As a noble man, Becket's loyalty is toward King Henry. Becket is a close friend of King Henry and would follow every command that he gave him: “While [Thomas Becket] wears the seal of England, [his] duty is to the king,” but Henry knew that “[Henry] would put a knife in [his] back.” Becket’s honor for Henry is shown when Becket gave Guinevere to Henry. Even though Becket loved her deep down, his honor to his king was stronger. King Henry gives Becket the title of Archbishop of Canterbury who anticipates conflict in serving both his king and serving God. Becket knew that there would be complications between him and the king.
Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” attempts to justify the need for nonviolent direct action, and how both King and the Clergymen should work together to find a solution. King wanted to find common ground with the clergymen. King tried to convince the clergymen to see his point of view, and realized and attempt the problem as a problem, not just a disturbance. He found common ground through beliefs in which they all believed and feelings that they all felt. King used a very strong quote that stated, “ An unjust law is no law at all.” This quote was from a great Christian philosopher and king knew the clergymen couldn’t ignore the words of such a wise man.
Throughout the story, Eastman challenges racism by comparing the values of white middle- and upper-middle-class men, as well as stereotypes of Native men. From my perspective, despite the mistreatment of the Native people (Wounded Knee), the Christian faith is still looked to as a solution rather than the problem. to show the errors of colonization. “These children of nature once had faith in man as well as God. To-day they would have suspect even their best friend” (p. 183) Work Cited: Eastman, Charles Alexander.
The King was a keen theologian, and was prepared to incorporate evangelical ideas into his new Church where he saw fit. But he wasn't comfortable with the alterations, and from 1539 onwards he reversed most of his previous policies. In 1539 the Act of Six Articles returned the Church to unambiguous Catholic orthodoxy apart from papal supremacy. Amongst other things, transubstantiation and auricular confession were reaffirmed. Clerical marriage, which had crept in, was condemned, and vows of chastity were now held to be unbreakable.
In regards, politics go, the Puritans had some interesting views. As John Winthrop, in “a modell of Christian charity” said, the Puritans believed their moral and divine cause, i.e. creating a community of righteous Christians gave them justification to defeat violent “heathens” often times without fair treaty, negotiation, or any other semblance of normal politic. Indeed, they truly believed themselves to be a model for Christianity that the whole world would watching, as is exemplified in the “modell of a Christian charity”. Leaders of the Church were given excessive power.
For example when Hrothgar talks with Beowulf about selfish kings who do not give thanks to God for their blessings. So overall I would say that Beowulf made the decision that best suited him. I wouldn’t say that he made a wrong or right decision. He went with the religion that he knew and grew up with even though Christianity was spreading quickly throughout that part of the world. The pagan society was one of original religious groups that are still remembered today because of Beowulf and his battles.
Allusions convince and change the mind of men like the clergymen in this case. Using religious figures makes allusions that men of God would easily relate to. He makes a comparison to his actions to those of Socrates practicing civil disobedience in the quote, “To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience”(210). Another allusion is included about Adolf Hitler reign in Germany where “everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was “legal” and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was “illegal”, ”to prove the point of what is “right and wrong” is in the eyes of the beholder (210). In most paragraphs he uses at least one allusion that the clergymen can compare his or their opinion to.
Thomas Jefferson Though deeply committed to a belief in natural rights, including the self-evident truth that all men are created equal, Jefferson was individualistic when it came to religion; he sifted through the New Testament to find the facts that pleased him. Sometimes he sounded like a staunch churchman. The Declaration of Independence contains at least four references to God. In his Second Inaugural Address he asked for prayers to Israel's God on his behalf. Other times Jefferson seemed to go out of his way to be irreverent and disrespectful of organized Christianity, especially Calvinism.
Reginald Fitz Urse introduces each speaker. First, de Traci argues that he and his companions are disinterested in the murder; they stand to gain nothing by it, and do it only for the sake of England. They are acting, in other words, as patriots. Second, Sir de Morville talks about the need for order. Becket upset the King's plan to consolidate the power of the church with the power of the state; therefore, he represented a threat to stability and security.
Fundamentalism vs. Freedom of Thought Although the trial in Inherit the Wind concerns the battle between creationism and evolutionism, a deeper conflict exists beneath the surface. Drummond points to this more basic issue when he asks his young witness Howard whether he believes in Darwin. When the boy responds that he hasn’t made up his mind, Drummond insists that the boy’s freedom to think—to make up his own mind—is what is actually on trial. The creationists in the play, who adhere to rigid, fundamental Christian doctrines, are a conservative force that has prescribed for Hillsboro society how their minds should be made up. Their conservatism is rooted in fear.