How Does The Outdoor Environment Support Children's Personal, Social Essay

How Does The Outdoor Environment Support Children's Personal, Social And Emotion Development - Essay Example Concentration, an important constituent for the development of child, declines following prolonged exposure to classrooms (Pellegrini and Davis, 1993). Thus, this gives roof to the need of playgrounds and outdoor games for the instillation of the lost concentration. Playgrounds, the main instillers of self-confidence and self-esteem need to replicate nature. They also need to provide an opportunity to children to learn from experiment, risk, and control of the environment. It is also essential for the playgrounds to serve better by being responsive to each and every child. These playgrounds meeting the need of children might often appear a little messy and disorganized to the adult (Moore, 1986). The present need is to realise the existent need for well-designed playgrounds for the development of self-esteem in the school children (Titman's 1994). It has long been noted by Sucklin (1981) that social skills known, learned, and practiced on the playground during recess are important even for the later development of children. This is also essential because before the beginning of adolescence, children relate to the surrounding world mainly through their senses and bodily movement, which is greatly motivated by the outdoor environment’s freedom and diversity. This holds a more powerful stand for the green environments in close intimacy. (Kuo & Sullivan, 2002). The social and emotional development of the children also gets influenced by the availability and easy reach of the outdoor facilities and resources.

Media analysis the apprentice (Amber) Essay Example for Free

Media analysis the apprentice (Amber) Essay The purpose of the introduction to The Apprentice is to introduce the programme to its audience; the main aim is to gain TV ratings so the first four minutes are crucial in drawing in the audiences’ attention and making the show interesting and appealing to the target audience so they continue to watch. There are many visual codes in the opening of the programme. The contestants are first introduced and the camera is watching them enter the city of London. All of the contestants are shown near or on some form of transport, this could symbolise how the best people have been chosen from all over the country to come to one business orientated and busy city to compete for one life changing journey. Furthermore, the journey is metaphorically amplified by the contestants carrying suitcases and walking forwards, this creates a sense of them embarking on a life changing journey together with only one outcome. This is anchored by the dialogue the contestants use, for example â€Å"I am a winner† this shows to the audience that this is going to be an intense battle to find the winner. The contestants are seen walking in a group together over a bridge, this could connote the ‘bridge to successes’ and they are walking over to the other side trying to gain the success that they want, which again signifies a journey and the camera movement used here is tracking the whole group so the audience know that they will be following them on the journey. The programme is set in London which is pragmatically suggesting this is the centre of business in the United Kingdom and that’s why they have gathered here. In the clip the audience are shown how busy the city is by the amount of transport and people, this could suggest that there is competition between the contestants and also competition in the business world. The scene is set at dawn this connotes the idea that business never rests in London and that the business world is awake and ready. There are also visual codes displayed by the characters that anchor business; firstly all of the contestants are dressed smart, in suits or skirt suits. They also all carry some form of briefcase which is stereotypically something that a business person has with them all the time. When the characters speak they pragmatically and stereotypically show that they are business minded people â€Å"I am the best† â€Å"I am what Alan Sugar is looking for† are examples of what are said and these are expressed in a very strong, arrogant and argumentative way. In the opening there is a point where the audience are shown Alan Sugar on top of a large building in the central of London looking out to the city which suggests his power, this is anchored by the camera shot used here which is a low angle, this connotes the idea that he is a powerful man and the centre of attention, the use of the camera movement ‘crab’ also anchors his power as it arcs around Alan Sugar so we are given a 360 degree view of him and the city. Sound is used to anchor Alan Sugar’s power throughout; the soundtrack and underscoring music builds up into a dramatic tension when he is talking to the contestants and when the camera is focusing on him. Furthermore, the iconic dialogue â€Å"you’re fired† is repeated more than once in the scene, something which is significant to his persona and something the audience recognise. This is reinforced with the crop shop of Alan Sugar’s hand pointing towards the fired contestant, in addition to this the crop shot also creates a sense of mystery as the audience are left unaware of the contestant that has been fired and who he is pointing at, so they are left wanting to watch the show with the suspense that all but one contestant will be fired and they can try judge who he will fire within the programme. The contestants are portrayed as weak when they are around Alan Sugar; there are lots of reaction shots used to show their expressions and reactions to the tasks and what Alan Sugar says to them, this shows his power over them and signifies the meaning of the programme and his role and the contestants’ role. The underscoring music also adjusts to the mood and atmosphere and is anchorage for what the contestants are portraying themselves as, at the beginning when the contestants are trying to display power then the music is louder and faster but when they are portrayed as more vulnerable facing Alan Sugar the music is quieter and slower and towards the end of the opening fades out into the beginning of the programme. I think that the opening scene of The Apprentice is very successful in fulfilling its purpose. I feel that it engages the audience by the visual codes and they all create a strong anchorage for what the programme is about. There are many different camera shots, angles and movements used which again draws in the audience’s attention and makes them want to carry on watching the programme. Finally, the mix of the soundtrack and underscoring music with the dialogue allow the opening to intensify reality and give an insight into the programme and also the contestants and Alan Sugar.

