Response Paper On Being An Atheist Philosophy Essay

Response Paper On Being An Atheist Philosophy Essay In the H.J. McCloskey article entitled, On Being an Atheist he begins with assertions that are absent of logic, common sense, and reasoning. He reaches all these conclusions without even a respectful cursory reading of Gods word, much less study. I will attempt to show where his arguments do not, conclusively prove that atheism is true, or that God does not exist.  [1]  I find it interesting that he does not address ontological arguments (the idea of God proves, or adds evidence to, the fact that He exists and, in fact, dismisses them. Therefore, I want to point out that ontological arguments do not prove atheism, because simply declaring yourself an atheist does not qualify you as an atheist. With all due respect, Mr. McCloskey argues in favor of atheism and attempts to discredit theism, by using multiple approaches one being that God failed to establish His own existence, and he claims in his cosmological argument, that the existence of all that we experience and see while on e arth, does not prove God exists or that He is even necessary.  [2]   Proofs cant definitively establish the case for God First, McCloskey implies proofs cant definitively establish the case for God, so they should be abandoned. McCloskey makes no effort to define evil, nor does he attempt to explain it. He tries to discredit anyones belief in God, by attacking the origin of their belief, but he never addresses why a persons faith cannot be valid whether they examine all the evidence prior to accepting Christian theism are not! To understand McCloskeys argument, you have to understand relativism, which is a position where all points of view are equally valid and all truth is relative to the individual, but relativism does not prove there is no God. Philosophy sometimes clouds issues to the point, that nothing can be known for sure. For the Christian, the ultimate expression of truth is found in Jesus words in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth, and the life McCloskey portrays God as jaded, accusatory, argumentative, uncaring, incompetent, unforgiving, and punitive. Mr. McCloskey is putting forth a cause and effect argument absent of consequences. McCloskey says the best proofs of the non existence of God are the evil acts of men and women and he circumvents morality, and focuses on evil, because morality is stronger proof that an intelligent creator designed the universe. As a result, McCloskey struggles with the question: AWhy is there evil and suffering in the world?  [3]   The Cosmological Argument In his book: Reasonable Faith, William Lane Craig, writes, There must exist a creator, or a being responsible for all creation and that creator has no need of a cause, as do those things which have an origin. So everything that begins to exist does need a cause, but to say that something has no beginning does not need a cause, denies the existence of a predecessor.  [4]   In Dr. Evans book, Philosophy of Religion, he summarized the cause question saying, The person who believes in God and the person who does not believe in God, do not merely disagree about God. They disagree about the very character of the universe. If God does not exist, objective moral values do not exist and since they do, then God does exist. Cultural relativism makes the culture the supreme determinant of right and wrong; therefore, the culture becomes god. McCloskey flippantly and wrongly asserts, There is no God, because of all the evil and wickedness in the world.  [5]  Mr. McCloskey argues against theism and paints a picture of humanity being little more than animals and acts that we classify as murder, torture, and rape are natural and amoral just as in the animal kingdom. Moreover, if there is no rule of law to prohibit certain actions, how can we have moral obligations or prohibitions? The cosmological argument asks: Is something good because God wills it, or does God will something because its good? Theists have traditionally taught: God wills something, because He is good, but that doesnt ignore divine sovereignty. William Craigs answer is, Gods moral nature is itself the ultimate standard of moral goodness. Go ds moral nature is what Plato called the Good. He is the source of moral value.  [6]   The Teleological Argument McCloskey claims, as does many philosophers, that in order to believe that nature was designed, there would need to be examples that were indisputable. The Argument of Design, appeals to a principle of reasoning that seems to be firmly embedded in common sense and in scientific thinking, so he asks, How can evil exist if an omnipotent God really exists? That brings us to the concept of free moral will. Evil is not something God deliberately and maliciously created so that humans could experience pain and suffering. Atheists never deal with the question of what the purpose of mans existence is. Julian Huxley, representing the atheist view, said: We are as much a product of blind forces as is the falling of a stone to Earth, or the ebb and flow of the tides. We have just happened, and man was made flesh by a long series of singularly beneficial accidents.  [7]  McCloskey asks why God cant keep humans from making wrong decisions? The teleological argument says, To approach this proof, indisputable examples of design would be required. Generally speaking, to give an example of design, would make it possible that there is a Designer; and in order for that possibility to exist, God must exist! McCloskey says, No being who was perfect could have created a world in which there was so much suffering or in which his creatures would engage in morally evil acts, which often result in injury to innocent persons.  [8]  Moral evil is caused by the actions and wrong choices of free, morally responsible beings. Natural evil, is the evil that does not occur as a result of a responsi bly moral being. God is justified in allowing evil, because he is God and we are not! Alvin Plantinga in his book: God, Freedom, and Evil writes, God has reasons for allowing evil that we cant know and would not understand if we did. Some of the evils in the world happen in order to produce second order virtues. For example, a first order evil occurs, when a grizzly bear charges a mans daughter; perhaps a second order virtue, courage, is produced when the man charges the bear waving his arms to scare the bear off. Or, if the bear gets the girl, which would be evil, perseverance and reliance on Christ could be the second order virtue of the man. The second order evils that occur, are opposite virtues, such as cowardice? This is the result of the mistakes of Man and his poor use of free choice.  [9]  McCloskeys discussion of free will begins when he asks why God did not arrange so that man always makes the right choice. His argument, is not logical, because had God decreed that ev eryone always choose the right path, then no one would have a free will. As Evans stated in his book, Philosophy of Religion: Thinking About Faith, AGod allows human kind a free will, because without it we could not be morally responsible, nor would we be capable of freely doing good by responding to and loving our Creator. Atheists cannot always argue that free will and necessitation to virtue are incompatible, because they represent God himself as possessing a free will and as being incapable of acting immorally. If this can be the case with God, why can it not be so with all free agents?  [10]   The Presence of Evil. There is the idea postulated worldwide that states, the amount of good in the world ultimately outweighs the evil in the world. Its the Agreater [emailprotected] argument where a greater good is achieved and therefore the good will always outweigh the bad. So by McCloskeys definition, wholesale murder is wrong, but unavoidable. If the atheist says there is no such thing as objective morality, the atheist loses all credibility. In JudeoChristian theism, we believe objective morality exists, and is the byproduct of the regenerate heart and mind, and if morality is transcendent of the opinions of man, it becomes nothing more than logic, when in fact morality is far more important than logic. So does atheism have a better explanation for the existence of objective morality? McCloskey offers nothing to the debate! Atheism is not comforting Our universe is a maze of mysteries, like how can gravity pull the Milky Way into a spiral? How can atoms contain such power that matter, smaller than a dime, produced the energy in the bomb that killed 100,000 Hiroshima residents? How can the doublehelix thread of DNA create all living things, from bacteria to trees to Beethoven? How can electrons, dormant in every atom of your body, explode into violent lightning bolts when theyre detached? Why does anything exist? If we say that the power of gravity, atoms, DNA, lightning and all the rest is God B and that God is E = MC2 B then God exists. Those baffling forces are undeniably real. McCloskey offers some encouragement and insight saying, Atheism is not comforting when you consider the problem of evil. Instead, atheism adopted by a thoughtful and sensitive person, leads to a spirit of self reliance, and self respect which demands that we comfort and help those who need such support, because it will mitigate the blows of fate.  [11]  William Lane Craig was absolutely accurate when he spoke ingeniously, If God does not e xist, then you are just a miscarriage of nature, thrust into a purposeless universe to live a purposeless life.  [12]  

