Situations are constantly changing in the world. It seems as if there are new plans, ideas, organizations and groups that are daily being put into practice for the betterment of a certain group. This week’s blog concerns the three biggest problems of the world. When some are asked this question of the world’s three biggest problems, they may narrowly just apply the question the United States. However, this would be obviously unfair and severely incorrect if one assumed the United States was the only country with problems or the only country with issues that can be solved. There is an undeniable devastation concerning what I consider the three biggest problems of the world because they are affecting each corner of this world. The three biggest problems of the world deal with the issues of poverty, government and education. Between these three issues there is a definite relationship. The first problem to deal with is poverty.
In this current information age, one can easily research on poverty and find many sites and associations, such as The World Bank, that provide information for poverty awareness and assess the global issue of poverty. Poverty does not only relate to matters of finance but simple branches of finances such as what one will eat from a day to day basis. The effects of poverty are extremely profound on a family. Imagine a family of four, husband and wife and two children, not only are the adults struggling with how to feed themselves and their family but with the constant need for shelter. Where would they live? What place would be adequate for a family? People can honestly say that most housing of lower economic value also lack in the standard of living for any human being. Is this lower standard of living accepted because these people can not afford to live a lavish life? Of course not; these are still human beings who deserve clean, sturdy buildings that are up-to-date on every safety necessity with plenty of hot water and other essential amenities. It would be completely unreasonable to blame illiteracy of children on lack of parental involvement, though parents who are less financial stable than others are often blamed for not being interested in their child’s education. Could this be because of the two or three jobs that a parent is working just to be able to afford sufficient health care? Poverty is often linked with illiteracy, which may not be the case in every situation, but the impoverished are often stereotyped as illiterate. Poverty is definitely not the reason for illiteracy but it is one of its prominent factors.
In the Bible, God says “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). Ignorance is a characteristic that affects many topics. To be ignorant, is to be unaware or lack certain knowledge of something. This brings me to the next problem with education. The world, specifically the United States, is uncompromisingly ignorant towards the significance of education. There are so many problems with the education system in the United States. For starters, there is the public school system. There is a constant, relentless fight whether private or public schools are better, but that fight is completely subjective. The true concern within the differences in private and public schools are the blatant “down-grades” given to students in the public school system. Associations such as the National Education Association (NEA) directly attack these problems and consider several solutions, such as smaller class sizes and teachers who love their profession. Personally, education is a big problem in this world because people are no longer taking it seriously. The United States has, on several occasions, been labeled as one of the most unintelligent countries housing some of the world’s brainless children. For some reason, government officials do not find these comments offensive. This conclusion is implied because of the lack of unified government action against these education issues, which leads to the next biggest problem of government.
There is such a lackadaisical attitude towards actions of the government in the United States. Since the United States is so proud of their Democracy, it would seem as if the all people, regardless of ethnicity or social class would be able to equally voice their opinions. Why is it that the President, in his most recent State of the Union address, politely does not mention Hurricane Katrina and coinciding relief efforts or the growing problems with education? Why would the United States accept this speech that leaves out the most important issues that are daily affecting its people?
Of the three problems, the ignorance of the essential need for adequate, equal education for everyone is the biggest. Education affects every aspect of one’s life. Personal levels of education definitely affect the specific job eligibility for people. This in turn leads to the increase or decrease of the poverty factor. Also, those educated would be able to understand their place in their local, state and federal governments. I believe that I could help the education problem the most. There are so many possibilities for restoring the education system. I believe that people need to become more aware of the facts. There are campaigns and organizations such as VH1 Save the Music, which incorporates music and learning. Although this does not directly correlate with my planned profession, I know that even as a doctor, I will still be an unconditional advocate of equal education opportunities.

The Bible is now commonly used in an acronym: basic instructions before leaving earth. Now to say this is exactly what the word Bible stands for would be wrong on my part. It is known that there is no such thing as “THE Bible”. The word Bible comes from the Greek language, the word ta biblia, which means “the books”. There are many different religions that use significantly different versions of the Bible. In the Jewish religion, the Bible consists of 39 books that are split into three sections. This Hebrew Bible in the Jewish religion contains the Torah, which means law, Neviim, which means Prophets, and Ketuvim, which means the writings. The law consists of five books, the Prophets has eight books and the writings has eleven. Jews refer to their bible as the Tanak, while Christians refer to it as the Old Testament and academic circles appropriately refer to it as the Hebrew Bible. For Protestant Christians, which is most of the Christian religion, includes the 27 books of the New Testament, which start with the 4 Gospels in their Bible. In Catholic and Eastern Orthodox religions the 15 books of the Apocrypha are included in their Bible. So the reason there is no such thing as “THE Bible” is that there are so many different versions.
The Vorlage is a German term that scholars use to refer to the original text of the biblical writings. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, known as the Septuagint, is the most probable tool that Bible scholars use to determine the Vorlage. The Dead Sea Scrolls, found in 1947 near Qumran along the Dead Sea shores, are also used. One of the scrolls was the complete Book of Isaiah. Biblical Scholars also use the Samaritan Pentaeuch, the Targumim, Peshitta and Vulgate.
The King James Bible was written in 1611 and is William Tyndale’s translation. It is believed that only about one-fourth of the material was altered. The King James Bible is written in King James Version (KJV) which is known for its Shakespearean flair. There are other versions of the Bible such as the New International Version (NIV) or the Revised Standard Version (RSV) that translate the Bible into modern-day English usage. Some argue that these versions are better because they are far easier to understand. However, there are many positive as well as negative aspects for modern university students to read the King James Version. There is definitely a certain opulence that emerges from the words when one read the KJV Bible. Also most Christian students were raised on the KJV Bible so there is an underlying experienced feel with verses. The drawbacks are obviously the difficult reading but within those words one must make themselves first learn what the words mean, then read the verse and apply meaning to the verse. So the KJV Bible unknowingly assists in Biblical scholarship.
Biblical scholars investigate the Bible for a living. There are many historical references in the Bible. Also, Biblical scholars make inferences as to how present-day events were explained in the Bible. Bible scholars try to reveal as much as they can about a text that they examine in the Bible. Theology is the study of religions and beliefs and Biblical studies is the study of the Bible and all its versions which is clearly thought of in Theology, thus showing their correlation. I could not see myself being a Biblical scholar as my profession because it is not my calling. However, I could see myself studying the Bible for leisure.
The beginning of writing began in Sumer and Egypt around 3200 BCE. Writing was created for the purpose of economic receipts in trade. This was known as pictographic writing. The writing style of logograph followed then writing became phonetic, which was based on homophones. After the addition of homophones, writing became grammatical which led to the institution of cuneiform and hieroglyph. The alphabet was invented in 1400 BCE by a Canaanite who invented a writing system that took pictographs and used the first letter to be pronounced. The alphabet provided a democratized civilization that put the ability to read and write in the hands of many people, it was no longer reserved for the elite.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 1st, 2006 at 2:38 pm and is filed under Week 02: 3 Big Problems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.