It is a wide held belief that this symbol is beyond the reaches of civil protest and should be worshipped like a deity. The United States Supreme Court has ruled differently about this and the next three court cases will explain why. The first court case that will be discussed is Street v. New York. In 1968 the Supreme Court heard a case in which the defendant, Sydney Street was so outraged over the attempted murder of a civil rights leader, James Meredith and the lack of police investigation of the crime; he burned an American flag in protest and stated “"Yes; that is my flag; I burned it. If they let that happen to Meredith, we don't need an American flag (Street, 2013).” It was against the law in New York to desecrate or speak against the flag; he was arrested, charged, and convicted.
This fairytale ending is easily accepted by many, not because they believe it is feasible, but because they wish it was. Seeing Jakie reconcile with his father and still become a Broadway star gives hope to someone with the same experiences. The Jazz Singer (1927) may be an old movie, but its portrayal of religion still holds true today. Secular music is still looked down upon by many conservative believers, many communities still have deep religious roots and although the reasons why certain traditions or holidays exist are not known they are still practiced. Finally religion has a huge impact on the personal lives or many people, whether they are being controlled by it or fighting against it.
John Scopes and the (monkey) trial The Scopes Trial, formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was a famous American legal case in 1925 in which a high school teacher, John Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which made it unlawful to teach evolution in any state-funded school. The trial was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he purposefully incriminated himself so that the case could have a defendant. Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, but the verdict was overturned on a technicality. The trial served its purpose of drawing intense national publicity, as national reporters flocked to Dayton to cover the big-name lawyers who had agreed to represent each side.
Book Review: The Monkey Wrench Gang For my book review I was to read, summarize, and reflect on a book titled “The Monkey Wrench Gang” by Edward Abbey. This classic literary work is set in the 1970’s southwest desert and is about a group of environmentalist rebels that set out to cause setbacks and/or destroy several objects on their trip that they believe to be spoiling the beauty and appeal of their defenseless nature. This rag tag “gang” is comprised of four members; George Hayduke, Doc Sarvis, Bonnie Abbzug, and Seldom Seen Smith. Hayduke, who seems to be the main character in this book, is a former POW, Green Beret, and Vietnam War veteran who possess a certain wit and knowledge of the environment as well as demolitions. He is a bearded, messy man who, despite being extremely vulgar and somewhat racist, is very funny and extremely likeable.
Other similarity is that Genesis says that God created the man from the dust and in the Popol Vuh myth the four gods created the man out of the flesh. In Genesis, God created nature and the world before humans. In Popul Vuh, humans were the last official creations. In addition, both creations seemed to either defy or dissatisfy the Gods or God in some way. In both stories the gods or God struck down a flood as a symbol of their anger as well.
Germany also lost all overseas colonies, and their boundaries within Europe were reduced, losing in total 13.5% of their territory, which included losing 7 million people to neighbouring countries. This left Germany humiliated, having been allowed no say in the matter, and not even being invited to the peace treaty conference at which the clauses were discussed. This humiliation angered Hitler, and he vowed to make Germany strong once more as it had been before the First World War. This was a long-term cause of Hitler becoming chancellor, as it is what first motivated Hitler to become a leader and change the way in which Germany was left
The Epic of Gilgamesh and the flood story of Noah, both have their similarities and their differences. In both stories a great flood takes place, you could call it God’s or the gods’ great purge. In the Epic of Gilgamesh the gods wanted to wipe out mankind because they were too noisy and the gods were not able to sleep. I then thought to myself that this wasn’t a good enough reason to kill off mankind. If they were all powerful gods couldn’t they have somehow blocked out all the sounds of mankind or even send some kind of warning to the people?
A prime example of Fundamentalism in America was when the state of Tennessee passed a law to make it illegal to teach evolution in public institutions. The star case was the State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes. Mr. Scopes taught at a high school and was arrested for teaching evolution in his class. The trial was one of the first American trials broadcasted live on radio. The judge found Scopes guilty under the Butler Act, and fined $100 (Tennessee State, nd).
The most important lesson I learned this year in school is to pay attention in class and not to doodle while the teacher is talking. The worst thing you can do is draw a picture that shows President Bush’s head on a pole with blood gushing out of his bulging eyesballs. If you do something like this, it means you’re probably going to blow up the Oklahoma Book Depsitory, or fly remote conrtrol planes into the White House, like the CIA did on 9/11. Even if you’re only 15 like me, you can hijack a bus (like Sandra Bullock did in that cool movie, Speed), and drive it into the Bush ranch at Waco, and burn all the children to death. I learned that drawing pictures of the President with his arms growing out of his head is no laughing matter.
After every account, the investigators refute it as unbelievable. “Bananas don’t float”, “How could you survive in a lifeboat with one?”(99). After much time trying to uncover the truth, the investigators are frank with Pi and tell him “We want a story without animals that will explain the sinking of the Tsimtsum” (99). Pi must oblige and recounts the actual story in where the Chinese sailor got his leg amputated by the cook for bait and his mother is killed right before his eyes. He must recount the story in which he is left with the final option of killing the savage cook.