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the sociological prospective on rastafarians
history of rastafarians
the sociological prospective on rastafarians
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Don’t Shoot the Sheriff: An overview of Rastafarians and the Legal System
Rastafarianism is a way of life… for many it is the only way of life. Growing up under a certain religion instills varying values and understandings into one’s moral fiber. These values are what shape a human’s character. In some countries, the government is trying to tell these peaceful people to disregard their upbringing and to conform to alien ways.
Every religious sect has its own traditions and historical rituals that they abide to. In religions, almost everything has significance to it. And anyone concerned about the future of his/her religion, will continue to ensure that these traditions are followed, to preserve their own way of life. Now, most countries have religious freedom clauses in their constitutions that state that anyone living on their soil has the right to practice the religion of their choice. Now this might seem a minuscule fact for someone of a common religion, but to someone of a minority religion, this is all the protection they have from the legal system. This paper is only a taste of the justices and injustices that Rastafarians have faced in legal systems across the globe. Some instances a loophole for the "misfortunate", others an outcry from the oppressed.
Every country’s legal system has problems. Some problems are masked with legal terms. Theses are the hardest to overcome. The "land of the free" is what the United States is sometimes referred to as, but for some, this statement seems phonier than an Ed McMahon sweepstakes.
In the U.S. case, Belgrave vs. Coughlin, an inmate of the Sing-Sing Correctional Institution in New York, claims his religious rights were revoked. Nekyon Belgrave, a Rastafarian, says the Department of Correctional Services ("DOCS" hereinafter) denied his request to wear his religious head covering known as a crown. A crown is a loose-knit, circular hat that covers the wearer’s dreadlocks (Anderson, 1).
Belgrave’s appeal reached the Second Circuit where acting Justice Anthony A. Scaprino Jr. sent the matter back to DOCS saying they overlooked their own regulations denying Belgrave’s request. The matter had already been solved in the precedent of Benjamin vs. Coughlin, 905 F2d 571, where the Second Circuit had agreed with a lower court ruling that denying a Rastafarian’s request to wear a crown did not break the First Amendment, ruling that is was an interest of security (Anderson, 2).
This precedent and an August 8, 1990 memorandum stating that regulations allowed the wearing of certain head-coverings, was enough to send the matter back into the hands of the DOCS.
Sean didn’t commit his first murder until 1994. His first victim was an 81 year old woman, Ann Bryan in March 1994. Ann was living at St. James Place which was an assisted-living facility located across the street from the convenience store where Gillis worked. As she often would do, Ann left the door to her apartment unlocked before retiring to bed so that she did not have to get up to let the nurse in the next morning. The warrant says Gillis told detectives he entered Ann Bryan's home at 3a.m. to rape the 81 year old, but she started screaming when he touched her. Gillis then told detectives he cut her throat to stop her screaming and began stabbing her a total of 47 times. The warrant says Gillis gave them details about this elderly woman's death only the killer could know. He seemed fixated on stabbing at her face, genitals and breasts.
BOWERS V. HARDWICK, 478 U. S. 186 :: Volume 478 :: 1986 :: Full Text." US Supreme Court Cases from Justia & Oyez. .
Rastafarianism is an African-based spiritual outlook that emerged in Jamaica in the 1930s. It is considered as a religion by few, but by many people it is considered as “a way of life” because it is not very organized. In 1927, Marcus Garvey who is an Afrocentric, black political activist, made a prophecy that his race will be emancipated after a black king is crowned. Three years later, in 1930 Haile Selassie was crowned as king in Africa. Selassie was later declared as the savior by four Jamaican ministers.
Current research, in the field of public health, is looking at the adverse health effects of hydraulic fracturing on community members. This research is focused on looking for evidence-based research in processes, procedures, materials and cleanup from drilling and running a well. In recent years, several states such as Maryland and New York, have called for special advisory commissions to examine the potential adverse health implications for the community if the moratoriums are lifted and fracturing is allowed to start. A lot of the previous research conducted focused on the anecdotal perspective of the adverse health effects. This perspective does not offer scientific verification that the fracturing processes are causing them or evidence where the contaminations are coming from.
This case was debating one’s rights to freedom of religion, as stated in the First Amendment. The religion whose rituals and customs were being questioned of its ethicality and religious rights was the Santeria religion. It is not one of the mainstream religions that are taught to us in school, but they too, have their own beliefs, rituals, customs, traditions, and rules. One of the rituals they practiced was the sacrifice of animals. This issue was brought to light when the Church of the Lukumi-Babalu Aye leased land and announced their plans to build a place of worship as well as other establishments in the town of Hialeah, in Florida. In response to the concern of many members of the town, they held a meeting, at which they looked into this religious group and was concerned about some of their practices, specifically the one concerning the act of animal sacrifice. They passed plans aimed to prevent religious animal sacrifice after that meeting. The local laws prohibited Santeria sacrifices, but there were exceptions, including kosher slaughter.
