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Unit 42 Belief and opinion
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Unit 42 Belief and opinion - Форум
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Unit 42 Belief and opinion
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| readeralexey | Дата: Среда, 13.10.2021, 11:26 | Сообщение # 1 |
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| Choose an issue from the following list. How would you describe your views / position on these issues? Explain why.
- Capital punishment
- Women's rights
- Rights of sexual minorities
- Animal rights
- Pro-life / pro-choice controversy
- Green issues / Environmentalism
- Military service
- Immigration
- Emigration
- Freedom of speech
- Safe spaces / No platforming / Cancel culture
- Culture wars
- Marriage / Family / Divorce
- Use of foul language
- Street art / graffitti / tagging
- Russia vis-a-vis the collective West
- State power vs individual freedom / privacy
- Social inequality
- Clash of civilizations
- Marxism
- Post-modernism
- Inclusive language
- Diversity / Inclusivity / Equity
- Eurocentrism
- White privilege
- Cultural appropriation
- Democracy
- Biblical criticism
- Ecumenical movement
- Modern style in church architecture
- Female priesthood
- Worship in Russian
Use as many words from the unit as possible. And more.
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| yarovaya02 | Дата: Пятница, 15.10.2021, 19:49 | Сообщение # 2 |
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| Use of foul language
In my opinion, words which one utters have a strong influence not only on the surrounding world, but also on the inner world.
Words can heal, support and ease pain, but the very same can hurt more than swords. Unwise, rash and hasty words can upset another person, even if the offender did not mean that. An English proverb says: “The least said, the soonest mended.”
Uttered words leave marks in people’s souls. The trace can be either a healing balm, or a bloody scar. Without any doubts, words have impact on the speaker as well. Pronounced words fill the speaker’s soul either with happiness and joy or with malice and despondency.
It is interesting that Masaru Emoto found out that water could react to positive thoughts and words and that polluted water could be cleaned through prayer and positive visualization. His 2004 book The Hidden Messages in Water was a New York Times best seller. If even water reacts to words, how much more people who are fragile and sensitive?
2,5
Сообщение отредактировал yarovaya02 - Воскресенье, 12.12.2021, 14:25 |
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| sasavasl15 | Дата: Воскресенье, 17.10.2021, 17:23 | Сообщение # 3 |
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| I’ve always held that capital punishment is not a valid way to fight crime. I have several reasons why I think so, and now I will try to explain them.
The first factor is the possibility of a judicial error. Until the verdict is passed, the convicted person can prove his innocence, but after the execution of the sentence, nothing can bring the executed person back to life.
The second is that the death penalty is not a deterrent. Criminals often commit new crimes because they know they have nothing to lose. For example, the capital punishment does not matter for a terrorist.
The third factor is the execution does not eliminate the cause of the crime. The main factors provoking crime are poverty, lack of education, inequality, mental abnormalities of a particular criminal. The death penalty cannot in any way affect these reasons.
However, there are about 68 countries in the world that continue to apply this measure. There is no unanimous answer to the question whether society needs the death penalty. The arguments of supporters are a deterrent, the impossibility of relapse, the softness of a life sentence. And I have never understood the fanatical supporters of this method.
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Сообщение отредактировал sasavasl15 - Суббота, 04.06.2022, 18:41 |
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| marichernaya911 | Дата: Понедельник, 18.10.2021, 18:21 | Сообщение # 4 |
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| Green Issues
To begin with, I’m not a convinced ecologist. I use plastic bottles, pasteboard cups in coffee shops, do not even recycle garbage (while I am staying in Moscow). Nevertheless, I maintain that Green Issues are serious problems that have to be in the spotlight of the society.
Nowadays we live in the consumer society. We buy plenty of different commodities, change our clothes too often, use disposable utensils in cafes. Our mentality is tuned for everlasting consuming. Because of all that we leave a great amount of rubbish after us. Scrapyards are overwhelmed and the planet cannot cope with this. If we don't help it, of course.
What can we do? I believe that there are a lot of actions we can take to help our planet. Firstly, we can deliver plastic, paper, glass and fabrics for recycling - today there are many tanks and recycling collection spots in the streets of any city. Secondly,we can make swaps and change things – books, clothes and appliances – for something else. Now there are a lot of services of this kind everywhere too. Thirdly, we can stop consuming so much. There is a popular minimalism tendency nowadays, which opts for having the minimum of things and devices – only ones you can't to without.
