Changing the age of gambling Essay Example for Free

Changing the age of gambling Essay Everyone has gambled something in their life; it could be betting your baseball cards to see who can eat the most slices of pizza, or who is paying for soft drinks as each races to the nearest QuikTrip when you were kids. But why at the age eighteen, when we are considered adult citizens, do they restrict our rights to gamble in most casinos? If they restricted our rights to gamble, what would be next on their agenda? We need to put a stop to it now, by taking that step to re-evaluate the gambling age at twenty-one. The legalization of gambling at the age of eighteen would bring unity throughout the states, state revenue, and job opportunities. If the United States legalizes the age of gambling to eighteen it would unify all the states and discard all confusion about the age of gambling. Our neighbor from the north, Canada, has legalized gambling to the age of eighteen and prospered vastly from it. Currently, there are casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, etc. that are for the ages of twenty-one. But on the contrary, there are currently casinos on cruises and Indian reservations that are for the ages of eighteen (United 22). If America wanted to set an example for all the countries around the world, they must show more consistency with their own policies. Changing the age of gambling uniformly throughout the states has more benefits than disadvantages. The main argument against changing the gambling age was the addiction that it would bring to the people. The addiction of gambling would ruin lives and bring separation between their families (Morris 14). But why all of sudden does the government care about ruining peoples lives and separation between families? Take for instance, all the lives the government ruined through wrongfully accusing victims that are sitting in prison for no apparent reason. Also, look at how unjust that as an eighteen year old adult can serve for our country and risk their lives by being separated from our family but are still not allowed to gamble. The government does not need to put so much restriction on the minor problems, with this resolution it would allow them to focus on the major issues in the United States today. The unification of the gambling age like Canada has vastly increased the economy with casinos. Gambling in Canada has a net economic benefit that was equivalent to $3. 044 billion in 1995, up from $526 million in the 1990 economy (Council 3). Casinos in Las Vegas made $6. 1 billion in revenue since the first one opened (Council 5). Las Vegas revenue would easily triple if the legal gambling age was changed to eighteen. There tends to be casinos on Indian reservation that was for eighteen year olds and seemed very busy. Not only do they make money, but a large amount of the money was made from eighteen year olds who are attracted from surrounding cities according to one of the blackjack dealers. When the Aztar Casino opened up in Evansville, Indiana, gambling opponents feared that it would increase crime rates and encourage prostitution in the state. One would almost say that they were disappointed when their prophecies didnt prove true (Morris 19). The statistics have failed to support either the claim that the casino has caused a crime increase or any other negative expectations. As more states allowed gambling casinos in the past decade, the consensus was that casinos lowered the crime rate in the communities in which they were located. Lobbyists, developers and management pointed to studies showing dips in the crime rate after a flurry of casino construction in the 1990s (Morris 19). Casinos would become busier with the change of age to legally gamble and in return hire more positions. The gambling industry has become a major employer in most provinces in Canada, employment in the gaming industry increased from 11,900 to 39,200, an increase of 330% (Earl 7), and in Las Vegas every casino has at least 4000 employees (Earl 8). According to the 2000 census, there are about 1. 1 million eighteen year olds in the United States. Casinos would gain more business and hire more employees because of the increased business. People gambled for a variety of reasons, whether for a break from their daily lives, the thrills of the chase, or the challenge of beating the odds. Gambling should not be restricted to a certain age or to a certain area. If we legalized the age of gambling to eighteen we would bring unity throughout the states. Changing the gambling age to eighteen could maximize the states revenues through people being employed and people constantly visiting. There should be a change of the gambling age to eighteen because this policy would restrict and violate our rights as citizens within the United States. Works Cited Council of State Governments, Gambling; A Source of State Revenue Lexington: RM, 1973. Earl L. Grinols, Gambling in America: Cost and Benefits New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Morris Ploscowe and Edwin J. Lukas, Gambling: American Academy of Political and Social Science Philadelphia: Annals, 1950. United States Congress: Senate- Select Committee on Indian Affairs, Gambling on Indian Reservations and Lands Washington D. C. : G. P. O. , 1985.