The Metaphysics of John Duns Scotus :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

The Metaphysics of John Duns Scotus The ecclesiastical condemnation of Aristoteleanism and Arabian philosophy in 1277, which included some of the theses of Thomas Aquinas, had a profound influence on the subsequent development of medieval philosophy. Of course, opposition to Greco-Arabian philosophy was nothing new in the 13th century. Its opening decades had seen the newly translated work of Aristotle and Averroes forbidden; yet their vogue spread, and in the years that followed a reconciliation was attempted, with varied success, between Christian dogma and the 'new learning'. The 'heresy' of Latin Averroism as the end of the century only confirmed the suspicion of the traditionalist theologians that any Christian who accepted the credentials of Aristoteleanism must arrive at conclusions contrary to faith. The great condemnation of 1277 expressed their renewed reaction to Aristotle and left an even deeper impression on subsequent scholars of the inadequacy of philosophy and pure human reason, in the name of theology. If, as had been claimed, the 14th century is a period of criticism, it is above all, a period of criticism, in the name of theology, of philosophy and the pretensions of pure reason. The attitude of Duns Scotus (1266-1308) of the Franciscan Order, towards Aristotle and philosophy in general is seen in his Object of Human Knowledge. According to Aristotle, the human intellect is naturally turned towards sensible things from the way is must draw all its knowledge by way of sensation and abstraction. As a consequence, the proper object of knowledge is the essence of a material thing. Now, Duns Scotus was willing to agree that Aristotle correctly described our present way of knowing, but he did contest that he had said the last word on the subject and that he had sufficiently explained what is in full right the object of our knowledge. Ignorant of Revelation, Aristotle did not realise that Man is now in a fallen state and that he was describing the knowledge, not of an integral Man, but one whose mode of knowing was radically altered by original sin. Ignorance of this fact is understandable in Aristotle, but it must have seemed inexcusable in a Christian theologian like Thomas Aquinas. The Christian, Scotus argues, cannot take Man's state as his natural one, nor, as a consequence, the present servitude of his intellect to the senses and sensible things as natural to him. We know from Revelation that Man is destined to see God face-to-face.

Succubus Dreams CHAPTER 5

Peter, Cody, and Hugh already had a table when I arrived at the Cellar. Tawny sat with them, much to my dismay. I'd completely forgotten about my apprentice. At least she didn't have Niphon in tow. I hoped that meant she'd finally bagged a guy, though her lack of a post-sex succubus glow suggested otherwise. Neither Carter nor Jerome had deigned to show. I recalled that Jerome was out of town and figured the angel was out with his colleagues. They could all still be at my apartment for all I knew. â€Å"Hey,† Cody called in greeting, making room for me beside him. â€Å"I thought you said you were busy.† â€Å"Yeah, well, plans change,† I grumbled. I gestured to Hugh. â€Å"Got a cigarette?† He tsked me. â€Å"No smoking in public places anymore, sweetie.† Groaning, I flagged down a waitress. Smoking was an ugly habit I'd given up for the sake of the mortals around me. Still, after smoking for over a century, I found I craved the occasional hit during stressful times. The city smoking ban was good for Seattle but damned inconvenient for me and my bad mood. Cody couldn't let my vague answer go. â€Å"How'd your plans change? Weren't you and Seth going out?† Hugh laughed when I didn't answer. â€Å"Uh-oh, trouble in paradise.† â€Å"He had things to do,† I replied stiffly. â€Å"Things or people?† asked Peter. â€Å"Didn't you give him the go-ahead to sleep around if he wanted?† â€Å"He's not doing that.† â€Å"Tell yourself that if it makes you feel better,† teased Hugh. â€Å"No one can write as much as he claims to.† Since my friends apparently had no lives of their own, I had to endure a number of other pokes and jibes. They probably didn't mean to do any real damage, but their words hurt anyway. Seth had already upset me enough without their help. Anger simmered within me, and I tried to channel it into my rate of gimlet consumption rather than my friends. The only person who looked more miserable than me was Tawny. She wore a strapless red dress, almost identical in cut to the satin sheath I still had on from the ballet. Unlike mine, hers was made of spandex – what was it with her and that fabric anyway? – and about six inches shorter. Mine also fit. â€Å"Why so glum?† I asked, hoping the others would find someone else to obsess on. Her lower lip trembled, either from sadness or an inability to hold its own massive collagen-filled weight. â€Å"I still haven't, you know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  It was enough to allay my own distress. It also meant Niphon was still in town, as I'd suspected upon seeing her. â€Å"How? How is that possible?† She shrugged and leaned forward wretchedly, her elbows resting on knees that were spread open guy-style. With grace like that, no wonder she couldn't get laid. I waved my hand around us. â€Å"Well, go out there, young succubus. This place is a buffet. Grab a plate and take your pick.† â€Å"Oh, yeah, like it's that easy.† â€Å"It is that easy. You might not be up to scoring a priest or anything, but you can definitely get some sort of fix.