To conclude, I’d like to emphasize that Green Issues are serious ones, and we all have to take actions, which are quite easy, for making our life moreenvironmentally acceptable.
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Сообщение отредактировал marichernaya911 - Понедельник, 15.11.2021, 20:32 |
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| ulyana_kazakova | Дата: Понедельник, 18.10.2021, 18:50 | Сообщение # 5 |
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| Capital punishment.
Some people believe that the capital punishment is the norm and it is necessary, while others are convinced of the opposite.
I reckon that modernity should not return to such a penalty (I’m talking about Russia). The first thing to say is that such a massacre of human life generates cruelty in society. It is known that in countries where this execution is allowed, crimes "worthy" of this punishment occur more often. In addition, the execution does not give an opportunity to improve. How can an executed person repent of the crime he committed? No way, he's dead. In my opinion, it is better to put a person in prison than to kill, because in that case, his conscience will overtake him and he will realize his guilt. Since the criminal committed an act for which he could have been killed several centuries ago, let him be put in prison for life.
Perhaps it sounds like a "wish" for a criminal to suffer all his life, but still, I hold that this is more correct than the capital punishment.
In summary, I believe that this punishment should be left in the past, since
life is given to man by God and only in his interests is its duration.
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Добавлено (18.10.2021, 19:21)
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Street art.
Street art is considered to be one of the problematic issues that cause great controversy in society. Conservatives call it vandalism, others see beauty in it.
My personal point of view is that the task of street art is to convey a message to the viewers so that they want to tell everyone about the "artistic message" they saw. One argument in support of this kind of creativity is that it carries an aesthetic function. The paintings on the walls, made by artistically gifted people, look quite stunning and thought-provoking. Another example is the historical memory of events and people. For example, the Tsoi Wall on the Arbat is considered a national monument, despite the fact that it is essentially a part of the building that is covered with hundreds of different phrases, drawings and symbols, in other words graffiti.
In my opinion, street art is great, for the reason that it attracts attention to new places in the city, decorates it, and, of course, captivates new flows of tourists.
Summing up, I would like to say that street art is interesting not only as an object of research, but also as a tool. After all, an essential goal of such art is communication.
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Сообщение отредактировал ulyana_kazakova - Суббота, 11.12.2021, 13:07 |
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| tsvioletta17 | Дата: Четверг, 11.11.2021, 11:43 | Сообщение # 6 |
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Modern society is literally making noise about women's rights and their defense. Let's take a closer look at this.
I will not tell you about historical moments and how women fought for their rights. Our society is already quite knowledgeable about this.
I would like to say something that may surprise ardent feminists, but you should not shout about women's rights everywhere and always. I am also a woman and I know my rights, but I don't live to prove them to everyone.
I believe that it is enough for a modern educated person to know and respect the rights of another and behave appropriately.
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Сообщение отредактировал tsvioletta17 - Четверг, 11.11.2021, 11:44 |
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| amasaltseva | Дата: Четверг, 18.11.2021, 13:59 | Сообщение # 7 |
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| Postmodernism
Postmodernism represents an entire epoch. This is kind of a historical state, a new type of human thinking, and a movement in philosophy and art. Considering the phenomenon of postmodernism, being interested in fine arts, I’m going to talk only about this side of postmodernism.
Before I begin talking about postmodernism exactly, I must mention the term “contemporary art”. Mostly, people confuse these two concepts, merging them together. However, it is important to understand that postmodernism is considered to be only a one component of multifaceted contemporary art.
There are several versions of when exactly contemporary art and postmodernism, in particular, was born. The most common point of view names an amazing exact date of the beginning of the postmodern era, that’s of June 15, 1972, at 15.32. That is the time of the explosion of the Pruitt-Igoe residential complex, which was kind of a symbol of the concentration of modernist ideas.
In order to understand postmodernism better, I will deduce the main features of this movement. The first one is quoting. For a person of the postmodern era, the whole world is a system of signs, figuratively speaking, of a text. So, from the point of view of a postmodern artist, it is not necessary to create something fundamentally new, it is better to resort to "quoting", to borrow images, motifs and techniques from different eras and traditions.
The second feature is a “play”. Irony tells the viewer that this art can’t be perceived too seriously.