The African diaspora and education Essay Example for Free

The African diaspora and education Essay Education is the passport to our future, Malcolm X reverberated to the world that statement. Throughout centuries and throughout civilisations we have seen education being implemented in its different manifestations respective of those civilisations cultural and social needs. As a by-product, the children who came out of those systems drove their cultural and social heritage forward with considerable zeal that led to the perpetuation of those civilisations. When one observes the educational institutions of the Ancient Greeks, one is confronted with the type of education that reflected the needs of that society that venerated reason and contemplative thought, which was the basis for its governments. In the Great Civilisations of West Africa, The Songhay in particular, the educational systems reflected those societies need of, first and foremost, to inculcate in its generations the need for moral excellence which was believed to be an important ingredient in a just and harmonious social environment. All of the civilisations that existed since the dawn of time had this important element governing the scheme of things- an education for its youth that imbues that societys traditions and values and hence carrying those elements forward to their future generations. When the colonialists started to invade our territories the first thing they did was to dismantle our educational institutions and replace them with their own. Even though they militarily removed the existing chiefdoms and other local forms of governments they had always faced resistance and hence the need for an ideological brainwashing of the African societies which was made possible by the establishment of an education which propagated and promulgated the colonialists values and worldview. The curriculum carried the viewpoints of the colonialists, which did not by any means, reflect the social and cultural heritage of the native peoples. It enforced ideas which indoctrinated the pseudo-inferiority of the black people and geared the populace to the legitimating of the colonial rule. The colonialists had a reality principle which needed to serve the perpetuation of its power. What they did as Wilhelm Reich in his Dialectical Materialism and Psychoanalysis explicates was to bring the proletariat to accept this reality principle which means an affirmation of the proletariat exploitation [ ] as a whole. This process led to the students being made to internalise this reality principle and consequently develop a false conscious amongst the populace of the proletariats position in the world around him. By falsifying his conscious activity, as Frantz Fanon says, the black man wears a white mask. The colonialists education teaches him to be non-white is to be inhuman and he wishes to be human. Consequently, he starts hating himself and hence the result is a deeply hammered inferiority complex. Therefore he premises all his principles and self-governing laws as postulated by the white man-explicitly or implicitly. President Nyerere in his essay Education for Self-Reliance stipulated a brilliant theory of Education. He stated that the colonialists basis for educating the native peoples was to induce attitudes of inequality and the subjugation of the weak by the strong. It encouraged the individualistic tendencies and instincts. Material success was the major impetus for ones pursuit and acquirement of education. The end product was an increase in the gap between the rich and the poor, the extreme arrogance of the so called educated and the perpetuation of the class-based differences amongst the masses in our country. Therefore, for we as a nation to build a plausible and well fortified foundation for the youth there needed to be a complete re-evaluation and hence reformation of the educational system and its existing institutions. With Presidents Nyereres deep admiration and yearning of implementing socialism, he theorised an educational system which would compliment his much craved dream. Whether it worked or not is a matter of differing opinions. However, with the collapse of socialism and the governments decision to apt for a more capitalist-inclined economic system in the late 1908s, meant a need for a complete change of ideological necessities that would concurrently complement the new system. As a result, the education that preached Ujamaa na Kujitegemea was surplus to requirements. Contemporary system of education was born. Whether this was done consciously or subconsciously again is of differing opinions. Thus I come to the present. As sad, painful and distraughtful it is to admit we have regressed to the colonialists system of education but in a much disguised form with all its values and worldview being instilled in the minds of the youth. The consequences of capitalism haunt us with this harsh reality. Imperialism lingers where it often has been in a kind of general cultural sphere as well as its specific political, ideological, economic and social practices. The point I want to make is that neither imperialism nor colonialism is a simple act of accumulation and acquisition but also an enormous