Weekly Activity 9 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Weekly Activity 9 - Essay Example There are many unfortunate institutional barriers which impede the process of protection delivery to women on campus despite good policies enacted by the government like the Jeanne Clery Act. This act requires all colleges and universities to provide emotional support to victims of harassment and sexual assault. However, women still lack safety on campus because in addition to this fact that many attacks go unreported, college administrators themselves demonstrate great disbelief when complaints are delivered to them by victims. This attitude discourages students who need reassurance in times of distress (Zeisler, 2014). In order to turn around the situation of women’s safety for good at my campus, I intend to remove all those institutional barriers which impede delivery of protection to women on time. For this purpose, weekly instructional meetings will be organized after study hours on campus to make students feel more motivated and determined about reporting bad things when they happen to them. It is the silence of women which has made sexual assault a silent epidemic. These meetings will bring together women’s groups and campus safety agents in one place to put a stop to this growing epidemic. Zeisler, A. (2014, 30 Apr). College Campus Safety: What Parents and Students Should Know. HUFF POST. Retrieved from

Suggest one Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Suggest one - Essay Example The challenges such that LTE devices faces are called VoWLAN. These include the quality of service security challenges. The paper will also discuss various Cloud-RAN technologies which have been applied to solve these issues. LTE ISSUES There are three key issues that the devices using LTE technology faces. These include packet loss, delay, jitter and the issues with the original wireless security standards. Packet loss It has been realized that the number of packets that reaches the destination is always less that the number of packets that were sent. This implies that some packets are lost along the network. The loss are attributed to two major ways. The first is through network packet loss as a result of overflow in the router buffer, transmission error, rerouting and link failures. The other packet loss is as a result of excessive delay (Guan Kolding, & Merz 2010). Delay The time that packets take from the source to the destination is a critical factor. The delay originates from different points such as at the receiver, at the network or at the source. The delay that occurring in either the source or the receiver result from coding such at the transformation of a signal from digital to analogue or from analogue to digital (Lorca & Cucala 2013). The delay also accrues as a result of packetization while the transmission, propagation or queuing causes network delay Jitter Jitter is the difference in the time taken by a packet to reach the destination. This issue is very common and the only way to handle it is to use a jet-buffer that contains both dynamic software base and the hardware. However, the implementation of jet-buffer should be done with intense care as it can cause other delays such as memory over-flows (Fletcher, 2009). Initial IEEE 802.11 MAC layer The original MAC layer used by IEEE 802.11 does not incorporate applications to support voice data especially its sensitivity to delay jitter. This is because the ordinary MAC layer utilizes DCF and PCF to allocate the medium. DCT depends on Carrier Sense Multiple Access with collision avoidance. This property as far as sharing the medium among station is optional in 802.11 RTS/CTS. The issue with DCF is the delay since the packets will wait until the medium is free in case there is a collision. Such an incident causes delay since the bandwidth is wasted. This is basically because of absence of Quality of service priority and guarantee for traffic such as data and voice. In addition, when a node detects that the medium is free and start to communicate; all the others have to wait until the communicating node frees the medium (Guan, Kolding, & Merz, 2010). PCF is mostly prominent in LTE since it is optional and only uses the infrastructure setups which are linked by a single access point. Cloud –RAN capabilities With the rising need for high data speed, the existing technologies and infrastructure can no longer provide the required performance at a cost effective level. The current radio access network should be very flexible and able to support various technological standards. It should also be cost effective and simple to upgrade. Cloud-RAN has proved to be the solution to all the issues in the LTE (Chang 2013). Cloud-RAN is a modern RAN topology that solves the issues present in the previous technologies. In C-RAN configuration, the baseband processing units are concentrated in a single base

Use And Problems Of Expert Witnesses In Court Law Essay

Use And Problems Of Expert Witnesses In Court Law Essay It is an ancient common law rule that on a subject requiring special knowledge and competence, evidence is admissible from witnesses who have acquired the necessary expertise on that matter, and such witnesses are known as experts.  [1]  The foundation of the use of expert witness in court was laid down by Lord Mansfield in Folkes v. Chadd  [2]  that the opinion of scientific men upon proven facts may be given within their own science. Although opinion evidence is inadmissible as a general rule, the main exception to this rule is the opinion of an expert on matters resting within his expertise, and this exception applies in both civil and criminal cases. Regarding the civil proceedings, the statutory recognition of the exception is reflected by section 58(1) of the Evidence Ordinance (Cap 8) that an experts opinion is admissible on any relevant matter on which he is qualified to give expert evidence. However, there is an issue of potential conflict of interest on the expert w itness.  [3]  On one hand, an expert witness has a paramount duty to assist the court; on the other hand, he is remunerated for his services by one of the parties under the adversary system, which assumed a more partisan role for them at the expense of impartiality.  [4]   This essay aims to examine whether the aspiration of expert objectivity is realistic in our adversary system. In the next part, we shall discuss the problem of adversarial bias as well as the duties of expert witnesses. In part 3, the applicability of court appointed experts in Hong Kong will be examined with reference to the inquisitorial system. In part 4, we will explore the problems associated with the small population of potential experts in Hong Kong, followed by the courts power in dealing with expert disagreements in part 5. Finally, a conclusion will be drawn in the last part of this paper. The problems associated with expert witness It is often said that the principal danger of adversary expertise is motivational bias.  [5]  As expert witnesses are employed by one of the parties to the litigation and they would purposely mould their views to fit their clients proceedings. In fact, the problem of lack of objectivity in expert evidence is not a new phenomenon. As early as in Lord Abinger v. Ashton  [6]  , Sir George Jessel said: Undoubtedly there is a natural bias to do something serviceable for those who employ you and adequately remunerate you, and expert witness may even considered themselves as the paid agents of their employers. The problem of adversarial bias is also widespread in Hong Kong.  [7]  As identified in the Interim Report of the Working Party on Civil Justice Reform, a major problem concerning expert evidence is the partisanship and lack of independence among experts.  [8]  Thus, it is suggested by Professor Gary Edmond that partisanship may be an unavoidable feature of knowledge p roduction and expert opinion.  [9]   Another reason for lack of objective expert evidence is due to the problem of expert shopping, which is a process of selecting opinions from one expert after another, until the most favourable opinion to the partys case is found.  [10]  Since the choice of experts lies with the parties, the expert evidence is selected on the basis that would serve the best interests of their clients cases. Consequently the court does not necessarily obtain the most independent or objective expert evidence. The practice of selecting the most favorable expert is indeed a distortion of the rationale behind expert evidence as well as a discredit to the administration of justice. 2.1 The duties of expert witness Due to the concern about the failure of experts to provide an independent and objective opinion, a developed code of conduct has been set out in National Justice Compania Naviera SA v. Prudential Assurance Co. Ltd. (The Ikarian Reefer)  [11]  to clarify the duties of an expert witness. The most important parts are the first two numbered paragraphs, which stated that: 1) Expert evidence presented to the Court should be the independent product of the expert uninfluenced as to form or content by the exigencies of litigation  [12]  ; 2) An expert witness should provide independent assistance to the Court by way of objective unbiased opinion in relation to matters within his expertise  [13]  . The Ikarian Reefer guidelines remain a good law in Hong Kong, and the relevant principles were set out in paragraph L1/58/7 of Hong Kong Civil Procedure 2009. The expert witnesss overriding duty to provide independent and unbiased assistance to court is also reflected in Order 38, rule 3 5A of the Rules of the High Court (RHC) as well as the Code of Conduct for Expert Witness in Appendix D of RHC. Further guidance is provided in Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd. v. Commissioner of Rating and Valuation  [14]  that an expert also needs to ensure no omission of material facts that could divert from his concluded opinion. Although the adversary system may not have provided an ideal environment for the expert witnesses to maintain their independence and objectivity from their clients, I believed that the promulgation of code of conduct would have raised awareness of the expert witnesses in meeting the courts expectations, so that they will be less easily manipulated by lawyers, which can tend to rein in the widespread problem of expert bias in Hong Kong. Court-appointed experts Apart from a code of conduct for expert witnesses, some commentators have recommended other ways to reduce the problem of expert bias, and one of them is the appointment of court experts with reference to the inquisitorial system. It is common for the court to appoint experts in many continental jurisdictions, such as Belgium, Germany and France. Unlike the way to appoint experts under the adversarial system, the expert witnesses are selected and remunerated by an independent authority, usually the court rather than the parties, which may avoid the problem of adversarial bias.  [15]  Take an example of the French system of expertise, the judge would normally commission the expert witnesses from a list of official experts, and they will be questioned by the judge.  [16]  The major distinction between the adversarial and inquisitorial system of justice is that the parties play a minimal role in locating evidence and they need not actively engage with the expert witness in court , as the expert witness is infrequently cross-examined by the defendants. As the court-appointed expert has little interaction with the parties, they are more likely to give an objective and unbiased opinion to the Court. Nevertheless, it is argued that the appointment of court experts under the inquisitorial system is contrary to the principles of the adversarial system of justice. Apart from the loss of right for parties to select their own expert witnesses, there are a number of arguments that go against the inquisitorial court-appointed experts. First of all, the main problem is that the court may place undue reliance on the evidence provided by the court-appointed expert, which may lead to an ultimate result that it would be the court-appointed expert instead of the judge who decides the case.  [17]  This is also highlighted by Lord Denning in In re Saxton that the appointment of a court expert in England is a rare thing, as the litigants realize that the court would attach great weight to the report of a court expert, and are reluctant to leave the decision of the case so much in his hands.  [18]   Second, it is difficult to ensure the validity or test the applicability of the expert evidence in inquisitorial systems due to lack of cross-examination and involvement of more expert opinion, which are fundamental features of the adversarial system. In the absence of challenges to expert evidence, its quality and reliability is therefore doubtful as there is no way to test the correctness of the expert conclusion.  [19]  Moreover, the exercise of courts power to appoint an expert is rare under Order 40 of RHC in Hong Kong. It is indicated in the case of Nguyen Ho Others v. Director of Immigration  [20]  that the Court of Appeal has declined an invitation to appoint a court expert. Consequently, the inquisitorial court-appointed expert is difficult to integrate in our adversarial system, especially the important feature of cross-examination which encourages critical scrutiny of the expert evidence is lacking under the inquisitorial system.  [21]  It is also of my view that the adversarial expertise may benefit the fact-finder in another way by providing a range of perspectives or interpretations that allows verification of the validity and accuracy of the expert evidence in Court. Problems with small population of potential experts As Hong Kong is confronted with the problem of parties obtaining hired gun experts,  [22]  the concern of expert bias may also arise when the employer of the expert witness is the prosecution. This is particularly the case for criminal prosecutions, where the expert witnesses are commonly and closely connected with the police or prosecution authorities. In fact, the small population of available experts in Hong Kong would render the reliance on expert witnesses employed by the prosecution inevitable, for instance, police officers may be called by the prosecution as witnesses to give evidence in drug cases regarding the average dosage of drug addictsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦etc. One may nonetheless argue that relying on the prosecutions own officers as expert witnesses to provide opinion evidence would prima facie cast a doubt on their independence and objectivity in that case. Thus, it raises the problem of whether it is possible to restrict the officers of the prosecution from giving opin ion evidence as an expert in his field to support the prosecutions case. In R v. Chung Chen Hsin  [23]  (Chung), a police officer ballistics expert, who was possibly connected with the investigation, was called by the prosecution as witness to testify for them that the unusual weapon found in the defendants hand luggage was a firearm. The court has made some important points regarding the right of the prosecution authority to call its own officers as expert witnesses to offer opinion evidence. It is held that there is no requirement in a criminal proceeding where the expert witness ought to be independent of the prosecution authority, but a witness who is competent and properly qualified to provide his expertise would suffice.  [24]  Judge Stuart Moore also challenged the judgment in R v. Kai Tai Construction Engineering Company Ltd.  [25]  by claiming that it was not a material irregularity for the prosecution to have called a properly qualified expert from the same department responsible for that prosecution, and there must be powerful reaso ns to cast a doubt on the expert called by the prosecution in order to justify the refusal to allow the prosecutions own officers as expert witnesses.  [26]  Moreover, even the expert witness is so closely connected to the case that he may be biased in favour of the prosecution, it is ultimately a matter remained for the jury to assess the weight to be attached to his testimony and the question of admissibility is irrelevant. The rationale in Chung was reaffirmed in many recent cases, such as Tang Ping Choi Another v. Secretary for Transport  [27]  , where the court held that an experts evidence was not inadmissible merely due to the fact that he or she was an employee of one of the parties to the case. With limited human resources in Hong Kong, the fact that many expert witnesses have been employed by the party calling them is nearly inevitable, especially for the technical matters that require highly specialized experts to offer their opinion evidence. Despite the possible lack of independence of the expert witnesses employed by the prosecution, it has been made clear by the Hong Kong courts that the expert evidence would not be excluded merely on that basis. Even though the expert witness may have produced a biased opinion due to his or her vested interest in the outcome of the case, it is only relevant to the weight to be attached to that experts testimony rather than the admissibility of evidence. Expert disagreement With one of more expert witnesses giving opinion evidence at court, it is possible to have a clash of opinion between opposing experts. In fact, we may divide the discussion into two parts: one is the role the judge if this situation happens at the trial; while the other is the judges powers to limit the extent of expert disagreement before the trial. First of all, if there are conflicting experts opinions during the trial, the judge will need to direct the jury correctly. It is held by the Court of Appeal in Plait  [28]  that the judge should not direct the jury in a way that it is a case of choosing between their opinion evidence. Rather, the jury should consider if there is a reasonable possibility that either the opinion of the prosecution or defence expert, when taken in conjunction with all the other evidence, is correct; then the jury should proceed on that basis. For the second part, the introduction of Civil Justice Reform in Hong Kong has offered the courts more control over the expert evidence, including measures to reduce the expert disagreement before the trial. The most common way for the court to narrow expert disagreement is to direct an expert meeting and joint report  [29]  , where the experts of both sides will meet before the trial and indicate clearly in the joint report the reason for their disagreement with each other. The direction is supported by Justice Wood that experts moderate their opposing views in the expert meeting, or even reach agreement on the controversial aspects of their expertise.  [30]  It is also noticed that the experts have a duty to attend this pre-trial meeting and conclude with a proper joint report, or otherwise, the defaulting expert would have breached paragraph 12 of the Code of Conduct for Expert Witness. Furthermore, the court has an option to order the appointment of a single joint expert under Order 38, rule 4A of RHC. Under this scheme, parties may jointly choose the single joint expert, or the court can select from a list prepared by the parties or any manner as the court may direct. Although the use of single joint expert may allow the fact-finder to have a simpler and less-biased picture over the technical matter, it is stressed in the Woolfs final report that the appointment of a single joint expert is mainly used to deal with the problem of excessive and inappropriate use of experts instead of bridging the differences of opinion between experts.  [31]   As a result, it is believed that the direction of pre-trial expert meeting and joint report will be more useful to narrow the conflicting opinion between experts rather than the appointment of a single joint expert. Conclusion With increasing technological sophistication of issues in courts, it is no doubt that the expert witness is playing a more significant role in the judicial process. Unlike other witnesses, the expert witness has an overriding duty to the court to provide objective and unbiased opinion evidence. An absence of independence and objectivity on the part of the expert witness would be prejudicial to the court, and consequently lead to a devaluing role of the expert witness in the court proceedings. It is opined that the introduction of the code of conduct as well as the new rules under the Civil Justice Reform in Hong Kong have evolved new roles for the expert witness. By setting court expectations in respect of the expert evidence, the expert witness would strive to meet the high standards and adhere to their duties and responsibilities listed in the rules. Despite the effort of the expert witness, I believe the concerted efforts by all streams of the judicial system are also vital to restore not only the credibility of the role of expert witness, but also publics confidence in the administration of justice. BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS M. R. Damaska, Evidence Law Adrift (New Haven London: Yale University Press, 1997) Mike Redmayne, Expert Evidence and Criminal Justice (OUP, Oxford 2001) Peter Murphy, Murphy on Evidence (10th edn OUP, Oxford 2008) Simon NM Young, Hong Kong Evidence Casebook (Sweet Maxwell Asia, Hong Kong 2004) ARTICLES REPORTS Charles Pugh Marcus Pilgerstorfer, Expert Evidence: The Requirement of Independence (2008) Journal of Personal Injury Law 224. Chief Justices Working Party on Civil Justice Reform, Civil Justice Reform: Interim Report and Consultative Paper (2001) Gary Edmond, After Objectivity: Expert Evidence and Procedural Reform 25 Sydney Law Review 131. Gary Edmond, Judicial Representations of Scientific Evidence (2000) 63 Modern Law Review 216. J.R Spencer, Court Experts and Expert Witnesses: Have We a Lesson to Learn from the French? (1992) 45 Current Legal Problems 213. Lord Woolf MR, Access to Justice: Final Report to the Lord Chancellor on the Civil Justice System in England and Wales (HMSO, London 1996) Peter Alldridge, Forensic Science and Expert Evidence (1994) 21 Journal of Law and Society 136. Samuel Gross, Expert Evidence (1991) Wisconsin Law Review 1113. NEWSPAPER Cliff Buddle, Judge calls expert witness mercenary SCMP (22 March 2002) EDT 7. ELECTRONIC RESOURCES Justice Sperling, Expert Evidence: The Problem of Bias and Other Things (1999): accessed 13 March 2011. Justice Garry Downes AM, Expert Evidence: The Value of Single or Court-Appointed Experts (2005): accessed 13 March 2011. Michael Wilkinson, Recent Developments Affecting Expert Evidence in Law Lectures for Practitioners (1991): accessed 13 March 2011. CASES Folkes v. Chadd [1782] 99 ER 589 Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd. v. Commissioner of Rating and Valuation [2004] 2 HKLRD 702 In re Saxton [1962] 1 WLR 968 Lord Abinger v. Ashton [1874] 22 WR 582 National Justice Compania Naviera SA v. Prudential Assurance Co. Ltd. [1993] 2 Lloyds Rep. 68 Nguyen Ho Others v. Director of Immigration [1990] Civ App No 135 of 1990 Plait [1981] CrimLR 332 Polivitte Ltd. V. Commercial Union Assurance [1987] 1 Lloyds Rep. 379 R v. Chung Chen Hsin [1996] 1 HKCLR 120 R v. Kai Tai Construction Engineering Company Ltd. [1996] 2 HKCLR 26 Tang Ping Choi Another v. Secretary for Transport [2004] 2 HKLRD 284 Whitehouse v. Jordan [1981] 1 WLR 246

Communications: An Integral Part of Education Essay -- essays research

Communication: An Integral Part of Education Communication is a skill that everyone needs to acquire and learn how to utilize effectively. In any given profession, communication is required regardless of whether or not the field is a creative, professional, or strictly business. Especially in the field of elementary education do the teachers and staff need to possess exemplary communication skills. This is not only with the students but as well as with fellow faculty members and the parents’ involved in the community and school. All areas of communication are vital to be an effectual educator but none as important as understanding the culture of the teaching environment, using rhetoric in class lectures and lessons, and becoming a valued and skilled public speaker. With the three above qualities mastered, only then can an educator truly be seen as an effective communicator.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To honestly and successfully understand culture, the educator must know that culture is â€Å"a system of ideas, values, beliefs, structures, and practices that is communicated by one generation to the next and that sustains a particular way of life† (Wood, 2002, p.95). In appreciating and analyzing this, a teacher must then now use this basic understanding of culture and formulate their lesson plans and agendas to encompass the variant cultures in any given school setting. Not only America, but Texas too has become a melting pot of varying cultures from all expanses of the world. This makes educating at this time very fascinating and exciting but potentially frustrating. Language and cultural barriers often create obstacles in the classroom which makes teaching in a normal and systematical approach ineffective. Cultural barriers can most easily be tackled by teaching other children about the importance of culture and in teaching them â€Å"tolerance, in w hich a person accepts differences, although he or she may not approve of or even understand them† (Wood, 2002, 117). Not only in culture but in just plain communication skills, students learn very quickly important ways of communicating effectively and ineffectively. Once thrust into school, children begin for the first time to communicate and express themselves without their parents’ around. In a recent study â€Å"it was reported that all of the communication skills perceived as important to children ranked as follows ... ...portant skill to hone, yet it must be followed through properly. If it is seen as some domineering perspective, then it can be misleading. Rather, as a clear and successful educator, communication must be a vital and integral part of teaching. In becoming a lucrative educator, understanding culture, using rhetoric to be advantageous rather than harmful, and polishing public speaking skills will create a certain amount of validity in the chosen field of education. Therefore, to be an elementary education major a rudimentary knowledge of communication and its’ importance will make the job easier and more fun for both the student and the teacher. Bibliography Aylor, Brooks. (2003). The Impact of Sex, Gender, and Cognitive Complexity On The Perceived Importance of Teacher Communication Skills. Communication Studies. Vol. 54, Issue 4; Pg. 496. Greenspan, Stanley. (2003). Reciprocity: a two-way street. Scholastic Early Childhood   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Today. Vol. 17, Issue 6; Pg 21. Sears, William. (2002). Cool Communicators. Parenting. Vol. 16, Issue 2; Pg. 68. Wood, Julia. (2002). Communication in Our Lives. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thompson Learning.