† â€Å"Maybe you can. I don't†¦I don't really know what to say to them.† I honestly couldn't believe this conversation was happening. It was weirder than me trying to convince Dante I was a succubus. Maddie had trouble talking to guys too, but a giant, crazily proportioned blonde throwing herself at men could get someone to sleep with her. It was a basic law of the universe. â€Å"Well†¦if you really don't know what to say, just try going up and asking them if they want to have sex. Crass, but it'll probably work for someone.† She scoffed. â€Å"Right. That's all there is to it.† â€Å"That is all there is to it,† I said. Hugh returned from the bathroom, and I glanced over at him. â€Å"You want to go have sex?† He didn't even blink. â€Å"Sure. Let me pay my bill.† I turned back to Tawny. â€Å"See?† â€Å"Wait,† said Hugh, one hand on his coat. â€Å"Was that a joke?† â€Å"You were an instructive example,† Peter explained. â€Å"Fuck.† Tawny shook her head, tousled blond curls fluttering. â€Å"I can't do that.† â€Å"Oh my God.† I resisted rubbing my eyes, lest I muss the makeup. â€Å"Tawny, this isn't rocket science.† â€Å"Weren't you telling us how hard it was to do your job, back when your incubus buddy was around?† asked Peter. My friend Bastien's recent visit had elicited a veritable cheerleading squad of admirers for him and what my male friends deemed â€Å"the hardest job ever.† â€Å"Shut up,† I snapped. â€Å"You're ruining my mentoring.† â€Å"I don't want a bad one,† Tawny said petulantly. â€Å"I want to corrupt a good one. One that'll give me lots of energy.† â€Å"Start small. Don't worry about the good ones when you probably can't even pick them out in the first place.† â€Å"How do you find one?† â€Å"It's an art. One you'll learn. I'm telling you, though, just start small.† I did give her a few pointers, recalling my alleged role as mentor. We studied some of the men in the bar, spotting wedding rings and one bachelor party. A guy about to get married was a really nice hit. I also advised on demeanor, how a quiet man was often (but certainly not always) a better bet than a loud, obnoxious one – if you were going for good ones. Of course, serial killers tended to be quiet too. Really, it came down to reading people, which wasn't a skill she could learn overnight. Keeping this in mind, I tried to reiterate how she should just try easy fixes for now. â€Å"I really like how you've got the entire male population pegged,† said Peter when I'd finished lecturing. â€Å"I'm glad you don't believe in stereotyping or anything.† I shrugged. â€Å"I've been doing this for a while.† â€Å"Okay, prove it,† said Hugh. He and I were at about equal levels of intoxication now. â€Å"Find three decent souls in here.† I grinned. Imps could gauge the strength and goodness of a person's soul with a glance. Accepting the challenge, I scanned for a long time. When I picked my three, he shook his head. â€Å"You got two out of three. The two that are right are really good. The one you got wrong is pretty bad. At least you're dealing in extremes.† Tawny moaned. â€Å"You see? This is hard.† â€Å"For Christ's sake,† I exclaimed, finishing another gimlet. â€Å"It's not. Not in the rookie leagues you're playing in. Look, you want a tip? Go get a job that gives you easy access.† â€Å"I am not going to go stand on a corner,† she said huffily. â€Å"Then go†¦I don't know. Go to Hugh's date auction.† The imp glared at me. â€Å"Or go work at a strip club. It's about the easiest thing a succubus can do. Hang out at the bar after your number, and they'll come to you. A stripper's a hot commodity, particularly when a lot of those guys'll think you're a prostitute anyway.† â€Å"I don't know. It still sounds degrading.† â€Å"You're going to be fucking to sustain your existence for the rest of eternity! Get off your high horse. You wait much longer, and your first-one's-free energy stash will dry up. Stripping's easy. And fun. And you get to wear pretty costumes. Trust me, it's a good racket.† â€Å"I guess,† she said at last. She exhaled heavily, the motion pushing her breasts out even further than usual. â€Å"Georgina's a pro,† said Hugh, reaching over to give her a comforting pat. Considering he really wasn't a warm and fuzzy kind of guy, I suspected he just wanted to brush her breasts. â€Å"Or so I hear. I guess I'll never find out.† He gave me a bitter glance. â€Å"If that's true,† Tawny said, â€Å"then how come her own boyfriend blew her off?† The guys let out a collective â€Å"ooh† and glanced eagerly between the two of us, apparently in anticipation of the catfight they'd long predicted. All of my earlier fury resurfaced, fueled now by alcohol and Tawny's incompetence. Grabbing my glass, I strode up to the bar to get a refill in person. Hanging out with my friends was rapidly losing its charm. A newbie succubus didn't have any right to mock me about my dating difficulties, particularly when she couldn't land one guy. I could have landed a dozen if I'd wanted to tonight. At the same time. And, glancing over beside me, I realized I might very well have an easy score right here. The guy from the bookstore, the one with the fetish books, stood at the bar, talking to the bartender. He didn't appear to be with a group. Hastily, I turned away so he wouldn't recognize me. After I got my drink, I set it on my friends' table and retreated to the bathroom without another word to them. I'd had to use bathrooms as shape-shifting hideouts for years, but there was nothing to be done for it in these situations. Inside a stall, I changed into a long, graceful body with flowing gold hair – not unlike some of the ballerinas I'd seen tonight. I'd show Tawny how to do blond right. Walking back out, I caught Cody's eye. My friends could recognize me in any shape, of course, and he gave me a puzzled look as I strode back to the bar. Standing beside the guy from the bookstore again, I ordered another drink. This time, he turned and caught sight of me. I smiled. â€Å"That any good?