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Faith, Native & European Relations
Faith, Native & European Relations
Author
Institution
Relationships between communities are always bound to elicit mixed reaction from different quarters. This is especially when the case in question applies to the relationship during times of colonialism. This is the case in the relationship between Europeans and Native Americans. The phrase or term Native Americans is used in reference to the Indigenous peoples in North America, who are within the present-day boundaries of the continental United States, the island state of Hawaii and parts of Alaska. These are composed of the varied, unique Native American ethnic groups and tribes, most of which have survived as intact political communities (Calloway, 1994). European explorers and colonialists discovered and settled in North America. It goes without saying that their intrusion on the Native Americans modified their culture. It is noteworthy that the relationships between Native Americans and their European colonialists and settlers had started out in a friendly manner before they became uncomfortable to the point of skirmishes and conflicts breaking out between them (Calloway, 1994). One of the key sources of the conflicts was the mere fact that the European settlers and colonialists felt obliged to convert of change the natives into Christians, something that most of the Native Americans especially Indians suspiciously resented. The conditions resulted in the loss of lives and trust for innumerable people. It is obvious that the people of North America still experience the repercussions of the colonial times even today (Calloway, 1994).
It have always thought that faith and religion created strong bonds between the Native Americans and their European colonialists and settlers. This is especially having in mind that the teachings of Christianity have always espoused on virtues such as kindness and always doing right, especially when dealing with other human beings. These virtues were extremely likely to be appealing to the Native Americans, in which case they would have felt compelled to reach out to the settlers and colonialists.
However, this does not come out as the case between Native Americans and the European counterparts, at least going by James Roark’s “The American Promise: A History of the United States”. Obviously, faith and especially Christianity played various key roles in the relationship that existed between Native Americans and the European settlers or colonialists. It is worth noting that several millennia before the European settlers established their foothold in the North American continent, the Native Americans were aligned to varied spiritual practices, which they held strongly. It is noteworthy that the Indian Americans were particularly suspicious of the teachings of Christianity that were introduced by the European settlers and colonialists. In essence, it emerges that faith served as a dividing tool between the two groups of people (Roark, 2008). This is especially when considering that their efforts to treat Native Americans fairly were undermined by the religious misunderstanding and their greed for land. The West underlines a story of conquest, as well as competing visions and promises on the land with quite a large number of people laying claim to it and playing a key role in settling it (The people, 2001). This is the same case that applies in African countries and other colonies, irrespective of the variations in the colonizers. The treatment of Native Americans by the European settlers and colonialists led to a combination of exploitive greed and the altruistic religious ideology. It is worth noting that the combination broke down to an unfortunate loss of blood, justice and trust.
References
James Roark, J (2008). The American Promise: A History of the United States. New York: Bedford/St Martins
The People, (2001). The West: Episode One (to 1806). Web retrieved 4th July 2012 from HYPERLINK “http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/episodes/one/” http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/episodes/one/
Calloway, CG (1994). The World Turned Upside Down Indian Voices from Early America, Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1994
(Calloway, 1994)
Drug and Substance Abuse
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Drug and Substance Abuse
Drug and substance abuse is the compulsive intake of various drugs against the doctor’s prescription. Although each drug has its ill effects if used without the advice of a qualified physician, they all affect the reasoning and judging capabilities of our brain. Different people experiment with different drugs for various purposes, a good number of them use for pleasurable fun, others use them for stress management and others for athletics performance inorder to increase the endurance of their body. Many argue that alcohol is one of the most socially acceptable drug to be used and abused. But according to Drug abuse (2014), alcohol is regarded as a depressant that alters the functioning of the central nervous system, drinkers will feel composed if taken in lesser quantities as compared to larger quantities which causes loss of balance, poor judgment and even to the extreme of an individual losing his consciousness. Due to its high concentrations of toxic compounds, health issues like liver cirrhosis may arise.
Help Guide (2012) defines the development of drug and substance abuse by explaining that few addicts cannot distinguish between regular use of drugs and substance abuse, many have no idea when they cross the line to be hard core addicts, judging with the frequency of use which increases with time. This can be a basis of looking for help and advice from qualified practitioners, if the feeling of normalcy cannot be attained without taking a portion of a substance.
