In March 2017, the European Court of Justice ruled that employers may ban Islamic headscarves. As long as all religious symbols are also treated the same way, the court said no discrimination can be claimed.
Watch the video report from Deutsche Welle (DW) Brent Goff Reports for background and then address the discussion questions.
Brent Goff Reports. (2017, March 14). In Europe, no religion at work [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LemKVWkoeXE
1.How do you think the European case discussed in the video report would be decided in the United States? Why? Explain and support your answer.
2.Select a category (age, race, religion, marital status, criminal/incarceration history, pregnancy, sex, sexual identity, education level, parenthood, national origin, dress, economic status, military status, and so forth).
3.In the United States, how are individuals in the category that you selected protected from discrimination in employment? Be specific. Give examples.
4.For the category you have selected, how are U.S. protections different from or similar to protections in another country
A voluntary self-identification form required by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFFCP) for federal contractors asks job applicants with disabilities to self-identify as disabled. This form is designed to help federal contractors and subcontractors meet Section 503 regulations, which set a target of seven percent of the workforce comprised of employees with disabilities. Nationally, there is a high rate of unemployment among people with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits businesses from asking specific questions about whether an applicant has a disability,
Start by watching this OFFCP video:
U.S. Department of Labor. Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) (October 2015) Disability Inclusion Starts with You. Retrieved at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAKsPd_lIw8
Now, for your first post, defend or challenge one of the following positions (“a” or “b”):
a. The use of the voluntary form results in benefits for everyone. The use of the form leads to expanded opportunities for people with disabilities, Moreover, through use of the form, employers have a better understanding of the composition and needs of their workforce, leading to higher employee productivity, which, in turn, benefits society.
or
b. Applicants with disabilities should proceed with caution before self-identifying as disabled on this voluntary form. The employer may be able to satisfy some federal contracting requirements through these forms, but not every HR department is ethical and can be trusted to keep this information confidential in the hiring process. An applicant should wait until he or she is hired before deciding whether to disclose any disability; especially if the applicant has a non-apparent disability.
For either “a” or “b” above, bring in additional information from at least two reputable sources (library and/or Web-based). Also bring in your own personal experiences, as applicable.
Sample Solution
Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell.
In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.
God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.
Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.
To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.
References
Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.
Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.
Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.
