The aim of this article is to reveal the general tendencies of representation and images of ethnic minorities and refugees in Lithuanian media (the most popular Internet dailies and printed periodicals) and who are the main sources of the discourse about these groups. The article present the analysis of the data of several empirical researches of the Lithuanian media (articles published in the most popular Internet news dailies and periodicals) in the period from 2005 to 2017. Data analysis reveal that the image of ethnic minorities in the media is steady and, despite the changing news, they are portrayed using certain schemes that do not change over the years. The migrants in the Lithuanian media is presented by a thematic diversity which is conditioned by the broad concept of migrants, which include refugees, third-country nationals, labor migrants, asylum seekers, etc. Polish and Russian ethnic groups are politicized when the majority of Poles living in Lithuania are identified with the political party EAPL, and Russians are identified with the policy pursued by the Russian Federation. The Roma, although statistically a small ethnic group, receive a disproportionate and negative attention in the Lithuanian press, and it is criminalized. Because of the absence of a large number of immigrants and refugees in Lithuania, the articles use examples from EU countries which have more experience of integration of immigrants. The representatives of the majority society institutes, but not the minority, are the main opinion formers about ethnic minorities and interethnic relations in Lithuanian media. Therefore, it is recommended for the media to increase society's intercultural competences and reduce social distance towards ethnic minorities and refugees, as well as to provide more diverse information and to launch a debate on cultural and religious differences.
The aim of this article is to reveal the general tendencies of representation and images of ethnic minorities and refugees in Lithuanian media (the most popular Internet dailies and printed periodicals) and who are the main sources of the discourse about these groups. The article present the analysis of the data of several empirical researches of the Lithuanian media (articles published in the most popular Internet news dailies and periodicals) in the period from 2005 to 2017. Data analysis reveal that the image of ethnic minorities in the media is steady and, despite the changing news, they are portrayed using certain schemes that do not change over the years. The migrants in the Lithuanian media is presented by a thematic diversity which is conditioned by the broad concept of migrants, which include refugees, third-country nationals, labor migrants, asylum seekers, etc. Polish and Russian ethnic groups are politicized when the majority of Poles living in Lithuania are identified with the political party EAPL, and Russians are identified with the policy pursued by the Russian Federation. The Roma, although statistically a small ethnic group, receive a disproportionate and negative attention in the Lithuanian press, and it is criminalized. Because of the absence of a large number of immigrants and refugees in Lithuania, the articles use examples from EU countries which have more experience of integration of immigrants. The representatives of the majority society institutes, but not the minority, are the main opinion formers about ethnic minorities and interethnic relations in Lithuanian media. Therefore, it is recommended for the media to increase society's intercultural competences and reduce social distance towards ethnic minorities and refugees, as well as to provide more diverse information and to launch a debate on cultural and religious differences.
The aim of the paper is to reconstruct and analyze Alvydas Jokubaitis's under-standing of politics. It is argued that Jokubaitis couples politics with morality in opposition to the liberal project of the autonomy of politics, which seeks to separate these two fields of human activity. According to Jokubaitis, politics is a realm of realization of the spiritual side of human nature. That is the reason why, through morality, he also tries to align poli-tics with other domains of human spirituality, such as religion and metaphysics. What is common to politics, morality, religion, and metaphysics is the sphere of normativity, i.e., that of purposes, principles, and imperatives. At the same time, Jokubaitis attacks those schools of modern thought which interpret politics as corresponding solely to the physical, animal side of human nature. In this regard, positivism and scientism are singled out as the crudest attempts to misconstrue the nature of politics. The paper is based on a convic-tion that the acknowledgement of the importance of morality allows one to piece together Jokubaitis's various considerations about the nature and distinctiveness of politics into a coherent whole.
The aim of the paper is to reconstruct and analyze Alvydas Jokubaitis's under-standing of politics. It is argued that Jokubaitis couples politics with morality in opposition to the liberal project of the autonomy of politics, which seeks to separate these two fields of human activity. According to Jokubaitis, politics is a realm of realization of the spiritual side of human nature. That is the reason why, through morality, he also tries to align poli-tics with other domains of human spirituality, such as religion and metaphysics. What is common to politics, morality, religion, and metaphysics is the sphere of normativity, i.e., that of purposes, principles, and imperatives. At the same time, Jokubaitis attacks those schools of modern thought which interpret politics as corresponding solely to the physical, animal side of human nature. In this regard, positivism and scientism are singled out as the crudest attempts to misconstrue the nature of politics. The paper is based on a convic-tion that the acknowledgement of the importance of morality allows one to piece together Jokubaitis's various considerations about the nature and distinctiveness of politics into a coherent whole.