† I asked, nodding to the red concoction he was drinking. â€Å"I guess.† He lifted up the glass and peered at it. â€Å"It's a pomegranate cosmo. I think. Kind of girly, honestly – no offense.† â€Å"None taken.† The bartender slid my whiskey on the rocks to me. The guy beside me laughed. â€Å"I suddenly feel emasculated,† he said. I grinned and extended my hand, speaking the first name that came to mind. â€Å"I'm Clara.† â€Å"Jude.† â€Å"Hey, Jude.† He sighed. â€Å"Sorry,† I said. â€Å"Couldn't resist.† â€Å"You and everyone else.† â€Å"You here alone?† I asked. He looked embarrassed and absentmindedly rubbed the empty finger his wedding ring had been on the last time I saw him. â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"Me too.† He looked me over, attempting covertness and not doing a good job. â€Å"I find that hard to believe.† â€Å"Well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I looked down at my drink, playing with its edge. â€Å"It's kind of a long story†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And slowly, skillfully, I crafted a tale about how I'd come here to meet a guy and how he'd stood me up. He was supposed to go to a sex club with me, though I didn't come right out and say that immediately. That would have been too much for someone like Jude, someone who was intrigued but still nervous about the whole idea of exotic sexuality. So, I spoke vaguely at first, using innuendoes, hinting at my own interest in exhibitionism, how I just wanted to go see what a place like that was all about. As I concluded, I used the same line he'd used in the bookstore. â€Å"I feel like such a pervert. Honestly†¦I don't know why I'm telling you this. I don't even know you. It's just†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I looked up at him with big blue eyes. â€Å"You're easy to talk to.† A long silence followed as Jude held my gaze. â€Å"I don't think†¦I don't think there's anything wrong with what you're saying†¦what you want†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Snick! I started reeling in the line. â€Å"Really?† â€Å"Yeah†¦I mean, sometimes†¦I've kind of†¦you know, wanted†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Really?† He nodded. I allowed a five-second hesitation. â€Å"You want to go with me? Just to, you know, watch?† After a bit of rumination, Jude agreed. Unsurprisingly, he didn't know where any sex clubs were in the city. Also unsurprisingly, I did. I didn't even look back at my friends as Jude and I left the bar. I hadn't clocked it or anything, but I was pretty sure my solicitation had been accomplished in record time. That'd teach the gang to question my pro status. The club we went to was one I'd visited a number of times before. I'd been to better ones in my day, but I liked this one simply because of its name: Insolence. Establishments that catered to sex and fetishism all operated in different ways. In places where everyone expected to participate – like swingers' clubs – admission was strictly regulated. Single girls always got into places like that, and couples usually only had a few requirements. Single guys had a harder time. In a place like Insolence that was focused primarily on watching, admission was more lax. We simply had to pay our cover, and we were in. Mine was still cheaper, though. The place was packed and had a dance club kind of feel. Techno music pulsed through the darkened room, the only illumination coming from recessed lights that shone blue and purple. Most of this light focused down on roped off areas that were reserved for those who wanted to â€Å"perform.† They were like small stages that the club-goers could gather around. Some of the stages were themed – one with a doctor's office and operating table setup – while most were couches and beds. There appeared to be no system about who could use them. It was a first-come, first-served system, and since about half the platforms were empty, there didn't seem to be too much urgency. But the spectators eagerly crowded around those areas that were occupied, people craning their necks to get a better view. â€Å"There sure are a lot of guys here,† Jude told me as we pressed our way through the people. â€Å"It's the way of the world,† I told him. â€Å"You think guys are more interested in this stuff than women?† â€Å"To a certain extent, yeah. Guys tend to be more visual, so stuff like this is about as good as it gets. Plenty of girls are into it too – just harder to get them to come out to something like this.† I promptly shut up, immediately realizing I sounded a bit too knowledgeable for a shy novice. We finally made our way up to the edge of a roped-off area. There, we watched a man thrusting eagerly into a woman bent over an elegantly set dining room table. Jude and I studied them for a while, neither of us saying a word. We then moved on to the next couple, a man and woman going at it on an ordinary bed. She wore a shiny leather bustier and hiked-up skirt. After the third couple – pressed up against a wall – Jude finally spoke. â€Å"These people aren't what I expected.† â€Å"How so?† I asked. â€Å"They just look†¦ordinary.