effort of impelling impressive cultural formations of the so called dominant cultures. And this can only be done through the colonisation of ideas which is achieved through the means of education. As a nation we have capitulated to the so called dominants culture educational system. The by-product is the westernised young men and women coming through the secondary schools and universities. Their worldview is completely western and their thought patterns sadly westernised. Materialism has, at least for now, prevailed in our society as a result of capitulating to a materialistic form of education. What is being instilled in the youth today is not the developing of mans natural thirst for knowledge but an ideology that education is pursued for one to achieve material bliss and success. This has bred individualism amongst the youth as opposed to imbuing them with the collective and co-operative inclinations, procreated an incredible level of arrogance amongst the so called educated and perpetuating the increasingly widening of the wealthy and the poor. As Ivan Illich argues students emerge from the educational system with a variety of qualifications, which they believe have provided them with the training, skills and competence for particular occupations. However, the pupil is schooled to confuse teaching with learning, grade advancement with education, a diploma with competence. Whatever students achieve in the current educational system only prepares them to become mindless consumers to whom the consumption of the goods and services of industrial society becomes an end in itself. What they fail to realise is that they spend all their lives working for those in control of the means of production and the little they get paid, is given back to their bosses through their endless consumption of goods and services, hence they are enslaved. The philosopher Alfred Whitehead defined education as the transmission of culture to enable individuals to attain a quality of life which is always beyond the mere facts of life. Contemporary education in our country has evolved to become a mere inculcation of facts, figures and information but makes no effort in trying to make those in education to become better and liberated human beings. This should be the purpose of education. Improving ones understanding of reality and existence as it truly is. It should be about understanding our true nature as human beings. Young men and women should be encouraged to read which has now become an antithesis as to what young mean and women are all about. Television is revered while reading is frowned upon. We need to ask ourselves where are we going with this type of materialistic, mechanistic and consumerist society. Young men and women are improving their standards in educational achievement yet there are more ignorant and stupid than the graduates ten years ago. If we are going to take the western archetypes and models of reality, we have to also realise that when they fall down the cliff, we will go down with them unless we change to our own reality which produced great people like Othman Dan Fodio (the great leader of the Sokoto empire) and his contemporaries. The choice is our own. Lets make the right one.

Reflective observation report

Reflective observation report Reflective Observation Report My observation was of a level two football coach. I attended a session once a week for three weeks with the same group. Staying with the same group was beneficial as I was able to see the development of the athletes and see the full variety of coaching techniques and styles of learning that was applied by the coach. The age group was fifteen to eighteen year olds and the sessions lasted 3 hours. The coach would generally use a variety of teaching styles throughout their sessions. One style used was the cognitive learning style. On a basic drill of finding movement in a limited space some players found it hard to identify where space is often found and how to exploit it. The coach took these players aside and made them view the game from an outside perspective. By making the players view the game and try to solve the problem of limited space, cognitive learning took place. After viewing the drill once over the coach sent the players back in and they showed a visible change of tactics and in the specific game a definite improved level of ability. The coach used a similar technique in a different session. The holding playmaker of the team was struggling with their passing vision. The player couldnt identify when and where to pass to keep possession. The coach realising this set the player homework. The coach gave the player a dvd, which included the basic five areas of a playmakers passing range and had examples of elite footballers performing the set passes. In the next session the player was showed improvement and displayed a calmer performance in the sessions end game. This involved participation, thinking and memory some key traits of the cognitive learning style. When certain players were disobedient the coach was quick to act and make example of the players. Punishments such as press-ups, sit-ups and sprints were all included. These punishments set the tone of the football