The Pros And Cons Of Gay Marriage - 1367 Words

This is a very controversial question and can cause a lot of debate due to many reasons such as religion, moral beliefs and just people different definitions of marriage. Some say the definition of marriage is between a man and a women, while others say its about two people no matter the sex that commit their lives together because they love each other. There are many different definitions of marriage and it all depends on simply whom you are talking to about it. In past generations many people thought the definition of marriage was just so that they can reproduce children. Debate Content: Cons: The institution of marriage has traditionally been defined as between a man and a woman. In the Oct. 15, 1971 decision Baker v. Nelson, the†¦show more content†¦People should not have their tax dollars used to support something they believe is wrong. Gay marriage would entitle gay couples to typical marriage benefits including claiming a tax exemption for a spouse, receiving social security payments from a deceased spouse, and coverage by a spouse’s health insurance policy(ProCon.org, 2014). On Dec. 17, 2009, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the cost to the federal government of extending employment benefits to same-sex domestic partners of certain federal employees (making no mention of additional costs such as Social Security and inheritance taxes) would be $596 million in mandatory spending and $302 million in discretionary spending between 2010 and 2019. Gay marriage may lead to more children being raised in same-sex households, which are not a n optimum environment because children need both a mother and father. Girls who are raised apart from their fathers are reportedly at higher risk for early sexual activity and teenage pregnancy (Wilson, 1996). [Children without a mother are deprived of theShow MoreRelatedThe Pros and Cons of Gay Marriage1370 Words   |  6 PagesThe Pros and Cons of Gay Marriage LP 3: Argumentative Essay Patty Waters NAU Composition II Sue Cochran, Instructor Sunday, March 24, 2013 Abstract This essay covers the pros and cons concerning gay marriage. You will discover some new laws and amendments that are about to happen in our country, and some things that people are against. There are many issues that will be covered from rights and benefits to getting married legally. You will read reports, stories and articles from lawyersRead MoreEssay on The Pros and Cons of Gay Marriage1019 Words   |  5 Pagessame-sex marriage. Is this a good thing? Homosexuality is illegal in many countries. Leaders punish their own citizens by jail, or even death, for being gay. In the United States, however, many states allow gay marriage. Some people approve of it, but also, some do not. Society also plays a big part in the gay marriage legalization process. Same-sex marriage is a major controversial issue in the United States; specific examples would be the views of Americans, pros and cons of same-sex marriage, andRead MoreGay Marriage: Pros and Cons1152 Words   |  5 PagesMarriag e Is Not Equal For All Gay Marriages Mikaela Acosta â€Æ' Gay marriage has been subject to taboo because our society has this conformed and learned version of marriage; marriage is only held between a man and a woman. Although this is more common today to hear of gay couples, in the first couple centuries in America this was almost unacceptable to general society. Beginning in 2001 was when gay marriage began to become much more widespread starting in Canada, Norway, Belgium, ArgentinaRead MoreDid We Go Too Far?1383 Words   |  6 PagesWalker Did We Go Too Far? Same-sex marriage continues to be a very high debated issue in our society without a firm foundation to base our beliefs on, leaving most of us trying to find answers still. Now that the Supreme Court of the united states has rules that the constitution guarantees a right to same sex marriage’ What was known as â€Å"marriage†, the union of a man and a woman only, is starting to diverge. The Oxford Dictionary of English definition of marriage reads â€Å"the formal union of a man andRead MoreGod Hates Same Sex Marriage Essay978 Words   |  4 Pages Marriage is a precious gift given from the good lord up above. Marriage is a privilege that should be allowed to only a man and a woman. In the bible there are many scriptures that back up my opinion on marriage, and none