Thursday, July 9, 2020

Video Games Make Me Addicted - Free Essay Example

Lots of peoples opinions on video games are that they cause violence, school shootings, etc, but honestly thats crazy. Theres thousands of articles blaming video games for abuse, bullying and a ton of other things that solely have to do with a man or womans decision to do them. It seems like websites and advocators against video games are just making excuses and making up false claims as basically an excuse for people. Ive read many articles about how bad video games are for your kids and a lot of other articles full of nonsense. My opinion on the matter stays the same, video games dont make people act a certain way and do things and video games arent addictive, its all a persons choice not the video games. People like to claim that playing video games is addictive, but is it really? Just because you repeatedly do something you enjoy doesnt make it addiction, like drinking orange juice for example, just because I drink orange juice everyday doesnt make me addicted. Theres plenty o f things I do everyday but it doesnt mean Im addicted to them. In the article Video games arent addictive it says that when someone plays a video game, roughly as much dopamine is released into your brain as eating a slice of pizza. Lots of people like pizza and eat it a lot which makes them happy which doesnt make them addicted to pizza. People would be addicted to countless things if to classify addiction was just to enjoy something and do it regularly. In my opinion as well as many others, video games are not addictive and just something that people enjoy doing. We all hear about school shootings but for some reason we never want to blame the kid who actually did it, we want to blame something in his life for his/her actions, and a typical excuse are video games. People constantly blame video games for teens/adults actions and even the own people who commit whatever was done, blame video games. Many articles, such as Video game violence want to blame school shootings, bullyi ng, and abuse on video games. The video game didnt bring a gun to school, a video game didnt call the girl by the drinking fountain fat and ugly, and the video game didnt hit their wife in the face because she didnt listen to them. The bully, school shooter, or abuser made all those actions on his/her own. It all goes back to the fact that people are just making up foolish excuses for people actions. What does that teach people, that they can do what they want and there is always going to be something for them to fall back safely on? If we keep this mentality everyone will eventually just do whatever they want because they will feel as if they will always have some sort of excuse to why they did it. Possibly sports, video games, pizza, who knows? Like many people, I believe that video games do not cause things like abuse or other forms of violence, they arent the ones to blame, the person who did it is. Another thing people like to say about video games is that they only cause ne gative things, negative feelings, negative actions but if you really look into it they actually dont. Sure video games could have a few negatives, but so does everything. Millions of people drink coffee everyday, yes there are some negatives like all the sugar and caffeine but apparently we can never look at the positives anymore. What if you have to study for exams the night before and its only 10 but you are ready to pass out but ur exams are important? Drinking coffee helps you stay awake. Also people enjoy drinking it which makes them happy. Playing video games do many good things for you but people never seem to focus on them. According to the article The Neurology of gaming, video games can strengthen brain cell connections. They can positively affect your body in other ways as well, like helping to develop collaboration skills, improving hand-eye coordination, and many other things as well. Also, according to the article The Neurology of gaming, some games designed to help manage things like asthma are more effective than some doctors pamphlets. Video games can affect people positively and can even help them. Video games are not causes to violent acts nor addictive. Critics say that they only negatively affect people who play them but I know that video games affect people positively as well. From improving hand-eye coordination to helping manage health issues like asthma, video games can improve peoples life. They dont cause people to do things or act a certain way, people make those decisions on their own and using games as an excuse for their actions is foolish.

