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Topic Review
In God We Trust
"In God We Trust" (also rendered as "In God we trust") is the official motto of the United States and of the U.S. state of Florida. It was adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1956, replacing E pluribus unum ("Out of many, one"), which had been the de facto motto since the initial design of the Great Seal of the United States. While the earliest mentions of the phrase can be found in the mid-19th century, the origins of this phrase as a political motto lie in the American Civil War, where Union supporters wanted to emphasize their attachment to God and to boost morale. The capitalized form "IN GOD WE TRUST" first appeared on the two-cent piece in 1864; it was not printed on paper currency until 1957 and on some postage stamps until 1954. A law passed in July 1955 by a joint resolution of the 84th Congress (Pub.L. 84–140) and approved by President Dwight Eisenhower requires that "In God We Trust" appear on all United States dollar . Two years later, the phrase was used on paper money for the first time — on the updated one-dollar silver certificate that entered circulation on October 1, 1957. The 84th Congress later passed legislation (Pub.L. 84–851), also signed by President Eisenhower on July 30, 1956, declaring the phrase to be the national motto. Several states have also mandated or authorized its use in public institutions or schools; while Florida, Georgia and Mississippi have incorporated the phrase in some of their state symbols. The motto has also been used in some cases in other countries, most notably on Nicaragua's coins.The motto remains popular among the American public. According to a 2003 joint poll by USA Today, CNN, and Gallup, 90% of Americans support the inscription "In God We Trust" on U.S. coins; and a 2019 student poll by College Pulse showed that 53% of students supported its inclusion in currency. Some groups and people in the United States, however, have objected to its use, contending that its religious reference violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. These groups believe the phrase should be removed from currency and public property, which has resulted in numerous lawsuits. This argument has not overcome the interpretational doctrine of accommodationism, which allows the government to endorse religious establishments as long as they are all treated equally, and that of "ceremonial deism", which states that a repetitious invocation of a religious entity in ceremonial matters strips the phrase of its original religious connotation. The New Hampshire Supreme Court, as well as Second, Fourth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits have all upheld the constitutionality of the motto in various settings. The Supreme Court has discussed the motto in footnotes but has never directly ruled on its compliance with the Constitution.
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  • 30 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Incidents in the Life of Madame Blavatsky
Incidents in the Life of Madame Blavatsky: compiled from information supplied by her relatives and friends is a book originally published in 1886 in London; it was compiled by a member of the Theosophical Society A. P. Sinnett, the first biographer of H. P. Blavatsky (née Hahn). He describes the many unusual incidents in her life, beginning from her childhood in Russia and asserts that she has been with "an early connection with the supernatural world;" he says about her short unlucky marriage and "decade of extensive global travels," about her period of learning in Tibet, and the "criticism she received about some of her 'phenomena' and practices."
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  • 06 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Inclusive Design of Workspaces
Accessible design within the built environment has often focused on mobility conditions and has recently widened to include mental health. Additionally, as one in seven are neurodivergent (including conditions such as ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and dyspraxia), this highlights a growing need for designing for ‘non-visible’ conditions in addition to mobility. Emphasised by the growing disability pay gap and the disability perception gap, people with disabilities are still facing discrimination and physical barriers within the workplace. To ensure the built environment contributes to an equal and inclusive society, people need to ensure their spaces are being designed to be accessible and inclusive. Successful integration of inclusive design within the design process contributes to the overall usability of the space, thus improving the overall sustainability of infrastructure. Similarly, by following the social model of disability, designers must aim to remove barriers experienced by the user, hence shifting the responsibility onto the designer to actively design a better space.
  • 657
  • 21 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Independent Legal Reasoning in Islamic Law
Ijtihad (Arabic: اجتهاد ijtihād, [ʔidʒ.tihaːd]; lit. physical or mental effort) is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question. It is contrasted with taqlid (imitation, conformity to legal precedent). According to classical Sunni theory, ijtihad requires expertise in the Arabic language, theology, revealed texts, and principles of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh), and is not employed where authentic and authoritative texts (Qur'an and Hadith) are considered unambiguous with regard to the question, or where there is an existing scholarly consensus (ijma). Ijtihad is considered to be a religious duty for those qualified to perform it. An Islamic scholar who is qualified to perform ijtihad is called a mujtahid. Throughout the first five Islamic centuries, the practice of ijtihad continued both theoretically and practically amongst Sunni Muslims. The controversy surrounding ijtihad and the existence of mujtahids started, in its primitive form, around the beginning of the sixth/twelfth century. By the 14th century, development of Sunni jurisprudence prompted leading Sunni jurists to state that the main legal questions had been addressed and the scope of ijtihad was gradually restricted. In the modern era, this gave rise to a perception among Western scholars and lay Muslim public that the so-called "gate of ijtihad" was closed at the start of the classical era. While recent scholarship established that the practice of Ijtihad had never ceased in Islamic history, the extent and mechanisms of legal change in the post-formative period remain a subject of debate. Differences amongst the jurists prevented Muslims from reaching any consensus(Ijma) on the issues of continuity of Ijtihad and existence of Mujtahids. Thus, Ijtihad remained a key aspect of Islamic jurisprudence throughout the centuries. Ijtihad was practiced throughout the Early modern period and claims for ijtihad and its superiority over taqlid were voiced unremittingly. Starting from the 18th century, Islamic reformers began calling for abandonment of taqlid and emphasis on ijtihad, which they saw as a return to Islamic origins. Public debates in the Muslim world surrounding ijtihad continue to the present day. The advocacy of ijtihad has been particularly associated with Islamic modernist and Salafiyya movements. Among contemporary Muslims in the West there have emerged new visions of ijtihad which emphasize substantive moral values over traditional juridical methodology. Shia jurists did not use the term ijtihad until the 12th century. With the exception of Zaydi jurisprudence, the early Imami Shia were unanimous in censuring Ijtihad in the field of law (Ahkam). After the Shiite embracal of various doctrines of Mu'tazila and classical Sunnite Fiqh (jurisprudence), this led to a change. After the victory of the Usulis who based law on principles (usul) over the Akhbaris ("traditionalists") who emphasized on reports or traditions (khabar) by the 19th century, Ijtihad would become a mainstream Shia practice.