† I laughed. â€Å"Because they are. What'd you expect, porn star couples coming in off the streets?† â€Å"Well, no.† I suspected he was blushing in the darkness. â€Å"Everyone's entitled to do what's sexy to them. And really, when you see how they're getting into it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  My gaze drifted to the couple going at it against the wall. Their eye contact was so powerful, so intense†¦you could totally see how much they aroused each other. I shivered. â€Å"Yeah, this is all sexy, even if it's not airbrushed. This is real. That's what gives it its edge.† He didn't answer but glanced around as though he was reassessing it all. As he did, I studied his profile. He wasn't quite six-foot, but he had a nice upper body and neatly styled, sandy blond hair. He turned toward me, sensing my scrutiny. â€Å"You know,† I said, â€Å"if you're so concerned about raising the bar around here†¦well, we're pretty attractive.† He didn't get it at first. â€Å"Yeah, I suppose we – oh. Oh.† His brown eyes went wide. I looked back at the wall couple. â€Å"We're already here. We could really give these people something to watch.† His eyes grew wider still, like they might pop out. â€Å"I†¦I couldn't. I mean. God. Not in front of all these people. And what if someone I know is here†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I doubt it. Besides, what are they going to do? If they tell anyone, they'd have to acknowledge that they were here too.† I caught hold of his hand. â€Å"Come on, I know you're interested.† â€Å"Yeah,† he admitted. â€Å"But I've never†¦I don't think I could†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I tugged him toward one of the stages. â€Å"You gotta start sometime. It's easy.† Jude looked terrified but let me drag him. â€Å"You act like you've done this before. I thought it was all new.† â€Å"It is.† â€Å"You sure? Maybe you just play innocent and then seduce random men into crazy sexual acts.† I scoffed. â€Å"That's ridiculous.† We'd barely ducked under the stage's ropes when a mob suddenly swarmed around us. I doubted this had as much to do with us in particular – yet – as it did the fact that we were a new couple. Ah, variety. The spice of life. Jude still looked terrified, but I didn't have the patience for his hesitancy anymore. The performer in me had clicked on. All those people were waiting and watching, and I had to deliver. One of our props was a chaise lounge covered in white velvet that glowed blue under the lights. White, I decided, probably hid certain stains better than other colors. â€Å"Come on,† I said, pushing Jude toward the chaise. â€Å"Lie down.† He did, but still looked panicked. â€Å"Clara – â€Å" â€Å"You're already here,† I said sharply. â€Å"What are you going to do? You going to slink off in front of all these people? You didn't strike me as a coward when I first met you.† I'd become someone else now, someone commanding and terrifying. He shook his head. I climbed onto the chaise with him, straddling his hips with my legs. The lack of energy within me suddenly burned and ached, and I didn't want to be gentle. Leaning down, I kissed him hard, my teeth scraping his lips as I thrust my tongue into his mouth. He let out a small sound of surprise that was lost in the kiss. Meanwhile, my hands were already frantically unfastening the buttons of his shirt. I think I ripped one of them off. Jude lay there limply, still in shock. It didn't matter to me, though, so long as he didn't fight me. And from the feel of him underneath my hips, not all of him was limp. I ran my fingers down his chest, digging my nails into the flesh there. A kindly part of me wondered how he'd explain scratch marks to his wife. The rest of me didn't care. I'd given â€Å"Clara† a black tank top and gray skirt – simple but sexy. I yanked the top off over my head, shaking my hair out afterwards like a golden veil. I contemplated taking off the black lace bra underneath but decided to leave it on. My mouth moved down from his lips, traveling to his neck and chest, pausing to tease one of his nipples. Then I kept going, down to the edge of his khakis. While there, I undid his belt and unfastened his pants in one swift motion. I pushed them and his underwear down to his knees, just enough to give me access to the erection underneath. I took it into my mouth, letting its long shaft glide into me, almost to the back of my throat. He gasped, a noise echoed by some of the appreciative spectators. I felt the early twinges of his life force. It twinkled like starlight, seeping into me. As it did, I got a taste of his thoughts and emotions, as well as his strength and character. When I'd gleaned enough of his energy to assess its quality, I almost laughed. This wasn't the first time he'd done anything like this with a strange woman. He'd actually done it twice before. He was still shy about it all, but some of his innocence had been faked, a lure for dominant women like me. Hugh had been right – I couldn't always gauge a soul. But, infidelity still didn't sit right with Jude, so he had enough goodness and life force to fill the void that the dream had left inside me. My mouth moved with more urgency, sucking and teasing. He groaned as my lips slid back and forth. His back arched, and I pulled away, fearing this might end right now if I wasn't careful. Climbing off him, I stood up and pulled my skirt off, letting it fall in a crumpled pile on the floor. Jude looked at me with pleading eyes, not proactive yet, but definitely wanting more. An ornate wooden chair stood near the chaise. I moved over to it and knelt on its cushioned seat, pressing my breasts up against its carved slats. I peered back at Jude over my shoulder. â€Å"Showtime,† I said. I expected hesitation or reluctance, but Jude had apparently overcome his initial reticence. Good. I didn't want to feel like I was raping him or anything. He clambered off the chaise and walked over to me. I had pushed his pants to his knees earlier, and now he finished the job, kicking the khakis off. Positioning himself behind me, he ran his hands along the sides of my hips, letting his fingers slide along the edges of the black panties I still wore. I shifted, pressing my ass up closer to him. He sighed. â€Å"You are so sexy.