Social Facts

A. Social Facts Durkheim defined social facts as things external to, and coercive of, the actor. These are created from collective forces and do not emanate from the individual (Hadden, p. 104). While they may not seem to be observable, social facts are things, and â€Å"are to be studied empirically, not philosophically† (Ritzer, p. 78). They cannot be deduced from pure reason or thought, but require a study of history and society in order to observe their effects and understand the nature of these social facts. In The Rules of Sociological Method, Durkheim begins by noting features such as the following (quote 3): Social Facts.When I fulfil my obligations as brother, husband, or citizen, when I execute my contracts, I perform duties which are defined, externally to myself and my acts, in law and in custom. Even if they conform to my own sentiments and I feel their reality subjectively, such reality is still objective, for I did not create them; I merely inherited them throug h my education. (Rules, p. 1). As examples of social facts, Durkheim cites religious beliefs, currency used to undertake transactions, and factors such as â€Å"the practices followed in my profession† (Rules, p. 2).These types of conduct or thought are not only external to the individual but are, moreover, endowed with coercive power, by virtue of which they impose themselves upon him, independent of his individual will. (Rules, p. 2). While obligations, values, attitudes, and beliefs may appear to be individual, Durkheim argues that these social facts exist at the level of society as a whole, arising from social relationships and human association. They exist as a result of social interactions and historical developments over long periods of time, and come from â€Å"varying collective representations and diverse forms of social organization† (Hadden, p. 04). As individuals who are born and raised in a society, these social facts are learned (through socialization) a nd generally accepted, but the individual has nothing to do with establishing these. While society is composed of individuals, society is not just the sum of individuals, and these facts exist at the level of society, not at the individual level. As such, these social facts do exist, they are the social reality of society, a reality that constitutes the proper study of sociology (Cuff et al. , p. 33). The study of social facts is the â€Å"distinct object or subject matter of sociology† (Hadden, p. 105). Durkheim istinguishes social facts from psychological, biological, or economic facts by noting that these are social and rooted in group sentiments and values. At the same time, he distinguishes the study of social facts from philosophy by noting that the real effects of social facts are â€Å"manifested in external indicators of sentiments such as religious doctrines, laws, moral codes† (Hadden, p. 105) and these effects can be observed and studied by the sociologist. The study of social facts is thus a large part of the study of sociology. In order to do this, the sociologist must â€Å"rid themselves of preconceptions† (Hadden, p. 07) and undertake objective study which can â€Å"focus on objective, external indicators such as religious doctrines or laws† (Hadden, p. 107). Each social fact is real, something that is constraining on the individual and external to the actor. The social fact is not just in the mind of the individual – that is, these facts are more than psychological facts. That these exist in society as a whole, over time, and sometimes across societies, provides some proof of this. At the same time they are in the minds of individuals so they are also mental states.Ritzer notes that social facts can be considered to be mental phenomena that are external to and coercive of psychological facts, such as human instincts. The individual mental state could be considered to intervene between social fact and action (Ritzer, p. 105). Durkheim may not have provided a sufficient analysis of the assumptions underlying, or the characteristics of, these mental states. For Durkheim the study of sociology should be the study of social facts, attempting to find the causes of social facts and the functions of these social facts.Social facts regulate human social action and act as constraints over individual behaviour and action. They may be enforced with law, with clearly defined penalties associated with violation of the sentiments and values of the group. Sanctions may be associated with social facts, for example as in religion, where resistance may result in disapproval from others or from spiritual leaders. Individuals may be unaware of social facts and generally accept them. In this case, individuals may accept the values and codes of society and accept them as their own.Two types of social facts are material and non-material social facts. Material social facts are features of society such as socia l structures and institutions. These could be the system of law, the economy, church and many aspects of religion, the state, and educational institutions and structures. They could also include features such as channels of communication, urban structures, and population distribution. While these are important for understanding the structures and form of interaction in any society, it is nonmaterial social facts that constitute the main subject of study of sociology.Nonmaterial social facts are social facts which do not have a material reality. They consist of features such as norms, values, and systems of morality. Some contemporary examples are the norm of the one to three child family, the positive values associated with family structures, and the negative associations connected to aggression and anger. In Durkheim's terminology, some of these nonmaterial social facts are morality, collective consciousness, and social currents. An example of the latter is Durkheim's analysis of s uicide. Social facts can also be divided into normal and pathological social facts (Hadden, pp. 08-9). Normal social facts are the most widely distributed and useful social facts, assisting in the maintenance of society and social life. Pathological social facts are those that we might associate with social problems and ills of various types. Suicide is one example of this, where social facts ought to be different. For Durkheim, the much greater frequency of the normal is proof of the superiority of the normal. Durkheim later modified the notion of a single collective consciousness, and adopted the view that there were collective representations as part of specific states of substrata of the collective.That is, there may be different norms and values for different groups within society. These collective representations are also social facts because they are in the consciousness of some collective and are not reducible to individual consciousnesses (Ritzer, p. 87). The social structu res, institutions, norms and values that have become part of the study of sociology can be derived from Durkheim's approach, and today there is little difficulty distinguishing sociology from psychology. B. SuicideAfter Durkheim wrote The Rules of Sociological Method, he tackled the subject of suicide as an example of how a sociologist can study a subject that seems extremely personal, with no social aspect to it – even being anti-social. It could be argued that suicide is such a personal act that it involves only personal psychology and purely individual thought processes. Durkheim's aim was not to explain or predict an individual tendency to suicide, but to explain one type of nonmaterial social facts, social currents.Social currents are characteristics of society, but may not have the permanence and stability that some parts of collective consciousness or collective representation have. They may be associated with movements such as â€Å"enthusiasm, indignation, and pity. † (Ritzer, p. 87). Hadden notes that Durkheim wished to show that sociological factors were â€Å"capable of explaining much about such anti-social phenomena† (Hadden, p. 109). In the case of suicide, these social currents are expressed as suicide rates, rates that differ among societies, and among different groups in society.These rates show regularities over time, with changes in the rates often occurring at similar times in different societies. Thus these rates can be said to be social facts (or at least the statistical representation of social facts) in the sense that they are not just personal, but are societal characteristics. This can be seen in the following quote (quote 12): Suicide Rates as Social Facts. At each moment of its history, therefore, each society has a definite aptitude for suicide. The relative intensity of this aptitude is measured by taking the proportion between the total number of voluntary deaths and the population of every age and sex.We wi ll call this numerical datum the rate of mortality through suicide, characteristic of the society under consideration. †¦ The suicide-rate is therefore a factual order, unified and definite, as is shown by both its permanence and its variability. For this permanence would be inexplicable if it were not the result of a group of distinct characteristics, solidary with one another, and simultaneously effective in spite of different attendant circumstances; and this variability proves the concrete and individual quality of these same characteristics, since they vary with the individual character of society itself.In short, these statistical data express the suicidal tendency with which each society is collectively afflicted. †¦ Each society is predisposed to contribute a definite quota of voluntary deaths. This predisposition may therefore be the subject of a special study belonging to sociology. (Suicide, pp. 48, 51). Durkheim takes up the analysis of suicide in a very quanti tative and statistical manner. While he did not have available to him very precise or complete data or sophisticated statistical techniques, his method is exemplary in showing how to test hypotheses, reject incorrect explanations for suicide, sort through a great variety of ossible explanations, and attempt to control for extraneous factors. Some of the factors that others had used to explain suicide were heredity, climate, race, individual psychopathic states (mental illness), and imitation. As an example of Durkheim's method, consider how he analyzes cosmic factors, such as weather or season. Durkheim (Suicide, p. 107) notes that in all countries suicide is greater in the summer months, that no country is an exception to this, and that the proportion of suicides in the six warmer months to the six colder months is very similar in each country.Durkheim notes that this has led some commentators to say the â€Å"heat increases the excitability of the nervous system† (Suicide, p. 108). But suicide may result from depression as much as from over-excitement, and heat cannot possibly act the same way on both causes. Further, a closer analysis by Durkheim considers temperature variations and shows that while suicides increase in number as temperature increases, suicides reach a peak before the temperature does. In addition, if temperature is a cause of suicide, warm countries might be expected to have more suicides than cold countries, but the opposite tends to be the case.A related explanation that Durkheim considers is that great changes in temperature are associated with suicide, but again he finds that there is no correlation between suicide rates and the fact of temperature change. Rather, the causes must be in some factor that has continuity over time. He then notes that the rates are more closely connected to the length of day, with suicides increasing as the days grow longer, and decreasing in number as the length of day declines. But it is not the su n itself which is the cause, because at noontime there are fewer suicides than at other times of the day.What Durkheim finds is that the factors associated with higher numbers of suicides must be those that relate to â€Å"the time when social life is at its height† (Suicide, p. 119). The time of day, the day of week, the season of the year, and so on, are not in themselves the reason for the changes in the number of suicides. Rather, the times when social life and interaction among people are greater, are also those associated with increased suicide. Durkheim concludes this section by saying (quote 13): Four Types of SuicideThe manner in which social integration and regulation work can be better seen by examining the four fold classification of suicides that Durkheim developed. Durkheim ends his discussion of the organic-psychic and physical environmental factors by concluding that they cannot explain â€Å"each social group[s] †¦ specific tendency to suicide. † (Suicide, p. 145). By eliminating other explanations, Durkheim claims that these tendencies must depend on social causes and must be collective phenomena.The key to each type is a social factor, with the degrees of integration and regulation into society being either too high or too low. (The following discussion is drawn from Ritzer, pp. 90 ff. ). 