field. Be disobedient to the coach or other teammates and receive punishment. When doi ng the punishments the other players watched and passively acknowledged how to act on a football field. With this a regular occurrence the players were subject to the behavioural learning style. Learning information based on the environment that an individual is placed in. The environment that the footballers were placed in sets a positive tone of not to be disobedient with the coach or teammates. The sessions I attended were at the early part of the football season. Gaining match fitness was vitally important. The way that this was achieved was done so in a very democratic way. The coach hadnt previously worked with this particular group and was unsure of fitness levels. The coach therefore negotiated the set targets with the players. The captain of the team was at the front of the negotiations. The coach used this as a bonding activity and gained social connection with the players. This inactive passive approach showed the players the level of respect that the coach had for them. This increased the players motivation and the coach had players achieving fitness goals which were set by the players thus easing the pressure off them. One of the more technically difficult drills the coach set up was set piece training. The coach set two teams of defenders and attackers. They were also told to act if in a game situation. This clear use of team based competition was a sign of team based learning. The defenders were left to figure out how best to set up their defensive unit. The attackers would have to make decisions on how best to attack the goal. The ball could either be crossed or shot at from one of the more technically better players in the team. This kind of match environment is a sign of further behavioral learning. The coach let the drill go on and took a passive approach but when the attackers failed to score after a maintained period of time the coach felt it was time to intervene. The coach displayed a simpler option which created more goal scoring chance s. The simple change of tactics developed more chances on goal than before. This is a sign of constructive learning. The coach let them develop a basic structure of attacking the goal but when they reached their limit the coach just gave a few bits of information to help them go slightly more advanced. The attackers learnt a basic understanding themselves and were only developed on when necessary by the coach. Shortly after doing this the coach did the same with the defending team. A simple suggestion of putting two players on the post denied many accurate shots by the attacking team. By allowing the players to steadily improve themselves and only having coach interference when absolutely necessary the coach became a facilitator not a lecturer which is a key trait of constructive learning. By determining the state and needs of the players by intervening to assist in improvement, the coach showed signs of instructional design learning. During the end of the third session the coach ag ain took a passive approach. A drill was set up to inspire freedom and creativity. Samba music was played and the drill was to beat your opponent one on one. Skills and tricks were encouraged to develop the creativity and flair of the players. This allowance of free roaming and putting faith in the players that they would create and use complex skills was a sign of humanism. To summarize, I believe the coach was of a high level and was able to teach complex drills with ease. I saw a variety of drills taught and a wide range of learning styles incorporated. There werent many set goals in the sessions. Instead there was a more general development of a wide range of skills. Maybe this was due to the coach unsure of how long his placement was with this particular group of players. The key focus of all the sessions was largely dominated by fitness. In doing this the coach showed his primary from of teaching was done in a democratic way. The players were of a sufficient ability to improve on their own fitness and the coach was merely enforcing the idea not the actual practice itself.

Avalanches And Landslides :: essays research papers

Avalanches and Landslides OUTLINE 1. a.WHAT IS AN AVALANCHE OR LANDSLIDE? b.EXACTLY HOW DOES AN AVALANCHES OCCUR 2. a.I TALK A LITTLE ABOUT PAST AVALANCHES b.PAST DEATHS FROM AVALANCHES 3. a.CONCLUSION CLOSING OF MY REPORT What is an avalanche? , well it's a large mass of snow and ice or of earth or rock sliding down a mountain side or a cliff. And how does an avalanche occur, well mainly they happen by vibrations caused by movement of the earth such as an earthquake, gunfire, rainy weather, and many more. Now I would like to talk a little about past avalanches and landslides that have occurred like the 1903 Frank landslide and avalanche that happened at the same time, in Alberta Canada it destroyed the parks canyons it's beautiful trees' it's wonderful sights and killed nearly one hundred people, and covered a small town near Alberta with ice and snow. Another devastating avalanche incident is the 1964 Sherman slide, in which a huge avalanche was triggered by the 1964 Alaskan earthquake. The slide spilled