Thursday, July 2, 2020

Importance of Solomon’s Temple - 2200 Words

Ancient and Modern-day Importance of Solomon's Temple (Research Paper Sample) Content: Ancient and Modern-day Importance of Solomons TempleNameInstitutionSolomons Temple, popularly referred to as the First Temple, is the Biblical temple built under the reign of the wise king, Solomon. Solomon built the Temple for seven years in Jerusalem at Mount Moriath. Having sinned against God by killing Uriah, King David was forbidden from building God a Temple. This task was passed on to the son of Bathsheba and David- Solomon. David agreed to this as a show of his repentance. The Temple that was first built by Solomon was later destroyed during the siege by Babylonians. King Nebuchadnezzar II ordered the destruction of the Temple and confiscation of all its contents. The First Temple is no longer in existence. When Israelites were in Babylon, they saw how the Babylonians worshipped idols and performed acts of paganism with their Temple contents, such as the Ark of the Covenant. The Second Temple was rebuilt under Cyrus the Great. It took a total of 23 years to co me to completion, much longer than Solomons. The structures were similar to the First Temple. The Restoration was a heavy relief for the Israelites in captivity. The Second Temple survived another attack by Alexander the Great. Alexander, from Macedonia, wanted to be honoured by Israelites. However, the Israelites could not agree to it. He was extremely angered but luckily, for the Israelites, he was calmed down by flattery from diplomats. Over the years, pagans and invaders defiled the Second Temple. At around 164BCE, Judas Maccabeus rededicated the Second Temple to the Lord. This did not stop future invaders such as Crassus, who raided the Second Temples treasury nearly 54BCE. Crassus, however, died in battle not more than a year later. This news sparked Jews revolt who demanded respect for the Lords Temple. King Herod the Great came to Israelites rescue by renovating the temple. He then renamed the Second Temple after himself; Herods Temple (Hamblin Seely, 2007). The last straw i n the Second Temples back was the Muslim Conquest of Jerusalem. Muslims raided the city and destroyed the Second Temple. They then built a shrine that is now a remembrance of Hebrew prophets of the Quran. The site of the Second Temple is known as the Dome of the Rock to date. With such background information, it is quite unclear as to why the Israelites treasured the Temple very much. Why did they have to rebuild it over again? Why David was denied construction of the Temple, despite being the greatest king of Israel? Why the Israelites were angered so much by siege of the Temple? Why did the Israelites agree to take all the trouble of constructing the Temple? It took them a cumulative of 30 years for the First and the Second Temple. The cost itself put Israel into debt that King Solomon had to give away a few towns in Galilee to repay the debt. Why did the Israelites pay so much respect to the Temple that it had to be purified every time it was defiled by pagans? What was so import ant in the Temple that could not be done outside or in Tabernacles like in Mosess times? What made the First Temple very significant to the Jewish people? Lastly, what was with pagans that they could not understand the significance of the Temple to the Israelites? These are questions that remain unanswered and this research will attempt to demystify the mystery behind the First and the Second temple. First, it is impossible to understand the importance of the Temple without first looking at its structure and appreciating the magnificence of First Temple.he began to build the temple of the Lord.2The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.[HYPERLINK "/passage/?search=1+Kings+6" \l "fen-NIV-8899b" \o "See footnote b"b]3The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,[HYPERLINK "/passage/?search=1+Kings+6" \l "fen-NIV-8900c" \o "See footnote c"c] and projected te n cubits[HYPERLINK "/passage/?search=1+Kings+6" \l "fen-NIV-8900d" \o "See footnote d"d] from the front of the temple.4He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls.5Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms.6The lowest floor was five cubits[HYPERLINK "/passage/?search=1+Kings+6" \l "fen-NIV-8903e" \o "See footnote e"e] wide, the middle floor six cubits[HYPERLINK "/passage/?search=1+Kings+6" \l "fen-NIV-8903f" \o "See footnote f"f] and the third floor seven.[HYPERLINK "/passage/?search=1+Kings+6" \l "fen-NIV-8903g" \o "See footnote g"g] He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.7In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built. (HYPERLINK "",1 Kings 6: 2-7)Such was the glorious nature of the Fi rst Temple. The effort put in its construction was tremendous. Everything needed from wooden blocks to pillars were prepared and finished at the source before being transported to the Temple site. Wood was transported all the way from Lebanon to Jerusalem. 3300 officials supervised the construction of the First temple over a period of 7 years. Some of the money went into renovation of the area surrounding the First Temple, as well. The significance of this Temple to the ancient Israelites can be best demonstrated by looking at the contents, rituals, servants and their roles. The Ark of the CovenantThis was an invaluable item in the Temple. Israelites travelled with it everywhere they went. It contained the Tablets of Stones, Aarons rod, a jar of manna and the First Scroll. The Tablet of Stones contained the Ten Commandments handed over to Moses on Mount Sinai. Moses had broken the first tablet when he descended the mountain and found the Israelites performing acts of immorality. The second Tablet was handed to Moses after Israelites promised not to go against the Lord again. Aarons rod was a staff handed down through generations of priests, descendants of Aarons lineage. The rod was used to cast the plagues on Pharaoh and his people during Israelites redemption from Egyptian captivity. Of great significance was when it turned to a snake at Mosess command. The jar of manna reminded Israelites of when they were in the wilderness, and the Lord provided manna as food from heaven. The Ark of the Covenant was a powerful tool for the Israelites; they used it to break down Jerichos walls and captured the town. They went round the walls with the Ark seven times and Jerichos walls came down. During Davids time, the king and the people respected the Ark of the Covenant; David once danced with it the whole night put it in a tabernacle and after sacrifices, he blessed the people. David always wanted the Ark of the Covenant close to him. He fled with it to guard it against Absalom, but later pleaded with Zadok to return the Ark to Jerusalem. The Ark was a form of blessing. When King David placed it in Obed-Edom, the Lord blessed the place. The Ark was so important that King Solomon spared Abiathas life, having plotted against Adonijahs life, because he had hitherto bored the Ark. Inside the Temple, King Solomon built a special place for the Ark of the Covenant. The place was named Kodem Hardashim, Latin for holies of holies. The place was purified to receive the Ark of the Covenant. King Solomon and the Ancient Israelites too, found the Ark of so much importance that he worshipped God in front of it when God promised him wisdom. The purity of the Ark of the Covenant and the Temple as a whole made King Solomon forbid his foreign wife, Pharaohs daughter, from living in Zion just because the Ark was there (Grierson Munro-Hay, 1999).The Altar of Burnt OfferingsThis was a part in the First Temple where the Israelites were allowed to offer animal sacrifice s, bird and meat offerings. Drink offerings as libation were offered on the altar (Grierson Munro-Hay, 1999), as well. There was no other place, other than the Temple, where they were allowed to make sacrifices or offerings. The presence of the Altar encouraged Israelites to make their offerings of thanksgiving and pleas to God. There were daily offerings at the Temple; in the morning and in the evening. The Altars cross-section was a perfect square of approximately 16m and its height 5m, more or less. It had horns at the top corners, more like the other altars. Solomons temple had this altar designed according to Gods instruction. Do not climb up to my altar with steps so that you do not show your nakedness on it (Exodus 20:26). In accordance with this, King Solomon made a ramp to reach the Altar of Burnt Offerings. Such was the importance of purity for peoples offerings to God in Solomons Temple.The Altar of Burnt IncenseThis was also known as the Inner Altar. It was more sacred than the Altar of Burnt Offerings (Grierson Munro-Hay, 1999). The structure was rectangular. The dimensions were 2 cubits high, approximately one cubit wide and deep. It consisted of poles at the sides and the whole altar was covered in gold. The top of the Altar had horn-like structures plated in gold, as well. The Altar has saucer shaped structure for incense. Moses consecrated initial altars with anointing oil. This made the institution of the Altar a holy place. At the Altar, Israelites could offer burnt incense da...