The Unorganised Sector Issues And Concerns Essay Example for Free

The Unorganised Sector Issues And Concerns Essay Problems of Definition The bulk of the Indian labour force is employed in what is loosely referred to as unorganised sector. Most of them are neither organised nor hive any access to social security. Their employment is unprotected, their wages are extremely low, and a large section of them live under conditions below the poverty line. The developmental efforts by the state have done little to improve their living coalitions. This is a matter of concern not only for the trade unions but also for every rational person in this country. Defining the term unorganised sector is a difficult task indeed. Apart from the conceptual difficulties, the definition also depends on who is defining it and for what purpose. There are broadly three different usages of the term. Firstly, the government plan documents m-id demographic surveys extensively use the term. According to this usage, the unorganised sector is defined rather negatively, is comprising of the labour force that falls outside the organised sector. The organised sector is defined is the one covering labour force employed in all the enterprises in the public sector and only the non-agricultural establishments in the private sector employing 10 or more workers The criterion of 10 is derived from the Factories Act, which covers all the establishments employing 10 or more people. This definition though indicative of the structure of employment fails to qualify each sector, and therefore leaves many questions unanswered. It nonetheless serves the purpose of government planning and projections. Given the fact that unorganised sector accounts for more than 90% of the labour force in the country, the inadequacies of this definition as reflected in the statistical data, appear to be marginal, even though in actual terms the numbers may be very high. Another governmental source, which defines the unorganised sector, again for statistical and administrative purposes, is that of the Central Statistical Organisation. According to this definition, the unorganised sector includes all those unincorporated enterprises and  household industries (other than the organised ones) which are not regulated by any legislation and which do not maintain annual accounts or balance sheets. This definition also serves the limited administrative purposes, and does not qualify the sector. In any case, both the above definitions are based on the existing legal framework, whether concerning labour or business establishments, and are therefore liable to change with every change in legislation. Therefore, these definitions are hardly adequate tools for social analysis. The second source of definition of the term unorganised sector is literature in the economics discipline. Economists have tried to define this sector in terms of the organisation of capital, nature of products, technologies used (traditional or modern), the markets served (local or general) or the consumers of the products (rich or poor) The thesis has been that the unorganised sector is characterised by low technology that it caters to local markets and to consumers who come from the lower segment of the society. There are many difficulties with this definition too. Bannerji argues that attempts at clearly delineating the character of the unorganised sector have not been successful because such clear-cut demarcation is not universally valid. The exact combination of activities that actually exist in any one region at a given time, seem to be an outcome of the interaction of various factors such as complexity of the economy, the actual extent and distribution of control of investment resources and the technological choices available to that economy. Since the configuration of such factors is almost always specific to each situation, what is true of one country at one time, fails to apply to another Attempts to distinguish the two sectors on the basis of products, markets and technologies have a severe limitation, bec ause of the extensive linkages that exist between the sectors, very often the organised sector taking advantage of the low cost operation in the unorganised sector to manufacture its own products which are for general market. Moreover, bulk of the export goods are manufactured in tile unorganised sector through a systematic decentralisation of the production process and the putting-out system. The third usage of the term unorganised sector is by the trade unions and those concerned with labour. The attempt made by Nirmala Bannerji comes under this category of usage of the term. According to her, the unorganised sector usually consists of productive activities with  loosely formed groups bound by diverse types of informal working contracts. It includes a section of the self-employed, wage earners, family producers as also household workers. The significance of this definition is that it brings in the nature of employment relationship as the main factor that distinguishes organised from the unorganised sector. The unorganised sector consists of productive activities carried out by loosely formed groups which are bound by informal contracts. Even though Bannerji’s definition brings out the most imp ortant characteristic feature of the unorganised sector, from labours point of view, further exploration is required to get an insight into the complexity and the diversity of this sector. There are certain fundamental difficulties in using the existing categories of organised sector and unorganised sector for trade union purposes. Trade unions by their very nature are essentially concerned with protecting labour from exploitation and arbitrariness of whoever employs them. If labour Protection is taken is the basic criterion of the trade unions, then organised and unorganised cease to be homogeneous categories, because we find unprotected labour in both the sectors. Even