An infamous terrorist, a vigilante crime fighter, and a group of anti-censorship activists, three very different things, but with a single commonality that intertwines them: The Guy Fawkes Mask. From an attempt to blowing up Parliament, to a man fighting the chains of fascism, to a group intent on keeping information free, this mask has symbolized movements across the globe for centuries, and that is exactly why its history is so tantalizing. The Guy Fawkes mask has had a long and notable past of fighting against oppression, and this is its history. First, is the origin of the Guy Fawkes mask. The mask was first worn by the man who it is named after, Guy Fawkes, who, “Was a participate in the 1605 “Gunpowder Plot,” aimed at blowing up the …show more content…
This event, though extreme and unorthodox, is the first example of the mask being used by people trying to fight oppression. Despite the melodramatic overreaction, the cause for their outrage was somewhat understandable; Fawkes and the others who participated in the plot were, “Angered by the increasing oppression of Roman Catholics in England” (Sifakis 1). At the time, King James I showed little more than disinterest towards providing Catholics in England with more religious tolerance; refusing to discourage derogatory actions. Thus, Fawkes and his fellow Catholics felt the compulsion to fight this oppression. However, when one of the members of their group ratted them out, Fawkes and company were labeled as terrorists and eventually, were executed. This promoted increased bigotry towards English Catholics - with a common stereotype of …show more content…
Right now, the Guy Fawkes mask is most synonymous with the hacktivism (activism through hacking). The largest hacktivist group, Anonymous, “Along with its sister-group LulzSec, have wreaked havoc on the websites, email accounts and phone systems of a variety of organizations, political figures and groups that they deem evil, anti-democratic or pro-censorship” (Holbrook 1). This anti-censorship montra is the same call from V for Vendetta - which could be what inspired Anonymous to make the Guy Fawkes mask their logo. Unfortunately, as this group fights against the zealous censors of the far-right (as well as religious organizations and corporations), “There has been pressure to enact laws targeting certain uses of anonymity. This has been linked to the pressure to regulate encryption, first through the failed Clipper Chip initiative…” (Schwabach 1). The Clipper Chip and programs like it are what the internet needs protection from, and that’s why Anonymous exists: to protect those unable to do so from oppressive governments. This was first exhibited when, “Anonymous gained prominence worldwide as a hacktivist group for Project Chanology, an initiative that targeted the Church of Scientology for conduct it believed constituted internet censorship” (Pandmanabhan 4). Through this first act of censorship prevention, Anonymous sealed their fate as protectors of the peace on the internet to millions of users. With a rallying cry
After the September 11th, 2001 attacks, prominent religious figures claimed that depraved American lifestyles were to blame for the bombings; Protestant leader Jerry Falwell came forth and stated that the attacks were a manifestation of God’s irritation at impious people. This attitude stems from a reaction to contemporary events, but possesses roots that date back to 1348. Throughout the time of plague in medieval England, priests and other spiritual leaders insisted that mass devastation via disease was a God-sent punishment for decadent lifestyles and impious behavior. These officials claimed that the promiscuous, the scantily dressed, and the flamboyant were all to blame for outbreaks of pestilence. Religious responses to the plague of 1348, found in passages of Rosemary Horrox’s The Black Death, clearly display this sentiment, signifying the fact that standards of propriety and decorum were highly relevant to medieval religious authorities attempting to pin down the causes of plague.
...stian faith. Another occurrence of supposedly religious hatred occurred in Italy. A 2008 film The Evil Empire, about a Pope that engages in bestiality, caused uproar amongst Catholics. The display of offensive art has become a problem amongst many cultures.
1. What is King’s thesis? He talks about three possible ways to fight against oppression. He suggests the nonviolent way as the best option for the oppressed in order to resist. 2.
The United States has lived through an age of terrorism and the citizens have come to realize that they would rather ensure the safety of the masses than protect their privacy. Works Cited Cunningham, David. A. "The Patterning of Repression: FBI Counterintelligence and the New Left." Social Forces 82.1 (2003): 209–40. JSTOR.com - "The New York Times" Oxford Journals.
Mr. Hooper in “The Minister’s Black Veil” puts on a veil to symbolize “those sad mysteries which we hid[e] from our nearest and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own consciousness, even forgetting that the Omniscient can detect them” (Hawthorne 310). From the moment the townsfolk see the black veil they become very frightened and intimidated by Mr. Hooper, the citizens felt that “the black veil seemed to hang down before his heart” (Hawthorne 308). People became very frightened even the “most innocent girl, and the man of hardened breast” (Hawthorne 312) Mr. Hooper puts this crape on as a “symbol of a fearful secret between him and them” and because of this society chastises him and makes him out to be a...
