As a body of knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship has an unheralded place in the study of the Christian Worldview. The ability to grasp the opportunity (Kirzner 1999), envision new possibilities, recognize and realize opportunity when it appears, and then seize it is central to the Christian vocation. Entrepreneurship does not provide people with a job or income; rather, it equips them for that task. It is not about how much money one makes but about what kind of person you become as you go through life.
Where Do Entrepreneurship and Free Markets Fit Within Biblical Principles?
Several Christians believe that entrepreneurship, free markets, and capitalism do not follow biblical principles. This results from their misunderstanding of what capitalism is and is not. Capitalism is not about greed or selfishness. It is not about making as much money as possible at the expense of others. Instead, it is about being rewarded for producing valuable goods and services – which makes everyone better off in the long run.
Many see entrepreneurship and free markets as inherently materialistic and profit-driven endeavors. This paper argues that through the lenses of God’s plan for man and His creation, entrepreneurship can be viewed as consistent with Christian principles. In order to do so, it must first be recognized that God’s ultimate purpose for man is to give glory, honor, and praise to Himself although his word does not explicitly endorse the two although they appear attuned with the teachings of Christ (Flax 2012). From this perspective, entrepreneurship is distinct from other disciplines, such as individualism or capitalism. The Bible provides clear examples of profitable endeavors in which profits are used primarily for the good of others rather than for personal gain.
As Christians and entrepreneurs, we live in a world of increasing uncertainty. We are called to pray daily that God’s will be done in all things and seek to honor Him as much as possible as creators and consumers. We want to look for opportunities to do good work with our gifts, abilities, and time. As entrepreneurs, we need to be careful how we define success as the marketplace most often defines it. Any discussion of entrepreneurship and the faith must deal with this issue. If God has established order, intelligence, and truth in the universe and history (Isaiah 42:5, John 1:1) with man as His image bearer enjoying these benefits (Genesis 1:26-27, Psalm 8), then the principle of government should reflect that reality. Government exists to preserve order, promote intelligence and truth, and protect citizens from injustice through civil laws, which, if kept, will have the effect of establishing justice (Psalm 94:16; Isaiah 51:6; Micah 4).
The Bible provides principles of ethics that guide our evaluation of people and nations (Exodus 20:1-17). One of the most basic principles is the Golden Rule that directs us to “do unto others as we would have them do unto us”. As entrepreneurs, we are called to treat others fairly and make trade agreements with them that will benefit both parties. We are not to take advantage of people by charging exorbitant prices or selling shoddy products or services. This principle applies not only in commerce but also in all other aspects of life.
As postulated in Psalm 90 and Psalm 139, scripture places a high value on human life and the lives of its citizens and those of foreign nations. We see from this belief that the Christian worldview will promote free markets, entrepreneurship, and wealth creation because these are tools to advance humankind better. Only when entrepreneurs determine their materials, means of production, and form of work – can they indeed be innovative and impact society.
Conclusion
God is the ultimate entrepreneur, and the Bible reveals both His character and His plan for His creation. God is a builder, and He created every stage, form, and function in the world as a testimony to His ability to bring order out of chaos. Jesus’ work on earth was to continue that work, exposing humanity’s need for redemption while also demonstrating God’s power at work in human hearts.
References
Kirzner, Israel. 1999. “5-17 Creativity and/or alertness: A reconsideration of the Schumpeterian entrepreneur.” The Review of Austrian Economics. 1991. https://www.skylineuniversity.ac.ae/pdf/entrepreneur/67002223f0cd961a083fb5512e3e83c96527.pdf.
Flax, Bill. 2012. Was Jesus A Socialist, Capitalist, Or Something Else? Forbes. 2012 January 31. https://www.forbes.com/sites/billflax/2012/01/31/was-jesus-a-socialist-capitalist-or-something-else/
Environmental Health Training Critique Essay Example
Introduction
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has integrated several courses to disseminate training to individuals and the general public to ensure the proper public knowledge on sustaining healthy environments. The evaluation of these courses offered by the CDC is essential to ensure the effectiveness of the programs. The evaluation of these programs may follow specific evaluation criteria such as the Kirkpatrick model. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the Safe Water Program Improvement e-Learning Series (SWPI).
