The Concept of Ethnocentrism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Concept of Ethnocentrism - Essay Example Several nations and their cultures have placed themselves at the top of an imagined hierarchy of cultures and nations and therefore they have assigned other cultures lower ranks than theirs. This has led to the incorporation of the belief that one nation, its culture is superior, and that it will always be ahead of the rest hence making people believe this form of deception naturally. This form of belief has resulted in a few nations becoming the center of admirations making all other nations to strive to emulate the nations at the center in order to move higher in the imaginary rank. For example, the United States of America has always thought of itself as more powerful, more economically positioned, and as generally better in all spheres than other nations. This has been evidenced by the country's dabbling in the matters of other nations without much regard to the right formality that should be followed. A good illustration of this dabbling in the country's current involvement in a ffairs of Middle East, which is mainly castigated by the perceived belief that it is a superpower. This has led to the country spending a lot on affairs of other countries, which are not necessarily in its control, rather than focusing on funding development in needy developing countries. Cultural ethnocentrism continues to prevail in the majority of the African communities where the communities believe that these cultures are better than the rest and they in, particular, tend to be unreceptive to the western culture. They normally feel that their cultural order is threatened by the arrival of new groups and they thus strive to resist what they term as invaders in their communities. This evidenced by the disagreements in cultural markers of identity such as clothing and other visible elements which the people try by all means possible to uphold them despite the foreign influence.

Religious Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Religious - Essay Example Such trips were necessitated by the requests of the father as well as studies [Marquita, Breit, Patricia, Burton & Paul [2002]. In 1930, Thomas Merton joined Oakham Public School during which time, Owen his father, died. However although the death affected Thomas Merton who sought support and financial help from the uncle was co-operative and finances to Thomas Merton was never a problem. Thomas Merton often received help from Tom Bennett, Owen’s former physician who was very supportive of Thomas as was the aunties and uncles. It was in 1932 during one of his visits to his grandparents in New York that Thomas Merton decided to venture into journalism by co-editing the school’s journal. In 1933, Thomas Merton visited Italy where he stayed in Rome where Merton acquired a Bible and become religious, severally praying asking God to ‘deliver him from darkness’. Up to when Thomas Merton was still faced many challenges such as not being aware of what he really wanted to become even as a college student at Clare College, Cambridge. In 1938, Thomas Merton then a student in Columbia came into contact with a Hindu monk called Mahanambrata Brachmachari, who influenced him in that instead of converting him into Hindu, Brachmachari encouraged the young Thomas to remain steadfast in Catholicism. Gandhi had an influence in shaping the future of the man in that, Merton was an admirer of Gandhi. Such events culminated in the Baptism of Thomas Merton in 1938. In 1941, Thomas Merton finally became committed to Catholicism and eventually graduated into a Catholic priest in 1949. Thomas Merton died in 1968 in Bangkok, Thailand. Thomas Merton continues to influence the live s of many as a writer, teacher, a priest and a family man. Howard was born several years after the birth of Thomas Merton in 1939. Unlike Thomas Merton, Howard went on to join active politics and eventually became the Prime Minister of