In their book The Lessons of History, historians Will and Ariel Durant
caution that, "No man, however brilliant or well-informed, can come in
one lifetime to such fullness of understanding as to safely judge and
dismiss the customs or institutions of his society, for these are the
wisdom of generations after centuries of experiment in the laboratory
of history. A youth boiling with hormones will wonder why he should
not give full freedom to his sexual desires; and if he is unchecked by
custom, morals or laws, he may ruin his life before he matures
sufficiently to understand that sex is a river of fire that must be
banked and cooled by a hundred restraints if it is not to consume in
chaos both the individual and the group." (Durant 43) The rebellion and
sexual revolution against the alleged "archaic" and "outdated"
traditions and customs of the ancients plays a significant role in the
modern acceptance of licentious behavior between men and women, and
most especially in upholding homosexuality as well. To lightly dismiss
such lessons from history in favor of this "enlightened" worldview is
short-sighted, foolish and self-defeating. Homosexuality is a mental
and cultural aberration that must be seen as the disease it is instead
of being condoned, if not praised.
Literary critic, novelist, Christian apologist and philosopher C. S.
Lewis, on the subject of adherence to tradition, writes in The
Abolition of Man that, "In the older systems both the kind of man the
teachers wished to produce and their motives for producing him were
prescribed by the Tao - a norm to which the teachers themselves were
subject and from which they had claimed no liberty to depart. They did
not cut men to some pattern they had chosen. They handed down what
they had received: they initiated the young neophyte into the mystery
of humanity which over-arched him and them alike. It was but old birds
teaching young birds to fly." (Lewis 451) The ancient world, with few
exceptions, universally condemned homosexual practices. Although it
was most severely censured with the advent of Christianity, it was
thoroughly denounced by the ancient Hebrews (i.e. Genesis 19:1-12;
Leviticus 18:22, 20:13) as well as in the long-lived pagan societies
such as the ancient Greeks and amongst Roman, Frankish and Teutonic
tribal cultures (Flaceliére 62-4). Christianity by no means instigated
The first one asked whether the Bank was constitutional or not, and the second one asked if “Maryland’s law unconstitutionally interfered with congressional powers” (“McCulloch v. Maryland,” Oyez). The Second Bank of the United States was decided to be constitutional because of the Necessary and Proper Clause that is found in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. This clause grants Congress the power to “pass laws that are necessary and proper for the execution of its enumerated powers” (McBride). A few enumerated powers given to Congress include regulating interstate commerce, borrowing money, and collecting taxes. Since Congress possess these powers, the creation of the Bank was related, necessary, and proper. Next, the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the Constitution states that the laws of the United States “trump” any state laws that conflict with them. Chief Justice Marshall stated that Maryland was unconstitutionally undermining the superior laws of the United States and the supreme law of the land. Lastly, the Supreme Court ruled that the political authority of the Union belongs to only the people of the United States and not the individual states. The people created, and are governed by, the Constitution and they give the U.S. Government its power. Maryland’s tax “acted as a levy against all the people in the United States by a state accountable to only some of the people.” Basically, Maryland’s tax violated constitutional sovereignty by trying to give political authority to the State instead of the
The Marbury versus Madison case of 1803 irrefutably remains one of the most significant cases in history of the Supreme Court, because it was the first United States Supreme Court case to utilize the principle known as judicial review (History.com Staff, 2009). This principle gives the Judicial Branch of the government, in particular the federal courts, the power to declare an act of Congress null and void if they find that it conflicts with the Constitution of the United States. This mandate, by Chief Justice John Marshall, would become a point of contention that places the Supreme Court on par with not only Congress, but the Executive Branch of the government as well.
Marbury v. Madison, one of the first Supreme Court cases asserting the power of judicial review, is an effective argument for this power; however, it lacks direct textual basis for the decision. John Marshall managed to get away with this deficiency because of the silence on many issues and the vague wording of the Constitution. Marshall was also the first to interpret the Constitution loosely, also known as judicial activism. During his term as Supreme Court Chief Justice, Marshall was also successful in loose constructionism through other landmark Supreme Court cases such as Gibbons v. Ogden ("Emancipation Proclamation" of commerce), and McCulloch v. Maryland (whose decision stated that the states cannot tax a fede...
Huck Finn’s adventures start in St. Petersburg, MO which is based on Hannibal, MO. When the widow and Miss Watson try to civilize Huck by teaching him about the Bible, clothing him, teaching him how to read and write, and telling him not to smoke, he goes along with it. Instead of putting up a fight, he conforms to what they want and expect. Huck
The Pocahontas myth forces us to believe that Pocahontas was a superwomen who had power over her community. She saved the Englishman life by throwing herself over him by the time of his sentence. They fell in love and Pocahontas helped to close the gap between native Indians and British settlers. Historian have disagreed with the myth and the Disney movie about Pocahontas, but the main problem is there are not so many sources available in order to understand the truth. There is absolutely no absolute primary source left from Pocahontas herself which makes studying her life harder. Interestingly, both the myth and the Disney movie has been emphasizing on Pocahontas feeling, her love, toward the white English man. Camila Townsend disagreed with
Planned Parenthood of PA v. Casey was argued on April 22, 1992 and the official decision was reached on June 29, 1992. The case dealt with a couple of “hot topics” including privacy and abortion. At the time, Pennsylvania had made a new abortion control law in 1988 and it was finalized in 1989. This law required all women to get informed consent and wait twenty-four hours before they were allowed to get an abortion. As for minors, they had to also get the consent of one parent/legal guardian and married women had to indicate that her spouse knew about her decision. However, after the provision was made, many physicians as well as abortion clinics challenged it, they did not feel that it was right for the state to have so much power over a woman’s body, when Roe v. Wade, gave a woman a right to an abortion. Soon after all the commotion of the case, a federal appeals court decided to uphold all requirements except they decided to get rid...
