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Similarities Between Woodberry And Shah

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Authors’ Seymour Martin Lipset, Robert D. Woodberry, and Timothy S. Shah argue that external conditions like economic development and religious tradition can influence democracy in developing countries. More specifically, Lipset looks at economic factors like wealth, industrialization, urbanization, and education to describe why economic development leads countries to be more democratic; while Woodberry and Shah look at religious pluralism, civil societies, mass education, printing, economic development and corruption to describe why countries are led to become more democratic. In their overall analysis, both find that these external factors played a large role in influencing democracy in that country. For this reason, these arguments are complementary …show more content…

Woodberry and Timothy S. Shah’s piece, The Pioneering Protestants, they analyze how history and social sciences show that Protestantism has contributed to the development of democracy. In this analysis, they focus on describing external factors like the rise of religious pluralism, the development of democratic theory and practice, a civil society, mass education, and economic development, to explain how each factor has influence on the development of democracy. Woodberry and Shah also explain the importance of individual conscience and how huge a role that had for many Protestants. “The main reason for this is the important role of individual conscience. Because saving faith must be uncoerced and individual, it requires in practice a diversity of independent churches to satisfy the inevitable diversity of individual consciences” (Woodberry and Shah, 49). While Woodberry and Shah give compelling evidence that links Protestantism to the development of democracy, there are examples of cases that are inconsistent with their arguments. One example being Islam, where there are relatively very few Muslim democracies. An argument that explains why Islam is unfavorable to democracy is how Islam does not separate church and state. Moreover, Islam is more patriarchal where women are subordinate to men. In addition to this, other arguments that Arabs are more unassociated with democracy adds to the explanation of a cases where religious traditions did not lead to democracy. In these countries, many of the arab dictators are in states that are rich from oil and the income from that allows bargaining to fund expensive militaries that are meant to repress (Treisman lecture 9). These examples are meant to show how each argument has its flaws and there will always be cases that we cannot

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The Protestant Reformation was important in European History because with it came a Counter-Reformation. The Reformation revealed corruption in the Church, such as buying and selling salvation—indulgences—for profit, simony, and the overall battles for power and wealth (within the Church). Martin Luther and John Calvin were crusaders for the reformation and were able to share their ideas and beliefs effectively; they were then accepted/recognized by the people—the educated and uneducated, the middle class and nobility. Luther and Calvin’s beliefs allowed for other people to find a sense of freedom and individualism in religion.

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810 Words | 4 Pages

Christian faith and belief permeated domestic life, and Puritans “invested family life with religious values. ”10 The church had become not only a center of worship, but also of identity and of culture. Communal life was played out centered in the church, and the “village church [was ] both the locus of religious activity and the focal point of the culture, the institution through which communal ideas and values achieved their fullest expression”11 Identifying with the Christian faith enabled the community to come together and become a society and then to become a state. Christianity had become a way of life and way of identification with the New World that was now predominantly Christian, and as stated earlier, the federal government does not determine the will of the people, but rather it is the local government that is the true voice of the

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This also exemplifies how rigidly the church and state were connect, due to the fact that it was congregational rule which chose its leaders rather than just the citizens of that area. Further demonstrating the power of religion in political matters is the idea that by

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1386 Words | 6 Pages

Barbara Diefendorf's book, The Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre is a window into the struggle of religion and secular power during the Protestant Reformation. Beyond the social elitism, mob mentality is an ever-present force that is ignited during the Religious Wars. Differences in religion are a contributor to factional tensions. Manipulation by religious leaders and misunderstanding between the two religious sects’ practices create this religious tension. Although Protestants and Catholics share the core teachings of Christianity, a struggle for secular power, feelings of tribalism, and conflicting religious ideals not only solidify the schism between these two sects of Christianity, but escalated these tensions to bloodshed.

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The sixteenth century America is primarily dominated by the Puritan idealism, but slowly through the year’s things are changing both in the religion and culture. In human nature the constant need for change is captivating, a change towards something new and different than the current. The events of the growing and changing eighteenth century America reflect just that. Ideas of the Enlightenment take deep root in the transformation of ideas about human’s relationship to God and to nature. Therefore, a deeply religious society starts transforming into a more secular culture, but religion still has quite a large influence.