though the unorganised sector accounts for the majority of them, even the organised sector has its own share of unprotected labour in the form of casual, contract, badli, and temporary workers whose employment conditions are similar to those in the unorganised sector. One may argue that the proportion of the unprotected labour in the organised sector is very marginal. This is however not true, because, during the eighties there has been a gradual decline in permanent employment accompanied by a sharp rise in the casual employment. A recent survey of seven major industries, commissioned by Friedrich Ebert Foundation in 1991, reports that during the eighties, in almost all the industries the proportion of casual and temporary employment has increased phenomenally, ranging between a quarter to nearly half of the total workforce. The National Sample Survey data also show a similar trend. According to this data, in the organised sector, the employment growth rate has declined from 2.48 per cent during 1977-78 1983 to 1.38 per cent during 1983 1987-88. In the organised manufacturing sector, particularly, employment had virtually stagnated during 1983- 1987-88. Given the above trends, from the trade union perspective, it would be fallacious to characterise organised sector as the protected sector, and the unorganised sector as the  unprotected sector. Apart from these conceptual difficulties, very often, among the trade union circles, there exists confusion between the terms unorganised sector and unorganised labour. Many use these terms synonymously, even though there is a substantial difference between the two. While the former refers to the unorganised part of the industry or the whole economy, the latter refers to workers who are not organised as trade unions. It is true that the bulk of the labour force in the unorganised sector is not organised, but at the same time there are also unorganised workers in the organised sector. Similarly, there are also some workers within the unorganised sector, as we shall see, who are organised as trade unions. From a purely trade union point of view, it may be more appropriate to use the terms protected sector and unprotected sector which cut across both organised and unorganised sectors. However, it would be impossible to totally discard the terms that are currently in use because the entire edifice of the statistical data is built on this foundation. Nonetheless, it would be useful to be aware of the inadequacies of the existing categories. One needs to be, particularly, careful while interpreting the official data. Labour in the Unorganised Sector Keeping the above mentioned definitional problems in view, let us now examine the salient features of the labour force in the unorganised sector as reflected in the official data. According to 1991 census, the total labour force in India is estimated to be 317 millions. Out of this, the organised sector employs only 26.8 millions (8.5 %), while the unorganised sector employs as many as 290.2 millions, (91.5 %) (See Chart 1 and Table 1). Pension scheme for agricultural labourers all over the country. As discussed earlier, the distinction between these two sectors is very crucial from the point of view of employment relationship. It is not clear from the census data whether the figures for the organised sector employment include the casual / contract workers also. If it does, then the proportion of the protected labour will be less than 8.5 per cent. While the majority of workers in the organised sector hive regular salaried jobs in the registered factories and service establishments, the workers in the unorganised sector are either self-employed or work as casual wage labourers in a wide range of sectors both non-agricultural and agricultural. The crucial distinction between the sectors is the nature of employment relationship. Going by Bannerji’s definition cited earlier, the unorganised sector includes agricultural labourers, construction workers, forest workers, fish workers, beedi workers, workers in smal l and tiny industrial units, powerloom and handloorn workers, self-employed workers, domestic workers and so on. If we use the term unprotected sector, then the list also includes all the casual / contract workers employed in the organised sector. Technically, labour laws do not differentiate between organised and unorganised sectors. However, in practice, they provide ample opportunities to the employers and their contractors to deny basic rights to certain categories of workers. As we shall see later, there are certain structural problems, which make, it difficult for workers to assert their rights. In the organised sector, for instance, the production strategies such as subcontracting, ancillarisation, etc., are essentially geared to by-pass the protective legislations. As a result, over the years, the proportion of casual and contract labour has  been increasing in almost all the industries in both private and public sector. An important characteristic feature of the unorganised sector is that it employs a large number of women. The relative proportion of female workers is very high in this sector. As shown in Table 1, only 4.2% of the total female workers (as defined in Census) are in the organised sector. The corresponding percentage for male workers is 10.2%. The difference is rather striking if we look at the absolute figures. As against 23 million male workers there are only 3.8 million female workers in the organised sector. That is, for every six male workers there is only one female worker. In contrast to this, in the unorganised sector, there are 86.8 million women workers against 203.4 million male workers. That is, there is one woman worker for every two and odd male workers. Table 2 shows the sex distribution in both the sectors. In the organised sector, women constitute 14.2%, whereas in the unorganised sector they constitute 30%. In terms of wages and earnings, there exists