of the scriptures say same sex marriage is okay. In this modern day and age people are altering the definition of marriage. People are trying to add between a man and a man or between a woma n and a woman. The importance of my topic is to keep the original definitionRead MoreGay Marriage Should Be Legal966 Words   |  4 PagesGay marriage is one of the most debated and controversial issues in today’s society. Everyone has his or her opinions on gay marriage, whether it is acceptable or should not be allowed. According to The Washington post, â€Å"59 percent say they support same-sex marriage while 34 percent are opposed†(Craighil, P., Clement). While 59% of the supporting gay is a high number, however that number is skewed. There is a difference between tolerance and acceptance, but the 59% is the total of the both. PeopleRead MoreWhy Marriage Equality Is Not At All A Harm Society Or The World912 Words   |  4 Pagesin the world become more knowledgeable to that child. In my own life, the one issue that stuck with me is marriage equality. I believe everyone should have the right to marry whoever they feel their soul-mate is in the world. Even though some believe it is wrong, there are many reasons to prove marriage equality is not at all a harm to society or the world. To start, the definition of marriage (according to dictionary.com) is the state, condition, or relationship of being married; wedlock. No whereRead MoreEssay on Gay Marriage 1616 Words   |  7 Pages Gay marriage is a very talked about topic in are country that shouldn’t be ignored. I believe men and women should be able to love freely and not be shamed by it. Marriage is a great factor in the United States. To some people it’s what we live for; is to get married and start a family. To not give everyone the same opportunity to have a happy marriage and family is unlike us. This problem is bringing a lot of hate, the same hate that was used in racial discrimination so why not give gays equalRead MoreThe Debate On Homosexuality And Homosexuality1229 Words   |  5 Pagesis defined as, the sexual or romantic attraction to members of the same gender. A male who practices homosexuality is known as being gay. The word ‘gay’ did not originally have any connect ion to a sexual connotation. In fact, the word was originally express feelings of happiness or carefree attitude. It was not until the twentieth century that people used the term gay to indicate a sexual orientation. Opposite of males, female homosexuals are given the term lesbian, which is derived from the poemsRead MoreGay Marriage Should Be Legal1434 Words   |  6 PagesGay marriage has slowly become a significant factor amongst individuals of today’s society. On June 26, 2015, it was ruled out by the U.S. Supreme Court that gay marriage was now legal. The first thing that I thought was that â€Å"Wasn’t it already legal in the United States?† Well, apparently no it has not been legalized in the United States! (Dumb me.) The U.S. is known to be a nation of equality and gives everyone the freedom of the speech, but it is actually a nation full of racism, sexism, and homophobias

Finance Case Study Free Essays

INSTRUCTOR: Mr. Konstantinos Kanellopoulos, MSc (L. S. We will write a custom essay sample on Finance Case Study or any similar topic only for you Order Now E. ), M. B. A. COURSE: MBA-680-50-SUIII12 Corporate Financial Theory SEMESTER: Summer Session III Case Study The Many Different Kinds of Debt (solutions) Konstantinos Kanellopoulos 22nd August 2012 CASE STUDY ON The many different kinds of debt It was one of Morse’s most puzzling cases. That morning Rupert Thorndike, the autocratic CEO of Thorndike Oil, was found dead in a pool of blood on his bedroom floor. He had been shot through the head, but the door and windows were bolted on the inside and there was no sign of the murder weapon. Morse looked in vain for clues in Thorndike’s office. He had to take another tack. He decided to investigate the financial circumstances surrounding Thorndike’s demise. The company’s capital structure was as follows: †¢ 5% debentures: $250 million face value. The bonds matured in 10 years and offered a yield of 12%. †¢ Stock: 30 million shares, which closed at $9 a share the day before the murder. Yesterday Thorndike had flatly rejected an offer by T. Spoone Dickens to buy all of the common stock for $10 a share. With Thorndike out of the way, it appeared that Dickens’s offer would be accepted, mush to the profit of Thorndike Oil’s other shareholders[1]. Thorndike’s two nieces, Doris and Patsy, and his nephew John all had substantial investments in Thorndike Oil and had bitterly disagreed with Thorndike’s dismissal of Dickens’s offer. Their stakes are shown in the following table: | |5% Debentures (Face Value) |Shares of Stock | |Doris |$4 million |1. 