Write a 2 pages paper on what do you think are the three most important aspects of any belief system in drawing new believers to it compose a framework of at least five specific questions one might ask when examining any new belief system. December 13, Belief Systems: Attraction and Consequence Belief systems can be, quite literally, a matter oflife and death. Everyone uses them to define reality, select community, and direct behavior. Some people inherit belief systems, while others choose a belief system with personal intention. Some people combine fragments from multiple systems, or insert fragments into a system. This essay will introduce three of the most important aspects of any belief system in drawing new believers into it, and six core questions that should be considered when examining any belief system.

One of the primary aspects of a belief system that attracts new believers is its relevance to the pulse of the times, the psycho-socio-historical dynamics (Whitsett). The rise and spread of Chuck Smith’s Calvary Chapel, for example, had its beginnings in California, a state of transients and extremes, and the belief system, while fundamentalist Christian, moved away from dour old people in suits and welcomed new believers, including Society’s rejects (gang members, mental patients, drug addicts) with love, rock music, jeans and T-shirts, and mass baptism in the ocean (Smith and Brooke). The Amish, on the other hand, attract few new believers because they are focused on retaining their separateness through norms and values of another place and time (Keiser).

A second important aspect, that attracts new believers to a particular belief system, is the presence or implied presence of a charismatic leader who interprets and represents the belief system for new believers and provides a strong figure with which to merge (Inzlicht, McGregor and Hirsch). People who are shopping for a new belief system may feel lost and alone, failed by a previous belief system. They want to feel strength and power and belonging (Inzlicht, McGregor and Hirsch). Although the presence of a community assists in providing these things, it is the charismatic leader who holds the community together and keeps everyone focused on the principles of the belief system.

Thirdly, the capacity of the belief system to relieve uncertainty and anxiety by outlining practical steps to take to be right, to bring about desired change, or to be safe, is of critical importance (Whitsett). Belief “is marked by reduced reactivity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a cortical system that is involved in the experience of anxiety and is important for self-regulation (Inzlicht, McGregor and Hirsch 385)”. Whether it is a religious belief system that promises a scriptural guide and better life after death, a political belief system that promises honesty and socio-political improvements, an ecological stance that outlines ways to save the planet and give our children a natural future, an education belief system that argues for a certain method (like homeschooling or unschooling, for example) to empower children to be self-directed and less vulnerable to State agenda, this anti-anxiety aspect is critical.

Here is a six question framework for examining any belief system:

1. In what way(s) is this belief system relevant to the times and culture in which we live?

2. What answers are provided to questions, challenges, dilemmas people face?

3. Where does authority lie, in the basis, interpretation and application of this belief system?

4. Based on information available from both etic and emic accounts, what are the lifestyle consequences one might expect if adopting this belief system?

5. What is the background and foreground of the leader or leaders?

6. What are the criticisms offered, about this belief system, by former believers who no longer support it?

One cannot forever bask in the protected glow of new believer status. Choosing a belief system engages the person on a path that leads somewhere. These questions attempt to gain understanding of the foreseeable consequences of membership. Perhaps the belief system sounds intriguing, but if it requires the sacrifice of loved ones, career, hobbies, and home, and if it is likely to leave you dead in a jungle (a la Jim Jones), exploded in a fire (a la David Koresh), sharing a partner’s intimacy with others (as in a polygamist community or hippie commune), suffocated in a plastic bag while wearing new Nikes in preparation for reunion with the Mother Ship, or in Federal prison for domestic or international terrorist actions, then one should consider these implications very carefully.

Works Cited

Inzlicht, Michael, et al. “Neural Markers of Religious Conviction.” Psychological Science

(2009): Vol. 20, No. 3, 385-392. Print.

Keiser, Steve Hartman. “Pennsylvania German in Ohio.” 2005. Ohio State University. Web. 13

December 2011 .

Smith, Chuck and Tal Brooke. Harvest. Old Tappan: Chosen Books, 1987. Print.

Whitsett, Doni P. “A Self Psychological Approach to the Cult Phenomenon.” Clinical Social

Work Journal (1992): Vol. 20, No. 4, 363-375. Print.

I will pay for the following article Medicare corruption in the United States. The work is to be 2 pages with three to five sources, with in-text citations and a reference page. MEDICARE CORRUPTION IN THE UNITED S s Introduction Cases of Medicare fraud is a common thing which translates into billions of dollars lost every year through unscrupulous ways. Most of the fraud cases are mainly through billings. The Medicare system came into operation after the government decided to compensate the honest doctors who helped needy patients. However, this act of faith has gradually transformed into huge corruption deals which are difficult to trace and sum up.