1. Egoistic Suicide. This is the type of suicide that occurs where the degree of social integration is low, and there is a sense of meaningless among individuals. In traditional societies, with mechanical solidarity, this is not likely to be the cause of suicide. There the strong collective consciousness gives people a broad sense of meaning to their lives.Within modern society, the weaker collective consciousness means that people may not see the same meaning in their lives, and unrestrained pursuit of individual interests may lead to strong dissatisfaction. One of the results of this can be suicide. Individuals who are strongly integrat ed into a family structure, a religious group, or some other type of integrative group are less likely to encounter these problems, and that explains the lower suicide rates among them. The factors leading to egoistic suicide can be social currents such as depression and disillusionment.For Durkheim, these are social forces or social facts, even though it is the depressed or melancholy individual who takes his or her life voluntarily. â€Å"Actors are never free of the force of the collectivity: ‘However individualized a man may be, there is always something collective remaining – the very depression and melancholy resulting from this same exaggerated individualism. ‘† Also, on p. 214 of Suicide, Durkheim says â€Å"Thence are formed currents of depression and disillusionment emanating from no particular individual but expressing society's state of disillusionment. Durkheim notes that â€Å"the bond attaching man to life relaxes because that attaching him to society is itself slack. †¦ The individual yields to the slightest shock of circumstance because the state of society has made him a ready prey to suicide. † (Suicide, pp. 214-215). 2. Altruistic Suicide. This is the type of suicide that occurs when integration is too great, the collective consciousness too strong, and the â€Å"individual is forced into committing suicide. † (Ritzer, p. 91). Integration may not be the direct cause of suicide here, but the social currents that go along with this very high degree of integration can lead to this.The followers of Jim Jones of the People’s Temple or the members of the Solar Temple are an example of this, as are ritual suicides in Japan. Ritzer notes that some may â€Å"feel it is their duty† to commit suicide. (p. 91). Examples in primitive society cited by Durkheim are suicides of those who are old and sick, suicides of women following the death of their husband, and suicides of followers after the d eath of a chief. According to Durkheim this type of suicide may actually â€Å"springs from hope, for it depends on the belief in beautiful perspectives beyond this life. † 3.Anomic Suicide. Anomie or anomy come from the Greek meaning lawlessness. Nomos means usage, custom, or law and nemein means to distribute. Anomy thus is social instability resulting from breakdown of standards and values. (Webster's Dictionary). This is a type of suicide related to too low a degree of regulation, or external constraint on people. As with the anomic division of labour, this can occur when the normal form of the division of labour is disrupted, and â€Å"the collectivity is temporarily incapable of exercising its authority over individuals. † (Ritzer, p. 92).This can occur either during periods associated with economic depression (stock market crash of the 1930s) or over-rapid economic expansion. New situations with few norms, the regulative effect of structures is weakened, and the individual may feel rootless. In this situation, an individual may be subject to anomic social currents. People that are freed from constraints become â€Å"slaves to their passions, and as a result, according to Durkheim's view, commit a wide range of destructive acts, including killing themselves in greater numbers than they ordinarily would. † (Ritzer, p. , 92).In addition to economic anomie, Durkheim also spends time examining domestic anomie. For example, suicides of family members may occur after the death of a husband or wife. 4. Fatalistic Suicide. When regulation is too strong, Durkheim considers the possibility that â€Å"persons with futures pitilessly blocked and passions v iolently choked by oppressive discipline† may see no way out. The individual sees no possible manner in which their lives can be improved, and when in a state of melancholy, may be subject to social currents of fatalistic suicide. Summary. Durkheim's analysis of suicide shows the manner n which the social as opposed to the psychological and biological can be emphasized, and how it results in some useful ways of analyzing the actions of individuals. Suicide rates as expressions of social currents are social facts that affect societies and individuals within those societies. The study of psychology is still useful in attempting to determine individual motives and the manner in which the specific circumstances can lead to an individual deciding to voluntarily end their life. But an analysis of these circumstances should be set within the context of the social currents to which that individual is subject.The method of analysis of Durkheim should prove useful even today. In terms of suicide, the social causes are now well recognized, and any analysis of suicide would have to include these. Some combination of egoistic, anomic, and fatalistic types of suicide may help explain and understand this phenomenon. More generally, the method of Suicide is exemplary in providing researchers with a means of understanding the social factors that are associated with particular phenomena. Durkheim examines patterns on the data in an attempt to determine how social factors can play a role in explaining these phenomena.This might be applied to sociobiological arguments today. The trends themselves are not the cause, but indicative of a cause, a social explanation has to be found. C. Conclusions about Durkheim 1. Contributions a. Social Facts and Social Aspects. These are real things that do affect people. He had a strong structural view of society, and the manner in which each of us is influenced by these social facts and how we must fit into these. Durkheim attempted to see a role for the social as distinguished from the economic, psychological and biological.This can be seen in his view of the social influences on suicide rates, where he takes a wide variety of factors and considers their influence on the tendency or aptitude for suicide. The effect of each of these factors is not a simple connection between the factor and the tendency to suicide, but must be mediated by social factors. In particular, the social factors that he identified were the degree of integration and the degree of regulation. For modern theories of sociobiology, and the influence of genetics, Durkheim's approach could prove a useful counter. References Cuff, E. C. , W. W. Sharrock and D. W.Francis, Perspectives in Sociology, third edition, London, Routledge, 1992. HM66 P36 1984 Durkheim, Emile, The Division of Labor in Society, New York, The Free Press, 1933. Referred to in notes as Division. HD 51 D98 Durkheim, Emile, The Rules of Sociological Method, New York, The Free Press, 1938. Referred to in notes as Rules. HM 24 D962 Durkheim, Emile, Suicide: A Study in Sociology, New York, The Free Press, 1951. Referred to in notes as Suicide. HV 6545 D812 Giddens, Anthony, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory: An Analysis of the Writings of Marx, Durkheim and Max Weber, Ca mbridge, Cambridge University Press, 1971.HM19 G53. Ritzer, George, Sociological Theory, third edition, New York, McGraw-Hill, 1992. HM24 R4938. Social Explanation. If voluntary deaths increase from January to July, it is not because heat disturbs the organism, but because social life is more intense. To be sure, this greater intensity derives from the greater ease of development of social life in the Summer than in the Winter, owing to the sun's position †¦ , the state of the atmosphere, etc. But the physical environment does not stimulate it directly; above all, it has no effect on the progression of suicide. The latter depends on social conditions. Suicide, pp. 121-122). While this is not a proof or determination of what causes suicide yet, Durkheim notes that the causes must relate to collective life and must be such that these time factors can be incorporated into an explanation. But the explanation must be social in nature, and cannot be simply related to natural factors, these natural factors must work socially, and affect some social aspects which are related to suicide. Note that Durkheim ‘s method here is very empirical, and he searches through various sorts of data and evidence to find factors associated with suicide.But the explanation is not simply a relation between these data and suicides. Rather he is searching for social causes or conditions that are expressed through these. That is, he uses data to discover patterns, but the patterns themselves are not the cause of the phenomenon. Rather the cause is social, and the observed, empirical patterns constitute a means of finding underlying causes. Another factor that Durkheim considers is religion. While he does find that religion is associated with suicide, in the sense thatProtestant countries and regions have higher suicide rates than do Catholic ones, religious doctrines are not an important factor in explaining these differences. That is, suicide is condemned more or less equally i n each religion, and doctrinal statements concerning suicide are all negative. If there is a difference between the two religions with respect to suicide rates, it must be in some aspect of social organization that differs between the two churches. But if this is the factor related to suicide, then it is the social organization that is the cause of the difference, not religion in itself.Giddens notes (p. 83) that Durkheim finds further proof of this in other factors related to social organization, that is, family structure. Where there is more integration in family structure, the suicides are lesser in number. Durkheim argues that the most important aspects of social organization and collective life for explaining differences in suicide rates are the degree of integration into and regulation by society. For Durkheim, integration is the â€Å"degree to which collective sentiments are shared† and regulation refers to â€Å"the degree of external constraint on people. (Ritzer, p. 90). Catholicism is a more highly integrated religion than Protestantism, and it is in this that the difference in suicide rates is expressed. That is, it is not the religious doctrines themselves but the different social organization of the two religions. As Giddens notes (p. 83), degree of integration of family structure is related in the same way to suicides. Those in larger families are less likely to commit suicide, whereas those in smaller families, or single, are more likely. Over time, various social factors also make their influence felt.Durkheim notes that there was a decline in the number of suicides in all the European countries in 1848, a year of revolution and political change throughout Europe. Times of political crisis, war, and economic change are also associated with changes in the rate of suicide. Each of these great social movements could be considered to be examples of social currents that have widespread impact within and across societies. Ritzer (p. 89) not es that Durkheim was making two arguments. First, he argued that different collectivities have different collective consciousness or collective representation.These produce different social currents, and these lead to different suicide rates. By studying different groups and societies, some of these currents can be analyzed, and the effect of these on suicide can be determined. Second, changes in the collective consciousness lead to changes in social currents. These are then associated with changes in suicide rates (quote 14): Sociological Explanation. The conclusion from all these facts is that the social suicide-rate can be explained only sociologically.At any given moment the moral constitution of society established the contingent of voluntary deaths. There is, therefore, for each people a collective force of a definite amount of energy, impelling men to self-destruction. The victim's acts which at first seem to express only his personal temperament are really the supplement and prolongation of a social condition which they express externally. †¦ Each social group really has a collective inclination for the act, quite its own, and the source of all individual inclination, rather than the result.It is made up of the currents of egoism, altruism or anomy running through the society under consideration with the tendencies to languorous melancholy, active renunciation or exasperated weariness derivative from these currents. These tendencies of the whole social body, by affecting individuals, cause them to commit suicide. The private experiences usually thought to be the proximate causes of suicide have only the influence borrowed from the victim's moral predisposition, itself and echo of the moral state of society. (Suicide, pp. 299-300).