Avg Antivirus

AVG  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ that’s short for  Anti Virus Guard  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ is a PC security package that provides comprehensive protection against the latest threats on the internet today. It is supported and trusted by millions of users across the globe. The authors of AVG provide free antivirus and antispyware protection for home users because for them, it’s a win-win situation   Ã¢â‚¬â€œ you get the protection you need, and they get to know about any viruses you encounter which helps keep the protection comprehensive. Please feel welcome to take a look at our other articles too, the latest are published in the column to the left- along with the most popular essay writers wanted.How to install AVG Antivirus Step 1. Download AVG You can download AVG FREE by  clicking here. When prompted, click the Run button. Notes: * Downloading AVG could take several minutes even with a broadband connection, so be patient and make yourself a cup of tea while you wait. * You are in no way o bligated to pay GRISOFT / AVG anything, so you won’t need to enter any credit card details or even personal details. But there are other versions of AVG, so if you like it you might consider supporting the company’s efforts by purchasing their commercial product. Step 2. Start the InstallationNow that AVG has downloaded, the installation wizard will start. Your PC might ask you if you’re sure you want to run the file, if it does you’ll need to click Run to confirm. Notes: * You’ll have a short wait while AVG extracts. Step 3. The Installation Phase – â€Å"Welcome to the AVG Free Setup Program† First screen:  You’ve just entered the Wizard, so click Next. Second screen:  For the Acceptance Notice, click Accept. Third screen:  It’s a license agreement, read it if you want to, otherwise just click Accept. Fourth screen:  It’s a waiting game! Let the installer do its job and wait patiently.Fifth screen:  St andard or custom installation? Choose Standard, and click Next. Sixth screen:  Activate your AVG Free License. If the user name isn’t your own name, change it. Click next. Seventh screen:  AVG Security Toolbar You may want to install the toolbar if you visit websites that are questionable, or if others use the PC and you are unable to monitor their usage. The Toolbar will alert you when it thinks a website is a potential threat, the downside is it makes your browser a bit slower. If you don’t want to install it, untick the box. Click Next. Eighth screen:  Setup SummaryNothing of interest here. Just click Finish. Nineth screen:  Don’t worry about this one, leave it to do its job and go make yourself another cuppa! (No picture for this one! ) Tenth screen:  SUCCESS! Installation is complete! Click OK. — NOTE: You may have to restart at this point, so be prepared to do so. — Step 4. AVG First Run Wizard First screen:  The First Run Wizard helps set up AVG to suit your needs. Click Next. Second screen:  Schedule regular scans and updates Adjust the time to a time that is more convenient. Your computer will need to be switched on to perform a scan.It’s also worth noting that you can optionally disable this scan if your computer is generally slow to perform – you can run scans manually whenever you feel the need. Click Next. Third screen:  Help us to identify new online threats AVG offer this service free of charge to you and millions of other users, you can help them improve the service by reporting information about potentially malicious websites. If you don’t mind AVG knowing which websites you visit, then enabling this feature shouldn’t be a problem. Otherwise, you may want to leave it disabled.Click Next. Fourth screen:  Update AVG protection Click Next on this screen, and AVG will perform an update. Fifth screen:  AVG Update Whilst it is updating, go make yourself another cup of tea! Once completed, you can click Next. Sixth screen:  Register AVG Anti-Virus Free. Optionally you can register your copy of AVG – but there is no obligation, so if you want to you can just click Next. Seventh screen:  AVG protection configuration is complete You’re done, your AVG security software is now fully installed and protecting your computer from the evils of the internet.

