The old battle of separation between church and state has been a long, never ending on in American society. Annie Lauire Gaylor sides with the constitution and defends this old policy that has been around since the existence of our republic form of government. Her essay titled, “The Case Against School Prayer”, attempts to debunk commonalities that people form about school prayer. Each new paragraph emphasizes a point that is made to have some type of prayer in school and is argued against. While Gaylor delivers a concise, well organized argument, there is little trace of hard evidence to back up some her points. Prayer in schools is a hard subject to change one's opinion on. Proponents of school prayer not only see the practice as necessary, but vital to the well being of their life after death. Telling one to step aside when it comes to his beliefs on what is one of the most important things in his life requires a careful choice of words and a general respect for his religion. This can be hard to communicate when Gaylor is the author of books such as No Gods--No Masters and is a well known atheist. Annie Gaylor delivers some very careful and concise points, but can appear to be strongly biased at other times.
Perhaps Gaylor's strongest argument for people who are for prayer comes at the beginning of the essay. She argues that if prayer were allowed in school, the majority or “popular” religion of the area would be the one that is used at that school. This hits home hard to a person who may be Christian and would not like to see her children surrounded by Jewish prayer every day. This reasoning makes the people for school prayer understand what it is like for those who do not support it without insulting their beliefs.
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...onse. It is necessary to question the role of religion in this essay. The main point of her argument is that school prayer is an invasion of our civil rights. The question of whether religion is a good moral standard or if it is necessary is not up for debate in this essay.
Annie Gaylor's The Case against School Prayer has the makings of a good essay, but falls short of punching in the home run. When on topic, she delivers a clear and reasonable message about prayer being an infringement on civil rights. Her intolerance towards religion, however, begins to surface in her writing and hurts her chances of reaching out to her audience. When one argues an opinion he feels strongly about, he must take into consideration the other side. Gaylor never attempts to understand her opponents and by doing so writes what could have been a reasonable argument, an atheists' rant.
World Thinks of America”). Arrogance is the first trait generally associated with Americans. In Apocalypse Now, American arrogance is personified by the character played by Robert Duvall. Duvall’s character is the commander of a group of helicopters in Vietnam. It is explained throughout the film that Duvall’s character is invincible. He and everyone else knows that he will survive the war. With that degree of comfort Duvall stomps around Vietnam spreading freedom and killing scores of people.
After reading an excerpt from William J. Fulbright's, “The Arrogance of Power,” the author argued that Americans were abusing their power during the Vietnam War by ignoring international law and twisting U.S. Foreign policies. This essay argues the point that power has a tendency to breed arrogance. Arrogance stems from a know-it-all attitude or “as a psychological need that nations seem to have in order to prove that they are bigger, better, or stronger than other nations, (Fulbright 1966).” Being
An American proverb teaches, “Arrogance is a kingdom without a crown.” Those whose demeanor shows arrogance come with an attitude of superiority and an air of haughtiness. They are overbearing and filled with pride. In their own eyes, they believe their actions display no wrong. In Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, the titular character is assassinated in large part due to such arrogance. With all the modern conveniences and troubles, one might be tempted to think the lessons portrayed in this
There are a few aspects throughout history that are timeless such as a diamond’s reflection of love and (the pleasure of popping bubble wrap) (the sun rising in the East and setting in the West) (hand written letters). When Senator Fulbright wrote Arrogance of Power, he established a fundamentally timeless argument that could be used for any direct action foreign policy decision. While his goal was the reduction of intervention in the United States involvement in Vietnam, he created a blueprint for
The West was more a form of society than an actual area. The term is applied to the region in which the social conditions resulted from the application of older set colonies. By this application a new environment was entered. A new environment of freedom and of opportunity was opened and a new line of activities, ideas, customs, and growth were brought into existence in the Great west. Their opportunistic, individualistic, and willingness to accept innovations are of reasons I agree with Turners analysis
Song”, Silas, while expressing his frustration for the superiority of the white men, articulates that the black woman is the source of African American difficulties. In “Sweat”, Sykes’s encounter with death reveals that the African American man’s arrogance is the cause of the demise of the African American race. Wright’s short story “Long Black Song” and Hurston’s short story “Sweat” engage in a dialectic, in which “Sweat” repudiates “Long Black Song”, and produce the truth that one’s hubris that is
coming over for dinner with the Buchanan’s, Gatsby’s death and what happened two years after Gatsby’s death. The techniques I used to illustrate Tom Buchanan’s personality included first person narrative, structure and tone. Moreover, the use of arrogance enhanced his personality and demonstrated the theme, The Hollowne...
inhabitants as “dirty, shiftless, and dishonest” to show the sheer irony that came with these extravagant and prodigal trips (9). In doing so, she is able to quickly uncover the underlying issues that resonated at home during this time and the sheer arrogance that followed the American Bourgeois
because despite the Constitution stating that everyone is of equal standing, there are exceptions. The writer emphasizes how society views the abolitionists and fugitives in “cold contempt” (Cary 43) and draws a connection between their sense of arrogance and the effects it has on those who do not share the same beliefs. Furthermore, not a single newspaper was printed that “… represented the intelligence of colored Canadians…” (Cary 30-31) and taking advantage of this statement, Cary demonstrates
Maxson, a combination of Mason and Dixon, a careful allusion to the line that stood between slaves and freedom. Yet, on either side of that line stood suffering and persecution for those slaves. Troy Maxson, central focus in August Wilson’s dramatic play Fences, embodies the ideals of the Mason Dixon line itself. His presence seems to promise freedom, yet being around him leads to endless suffering and oppression. Troy’s tragic heroic qualities create a centrifugal force of chaos and hatred that
planned accordingly. This should have prevented the calling off the rest of the air support to the Cuban Patriots and which would have allowed the Cuban Freedom Fighter to overthrow Fidel Castro and his regime. Within the research several of the authors use groupthink, hindsight bias, and unethical decision making such as self-image, and arrogance to describe the decision making process or lack thereof of the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Back in 1998, thirty seven years after the failed invasion at the
the Lord for the body (NIV). The broadest of freedom is being able to do what you want, when you want to do it, and wherever and however you want to do it. Freedom is being able to control our lives to do what pleases us, or what we think is going to give us the highest amount of pleasure. It is the freedom to choose anything, without any restrictions, and it is what every single person wants. But there is a more narrow form of freedom, the freedom to choose, not just anything, but the right thing
his people, it was also obviously for fame as well. He assures Hrothgar that the situation will be resolved, and does do his job well, killing Grendel as well as Grendel’s mother after she sought revenge by killing one of Hrothgar’s best men. His arrogance shows again in lines 450-458, after he fearlessly enters the lake that Grendel’s mother lived in. It says that, “He leaned into the lake/Would not wait for anyone’s/Answer; the heaving water covered him…”. Beowulf also fought Grendel’s mother by
The Freedom Socialist Party In 1965, Clara Fraser and her second husband, Richard Fraser, helped lead the Seattle branch of the Socialist Workers Party in an exodus from the national organization. They founded the Freedom Socialist Party, which was marked by its commitment to women's liberation, African American freedom, revolutionary socialism, societal and organizational democracy, and principled politics. A turning point in the young party's development was the Frasers' divorce which split
The great thinkers of the ancient Greece taught many of the sciences such as philosophy. Among these many great thinkers, painters and writers, there stood Aristotle. With Aristotle's great mind, he begin to concoct an idea of argumentative writing that include Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Each having it's own meaning and how it explains how a piece of writing is augured and presented. It is easy for one to distinguish these three different types of appeals and use them on a type of writing, such as