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The importance of religion in American politics
The importance of religion in American politics
Religion in america
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Few issues will motivate Americans to put down their cheeseburgers and pick up a shotgun faster than the threat of infringement upon their civil liberties. The right to choose what toothpaste to buy, what color socks to wear with those sandals, or what spiritual doctrine to follow, is fiercely defended by both conservatives and liberals alike. In fact, this commitment to personal liberty is what defines us as Americans, and sets us apart from the rest of the world (even if only in our own minds). This attitude is embodied in our presidential rhetoric: “America is a Nation with a mission - and that mission comes from our most basic beliefs. We have no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire. Our aim is a democratic peace - a peace founded upon the dignity and rights of every man and woman”- (George W. Bush, 2004) By our military leaders: “Only our individual faith in freedom can keep us free.”(Eisenhower, 1960) As well as by our civil leaders: “Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.” ( Malcolm X, 1965) As our national creation myth of George Washington and the Cherry Tree reminds us of our integrity as agents of free-will in the “land of the Free and home of the Brave”, to the anthropomorphic metaphor of Liberty that stands on Ellis Island, Americans sincerely believe that these held values and attitudes are what make us uniquely American. In fact, these virtual citizenry birthrights (historically excluding racial minorities and women arguably until the civil rights movements of the 1960s ,though the case may be made that this fight for equality is still a work in progress) are explicitly stated in the legal framework of our consti... ... middle of paper ... ...lifornia Law Review, 70(1), 54-106. Orwell, G. (1945). Animal Farm. London: Secker & Warburg. Public Papers of the Presidents, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1960, p. 1035- 1040 Sarbin, J., & Mancuso, R. (1970). Failure of a moral enterprise; attitudes of the public toward mental illness. Journal of Counseling & Clinical Psychology , 35, State of the Union Address 2004 George W. Bush Szasz, Thomas Stephen, "The myth of mental illness; foundations of a theory of personal conduct", New York : Hoeber-Harper, 1961. Torrey, E. (2011, March 18). Restoring reason to treating mental illness. Retrieved from http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=45 U.S. Const. amend. I U.S. Const. amend. XIV. Wexler D, Developments in the law-civil commitments of the mentally ill, 87 Harvard Law Review 1190 (1974)
Pollack, Harold. "What Happened to U.S. Mental Health Care after Deinstitutionalization." Washingtonpost.com. N.p., 12 June 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
Everyday we have the chance to make her own opinions and give reason to our own voice. We have the chance to live in a country that encourages freedom in society, which separate ourselves from any restrictions imposed upon by authority, actions or any political views. liberty is the power we possess to act as we please through freedom and independence. But what happens when we choose to give away our basic liberties for temporary safety? Benjamin Franklin once stated, “They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Those who decide to give away their personal freedoms for something that is temporary do not see the value in the long-lasting gift called freedom. In
Historically, the United States has prided itself as the most egalitarian and autonomous nation in the world. Political figures and institutions have attempted to uphold the theoretical ideals of the nation, while in practice often fail to fulfill their promises to the people. This gap between our fundamental values as delineated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and our discriminatory practices such as slavery and gender discrimination can be found in competing political ideologies which purposefully exclude marginalized peoples. The framers built the United States for the white man; every other person’s rights came, and continue to come afterwards. Once one people’s freedom is postponed, the same oppressive strategies
The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868 and stated that “all persons born…in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside.” The Supreme Court case United States v. Wong Kim Ark first recognized the doctrine of birthright citizenship. In this case, the defendant argued that because he was a citizen of the U.S. because he was born in California and had lived there for twenty-one years. The U.S. District Attorney argued that while Wong Kim Ark may have been born into the U.S., he was not subject to its jurisdiction since Worn Kim Ark, through his Chinese parents, were subject to the emperor of China. Not persuaded by this argument, the U.S. Supreme Court held that children born in the U.S. to resident aliens are U.S. citizens, which created the concept of automatic birthright citizenship. This concept has been debated within the U.S. Supreme Court and in different levels of the judiciary system, but to this date there is no comprehensive approach on solving the ambiguity of what constitutes a ‘natural-born’
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution of United States addressed the issues related to citizenship of the country and their fundamental rights for equality. This amendment is regarded as one of the most significant clauses in the US constitution since it provides the definition for citizenship, deals with the rights of the US citizens, and defines the state’s obligations to protect the rights of its citizens. This amendment was passed in the year 1866 by the Congress following the Civil War. The primary goal of this amendment was to provide equal civil and legal rights to all US citizens, including the African Americans. The citizenship clause in this amendment attracted lot of attention and debates owing to its far-reaching impacts on the citizenship status of various communities and immigrants who are staying in the country. This amendment was an important part of the reconstruction program (NALEO, 1).
One reason we must have the second amendment is to protect the freedom for which our country fought so hard to win. The Declaration of Independence states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”[1] However, if these rights were ‘self-evident’, why did the founding fathers need to grant them to the states? We might as well ask why man is the way that he is, imperfect. We all wonder about this sad truth, but the fact remains that man is fallen. These rights are self-evident, obvious to human reason, but because humans are fallen, we are sometimes blinded to these apparent truths and we err in our rationality. King George was blind to these unalienable rights, as were Na...