Mary went on to re-implement the Catholic faith in England, however not the Catholic faith before her father broke with Rome. Mary was attempting to go along with the Counter Reformation happening on the continent. This showed great th...
Protestant England also did the same and started persecuting Catholic families and fines them for not attending a Protestant Service. The rival persecutions continued throughout the surrounding countries.
Historically, the Anonymous has been engaging in activities that qualifies the group as hacker group as opposed to troll organisation. The group began its operation on December 2010 by attacking the MasterCard for blocking the Wiki Leaks website donations (Coleman 1). In January 2011, the Anonymous group attack the Tunisian government website for using illegal means against protesters. In February...
They believe they were exposing the corruption and the whistle-blowers on actions the United States has done in both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. How is Anonymous not a counter-culture if it is allied with a hated website and its founder Julian Assange? Julian Assange is on the run against the United States. Trying to find and catch Julian Assange is a nonpartisan issue. Both the Democrats and Republicans agree that what he did and his website continues to do is wrong.
In 1603, Elizabeth died and James I became king of England this made Catholics think they could worship as of old as James was offered religious toleration. But this soon all changed as James ordered all bishops to hunt down Catholics and all priests should be removed from England. James became very cruel to the Catholics and ordered proper collection of fines and asked the commons to classify all Catholics, this was a VERY harsh move, even Elizabeth thought this was too severe as now they wouldn’t earn any money on rent. James made Catholics
The legislation aspires to prohibit public-sector employees from wearing “objects such as headgear, clothing, jewelry or other religious affiliation”. These objects include items such as kippahs, turbans, hijabs, and large crucifixes. This ban would be intended to apply to all civil servants, including individuals such as teachers, doctors, nurses and police offiercers (Jake Flanagin, The Atlantic). At a hearing for Bill 60, Michelle Blanc, who is a transgender woman, spoke in support of the Bill, appealing to Quebecers' pro-LGBT feelings. “When I see a veil, the mental image I have is all of the gays who were hung high and low in the public square... in certain Arab countries”, Blanc had stated. Although same-sex relationships and the importance of being accepting of all religions have been two of the most controversial and highly debated topics, it is definitely not the right step to attack the Muslim religion and specific Arab countries in an attempt to defend Bill 60. Much like it is innapropriate to accuse the LGBT community of being anti-religion, it is equally innapropriate to accuse an entire religion for the horrible act of the hanging of gays in certain Arab countries. Not all gays are
Part of the allure of the Internet has always been the anonymity it offers its users. As the Internet has grown however, causing capitalists and governments to enter the picture, the old rules are changing fast. E-commerce firms employ the latest technologies to track minute details on customer behavior. The FBI's Carnivore email-tracking system is being increasingly used to infringe on the privacy of netizens. Corporations now monitor their employees' web and email usage. In addition to these privacy infringements, Internet users are also having their use censored, as governments, corporations, and other institutions block access to certain sites. However, as technology can be used to wage war on personal freedoms, it can also be employed in the fight against censorship and invasion of privacy.
All church services were held in English. The Catholics were treated very badly and catholic bishops were locked up. After Edwards’s regime, Queen Mary 1st (1553-1558) was granted the power, and England returned to being a Catholic nation. The pope became the head of the church again, and the services changed back to Latin.
The most memorable references to Jacobean England in the play, however, are those which chronicle events of the notorious Gunpowder Plot--a conspiracy by Catholic sympathizers to blow up the Parliament building and all the heads of state on November 5, 1605, approximately one year before Shakespeare's play was written. On that date, Guy Fawkes and his band of Jesuit-sponsored papists smuggled an immense amount of gunpowder into a vault under the Parliament, which would have killed everyone in the building in a fiery cataclysm had the king not detected the explosives prior to their detonation. According to a recent book by Garry Wills, Witches and Jesuits (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), James claimed to have discovered the plan by "inspiration" from God, who wished to save England from Rome's "Popish plot." Through popular mythology following the event, Jesuits were branded as "equivocators" who had tried to attack both England and the Reformation through a perverse use not only of gunpowder ("the devil's invention"), but also of the very nature of language, which they employed in double and triple entendre to hide from the king and his court their fiendish intentions.
The New World provided a place for this to happen, and many nations created colonies for people who wished to worship certain religions safely, far away from ugly biases. The Jesuits, on the other hand, sought to spread Christianity to all, and especially toward the "savage" natives. So, they forced the Natives to deny their own religion, due to how it conflicted with Christianity, and had to start following the Europeans'. As a result of this, the Jesuits forced the natives to baptise their children (in order to further assimilate them into their religion) and worship Christian Gods. Yes, the European expansion brought many good things to this world, but this was at the cost of Native American lives and culture.