The approach used by the SWPI
The SWPI uses an online learning approach to disseminate knowledge to the learners. This is by training individuals on courses, including an introductory course covering ten essential environmental public health services and how they relate to Unregulated Drinking Water Systems (UDWS). Secondly, the SWPI program offers an Assessment course that enables the monitoring of Health, diagnosing and investigating of UDWS-related issues. Also, the SWPI offers policy development courses that aim to Inform, Educate, Empower, and Mobilize learners on the development of policies and plans. Also, the SWPI offers several assurance courses, including Laws and Regulations, Linking People to Services, Assuring a Competent Workforce, and Evaluation and Research courses. These courses’ learning takes about one hour for the shortest course and about two hours for the longest course. The SWPI recommends that learners take all nine courses to develop the best knowledge outcome from the learning program. However, learners can also choose specific courses, but the introduction course is required to ensure the understanding of the courses.
Effectiveness of the SWPI in meeting requirements of the safe drinking water policy
The SWPI effectively meets the requirements of the safe drinking water policy as it helps improve the water systems that the Safe Drinking Water Act does not effectively cover. Such water systems include wells, springs, cisterns, and other private water drinking systems. By providing effective education regarding the use of these water systems, the SWPI effectively ensures meeting the safe drinking water policy requirements. These courses offered by the SWPI equip learners with knowledge regarding the safe use of these water sources and ways to fill gaps in these types of drinking water programs. According to the CDC website, about one in nine American residents acquire their drinking water from a private water system such as a well (Center for Disease Control, 2019). Additionally, about one in five sampled private wells contained contaminants at levels that could harm human health. As such, the safe water improvement program is an essential and practical learning program to ensure the added effectiveness of the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Effectiveness of the SWPI in Meeting the needs of the intended Audience
The safe water Improvement e-learning program effectively meets the needs of its Audience according to the assessment of learners’ views and the community impact. According to the evaluation of the learner’s knowledge, more than four out of five learners were able to identify specific actions that could result in their jobs as a result of undertaking the SWPI courses. Additionally, nine out of ten learners would recommend the SWPI program to colleagues (Center for Disease Control, 2019). According to a pilot tester comment, a learner was planning to utilize the ten essential services that they had learned from the SWPI program after identifying them since the learner never knew that these essential services existed before undertaking the SWPI courses. Additionally, another learner identified that the course had enabled him to think more about unregulated drinking water instead of focusing on public water sources. Also, the learner identified that the course had equipped him with answers to questions from people using unregulated water sources (Center for Disease Control, 2019). As such, the review of pilot tester comments and the tests of the SWPI course among drinking water and other environmental health staff outlines the effectiveness of the SWPI project in meeting the needs of its intended Audience as it can equip the learners with the intended knowledge.
Questions regarding the evaluation of the SWPI program
- Does the SWPI effectively describe the effective methods for investigating and diagnosing Unregulated Drinking Water Systems related diseases?
- Does the SWPI program equip learners with practical skills to create effective policies to address the UDW related issues?
- Does the SWPI equip learners with adequate skills to create a competent environmental health workforce to carry out environmental health programs like the UDWS?
- To what extent is the community being reached by the learning program information and materials?
- How effective is the program in ensuring the safety of the use of unregulated water sources?
Academic rationale for the evaluation criteria used in the evaluation of the SWPI
The evaluation criteria used in the evaluation of the SWPI program are essential to ensure the complete assessment of the program’s effectiveness in disseminating information. The evaluation of the SWPI follows a Kirkpatrick Model of evaluation of learning programs. Using this model in the evaluation of the SWPI program is essential to ensure the complete assessment of the program’s effectiveness. The Kirkpatrick model is integrated with the evaluation of the SWPI through the evaluation of four levels that are designed to measure specific elements of training, including reaction, learning, behaviour and results (Kirkpatrick Partners, 2017). Most significantly, the Kirkpatrick level three and four components that evaluate Behavior and results, respectively, were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the SWPI. These components were used to assess the program’s effectiveness by assessing the workplace’s transfer and use of skills. The level three component identified that the knowledge acquired from the training program was effectively transferred to the workplace and integrated into practice. The use of the Kirkpatrick model’s level three and four components was based on assumptions that the skills integrated into the workplace were acquired from the courses offered in the SWPI.
Conclusion
Evaluating learning courses is essential to ensure that these courses effectively meet the intended audiences. Such evaluations may follow the Kirkpatrick model, which evaluates the essential aspects of learning. The SWPI evaluation follows the Kirkpatrick model and integrates the level 3 and 4 aspects of evaluation. The creation of questions during the evaluation of an academic program is also essential for identifying areas that may require further modification to ensure the effectiveness of a program.