2 million | |John |0 |0. | |Patsy |0 |1. 5 | All debt issued by Thorndike Oil would be paid off at face value if Dickens’s offer went through. Morse kept coming back to the problem of motive. Which niece or nephew, he wondered stood to gain most by eliminating Thorndike and allowing Dickens’s offer to succeed? Help Morse solve the case. Which of Thorndike’s relatives stood to gain most from his death? Solutions THE SHOCKING DEMISE OF MR. THORNDIKE Minicase solution, Chapter 25 Principles of Corporate Finance, 9th Edition R. A. Brealey, S. C. Myers and F. Allen After the corpse was removed, police inspectors came to dust the bedroom for fingerprints. Morse knew they would find nothing. He walked down the marble staircase of Rupert Thorndike’s mansion and into the paneled library. He sat at a table in front of the fireplace, scarcely noticing the painting over it, Monet’s portrait of the legendary John D. Thorndike at Giverny. He turned on his laptop computer. Thorndike Oil had three classes of securities outstanding: $250 million of ebentures (face value), 30 million shares, and an issue of subordinated convertible notes. Morse had to calculate the change in the value of each security now that Thorndike was gone, and given the now near-certain acquisition of Thorndike Oil by T. Spoone Dickens. Table 1 reports Morse’s results. The notes summarize his reasoning. With Table 1 in hand, it was easy to calculate the increases in value due to the murder and resulting acquisition. Debt increased by 39. 5% of face value. Common stock increased by $1. 00 per share, and each convertible note increased from 103. 5% to 110% of face value (from $1039. 50 to $1100 per bond). Morse summed the gains to Doris, John and Patsy (see Table 2). Then he reached for his cell phone and dialed Chief Inspector Spillane. Thorndike Oil Table 1 Values of Thorndike Oil Securities Before and After the Murder | |Before |After | |Debt |$151. 25 million, |$250 million | | |60. % of face value |100% of face value | |Equity |$270 million, |$300 million, | | |$9 per share |$10 per share | |Convertible notes |103. 95% of |110% of | | |face value |face value | Notes 1. Debt, before: PV at 12% of the 5% coupon for 10 years, plus repayment of face value (100%) at year 10, is 60. 5% of the $250 million face value, or $151. 25 million. Debt, after: essentially risk-free. The debt will be repaid in short order and should trade very close to face value. The gain in market value is 1 – . 605 = . 395, or 39. 5% of face value. 2. Shares: Share price increases from $9. 00 to $10. 00. 3. Convertible notes: Conversion value before is 110 shares at $9 per share = $990 per $1,000 note. The bonds were trading at 5% over conversion value, or 1. 05? 90 = $1,039. 50. Note holders will convert prior to the takeover, receiving 110? 10 = $1,100. (If they don’t convert, they get only $1,000. ) In other words, the notes increase by 110 – 103. 95 = 6. 05% of face value. Thorndike Oil Table 2 Who Gained Most? (Figures in millions) | |Doris |John |Patsy | | | | | | |Debt |$1. 8 |0 |0 | | |(. 395? 4) | | | | | | | | |Stock |$1. 2 |$0. 5 |$1. | | |(1. 00 ? 1. 2) |(1. 00 ? .5) |(1. 00 ? 1. 5) | | | | | | |Convertible notes |0 |$0. 3025 |$0. 1815 | | | |(. 0605 ? 5) |(. 0605 ? ) | | |___________ |___________ |_________ | |Total |$2. 78 |$0. 8025 |$1. 6815 | ———————– [1] Rupert Thorndike’s shares would go to a charitable foundation formed to advance the study of financial engineering and its crucial role in world peace and progress. The managers of the foundation’s endowment were not expected to oppose the takeover. How to cite Finance Case Study, Free Case study samples Finance Case Study Free Essays INSTRUCTOR: Mr. Konstantinos Kanellopoulos, MSc (L. S. We will write a custom essay sample on Finance Case Study or any similar topic only for you Order Now E. ), M. B. A. COURSE: MBA-680-50-SUIII12 Corporate Financial Theory SEMESTER: Summer Session III Case Study The Many Different Kinds of Debt (solutions) Konstantinos