Can moral beliefs/values be justified by a higher power? How can they be justified?
In a short answer, no they can’t. More information needs to be shown about a religion before you should follow the do and don'ts of it. Through the information my group gathered on this topic we were able to find out that even people that are highly religious sometimes questions and want more information from their god before they believe in the same rights and wrongs. Your moral beliefs don’t always have to follow what your god says is right or wrong. Your moral beliefs can come from anywhere but you can still believe in a god even if your beliefs are different than theirs. My work throughout the project includes doing research, videotaping the news broadcast and editing of the video. While doing research on the topic of moral values in religion, I learned about how different religions influence their followers. I also learned about why people may follow certain religions, because of the rewards and punishments they offer, and how even within one religion people can have different moral values. Another thing that I learned that many stories in one religion are repeated in others. With educating young children about all different religions, like they do in many european countries, they will grow to be more respectful and have a better understanding of why people believe in different things.
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After WW2, Germany was split into two sides, west Germany and east Germany. East Germany was ruled under a communist dictatorship. Within this side of the country there were secret police, the Stasi. No one, at the time, knew what the Stasi did until after the peaceful revolution in 1989. Only then, is was revealed to people what the Stasi were doing during the time. One group of the Stasi were a secret police, these people could be your friends or family, and they would report to higher ups in the system with the information they had collected from talking to you. This relates to the novel 1984. In this novel there are thought police. These police are seen as normal citizens and they befriend and gain trust of people in the community so they can report them back to the inner party. The goal of the secret police in both of these cases was to report information that could not be caught through video cameras or wiretapping. In those methods the government could only see what was going on as it happened, but through the secret police, Stasi or thought police, the government was able to get into people’s heads or thoughts to understand what you wanted to do before it happened. The goal of this was to have total control over the people. They could do this by catching someone, or a group of people, before they tried to rise above the government. East Germany was a small taste of what our society would be like in a world like 1984.
![]() ‘We The People’ posters brought awareness to the abuse and assault that women of colour receive in their daily life. Although this problem is largely scene in the USA, it is also seen in our country and internationally. Frank Shepard Fairey, the creator of the ‘We The People’ posters, creates artwork to raise awareness and hope about the dehumanization of others. These posters were used during the women's marches that took place in the USA to show support, hope and power that females have when they ban together. I think that these poster are an effective use of propaganda. The posters raise awareness of a situation that people don’t want to talk about and they give hope to the people that the posters represent. Fairey used different propaganda techniques effectively in the posters including fear, glittering generalities and transfer. Fear is raised in the people that suppress women of colour. Glittering generalities are used on each poster to demonstrate the strength in numbers of women, and transfer is used to show how proud everyone is to be America. These poster lead people to think about their actions for and against women of colour and how they can change to make their country a better place. Fairey reached his goal of creating a discussion about women of colour and the stereotypes that around them. So, by raising awareness about the situation around women of colour, the ‘We The People’ posters, created by Frank Shepard Fairey, use propaganda effectively. In the 21st century the internet is more present than ever. Children and people now growing up now, are growing up with the internet and don’t know a life without one. We believe that the internet is a private and safe place for us to be on. A light was shone on this recently when Edward Snowden released documents regarding the privacy of an internet user. With these documents people can now see how their privacy is being invaded everyday. One surprising piece of information shared is that the government is tracking all calls coming in and going out of the USA. Snowden said “People should be able to pick up the phone and to call their family,people should be able to send a text message to their loved ones [...] without wondering about how these events are going to look to an agent of the government” (Snowden). The novel 1984 by George Orwell shows how far the government can invade our privacy if they are not stopped. When Snowden revealed the documents to the public it stopped the slow overtaking of the government always looking into our private lives. In 1984 the government has overtaken the private lives of everyone in society. The fear of Big Brother constantly watching them has become of permeant part of everyone's lives. Winston says “There was no way of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment” (4-5 Orwell). This constant fear of being watched will become more present in our everyday lives if we don’t take action like Snowden to show the world how little privacy we really have.