† â€Å"I know,† I told him impatiently. He pulled the panties down, letting them rest near my knees. I ground against him even more and felt him push into me, the penetration forceful and deep. Gripping my hips, he began moving in and out, shoving me into the chair's hard back with each thrust. I moaned loudly, but whether it was for his benefit or the crowd's, I couldn't say. And speaking of the crowd, I was now literally in a position to look at them, at the faces and eyes all directed toward me. I'd shed most of my self-consciousness over the years, and God only knew this wasn't the first time I'd had sex in public. Sometimes, I appreciated privacy, but tonight I loved being the center of attention. Maybe it was simply my longing for more life energy. I would have taken it under any conditions right now. Whatever the cause, I found myself getting turned on by making eye contact with different guys in the audience while Jude continued pumping away at me. As I'd noted earlier, eye contact was a powerful thing. It took you away from the realm of superficial study and moved you into something deeper and more intimate. I favored the guys watching me with a heavy, sultry look – the look of a woman being fucked within an inch of her life and who wanted nothing more than to do it with them next. It thrilled me to think of all the men I was arousing, of all of them aching for sex – of all of them aching for me. In meeting the gazes of my admirers, I almost forgot that it was Jude who was behind me. It could be any of these men, and their expressions clearly showed that they'd be happy to trade places with him. I looked from face to face, imagining what each man would feel like, how each one would fuck differently. The thrill of it was so arousing that my wandering mind soon fantasized about having more than one at the same time. One in back, one in front†¦ One of Jude's hands gripped my hair and jerked my head back while the other hand still steadied itself on my hip. The rough maneuver pulled me out of my daydreams, but I was so turned on now that I welcomed his aggression. He thrust harder, driving me painfully into the chair, and I hoped it wouldn't fall over. The sweetness of his life energy coming into me continued building, and I felt his thoughts stream into me as well. So good, so good, so good. And it was good. The voyeurs around us and him fucking me on my knees had aroused me to dizzying heights. The whole act was dirty and exciting and thrilling. â€Å"So good, so good,† I cried, echoing his thoughts. â€Å"Don't stop, don't stop, don't – oh.† Talk about irony. The trick I'd used on Bryce or Bruce or whatever his name was had worked here too. Only, I hadn't actually wanted it to end this time. Maybe this was Jude's normal style – short and sweet – and not actually my doing. Regardless, it was done, and I hadn't even come. Damn it. But I'd gotten my energy fix, a burst of life and wonder that had exploded into me with his orgasm. Ecstasy or no, he'd felt a pang of guilt at the last minute, regret over this continued desire to cheat on his wife. That guilt had been a bonus for me. Sin was subjective, and often, the magnitude of a sin was in the eye of the beholder. I'd gotten him to sin – which Hell always liked and gave me bonus points for – and I'd cracked his morals, giving me more energy than I would have stolen if he were completely corrupt. I felt that life reinvigorate my essence, fueling my immortality and ability to shape-shift. He pulled out. I stood up from the chair, catching his hand as he started to stagger. A few people whistled and clapped. Jude wore a look of wonder – and exhaustion. I handed him his pants. â€Å"Wow,† he gasped. â€Å"That was†¦wow.† â€Å"Yeah,† I said with a grin. â€Å"I know.†

Christian moralists Essay

According to Freud, they are â€Å"fulfillments of the oldest, strongest, and most urgent wishes of mankind; the secret of their strength lies in the strength of their wishes† (Pals 72). For him, the only way to test something is by the scientific method (Pals 72). The believers of religion draw their religion from feelings and emotions (Pals 72). He mentioned that it was a given that religion may have helped build civilizations however, since civilizations were already built, superstition and repression should not continue to be the foundation (Pals 72). According to Freud â€Å"Religion would thus be the universal obsessional neurosis of humanity† (Pals 73). In his perception, mature people are those guided by reason and science and not by mere superstition and faith (Pals 73). God, for this thinker, was not a being that was real (Pals 73). In fact, he saw God as an illusion that was nearly projected by the self because they had a deep longing to overcome guilt and to lessen their fears (Pals 73). Religion may be something that is rooted from the ego to be able to make sense