Celebrities and their Tibet
Tibet has long been a mystical land, a place that not many have known about. However this has changed. The celebrities have come out in force in making Tibet the center of attention. Even now, most people don't know more about Tibet than its location, somewhere in Asia. So, while the popular support of the struggle of the Tibetans has become well known due to the involvement of celebrities spreading the word, has it really helped the cause or simply let people know what is going on there? Even more importantly, is the information that the celebrities are passing on always correct?
Before any of these questions can be answered though, one must first know the origin of the conflicts between the two regions as well as the history of the Free Tibetan Movement. As said above, Tibet used to be a place that not many people knew about. This made it much easier for the Chinese government to come in and take control of the people and the land without much protest from the outside world. In fact even if other countries, like bordering India, had known, not much would have been done. This is because no nation had ever recognized Tibet as an independent country. Rather, it was the events that followed which caused the uproar. According to defected citizens of Tibet that traveled to India and then dispersed throughout the world, the Chinese started a form of spiritual cleansing. Monks and spiritual leaders that would not follow their ground rules were detained, captured or killed. The lama's of the Tibetan people were either taken as political prisoners or exiled. However, there are also those that said that some of this never happened.
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In order to understand the political factors that influence both of these book; you need to get a background information on why China and Tibet have such animosity against each other. Tibet considers itself a free nation without any ties to China. It states that “Tibet declared itself an independent republic in 1912.Although its status did not receive widespread recognition, Tibet functioned as an independent government until China sent troops to Tibet in 1950” (BBC News). The Tibetans feel as though their freedom is being retained and they are being dictated by China which they did not approve of. China claims that Tibet proposers better with them leadin...
John Scopes, a substitute biology teacher was arrested and charged with violating the Butler Act, a Tennessee law which prohibited teachers from teaching the Darwin Theory of Evolution in a science-related course. The American Civil Liberties Union created a plan to find a teacher willing to teach evolution in order to test the Butler Act, which forbade the essence that anyone teaching any theory that shunned the Biblical story of creationism. Scopes agreed to be arrested and have the case be taken to court. However, Scopes had simply reviewed the textbook chapter on evolution. The traditionalists would see this as a threat to their interests and the issue hit the country stronger than a tornado. Everyone was glued to their radios—it was the first broadcasted radio trial--except the campers and hundreds of reporters near the Dayton, Tennessee courthouse. Traditionalists would be outraged by the appearance of speakeasies, flappers, illegal boozing, popular activities of the Roaring Twenties and especially the Darwinian Theory. Their strong Christian beliefs from the Holy Bible stated how God created the world and man and woman. A traditionalist’s beliefs would not accept the idea of evolution because the Bible said that Man did not evolve but was created by God—the Divine Creation in one day.
The Scopes trial came at a crossroads in history - as people were choosing to cling to the past or jump into the future.
... times and the changing of social norms. Clarence Darrow and those on the defense were fighting for more freedom. The believed that the Butler Laws were imposing religious matters on them when they did not want it. They wanted to be able to have science and religion work together in a way that one does not out rule the other; that they are coequal and cover different questions. No matter which way you spin the results from this trial, the only true winners were the monkeys.
Thenature of this paper, which deals with the presence of a subconscious set ofparticularly American beliefs, inherently involves more reflection than thegathering of data. Whatsimportant is the way we live, not the historical manufacturing of facts whichis more evidence, not description, of the current Religion of the AmericanEconomy. And while most ofthese truths should be self evident (like any good preamble), some statisticswill be cited to illustrate their culmination in everyday life. To set this new dogma in context, Iwill also describe the founding principles of Christian living, with particularattention paid to the economic reality of what such living entails.
As many people already know, politicis and religion some times go hand in hand. Recently, president Obama delivered his Inauguration Speech to the world. There were several remarks mentioned that pertained to religion. Many of the remarks can easily tie in with the American culture core values, which include, Americans are among a chosen people, manifest destiny, morality yields prosperity, and the protestant ethic.
There are many different opinions regarding the idea that the United States is a Christian nation. After reading the Church book, however, I believe it is obvious that our country was not in fact founded on Christianity. Even though many religious right groups insist our laws should enforce the doctrines of Protestant Christianity. The documents written by our founding fathers say otherwise. The U.S. Constitution has no mention of Christianity or Jesus Christ, and is evidence within itself that our country was not founded as a Christian nation.