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830 Words | 4 Pages

In the Protestant Reformation many reformists used different tactics, that evolved the Protestant reformation stand point in society. Martin Luther was one of the many who pioneered the movement and, thus allowing for they’re to be a voice for Protestants. While on the other hand reformist Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt followed similar paths as Luther, but he was not as successful. Thesis Statement: The different methods that Luther, Muntzer, and Karlstadt used to approach the Protestant Reformation will be a leading factor, of how well they progress individually on their paths to creating a new interpretation of what the Catholic Church once taught them.

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One of the major European movement during the sixteenth century was the Protestant Reformation. In the beginning, this movement intended to reform the practices and beliefs of the Catholic Church. Before the age of dissent and division, the church was viewed as the sole vehicle for salvation. However, with all the turmoil within the Catholic Church, the people has lost faith in the church’s ability to lead them into salvation. They have lost sight in its very core.

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understood from a different perspective, one that was not previously viewed. The individuals were each given an opportunity to tell their unique story, in their own words. Hirschman (1992) set a goal to explore the phenomenological accounts of individuals who have sought help through Narcotics Anonymous (N.A) as a means to recovery; and additionally interpreted the dynamics of group discussion. Her paper is based upon her experiences in N.A., as both a participant and as an observer. Hirschman provided a phenomenological description of how recovering substance users share their experiences with one another and to themselves within a support group.

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Before the Reformation, the Church was one of the most influential and controlling powers in Europe. However, the Reformation managed to distance the Church from the government which allowed new developments to be made. The government was distanced from the Church, as more secular rulers converted to Protestantism, decreasing the Church’s authority over government. The uneasy political situation in Europe at the time allowed for the Reformation to spread further over Europe. The rise of new secular ideas made civilians more aware of political situations as they could now read political texts and form their own ideas.

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The results of Protestant Reformation had came out to be the developments of individual values toward religion tolerance. As the heretics endured prosecution, more people yearned for an acknowledgement for religious freedom and

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When making decisions regarding who to choose as our next elected officials, one of the first qualities we scrutinize is their judgment, using our own judgment to do so. However, in a nonsecular society in which judgment of a religious authority is essentially the judgment of a divine power, there is significantly less room for scrutiny. The authority of any figure with political power stems from the judgment of the community over which it rules. For instance, if the community believes in the absolute authority of God, then the judgment of God is what gives the judgment of the church or any religious leader authority. A large aspect of the authority that made the Catholic Church such a prominent religious and political force during the early 16th century was called into question by Martin Luther.

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Honeybees are like an agricultural animal, same as cattle. We are using them in a marketplace in honey like industry workers. Honeybee hive boxes are not natural like natural green bees in the wild, healthy bees are having trouble to survive. Reading about honeybees that help a farmer, but not environment safe it is destroyed our local wild bees. Great possibility make a new string of new bees.

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1451 Words | 6 Pages

In his most famous publication, Weber studies the relationship between the ethics of ascetic Protestantism and the emergence of contemporary capitalism. He accounts bureaucracy as a key feature in modern society. This is in no way a detailed account of Protestantism itself but instead an introduction to his later studies such as “The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism” or “The Religion of India: The Sociology of Hinduism and Buddhism”. Weber argues that the “spirit” that defines capitalist ideas originates in the Protestant Reformation.

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544 Words | 3 Pages

Problems in America only grew worse when democracy was being added to the mixture of already complicated politics. In Woody Holton’s book, Unruly American and the Origins of the Constitution, he stated that, “many Americans. . . were growing ‘tired of an excess of democracy,’ a ‘prevailing rage of excessive democracy. . .’ [or] ‘democratical tyranny.’” Democracy was an attempt at home rule among the colonies, but not everyone was happy with this extreme excess of colonial citizens contribution to the government.

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Many people believe that the election plays the most important role in democracy. Because a free and fair election holds the government responsible and forces it to behave on voter's interest. However, some scholars find evidence that election itself is not enough to hold politicians responsible if the institutions are not shaping incentives in a correct way. In other words, the role of the election on democracy, whether it helps to serve the interest of the public or specific groups, depends on other political institutions. I

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