of the struggles that are present in the world. But it is more than just a bunch of feelings and emotions because those fade. Religion has been around for centuries and that cannot be because most of the people around the world have felt like believing in God for all these years. Hope has in fact been seen to be built on nothing but illusion; in reality, it exists because of faith (Palmer 279). Faith cannot exist without religion. However, Christian moralists would still stay true to the fact that with hope in their lives, it would be significant and have moral worth (Palmer 279). Critics of religion would say that morality would depend on the need of a â€Å"psychologically realistic foundation† that calls for human purposes (Palmer 279). Going back to the question posed earlier, if it was about feelings and emotions, then religion should have been replaced by money or by other things. Even though in this secular world, most of religion’s areas are penetrated by such things, it still prevails for a reason; because people have faith. Majority of the people in the world believe in God, does this mean only a part of the human population are mature people? If the strength of religion lies in the â€Å"strength of its wishers,† how come faithless people have come to know God because of the things that happen in their own lives that they would consider nothing short of a miracle (Pals 72). If everything can be tested by the scientific method, it should have tested why people fall in love or why people can risk their lives to rescue someone else. How come students from the direst of neighborhoods can graduate from high school despite everything that could hinder him or her? Was it determination and hope? Where did those qualities come from? Is it the illusion of the people that God had always been able to provide for them even if they felt that all is lost and has ended? Is it an illusion that the sun rises in the morning and that planets are held in their axis and revolve around there orbit? If religion is just something for a person to overcome guilt, how come people have to place such emotions of God while there are a whole lot of other things that are more tangible that people can turn to? Why not you rely on something can see if that means having to have a better concept of that â€Å"illusion. † Religion from Society Following Emile Durkheim’s point of view relating religion with sociology, morality was perceived to be the obligation of each other to others wherein it cannot be separated from religion (Pals 95). Religion and morals mesh together in a social framework (Pals 95). Under his views, the success of the religious leader does not lie in the number of converts he had brought in the congregation but the event that has reinstated a sense of community amongst the people (Pals 95). Durkheim believed that â€Å"Religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, set apart and forbidden† (Pals 99). When he talked about sacred things he referred to â€Å"unite in one moral community called church and those who adhere them† (Pals 99). Sacred things referred to the issues of the community while those that are not sacred referred to the private things and the everyday things a person encounters (Pals 99). Under Durkheim’s view of religion, it was more like a society. â€Å"The idea of society is the soul of religion† because the concept of religion needed the society in order to exist. It was based on creating a sense of belongingness. Society was formed by the collective commitment of the individuals because without such commitment the society would fail to exist. In the same way, religion exists merely because a lot of people are committed to the fact that it does exist. Like Freud, he referred to Totemism as an example of how society gave birth to religion. Freud saw how religion is exactly just like society, in comparison, the rituals and the rites and the church leaders can be seen as a mere superficial or surface part of religion because it is just a body of collective beliefs and practices that are endowed by such some kind of authority. This thinker also believed that there was nothing neither divine nor supernatural because he saw that it was just society that produced this concept in order to keep people in line and to give emphasis on certain things that the society should value as a whole. Society had survived from civilizations that have started in the past. The question whether how religion was formed was important to answer because defines the further need for it. Is it a mere creation of man that humanity exists? If not, then why did it exist; because of the perseverance of the human spirit? Where did this perseverance come from, more than that, where did the spirit come from? These are things the society cannot really provide for them if the premise is society gave birth to religion. Alienation Karl Marx, of all the thinkers in the past may have presented one of the most scornful and sarcastic contempt at religion (Pals 139). Most of the discussion about religion from this philosopher referred to religion as alienation. He never really just concentrated on discussing religion alone but his works have shown how he had pretty much a heavy opinion about it and that influenced the structure of Communism. It was plain and simple for Marx, â€Å"religion is pure illusion† (Pals 138). Similar to how Freud saw religion, Marx saw it more than an illusion but something that was dangerous and something that should be eradicated from society (Pals 138). He considered religion as the worst