While methane is not a rare contaminant in drinking water wells, the fracking process seems to allow more methane to seep into the wells. A study headed by Duke University’s Robert B. Jackson, a professor of Environmental Sciences, shows that in Pennsylvania, drinking water wells within one kilometer of fracking sites contain nearly six times more methane than in wells farther away (Banerjee). Methane, no matter where it is contained, is flammable, thereby posing a risk for explosion, which is not good for homes. Reports show that a fracking site in Dimock, Pennsylvania caused methane to leak into a water well, where it detonated, leading to even further contamination of other water wells and homes (Henheffer 30). The domino effect presented here raises fear in critics of fracking, who seek only to stop the process from happen-
The editorial “A Case of Discrimination” published in the New York Times claims the Supreme Court should rule in favor of Hastings College of Law over the student group Christian Legal Society. The authors state the college has always had a non-discrimination policy that applied to all student groups and required them not to discriminate to receive official recognition from the college. They argue that Christian Legal Society had previously adhered to this policy and then in 2004 began to ask members to sign a statement of faith. Due to this, Hastings College of Law derecognized the student group and they sued claiming a denial of their First Amendment rights. Hastings College of Law wrote their policy to conform to California state law, which makes it illegal for state funded post-secondary educational institutions to discriminate based on religion or sexual orientation. Therefore, Hastings College of Law decided it was illegal for their student groups to discriminate as well. The Ninth Circuit decided in favor of Hastings College of Law declaring their rules viewpoint neutral and reasonable (1). Although the claim appears logical, actual evidence in support of their argument is difficult to find. Thus, their conclusion is probably false, because a decision in favor of Hastings College of Law denies their student groups their First Amendment rights and ignores years of legal precedent.
In Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” she uses the structure of her poem and rhetoric as concrete representation of her abstract beliefs about death to comfort and encourage readers into accepting Death when He comes. The underlying theme that can be extracted from this poem is that death is just a new beginning. Dickinson deftly reassures her readers of this with innovative organization and management, life-like rhyme and rhythm, subtle but meaningful use of symbolism, and ironic metaphors.
The homosexual themes displayed in Walt Whitman’s works, especially in his most famous collection of poems Leaves of Grass, raise the question of his own sexuality. Many of his poems depicted affection and sexuality in a simple, personal manner, causing nineteenth century Americans to view them as pornographic and obscene. Based on this poetry, Whitman is usually assumed to be homosexual, or at least bisexual. However, this assumption does not account for major influences of his writing such as the shift from transcendentalism to realism and the American Civil War. After considering these factors, it can be concluded that Whitman’s poems were not intended to set apart a few homosexual men, but to bring all men and women together. Walt Whitman’s poems of spiritual love and physical togetherness of both genders emphasized exalted friendships and are indicative of his omnisexuality, or lack of a complete sexual preference, rather than his alleged homosexuality.
Emily Dickinson is one of the most famous authors in American History, and a good amount of that can be attributed to her uniqueness in writing. In Emily Dickinson's poem 'Because I could not stop for Death,' she characterizes her overarching theme of Death differently than it is usually described through the poetic devices of irony, imagery, symbolism, and word choice.
Because I Could Not Stop for Death is proclaimed to be Emily Dickinson’s most famous poem. This poem reveals Emily Dickinson’s calm acceptance of death. She portrays death being a gentleman that surprises her with a visit. Emily illustrates everyday scenes into a life cycle. While her metaphors explore death in an imitable way, her lines often contain as much uncertainty as meaning.
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Once capitalism came about, it was like a machine that you were being pulled into without an alternative option. Currently, whether we agree or disagree, for example if you want to survive you need to have a job and you need to make money. Weber believed that social actions were becoming based on efficiency instead of the old types of social actions, which were based on lineage or kinship. Behavior had become dominated by goal-oriented rationality and less by tradition and values. According to Web...
Throughout Emily Dickinson’s poetry there is a reoccurring theme of death and immortality. The theme of death is further separated into two major categories including the curiosity Dickinson held of the process of dying and the feelings accompanied with it and the reaction to the death of a loved one. Two of Dickinson’s many poems that contain a theme of death include: “Because I Could Not Stop For Death,” and “After great pain, a formal feeling comes.”