The aim of the paper is to reconstruct and analyze Alvydas Jokubaitis's under-standing of politics. It is argued that Jokubaitis couples politics with morality in opposition to the liberal project of the autonomy of politics, which seeks to separate these two fields of human activity. According to Jokubaitis, politics is a realm of realization of the spiritual side of human nature. That is the reason why, through morality, he also tries to align poli-tics with other domains of human spirituality, such as religion and metaphysics. What is common to politics, morality, religion, and metaphysics is the sphere of normativity, i.e., that of purposes, principles, and imperatives. At the same time, Jokubaitis attacks those schools of modern thought which interpret politics as corresponding solely to the physical, animal side of human nature. In this regard, positivism and scientism are singled out as the crudest attempts to misconstrue the nature of politics. The paper is based on a convic-tion that the acknowledgement of the importance of morality allows one to piece together Jokubaitis's various considerations about the nature and distinctiveness of politics into a coherent whole.
The aim of the paper is to reconstruct and analyze Alvydas Jokubaitis's under-standing of politics. It is argued that Jokubaitis couples politics with morality in opposition to the liberal project of the autonomy of politics, which seeks to separate these two fields of human activity. According to Jokubaitis, politics is a realm of realization of the spiritual side of human nature. That is the reason why, through morality, he also tries to align poli-tics with other domains of human spirituality, such as religion and metaphysics. What is common to politics, morality, religion, and metaphysics is the sphere of normativity, i.e., that of purposes, principles, and imperatives. At the same time, Jokubaitis attacks those schools of modern thought which interpret politics as corresponding solely to the physical, animal side of human nature. In this regard, positivism and scientism are singled out as the crudest attempts to misconstrue the nature of politics. The paper is based on a convic-tion that the acknowledgement of the importance of morality allows one to piece together Jokubaitis's various considerations about the nature and distinctiveness of politics into a coherent whole.
This paper explores the prevailing readings of the Atlantis story. The purpose of this paper is to show how interpretative judgements on the narrator's intentions, the objectives of the characters, and the genre and the development of the story prepares the grounds for the political understanding of Athens and Atlantis. In this way, I will show how the dramatic framework influences the expression of political thought. I argue that the most important dramatic feature of the story is Critias' interaction with Socrates and Timaeus, which explains why Critias composes two speeches that are essentially dedicated to the question of political origins.
This paper explores the prevailing readings of the Atlantis story. The purpose of this paper is to show how interpretative judgements on the narrator's intentions, the objectives of the characters, and the genre and the development of the story prepares the grounds for the political understanding of Athens and Atlantis. In this way, I will show how the dramatic framework influences the expression of political thought. I argue that the most important dramatic feature of the story is Critias' interaction with Socrates and Timaeus, which explains why Critias composes two speeches that are essentially dedicated to the question of political origins.
This paper explores the prevailing readings of the Atlantis story. The purpose of this paper is to show how interpretative judgements on the narrator's intentions, the objectives of the characters, and the genre and the development of the story prepares the grounds for the political understanding of Athens and Atlantis. In this way, I will show how the dramatic framework influences the expression of political thought. I argue that the most important dramatic feature of the story is Critias' interaction with Socrates and Timaeus, which explains why Critias composes two speeches that are essentially dedicated to the question of political origins.
This paper explores the prevailing readings of the Atlantis story. The purpose of this paper is to show how interpretative judgements on the narrator's intentions, the objectives of the characters, and the genre and the development of the story prepares the grounds for the political understanding of Athens and Atlantis. In this way, I will show how the dramatic framework influences the expression of political thought. I argue that the most important dramatic feature of the story is Critias' interaction with Socrates and Timaeus, which explains why Critias composes two speeches that are essentially dedicated to the question of political origins.
Muslims have known and used the term 'da'wa' throughout the history of Islam. The concept, or rather concepts, of da'wa has been elaborated upon since the early centuries of Islam. Muslims have applied the term to various specific activities of theirs. The broadly known explanation in Europe and North America for da'wa is that it constitutes activities, which in the Christian context fall under the term 'missions' or 'missionary activities'. Recently, however, there has been much discussion whether da'wa at all can be rendered as 'missionary activity', for it is argued by some Muslims as well as non-Muslim scholars that da'wa distinctly differs from what in the Christian tradition 'missions' have encompassed. From the available historical evidence, it appears that after Muhammad's death Muslims did not immediately embark upon da'wa activities – during and after the rapid conquests of the Byzantinian and Persian lands, they little if at all ventured to preach to local non-Muslims about the virtues of Islam. Da'wa in the sense of inviting non-Muslims to embrace Islam was not yet on conquering Muslims' agenda. The first waves of conversions to Islam from among the indigenous populations of the conquered lands took place with virtually no Muslim missionary activities in the background. But the concept of da'wa was not lost even on the early Muslims. They were very much aware of it and indeed capitalized on its exploitation. Yet, this first was done on the intra-community level, among the Muslims themselves. The term da'wa came into wider usage almost a hundred years after Muhammad's death, in the wake of the 'Abbasid propaganda against the then ruling Ummayad clan in the 720's. However, the 'Abbasid da'wa ceased as soon as the 'Abbasids were in power – the fact that attests to its political nature.