Angels Demons Chapter 89-92

89 War had broken out in St. Peter's Square. The piazza had exploded into a frenzy of aggression. Media trucks skidded into place like assault vehicles claiming beachheads. Reporters unfurled high-tech electronics like soldiers arming for battle. All around the perimeter of the square, networks jockeyed for position as they raced to erect the newest weapon in media wars – flat-screen displays. Flat-screen displays were enormous video screens that could be assembled on top of trucks or portable scaffolding. The screens served as a kind of billboard advertisement for the network, broadcasting that network's coverage and corporate logo like a drive-in movie. If a screen were well-situated – in front of the action, for example – a competing network could not shoot the story without including an advertisement for their competitor. The square was quickly becoming not only a multimedia extravaganza, but a frenzied public vigil. Onlookers poured in from all directions. Open space in the usually limitless square was fast becoming a valuable commodity. People clustered around the towering flat-screen displays, listening to live reports in stunned excitement. Only a hundred yards away, inside the thick walls of St. Peter's Basilica, the world was serene. Lieutenant Chartrand and three other guards moved through the darkness. Wearing their infrared goggles, they fanned out across the nave, swinging their detectors before them. The search of Vatican City's public access areas so far had yielded nothing. â€Å"Better remove your goggles up here,† the senior guard said. Chartrand was already doing it. They were nearing the Niche of the Palliums – the sunken area in the center of the basilica. It was lit by ninety-nine oil lamps, and the amplified infrared would have seared their eyes. Chartrand enjoyed being out of the heavy goggles, and he stretched his neck as they descended into the sunken niche to scan the area. The room was beautiful†¦ golden and glowing. He had not been down here yet. It seemed every day since Chartrand had arrived in Vatican City he had learned some new Vatican mystery. These oil lamps were one of them. There were exactly ninety-nine lamps burning at all times. It was tradition. The clergy vigilantly refilled the lamps with sacred oils such that no lamp ever burned out. It was said they would burn until the end of time. Or at least until midnight, Chartrand thought, feeling his mouth go dry again. Chartrand swung his detector over the oil lamps. Nothing hidden in here. He was not surprised; the canister, according to the video feed, was hidden in a dark area. As he moved across the niche, he came to a bulkhead grate covering a hole in the floor. The hole led to a steep and narrow stairway that went straight down. He had heard stories about what lay down there. Thankfully, they would not have to descend. Rocher's orders were clear. Search only the public access areas; ignore the white zones. â€Å"What's that smell?† he asked, turning away from the grate. The niche smelled intoxicatingly sweet. â€Å"Fumes from the lamps,† one of them replied. Chartrand was surprised. â€Å"Smells more like cologne than kerosene.† â€Å"It's not kerosene. These lamps are close to the papal altar, so they take a special, ambiental mixture – ethanol, sugar, butane, and perfume.† â€Å"Butane?† Chartrand eyed the lamps uneasily. The guard nodded. â€Å"Don't spill any. Smells like heaven, but burns like hell.† The guards had completed searching the Niche of the Palliums and were moving across the basilica again when their walkie-talkies went off. It was an update. The guards listened in shock. Apparently there were troubling new developments, which could not be shared on-air, but the camerlegno had decided to break tradition and enter conclave to address the cardinals. Never before in history had this been done. Then again, Chartrand realized, never before in history had the Vatican been sitting on what amounted to some sort of neoteric nuclear warhead. Chartrand felt comforted to know the camerlegno was taking control. The camerlegno was the person inside Vatican City for whom Chartrand held the most respect. Some of the guards thought of the camerlegno as a beato – a religious zealot whose love of God bordered on obsession – but even they agreed†¦ when it came to fighting the enemies of God, the camerlegno was the one man who would stand up and play hardball. The Swiss Guards had seen a lot of the camerlegno this week in preparation for conclave, and everyone had commented that the man seemed a bit rough around the edges, his verdant eyes a bit more intense than usual. Not surprisingly, they had all commented; not only was the camerlegno responsible for planning the sacred conclave, but he had to do it immediately on the heels of the loss of his mentor, the Pope. Chartrand had only been at the Vatican a few months when he heard the story of the bomb that blew up the camerlegno's mother before the kid's very eyes. A bomb in church†¦ and now it's happening all over again. Sadly, the authorities never caught the bastards who planted the bomb†¦ probably some anti-Christian hate group they said, and the case faded away. No wonder the camerlegno despised apathy. A couple months back, on a peaceful afternoon inside Vatican City, Chartrand had bumped into the camerlegno coming across the grounds. The camerlegno had apparently recognized Chartrand as a new guard and invited him to accompany him on a stroll. They had talked about nothing in particular, and the camerlegno made Chartrand feel immediately at home. â€Å"Father,† Chartrand said, â€Å"may I ask you a strange question?† The camerlegno smiled. â€Å"Only if I may give you a strange answer.† Chartrand laughed. â€Å"I have asked every priest I know, and I still don't understand.† â€Å"What troubles you?† The camerlegno led the way in short, quick strides, his frock kicking out in front of him as he walked. His black, crepe-sole shoes seemed befitting, Chartrand thought, like reflections of the man's essence†¦ modern but humble, and showing signs of wear. Chartrand took a deep breath. â€Å"I don't understand this omnipotent-benevolent thing.† The camerlegno smiled. â€Å"You've been reading Scripture.† â€Å"I try.† â€Å"You are confused because the Bible describes God as an omnipotent and benevolent deity.† â€Å"Exactly.† â€Å"Omnipotent-benevolent simply means that God is all-powerful and well-meaning.† â€Å"I understand the concept. It's just†¦ there seems to be a contradiction.† â€Å"Yes. The contradiction is pain. Man's starvation, war, sickness†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Exactly!† Chartrand knew the camerlegno would understand. â€Å"Terrible things happen in this world. Human tragedy seems like proof that God could not possibly be both all-powerful and well-meaning. If He loves us and has the power to change our situation, He would prevent our pain, wouldn't He?† The camerlegno frowned. â€Å"Would He?† Chartrand felt uneasy. Had he overstepped his bounds? Was this one of those religious questions you just didn't ask? â€Å"Well†¦ if God loves us, and He can protect us, He would have to. It seems He is either omnipotent and uncaring, or benevolent and powerless to help.† â€Å"Do you have children, Lieutenant?† Chartrand flushed. â€Å"No, signore.† â€Å"Imagine you had an eight-year-old son†¦ would you love him?† â€Å"Of course.† â€Å"Would you do everything in your power to prevent pain in his life?† â€Å"Of course.† â€Å"Would you let him skateboard?† Chartrand did a double take. The camerlegno always seemed oddly â€Å"in touch† for a clergyman. â€Å"Yeah, I guess,† Chartrand said. â€Å"Sure, I'd let him skateboard, but I'd tell him to be careful.† â€Å"So as this child's father, you would give him some basic, good advice and then let him go off and make his own mistakes?† â€Å"I wouldn't run behind him and mollycoddle him if that's what you mean.† â€Å"But what if he fell and skinned his knee?† â€Å"He would learn to be more careful.† The camerlegno smiled. â€Å"So although you have the power to interfere and prevent your child's pain, you would choose to show your love by letting him learn his own lessons?† â€Å"Of course. Pain is part of growing up. It's how we learn.† The camerlegno nodded. â€Å"Exactly.† 90 Langdon and Vittoria observed Piazza Barberini from the shadows of a small alleyway on the western corner. The church was opposite them, a hazy cupola emerging from a faint cluster of buildings across the square. The night had brought with it a welcome cool, and Langdon was surprised to find the square deserted. Above them, through open windows, blaring televisions reminded Langdon where everyone had disappeared to. â€Å"†¦ no comment yet from the Vatican†¦ Illuminati murders of two cardinals†¦ satanic presence in Rome†¦ speculation about further infiltration†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The news had spread like Nero's fire. Rome sat riveted, as did the rest of the world. Langdon wondered if they would really be able to stop this runaway train. As he scanned the piazza and waited, Langdon realized that despite the encroachment of modern buildings, the piazza still looked remarkably elliptical. High above, like some sort of modern shrine to a bygone hero, an enormous neon sign blinked on the roof of a luxurious hotel. Vittoria had already pointed it out to Langdon. The sign seemed eerily befitting. HOTEL BERNINI â€Å"Five of ten,† Vittoria said, cat eyes darting around the square. No sooner had she spoken the words than she grabbed Langdon's arm and pulled him back into the shadows. She motioned into the center of the square. Langdon followed her gaze. When he saw it, he stiffened. Crossing in front of them, beneath a street lamp, two dark figures appeared. Both were cloaked, their heads covered with dark mantles, the traditional black covering of Catholic widows. Langdon would have guessed they were women, but he couldn't be sure in the dark. One looked elderly and moved as if in pain, hunched over. The other, larger and stronger, was helping. â€Å"Give me the gun,† Vittoria said. â€Å"You can't just – â€Å" Fluid as a cat, Vittoria was in and out of his pocket once again. The gun glinted in her hand. Then, in absolute silence, as if her feet never touched the cobblestone, she was circling left in the shadows, arching across the square to approach the couple from the rear. Langdon stood transfixed as Vittoria disappeared. Then, swearing to himself, he hurried after her. The couple was moving slowly, and it was only a matter of half a minute before Langdon and Vittoria were positioned behind them, closing in from the rear. Vittoria concealed the gun beneath casually crossed arms in front of her, out of sight but accessible in a flash. She seemed to float faster and faster as the gap lessened, and Langdon battled to keep up. When his shoes scuffed a stone and sent it skittering, Vittoria shot him a sideways glare. But the couple did not seem to hear. They were talking. At thirty feet, Langdon could start to hear voices. No words. Just faint murmurings. Beside him, Vittoria moved faster with every step. Her arms loosened before her, the gun starting to peek out. Twenty feet. The voices were clearer – one much louder than the other. Angry. Ranting. Langdon sensed it was the voice of an old woman. Gruff. Androgynous. He strained to hear what she was saying, but another voice cut the night. â€Å"Mi scusi!† Vittoria's friendly tone lit the square like a torch. Langdon tensed as the cloaked couple stopped short and began to turn. Vittoria kept striding toward them, even faster now, on a collision course. They would have no time to react. Langdon realized his own feet had stopped moving. From behind, he saw Vittoria's arms loosening, her hand coming free, the gun swinging forward. Then, over her shoulder, he saw a face, lit now in the street lamp. The panic surged to his legs, and he lunged forward. â€Å"Vittoria, no!† Vittoria, however, seemed to exist a split second ahead of him. In a motion as swift as it was casual, Vittoria's arms were raised again, the gun disappearing as she clutched herself like a woman on a chilly night. Langdon stumbled to her side, almost colliding with the cloaked couple before them. â€Å"Buona sera,† Vittoria blurted, her voice startled with retreat. Langdon exhaled in relief. Two elderly women stood before them scowling out from beneath their mantles. One was so old she could barely stand. The other was helping her. Both clutched rosaries. They seemed confused by the sudden interruption. Vittoria smiled, although she looked shaken. â€Å"Dov'e la chiesa Santa Maria della Vittoria? Where is the Church of – â€Å" The two women motioned in unison to a bulky silhouette of a building on an inclined street from the direction they had come. â€Å"e la.† â€Å"Grazie,† Langdon said, putting his hands on Vittoria's shoulders and gently pulling her back. He couldn't believe they'd almost attacked a pair of old ladies. â€Å"Non si puo entrare,† one woman warned. â€Å"e chiusa temprano.† â€Å"Closed early?† Vittoria looked surprised. â€Å"Perche?† Both women explained at once. They sounded irate. Langdon understood only parts of the grumbling Italian. Apparently, the women had been inside the church fifteen minutes ago praying for the Vatican in its time of need, when some man had appeared and told them the church was closing early. â€Å"Hanno conosciuto l'uomo?