Bribery, Corruption and Social Responsibility Essay

Bribery, Corruption and Social Responsibility - Essay Example (Business for Social Responsibility) With this background this paper attempts to make a report suggesting the possible course of action for the executive of the company BIM taking into account the broader issues of the company's ethical policies, its social responsibility and the so called social evils of bribery and corruption, Job and wealth creation in society is the primary objective of businesses. According to Canada's business and consumer website the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is to position the companies to both proactively manage risks and take advantage of opportunities especially with respect to their corporate reputation and broad engagement of stakeholders. The stakeholders group includes shareholders, employees, customers, communities, suppliers, governments, non-governmental organizations, international organizations and others affected by the companies' activities. It is assumed that through CSR enterprises can play an important role in preventing and combating corruption and bribery and in helping preventing the use of enterprises for money laundering and criminal activities financing. In the instant case the for Thomas the question before him is whether to follow the code of Ethics of his company with respect to the use of bribery and loose the four years background work done by spending $ 30 million of the shareholders money and a lucrative opportunity of turning in a good business for the company or To follow the accepted practices of the country, pay the necessary bribes and get the contracts signed for the company ignoring the company's code of ethics. The question is to be looked into from the angle of the social responsibility of the company in so far as how it proactively manage the risks and take advantage of the opportunities. By not paying the bribe and losing the business opportunity Thomas is not doing justice to The shareholders whose valuable money of $ 30 million is spent on developing this project. Quite obviously the bribery practice in Lagos or Nigeria has not started after the decision to work on the project. Hence Thomas and the Company should have knowledge on these practices even before the decision on the project is taken. The code of ethics is a subsequent development as the background work for the project is being carried out for four years now. Hence to withdraw now from the project at a stage when the efforts are going to give benefit to the company is doing injustice to the shareholders and against the principle of corporate social responsibility The part of employees who have been recruited for the project, since the company may decide to retrench them in case the project is not taking off. It is none of their fault that the director or the company is not aware of the prevailing practices of bribery and corruption in the country of operation. In any case they should not be penalized. If they are it is against the so called Social Responsibility The issue needs to take into

Martin Luther and his Theology on Worship in the Church during the Research Paper

Martin Luther and his Theology on Worship in the Church during the Reformation - Research Paper Example â€Å"Luther thought music to be a gift from God and considered it of the highest importance next to the preaching of the Word (i.e., theology)1† . Luther’s theological views on music and his instigation of different methods of worship in the Catholic Church have helped Christians during the reformation era revitalize their faith. Catholicism is  not  compatible with Lutheran’s brand of liturgy because their religious principles are widely distinct. Catholicism embraced superstition. Catholicism’s worship was grounded on tradition, rather than on the Word of God. Catholicism’s worship remained locked in an incomprehensible language to the masses. Catholicism’s liturgy was static, predictable, meaningless and therefore, not spiritually edifying to the congregant. With such doctrines as the Eucharist, purgatory, the worship of relics, indulgences and Latinized readings, the masses were not being fed nourishing spiritual food which would be salvific in nature and lead to their salvation. Catholicism instructed the multitudes in errors, primarily concerned with death, which warped their perceptions of God, causing them to deviate further from the truth. The Eucharist service is one in which Catholic believers are encouraged to equate the presence of the Lord Jesus with the bread and wine of Communion. The Communion celebrates the death of Christ and in Catholicism, congregants observe more emphatically the sacrifice of the Savior without impressing upon the people’s minds the reality of Christ as a risen Lord. The Catechism affirms that Christ Jesus†¦ â€Å"is present .  .  . most  especially in the Eucharistic species†2 Devotion in honor of the dead is another prevailing conviction advocated in Catholicism. The idea was held in wide currency that the dead somehow acquire divine power when called upon can help the living in distress, because of the alleged virtue of now residing in heaven. For t he Catholic service â€Å"another common practice was the worship of relics, or physical objects such as bones or keepsakes of famous saints†3 . Adherents firmly believed that the possession and worship of relics would sanctify them in some manner and improve their opportunities at being saved. The deception was that the relics were in reality the bones of dead animals which the clergy designated as the bones of saints. Another doctrine forwarded by Catholicism was purgatory. In the Catholic liturgy â€Å"through congregational participation the people could effectively work themselves and their deceased loved ones out of purgatory and into heaven †¦such celebrations included requiem masses, vigils, the common week, and All Souls’ Day†4 (Dieter). Purgatory is the teaching that the souls of the dead are in a state of limbo between heaven and hell. To rescue the deceased souls, the faithful were expected to pay large sums of money for extra masses and prayers so that the dead would be redeemed and enter heaven’s gates. Indulgences is another liturgical rite in which â€Å"pieces of parchment were said to possess the power to credit the buyers with the merits of Christ together with the superabundant merits of all the saints† to deliver the beloved dead from perdition in purgatory. These rounds of superstition only confirmed the belief in error and steered the flock from the principles of justification by faith, the word of God and Jesus Christ alone. As a result, the Reformation rose