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  • 22 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Independent Minyan
An independent minyan is a lay-led Jewish worship and study community that has developed independently of established denominational and synagogue structures within the organized Jewish community. Some began in the late 1990s and most since the year 2000, though some are several decades older. These new groups often combine a commitment to halakha/Jewish law with egalitarianism, and strive to create worship services where traditional prayer can become "spiritual experiences." The name, minyan, comes from the Hebrew word (מנין) for the prayer quorum traditionally required for a full Jewish prayer service.
  • 316
  • 17 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Indeterminacy
Indeterminacy, in philosophy, can refer both to common scientific and mathematical concepts of uncertainty and their implications and to another kind of indeterminacy deriving from the nature of definition or meaning. It is related to deconstructionism and to Nietzsche's criticism of the Kantian noumenon.
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  • 30 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Indigenous Aryans
Indigenous Aryans, also known as the Out of India theory (OIT), is the idea that the Aryans are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, and that the Indo-European languages radiated out from a homeland in India into their present locations. Reflecting traditional Indian views based on the Puranic chronology, the indigenist view proposes an older date than is generally accepted for the Vedic period, and argues that the Indus Valley Civilization was a Vedic civilization. In this view, "the Indian civilization must be viewed as an unbroken tradition that goes back to the earliest period of the Sindhu-Sarasvati (or Indus) tradition (7000 or 8000 BCE)." It is presented as an alternative to the established migration model, which proposes the Pontic steppe as the area of origin of the Indo-European languages. The proposal is based on traditional and religious views on Indian history and identity, and plays a signifcant role in Hindutva politics. Support for this idea mostly exists among Indian scholars of Hindu religion and the history and archaeology of India, and has no support in mainstream scholarship.
  • 6.2K
  • 13 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Individualist Anarchism in France
Individualist anarchism in France has developed a line of thought that starts from the pioneering activism and writings of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Anselme Bellegarrigue in the mid-19th century. In the early 20th century, it produced publications such as L'En-Dehors, L'Anarchie and around its principles it found writers and activists such as Émile Armand, Han Ryner, Henri Zisly, Albert Libertad and Zo d'Axa. In the post-war years, there appeared the publication L'Unique and activist writers such as Charles-Auguste Bontemps. In contemporary times, it has found a new expression in the writings of the prolific philosopher Michel Onfray. Individualist anarchism is a group of several traditions of thought within the anarchist movement that emphasize the individual and his or her will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions and ideological systems. French individualist anarchism was characterized by an eclectic set of currents of thought and practices which included anti-militarism, freelove, freethought, illegalism and naturism. While most American individualist anarchists advocates mutualism, a libertarian socialist from of market socialism, or a free-market socialist form of classical economics, European individualist anarchists are pluralists who advocate anarchism without adjectives and synthesis anarchism, ranging from anarcho-communist to mutualist economic types.
  • 2.2K
  • 11 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Individuation
The principle of individuation, or principium individuationis, describes the manner in which a thing is identified as distinguished from other things. The concept appears in numerous fields and is encountered in works of Carl Gustav Jung, Gilbert Simondon, Alan Watts, Bernard Stiegler, Friedrich Nietzsche, Arthur Schopenhauer, David Bohm, Henri Bergson, Gilles Deleuze, and Manuel De Landa.
  • 2.9K
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Indoor and Outdoor Residential Factors of High-Density Communities
Effective residence planning is crucial to encourage sustainable housing development. Residents in densely populated cities inevitably have negative residential experiences caused by compact land use. Still, this situation is improvable through optimizing the physical environment or increasing service facilities that cater to dwellers’ residential preferences.
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  • 12 Mar 2024
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