a substantial difference between the organised and the unorganised sectors. Table 3 shows the aggregate figures for the year 1981. Out of the total annual income of Rs.87,840 crores, the self-employed workers earned Rs.44,719 crores (50.9%,) while the wage and salary earners earned Rs.43,121 crores (49.1%). Within the wage earners category, the organised sector accounted for Rs.24,850 (28.3%) while the unorganised sector accounted for Rs.18,271 crores (20.8%). If we look at overall sector-wise figures by combining self-employed and the wage earners in the unorganised sector, we would get the broad picture of earnings in the unorganised sector in contrast to those in the organised sector. The unorganised sector accounts for 71.7 per cent of the total earnings in comparison to 28.3 of the organised sector. The organised sector workers, even though account for only nine-tenth of the total workforce, earn more than one-fourth (one third according to the latest figures) of the nations total wages and incomes. The figures of the average annual income per worker bring out the contrast between the sectors more sharply. While the organised sector worker earned Rs.10,851 per annum, the wage earner in the unorganised sector earned Rs.2,482 and the self-employed person earned Rs. 3,549. If we take the average of the unorganised sector as a whole, the figure would be much lower. These figures are for the year 1981, and the present figures in actual terms may be relatively higher. Issues and Concerns The primary concern regarding labour in the unorganised sector is that most of them live below the poverty line. Their access to the basic necessities of life such as food, clothing, shelter, education, health and other forms of social security is extremely poor. One of the major reasons for this is that they are not organised. They lack organisations which can effectively represent their issues and problems at the national level. The established trade unions in the country, including the left unions, have completely neglected this sector. This is reflected in the membership figures of the central trade union organisations. According to the latest verification of membership conducted by the central government in 1990, the membership of the top five unions is around 10 millions, which is roughly around 3 per cent of the total working population in the country. Even though this includes both the organised sector as well as the unorganised sector, the proportion of the latter is very in significant. For example, according to 1980 figures, the INTUC, which at that time was the largest union, had only 15 unions in the agricultural sector with a membership of 25,931, which is slightly more than one per cent of its total membership of over 22 lakhs. Similarly, CITU hid only 14 unions with a membership of 2,212, which is less than one per cent of its total membership of over 3 lakhs. There are, of course, certain structural difficulties in organising workers in the unorganised sector. Unlike in. the organised sector, the existing conditions are not conducive to the functioning of trade unions. In the organised sector, that is, in large factories and other establishments, collective  bargaining institutions are well developed and trade unions are accepted as legitimate organisations representing workers. In other words, the means of struggle for better wage and working conditions are institutionalised. This is however not the case with the unorganised sector. The following are some of the problems at the very fundamental level in this sector. 1. Employment regulation In the unorganised sector the primary issue is regulation of employment. This is a very difficult task for unions to achieve. The employment contract is unwritten and informal. Workers are at the mercy of the employer. Giving an appointment letter is unheard of in this sector. By making the very employment relationship informal, the employer keeps himself out of the statutory obligations. Workers in order to make any legal claim have to first identified the employer and establish the employment relationship. Quite apart from these legal problems, since workers depend on the employer who may be a contractor or a middleman or the principal employer himself, for their sustenance, they dare not take recourse to legal action. This problem is more acute in the case of migrant workers, for instance, in the construction industry. Another means of bypassing a formal employment relationship adopted by trader-merchant-manufacturer is to utilise the home-based family labour. The so-called self employed workers in beedi, carpet, handloom, coir, hosiery and a host of other industries, come under this category. The trader-merchant-manufacturer or his middlemen provide the raw material to the home-based workers and collect the semi-finished or finished goods which they market themselves. The price that the workers get for their value-addition is very low and equivalent to wages, and their living conditions are no better than the wage labour. So, the self-employed who constitute nearly 56 per cent of the total workforce in the country are not really self-employed in the true sense. In the absence of a formal employment relationship the established trade unions, which are more used to functioning in the organised sector where all that they have to do is submit charter of demands and negotiate a reasonable bargain for the workers, find it extremely difficult to fight for workers in the unorganised sector. Trade union work in the unorganised sector is much more demanding and relates to certain structural changes of very fundamental  nature which requires struggle at various levels. The means and strategies to be adopted for achieving these changes also differ very much with those that are adopted in the organised sector. The following are the three different levels at which the trade unions in the unorganised sector have to fight. †¢ Grass-root Level †¢ Labour Courts †¢ Political Level At the grass-root level, as mentioned earlier, it is very difficult to identify a single, consistent employer to deal with. As a deliberate strategy, contractors keep changing from time to time in order to avoid any legal binding. Also, at times, workers themselves move from one workplace to another. In certain cases such as domestic workers, unions have to deal with multiple employers who are not concentrated in one place but scattered all over. Given such a wide variation and the fluid state of employer-employee relationship, unions in this sector have to evolve innovative strategies to fight for the basic rights of their members. The second level of struggle is in the labour courts. Since the employer-employee relationship in this sector is not institutionalised, the disputes invariably end up in litigation. For instance, in case of contract workers in the organised sector much of the trade union work involves fighting court cases, which demands not only determination on the part of the unions but also resources. This is one of the major reasons why the unions of the workers in the organised sector turn a blind eye to the plight of the contract and casual workers. The third and the most important level of struggle is at the political level for policy changes and enactment of protective legislation by the government. This requires the unions to have a wider support base coupled with political campaigns. 2. Lack of trade union consciousness In this sector the very idea of trade union organisation is new. Due to their insecure employment situation, workers are not always forthcoming to participate in the union activity. The unions have an extremely difficult task of gaining the confidence of workers to begin with, and then convincing them -about the importance of dealing with their employers collectively  rather than as individuals. 3. Struggle for legitimacy In the unorganised sector, the basic struggle of the trade unions is for legitimacy of their own existence and freedom to function as trade unions. They are confronted with hostile employers whose basic advantage in operating in the unorganised sector is its unregulated employment and availability of cheap labour. Since trade unions by their very nature fight for regulation of employment, better wages and social security measures, they strike it the very root of this advantage. This results in a bitter conflict in which very often the trade unions are at the receiving end. Given such hostility to any form of trade union activity in this sector, the union activists have to find various means of obtaining legitimacy. Where hostility is very high, the activists function only as a voluntary organisation. As the situation improves they start functioning both as a voluntary organisation as well as a trade union simultaneously. Since, by definition, these two types of organisations have different legal status the activists function as either, depending on the need and circumstance. Such a strategy is essential in order to continue the organisational effort in a hostile environment. 4. Issues related to development policy Trade unions in the unorganised sector are confronted with not merely employment and wage issues, but also are forced to raise certain fundamental issues related to developmental policy. This is so because, in various sectors, such as fisheries, forestry, agriculture, etc., the workers directly depend, on natural resources for their livelihood. Governments development policy has a direct bearing on their lives. For instance, the forest workers, who have for generations lived in forests and enjoyed certain customary rights over forest resources, are now confronted with modem developmental agencies such as state corporations which have drawn boundaries within the forest area depriving them of their traditional rights, and in many cases even displacing them. The local people depend on forests for fuel, fodder, and material to build their houses. The forest corporations which were created with the explicit purpose of directly taking up commercial activity related to forest resources, and thereby replacing  the middlemen who had been exploiting the forests, have, in reality, deprived the local peoples access to the forests. Another example is that of fish workers living near and around Chilika Lake located in Orissa on the eastern coast. Thousands of fish workers for generations hid depended on this lake for their livelihood. But now, with government leasing out the lake to private entrepreneurs for developing prawn culture for export, these workers have been debarred from fishing in the lake. Such issues, related to the governmental policy can be taken up only at the national level, which means that there should be a national level organisation to represent the interests of the unprotected workers in the unorganised sector. Today, unfortunately, such an organisation does not exist. 5. Lack of visibility Lastly, the workers in the unorganised sector lack visibility at the national level. In contrast to workers in the organised sector, their working conditions and problems hardly ever become subjects of national debate. This is best illustrates by the fact that the primary focus of the New Economic Policy is the organised sector. The question of exit policy has generated a great deal of debate, and become a politically sensitive issue. It is a different matter whether the government is genuinely concerned about the retrenched workers in the organised sector. The point is, in the unorganised sector, which employs more than 90% of the total workforce in the country, redundancies and retrenchments are a daily affair. Ironically, this issue has never merited a debate or discussion either in the media or in the trade union establishments. Source:Unprotected Labour in India – Issues and Concerns by Sarath Davala (ed.) Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 1994, pp:1-13.

