Download or read book True Disbelievers written by George Plasketes and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-04-17 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The legion of fans who refuse to believe that Elvis Presley died August 16, 1977 has been a major force behind the ever-expanding, elusive, and enduring Elvis myth during the past seventeen years. This network of fervent true believers engages in activities that include a melange of sightings and conspiracy theories. Mass media coverage of these phenomena has evolved from the underground grass-roots level to widespread publicity with social, religious, commercial, and ideological underpinnings. In True Disbelievers, R. Serge Denisoff and George Plasketes examine the implications of various accounts and several perspectives on Elvis Presley's death and transfiguration. Denisoff and Plasketes also analyze the various media that those who doubt Elvis's death use to popularize their positions, including television, magazines, and books. They review the work of others who have written on the subject, such as Gail Brewer-Giorgio and Major Bill Smith, and raise provocative, yet valid questions about the phenomenon they describe. True Disbelievers takes a pointed look at the music industry as well, and how it has used and commercially benefitted by the continuing belief that Elvis lives. They examine common strands in the many reports of Elvis sightings since Presley's reported death. Denisoff and Plasketes describe the Elvis phenomenon in serious, objective as well as empathetic terms, placing it in the context of studies of cult figures and their followers. True Disbelievers contains a great deal of fascinating information about America's popular culture and the power and influence of the media in modern society. It will be of significant interest to communication studiesscholars,sociologists,professionals in the music and media industries, and those interested in popular culture.
Download or read book Battling the Gods written by Tim Whitmarsh and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2015-11-10 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How new is atheism? Although adherents and opponents alike today present it as an invention of the European Enlightenment, when the forces of science and secularism broadly challenged those of faith, disbelief in the gods, in fact, originated in a far more remote past. In Battling the Gods, Tim Whitmarsh journeys into the ancient Mediterranean, a world almost unimaginably different from our own, to recover the stories and voices of those who first refused the divinities. Homer’s epic poems of human striving, journeying, and passion were ancient Greece’s only “sacred texts,” but no ancient Greek thought twice about questioning or mocking his stories of the gods. Priests were functionaries rather than sources of moral or cosmological wisdom. The absence of centralized religious authority made for an extraordinary variety of perspectives on sacred matters, from the devotional to the atheos, or “godless.” Whitmarsh explores this kaleidoscopic range of ideas about the gods, focusing on the colorful individuals who challenged their existence. Among these were some of the greatest ancient poets and philosophers and writers, as well as the less well known: Diagoras of Melos, perhaps the first self-professed atheist; Democritus, the first materialist; Socrates, executed for rejecting the gods of the Athenian state; Epicurus and his followers, who thought gods could not intervene in human affairs; the brilliantly mischievous satirist Lucian of Samosata. Before the revolutions of late antiquity, which saw the scriptural religions of Christianity and Islam enforced by imperial might, there were few constraints on belief. Everything changed, however, in the millennium between the appearance of the Homeric poems and Christianity’s establishment as Rome’s state religion in the fourth century AD. As successive Greco-Roman empires grew in size and complexity, and power was increasingly concentrated in central capitals, states sought to impose collective religious adherence, first to cults devoted to individual rulers, and ultimately to monotheism. In this new world, there was no room for outright disbelief: the label “atheist” was used now to demonize anyone who merely disagreed with the orthodoxy—and so it would remain for centuries. As the twenty-first century shapes up into a time of mass information, but also, paradoxically, of collective amnesia concerning the tangled histories of religions, Whitmarsh provides a bracing antidote to our assumptions about the roots of freethinking. By shining a light on atheism’s first thousand years, Battling the Gods offers a timely reminder that nonbelief has a wealth of tradition of its own, and, indeed, its own heroes.
Download or read book Heart Softeners written by Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Salih Al-Uthaymeen and published by . This book was released on 2018-11 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Most Compassionate. Praise to the One Who completed this religion and sent guidance through His Messenger salAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam. To begin: Every so often our daily lives preoccupy us and turn us away from Allah's promise. When we walk out of our homes, turn on the radio, TV, or Internet, we are distracted by the evils we see and hear. As result of immorality and unashamed disobedience, our hearts grow hard and distant from Allah and His Messenger's call. We know the message of Islam is true, but we are weak due to the rigidity of our heart, spirit and mind. In times like these, we need something to penetrate that stiffness. We need a remedy to soften that hardness and the inflexibility of our choices. Disunity and harshness afflicts this Ummah today. Consequently, many people have turned away from brotherhood, caring, and even Islam itself. Their hearts have transformed into dwellings of complete hatred for a sinner, disdain toward the weak Muslim, and jealousy of their successful brother or sister.I have selected some ahaadeeth from the most authentic book after the Qur'aan to soften the hearts in our chests. I used Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih Al-'Uthaymeen's explanations for the ahaadeeth selected. The ahaadeeth selected come from a book in Imam Al-Bukhari's collection titled Riqaq: Heart Softeners. This chapter brings tears to one's eyes, fear to one's mind, and most importantly it diminishes the rigidity in one's heart. I ask Allah to make the translation and compilation solely for His pleasure. I pray to Allah for acceptance of this deed and His mercy in the Hereafter.Abu Aaliyah Abdullah ibn Dwight Battle Ramadan 18th, 1433Doha, Qatar (c)
Download or read book True Disbelievers written by R. Serge Denisoff and published by Transaction Pub. This book was released on 1995-01-01 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Denisoff and Plasketes also analyze the various media that those who doubt Elvis's death use to popularize their positions, including television, magazines, and books. They review the work of others who have written on the subject, such as Gail Brewer-Giorgio and Major Bill Smith, and raise provocative, yet valid questions about the phenomenon they describe. True Disbelievers takes a pointed look at the music industry as well, and how it has used and commercially benefitted by the continuing belief that Elvis lives. They examine common strands in the many reports of Elvis sightings since Presley's reported death. Denisoff and Plasketes describe the Elvis phenomenon in serious, objective as well as empathetic terms, placing it in the context of studies of cult figures and their followers.