The third trait of postmodernism can be considered as the refusal to overthrow traditions. A postmodernist artist rethinks the past, reinterprets traditions.
Another specificity of this movement derives from the principle of mixing high and low. The example of this principle is the transformation of "Kitsch" production into an artistic method. "Kitsch" is a combination of the incongruous. It is something that, mostly for commercial purposes, attracts the viewer with an absurd shape, bright color, either extremely cheap or expensive materials. That is kind of a peculiar way of simulating artistic taste.
Concluding, postmodernism in art is a “fusion” of various methods and ideas. The main ones are borrowing, irony and the freedom of expression. Personally, I find this movement astonishing and compelling. It's something that can "take you out of your comfort zone", that touches your mind and then your heart.
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Сообщение отредактировал amasaltseva - Воскресенье, 05.12.2021, 23:51 |
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| veronikachernykh15 | Дата: Вторник, 30.11.2021, 20:54 | Сообщение # 8 |
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| Animal rights
There are a lot of scientific research, books and information in the media about relationship between two people. To my way of thinking, our attitude to animals is equally important. Because only man can protect them or, on the contrary, to make them suffer. I can't say that I'm a spokesperson of a movement that fights for animal rights but I would like to share my point of view.
There are a lot of cases of violence to the animals in the net. And most of the time they stay unpunished. In my opinion, people who make animals suffer are murderers and should pay the penalty.
Also I consider that before buying a pet, potential owners should be taught how to take care of this specific kind of animal. That will make life easier and happier for both. Nowadays we can observe a lot of examples when pets are abandoned and the government doesn't pay much attention to these animals and this problem.
To sum up, if you have a desire to make life of victims of inhumanity a bit better you can donate to shelters.
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1) I DOUBT that pandemic will stop spreading in a year.
2) Sometimes young generation has some difficulties in communication with CONSERVATIVE people.
3) I have a fear of people who believe FANATICALLY in something.
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Сообщение отредактировал veronikachernykh15 - Воскресенье, 05.12.2021, 23:02 |
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| ulyana_kazakova | Дата: Суббота, 11.12.2021, 12:50 | Сообщение # 9 |
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| 1. I DOUBT that I will fulfill the task given to me.
2. ECCENTRIC people sometimes scare me with their behavior.
3. The position of a PACIFIST, IN MY OPINION, is very humane
Добавлено (11.12.2021, 13:06)
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I am CONVINCED that CONSERVATIVE people often disagree with the IDEOLOGIES of the younger generation. FROM MY POINT OF VIEW, there are a lot of INTELLECTUAL youth in the world now, whose OPINION can be taken into account. I FEEL that everyone's MORALS are different, so I don't see the point in fiercely arguing with other people's BELIEFS.
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Сообщение отредактировал readeralexey - Воскресенье, 12.12.2021, 13:16 |
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| antonryadinski | Дата: Среда, 09.03.2022, 13:23 | Сообщение # 10 |
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| Military service I want to speak about military service and I want to speak about military service in Russian especially. I think that's a big mistake that we have now compulsory military service. Young guys think now that military service is a jail and I also think so. I have some friends who already went through it. They all say that it is a waste of time. They just wasted their year and they did nothing. The good thing they received is a good physical shape and that's all. But as for their brains, they said that they became a little bit stupid.
I also remember what my grandfather told about his military service. It was long ago, maybe 50 years ago, and in those times the service was for three or five years. He told me that it was very frightful because it was a time after WW2. It was really hard to serve in those times. Nowadays I only understand military service with professional volunteer army Only contractors can defend the borders of the country.
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IN my OPINION, many people in our country don’t have FIRM political BELIEFS. Maybe I am wrong but MY POINT OF VIEW is that many people are not IN FAVOUR OF the political situation. I SUSPECT that also there are a lot of people who are AGAINST any political conversation, their VIEWS ON it are radical.
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Отредактировано
Сообщение отредактировал antonryadinski - Четверг, 16.06.2022, 10:42 |
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| tsumskaa30 | Дата: Среда, 23.03.2022, 15:17 | Сообщение # 11 |
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| Pro life / pro choice controversy
The terms "pro-life" and "pro-choice" refer basically to the ideas concerning abortion rights. Those who are pro-life are CONVINCED that abortion should be banned. Those who are pro-choice SUPPORT keeping abortion legal and accessible.