Muslims have known and used the term 'da'wa' throughout the history of Islam. The concept, or rather concepts, of da'wa has been elaborated upon since the early centuries of Islam. Muslims have applied the term to various specific activities of theirs. The broadly known explanation in Europe and North America for da'wa is that it constitutes activities, which in the Christian context fall under the term 'missions' or 'missionary activities'. Recently, however, there has been much discussion whether da'wa at all can be rendered as 'missionary activity', for it is argued by some Muslims as well as non-Muslim scholars that da'wa distinctly differs from what in the Christian tradition 'missions' have encompassed. From the available historical evidence, it appears that after Muhammad's death Muslims did not immediately embark upon da'wa activities – during and after the rapid conquests of the Byzantinian and Persian lands, they little if at all ventured to preach to local non-Muslims about the virtues of Islam. Da'wa in the sense of inviting non-Muslims to embrace Islam was not yet on conquering Muslims' agenda. The first waves of conversions to Islam from among the indigenous populations of the conquered lands took place with virtually no Muslim missionary activities in the background. But the concept of da'wa was not lost even on the early Muslims. They were very much aware of it and indeed capitalized on its exploitation. Yet, this first was done on the intra-community level, among the Muslims themselves. The term da'wa came into wider usage almost a hundred years after Muhammad's death, in the wake of the 'Abbasid propaganda against the then ruling Ummayad clan in the 720's. However, the 'Abbasid da'wa ceased as soon as the 'Abbasids were in power – the fact that attests to its political nature.
Muslims have known and used the term 'da'wa' throughout the history of Islam. The concept, or rather concepts, of da'wa has been elaborated upon since the early centuries of Islam. Muslims have applied the term to various specific activities of theirs. The broadly known explanation in Europe and North America for da'wa is that it constitutes activities, which in the Christian context fall under the term 'missions' or 'missionary activities'. Recently, however, there has been much discussion whether da'wa at all can be rendered as 'missionary activity', for it is argued by some Muslims as well as non-Muslim scholars that da'wa distinctly differs from what in the Christian tradition 'missions' have encompassed. From the available historical evidence, it appears that after Muhammad's death Muslims did not immediately embark upon da'wa activities – during and after the rapid conquests of the Byzantinian and Persian lands, they little if at all ventured to preach to local non-Muslims about the virtues of Islam. Da'wa in the sense of inviting non-Muslims to embrace Islam was not yet on conquering Muslims' agenda. The first waves of conversions to Islam from among the indigenous populations of the conquered lands took place with virtually no Muslim missionary activities in the background. But the concept of da'wa was not lost even on the early Muslims. They were very much aware of it and indeed capitalized on its exploitation. Yet, this first was done on the intra-community level, among the Muslims themselves. The term da'wa came into wider usage almost a hundred years after Muhammad's death, in the wake of the 'Abbasid propaganda against the then ruling Ummayad clan in the 720's. However, the 'Abbasid da'wa ceased as soon as the 'Abbasids were in power – the fact that attests to its political nature.
Muslims have known and used the term 'da'wa' throughout the history of Islam. The concept, or rather concepts, of da'wa has been elaborated upon since the early centuries of Islam. Muslims have applied the term to various specific activities of theirs. The broadly known explanation in Europe and North America for da'wa is that it constitutes activities, which in the Christian context fall under the term 'missions' or 'missionary activities'. Recently, however, there has been much discussion whether da'wa at all can be rendered as 'missionary activity', for it is argued by some Muslims as well as non-Muslim scholars that da'wa distinctly differs from what in the Christian tradition 'missions' have encompassed. From the available historical evidence, it appears that after Muhammad's death Muslims did not immediately embark upon da'wa activities – during and after the rapid conquests of the Byzantinian and Persian lands, they little if at all ventured to preach to local non-Muslims about the virtues of Islam. Da'wa in the sense of inviting non-Muslims to embrace Islam was not yet on conquering Muslims' agenda. The first waves of conversions to Islam from among the indigenous populations of the conquered lands took place with virtually no Muslim missionary activities in the background. But the concept of da'wa was not lost even on the early Muslims. They were very much aware of it and indeed capitalized on its exploitation. Yet, this first was done on the intra-community level, among the Muslims themselves. The term da'wa came into wider usage almost a hundred years after Muhammad's death, in the wake of the 'Abbasid propaganda against the then ruling Ummayad clan in the 720's. However, the 'Abbasid da'wa ceased as soon as the 'Abbasids were in power – the fact that attests to its political nature.
