.” This is because of their eurocentrism that does not fool those who think a little deeper because Penn would have either died from heat exhaustion in August if that is when he made this treaty, but if he made it after Thanksgiving, the Indians would be suffering from frostbite. Either way, it is clear that this portrait included in textbooks is misleading and inaccurate. Textbook
In the Western Christian world, God has often been seen as a punishing deity that is easily angered and swiftly hands out discipline. Not remedial discipline to change the behavior of people, but vindictive, punitive judgment that only serves the desire for revenge. This vision of God usually twists people into being self-deprecating, guilt-laden zombies with a mindset not that different from the Flagellants. Many religious people today seem to constantly hold themselves in contempt, perpetually highlight their shortcomings, and denigrate themselves to no end. It is a blatant dishonesty to call such a god “good.” Instead, this is how a slave responds to a cruel master or a child to an abusive parent.
Jesus then laid down many guidelines to his disciples and spoke wisdom of trials to come. Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew, Sermon). This meaning that people who are humble and accept their sins toward God, may be rich in spirit, giving them a place in the kingdom of heaven. This idea was very popular due to many people in ancient society felt powerless, due to a lack of money. The second major point Jesus stated, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for Righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew, Sermon). This Meaning that if one strives for a relationship with God they will find one. Giving these followers hope and believe that they have a chance to become part of something larger than themselves, which would be a strange concept for them in their time. The final and most important ideal given is, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me”. This being said Jesus Blesses those of his followers who were being punished for believing in the kingdom of heaven and Jesus to be the son of God. This has major ties to the Roman Empire and their persecution of Christians (Many Europes). This can also be viewed as foreshadowing towards the futures of some of the disciples. When Jesus spoke to his disciples, these words became the
There are countless misunderstood symbols throughout history, but none’s meaning has been as twisted as the swastika. The term swastika comes from the Sanskrit ‘svastika’, which contains the prefix ‘sv’ meaning ‘good’ or ‘well’, the root word ‘asti’ meaning ‘being’, and the suffix ‘ka’ which is meant to amplify the meaning of the word. With all these meanings together, it become clear rather fast that term ‘swastika’ means simply ‘that which is associated with well-being’, which can be used to refer to a ‘lucky charm’ or any symbol meant to increase well-being. Today, it commonly refers to an equal-armed cross with its four legs turned at a ninety-degree angle about halfway down. Sadly, the swastika is largely shied away from today, despite
The objective of this research is to investigate diversification rate shifts to see if there was a higher speciation rate in chameleons once they dispersed from Africa to Madagascar. My phylogenetic tree was built from 6-genes, multiple nuclear and mitochondrial markers and 174 taxa, it represents over eighty-three percent chameleon species. Using three different reconstruction methods, Bayesian and likelihood approaches it was seen that the family originated in Africa, with two separate oceanic dispersals to Madagascar. I will be using BAMM software to test diversification rates to see if there was colonization from Africa to Madagascar. There are three Malagasy genera found on the phylogeny
Hi Dawn very detailed post! The Chameleon Effect can account for a lot of the inconsistencies that my assessment depicted. This is the constant, unconscious change in ‘myself’, as I struggled to fit in with my environment, or the people around me. It is, essentially, a roller coaster identity. It is the revelation of a basic inefficacy or strain in producing an unwavering sense of self. You mentioned that stress often causes you to be hard on yourself and others. I too suffer from being very hard on myself, but I found that the struggle came from me trying to blend in with my environment. As a result, I may have offered to much input into a conversation, but didn’t get much out of it at all. According to Stewart (2012), “identity negotiation,
Chameleons have their skin covered with layers of a very special cell called “chromatophores” which respond to chemicals from the nervous system and bloodstream. Inside the “chromatophores” there are little sacs of of colors and when a signal comes from the nervous system the sac break and the color spreads through their skin. They only have 4 shades which are red, yellow, blue and brown. But like every artist they can mix colors to make different colors.
Great post! Not only is the shild, particularly the symbol's use with The Salvation Army, a well known symbol, it is a versitial symbol. From Super Man's "S" Shield to cherished family coat of arms, shield symbols are seemingly everywhere. I also like that shield have a degree of duality. While the Salvation Army uses the shield as a warm, protective symbol, it can also be a battle, or war time emblem. Thanks for the nice post!