In general, this is the case for the traditionalists because of all the negative publicity that came along with the trial and the assumptions that automatically became affiliated with traditionalists as a whole. The Scopes Trial influenced the world around and shed a, in this case negative, light onto a situation that had never really been brought up previously, at least not in such a broadcasted way. The so called traditionalists were labeled as overly religious, stubborn, and even “ignoramuses” (Mencken); they quickly became the laughing stock of all of the ‘well-educated’ community for being ‘ignorant’ when not giving up what they believe to be correct. “Evidently the case of the State of Tennessee versus John Thomas Scopes was to be tried in the super-heated, jazzy atmosphere of a Billy Sunday revival (Haldeman-Julius).” That quote from the Impressions of the Scope Trial does not just touch on the people native to Tennessee as being religious, but paints a picture that illustrates them as overtly. Famous journalist Henry L. Mencken even went so far as to say that “he [Bryan] has these hillbillies locked up in his pen and he knows it.” So, while the traditionalists were technically and legally the winner of the case, they received way more negative response and judgement than they did the ‘prize’ and title of
Many people believe the United States is becoming a godless culture. There is more violent crime, underage sex, immoral sex and more divorces in our country then ever before in history. Divorce happens in 50% of marriages, gays and lesbians are seeking marriage rights, there is sex education and encouragement to use condoms for younger people and HIV is rampant. All these sins and abominations are caus...
Introduction: Neither the resolve of patriots nor the labor of men freed Americans from the hands of tyranny. The fathers of this nation, as well as those who fought for her ability to prosper were united by their unwavering faith and trust in God. The future of this world lay heavily upon their shoulders, yet they carried the burden willingly for the duration of their lives and passed it down from generation to generation. As a result, a new nation was born and grew into one of the most powerful countries of the world. Although America began as a Christian nation, it has pulled away from the fundamental beliefs that held this nation together. Despite their ancient predecessor’s emphasis on faith and Christianity, the current government has taken a more secular path. The legality of abortion and the exclusion of religious references in public institutions are a couple of examples how morality has been corrupted within the government. Society itself also forsakes the religious path, twisting the concept of morality to fit the lifestyles they wish to lead. David Barton uses line graphs to demonstrate the decrease of morality since 1950. Violent behavior, the circulation of sexually transmitted diseases, and the birth rate for unwed girls, has drastically inclined while educational achievement and family stability have dropped at an accelerated rate (242). It is apparent through the government’s choices, the media, and the attitudes present in average society that Americans have drifted far away from the principles on which this country was founded. Without a genuine faith and trust in God, American society will continue to deteriorate until memories of a once great nation are all that remains.
For years members of certain extremist organizations have been attempting to convince people that America is, or at least should be, a Christian country and was founded by Christian men. It should go without saying that this is, at best, revisionist history or, at worst, deliberate despicable deception. However, it does not. The discussion is necessary and has become more necessary due to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
The interpretation of the case is just as popular, if not more, than the actual result of the case. The worldwide attention and media coverage the case received produced many opinions. Scholar’s opinions range from describing the case as an irrelevancy and a good show to describing it as a “Watershed in American religious history” (Ronald L. Numbers, 1998, p. 76). A large factor in why the Scopes trial has received so much attention in an insignificant town is because of the stage that the trial was played out on.
America so often aligns itself with that of a Godly nation; hence the nations’ founding fathers were ‘Christian’. Broadly speaking, this ‘Christianity’ America ties itself to is nothing more than a man-made religious activity that has lost its foundation. According to statistics from the Federal Government, 78% of Americans have a belief in God and claim to be “Christians”; yet Christians currently have less influence than any other time in this nations’ history. Since the majority of Americans profess Christ as their Lord and Savior, the all-powerful God, creator of heaven and earth, who is above all, in all, and through all, where is the evidence of Him? The Gospel from the Bible has been ripped out and roughly applied to the American dream, which completely contradicts Jesus: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).
First off, our nation was found by Christians that embedded their beliefs into their work in founding this Christian nation. The founders added a system of checks and balances from the understanding “…if men were angels, no government would be necessary” (America is a Christian Nation). A majority of the founders were in fact, Christian. Over 80% of the founders held a belief in a denomination, or section under, the Christian Church. There are constitutional religious references such as “In God We Trust” and “…one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” and are considered constitutional because they were accepted by our founding fathers and written into the constitution. These are not even required to be respected but they come across as constitutional.
One of the most recent controversies pertaining to the separation of church and state is the removal of the Ten Commandments monument in Alabama. Ironically, the Alabama state constitution “’invoke[s] the ...