Sunday, January 26, 2020

Oxford Movement and the Church

Oxford Movement and the Church Article reprinted from Cross Way Issue Autumn 2008 No. 110 (C)opyright Church Society; material may be used for non-profit purposes provided that the source is acknowledged and the text is not altered. THE OXFORD MOVEMENT By David Phillips It is likely that we will see a growing interest in the Oxford Movement in the wake of proposals by Roman Catholics to declare one of its founders a saint. The early part of the 19th century was a period of great social change in Europe and the role of the Church was being weakened and threatened. However, some reform was necessary and parliament took the lead. In 1833 a Bill was passed to abolish two archbishoprics and eight bishoprics in Ireland. Whilst the decision was reasonable not least because of the problems in Ireland it was for some the straw which broke the camels back. There were those who believed this was unwarranted interference by the state in the affairs of the Church and demonstrated the weakness of the Church. John Keble responded with a sermon in the University Church in Oxford entitled national apostacy and he found support from three other Oxford men in particular John Henry Newman, Hurrell Froude and William Palmer. In September 1833 these men began to publish Tracts which were referred to as The Oxford Tracts giving rise to the later name The Oxford Movement. It is said that the chief concern of the Oxford men was the dignity of the Church and they argued in the Tracts that it was sacrilege for non-Church bodies to lay hands on the Church. They also had a strong aversion to the emerging liberalism and a desire for personal holiness. In these things they would have found sympathisers amongst Evangelicals but this was not all that surfaced in the Tracts. At the time High Church referred to those who had a high regard for the Church and its ways including establishment and its Protestantism. Thus High Churchmen were split in their response to the new movement. Some warmed to what was said about the nature and dignity of the Church whilst others saw that it would lead to disestablishment and indeed to some Roman practices at least. The impact of the movement was such that the old distinction of high church was largely lost and the term came to be associated with the Tractarians. The authorities in Oxford also distanced themselves from the Tracts and from any association of the name with the university. Historians will sometimes say that Evangelicals were slow to respond or even ill equipped to do so, but this is clearly not the case. The robustly evangelical newspaper The Record (later to become The Church of England Newspaper) commented on a letter sent by the Oxford men to the Archbishop of Canterbury and then later on the early Tracts in its December issues of 1833. We must confess the surprise was extreme and the sorrow poignant with which we read the tracts of the Apostolical Society at Oxford, extracts from which appeared in our last number. Had we not read them with our own eyes, it would have been difficult to persuade us that such effusions could have escaped, at any time, from the pen of Protestant clergymen The Record attacks the Oxford men on apostolic succession not because Evangelicals rejected the idea but because the Oxford men were touting the Roman view of succession. As a Protestant Church the Church of England, cannot nor would it wish to claim such succession and to do so was sheer folly. They also state that the Tracts talk of clergymen conveying the sacrifice, being intrusted with the keys of heaven and hell and being intrusted with the awful and mysterious gift of making the bread and wine Christs body and blood. The editorial describes all these as melancholy and wicked Popish delusions. Thus right from the outset Evangelicals, or at least some of them, saw the errors and responded to them, a fact that is not always recognised. Shortly afterwards Hurrell Froude, one of the original four died and his theological remains were published in 1838. These showed unequivocally his opposition to the Protestant Reformation and his empathy for Medieval Catholicism. This seems to have woken others up to the real heart of the Tractarians who were becoming increasingly critical of the Church of England and idealistic regarding the Church of Rome. In 1841 Newman published his famous Tract 90 attempting to argue that the Articles, if properly understood, support Roman Catholic doctrine. Newman himself seems to have eventually recognised that his arguments were wrong because he left for Rome but others continued and still continue to argue the same points. I recall one clergyman arguing that his belief in purgatory was acceptable because the Articles denounce the Romish doctrine of purgatory and that was not his doctrine. Eventually this perverse sort of reasoning had to be resolved and evangelicals found that they had to resort to law to do so. Evangelicals at the time, as today, were adamant that they were the legitimate Anglicans, the true heirs of the Reformed