Planning Assessment Essay

3.1 SUMMARISE KEY FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN PLANNING ASSESSMENT When planning assessment you need to gauge a clear idea of what level the candidate is at to see if they are ready to complete your planned assessment. There are many ways of achieving this knowledge. One method is observation in performance or another by taking an initial assessment test which have seven levels with the basic entry level 1 being the first. Once this knowledge has been gained, further knowledge is needed to suit their needs. What is their preferred learning style, is it part of a group or on a one to one basis. You will need to find out their strengths and weaknesses to get the most out of their abilities but also to work around and improve on different area that need to be worked on. When this has all been achieved the learners will need to be given information about the planned assessment. First of all they will need to have an understanding of what they are about to study, explaining what they need to do to meet the criteria set by OFQUAL – the governing body of the qualifications. They will need to understand what is expected of them when attending the course by giving them the code of conduct for them to follow. It is important that the health and safety procedures are explained to ensure their safety throughout their assessment. After this has been completed, the learners will be given the folder to look through and their assessment plan to see how they will complete it. 3.3 EXPLAIN HOW TO PLAN A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO ASSESSMENT By taking a holistic approach to assessment, it can provide the learner with a more in depth report on their progress by covering all the different methods – observations, session plans, witness testimonies, knowledge evidence and professional discussion across all the units in one go. This allows me to understand the different kind of approaches each individual learner feels comfortable with to achieve the highest possible grade. 3.5 EXPLAIN HOW TO MINIMIZE RISKS THROUGH THE PLANNING PROCESS It is the responsibility of the assessor to minimise the risks by making sure all of the health and safety procedures are covered such as risk assessment of the facilities. The assessor needs to gather information that is personal from the learner in order to adapt and provide special needs that they might have. Also the assessor will need to treat all learners equally, ensuring that equality and diversity issue are met. Once this information has been gained, the assessor can then produce an action plan for the learner which is both realistic and achievable so they are comfortable to achieve the best possible results. 4.1 EXPLAIN THE IMPORTANCE OF INVOLVING THE LEARNER AND OTHERS IN THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS Peer and Self Assessment is an effective way to get the learners involved and it gives a clear idea of what the learner is currently at and what action is needed to meet the standards and criteria. This can be done through feedback. Feedback is a vital part of the assessment process as it gives the assessor an idea of if the learner has met the criteria set and if they haven’t, what action is needed to achieve the criteria. If there is a disagreement with the assessments carried out then the learners can follow the organisational procedures that are set in place which include grievance procedures, systems for appeals and confidentiality procedures. 4.2 SUMMARISE TYPES OF INFORMATION THAT SHOULD BE MADE AVAILABLE TO LEARNERS AND OTHERS INVOLVED IN THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS The first thing that should be made available to the learners and those involved in the assessment process is what the reason is for assessment. The NVQ award is structured for a candidate to provide evidence through practical assignments and portfolio evidence that is gained throughout the  qualification. They will also need to know how long they have to complete the course which is up to the assessor. By giving them information on deadlines then it will ensure tasks are not left until the last minute which could affect the standards of the work. One other type of information that they will need to know is what the criteria is for them to achieve the grade. Each qualification has a minimum requirement needed to be met and once they learner knows this, they can work towards meeting it and gaining the qualification. 4.3 EXPLAIN HOW PEER AND SELF ASSESSMENT CAN BE USED EFFECTIVELY TO PROMOTE LEARNER INVOLVEMENT AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING Peer and Self-Assessment can be used effectively within the learners when one of the group has difficulty within a task. Learners can interact with each other and help each other out which would be a lot less intimidating and in some situations embarrassing for shy and insecure learners than an assessor telling them they are right or wrong in front of the rest of the group. 6.3 SUMMARISE THE PROCEDURES TO FOLLOW WHEN THERE ARE DISPUTES CONCERNING ASSESSMENT IN OWN AREA OF PRACTICE If there are disputes concerning assessment in own area of practice then the procedures to follow are as follows: First of all the assessor has to be available to discuss the problem as it could be sorted out quickly and effectively through discussion. If the learner feels they want to take it further then they can take the steps to show their  disagreement which will be listed in their ‘Student Handbook’ given to them at the beginning of the course. This includes a formal written complaint to the assessor’s superior which they will then deal with in an efficient and non-discriminatory way, treating the claim with upmost confidentiality where they will decided whether to uphold or overturn the assessor’s original decision. 7.2 EXPLAIN HOW FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONING CONTRIBUTE TO THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS Feedback and Questioning can help learners improve on a specific task. Feedback provides correction and improvement on a piece of work. Not only can it correct or improve the work but it can be used as encouragement or motivation to a learner especially when they are doing well or think they are not doing well.

On 12 March 2013, Secretary Of The Army John Mchugh Launched

On 12 March 2013, Secretary of the Army John McHugh launched the Army’s Ready and Resilient Campaign designed to help in the Army’s effort to build physical, emotional, and psychological resilience in Soldiers. The Performance Triad is a key enabler in this campaign. It’s a health program to educate Soldiers and their families of the benefits of improving sleep behavior, increasing daily activities, and improving nutrition. All three of these directly impact mental and physical performance and overall health. This paper will be focused on the importance of sleep and sleep behaviors and how sleep deprivation can affect operations. Sleep is important to maintain psychological and physical health. Soldiers require seven to eight hours of†¦show more content†¦In an operational environment, Soldiers need to not sleep behind or in front of any military vehicle. They need to try and sleep away from any vehicle traffic. Personnel need to ensure they are protected against pests and any environmental hazards that might be specific to the area. When an individual is nearing lights out they must wind down about thirty to sixty minutes prior. This process could be taking a nice warm shower or a relaxing bubble bath. You must remove yourself from all electronics and just go unplugged prior to turning the lights out. This allows your mind to start preparing itself so you can easily fall asleep within fifteen minutes of turning the lights out. Try to stick to a consistent bed time and wake up time during the week and weekends. When you stay up late on Friday and Saturday night and sleep in on Saturday and Sunday it puts your body in a similar state to jet lag. This makes it even harder to get up on Monday. There are various short term and long term consequences of sleep deficiency. In the short term your mental and physical performance will decrease along with your reaction time. Lack of sleep can cause poor decision making which could put lives at risk. A Soldier might give out or hear the wrong coordinates. If a Soldier was in the field they could accidently get into a friendly fire incident or administer the wrong medication or dosage. Each one of these