† Vittoria demanded, sounding tense. â€Å"Did you know the man?† The women shook their heads. The man was a straniero crudo, they explained, and he had forcibly made everyone inside leave, even the young priest and janitor, who said they were calling the police. But the intruder had only laughed, telling them to be sure the police brought cameras. Cameras? Langdon wondered. The women clucked angrily and called the man a bar-rabo. Then, grumbling, they continued on their way. â€Å"Bar-rabo?† Langdon asked Vittoria. â€Å"A barbarian?† Vittoria looked suddenly taut. â€Å"Not quite. Bar-rabo is derogatory wordplay. It means rabo†¦ Arab.† Langdon felt a shiver and turned toward the outline of the church. As he did, his eyes glimpsed something in the church's stained-glass windows. The image shot dread through his body. Unaware, Vittoria removed her cell phone and pressed the auto dial. â€Å"I'm warning Olivetti.† Speechless, Langdon reached out and touched her arm. With a tremulous hand, he pointed to the church. Vittoria let out a gasp. Inside the building, glowing like evil eyes through the stained-glass windows†¦ shone the growing flash of flames. 91 Langdon and Vittoria dashed to the main entrance of the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria and found the wooden door locked. Vittoria fired three shots from Olivetti's semi-automatic into the ancient bolt, and it shattered. The church had no anteroom, so the entirety of the sanctuary spread out in one gasping sweep as Langdon and Vittoria threw open the main door. The scene before them was so unexpected, so bizarre, that Langdon had to close his eyes and reopen them before his mind could take it all in. The church was lavish baroque†¦ gilded walls and altars. Dead center of the sanctuary, beneath the main cupola, wooden pews had been stacked high and were now ablaze in some sort of epic funeral pyre. A bonfire shooting high into the dome. As Langdon's eyes followed the inferno upward, the true horror of the scene descended like a bird of prey. High overhead, from the left and right sides of the ceiling, hung two incensor cables – lines used for swinging frankincense vessels above the congregation. These lines, however, carried no incensors now. Nor were they swinging. They had been used for something else†¦ Suspended from the cables was a human being. A naked man. Each wrist had been connected to an opposing cable, and he had been hoisted almost to the point of being torn apart. His arms were outstretched in a spread-eagle as if he were nailed to some sort of invisible crucifix hovering within the house of God. Langdon felt paralyzed as he stared upward. A moment later, he witnessed the final abomination. The old man was alive, and he raised his head. A pair of terrified eyes gazed down in a silent plea for help. On the man's chest was a scorched emblem. He had been branded. Langdon could not see it clearly, but he had little doubt what the marking said. As the flames climbed higher, lapping at the man's feet, the victim let out a cry of pain, his body trembling. As if ignited by some unseen force, Langdon felt his body suddenly in motion, dashing down the main aisle toward the conflagration. His lungs filled with smoke as he closed in. Ten feet from the inferno, at a full sprint, Langdon hit a wall of heat. The skin on his face singed, and he fell back, shielding his eyes and landing hard on the marble floor. Staggering upright, he pressed forward again, hands raised in protection. Instantly he knew. The fire was far too hot. Moving back again, he scanned the chapel walls. A heavy tapestry, he thought. If I can somehow smother the†¦ But he knew a tapestry was not to be found. This is a baroque chapel, Robert, not some damn German castle! Think! He forced his eyes back to the suspended man. High above, smoke and flames swirled in the cupola. The incensor cables stretched outward from the man's wrists, rising to the ceiling where they passed through pulleys, and descended again to metal cleats on either side of the church. Langdon looked over at one of the cleats. It was high on the wall, but he knew if he could get to it and loosen one of the lines, the tension would slacken and the man would swing wide of the fire. A sudden surge of flames crackled higher, and Langdon heard a piercing scream from above. The skin on the man's feet was starting to blister. The cardinal was being roasted alive. Langdon fixed his sights on the cleat and ran for it. In the rear of the church, Vittoria clutched the back of a pew, trying to gather her senses. The image overhead was horrid. She forced her eyes away. Do something! She wondered where Olivetti was. Had he seen the Hassassin? Had he caught him? Where were they now? Vittoria moved forward to help Langdon, but as she did, a sound stopped her. The crackling of the flames was getting louder by the instant, but a second sound also cut the air. A metallic vibration. Nearby. The repetitive pulse seemed to emanate from the end of the pews to her left. It was a stark rattle, like the ringing of a phone, but stony and hard. She clutched the gun firmly and moved down the row of pews. The sound grew louder. On. Off. A recurrent vibration. As she approached the end of the aisle, she sensed the sound was coming from the floor just around the corner at the end of the pews. As she moved forward, gun outstretched in her right hand, she realized she was also holding something in her left hand – her cell phone. In her panic she had forgotten that outside she had used it to dial the commander†¦ setting off his phone's silent vibration feature as a warning. Vittoria raised her phone to her ear. It was still ringing. The commander had never answered. Suddenly, with rising fear, Vittoria sensed she knew what was making the sound. She stepped forward, trembling. The entire church seemed to sink beneath her feet as her eyes met the lifeless form on the floor. No stream of liquid flowed from the body. No signs of violence tattooed the flesh. There was only the fearful geometry of the commander's head†¦ torqued backward, twisted 180 degrees in the wrong direction. Vittoria fought the images of her own father's mangled body. The phone on the commander's belt lay against the floor, vibrating over and over against the cold marble. Vittoria hung up her own phone, and the ringing stopped. In the silence, Vittoria heard a new sound. A breathing in the dark directly behind her. She started to spin, gun raised, but she knew she was too late. A laser beam of heat screamed from the top of her skull to the soles of her feet as the killer's elbow crashed down on the back of her neck. â€Å"Now you are mine,† a voice said. Then, everything went black. Across the sanctuary, on the left lateral wall, Langdon balanced atop a pew and scraped upward on the wall trying to reach the cleat. The cable was still six feet above his head. Cleats like these were common in churches and were placed high to prevent tampering. Langdon knew priests used wooden ladders called piuli to access the cleats. The killer had obviously used the church's ladder to hoist his victim. So where the hell is the ladder now! Langdon looked down, searching the floor around him. He had a faint recollection of seeing a ladder in here somewhere. But where? A moment later his heart sank. He realized where he had seen it. He turned toward the raging fire. Sure enough, the ladder was high atop the blaze, engulfed in flames. Filled now with desperation, Langdon scanned the entire church from his raised platform, looking for anything at all that could help him reach the cleat. As his eyes probed the church, he had a sudden realization. Where the hell is Vittoria? She had disappeared. Did she go for help? Langdon screamed out her name, but there was no response. And where is Olivetti? There was a howl of pain from above, and Langdon sensed he was already too late. As his eyes went skyward again and saw the slowly roasting victim, Langdon had thoughts for only one thing. Water. Lots of it. Put out the fire. At least lower the flames.† I need water, damn it!† he yelled out loud. â€Å"That's next,† a voice growled from the back of the church. Langdon wheeled, almost falling off the pews. Striding up the side aisle directly toward him came a dark monster of a man. Even in the glow of the fire, his eyes burned black. Langdon recognized the gun in his hand as the one from his own jacket pocket†¦ the one Vittoria had been carrying when they came in. The sudden wave of panic that rose in Langdon was a frenzy of disjunct fears. His initial instinct was for Vittoria. What had this animal done to her? Was she hurt? Or worse? In the same instant, Langdon realized the man overhead was screaming louder. The cardinal would die. Helping him now was impossible. Then, as the Hassassin leveled the gun at Langdon's chest, Langdon's panic turned inward, his senses on overload. He reacted on instinct as the shot went off. Launching off the bench, Langdon sailed arms first over the sea of church pews. When he hit the pews, he hit harder than he had imagined, immediately rolling to the floor. The marble cushioned his fall with all the grace of cold steel. Footsteps closed to his right. Langdon turned his body toward the front of the church and began scrambling for his life beneath the pews. High above the chapel floor, Cardinal Guidera endured his last torturous moments of consciousness. As he looked down the length of his naked body, he saw the skin on his legs begin to blister and peel away. I am in hell, he decided. God, why hast thou forsaken me? He knew this must be hell because he was looking at the brand on his chest upside down†¦ and yet, as if by the devil's magic, the word made perfect sense. Angels & Demons 92 Three ballotings. No Pope. Inside the Sistine Chapel, Cardinal Mortati had begun praying for a miracle. Send us the candidates! The delay had gone long enough. A single missing candidate, Mortati could understand. But all four? It left no options. Under these conditions, achieving a two-thirds majority would take an act of God Himself. When the bolts on the outer door began to grind open, Mortati and the entire College of Cardinals wheeled in unison toward the entrance. Mortati knew this unsealing could mean only one thing. By law, the chapel door could only be unsealed for two reasons – to remove the very ill, or to admit late cardinals. The preferiti are coming! Mortati's heart soared. Conclave had been saved. But when the door opened, the gasp that echoed through the chapel was not one of joy. Mortati stared in incredulous shock as the man walked in. For the first time in Vatican history, a camerlegno had just crossed the sacred threshold of conclave after sealing the doors. What is he thinking! The camerlegno strode to the altar and turned to address the thunderstruck audience. â€Å"Signori,† he said, â€Å"I have waited as long as I can. There is something you have a right to know.†

Hoc-est Corpus †This is My Body †Religious Studies Essay

Hoc-est Corpus – This is My Body – Religious Studies Essay Free Online Research Papers Hoc-est Corpus This is My Body Religious Studies Essay Ever wonder where the phrase hocus pocus came from? It is corrupted from the Latin, hoc-est corpus, meaning: This is my body. Throughout history transubstantiationalist beliefs abound, mostly in archaic cultures. Plants and animals involved in sacraments and rituals were believed to literally transform into the flesh of the gods. Cultures and religions all over the world have used entheogens (term to describe plants and chemicals that have religious import) in their spiritual practices, incorporating religious, medicinal, and psychotherapeutic dimensions, transcendence to communicate with the gods. From 1,000 to 500 B.C.E., in Central and South America, psilocybin was given the name Temamacatlth which means Gods flesh. Ayahuasca or DMT, called vine of the soul, is still used in these religious ceremonies spanning 70 different peoples also in Central and South America. Chemists have been baffled for years by the extensive knowledge of these indigenous people, and the plants they use for healing and spiritual purposes. The tribes claim that their knowledge came from the plants themselves, which they are able to communicate with while being intoxicated. Peyote, in North America, is viewed not as a plant, but as a god by the Huichol Indians of Mexico and is used as a spiritual medicine, a plant sacrament, and plant teacher, but is considered an entire way of life. According to Ralph Metzner, a professor of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, the use of hallucinogens as an adjunct to yogic practices is known to this day in India, among certain Shaivite sects in particular (Hallucinogens: A Reader p. 23). Marijuana has been called weed of wisdom and angels food, and is mentioned in the Bible several times. For example, in Exodus 30:23, God commands Moses to make a holy anointing oil of myrrh, sweet cinnamon, kassia and kaneh bosm. Kaneh bosm in Hebrew, literally means, kannabos or kannabus. Sometimes it is mistranslated into calamus. The root kan means reed or hemp, and bosm means aromatic. Other examples