“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty" - Albert Einstein
This quotation discusses how in human nature it is important for people to be appreciated by those close to them. In the short story The Shining Houses and the movie Inception both of main characters face a challenge of wanting to be appreciated. The Shining Houses takes place in the 1960’s where Mary is trying to find her way in the changing society. The people in Mary’s town are trying to get a house torn down and they do this by getting people to sign a petition. When Mary is asked to sign, she hesitates before saying no. Since Mary is a women she is being influenced by those around her one the way she should act. Mary is trying to balance being independent and a housewife. When Mary says no she fears that she will be overstepping a line. If she oversteps the line, she will no longer be appreciated by those close to her because her opinion is different. In Inception Fischer's dreams are invaded by Cobb and his team. They do this to plant an idea in Fischer’s mind. The idea that Fischer’s father doesn’t want him to continue with the company. Since Fischer doesn’t have a good relationship with his father they must enter his mind so they can make Fischer think that his father does appreciate him. When Fischer wakes up from his dream he will want to end the company because he believes that his father wants him to end it. When Fischer wakes up he thinks that his father appreciates his so he wants to do what makes him happy. People will do anything to be appreciated by those close to them. In The Large Ant by Howard Fast, Mr. Morgan kills a large ant while on a fishing trip. The ant was larger than any ant he has seen before, “fourteen, fifteen inches long.” Mr. Morgan becomes curious about the creature and contacts a museum in hopes to learn more about the ant. When he reaches the museum Fitzgerald says that he “killed it because [Mr. Morgan is] a human being.” Fitzgerald says that in human nature to kill and we can’t change that. I believe that it is in human nature to not always kill but it becomes our one of our first instincts when put into a situation that fears us. When we are in a problem, we face it with the fight or flight mentality. The flight mentality is when we run away from the situation so we don’t need to worry about it. When we choose to fight, we choose to solve the problem. Solving the problem may lead us to talk it out or when we are in a situation that we fear, we may choose to kill it. In The Large Ant Mr. Morgan chooses the fight mentality when he faces his problem. Since the ant scared Mr. Morgan he chooses to kill it because he doesn’t know what else he can do. So, I agree with Fitzgerald that humanity is violent because violence is seen as a quick solution to some of our problems. I don’t agree that we are incapable of changing that because there are other ways to fix our problems that we can see first.
Bradbury and Asimov are warning us about the advancements in technology and the changes in society that are caused by it. They are saying that as technology changes people will become more depended on it so, more advanced things can be created. Once people become too dependent on technology, society adapts to these major changes. Society adapts by creating computers and robots that can be put into leadership roles. If people think that a robot can do a better job in the work than a person than they will be replaced. For example, in the stories the police officers are replaced by robotic cars that can arrest people and teachers are replaced by at home computers for school. We are seen as different if we do not depend on technology to help us with our daily needs and tasks. In the future we will depend more on technology and we will become obsessed with having it in our lives. We will not be able to function without technology. People will be seen as different if they do not use technology for everything in their life. So, as technology advances society will advance with it.
In the short story, 'The Winner' Pius wins money from some football pools. After he wins the money his neighbors and family members step into his life and tell him that the money will be well spent. One of the family members that steps into his life is cousin Sarah. Sarah tries to help Pius while other people are trying to convince him on what to do with his new money. Unfortunately, Pius listens to Salongo about what to do with the money. 'The Winner' shows how relationships between family and friends can be corrupted. Puis's relationships with his family and friends become corrupted after he wins the money. His winnings corrupted the relationships because he discovers that others only want to be part of his life when he has something more to offer them or they can take something from him. Some family members of Puis were "clamoring for his affection" (Kimenye, 98). After Puis discovers that he did not win as much money as he originally thought everyone leaves his life but Sarah. Sarah staying in his life shows how some people like you for who you are and you do not need to give them more for you to be a better person. The corruption of family is also shown in the play 'King Lear' between Edmund and his father, Gloucester, and his brother, Edgar. Since Edmund is a bastard son he cannot receive any of his father's land, so he tricks his father into thinking the Edgar wants to kill him. After Edmund tells Gloucester "here stood he in the dark, his sharp sword out, mumbling of wicked charms, conjuring the moon to stand auspicious mistress" (II.i.38-40). After this Edmund gets his father's land because Edgar is seen as a bad man. The family relationships in 'The Winner' and 'King Lear' show how family bonds can be corrupted.
The parental preference between siblings can shape and determine the children's choices and actions. This fact is explained in a Ted Talk and is clearly shown in the play 'King Lear'. In the Ted Talk, 'The sibling bond," Jeffery Kluger discusses how parents do have a favourite child. Kluger says that "the most common favourite for a father is the last-born daughter." He explains that it is part of human nature for parents to have a favourite. Parents tend to favour the child of the opposite gender because they will look less like them but this child will act most like them. This fact is shown in 'King Lear' because Cordelia is Lear's youngest child and she is favoured over Goneril and Regan. The favouritism affects Goneril and Regan because Lear banishes Cordelia when she does not feed his ego as much as Goneril and Regan did. After she leaves Goneril explains the Regan that Lear "always loves our sister most, and with poor judgement he hath not cast her off appears too grossly" (I.i.292-293). Goneril and Regan then discuss what they are going to do about Lear because his mind is deteriorating. Cordelia being the favourite child affects Goneril and Regan's choices because they want to get rid of Lear before he can take something away from them. The parental preference of Cordelia to Lear determines Goneril's and Regan's decisions.
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