Kanellopoulos 22nd August 2012 CASE STUDY ON The many different kinds of debt It was one of Morse’s most puzzling cases. That morning Rupert Thorndike, the autocratic CEO of Thorndike Oil, was found dead in a pool of blood on his bedroom floor. He had been shot through the head, but the door and windows were bolted on the inside and there was no sign of the murder weapon. Morse looked in vain for clues in Thorndike’s office. He had to take another tack. He decided to investigate the financial circumstances surrounding Thorndike’s demise. The company’s capital structure was as follows: †¢ 5% debentures: $250 million face value. The bonds matured in 10 years and offered a yield of 12%. †¢ Stock: 30 million shares, which closed at $9 a share the day before the murder. Yesterday Thorndike had flatly rejected an offer by T. Spoone Dickens to buy all of the common stock for $10 a share. With Thorndike out of the way, it appeared that Dickens’s offer would be accepted, mush to the profit of Thorndike Oil’s other shareholders[1]. Thorndike’s two nieces, Doris and Patsy, and his nephew John all had substantial investments in Thorndike Oil and had bitterly disagreed with Thorndike’s dismissal of Dickens’s offer. Their stakes are shown in the following table: | |5% Debentures (Face Value) |Shares of Stock | |Doris |$4 million |1. 2 million | |John |0 |0. | |Patsy |0 |1. 5 | All debt issued by Thorndike Oil would be paid off at face value if Dickens’s offer went through. Morse kept coming back to the problem of motive. Which niece or nephew, he wondered stood to gain most by eliminating Thorndike and allowing Dickens’s offer to succeed? Help Morse solve the case. Which of Thorndike’s relatives stood to gain most from his death? Solutions THE SHOCKING DEMISE OF MR. THORNDIKE Minicase solution, Chapter 25 Principles of Corporate Finance, 9th Edition R. A. Brealey, S. C. Myers and F. Allen After the corpse was removed, police inspectors came to dust the bedroom for fingerprints. Morse knew they would find nothing. He walked down the marble staircase of Rupert Thorndike’s mansion and into the paneled library. He sat at a table in front of the fireplace, scarcely noticing the painting over it, Monet’s portrait of the legendary John D. Thorndike at Giverny. He turned on his laptop computer. Thorndike Oil had three classes of securities outstanding: $250 million of ebentures (face value), 30 million shares, and an issue of subordinated convertible notes. Morse had to calculate the change in the value of each security now that Thorndike was gone, and given the now near-certain acquisition of Thorndike Oil by T. Spoone Dickens. Table 1 reports Morse’s results. The notes summarize his reasoning. With Table 1 in hand, it was easy to calculate the increases in value due to the murder and resulting acquisition. Debt increased by 39. 5% of face value. Common stock increased by $1. 00 per share, and each convertible note increased from 103. 5% to 110% of face value (from $1039. 50 to $1100 per bond). Morse summed the gains to Doris, John and Patsy (see Table 2). Then he reached for his cell phone and dialed Chief Inspector Spillane. Thorndike Oil Table 1 Values of Thorndike Oil Securities Before and After the Murder | |Before |After | |Debt |$151. 25 million, |$250 million | | |60. % of face value |100% of face value | |Equity |$270 million, |$300 million, | | |$9 per share |$10 per share | |Convertible notes |103. 95% of |110% of | | |face value |face value | Notes 1. Debt, before: PV at 12% of the 5% coupon for 10 years, plus repayment of face value (100%) at year 10, is 60. 5% of the $250 million face value, or $151. 25 million. Debt, after: essentially risk-free. The debt will be repaid in short order and should trade very close to face value. The gain in market value is 1 – . 605 = . 395, or 39. 5% of face value. 2. Shares: Share price increases from $9. 00 to $10. 00. 3. Convertible notes: Conversion value before is 110 shares at $9 per share = $990 per $1,000 note. The bonds were trading at 5% over conversion value, or 1. 05? 90 = $1,039. 50. Note holders will convert prior to the takeover, receiving 110? 10 = $1,100. (If they don’t convert, they get only $1,000. ) In other words, the notes increase by 110 – 103. 95 = 6. 05% of face value. Thorndike Oil Table 2 Who Gained Most? (Figures in millions) | |Doris |John |Patsy | | | | | | |Debt |$1. 8 |0 |0 | | |(. 395? 4) | | | | | | | | |Stock |$1. 2 |$0. 5 |$1. | | |(1. 00 ? 1. 2) |(1. 00 ? .5) |(1. 00 ? 1. 5) | | | | | | |Convertible notes |0 |$0. 3025 |$0. 1815 | | | |(. 0605 ? 5) |(. 0605 ? ) | | |___________ |___________ |_________ | |Total |$2. 78 |$0. 8025 |$1. 6815 | ———————– [1] Rupert Thorndike’s shares would go to a charitable foundation formed to advance the study of financial engineering and its crucial role in world peace and progress. The managers of the foundation’s endowment were not expected to oppose the takeover. How to cite Finance Case Study, Free Case study samples

