The Bill of Rights Meaning de Moi!

To many people the history of the United States means little to them…so what if a guy named thomas and a guy named benjimen wrote about freedom.  But really, it means so much more.  Freedom is so easily taken for granted.  Protestors fight everyday, employing one of the Bill of Rights (the right of assembly) to get their voices heard (free speech).  Many don’t even think twice about the effects of the Constitution on everyday life.

There are days when all I want to do is lay in bed…sleep…dream…whatever!  Then I watch one of those infommericials showing starved children in war torn countries, and everything in my being wishes to help their poor souls.  They were born into a nation where war is a daily activity.  Where walking down the street could be the death of them.  America is considered a civilized society, yet many face this fear daily.  In inner-cities violence is so rampant that children no longer play in parks.  The playgrounds are deserted and rusty from neglect.  The sand is littered with leaves from years past.  Why is it so easy to be affected by a child 500 miles away, when innocent children are dying in your own state?  The one 10 Ammendments that I have issues with is the right to bear arms.  I understand both points of view.  People want protection, but others use it to their advantage.  How many deaths is it going to take before the federal government comes up with better laws to limit the distribution of illegal firearms? How many school shooting must take place before the American people stop caring?  The fact that a school shooting has become a commonplace thing is disgusting to me.  The national rifle association has every right to promote their orginazation.  People that own guns responsibly have every right to own whatever they please.  It’s those people that are irresponsible, young, and naive that worry me.

The United States was based on freedom, and thank God for that.  There is no other place like it, and probably never will be.  Somehow those men: Thomas Jefferson, Benjimen Franklin, and others found away for a democratic society to work.  And them them for that.

 

P.S. sorry it got a little rambly in there.

Historical Movie Reveiw

                History is something that everyone is taught, not only for the sake of knowledge, but to ensure that the same mistakes aren’t made over and over again.  War is a major issue in history, starting with the Crusades and still going on today, this action will probably never cease existence.  When I was assigned to review an historical movie for my history class I was not really sure where to start.  I like a lot of historical fiction films, but most of them were based on the later American history from the Civil War on.  So I consulted my movie buff friend, and she shouted out The Patriot in about a tenth of a second.  Luckily, it was on my cable’s OnDemand button, so I got to watch it for free!

                First off, I must say that I’m not usually into blood and gore in movies.  Actually, during the scenes of battle I can’t really recall any visuals because I was either covering my eyes with by fingers or in a fetal position, waiting for the sounds of guns to end.  However, the glimpses that I did catch of the war were pretty accurate.  Except a few dramatic additions: the battles went in the order, and the way the war was fought stayed true to history. 

                Even though it based on historical events, the dramatic content of the film was amazing.  I know that’s become a pretty cliché-ish word to use, but there was no other way to explain it.  I must say, every film that I have seen with Mel Gibson was phenomenal! I have only seen Braveheart and now The Patriot, but they were so emotional and gripping that they’re easy to watch over and over again.  The main reason is that both involve the feeling of revenge.  In Braveheart, the Scots are being terrorized by the English and every woman that is married is forced to sleep with the English governor, or something in that general direction.  When William Wallace (Mel’s charcter) marries, his wife refuses, and she is then executed for defying the king’s rule.  In The Patriot the first son dies because he feels that his father is not willing to save his older son’s life.  He dies unfairly and unjustly by a savage lieutenant. 

                Both movies contain this theme of revenge, and the reasoning behind the revenge is so concrete it makes it easy to root for Mel Gibson’s slautering of his enemies.  In both Braveheart and The Patriot he is able to meet the revenge and bring his armies to glory against the tyrannical English. 

                Overall, I loved The Patriot.  The fact that Heath Ledger was a member of the cast added to my love for it.  He was a great actor, and proved himself in his character.  The movie was historically accurate, and with the revenge them easy to watch.  Although it was a little too bloody, and a tear jerker, I am sure I will watch it again, and next time try to keep my eyes open throughout the entire 165 minutes of it. 

Past class

The last class I attended we talked about civil religion.  I wasn’t really sure what the term “civil religion” really meant, but the discussion that we had made it pretty clear.  I’m still not sure if I have it totally correct, but it’s about how governments are based off of religious beliefs.  Like how the concepts of religious holidays, symbols, and rules are translated into a public religion.  For example, a religious symbol like the Catholic crucifix, reflects the beliefs that the Catholics follow.  While the United States uses the bald eagle to symbolize the American beliefs.  The tie in between the two is really remarkable.  There are a number of similarities that I would have never been able to point out, and I’m glad I got the chance to learn about all of them.

Puritan Poem

So, we were told to write a Puritan Poem.  I’m not going to lie, mine really isn’t that great.  I was trying to keep up with the whole praising God for every little thing, but I am not a poet.  Or much of a writer for that matter.  SO here goes nothing!

The Sun

It shines on me when I am cold
It shines on me as I get old
He made it for the world to cherish
Cherish Him and he’ll grant your wish

It helps the plants grow tall and green
It helps tan that skinny teen
He made it for the world to love
He made it for the lovely dove

Oh God, dear God thank you so much
For creating Earth with your special touch
You made a land filled with sparkle
You made a world I love to marvel

That’s about it!! Thanks for reading it.