out onto the Sherman glacier, during the big slide several other smaller slides happened and those were the one that took lives in Anchorage, and destroyed property There are a couple of types of avalanches and how the destroy so much this one is named "Loose Snow Avalanches"1, it starts' in a small area then grows in size and mass as it descends.Another type is the "Slab Avalanche" it actually starts in a large area of ice and snow and then begins to slide. On September 12 of 1717 crusaded down the Troilet, Italy glacier, gaining speed on a cushion of air reaching a falling velocity of km/hr over a 3600 m fall. Two towns were destroyed, with seven people killed and a 120 cows lost. The slosh of an avalanche ran up the far side of the valley at a speed of 125 km/hr. In developed areas such as ski resorts it is possible to predict avalanches because they are controlled with explosives and artillery. In a back-country areas it is possible to predict avalanches because the forecast relies on experience of the person making the observation. There are no computer models available to predict avalanches and therefore predictions are only accomplished by repetitive observations and knowledge of snow properties. Due to difficulty in reliable predictions method areas of avalanche hazards must rely on controlling or altering the effects of an avalanche. The back country explorer must be highly skilled in determining safe routes and rescue procedures over and above relying on predictions of avalanches for personal safety. Avalanches kill people many ways but the most common cause of death is

Analysis of The Time Machine Essay -- essays papers

Analysis of The Time Machine The Time Machine by H.G. Wells is considered a â€Å"classic† in today’s literary community. I also believe that this novel is a good book. It was an interesting story the first time I studied it, and I have found new ideas each time I have read it since. It is amazing that such a simple narrative could have so many complex ideas. Unfortunately, some do not take the same position that I do. They cast it off as a silly little novel that deserves no merit. Obviously I disagree with these critics. The Time Machine follows the criteria that I believe a good novel should have. A good novel should include an element of fantasy and should stimulate ideas in the audience that they never came to realize before. The aspect of good versus evil should also be incorporated into a novel, mainly to capture the reader’s attention. If readers find themselves rooting for a particular character or set of characters against another, they become involved in the novel. The chara cters should also be realistic so the audience can relate to them. The Time Machine follows these criteria with few exceptions. Why should this novel be looked at now, 100 years after it was written? The Time Machine is a science fiction novel that has a much different view of the future than the view that is commonly held today. Modern society foresees the future as a technologically advanced society that would make our present society look primitive. Many movies today portray this view of the future. Wells’s view of the future is the antithesis to the one that is held today. The regression of society is rarely discussed as the future. The idea that human beings have reached their progressive and evolutionary peak could be an actuality. The Time Machine could be a possibility for the future despite the universal belief that humans still have a long way to progress. Neither technology nor peacefulness exists in the future that The Time Machine portrays. Wells apparently has a grim outlook for what society will evolve to in the future. Wells introduces a meta-utopia or a dystopian future, which is, to say the least, a radically unique idea. A meta-utopian society is one that regresses instead of progresses. The protagonist of the book, the Time Traveller, builds a time machine and travels to the year 802,701. The landscape that he relates to the reader is a he... ...he realism of the novel. The one character that is realistic is the Time Traveller. He is an integral character the audience identifies with. He is not portrayed as a crazy scientist performing a maniacal experiment. Readers can see themselves as the Time Traveller. He is a normal guy that happens to travel through time. Without the realism of the Time Traveller Wells loses the audience. The Time Machine still holds the same appeal today as it did 100 years ago. The essential elements for a successful novel are incorporated into Wells’s greatest work. He is able to keep the audience interested and has set the precedent for the science fiction genre. The use of a time machine has been used in movies and other novels throughout the years. The idea that one can travel through time is a concept that appeals to many and to our memories of the past. As children, we would pretend we were some sort of hero that would have great adventures. The Time Machine’s premise is similar to these childhood fantasies. The Time Machine remains popular because of its introduction of new ideas of the future, and the fantasy that it portrays brings the reader to a world quite different than our own.