SUMMARY The objective of this Master's Thesis is to analyze and compare Lithuania, Norway, Netherlands and The Great Britain Constitutional human rights and legal provisions wich ensure the rights and freedoms of sexual minorities. With regard to the comparative analysis of the present findings, disclosed the sexual minority rights in Lithuania. The Thesis consists of an introduction followed by two chapters and conclusions. The first chapter deals with the conceptions of sexual minorities and homosexual orientation. Also analyzed the Lithuanian Constitutional human rights and legal provisions wich provide the right to protection, equality, freedom of expression and privacy of sexual minorities. The second section consist legal acts analysis wich regulate sexual minorities rights in Norway, Netherlands and Great Britain. Specifying Constitutional rights and statutory provisions which are providing legal rights to protection, equality, freedom of expression and privacy of sexual minorities. Analyze and compare Lithuania, Norway, Netherlands and Great Britain Constitutional human rights and legal provisions wich ensure the rights and freedoms of sexual minorities. Sexual minorities are groups of people whose sexual orientation, gender identity or sexual characteristics are different from the presumed majority of the population, which are male or female heterosexuals. The term referred primarily to lesbians and gays, bisexuals and transgender people. These four categories are often grouped together and called as LGBT persons. Regarding of society formed stereotypes, these individuals are often faced with the legal and social exclusion. Opposition receives both authorization and prohibition to marry, adopt or publicly promote their way of life. Therefore, sexual minority rights and freedoms is one of the most debated topics in Lithuania and in the world. Article 21 of Lithuania Constitution provides that, the human person is inviolable. Human dignity shall be protected by law. It shall be prohibited to torture, injure, degrade, or maltreat, and to impose such penalties. Article 169 of the Criminal Code prohibit direct discrimination on grounds of sex, sexual orientation, race, nationality, beliefs or other attitudes. Prohibition of sale, produce, acquire to send, carry, keep the things that incite or promote hatred violence and discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and other cases are provided in the Criminal Code article 170. Article 29 of Lithuania Constitution lay down non-discrimination principle of all persons, other existing legislations guarantees equal rights to all people regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race or ethnic origin, disability, age, religion or belief. Article 2 paragraph 4 of Labour Code provides equality of employment law subjects, regardless of gender, sexual orientation and other circumstances. Article 2 of this act requires the employer to implement equal opportunities at work and in public service. Labour Safety and Health Act guarantees employed safe and healthy working conditions, regardless of the employee's sexual orientation. This act prohibit direct or indirect discrimination on grounds of age, sexual orientation, disability, race or ethnic origin, religion or belief. Article 25 of Lithuania Constitution provides that everyone has the right to hold opinions and to express them freely. Article 36 of Constitution lay, that unarmed citizens have the right in peaceful assembly. These two Constitutional provisions guaranties human right to expression. Country's Criminal Code, the Labour Code, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Equal Opportunity Act establishes the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, but comparing to the rest of the world Lithuania valid legal regulation does not ensure sexual minority rights and freedoms. In Norway, the Netherlands and Great Britain gender identity is stored value of the law and same-sex marriage are legal by the law. These countries have established legal regulation laying down the conditions and gender reassignment procedures. In Netherlands and Great Britain the same sex can form a partnership. There is no statutory regulations, which set the conditions for gender reassignment procedures in Lithuania. Article 2.27 of Lithuanian Civil Code provides that \"an unmarried adult has the right to medically change their sex, if it is medically possible. Sex changing conditions laid down by law". To implement these provisions was prepared draft law regulating the treatment of transsexualism, but due to conflicting public assessment, this law has not been adopted. For this reason in country does not exist discriminatory crimes of sexual identity basis. The country does not allow same-sex marriage or partnership formation. Article 38 of Lithuania Constitution establishes that "marriage are formed in agreement between a man and a woman ''. According to this provision, the same-sex marriage are not available in the Country. Lithuania legal acts unlike in Norway, Netherlands and Great Britain does not include gender identity concept. In Lithuania transsexual person (a person who has a gender identity confusion) rights and freedoms are not guaranteed, because none of the above provisions of the law does not include gender identity grounds. For this reason, information about hate crimes, sexual identity simply does not exist.