Help Guide (2012) explains some of the symptoms that may constitute to drug abuse. Some of this addictions may come without much notice as using cocaine in a party or smoking marijuana can be a once in a while thing, which may later result in a weekly thing, later a daily routine and finally using the drug may become essential to someone’s functioning. The second issue is when the substance in use, fulfills a certain urgency. When taking the substance boosts self confidence in social gatherings or eradicates anxiety when need arises. Even acceptable situations like getting a prescription from a doctor to use a certain drug at certain time interval may re4sult to addiction if over used against the advice given. Another issue is the need of filling a void in someone’s life, lack of certain social experiences may result to drug abuse .as one might find the n need to use drugs in order to curb loneliness.
A very interesting fact is that drug abusers may show no need to change their behavior, and may at times act oblivious of their unacceptable actions during the time they were under the influence of the drug. This should not go unnoticed, in fact employers, therapists, family members and other concerned parties are supposed to confront them with the consequences of their behavior.
To the affected, withdrawal from substance abuse may be a very difficult step to endure, moral support and proper help should be put into consideration to help with the journey to a different sober life. The good news is that there are different institutions that offer the proper treatment which are devoted to curbing this issue. The only step someone is supposed to take is to recognize the problem or listen to fellow men who are often in a better position to see the adverse effects that the drugs have on you. Care must also be taken not to confront the person suffering from this condition negatively, as this may result in resistance and at times conflict between the concerned parties and the victim.
References
‘Drug abuse”. Drugabuse.com. 14 May 2012. Web. 28 march 2014.
“Help guide”. Helpguide.org. 12 June 2012. Web. 28 March 2014
Faith and Native & European Relations
Faith and Native & European Relations
Author
Institution
Relationships between communities are always bound to elicit mixed reaction from different quarters. This is especially when the case in question applies to the relationship during times of colonialism. This is the case in the relationship between Europeans and Native Americans. The phrase or term Native Americans is used in reference to the Indigenous peoples in North America, who are within the present-day boundaries of the continental United States, the island state of Hawaii and parts of Alaska. These are composed of the varied, unique Native American ethnic groups and tribes, most of which have survived as intact political communities (Calloway, 1994). European explorers and colonialists discovered and settled in North America. It goes without saying that their intrusion on the Native Americans modified their culture. It is noteworthy that the relationships between Native Americans and their European colonialists and settlers had started out in a friendly manner before they became uncomfortable to the point of skirmishes and conflicts breaking out between them (Calloway, 1994). One of the key sources of the conflicts was the mere fact that the European settlers and colonialists felt obliged to convert of change the natives into Christians, something that most of the Native Americans especially Indians suspiciously resented. The conditions resulted in the loss of lives and trust for innumerable people. It is obvious that the people of North America still experience the repercussions of the colonial times even today (Calloway, 1994).
It have always thought that faith and religion created strong bonds between the Native Americans and their European colonialists and settlers. This is especially having in mind that the teachings of Christianity have always espoused on virtues such as kindness and always doing right, especially when dealing with other human beings. These virtues were extremely likely to be appealing to the Native Americans, in which case they would have felt compelled to reach out to the settlers and colonialists.
However, this does not come out as the case between Native Americans and the European counterparts, at least going by James Roark’s “The American Promise: A History of the United States”. Obviously, faith and especially Christianity played various key roles in the relationship that existed between Native Americans and the European settlers or colonialists. It is worth noting that several millennia before the European settlers established their foothold in the North American continent, the Native Americans were aligned to varied spiritual practices, which they held strongly. It is noteworthy that the Indian Americans were particularly suspicious of the teachings of Christianity that were introduced by the European settlers and colonialists. In essence, it emerges that faith served as a dividing tool between the two groups of people (Roark, 2008). This is especially when considering that their efforts to treat Native Americans fairly were undermined by the religious misunderstanding and their greed for land. The West underlines a story of conquest, as well as competing visions and promises on the land with quite a large number of people laying claim to it and playing a key role in settling it (The people, 2001). This is the same case that applies in African countries and other colonies, irrespective of the variations in the colonizers. The treatment of Native Americans by the European settlers and colonialists led to a combination of exploitive greed and the altruistic religious ideology. It is worth noting that the combination broke down to an unfortunate loss of blood, justice and trust.
References
James Roark, J (2008). The American Promise: A History of the United States. New York: Bedford/St Martins
The People, (2001). The West: Episode One (to 1806). Web retrieved 4th July 2012 from HYPERLINK “http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/episodes/one/” http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/episodes/one/
Calloway, CG (1994). The World Turned Upside Down Indian Voices from Early America, Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1994
(Calloway, 1994)