Lunch Lady Blues Essay -- Nutrition

In recent years America’s health and economy have become a hot topic of debate in legislative offices. Recent legislation concerning the food served in schools nationwide has undergone changes that have cause widespread debate on the role of the federal government in students’ lives, the possible effects on the industry that supply food to schools and the effects on the schools and students themselves. In some cases the debated changes are welcomed with open arms and are merely formalities, in others the changes are reasons to lobby congress to convince them that pizza is counted as a vegetable because it has tomato paste. In the long run some of the changes will make a positive impact on the health of children, and businesses will find ways to adapt to the new regulations and succeed. As of 2008 an estimated 17% of children between the ages of 2-19, are considered obese. This statistic has tripled over a 30 year period beginning in the mid 1970s (CDC). The greatest concern for children in this category is the risk for coronary heart disease from the consumption of trans fats (CDC). The life long affects of obesity are one main reason the federal government has recently adopted changes to the National School Lunch Program nutritional requirements. Trans fats were created by scientist to replace the saturated fats found in some processed foods; they are commonly used to prolong the shelf life of foods (CDC). The fact is the consumption of artificial trans fats affects cholesterol levels negatively and increases the risk for heart disease (CDC). The National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program serve a combined 40 million or more meals per day to students nationwide (CDC). The risk of heart disease is not the only... .../FR-2012-01-26/pdf/2012-1010.pdf> Salk Institute. "How Obesity Increases The Risk For Diabetes." ScienceDaily, 21 Jun. 2009. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. â€Å"Schwan’s Food Service, Inc. Redefines School Pizza, Offering Healthier Choices for Children in More Than 72,000 U.S. Schools† Businesswire. businesswire.com. 7 Mar. 2011. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. Simon, G.E., et al. â€Å"Obesity, depression, and health services costs among middle-aged women.† nih.gov, 28 Jun. 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. United States Department of Agriculture. â€Å"Notices†. usda.gov, 25 Mar. 2011. Web. 3 Apr. 2012.

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According to Hector Avalos, religions might preach peace, love, and harmony, but establishing a textual canon or sacred site which only some have privileged access to also establishes an illusory â€Å"scarcity† which causes people to fight. This is the intent of religious leaders, but it's an inevitable outgrowth of their actions — and we can see this occurring in the context of Islam with its holy sites and cities: Mecca, Medina, the Dome of the Rock, Hebron, and so on. Each city is holy to Muslims, but while Muslims focus on what they regard as the positive aspects, they cannot pretend that the negative aspects don't exist.Moreover, even the positive aspects can be criticized as often inaccurate. The holiness of each site is associated with violence against other religions or against other Muslims and their importance has been as dependent on politics as religion, a sign of the degree to which political ideologies and parties make use of the religious concept of â₠¬Å"holiness† to further their own agendas. Mecca Islam's holiest site, Mecca, is where Muhammad was born. During his exile in Medina, Muhammad had his followers pray in the direction of Mecca instead of Jerusalem which was the original orientation site.Going on a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a person's life is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Mecca is closed to non-Muslims because of a revelation Muhammad allegedly received from God, but some outsiders have entered while disguised as Muslims. Even before Muhammad, Mecca was a pilgrimage site for pagan polytheists and some argue that the Muslim practice of pilgrimage was borrowed from those ancient rituals. Some scholars argue that because Jews and Christians rejected Muhammad's message, ancient pagan practices had to be incorporated into Islam in order to more easily capture the allegiance of local polytheists.Christianity did much the same throughout Europe in order to convert pagans there. Located in the courtyard o f the Great Mosque in Mecca is a windowless cube known as the Kaaba, believed by Muslims to have been built by the prophet Abraham In the southeastern corner of the Kaaba is the â€Å"Black Stone,† an object which Muslims believe was given to Abraham by the angel Gabriel. Reports of local pagans worshipping gods in the form of stones go back centuries and Muhammad probably incorporated this