Relational Database for Global Computer - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theRelational Databasefor Global Computer Solutions. Answer: The essay deals with solving the problems that have arisen on course of constructing the database for the Global Computer Solutions. The three type of difficulties that came up during the construction of the database were: Data redundancy, Data constrains and the updating of the data. The first problem was the data redundancy or the duplication of the data in the database. This type of problems can be solved by normalizing the tables of the database and distributing the database into 3NF form. For the normalization procedures the database have to be normalized into 1NF form at first and data redundancy is to be removed. After the procedure the tables are to further broken into 2NF form and the duplication of the data is to be removed and also the table is to broken into 3 NF form finally and the transitivity of the data is to be implemented. In addition to this the tables can be fragmented into different forms and according to the functionalities and the functional dependencies of the attributes of the different entities. In addition to this the data constrains also came up during the construction of the databases. These were solved by the properly defining the data into separate data types and also the range of the data are to defined properly in order to solve this kind of issues. In addition to this, the data dictionary is to be defined efficiently and hence this type of difficulties can be solved easily. The definition of the foreign keys and the candidate keys properly also can resolve the issues efficiently. In addition to this the super keys and the keys that do not have much effect to the database are also to be identified. In addition to all this updating the data also causes a huge amount of difficulties in the databases. Updating or deleting the data in a single data can creating problems for the other tables. The other tables having the same attributes would be facing data anomalies in the table. Hence this issue is to solved by defining the data dictionary and the relationship models of the database efficiently. The EER Diagrams are no efficiently drawn and are also to be understood properly before the implementation of the database. This would be helping resolving the issues that are related with the database and also increasing the database efficiency of the database. In addition to this it would help the users to store the data properly. For conclusion it can be said that, there were several type of problems that had arisen during the construction of the database but they were solved efficiently. The major problems that were identified were Data redundancy, data updating techniques and also data constrains. The solutions of the problems were provided in the essay efficiently and the solutions would be increasing the efficiency and the performance of database to a certain level. Bibliography Mitrovic, A. and Suraweera, P., 2016. Teaching Database Design with Constraint-Based Tutors.International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education,26(1), pp.448-456. Alabbasi, S., Ahmed, A., Kaneko, K., Rebeiro-Hagrave, A. and Fukuda, A., 2014, October. Data types managed database design for dynamic content: A database design for Personal Health Book system. InTENCON 2014-2014 IEEE Region 10 Conference(pp. 1-5). IEEE. Bugiotti, F., Cabibbo, L., Atzeni, P. and Torlone, R., 2014, October. Database design for NoSQL systems. InInternational Conference on Conceptual Modeling(pp. 223-231). Springer International Publishing. Shin, K., Hwang, C. and Jung, H., 2017. NoSQL Database Design Using UML Conceptual Data Model Based on Peter Chens Framework.International Journal of Applied Engineering Research,12(5), pp.632-636.