Example of Fraud Cases

One of the largest Medicare fraud cases involved the Columbia HCA fraud case. By 1996 Rick Scott the CEO of Columbia/HCA started receiving red lights from various media like the New York Times and the Federal agents searching for illegal documents that might have translated to fraud. Eventually, Columbia/HCA confessed to committing criminal and civil fraud that amounted to fines of $1.7 billion. The company was forced to change its name to HCA Incorporation in 1999. In 2009, 94 people were charged with cases of fraudulent Medicare claims by the Medicare Fraud Strike Task force. It was the largest number ever charged by the Agency and a total of $251 million was involved in the fraud (WEISER, 2013). In 2011, the same agency charged 91 defendants for taking part in Medicare fraud schemes which involved $259million in false billing. In 2012, the same agency convicted two people for participating in Medicare fraud schemes which involved $1.9 million. Last year, the same agency charged 89 people which included the doctor’s nurses and other medical professions for involving themselves in Medicare Fraud schemes which totaled to $223 million. Apart from this single cases other drug agencies like GlaxoSmithKline. In June 2nd 2012, the company was on the spotlight again and was forced to pay a fine of $3 billion after it emerged that the company was selling unfit drugs. This is also the largest drug scandal in the world. Just recently, four GSK staff in China was detained after it emerged that the four were engaged in fraud. According to the BBC News, the four had been channeling the money to a traveling agency to influence and bribe doctors to prescribe their company’s drugs. It is imperative to hear this and although you cannot control how doctors prescribe these drugs it became a big scandal when it was discovered (Tom Holland, 2013).

Recommendations

It is argued that increased government participation into the Medicare services is leading to massive corruption. This paper therefore recommends that the government of US privatize Medicare services to avoid cases of corruption.

Various changes to the Whistleblowers law has made it difficult for people to report possible cases of fraud hence this paper recommends amendment of the laws to give room for whistleblowers to point out cases of Medicare fraud.

The Office of the Inspector General for the US Department of Health and Human Services should come up with stricter rules that aim at punishing severely all the Medicare offenders to avoid cases of Medicare fraud.

In 1997 the Federal government dedicated $100 million to combat Medicare fraud. This amount is so not enough. For this reason, this paper recommends that the government gets more involved by investing more to reduce cases of Medicare fraud.

References

Tom Holland. (2013, August 2013). Nothing uniquely Chinese about Glaxo bribery case. Retrieved 2013, from South China Morning Post: http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1293460/nothing-uniquely-chinese-about-glaxo-bribery-case

WEISER, B. (2013, December 5). U.S. Says Diplomats Defrauded Medicaid. Retrieved 2014, from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/nyregion/us-charges-dozens-of-russian-diplomats-and-spouses-with-medicaid-fraud.

Need help with my writing homework on History of united states. Write a 2000 word paper answering; History is at times denoted as the art of finding, and accounting on the past events. The study revolves around the social lives, cultural systems, and political systems of the target community of research problem.

Data sources differ in accordance to the method of research and the target source of information. For instance, primary data sources involve the originality of researching on a particular subject for the first time, with little or no reliance to the available information. On the contrary, secondary sources serve researchers with already processed information, which calls for editing to fit the desired purpose. Therefore, the two different resource approaches imply on originality of information and borrowed data respectively (Mulhall 38).

The data sources used in the study are mainly secondary data sources. The factor stimulating the use of secondary data sources is the availability of past information in a readily presented source. Examples of the secondary data sources include American historical society, and History matters. The research further involved the use of questionnaires to collect data from a sample population, instrumental to the research expedition (Grześkowiak-Krwawicz 64).

In the 17th century, America was turning out to the most suitable continent for agriculture, and to accommodate excess population from the English countries. However, acceptability into the newly formed white society in the American territories turned to be a tricky affair (Rasor 34). Considerations revolved around the gender, ethnicity, social class, and skill of every individual. Therefore, freedom remained a disguise as the respected group of the society benefited from it at the expense of the inferior groups.

Royal and American merchants turned to Africa in the zeal to obtain slaves, with a target of subsidizing labor in the settler farms.

Hello, I am looking for someone to write an article on Should both parents assume equal responsibility in raising children. It needs to be at least 1250 words. Although this may be different to previous years, it seems that this direction is much fairer for women and gives men more interaction with their offspring. In this paper, I will be exploring the reasons behind this move towards equal parenting and whether it is right that both parents are assuming equal responsibilities for their children and how they are raised. I argue that it is fairer for women and better for children that parenting responsibles are equal.

One of the main reasons why parents should assume equal responsibility in raising children is so that these children know their mother and father equally and have a good relationship with both parents, something which is important in lives. In previous years, it has been hard for children to get to know their father because he is always at work, earning money, whilst their relationship with their mother was usually good. Having a male and a female influence in the home is important for increasing harmony within the household and making the children feel as though they are loved by both parents and are valued.

Another one of the main reasons that both parents should assume equal responsibilities for raising the children is that it is fairer for the women. In previous years, it has been that the woman has done all the housework and raised the kids alone, whilst the man of the home went to earn money. Although both parents worked hard, a lot of women came to feel that their talents were being wasted, particularly if they had a college education and they were fairly smart. From an outside perspective it does seem unfair that the man can have a career whilst the women is doing menial tasks and continually looking after the children.