Download or read book Letters to Doubting Thomas written by C. Stephen Layman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2006-10-16 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When people encounter an argument for or against God's existence, it often raises more questions than it answers. In Letters to Doubting Thomas, C. Stephen Layman offers a fresh, insightful approach to the issue of God's existence--a way to organize what can seem like a blizzard of claims and concepts--bringing clarity to a debate often mired in confusion. Layman explores the evidence for the existence of God in a series of fictionalized letters between two characters--Zachary, a philosopher, and Thomas, an old college friend who appeals to Zach for help in sorting out his thoughts about God. As their correspondence grows, Zachary leads Thomas through an informal and highly readable comparison of Naturalism (the belief that there is no God and that ultimate reality is physical reality), and Theism (the idea that there is an almighty, perfectly good God). In engaging letters that break down complex philosophical arguments into easily digestible bits, the two friends delve into such weighty topics as the reliability of religious experience, various arguments for God's existence (such as the cosmological, design, and moral arguments), the question of free will, and the problem of evil. A piece at a time, they build an argument that shows that Theism, on balance, provides a better explanation of the world and human life than does Naturalism. Here then is a highly accessible account of the major arguments for and against the existence of God, capturing some of the best new insights of modern philosophy in a marvelously clear and engaging format.
Download or read book Ethics for a Small Planet written by Daniel C. Maguire and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1998-01-01 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A radical new look at the religious, economic, and political roots of terracide and how things can change for the better.
Download or read book Soul of the Qur 39 an Volume 1 written by and published by Soul of the Qur'an. This book was released on with total page 727 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Essential HBO Reader written by Gary R. Edgerton and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2013-07-24 with total page 543 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essays on the history of HBO, a company designed to please audiences instead of advertisers, and the impact of its distinctive programming: “Recommended.” —Choice The founding of Home Box Office in the early 1970s—when it debuted by telecasting a Paul Newman movie and an NHL game to 365 households in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania—was a harbinger of the innovations that would transform television as an industry and a technology in the decades that followed. HBO quickly became synonymous with subscription television—and the leading force in cable programming. Over decades, it’s grown from a domestic movie channel to an international powerhouse with a presence in over seventy countries. It is now a full-service content provider with a distinctive brand of original programming, famed for such landmark shows as The Sopranos and Sex and the City. It’s brought us Six Feet Under and The Wire, Band of Brothers and Angels in America, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Def Comedy Jam, Inside the NFL and Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Taxicab Confessions and Autopsy, and multiple Oscar-winning documentaries. The Essential HBO Reader brings together an accomplished group of scholars to explain how HBO’s programming transformed the world of television and popular culture, and provides a comprehensive and compelling examination of HBO’s development into the prototypical entertainment corporation of the twenty-first century. “An important assessment of the original programming HBO has created in the past few decades?how these programs are derived and what impact they have had.” —Choice “A thorough treatment of HBO’s programming . . . a useful addition to a growing number of books about American television in the ‘post-network’ era.” —American Studies
Download or read book Elvis Music FAQ written by Mike Eder and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2013-09-01 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why is Elvis Presley's body of recorded work still so relevant nearly 60 years after he began recording? ÊElvis Music FAQÊ is for anyone who has been inspired by an Elvis Presley record. Following in the tradition of the FAQ series in ÊElvis Music FAQÊ a lot of rare information is woven together in one concise entertaining package. There are chapters about every year of Elvis's career including a look at his pioneering original record label Sun; insight on his management; the continued importance of television in his career; a summation of each Presley concert tour; the inside scoop about the role Elvis's band members and songwriters played in his sound; stories about the amusing musical oddities created by those trying to ride on the Elvis success train; details about the contentious role drugs played in his career; and finally a full review of every record the King ever issued. One might say that the only truths about Elvis Presley can be found in the grooves of his records where his natural talent and passion for music comes through always. ÊElvis Music FAQÊ aims to be the one essential companion that explains the reason why the voice heard over the speakers still carries such resonance. Dozens of rare images accompany this engaging text.