Vedic Religion, Mythology, and Society free essay sample

The early civilizations of India have proven to be a highly intellectual, god fearing, and advanced collaboration of people. From approximately 2700 B. C. E to around 500 B. C. E two societies flourished in the northern region of India known as the Indus Valley. The Indus Valley Civilization and later, the Aryans believed by some to have migrated to India from Europe and the middle East paved the foundation of Hinduism through the influences of their cultures, early religions and social structures. Unfortunately, there is little to be said of the earliest inhabitants, the people of the Indus Valley Civilization because there still does not exist a decipherment of the Indus Valley Script. Based on loose interpretations of artifacts found in ancient Indus Valley cities, we have been able to depict that the people of the Indus Valley were originally a nomadic tribe, but later had a high degree of uniformity amongst city development, a language written on a variety of small 1 inch seals, and may have worshiped Goddesses or a pre-Siva God, often seen on these seals with three faces, bullhead, sitting in a yogic position. We will write a custom essay sample on Vedic Religion, Mythology, and Society or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page According to A. L Bashman’s book The Origins and Development of Classical Hinduism, over time the Indus Valley Civilazation began to dwindle because they were driven from their lands by natural disasters, such as the sudden rise in the level of the sea bed south of the delta of the Indus River (Bashman, 1989, pg. 2). Although we have been able to extract minuscule clues from the Indus Valley Civilization, most of Hinduisms pre-history stems from an religious Aryan ancient text called The Veda, consisting of four traditions, the Rg-, Yajur-, Sama-, and Atharva-. It is important to mention that the Veda’s are thought of as eternal, or not written by human beings, and the Aryan people passed down knowledge of the Veda’s from generation to generation through word of mouth. People saw the Veda’s as extremely sacred texts or scriptures and they were verbally relayed for nearly 3000 years with little to almost no change to them. By some the translation of the Veda’s into written word was viewed as against the religion because traditionally not everyone was actually allowed or able to learn the Veda’s in early times, and also it was as if physical written words tainted the sacredness of the scripture. The priestly class of the Vedic Aryans, known as the Brahmans, were viewed as the preservers of vedic tradition. They were allowed to attend the various theological schools which would specialize in the memorization of specific texts within the Veda’s. The Veda’s were composed chronologically with the Rg-Veda as the first text â€Å"written†. The Rg-Veda consists of 10 books of 1028 hymns praising various deities, guessed to be composed in early Sanskrit as early as 1200 BCE over a period of a few hundred years. The Sama-Veda is a book of songs, all based on the hymns of the Rg-Veda. The Yajur-Veda consists of 4 books: one book is the white Yajur-Veda, and the other three are the black Yajur Veda. Within these books lies vital information regarding procedures for rituals and sacrifices. Lastly, the Atharva-Veda is a collection of hymns and â€Å"magical† material (spells, charms, imprecations, and incantations), and this Veda is essentially overlapping magic and religion. Each of the four Veda’s have a vast number of gods, or devas, being acknowledged and praised. However, within the Veda’s, stories or myths of the gods are scarcely present; that information was assumed to be common knowledge. All the pantheon of Vedic religion are divided into two classes: the gods (devas) which follow rta, the cosmic order, the set course of nature, and the demons (asura), follow anrta, or anti-rta, in an attempt to overturn the natural course of things. The gods uphold rta, which is essentially moral and physical universal law. Many other gods or devas are deities associated with nature, the heavens and space. The main Devas include Indra, Varuna, Mitra, Nastya, and the minor devas include Yama, Vishnu, and Rudra. The nature divinities include Surya (sun), Agni (fire), Soma (ritual plant), Pajanya (rain), Ushas (dawn), Earth, Moon and Night. The gods are viewed as powerful and willing beings whose pleasure or dissatisfaction determines the course of events in humans day to day lives. If they are pleased they can bless the people with rain for their crops, fertility in woman, good health, etc. and if they are displeased they first punish wrong-doers with disease, and after they are banished to â€Å"The House of Clay† a gloomy hell-like place, similar to where Hades of the Greeks resides. Of all the gods mentioned in the vedas, most notably in the Rg-Veda, the god Indra, god of war and weather, has a staggering 250 hymns in his honor. Indra is believed to be the creator of the cosmos, for when the demons, led by the serpent Vrtra, came to attack the gods, Indra, strengthed by Soma drink, faced them alone and came out victorious and from Vrtra’s dead body he created our world. Because of this, Indra is mainly viewed as a war leader (Bashman, 1989, pg. 12). The Veda’s main function were its involvement in public worship, and it were an essential part in rituals. The vedic Aryans main religious practice was promised religious sacrifice on a cyclical basis with the purpose of pleasing