Secularization in Britain- Are people becoming less religeous in the Essay

Secularization in Britain- Are people becoming less religeous in the UK - Essay Example They all assumed that religion would be of declining importance in an industrial society. They all assumed that religion performed social functions that industrialism, capitalism, potential social changes like socialism, and the democratic state would perform. They all operated from a sociological paradigm: They analyzed religion's social implications on a macro-institutional level. â€Å"The three 'classical' sociological theorists, Marx, Durkheim and Weber [all] thought that the significance of religion would decrease in modern times. Each believed that religion is in a fundamental sense an illusion. The advocates of different faiths may be wholly persuaded of the validity of the beliefs they hold and the rituals in which they participate, yet the very diversity of religions and their obvious connections to different types of society, the three thinkers held, make these claims inherently implausible† (Giddens, 1987). In Marx's view, religion is famously the â€Å"opiate of the masses† (Crabtree, 2008). Its fundamental purpose is as a power structure: Using mystery, the propagation of false consciousness (whether this process is a conscious propagandistic effort on the part of a priestly autocracy or an unconscious relaying of social norms and values), offerings of a life to come, and other techniques, it serves to channel what would be systemic resentment elsewhere. â€Å"The problem is that the life that is led by most men and women in present-day society is so hard, so intolerable, or at least so meaningless, that the idea of a life after death seems the only way to invest it with any meaning† (Woods, 2001). It also serves other ancillary functions for social elites, in the case of industrial societies the interests of capital, such as rallying troops to war. In the Marxist view, religion operates in a way Foucault might term panoptical: It becomes internalized repression, psychological chains that employ the oppressed in their own oppr ession by making them afraid of divine punishment or feel guilty for transgressive thought. Marxist theorists since then have extended the role of religion Many have focused on Marx's critique of religion, but it is important to note that Marx was actually not particularly hostile to it: Religion was the least of his concerns. Read carefully the â€Å"opiate of the masses† quote. Religion is a low-level drug pusher, a way to keep people from fighting against a powerful structure rather than a powerful structure in and of itself. Marx had said, â€Å"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation†. This is actually almost ennobling: Marx is arguing that religion acts as a conscience and a release; his quarrel is with the source of the pain, not the release from it. Similarly, in his critique of Bauer, that â€Å"political emancipation is perfectly compatible with the continued existence of religion, as the contemporary example of the United States demonstrates. However, pushing matters deeper, in an argument reinvented by innumerable critics of liberalism, Marx argues that not only is political emancipation insufficient to bring about human emancipation, it is in some sense also a barrier. Liberal rights and ideas of justice are premised on the idea that each of us needs protection from other human beings. Therefore liberal rights are rights of separation, designed to protect us from such perceived threats. Freedom on such a view,

Advanced Construction Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Advanced Construction Law - Essay Example The main aspect that needs to be understood is that an LOI is not a contract; at best it is an offer that needs to be confirmed or negated by the other party. However, a particular contractor by dint of some merit has been chosen over others. â€Å" It applies also where the sub-contractor has been chosen for his specialist trade. – â€Å"British Waggon Co.-v-Lea (1880)† 2 (Footnote: In this case it was held that delegation of contractual duties is possible except when individual’s skill, competencies and other resources are not considered while effecting the delegation.) This was again confirmed in the case of â€Å"Southway Group Ltd-v-Wolff and Wolff (1991)† 3 (footnote: Novation is another means by which contractual obligations can be "transferred" from one person to another) That being said, it is also necessary to state that in construction business, the main documents are the floatation of tender. As per accepted protocol, the contractor or owner floats tenders which are quoted by different parties, these tenders are examined and the final bid is finalized. â€Å"The form and content of LOIs are as varied as the circumstances in which they may be issued.No doubt it is this variety that led Robert Goff J in British Steel Corp v Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Co Ltd (1984) to observe that there is "no hard and fast answer to the question whether a letter of intent will give rise to a binding agreement: everything must depend on the circumstances of the particular case." 4 Sometimes there is an oral promise by one party to do something and for another to remunerate him on his doing it. â€Å" The latter transaction is really no more than a standing offer which, if acted upon before it lapses or is lawfully withdrawn, will result in a binding contract.† 5 However, in this case, although the parties wished and hoped for the contract to be finalized, it did