America Needs Capital Punishment Essay -- Essays on the Death Penalty

The case of William Horton offers a fitting introduction to the subject of America's need for capital punishment. Horton was a violent habitual criminal, sentenced in 1988 to a Massachusetts prison "to life with no possibility of parole" for savagely slaying an innocent teenage boy. After only ten years in prison he was transferred to a minimum-security facility. There he became eligible for daily work release, as well as unescorted weekend furloughs from prison. Following the example of other hardended inmates over the years, Horton decided not to return from work. Instead, months later, he viciously tortured and raped a Maryland couple for twelve hours (Bidinotto 5). As this case illustrates, capital punishment is essential to maintain social order in the United States. It is necessary to keep society safe, deter crime, preserve ethical values, uphold the Constitution, and ease the taxpayer's burden. A country and culture as advanced as the United States keeps sentencing repeat violent crime offenders to "life imprisonment without parole," when it would be so much more efficient and better for society if the criminals were executed. The "life imprisonment without parole" conviction is frequently sentenced, but rarely enforced. This is caused by the extensive list of backlogs in the United States' penal system. These backlogs create a dangerous situation for society, becau se the convicts often slip through the judicial system after a very short prison term. Newsweek reports that in the United States there are over 1,000 correctional facilities housing over 75,000 death-row inmates. Of theese inmates, more than hal f have lived past their given execution date (Anger 25). This is the result of the numero... ...s. If we do not start instituting capital punishment regularly, the consequences will be detrimental to society. Works Cited Bowers, William. Legal Homocide. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1984. Castberg, Didrick and Victor Rosenblum. Cases on Constitutional Law. Illinois: The Dorsey Press, 1973. Death Sentencing. ACLU Pamphlet #15. Pennsylvania: Nelson Thomas Publishers, 1994. Gibbons, Don. Society, Crime, and Criminal Behavior. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc., 1987. Goshgarian, Gary and Kathleen Krueger. Crossfire and Argument. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, 1997. Haines, Herbert. Against Capital Punishment, New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Masur, Louis. Rites of Execution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Streib, Victor. A Capital Punishment Anthology. Cleveland: Anderson Publishing Co., 1993.