kind of ideology because of how it expressed a perceived bunch of excuses dressed as reasons in order to keep society in the manner that their oppression would like them to stay as (Pals 138). Religion is then related to a tool of oppression instead of being a liberating factor that most Christian ideals adhere to. Since he was consumed with how he taught a capitalist society brought about oppression he saw religion as merely another factor to keep people in line and to prevent them from having to go against the leaders of society. Since most of his arguments fall upon his hatred for the Capitalist society, he attacked religion saying it was fully determined by economics that made all the doctrines that was attributed to it to have no merits of their own (Pals 138). Since he had no respect for that kind of system, he did not see much of the structure and nature of religion as well (Pals 138). Marx found a profound parallelism between religion and socioeconomics wherein he saw how both areas of society alienated people from important parts of who they were (Pals 140). While religion took moral values; socioeconomics took productive labor (Pals 140-141). Religion took a way a part of the people, the morality part as humans and attributed it to a wholly imaginary being (Pals 141). Marx saw how it took away the credit from the people and awarded everything to God (Pals 141). On the other hand, socioeconomics took away the fruits of the labor of the people and awarded it to whoever had the money to pay, mostly to the rich (Pals 141). Marx saw how these two concepts were too much alike because of how they were related to each other. Like Durkheim, he saw that the capitalist society created religion as economics was the base for everything. He then moved for the abolition of religion under the Communist ideology as this was considered an illusory happiness (Pals 141). According to him, the abolition of religion was actually required for real happiness to occur (Pals 141). He saw that religion did not help the people, most especially the poor. For him, religion only created fantasies for the people that enabled them to ease the pain they felt from the oppression of society (Pals 141). He saw religion as the opium of the poor (Pals 140). He illustrated religion as nothing more than being addiction to any form of drug (Pals 142). It may be a form of escape that would make a person worry-free for a while but it does not serve anything (Pals 142). He saw religion as pure escapism (Pals 142). Religion, for Marx, only shifted the gaze of the people and their reliance on God instead of having to rely upon themselves for their own well-being (Pals 142). However, he also said that it blinded the people from the real injustice of the material, physical situation they had in society because they were much to focus on fixing their second life or their eternal life in heaven to be worried about their current stature on earth (Pals 142). The fact that religion was seen to oppress can be reflected in erroneous leadership on the part of the Church in the past but it cannot generalize the whole body of believers. If a person works for this current life with disregard for the consequences of the next life, what is he to gain? Is he to be satisfied? No person had ever found the ultimate satisfaction, no matter how hard they work or how wealthy they are, this cannot be attained in the present life. Whoever says he or she can must be fooling him or herself. Reliance on a supreme being is placed in the fiber of human nature for a reason, because they need God. It is not to oppress them to being helpless beings. It actually empowers them to be the best that they can become with the help from their creator. Conclusion No matter what such thinkers present regarding the false hopes and the perception of believers regarding religion, there are still so much areas that remain undisputed. There are still areas in the field of religion that remain to be untouched and simply ignored. The areas that cannot be explained cannot be test by scientific explanation. There are areas that can be denied that they exist even if they dispute that religion does not. If religion was birthed out of society, and there are a lot of atheists that can almost form a community out of themselves, how come they do not just create their own society that could affect the society of believers in the world? The argument about faith and the existence of God had been a long withstanding debate for centuries now and still, the world still contain a large body of believers that are willing to put faith first before reason. Does this make these people unintelligent beings? There had been thinkers as well who had defended the faith that had chosen to believe because they saw how reason cannot overcome everything, only faith can do that. The existence of religion cannot only be out of the desires of the leaders to keep society in line. It takes more than human power to be able to sustain this for centuries. If it was placed in the hands of mere humans, then there must have been a time wherein atheists have struggled for power and took the reigns of society to reverse the mindset. The protection around the concept of religion speaks tons for itself. It takes divine power to be able to stay significant for centuries for different peoples all over the world. Works Cited Pals, Daniel L. Seven Theories of Religion. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996 Palmer, Michael. The question of God: An introduction and Sourcebook. New York: Routledge, 2001.