Download or read book A Concordance to the Poems of Robert Browning written by Leslie Nathan Broughton and published by New York ; Leipzig : G.E. Stechert. This book was released on 1924 with total page 1334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book True Islam Lost in Translation written by Emil Shehadeh and published by CANDOR Publishing. This book was released on with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contact between Islam and the West is 1400 years old. Both sides have had more than adequate time to become familiar with the other. Yet the world is still arguing about Islam’s teachings. Is Islam peaceful? Does it commend violence? Does Islam respect “the other”? Does Islam abuse women? Is Islam anti-Semitic? Does Islam teach the Torment of the Grave? Does Islam recommend the beating of wives? Do Muslim Scriptures commend Temporary Marriage of Pleasure? Did Zayd divorce Zaynab because he had no further need of her? All these questions are easy to settle for anyone who can read Islamic Scripture in Arabic. The author of this book is such a person. However, to answer all these questions in the affirmative would do the image of Islam much damage in the West, where Islam is keen to present a polished image, especially in the light of much violence committed in its name against westerners. Muslim leaders, and their allies in the West, have popularised a distinction between Muslims and Islamists, in order to distance Islam from thousands of heinous Muslim crimes such as the Charlie Hebdo massacre. Are the English translations of the Qur’an faithful to the original Arabic? Or are they part of the charm offensive Muslim Petro-dollars have financed for years, through sponsorship of university departments of Islamic studies, investing in western media and publishing, building Islamic centres and financing Islamic societies and pressure groups throughout the West. This work gives English readers the ability to access the original Arabic of the Qur’an and hadith, and see the true face of Islam, without its face powder. It is hoped that this work will assist free thinkers to form their own opinion of Islam, based on the true Qur’an, without interference from Muslim propaganda or any agenda driven discourses.
Download or read book An Appeal to all that doubt or disbelieve the Truths of the Gospel To which are added some animadversions upon Dr Trap s late Reply written by William LAW (Author of “A Serious Call, ” etc.) and published by . This book was released on 1742 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Signals and Images written by Madeleine Bastide and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientists challenging dominant paradigms are either ignored or attacked by the scientific mainstream. This book, however, contains a selection of scientific papers presented at the two last GIRI meetings (International Research Group on Very Low Dose and High Dilution Effects). The majority of these papers present results performed with succussed high dilutions (homeopathic dilutions), even beyond the Avogrado number. All presented models are classified, and their interpretation is possible either in the mechanistic paradigm or in an information paradigm. This new field of research introduces new scientific concepts which are supported by experimental results. Furthermore, this nascent science is totally concerned with living organisms and, as such, it becomes necessary to define `information' brought by non-molecular high dilutions. This book presents brain-storming work of this research group and is one of the starting points of a scientific evolution.
Download or read book The Difference Makers written by Sandra Waddock and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-08 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is not often that we have the opportunity to hear from the early pioneers of a social movement about how it grew and evolved, but that is exactly what this book sets out to do. The Difference Makers tells the stories of 23 entrepreneurs who have been instrumental in developing corporate responsibility; offers an analysis of how CSR has emerged as a key business issue, why it has evolved so quickly, and the visions of its thought leaders. The book examines 23 of the key players who have been instrumental in developing the corporate responsibility movement. They include John Ruggie and the Global Compact, Allen White and the Global Reporting Initiative, John Elkington and SustainAbility, Simon Zadek and AccountAbility, Alice Tepper Marlin and Social Accountability International, Bob Dunn and Business for Social Responsibility, and Joan Bavaria and Ceres – along with many others. The Difference Makers is a history and detailed analysis of how corporate responsibility has emerged as a key political, social, and business issue, why it has evolved so quickly, and what the visions of its thought leaders are for the future. It is essential reading for academics, business people and all those interested in the future of the corporation.
Download or read book Tall Tales about the Mind and Brain written by Sergio Della Sala and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2007 with total page 550 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Does listening to Mozart make us more intelligent? Does the size of the brain matter? Can we communicate with the dead? This book presents a survey of common myths about the mind & brain. It exposes the truth behind these beliefs, how they are perpetuated, why people believe them, & why they might even exist in the first place.
Download or read book The True History of Elijah Muhammad Messenger of Allah written by Elijah Muhammad and published by Secretarius Memps Publications. This book was released on 1997 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Messenger Elijah Muhammad was considered, by the national as well as the international press, as one of the most inaccessible men in America; if the press, white or Negro, wanted to see Elijah Muhammad, they had to come to him: a degree of significance earned by Messenger Muhammad, and commanded by integrity. In an effort to ensure the clarity and sanctity of his message and history, this book draws from his own words to explain and elaborate on sensitive subjects like his mission, domestic life, family, and his relationship with his teacher, Master Fard Muhammad. It also delves into his relationship to other prophets, the paralleled work accomplished to substantiate his fulfilment, and important unpublished writings from his desk surrounding controversial matters perpetuated in today's public media.
Download or read book The Qur an written by and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2004-05-13 with total page 509 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a major new translation of the Qur'an, the sacred text of Islam, the meaning and spirit of the original are retained while providing clear text that is free of the archaisms, incoherence, and alien structures of existing translations.