Church of England. The case of George Gorham therefore shook the movement to its roots. Bishop Philpotts of Exeter despised Evangelicals and when a Patron attempted to present Gorham to a living in the Diocese the Bishop argued and then set out to prove that Gorham did not hold to the doctrine of the Church on baptismal regeneration. This was serious because no evangelical believed in baptismal regeneration and nor did they believe that it was the doctrine of the church. If Gorham was rejected on this basis then all evangelicals could find themselves driven out. An appeal was therefore launched but the Bishops decision was initially upheld. Evangelicals however contested the issue right to the Privy Council where they won. For Anglo-Catholics this demonstrated the problem of establishment that a secular court, as they saw it, had the final say. For Evangelicals it was a reminder that within the Church hierarchy they were weak and often opposed whilst they had much stronger support amongst the laity, and particularly in parliament. More importantly it demonstrated that men like Philpotts could not be trusted to read the Articles and Prayer Book in its plain historical meaning, revisionism had begun. From an early stage Tractarianism was manifest in Ritualism and they founded the Church Union to promote their cause. In 1865 Evangelicals responded by forming the Church Association which from the outset had amongst its aims the goal of clarifying the law on ritual and doctrine. Thus a series of test cases were fought which mostly, though certainly not in every detail, upheld the Evangelical view. This ought to have settled matters, but of course it did not. The Ritualists still refused to abide by the law. The obvious thing would have been for Bishops to remove such clergy from office but the Bishops generally declined to do this. This failure to discipline has plagued the Church of England down to the present and has encouraged all manner of practices and beliefs to flourish unchecked. The problem therefore for Evangelicals was what to do next and this led to division amongst them. The Church Association believed it must fight on and so they took the matters to the courts. The fact was that the law forbade certain practices and the Ritualists were doing them. Therefore the courts instructed the Ritualists to stop and they did not. If the law was to be upheld then there had to be a final recourse when people refused to obey it and thus some clergy were imprisoned. But many Evangelicals either did not like this approach either because they did not like taking the matter to court in this way or because they feared the outcome. Thus J.C. Ryle in particular encouraged the creation of a new body, The Protestant Churchmens Alliance, which absorbed the earlier Protestant Association. The Alliance also fought ritualism but not to the lengths the Association did. The Alliance merged eventually into the National Church League and thus was finally reunited with the Association in 1950 when both became Church Society. With the benefit of hindsight it is possible to see that the fears of many were realised because the imprisonments led to a swing in public opinion in favour of the Ritualists. At the same time the Association, as a primarily lay organisation, tried to do what the Bishops failed to do, which was preserve discipline as a mark of the Church. Today many of the practices that were opposed by our evangelical forebears are common within the Church of England and are even found, sometimes unwittingly, in evangelical churches. David Phillips is General Secretary of Church Society.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Illustrate The Causes if Inflation And Deflation Essay

With the aid of diagrams, illustrate the causes if inflation and deflation, and by comparing their economic effects consider how both can effect the corporate sector This essay will aim to cover the causes of inflation and deflation and see how their economic effects influence the corporate sector. By first defining any key terms, then looking at the causes of inflation and deflation, looking at their different effects on the economy and in turn analysing how those effects shape the corporate sector. Before this can be done the terms ‘inflation’, ‘deflation’ and ‘corporate sector’ must first be defined. ‘Inflation is a rise in the average price of goods over time’. (Begg, D., Fischer, S. and Dorndusch, R., 2000, p462) and ‘The most usual measure is that of retail prices’ (Sloman, J. and Sutcliffe, M., 2001, P533) (this information being gathered from the retail price index [RPI]) and ‘A rise in inflation means a faster increase in prices†¦fall in inflation means a lower rise in prices’ (Sloman, J. and Sutcliffe, M., 2001, p533). To illustrate the importance of inflation ‘The COS (Central Statistical Office) says it gets more queries from the public about the RPI than any other statistic, a refection of the influence inflation has on every ones life.’ (Vaitilingam, R., 1994, p132). Now deflation must be defined. ‘Deflation is the mirror image on inflation’ (McAleese, D., 2004, p285) and is defined by the Collins English dictionary as ‘reduction in economic activity resulting in lower output and investment’ (Anon, 1998, p140). Corporate means ‘relating to a business corporation’ (Oxford University Press, 2006) so the corporate sector is all profit making businesses. This report will now examine the main causes of inflation. There are two main types of inflation: demand pull and cost push. ‘Demand pull inflation occurs when a rise in aggregate demand leads to an increase in overall prices’ (Begg, D. and Ward, D., 2004, p237). Sloman, J. and Sutcliffe, M., (2001, p537) represented this graphically stating ‘The AD curve shirts to the right and continue to do so. Firms will respond to a rise in aggregate demand partly by raising prices and partly by increasing output (a move up the AS curve)’ and this is illustrated in the following diagram: This new, higher level of demand my happen for many reasons Atkinson, B. and Miller, R., (1998, p378) tell us that ‘The high level of demand may originate from consumers, from firms, from overseas or from the government’. The other main cause of inflation is cost push inflation. ‘Cost push inflation occurs when a reduction in supply leads to an increase in overall prices’ (Begg, D. and Ward, D., 2004, p237) or ‘when costs of production rise independently from the level of demand’ (Atkinson, B. and Miller, R., 1998, p378). This can be denoted graphically as: Sloman, J. and Sutcliffe, M., (2001, p357) describe this graph as ‘Cost-push inflation is associated with continuing rises in cost and hence continually leftward (upward) shifts in the AS curve. If the firm face a rise in cost, they will respond partly in raising prices and passing the costs onto the consumer and partly by cutting back on production (there is a movement along the AD curve)’ Monetarists believe that inflation is caused solely by the supply of money in circulation. ‘The monetarist view of inflation, encapsulated in Milton Friedman’s dictum, inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon†¦Inflation occurs when the growth of the money supply persistently exceeds the growth of real output’ (McAleese, D., 2004, p281). This can also be shown graphically as: McAleese, D., (2004, p281) goes on to say that ‘A rise in money supply from M0 to M1 shifts the AD curve outwards from AD (M0) to AD (M1). The eventual equilibrium will move from E0 to E1 and prices will rise from P0 to P1†¦In the short run†¦the AS curve may be positively sloped†¦In that event a rise in money stock will cause higher prices, but will also lead to more output†¦In the longer term, pay levels will ‘catch up’ on inflation and, over time†¦ The economy then approximates more and more closely to the vertical AS.’ This theory is backed by much evidence including this from the US Department of Commerce As deflation is the opposite inflation it can be caused by the same factors. McAleese, D. (2004, p285) stated ‘†¦it can be caused by supply or demand shocks. Supply shocks include†¦sustained productivity improvements and technological innovation that lowers prices of inputs and outputs†¦Demand shocks can arise for several reasons: a collapse in the stock market or property prices, a sustained strengthening of the exchange rate, wars†¦that undermined business confidence.’ ‘From a monetary perspective deflation is caused by a reduction in the velocity of money and/or the amount of money supply per person.’ (Wikipedia contributors, 2006). Kai, V., L. (2004) showed this graphically as Know we how inflation and deflation is caused we must examine their effects on the economy as a whole and their effects on the corporate sector. Sloman, J. and Sutcliffe, M., (2001, p534) believe that ‘If you could accurately predict inflation and adjust incomes and prices to meet it then it would not be problem’. And Griffiths, A. and Wall, S., (2004, p463) reinforce this by stating if we have ‘an economy in which inflation is proceeding at a steady and perfectly foreseen rate, and in which all possible adjustments for the existence of inflation have been made†¦the main cost of inflation would arise from the fact that interest is not normally paid on currency in circulation’, so individuals would make more trips to the bank in order to collect interest on their money. ‘These extra trips to the bank are often called ‘shoe-leather’ costs of inflation.’ (Griffiths, A. and Wall, S., 2004, p463) The other cost of anticipated inflation is ‘menu’ costs. Menu costs are costs from having to update catalogues, menus, vending machines, etc (Atkinson, B. and Miller, R., 1998, p384). These costs are very minute so would not greatly effect the corporate sector as a whole. Businesses such as restuants, catalouge based comapies and those who produce vending machines would incounter minor expenses. This forseen inflation econany can be represented graphically as: But normally high inflation is not accurately predicted so other economic costs arise. There are four main, other, expenses: redistribution, uncertainty, balance of payments and resources. This report will now look at these factors in turn. Firstly high inflation ‘redistributes wealth to those with assets (e.g. property) †¦ and away from those with savings that pay rates of interest below the rate of inflation and hence who’s value is eroded by inflation’ (Sloman, J. and Sutcliffe, M., 2001, p534). This may include people on fixed pensions. Atkinson, B. and Miller, R., (1998 p384) show redistribution also effects ‘creditors , those who are owed money, will also suffer, since when they are paid back, the value of money will be worth less, while debtors, those who owe money, will benefit.’ So ‘Firms can also borrow more for investment as real value of debt decreases’ (Atkinson, B. and Miller, R., 1998, p386). This will be a benefit to firms to wishing to borrow money but bad for those who offer long term credit options on their products. Secondly ‘inflation tends to cause uncertainty and firms may be reluctant to plan ahead and take long term decisions regarding investment as they are unable to predict future costs and revenues.’ (Atkinson, B. and Miller, R., 1998, p384) ‘This will reduce the rate of economic growth.’ (Sloman, J. and Sutcliffe, M., 2001, p534). So the corporate sector will suffer from poor planning and low investment. Furthermore ‘inflation is likely to worsen the balance of payments†¦its exports will become relatively less competitive in the world markets. At the same time imports will become relatively cheaper than home produces goods. Thus exports will fall and imports will rise. As a result the balance of payments will deteriorate and/or the exchange rate will fall.’ (Sloman, J. and Sutcliffe, M., 2001, p534). This will, therefore, affect companies who rely on the global economy. They will face difficulties to exporting products and selling them abroad. They will also face increased competition from imports so may even struggle to sell their products to the home market. Finally ‘extra resources are likely to be used to cope with the effects of inflation. Accountants and other financial experts may have to be employed by companies to help cope with the uncertainties caused by inflation.’ This will then increase a firm’s costs. ‘With higher costs, firms are less able to make profit. Some firms exit the market and, as a result, aggregate supply is less†¦with national output falling and inflation increasing.’ (Begg, D. and Ward, D., 2004, p238) firms are forced to pass on increasing costs onto the consumer which may result in reduced sales. This could result in being fatal to a firm in a high inflationary economy. So the economy as a whole will suffer from high inflation, firms will find new obstacles in the way of maximising profits and the individual in the economy will each face new difficulties as a result. Sloman, J. and Sutcliffe, M., (2001, p536) report ‘The costs of inflation are likely to be relatively mild if kept to the single figure’ problems arise if inflation turns into hyperinflation (where inflation accelerates out of control) and go onto say ‘If inflation develops into â€Å"hyperinflation†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Firms constantly raise prices in attempt to cover their rocketing costs. Workers demand huge pay increase in an attempt to stay ahead of the rocketing cost of living. Thus prices and wages chase each other in an ever rising inflationary spiral’. Even though the effects of hyperinflation, and even inflation, can be devastating to an economy and the corporate sector, most economist fear deflation more. This section will now examine the effects of deflation on the economy and businesses. McAleese, D., (2004, p286) reported ‘In assessing the economic effects of deflation the problem stems less from the shock itself than from the sequence of events that follow and magnify its initial impact. Price declines become self reinforcing’. This means if deflation is affecting an economy, consumers will expect prices to fall as they have been. This will mean they will postpone buying a certain product now as they believe that in the future it will be cheaper ‘or as they become more concerned about their future economic security, particularly if unemployment is rising. The prolonged economic slowdown in Japan has raised concerns about future income prospects among its aging labour force, which may well be one reason for its deflation of the last few years’ (Brooks, D. H. and Quisingp P., F., 2002). This all means demand will fall. ‘Weakening consumer demand passes into investment. Investors’ begin to loose nerve. Sales forecasts are cut back. The appetite for risk weakens. Faced with declining sales, corporate debt that once looked rock solid now looks less secure†¦ firms cut back on the number of employees†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (McAleese, D., 2004, p286). So not only does the corporate sector suffer from declining sales, they are forced to reduce their prices even more. They have reduced investment opportunities as capital becomes extremely hard to raise. ‘Deflation has opposing influences on creditors and debtors†¦ Consequently, the real value of debt and debt servicing rises. There is thus a potential benefit for creditors†¦By itself; this redistribution of real net wealth is not necessarily negative for the economy as a whole.’ (Brooks, D. H. and Quisingp P., F., 2002). For firms with a high level of debt this means decreased security as the cost of their debt is increasing. This will also have negative implications on investment as another route of raising capital becomes increasingly more difficult to peruse. Firms that offer credit options will benefit as the real value of they owed increases. The effects of deflation are seen more server in today’s economy as McAleese, D., (2004, p286) believes ‘In an open world economy, there is an added fear that deflationary impulses in a large economy could be transmitted across countries through trade and investment linkages.’ Inflation and deflation both affect the corporate sector in various ways. ‘Constantly low inflation should bring increased stability. Businesses seeking to invest millions of pounds over many years will be assured by increases price stability. Predictions regarding costs and revenues are much easier to make and firms face less uncertainty when assessing investment risk.’ (Begg, D. and Ward, D., 2004, p286) and low inflation ‘is likely to increase the turnover and profit levels of a firm’. Workers may also feel happier with pay increase therefore more productive ‘under the illusion they are better off even though their real wage has not increased.’ So in conclusion low inflation can be beneficial to the corporate sector but higher inflation can have many negative affects but ‘It is generally better to have mild inflation than deflation. Deflation†¦can create a potentially dangerous situation, as occurred during the depression of the 19 30’s.’ (Atkinson, B. and Miller, R., 1998, p386). Biblography Anon, 1998, Collins Gem – English dictionary (Nineteenth Edition), HarperCollins Publishing, Glasgow Atkinson, B. and Miller, R., 1998, Business economics, Pearson Education Limited, Essex Begg, D., Fischer, S. and Dorndusch, R., 2000, Economics (Sixth Edition), McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, Berkshire. Begg, D. and Ward, D., 2004, Economics for business, McGraw-Hill Education, Berkshire Brooks, D. H. and Quisingp P., F., 2002, Dangers of Deflation, [online], Available from: http://adb.org/Documents/EDRC/Policy_Briefs/PB012.pdf [access 8th March 2006] Griffiths, A. and Wall, S., 2004, Applied economics (Tenth Edition), Pearson Education, London Kai, V., W., 2004, The Causes and Effects of Deflation in Macao, [online], Available from: http://www.amcm.gov.mo/publication/quarterly/Jul2004/causes_en.pdf [access 8th March 2006] McAleese, D., 2004, Economics for business – competition, macro-stability and globalisation, (3rd Edition), Prentice Hall Europe, London Oxford University Press, 2006, Corporate, [online], Available from: http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/corporate?view=uk [Accessed 8th March 2006] Parkin, Powell and Matthews, 2005, Economics (Sixth Edition), Pearson Education Limited, Essex Sloman, J. and Sutcliffe, M., 2001, Economics for business (Second Edition), Prentice Hall, London Vaitilingam, R., 1994, The financial times guide to using economics and economic indicators, Pitman Publishing, London Wikipedia contributors, 2006, Deflation (economics), [online]. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deflation_(economics)&oldid=42742256 [accessed 8th March, 2006] Wikipedia contributors, 2006, Inflation [online] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation [Accessed 22nd February 2006]

Friday, January 10, 2020

Secret Facts About Research Proposal Services Only the Pros Know Exist

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Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Richard Nixons Native American Federal Policy

Modern American politics among various demographics can be traced along predictable lines when it comes to a two-party system, especially those of ethnic minorities. Although the civil rights movement enjoyed bipartisan support early on, it became split along regional lines with Southerners of both parties opposing it, resulting in the conservative Dixiecrats migrating to the Republican party. Today African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Native Americans are typically associated with the liberal agenda of the Democrats. Historically, the conservative agenda of the Republican Party tended to be hostile to the needs of American Indians, especially during the mid-20th century, but ironically it was the Nixon administration that would bring much-needed change to Indian country. Crisis in the Wake of Termination Decades of federal policy toward American Indians overwhelmingly favored assimilation, even when the governments prior efforts toward forced assimilation were declared a failure as a result of the Merriam Report in 1924. Despite policies designed to reverse some of the damage by fostering greater