the gods and their ancestors. Both demanded praise and acknowledgement so anything from milk, clarified butter or ghee, curds, grain (rice/barely), soma plant, and even domestic animals were all used as offerings to the gods during sacrificial ceremonies (Bashman, 1989, ). There were two types of sacrificial ceremonies: domestic (life-cycle rites, requiring one fire) and solemn (public rites, requiring three fires). The vedic Aryan people used regular sacrificial ritual to maintain functionality of their tribe or cities. The gods were believed to have control over things such as rain, disease, sun, fertility, etc. o the people would sacrifice various goods/animals in their name in order to please them or strengthen them to help them. in order to maintain the functionality of the tribe. Each ritual was an extremely delicate experience. If one word, or one procedure was out of place the ritual was deemed void, and could even sometimes cause harm to the tribe for displeasing the gods. This is where the use of Brahma n’s were vital, the rituals did not require massive buildings or elaborate icons, but only a qualified Brahman who knew all the required procedures learned from the Yajur-Veda. Often they had several Brahman’s present in order to ensure the correct sequence of events occurred. Rituals were centered around the idea of fire. In rituals the fire god Agni would, via a specific number of domestic fires, receive sacrifices/praises from the people and pass them onto the other gods. This gives Agni the reputation of a rather important god, with 200 hymns dedicated to him in the Rg-Veda. Fire was viewed as a link between the worldly and divine realms (Flood, 2004, 41). Also, rituals consisted one other important act preformed by the Brahmans the eating of the Soma plant. According to Gavin Flood in An Introduction to Hinduism, Soma is believed to be some variation of a hallucinogenic mushroom, and was used to bring the priests to a mystical state where they could see the gods and recite veda hymns to them. Soma was not only a plant used in rituals, but was also a deity (god) and was praised for creating the link between gods and humans. To the drinker, Soma brought superhuman strength, a sense of growing to a gigantic size, and gave visions of the gods coming down to join the worshipers (Bashman, 1989, 14). Soma was also given to the gods during rituals as a strength inducer so they would be able to fight off the demons causing a tribe grief. As stated in An Introduction to Hinduism, rituals were preformed on a daily basis by every Aryan at around dusk or dawn, and also more complicated rituals were preformed at the beginning of the two lunar fortnights of the months (the days of full and new moons). One expensive and important ritual preformed during this period was the rajasuya sacrifice. It was a royal sacrifice used by kings to ensure them a place in heaven during afterlife and also to prove their worth as a king. This complicated sacrifice was put on by the king and was centered around a great stallion (or horse) that would be followed by groups of men for about a year as it roamed the plains going city to city demanding praise before coming back to the main city to be sacrificed to the gods. The significance of the rajasuya sacrificial ceremony was its link to political power (Bashman, 1989, 33). These sacrifices were used to maintain the functionality of a tribe/city and give kings the opportunity to prove their worth to the people, so kings would pay all the extensive expenses in order to put forth these ceremonies. However, the only people that were able to preform these specific ceremonies with perfect precision was the priest class (Brahmans). This gave them a considerable amount of power, and one could argue that it created a power struggle between the ruling class and the priestly class. Nevertheless, all the sacrificial offering ceremonies were a time for rejoicing, not only for the kings who put them on, but also for the entire population because everyone was benefiting. Later in vedic history, after all the Veda’s had been written, people began to grow antsy with their religion. They started to seek more answers and try to create connections between the meaning of life, birth/rebirth, karma, the gods, and the purpose of ritual (Reat, 1977, 1). This is the period when the Upanishads were written. The Upanishads were a â€Å"secret conversation† that was only meant to be heard by a select few people, and was the beginning of the emergence of Enlightenment and created the basis of classical Hinduism. Vedic religion is not the same as the Hinduism religion, it is however a precursor to it. From the vedic religion we can see the pre-stages of important Hinduism concepts, such as the connection between religious sacrifice and karma. To this day some people in traditional Hindu and Nepal societies practice early vedic traditions. The vedic religion is overall a polytheistic religion, however it seen being practiced as monotheistic and henotheistic, and in my opinion this excerpt coming from the Yajur-Veda sums up the Vedic Religion: â€Å"O Supreme Force governing the world! You function as per unchangeable laws which remain the same throughout without slightest of deviations. May I also seek inspiration from. You to be unflinchingly principled in my life. Thus I resolve to seek truth constantly by eliminating the false from my life every moment to the best of my abilities, intentions and efforts. May I be successful in this noble decision of mine.