are found in Song of Solomon 4:14, Isaiah 43:24, Jeremiah 6:20, and Ezekiel 27:19. In the Jewish sect of Ess ene, every prophet had to go through an initiation, which consisted of a sacred meal where God was identified as being part of the consumed. Taoists refer to psilocybin as the divine mushroom of immortality. Gordon Wasson postulates in his book Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality, that â€Å"soma† in Vedic literature, a red fruit leading to spontaneous but impermanent enlightenment to those who ingest it, is actually the Fly Agaric, Amanita Muscaria Mushroom. It is thought by some that Aristotle, Plato and Sophocles all participated in ceremonies at a temple in Eluesis which honored Demeter, the earth goddess, in which a fungal concoction was served that some, including Albert Hoffmann, Carl Ruck and Gordon Wasson speculate, is an LSD-like, ergot-derived beverage. Let me provide just a spectrum of different religious uses people would use these substances for: opening of extrasensory channels of perception such as telepathy, clairvoyance, and astral projection, loss of the fear of death, profound personal transformation and rejuvenation, communion with natural forces, animals and plant life, rites of passage with themes of birth, sex and death, reclaiming ancestral heritage, connection with a totem animal, direct communication or even possession by deities or demons and other archetypal beings, healing mediated by spirit guides or animal helpers, and quite often used in combination with other spiritual practices such as yoga, meditation and prayer. Throughout human experience, entheogens have had a role in religious institutions. I will argue that in a country where religious freedom is granted, the use of these substances should be recognized for their religious value, and be protected under civil liberties. Furthermore, to deny this right is not only a contradiction of the constitution but an act of oppression and discrimination against the God-given right to control destinies as well as religious evolution. Not until the 16th century did political systems formally forbid these substances. Punishment for ingestion was often death. â€Å"Witches† persecuted during the inquisitions were accused of using hallucinogenic plants, specifically those of the nightshade family such as mandrake. For this many were tortured, murdered and burned. â€Å"The mandrake is the ‘Tree of Knowledge† and the burning love ignited by its pleasure is the origin of the human race (Hugo Rahner Greek Myths in Christian Meaning, 1957).† They also used the stereotypical amphibians in their witches’ brews, whose secretions are hallucinogenic much like the Colorado River Toad which secretes considerable amounts of DMT-like compounds. This attitude has been carried over into our current attitudes and laws regarding these substances. In the first amendment to the United States Constitution, all citizens are granted the right to religious freedom. But what constitutes religious freedom? Furthermore, what constitutes religious experience? The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy by Simon Blackburn defines religious experience as any experience carrying as its content the presence of something divine or transcendentas being able to comprehend a timeless and eternal divine order to the universe. Further, it defines freedom as a condition of liberation from social and cultural forces that are perceived as impeding self-realization.† To become free is therefore a challenge that is only met by personal transformation. There are common misconceptions regarding the definition of religion which have crept into our culture. The Webster’s Dictionary defines religion as 1) a belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe; 2) a set of beliefs, values, and pra ctices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader. It defines religious as having or showing belief and reverence for God or a deity. Buddhism, though, is non-theistic, not believing in a creator and governor of the universe. Still, it is recognized as a religion. According to definition number two, one can be part of a religion as long as one follows the teachings of a spiritual leader and thus be protected under the first amendment. Why then cant anyone follow the teaching of a Native American spiritual leader, under the protection under law? On the very first page of Aldous Huxleys The Doors of Perception, he says, In the words of one of the early Spanish visitors to the New World, they eat a root which they call peyote, and which they venerate as though it were a deity. Hallucinogens such as LSD, DMT, cannabis, mescaline, psilocybin (mushrooms) and peyote are all listed as Schedule One by our government. To be classified Schedule One means three things: that these substances have 1) a high potential for abuse, 2) no currently accepted medicinal use in treatment in the United States, and 3) a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision. There are many inherent problems with this law. Marijuana has been used and prescribed by doctors all over the U.S. for things such as glaucoma, depression, anorexia and for cancer patients going through chemotherapy. Yet the government says that there is no accepted medicinal use of marijuana. Why is this? The law says The listing of peyote as a controlled substance in Schedule One does not apply to the non-drug use of peyote in bona fide religious ceremonies of the Native American Church, and members of the Native American Church so using peyote are exempt from registration.† In states such as Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin, the use of peyote is only protected within Native American Church ceremonies. Idaho and Texas, however, require some Native American Heritage in order to be exempt. What does it mean when they use the term â€Å"non-drug use†? They’re saying that when you use a drug for religious reasons it is no longer a drug. When you take a drug for negative reasons then it is a drug. The Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines drug as â€Å"a substance used as a medication or in the preparation of medication. Dictionary.com defines drug as 1) â€Å" A substance used in the diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of a disease or as a component of a medication; and as 2) A chemical substance, such as a narcotic or hallucinogen, that affects the central nervous system, causing changes in behavior.† Peyote is a drug! No matter how you use it. In the Tao Te Ching it says, â€Å"Nature provides everythingfor all without discrimination Therefore let us present the same face to everyone and treat all men as equals. But notice how the law specifies that peyote may only be used by a religious organization. Therefore, one doesnt have religious freedom unless one is part of a particular organization. Jane English, who helped translate the Tao Te Ching into English along with Gia-Fu Feng, said in her introduction, The Taoist Way is not dependent on race, creed or any culture form. Native Americans are exempt from peyote law. Therefore, that freedom is only provided for a certain race. This is not religious freedom. It discriminates all other races. Ayahuasca is protected as a religious practice in Brazil. If a certain practice is considered religious by another country, culture or tradition, and our country is founded on the melting pot ideal, granting religious freedom; why is it that we do not recognize religious practices from other countries for our citizens? Research indicates that people who take ayahuasca show unusually large numbers of serotonin receptors (Stanislav Grof, Forgotten Truth). This is beginning to prove to western psychiatrists that this plant can be more effective in treating certain types of depression and other psychiatric conditions that exist in the current psychiatric paradigm. LSD, when first discovered, showed great promise for psychiatric use. However, as it hit the streets in the 60s, in conjunct with the Vietnam protests and the counter culture movement, it inevitably became illegal as a result of fear and gained a terrible reputation. Because of this it became unavailable to the medical field. This is a strange paradox: How is it that the dominant white culture succeeded in only making an entire field of study taboo and any use thereof punishable by imprisonment, where the same substances are the sacrament of a particular subculture within the larger society and is protected by law? Ralph Metzner postulates, T he fact that the serious use of hallucinogens continues despite severe social and legal sanctions suggests that this is a kind of individual freedom that is not easy to abolish. It also suggests that there is a strong need in certain people to reestablish their connections with ancient traditions of knowledge, in which visionary states of consciousness and exploration of other realities, with or without hallucinogens, were the main concern. In religions and cultures that have made use of hallucinogens, ceremonies express and reinforce the integration of mind, body and spirit; they are simultaneously religious, medicinal, and psychotherapeutic, such as peyote-use, healing-singing circles, sweat lodge and spirit dance among Native Americans. In dominant white societies, we have compartmentalized medicine, psychology and religious spirituality. When hit by the overflow of these drugs on the streets, which were under research at the time, each group approached these substances with fear of its unpredictable transformations of physical perception as well as worldviews. Thus the natural reaction was total prohibition (which hasnt seemed to be such a good idea in the past) not only for religious practices, but also from further research into medicinal and psychotherapeutic uses. These dominant groups didnt want consciousness expanding drugs, or anyone to use them of their own free will. This assumes that people are too ignoran t to make reasoned, informed choices of how to treat their own illnesses, psychological problems, and how to cultivate their own religious practice. The big difference is that in cultures that use these tools, the visions produced are not feared but accepted and respected. They assume that their people have the capacity and responsibility to attune themselves to higher spiritual sources of knowledge and healing. An Ayahuasca Song of the Shipibo sings â€Å"Ayahuasca, medicine, enrapture me fully! Help me by opening your beautiful world to me! You also are created by the god who created man! Reveal to me completely your medicine worlds. I shall heal the sick bodies: These sick children and this sick woman shall I heal by making everything good!† This drug is the cornerstone of some cultures origin of all knowledge (as said in Jeremy Narby’s The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge) and medicine. If one were to move from this culture into the U.S. and continu e their religious practice, they would be arrested. We have limited religious freedom. Aldous Huxley proposes in The Doors of Perception that modern religions are no longer adequate for the sense of meaning and purpose we require. Religions have become merely words, abstract conceptualization. We need direct experience. It is becoming increasingly difficult for westerners and people in technological/industrial societies to feel the interconnectedness with nature and fellow humans. Many people, certainly many young people who take drugs, do not use hallucinogens as a means of escape, but for achieving the satisfaction of interconnectedness in a spiritual sense. There are many who argue that drugs cannot produce genuine mystical experiences and have no role in spiritual life. What is it then that makes an experience religious? As part of certain religions, people bless their meals through prayer before they eat, although most people dont consider it a sacred or ritualistic act. Intention is what makes a given experience authentically religious. The same drug, or method, can be used to attain nirvana, or religious vision, while in the case of others, such as Charles Manson, could lead to perverse and sadistic acts of violence. These drugs are merely tools to attain altered states, which state depends on the intention of the user. In Buddhism, there is an idea of â€Å"the finger pointing to the moon.