How the Church Analyzing the Phenomenon of Social Inequality - Speech or Presentation Example

Reflective report of group presentation on What should be Church’s response to racism? by The of the The Name of the School (University) The City and State where it is located The Date Reflective report of group presentation on What should be Church’s response to racism? The presentation was made for the course that is titled Christian Ethics. It was scheduled for January 22nd 2015 at quarter past ten. Tutors and peers were expected to come to the presentation. The first were represented by Dr. James and Rev. Bola. The peers who came to see our presentation were the students who study in the second group. Their names are Tayo, Michael and Peter. The presentation had to be given by two groups and the group which I belong to was group one. It must be noted that the presentation was counted as our summative examination and, therefore, it was responsible for half of our mark. That is the reason why we put our efforts into it. Preparation There were eight students in group one, they were: Tony, Bayo, Segun, Olu, Ani, Peter, Odun, and Sisi. We all wanted to make a good presentation, so we united as a group and contributed all our efforts to it. My group had three meetings before making the presentation. In the course of the first meeting, we introduced ourselves and worked on understanding the topic. During our second meeting, every member of the group was presenting the paper and articles that can be related to the topic; so, we selected ones that we were going to using during the presentation. An important part of the second meeting was focused on allocating role during the presentation, namely the portions of work that everyone was responsible for. Our third meeting was devoted to harmonization of our findings and practicing of presentation. My personal presentation It was decided that my role would be to introduce the group as well as to give a background of the presentation, including the definition of racism and what should be considered to be racist. In the course of preparation for my part of the presentation, I was able to visit library and found some books as well as publications that I considered to be helpful. They are the following: Issues facing Christians today by John Scott; The invention of racism in classical antiquity by Benjamin Isaac; Racism by Albert Memmi; Windrush: the irresistible rise of multi-racial Britain by Mike and Trevor Phillips; Race, slavery and Islam in Maghribi Mediterranean thought: the question of the Haratin in Morocco by Chouki el Hamel; Racism and the Church: The History, Scope, and Nature of the Problem by Samuel Koranteng Pipim. In the course of the presentation it was my ultimate delight to engage my counterparts in verbal interaction with regard to the perspective that is claimed to be attributed to the Church fathers on the phenomenon of social inequality. In addition to that, I tried to investigate the way the above mentioned social institution has responded to the problem in question. Therefore, it is quite obvious that my role put an enormous emphasis on facilitation of the dynamics of the interaction between the interlocutors. I tried to be as active as possible in order to advance the flow of the exchange of ideas. It may be advantageous to quote the definition of racism that I articulated during performance of my part of the presentation: “a negative attitude towards individuals and groups of peoples because of a defined characteristic such as race”. Speaking of the most important outcome of the presentation, one should note several of them. First of all, it is to show an independent as well as critical approach towards the topic. Secondly, it is an ability to communicate the current major medical issues that are observed within the society. In order to make my contribution towards the presentation I worked hard to present an objective account of the topic in question. Presentation day As it has already been mentioned, the presentation took place on January 22nd 2015. The students who participated in it arrived early; however, we had to wait for the second tutor who arrived at about seventeen minutes past ten. That is why the presentation actually did not start before half past ten. I stood up, introduced my group; afterwards, I turned to explanation of the definition of racism and behavior which might be seen as racist. Thus, I pointed out that racism is not an issue that emerged in the present times only. Indeed, there is evidence that as early as in the Greco-Roman period there were signs of growing racism in the society. I also presented different racist views on world history, expressed, by different scientists. The next person to present was Tony. He dwelled on different forms that racism is able to take. A wide range of different attitudes that could be classified as racism were discussed, starting from one of the most basic ones, such as prejudice and up to racism that can be witness on cultural level. The examples to explain these concepts were drawn from the contemporary history of the United Kingdom. When Tony finished, Bayo started presenting. This part of the presentation focused on institutions who are concerned about racism and the reasons that urge them to oppose it. It was found that UNESCO is the international organization that investigates cases of racism and it stated that racism is responsible for the World War II. Several acts were also mentioned to reflect the legal dimension of fighting racism. Olu was the next person to present that in this part racism was analyzed from the point of view of Church. It was suggested the latter should recognized the issue in question as manifestation of injustice. Parts of the Bible were quoted in order to support this point of view. This means that there is a substantial basis for fighting racism that might be found in Christianity. Odun continued next and talked about a position that considers racism as a sin. The logic behind it was quite understandable: on the one hand, racism doubts the fact that God created all people equal and, on the other hand, it separates people from God. That is why the effect that adherence to this kind of thinking has is similar to the way every sin impacts the soul of a person. After this part ended, Ani went on discussing the present situation. It was suggested that in spite of the fact that the world is trying to unite against racism, the Church should take a more active part in this process, leading people along the path of abandoning racial prejudices and making sure that the modern world is free from racism. The example of Catholic Church in the United States was pointed out. The last part of the presentation was made by Peter. He made the overview of the presentation and provided the audience with some reflections about it. In addition to that this was the part which contained the summary as well as expressed the general position of the group with regard to the issue of racism. Thus, it was stated that racism should be seen as a sin and fight against accordingly. Comments after presentation It would not be an exaggeration to suggest that the presentation went well and absolutely as planned. Thus, we all were able to use the exact amount of the time that we wanted to; so, the presentation in general lasted around half an hour. After it we received different comments some of which were good and some of which focused on areas that we might improve. It was pointed out that one of our strongest points lay in the way we used our voices. Tutors told us that they were well projected and we were able to maintain good eye contact. All the parts that were prepared by the members were found to be of high quality. However, there also were some recommendations in the commentaries. For example, it was said that we should turn off the mobile phones so that they would not ring as one did in the course of the presentation since this was a distraction that could have been avoided. Benefit It is quite obvious that I was able to benefit this making a presentation in many ways. For example I contributed to my confidence while making a speech. I also acquired deep knowledge of what is racism, what actions should be seen as racist as well as the factors that caused it. In addition to that, I gained a valuable experience of working in a team which I will most certainly use this in my future research. The presentation surely helped me to put the knowledge that I have into practice, develop a broader worldview as well as gain a more detailed perspective on the issue of racism. I also was able to organize myself while preparing for it. Read More