As science has evolved, so have treatments for mental illnesses have over time. The medical model is described as the view that psychological disorders are medical diseases with a biological origin (King, 2010, pg. 413). Abnormal behavior that categorizes some disorders can be impacted by biological factors such as genes, psychological factors such as childhood experiences, and even sociocultural factors such as gender and race (King, 2010). Treatments such as psychosurgery (lobotomy) , drug therapy (pharmaceuticals), electroconclusive therapy, and psychoanalysis are used to treat a wide range of psychological disorders. Back then, the public’s negative views on mental illnesses also went as far to associate with the people who treated it; psychiatrists. “Nunnally (1961) found that the public evaluated professionals who treated mental disorders significantly more negatively than those who treat physical disorders,” (Phelan, Link, Stueve, & Pescosolido, 2000, pg. 189). People back then didn’t see the point in “paying to be told that they were crazy”. However, in today’s society, it is now acceptable to seek help from psychiatric professionals; we are seeing more and more people seek mental health treatment. “In terms of facility-based records of utilization (Manderscheid and Henderson 1998), the data suggest that the rate of utilization of professional mental health services has at least doubled and maybe tripled, between the 1950’s and today,” (Phelan, Link, Stueve, & Pescosolido, 2000, pg. 189). In the 1950’s, neuroleptic drugs like Thorazine were introduced to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia. These drugs block a neurotransmitter called dopamine from getting to the brain, which in turn reduce schizophrenic symptoms, however there are some side effects such as substantial twitching of the neck, arms, and legs, and even dysphoria or lack of pleasure. (King, 2010, pg.
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all persons born in the United States and not subject to foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are hereby declared to be citizens of the United States; and such citizens, of every race and color, without regard to any previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall have the same right, in every State and Territory in the united States, to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, and give evidence, to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal property, and to full and equal benefits of all law and proceedings for the security of person and property, as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, and penalties, and to none other, any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, to the contrary notwithstanding.”
The First Amendment Center conducts a national annual survey on the First Amendment. “Americans clearly have mixed views of what First Amendment freedoms are and to whom they should fully apply. To me the results of this year’s survey endorse the idea of more and better education for young people - our nation’s future leaders - about our basic freedoms.” (Gene Policinski, VP and executive director of the First Amendment Center 2007)
Values some take for granted within this society today were ignored wholesale by a tyrannical colonial authority, and the people of this land rose up, shook off the chains of oppression, and set out to devise a new governmental system under which they could live rather freely. In his iconic “Four Freedoms” speech, America’s 32nd president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, outlined said values, stating that all should enjoy “freedom of speech and expression...freedom...to worship God in [their] own way” and “ a healthy peacetime life” (46). The importance of the concept of free speech and equality to the American identity cannot be understated, as it truly the foundation upon which much of this society rests. In the United states, it is instilled in us that from birth each human is bestowed with the same freedoms as all others. However, time and time again, people are denied these freedoms on the basis of skin color, religion, sexual orientation, or gender. Luckily, when such situations arise, the core belief that each and every person is owed liberty motivates the citizens of this nation to exercise their rights. With this in mind they speak out, or fight, against injustice, to take a further step towards making that dream of equality and a “healthy peacetime life” for all a
American freedom has faced many tribulations, especially throughout the slavery, segregation, and women’s suffrage eras. However, the ideological belief of individual freedom has always triumphed. From when the first Pilgrim stepped onto American soil to the present day America has been run by a democracy and the freedom that system of government allows its peoples to have. “Americans share a common identity grounded in the freedom — consistent always with respecting the freedom of others — to live as they choose” (Friedman).
Kennedy, J. F. (1963, 2 5). Special Message to the Congress on Mental Illness and Mental Retardation. Retrieved from American Presidency Project: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=9546
“Oh, say! does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” Yet the question longing to be answered, Are we truly free? Texas v. Johnson 1989, “We decline, therefore, to create for the flag an exception to the joust[1] of principles protected by the First Amendment. . . . [2]” Freedom is not only fought for but it is protected under the Bill of Rights, yet most importantly the freedom of speech,conscience, and the right to petition the government is in the First Amendment.
The United States’ nation is built on the fact that “All men are created equal”, words from the Declaration of Independence, meaning that all people deserve equal rights. A topic of debate is whether or not people should be given or demand these rights for themselves. In the selections, “I Have a Dream”, by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, “ Reading Lolita in Tehran”, by Azar Nafisi, and “A Eulogy for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”, by Robert F. Kennedy, the topic of equal rights being given or demanded can be explored. Freedom is one of the most valuable elements of the human experience, but doesn’t require a person to demand it. Instead, it should be given because all humans should naturally have their rights, conflicts involving the freedom of the people wouldn’t occur, and society wouldn’t be overall fearfully from the ones who have power over them.
America’s culture is filled with history where events occur which don’t reflect the base of the American philosophy. When people from around the world look at America, they look at place where opportunity is given to everyone. The government is responsible to protect the rights of men. Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence says, “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This document shows the ideal value that the fathers of America want this country’s culture to display.