Intellectual Reasoning vs. Instinct

It has been said from Plato onward that man's reasoning is his highest faculty and makes him superior to animals. In the short story â€Å"To Build a Fire,† by Jack London, man’s intellectual reasoning ability is regarded as â€Å"second class† to that of the survival mechanism that is embedded within humans and animals alike. This survival mechanism is sometimes referred to as instinct. If solely depended on, man’s intellectual reasoning may be clouded, imprudent and even detrimental, leading him to the wrong decision.Instinct, on the other hand, is a natural reaction pre-programmed into man for survival and cannot be altered by reasoning, making it superior to reason. As the story opens, the man clearly understands that the â€Å"day had broken cold and gray, exceedingly cold and gray,† and still he insists on continuing his journey (650). The fact that the temperature is below freezing did not seem to bother him. He is ignorant of the cold.As he stands surveying the snow covered Yukon trail, â€Å"the mysterious, far-reaching hair-line trail, the absence of sun from the sky, the tremendous cold, and the strangeness and weirdness of it all—made no impression on him† (651). He is determined to join the boys at camp to enjoy the warmth, food, and companionship regardless of the weather. The man is very observant about his surroundings, however, â€Å"he was without imagination† (651). The temperature is about seventy-five degrees below zero, which means that it is about one hundred and seven degrees below freezing.To him, the air is cold and uncomfortable, and nothing more. He ignores the fact that he is a warm blooded creature and as such only able to survive at certain temperatures. Anything beyond that range requires not only intellectual reasoning ability but also instinct. The big native husky that accompanies him on his journey is his only companion. The animal can adapt to the cold weather, but on t his occasion it is very apprehensive about traveling in the extreme cold. The dog’s instinct â€Å"knew that it was not time for traveling.Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the man’s judgment† (652). The dog does not understand how temperature is measured or even how a thermometer works. It inherited this instinctual ability from its ancestry. It relies on this innate ability for survival. It craves warmth, and knows that man can create fire and warmth. Its instinct for warmth and survival tells it this is not a time to be traveling. The man stops at each creek or river bend, and observes â€Å"the changes around the creek, the curves and bends and timber-jams† (653).He knows if he walks on ice that is not frozen to the bottom he will crack the ice cap and break through it. Breaking through the ice will cause him to get wet. Under such an extreme, bitter cold temperature, being wet can be fatal. The man tries to compel the dog to go ahead. However, it hesitates. It will not go and stays back until â€Å"the man shoved it forward, and then it went quickly across† (653). The dog brakes through the ice and scampers back on land. Quickly, it begins to â€Å"lick off its legs, then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes† (653).This is not a matter of intellectual reasoning but rather instinct. Because the dog is now wet and cold, the dog is apprehensive about traveling further. The relationship between the man and the dog is like that of an owner to an animal. There is no â€Å"keen intimacy between the dog and the man, the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man† (654). When the man finally reaches the left fork on the other side of the creek, he did not see signs of any springs. Once again, the man is relies on his visual perception, but he fails to recognize the danger.He thinks it is not necessary to send the dog ah ead because he did not see any signs of danger. Unfortunately, at a place â€Å"where the soft, unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath, the man broke through† (655). He is now wet from the waist down to his foot-gear. He escapes from the water and quickly works to build a fire. Memories of old-timer on Sulphur Creek creep into his consciousness. The old-timer repeatedly warned him of extreme cold temperatures in the Klondike, cautioning him not to travel alone without a partner when the temperature is fifty below or colder.The man laughed and thought, â€Å"the old-timer was rather womanish† (656). In his haste to start a fire, he did not notice that he built it under a spruce tree. The tree held the weight of the snow from many previous storms. Each time the man pulled on a twig, the tree moved. Finally, the branches released the snow, sending it falling down onto to man and extinguishing the fire. Standing in disbelief, he â€Å"heard his own death sente nce. † (656). Again, his memories returned to the old-timer on Sulphur Creek.Maybe the older-timer is right—â€Å"after fifty below, a man should travel with a partner† (657). With his life at the mercy of nature, he recognizes his foolishness. His final attempt to rebuild a fire is unsuccessful. He sees the dog and remembers a tale of a man who was caught in a blizzard. This man survived by killing a steer and crawling inside the cavity to keep warm. Perhaps killing the dog and burying his hands in its body will thaw them so he can build a fire. He calls to the dog, but the dog senses a â€Å"strange note in his voice that frightened it† (658).Its instinct senses danger – â€Å"it knew not what danger, but somewhere, somehow, in its brain arouses an apprehension of the man† (658). The dog stays clear of the man. Instinct is a natural part of every living creature. Its purpose is to alert its owner of impending danger, to override reason, to survive. The dog, through its instinct, is aware of the life-threatening conditions in the Yukon. The man, thinking he is smarter than nature, relies on his knowledge and ignores his instinct. By relying on his knowledge, mistakenly believing it to be his highest faculty, he ultimately forfeits his life.