References
Center for Disease Control. (2019, April 23). Safe Water Program Improvement e-Learning Series (SWPI). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/elearn/swpi.html
Kirkpatrick Partners. (2017). The Kirkpatrick model. Retrieved from www.kirkpatrickpartners.com/OurPhilosophy/TheKirkpatrickModel
Environmental Influences On Delinquency Free Sample
Family factors that impact delinquency
Parental divorce can have significant effects on a child. Parental divorce predicts juvenile delinquency consistently and is a significant parent-related risk factor for developing criminal behavior in childhood and adolescence, which increases the likelihood of criminal convictions and antisocial behavior. The result of parental divorce is frequent emotional suffering. Compared to children from two-parent households, children from one-parent families are more likely to be unemployed, drop out of school, have lower psychological well-being, and commit sexual assault (Mwangangi, 2019). Because there is now just one family provider, going from a two-parent to a single-parent household sometimes leads to a loss of financial resources and a reduction in supervision. Separated fathers frequently spend less time with their kids, undermining their commitment and trust.
Another factor is violence within the family. Juvenile delinquency rates can also be influenced by how violent parents are with one another and their kids. Only 22% of child offenders came from non-violent homes, while 78% of criminals came from families with physical abuse and child neglect (Mwangangi, 2019). The likelihood of non-offenders coming from violent homes is substantially higher than the likelihood of non-violent homes. Also, children who grow up in a violent home are more likely to become violent in future relationships, besides being delinquent.
An example of the causes of failure in school and its links to juvenile delinquency.
Drug abuse is among the causes of failure in school and is also related to delinquency. Research shows a direct correlation between teen substance misuse and academic performance (DEA, 2021). Teens who take drugs perform worse academically, frequently miss school and extracurricular activities, and are more likely to leave school altogether. Marijuana, for instance, impacts learning, memory, and attention (DEA, 2021). After the medicine wears off, its effects may linger for several days or weeks. Therefore, if someone smokes marijuana regularly, they are not operating at their best.
Drug use can hinder a teen’s cognitive growth, but it can also impact how well they function academically, including their memory skills, focus in class, assignment priority, likely to attend class, and even general IQ (DEA, 2021). Adolescent substance abusers frequently exhibit a key neurocognitive trait known as maladaptive choices. They experience some decision-making deficiencies as a result, which adds to the burden in their lives. Most of these people’s behaviors are impacted by impromptu judgments, and these people then manage self-control. As a result, their link to the brain is faulty, which makes it challenging for them to practice self-control or even emotional management. These drug users’ erratic performance connection is what causes them to react quickly to situations, including continuing to commit crimes. Out-of-school issues are linked to substance usage. Negative peer groups, a lack of social boundaries within the area, physical or sexual abuse, and other factors can all contribute to delinquent conduct (DEA, 2021). As a result, drug use will raise the incidence of delinquent behavior, and the limited resources burden the juvenile and criminal justice systems. It might also result in problems with youth killings. As a result, these are some of the societal issues currently causing greater issues for the social and criminal justice systems.
Adolescent drug use and abuse and the patterns of behavior that change over time.
Drug abuse among adolescents uses certain chemicals to produce pleasurable effects on the brain. A significant change in behavior patterns is associated with drug abuse, especially among adolescents. Firstly, drug abuse among adolescents leads to changes in personality. Over time, adolescents start engaging in risky and unethical behavior because drug abuse affects the prefrontal cortex, mostly involved with emotional regulation and self-control (Jadhav & Boutrel, 2019). Also, adolescents become more irritable and violent because they lack self-control and emotional regulation. Another notable change in behavior patterns is they develop poor hygiene and appetite because of the effects of the drugs. It is important to observe these changes to identify how to help teenagers out of their addiction.
References
Mwangangi, R. K. (2019). The role of the family in dealing with juvenile delinquency. Open Journal of Social Sciences. DOI: 10.4236/jss.2019.73004
United States Government Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). (2021). School Failure. Retrieved From: https://www.getsmartaboutdrugs.gov/content/school-failure
Jadhav, K. S., & Boutrel, B. (2019). Prefrontal cortex development and emergence of self‐regulatory competence: The two cardinal features of adolescence disrupted in context of alcohol abuse. European Journal of Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.14316