 

Revising Blurb.

The research paper proved to be quite a feat to accomplish.  In fact, I’m still working on it! Boy oh boy, sometimes writing papers feels like it will never end.  The fact that you have to revise, makes it much worse.  I mean, why can’t everything you write be perfect the first time? Eh? I don’t know, revising is the devil.  I had to say it.  Or maybe I’m just too particular about my writing, whatever the reasons, the drafts are starting to kill me.  I finish revising one draft right? and then the next time I look over my current draft I find ten other mistakes!  Its never ending…….

Salem Girls

My research topic isn’t very origional…I was going to try to make it more exciting, but there wasn’t many exciting materials to choose from.  It’s going to be about how the girls in the Salem Village were taken advantage of by the townspeople.  It is clear that towards the latter part of the trials, the girls had lost a lot of their followers.  Once they started naming people in far up places, people stopped believing in the girls outcrys.  This is kind of ridiculous considering it tooking the town almost a year to realize that witchcraft wasn’t taking place, and a lot of the people that had been executed were indeed innocent.  I couldn’t imagine living in a world like this, where a simple pointed finger in your direction could determine your guilt. 

multicultural diversity

The United States is based off of diversity.  The recent event held at our college, was a great example of this fact.  There were booths from almost every continent, mixing cultures and foods together in a single room.  I loved watching the Indian dancing that was going on in the background.  It was like nothing I’d ever seen before.  I also enjoyed tasting the different cultural foods as well.  The people that were there were more than helpful and willing to answer any question posed for them.  I’m hope next to become involved in this presentation.  My grandma is a first generation Swede, and she loves telling me all sorts of stories about her native country.  I’m hoping to learn more about it and travel there some day soon.  I have heard it’s a beautiful land, although it’s a little on the chilly side, I think I can stand it. 

Medieval witches………

The most famous heretic was Joan of Arc.  She led an entire army before the church cracked their whip and decided her preaching went against God’s principles. 

In medieval Europe, the people were so scared of witches entire villages were killed by it.  In the Swiss Alps, for example, mountain men believed that women were putting hexes on them, so they decided they needed to be killed.  It’s amazing how a written document can put a panic in people so easily.  The documents written about witches did just that.  Ranging in length and matter, the documents made people run wild and suspect every little detail of life as being terrorized by the devil. 

I feel bad for women that had to live in Europe during these times.  It seems as though this created hysteria was a way for men to silence women.  For example, if a women spoke her mind, she could easily be admonished as a witch, and whomever didn’t like her would be rid of her.  The reason it was so easy for people to be labelled witches, was because of spectral evidence.  This was basically a type of evidence, where a witness could claim that a person attacked them through their specter.  It’s easy for the witness to claim, and almost impossible for the defendent to defend.  Spectral evidence was one of the many reasons why so many died.  There was no way for the people to prove they were following the devil. 

 

movies

For the longest time i never understood how my friend stephanie could sit around her house for an entire day and watch movie, after movie, after movie….IT WAS BAFFLING!  I was just like….dont you want to move?  And all she would say was….if the movies good enough, why would you want to do anything else? or something like that…I was always the person that couldn’t sit still during films, i was antsy, i may have a case of restless leg syndrome, but the point is…a couple movies changed my view point on the whole matter. 

One day i was directing my clicker through the OnDemand page of my TV.  I saw a movie called Dazed and Confused and i was like ehhh maybe it will be good.  SO i looked under the description and it said something like, “70s teens celebrate their last day of high school”  somewhere along those lines, so I watched it!  AND LOVED IT!  It was soooo funny! And interesting, because i never really realized how different those times were, but how the same they were too.  I just thought, 60s and 70s people did a lot of drugs…okay! end of story.  Then I saw it, and i was like shoooooot that person is exactly like one of my friends, that other person was exactly like another.  It’s hard to imagine how close a movie can relate to you, but it’s very possible

My next revalation was the movie Across the Universe.  I was a little scared to watch it because I was so in love The Beatles, and i thought they were going to tear they songs to pieces.  Instead, they improved a few of them.  The way they weaved the story line and the songs together was ingenious!  I loved the actor especially, hunk o hunk of burnin love! lol jk!  Anyway…good movies really do make you just sit.  Even when you have restless leg syndrome.  Movies have the ability to make anyone want to lay in a warm blanket for over 24 hours…watching a story take place before your eyes.  If only I hadn’t come to that realization I might not be so lazy now.

serious researching

today i did some serious researching.  Instead of trying to find a focus, i decided to just look up information regarding my overall topic of the salem witch trials.  While it took a long time, I actually got some work done.  Something that hasn’t been happening for the past couple of weeks.  I decided to change my focus from working just on the punishments regarding the verdict behind being labeled a witch, to including the rationale the court used in concluding their decision.  It isn’t going to be an easy job, but hopefully I’ll continue to find more and more information regarding this particular subject.  Luckily, this topic is easy to find resources, because a lot of people prior to me have found it just as interesting.  However much I want to differ my own ideas from theirs, it’s going to be difficult to create that separation.  Also, making sure the sources are credible has also proved to be a problem, as well as, finding articles that aren’t editorials or responses to past articles.  Hopefully my skills will sharpen throughout time, if only.