A Biblical Look At Marriage Essay - 1323 Words

Just recently Newsweek magazine produced an article which attempted to make a scriptural argument in favor of homosexual marriage. Space would not allow for one to deal with all of the errors that the writer makes in regard to biblical text. If nothing else, it demonstrates the ignorance that many people have in understanding God’s word. It also shows how far people in the media have moved away from fairly and reasonably dealing with a biblical issue. Thus, the article is aimed at proving that conservatives are wrong in maintaining that biblical marriage is between a man and a woman. The article begins by arguing that the Bible does not give any clear pattern of what biblical marriage is really like. The writer seeks to prove her†¦show more content†¦Having moved from this wrongheaded conclusion, the article makes another ridiculous assertion. â€Å"Scripture gives us no good reason why gays and lesbians should not be (civilly and religiously) married—and a number of excellent reasons why they should be.† Scripture is replete with verses that teach otherwise. As a matter of fact, the Bible calls it an abomination in Leviticus 18.22. While we are not under the old covenant, the principle remains and is reinstituted in the New Testament—many scriptures echo these same sentiments. Next, the writer asserts that â€Å"Jesus never mentions homosexuality, but he roundly condemns divorce†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Again, this is not true. Jesus condemns it by implication in Matthew 10.15 when he says, â€Å"Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment, than for that city.† This verse teaches that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were subjected to a horrible judgment as a result of their sexual immorality—something that is very apparent to any student of the Holy Writ. As this article moves from misinterpretation to falsehood, it attempts to completely discount the validity of Old TestamentShow MoreRelatedThe Biblical Perspective Of Marriage851 Words   |  4 PagesMarriage is discussed on 47 different occasions within the NIV Bible. The word marry is used 48 times throughout the NIV. The majority of these words are used in the Old Testament in Leviticus where God’s clear and concise instructions were given to the Hebrew people about what was deemed unclean and what was to be done to be clean. 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This section of the book organized activities for dating couplesRead MoreEssay on Divorce: The Separation of the Inseparable952 Words   |  4 PagesLove is the number one reason for marriage, even having Valentine’s Day to celebrate love. Yet Americans for Divorce Reform (ADR) estimate that, â€Å"Probably, 40 or possibly even 50 percent of marriages will end in divorce if current trends continue (Colleen). The ADR also shows the divorce rates between Christians and non-Christians are indistinguishable. Even worse, Christians divorcing their spouses are distorting the Bible in order to justify their actions. Christians must be called to a higherRead MoreSame-Sex Marriage Essay1186 Words   |  5 PagesSupreme Court unanimously voted against the laws of Virginia that banned interracial marriage, officially ending years of oppression towards couples of different races (Loving). Yet today, decades after the c ivil rights movement, another form of subjugation is plaguing America. 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It was just last month whenRead MoreCultural Diversity Of The Jewish Community949 Words   |  4 Pageswedding ceremonies, it is the iconic events that occur within the Bible that is used as the origins of wedding ceremonies for the Jewish community. In order to establish a correlation between the origins of Jewish marriages to the modern practices of Jewish wedding ceremonies, we must take a look at what a wedding ceremony consist of for the Jewish people. The wedding tradition begins a week prior to the actual wedding where the bride and groom are separated, where they cannot see each other until theRead MoreAnthropology: Marriage and Divorce879 Words   |  4 PagesAnthropology: Marriage and Divorce God in the Garden of Eden performed the first marriage. Adam and Eve, both made in God s image, were joined together by God and commanded to be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth (Genesis 1). God declared them to be one flesh (Genesis 2) and established the pattern of marriage to be a man leaving his father and mother and being joined to his wife (Genesis 2). Marriage in the Bible is a lifelong commitment between a man and woman before God. Marriage is the