practice through the Kabaa itself.Pagan rituals were thus re-told through the lives of biblical characters and so that local practices could continue under the guise of Muslim tradition. Medina Medina is where Muhammad was exiled after he found little support for his ideas in his home city of Mecca, making it the second holiest site in Islam. There was a large Jewish community in Medina which Muhammad had hoped to convert, but his failure eventually led him to banish, enslave, or kill every Jew in the area. The presence of non-believers was at first an affront to Muhammad's claims that his religion superseded theirs; later, it was an affront to the holiness of the place.Medina was also the capital of the Muslim empire until 661 when it was moved to Damascus. Despite its religious status, this loss of political power caused the city to decline precipitously and it had little influence during the Middle Ages. Medina's modern rise to prominence was again due to politics, not religion: after Britain occupied Egypt, the Ottoman occupiers of the region funneled communications through Medina, transforming it into a major transportation and communication center. Thus the importance, decline, and growth of Medina was always dependent upon the political situation, not on religion or religious beliefs.Dome of the Rock The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is a Muslim shrine which stands where the first Jewish temple is believed to have stood, where Abraham tried to sacrifice his son to God, and where Muhammad ascended into heaven in order to receive God's commandments. For Muslims this is the third holiest site for pilgrimage, after Mecca and Medina. It may be the oldest surviving example of early Islamic architecture and is modeled after the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulchre, located nearby. Control of the site is a hotly contested issue for Muslims and Jews.Many devout Jews would like to see the mosques torn down and the Temple reconstructed in their place, but this would destroy one of the holiest sites of Islam and lead to a religious war of unprecedented proportions. True Believers have gathered together in a variety of Third Temple societies in active preparation, even going so far as to prepare the precise clothing, coinage, and sacrificial implements needed for use in a rebuilt Temple. Stories have spread among Muslims that the creation of Israel was the first step in an apocalyptic process which will culminate in the total triumph of Islam over all the world.The Dome of the Rock is thus one of the best examples of Avalos' argument about how reli gions create false scarcities which encourage violence. There are no natural resources on this site which humans might be expected to fight over — no oil, water, gold, etc. Instead, people are willing to launch an apocalyptic war simply because they all believe that the site is â€Å"holy† to them and, therefore, that only they should be allowed to control and build upon it. Hebron The city of Hebron is holy for both Muslims and Jews because it contains the â€Å"Cave of the Patriarchs,† supposedly a tomb for Abraham and his family.During the Six Day War of June, 1967, Israel seized Hebron along with the rest of the West Bank. After this war, hundreds of Israelis settled in the area, creating conflict with thousands of Palestinian neighbors. Because of this, Hebron has become a symbol of Israeli-Palestinian hostilities — and thus of interreligious strife, suspicion, and violence. It's not possible for both Jews and Muslims to have exclusive control of Heb ron and neither group is willing to share control. It's only because of the insistence of both that the city is â€Å"holy† that they fight over it at all, though.Mashhad Mashhhad, Iran, is the site for the burial places and shrines for all twelve of the imams revered by the Twelver Shia Muslims. These holy men, believed to be a source of sanctity, are all martyrs because they were murdered, poisoned, or otherwise persecuted. It wasn't Christians or Jews who did this, though, but other Muslims. These shrines to the early imams are treated by Shia Muslims today as religious symbols, but if anything they are symbols for the ability of religion, including Islam, to encourage violence, brutality, and division among believers. QomQom, Iran, is an important pilgrimage site for the Shi'a because of the burial sites of numerous shahs. The Borujerdi mosque is opened and closed each day by government guards who praise Iran's Islamic government. It is also the site of Shia theology trai ning — and thus also of Shia political activism. When the Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran from exile, his first stop was Qom. The city is thus as much a political shrine as it is a religious one, a monument to authoritarian politics and the authoritarian religion which provides politics with existential justification. –>