self-government and a measure of tribal independence in the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the concept of improvement of the lives of Indians was still framed in terms of progress as American citizens, i.e. their ability to assimilate into the mainstream and evolve out of their existence as Indians. By 1953 a Republican-controlled Congress would adopt House Concurrent Resolution 108 which stated that at the earliest possible time [Indians should be] freed from all federal supervision and control and from all disabilities and limitations specially applicable to Indians. Thus, the problem was framed in terms of Indians political relationship to the United States, rather than a history of a buse stemming from broken treaties, perpetuating a relationship of domination. Resolution 108 signaled the new policy of termination in which tribal governments and reservations were to be dismantled once and for all by giving greater jurisdiction over Indian affairs to some states (in direct contradiction of the Constitution) and the relocation program which sent Indians away from their home reservations to large cities for jobs. During the termination years, more Indian lands were lost to federal control and private ownership and many tribes lost their federal recognition, effectively eradicating the political existence and identities of thousands of individual Indians and over 100 tribes. Activism, Uprising, and the Nixon Administration The ethnic nationalist movements among Black and Chicano communities fueled the mobilization for American Indians own activism and by 1969 the Alcatraz Island occupation was underway, grabbing the nations attention and creating a highly visible platform upon which Indians could air their centuries-long grievances. On July 8, 1970, President Nixon formally repudiated the termination policy (which was established ironically during his tenure as vice president) with a special message to Congress advocating for American Indian Self-determination. . . without the threat of eventual termination, assuring that the Indian†¦[could] assume control over his own life without being separated involuntarily from the tribal group. The next five years would see some of the most bitter struggles in Indian country, testing the Presidents commitment to Indian rights. In the latter part of 1972, the American Indian Movement (AIM) in conjunction with other American Indian rights groups convened the Trail of Broken Treaties caravan across the country to deliver a twenty point list of demands to the federal government. The caravan of several hundred Indian activists culminated in the week-long takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington DC. Just a few months later in early 1973, was the 71-day armed confrontation in Wounded Knee, South Dakota between American Indian activists and the FBI in response to an epidemic of uninvestigated murders and the terrorist tactics of a federally-supported tribal government on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The heightening tensions across Indian country could no longer be ignored, nor would the public stand for more armed interventions and Indian deaths at the hands of federal officials. Thanks to the momentum of the civil rights movement Indians had become popular, or at least a force to be reckoned with and the Nixon administration seemed to grasp the wisdom of taking a pro-Indian stance. Nixons Influence on Indian Affairs During Nixons presidency, a number of great strides were made in federal Indian policy, as documented by the Nixon-era Center Library at Mountain State University. Among some of the most significant of those achievements are: The return of the sacred Blue Lake to the people of Taos Pueblo in 1970.The Menominee Restoration Act, restoring the recognition of the previously terminated tribe in 1973.In the same year, the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget was increased by 214% to a total of $1.2 billion.The establishment of the first special office on Indian Water Rights - A bill authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to make direct and insured loans to Indian tribes through the Farmers Home Administration.The passage of the Indian Financing Act of 1974, which supported tribal commercial development.The filing of a landmark Supreme Court suit to protect Indian rights at Pyramid Lake.Pledged that all available BIA funds be arranged to fit priorities set by tribal governments themselves. In 1975 Congress passed the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, perhaps the most significant piece of legislation for Native American rights since the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. Although Nixon had resigned the presidency before being able to sign it, he had laid the groundwork for its passage. References Hoff, Joan. Re-evaluating Richard Nixon: His Domestic Achievements. http://www.nixonera.com/library/domestic.asp Wilkins, David E. American Indian Politics and the American Political System. New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2007.