Someone who is "pro-life" HOLDS that the government has an obligation to preserve every human life. This idea prohibits:
* Abortion
* Euthanasia and assisted suicide - a voluntary death which was agreed with the doctor. That means that someone helps the ill person to commit a suicide.
* The death penalty
* War, with few exceptions.
People who are "pro-choice" BELIEVE that individuals have unlimited rights to decide what to do with their reproductive systems. A pro-choice position ASSERTS that the following must remain legal:
• Celibacy and abstinence (like our fasting)
• Abortion
• Childbirth.
The pro-life and pro-choice movements COME INTO CONFLICT on the issue of abortion. The pro-life movement ARGUES that even a nonviable, undeveloped human life is sacred and must be protected by the government. Abortion should be prohibited.
The pro-choice movement ARGUES that the government should not prevent an individual from terminating a pregnancy before the point of viability (when the baby can't live outside the womb).
FROM Christian POINT OF VIEW, an immortal soul is created at the moment of conception or it is passed from their parents at the moment of conception. Then there is no difference between terminating a week-old pregnancy or killing a living, breathing person.
However, many women who have abortions don't do so by choice. According to a study conducted by the Guttmacher Institute, 73 percent of women who had abortions in the USA in 2004 said that they couldn't afford to have children.
TO MY MIND, women who decide to commit an abortion just can’t realise that they kill a true human life with a living soul. That’s why Orthodox Christians HOLD pro-life movement. position.
I SUPPORT those people who are pro-life and EXPRESS THEIR OPINION openly. For example, Natalia Moskvitina from Spas. She has 4 children and helps women who live in bad conditions. Every day her team saves several lives and that should be highly regarded.
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Сообщение отредактировал readeralexey - Пятница, 22.07.2022, 14:54 |
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| katyadorniak | Дата: Пятница, 27.05.2022, 03:06 | Сообщение # 12 |
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| Rights of sexual minorities
I'm going to step on a slippery slope and say a few words about the most controversial topic on this list.
As an Orthodox Christian, I am familiar with Leviticus 20:13. Many modern scholars say that this passage can be interpreted in different ways. But even if we do not object to the accepted translation, we must remember the principle of a Christian's life: hate the sin, not the sinner.
Scientific studies say that a person does not choose a sexual orientation, it is inherent in the genes. This means that everything happens according to the will of God.
And here we come to the issue of rights for homosexuals. If their condition is the result of a genetic combination of circumstances, why can they be denied any rights? People born with genetic diseases and abnormalities are not forbidden to love and raise children. Why should homosexuals who are innocent in their condition have to live without families? Aren't the numerous suicides among them the result of feeling deprived and unloved in society? And shouldn't a Christian do everything to help a suffering person, even if they love people of their own gender?
I believe that rights should be equal for all sane and trustworthy people who are not capable of harming their neighbor. That's all I want to say.
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EkaterinaDolzhenkova
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| posternaksophie | Дата: Понедельник, 06.06.2022, 11:59 | Сообщение # 13 |
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| [size=14]Female priesthood
IF YOU ASK ME, I'M CONVINCED that female priesthood is a burning issue nowadays. While many can recognise the importance of this issue, not many are familiar with the fact that female priesthood has been a burning issue for years, even since the days of the Russian Empire. Her Highness Princess Elizabeth Fedorovna was trying to restore female priesthood in the form of deaconesses in the beginning of the XX century. However, due to the Revolution, the plans had to be postponed. I BELIEVE that female priesthood could really be restored and function normally, if it wasn't so closely connected with feminism and human rights.
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Сообщение отредактировал posternaksophie - Вторник, 26.07.2022, 11:35 |
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| readeralexey | Дата: Среда, 15.06.2022, 14:34 | Сообщение # 14 |
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| Цитата katyadorniak (  ) This means that everything happens according to the will of God.
Theologically this is a faulty statement, even though a very common one. In fact, everything happens either according to God's will, or contrary to God's will, but God just allows it to happen for whatever reason.
As Christians living in the 21st century we are challenged to reconcile (or choose between) the prevalent secular values of the Enlightenment (which are centered around human rights) - and traditional values expressed in the Scripture. Concerning homosexuality Leviticus is not the only instance. (Cf. Romans 1:18-27; 1 Cor. 6:9-1; 1 Tim. 1: 9-10).
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