† The significance of this metaphor is to simply point out that there are many different paths, many different methods, of getting to the same goal. There are many different sects in Buddhism, for example, with different methodologies, all geared toward achieving the same goal of enlightenment. One can have a religious experience through peyote, through meditation, through yoga, through the use of other psychedelics, or any integration or combination of various spiritual practices. According to the Moral Accounting Metaphor, proposed by Lakoff and Johnson, rights are viewed as entitlements to certain moral goods, meaning certain aspects of well-being. The problem is that few people decide what well-being is for its community, its nation, and all individuals therein. Our conceptions of well-being may or may not be universal among all cultures of the world. But all have a sense of what is right and what is wrong no matter how they come to those conclusions. Many of our metaphorical conceptualizations of morality are inconsistent with one another. Adam Smith proposed that if all citizens of a nation pursue their own self-interest that an invisible hand would operate to bring about the wealth of all. Combining this with the Moral Accounting Metaphor we get the Morality is the Pursuit of Self-Interest Metaphor. Adam Smith’s theory was one of the founding principles of this country and affected how we conduct our business as a nation throughout the world. In P hilosophy in the Flesh, Lakoff and Johnson discuss moral superiority in the moral order metaphor: â€Å"Western culture over non-Western culture; America over other countries; citizens over immigrants; Christians over non-Christians; straights over gays; the rich over the poor. Incidentally, the Moral Order metaphor gives us a better understanding of what fascism is: Fascism legitimizes such a moral order and seeks to enforce it through the power of the state (p. 304).† In our culture using drugs in viewed as wrong, immoral, dirty and repulsive. The prevailing although rarely acknowledged attitude in American courts is that almost any trial is too good for a person accused of a drug crime. That attitude was succinctly displayed in a remark made in 1987 by one of the most liberal Supreme Court Justices. The late Thurgood Marshall, a lifelong defender of the Bill of Rights, told Life Magazine, If its a dope case, I wont even read the petition. I aint giving no break to no dope dealer. That statement caught the attention of some in the legal profession, but it produced neither a bark of criticism nor a paragraph of protest. What would have happened if Justice Marshall had said the same thing about petitions from politicians convicted of bribery? Or those of securities dealers convicted of stock fraud? In stark contrast, when Judge Harold Baer ruled in favor of a drug defendant, Presidential candidate Bob Dole called for his impeachment and the White House said it would ask for his resignation if he didn’t change his ru ling. He changed it. Police may search an open field without warrant or cause, even if it has no trespassing signs and the police trespass is a criminal offense. They may also, as in Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four, conduct close helicopter surveillance of our homes and backyards. They may also search our garbage cans without cause. First class mail may be opened without a warrant on less than probable cause The exclusionary rule which forbids use of illegally-obtained evidence has been restricted to the point of absurdity. The rule does not apply to grand jury proceedings, to civil cases, or even to sentencing procedures. It does not apply even in a criminal trial if the defendant has the temerity to testify in his own defense, for the illegally-obtained evidence can then be used to impeach the defendant as a witness. The signers of the Declaration of Independence believed, with John Locke, that the right of property was fundamental and inalienable, an aspect of humanity. They regarded liberty as impossible without property, which was the guardian of every other right. These beliefs are reflected in constitutional text. The Fifth Amendment declares that No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. Under federal statutes, any property is subject to forfeiture if it is used, or intended to be used, in any manner or part, to commit or to facilitate the commission of a drug crime. No one need be convicted or even accused of a crime for forfeiture to occur. Indeed, in eighty percent or more of drug forfeitures, no one is ever charged with a crime. A person can have her motor home confiscated without any proceedings of any kind, if the confiscation is a drug forfeiture. Courts hold that illegally seized property need not be returned if the police can establish probable cause at the forfeiture proceeding itself. It doesnt matter that there was no cause for the seizure; it doesnt matter that the seizure was illegal, even unconstitutional. If the government can later establish probable cause (through investigation of the seized property itself after the seizure), that is sufficient to uphold a forfeiture. A court recently held that a home was forfeitable because the owner, when he applied for a home equity loan, intended to use the proceeds to buy drugs. By the time the loan actually came through, he had used other funds for that purpose, but that didnt matter, the court said, because he had intended to use the home to secure a loan, the proceeds of which he intended to use for drugs. The home was therefore no longer his. Any activities within a home that relate to drugs are sufficient for forfeiture of the home. A phone call to or from a source, the possession of chemicals, wrappers, paraphernalia of any kind; the storing or reading of any how to books on the cultivation or production of drugs, which I own. The operative question is whether any of these activities was intended to facilitate a drug offense. If a car is driven to or from a place where drugs are bought or sold and is then parked in a garage attached to a home, the home has then been used to store the car, which facilitated the transaction, and is probably forfeitable along with the car. If the home is located on a 120 acre farm, the entire farm goes as well. When drug proceeds were deposited in a bank account that contained several hundred thousand dollars in clean funds, the entire account was declared forfeit on the theory that the clean funds facilitated the laundering of the tainted funds. Where a drug dealer owned and operated a ranch, his quarter horses all 27 of them were forfeited on the theory that as part of a legitimate business, the livestock were part of a front for the owners illegal activities. On this theory, the more innocent ones use of property is, the more effective it is as a front or cover and therefore the more clearly forfeitable. Dozens of people have lost their homes for growing a few marijuana plants for personal use, including James Burton, a glaucoma sufferer who needed the marijuana to keep from going blind. Burton lost not only his home but his 90 acre Kentucky farm. Thousands of car owners have forfeited their cars because they, or someone else to whom they lent the car, used the car to buy or attempt to buy a small quantity of drugs for personal consumption. Boats and airplanes worth millions of dollars have been forfeited because minute quantities of marijuana were found on board. Yachts and fishing vessels worth millions were seized merely because a crew member may have possessed a small amount of marijuana. The sheriff of Volusia County, Florida routinely stops cars and searches them. If substantial sums of money are found, the money is confiscated, whether or not any drugs are found. The theory is that the money is probably drug related. Police commonly use trained dogs to sniff in and around cars. The dogs usually react positively to cash and therefore suggest the presence of cocaine. This produces a full search and, often, discovery of cash, which is confiscated. But who prosecutes the confiscators, especially if the prosecutor gets part of the proceeds? The Supreme Court said in 1974, the innocence of the owner is irrelevant. After the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, owners of any property seized under civil forfeiture proceedings can defeat forfeiture if they can prove either that offending use occurred or that the offending use occurred without the knowledge or consent of [the] owner. In a Milwaukee case, the owner of a 36-unit apartment building plagued by dope dealing evicted 10 tenants suspected of drug use, gave a master key to the police, forwarded tips to the police and even hired two security firms. The city seized the building anyway. Already, federal forfeiture statutes apply to pornography, gambling, and several other offenses, as well as drugs. Many state statutes apply to property used in any felony. The forfeiture of cars used in sex offenses is commonplace. Some cities confiscate the cars of johns who cruise neighborhoods looking for prostitutes. Other states take ones car for drunk driving. It is clear that the drug war cannot succeed in ending the consumption of illicit substances but if the unwinnable war continues, it can deprive us all of precious liberties. It has already done so. Terrence McKenna said, Psychedelics are a red-hot, social/ethical issue precisely because they are de-conditioning agents. They will raise doubts in you if you are a Hassidic rabbi, a Marxist anthropologist, or an altar boy because their business is to dissolve belief systems. In the Buddhist idea of samsara, it is thought that the human mind will do all it can to attach itself to its own ego or idea of the self. Meditation in this tradition is also known as a de-conditioning agent where self-created ideas of self and reality disappear to reveal ones true Buddha-nature. McKenna felt we have a moral obligation to examine and think clearly about our notions of self and other. Psychedelics have played a role in this process all throughout history. Why are they not valued, recognized and included today in our culture/political system? Ralph Metzner said, Our materialist-technological societycan ill afford to ignore any potential aids to greater knowledge of the human mind. Approaching th ese substances with fear and disbelief will only harm us. We must protect these substances for religious, medicinal and psychotherapeutic purposes. One could achieve exploration of unconscious or â€Å"unmapped† areas of the mind, as Huxley puts it, through a wide variety of spiritual practices such as prayer, meditation, yoga, martial arts, extreme exercise, or even intense moments of emotion, positive or negative. It is within our power to fully awaken to our innate Buddha-Nature at any time as the Zen tradition believes but it relies on the intention of the user at any given moment. In The Doors of Perception Huxley asks â€Å"What is the Dharma-Body of the Buddha? the Master answers ‘the hedge at the bottom of the garden.’† And Huxley replies â€Å"†¦of course the Dharma-Body was the hedge at the bottom of the garden. At the same time, and no less obviously, it was anything that I or rather the blessed Not-I, released for a moment from my throttling embrace cared to look at (p.19).† Huxley explains, taking a theory of Dr. C. D. Broad, a Cambridge philosopher, that â€Å"the function of the brain and nervous system and sense organs is in the main eliminative and not productive (p. 22).† Again referring to Buddhist philosophy he says that everyone is capable at each moment of being aware of all that is occurring in the universe and remembering all that has happened in the universe. Thus the function of the brain is protection from the overwhelming and confusing infinite knowledge of the universe which is largely useless and irrelevant at given moments. We only use what is necessary in the present moment for fulfilling basic desires such as survival and sustenance. Thus, â€Å"Mind at Large† is filtered through our brain and nervous system and all that comes out is a â€Å"trickle† of consciousness. Most people, most of the time only know what is brought through their own reducing valve. These spiritual exercises, hypnosis, and chemicals create by-passes into â€Å"Mind at Large.† Huxley explains: â€Å"The great change was in the realm of objective fact. What had happened to my subjective universe was relatively unimportant†¦Space [and time] were still there; but it had lost its predominance. The mind was primarily concerned, not with measures and locations, but with being and meaning (p. 16, 20).† Mescaline can do this by lowering the efficiency of the mind, in the sense that by regulating the enzyme system in cerebral functioning it draws attention away from mental events normally excluded because they possess no survival imperative. This also can explain how fasting can induce visionary experiences; by sinking the amount of sugar to the brain reducing the biological efficiency. Furthermore, vitamin deficiency removes nicotinic acid from the blood, a known inhibitor of visions. Our normal perceptual lives can also act as an inhibitor of visionary experiences. Psychologists have found that if you put someone in an â€Å"isolation tank†, or restricted environment where there is no sound, smell, light, or perceivable things and place them in a tepid bath with only one thing to perceive, one will begin to start â€Å"see things,† â€Å"hear things,† and have strange tactile sensations. In such traditions involving extreme asceticism and meditation in both wes tern and eastern traditions, there are similar effects. As Huxley says, â€Å"Their self-inflicted punishment may be the door to paradise (p. 88).† I am not arguing that these substances are safe and should be used by everyone. It is well known that these â€Å"drugs† have harmed many people, caused psychotic episodes; people commit suicide while on them etc. This is another important reason why they are approached with fear. However many people are able to take these tools responsibly and under religious ritual. We are being oppressed by these embodied attitudes and laws. 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