These early Supreme Court decisions have made a lasting impression on the United States. Marbury v. Madison established the concept of judicial review that strengthened the ability of the judcicary to act as a check against the legislative and executive branches by providing for the review of Congressional acts by the judiciary to determine the constitutionality of such acts. McCulloch v. Maryland allowed for the expansion of Congress’ implied powers needed to execute its delegated powers as well as defined the supremacy of constitutionally enacted federal entities over state statutes.
With the dropping of the Atomic bomb that ended WWII and the beginning of the Cold War, there was an irony of stability and turmoil in the United States. The start of the 1950s brought about many changes, from the Red Scare and threat of the possible spread of communism in America, to changes in political movements, civil rights movements, and another possible war, there were many significant events and people during this time.
The Holocaust is the greatest atrocity ever committed. Millions upon millions of people were ruthlessly tortured and executed during the infamous reign of the Third Reich. The events and conditions surrounding Adolf Hitler’s rise to power have been extensively studied by historians, sociologists, political scientists, and psychologists in the hopes of preventing this state of merciless dictatorship from ever recurring. Due to the immensity of the Nazi campaign against those of the Jewish faith, that ethnic group is most often mentioned in association with the concentration camps and exterminations of the Third Reich. However, there were many other groups who were persecuted alongside the Jews. These groups include political dissidents, criminals, gypsies, the handicapped, Jehovah’s Witnesses, emigrants, and homosexuals (Heger 32). The plight of homosexuals is, perhaps, the most overlooked aspect of the Holocaust. Of all the concentration camps, Sachsenhaussen, just north of Berlin, was the most important in the imprisonment and execution of homosexuals. The conditions under which all prisoners here were forced to live were absolutely inhuman, but for homosexuals it was far worse. As the one group that was despised by both the Nazis and those who were imprisoned within concentration camps, gays were persecuted with the greatest enthusiasm, and because of the taboos surrounding their lifestyle, their tragedy was left unnoticed for nearly three decades.
During the weak presidencies of Andrew Johnson and Ulysses Grant, Congress emerged as the dominant branch of government with power centered in the committee system. Two republican senators helped show this and the moral quality of the legislative branch. The first is Roscoe Conkling. Conkling was a Republican senator of New York. During this time period, many citizens agreed that...
Fag. Poof. Fairy. Homo. Dyke. Those are all words that are used on a daily basis to put down those who do not fit into the Bible’s supposed cookie-cutter, straight sexual orientation label. Homophobia has been around since the eleven hundreds, but before then homosexuality was viewed as healthy, normal, and at times it was even worshipped. However, society’s view of homosexuality has somehow been warped into a violently negative opinion. How did this happen? The main perpetrators of homophobia are the Bible and those who preach its word, or at least their version of its word. Which brings up the translation issues scattered throughout the Bible. The New Testament was written in Greek and there are not always direct translations of each word in English. The messages in the Bible that are said to condemn homosexuality can be interpreted in a more accepting way than they are usually preached.
What exactly is a homosexual? It is a person sexually attracted to a person of their own sex. Why do people become homosexuals? This is a question that has been asked ever since the first homosexual person "came out of the closet." People do not choose to become homosexuals. There has never been a proven theory of why people become homosexuals. There are three theories that try to explain why people become homosexuals, they are: the Biological theory, Psychiatric theory, and the Sociological theory.(Thio, 211) The Biological theory is broken down into three different parts. The first one is the hormone theory which states that homosexual men have a low level of male sex hormones and a homosexual female have a low level of female sex hormones.(IBID, 211) the second one is the genetic theory. The genetic theory states that people are born gay and society only helps their homosexuality advance. Researchers announced that there is even a "gay gene".(Nardo, 66) The last Biological theory is the brain theory. The brain theory states that a person who has a smaller brain is most likely going to be gay.(Thio, 211) The Psychiatric theory has evolved through many different thoughts about what is homosexuality. At first, psychiatrists thought that it was a mental illness. After it was proven not to be an illness many assumed that homosexuals were going through sexual orientation disturbance. Psychiatrists helped gays to accept themselves as being homosexuals. Another psychiatric theory was that homosexuals had a bad parent-son relationship when they were growing up.(IBID) The last theories are the Sociological theories. Sociological theories state that society affects a person's sexual preference. The biological predisp...
During the Republican period political power was one of the most important things to have. A man who had senatorial rank would spend his whole life planning, negotiating, attracting supporters, and dispensing favors. (Shelton 1988) This was all part of the political camp...
The closest ideological position to me is accept the person, reject the behavior. It does not matter to me if someone homosexual or not. If that what he or she wants to do that is them. I feel like that is their business just like being heterosexual is my business. Being heterosexual or homosexual does not make you better than other. It is their life and they can do whatever they want. I do reject their behavior, because it is against my religion. I was taught being homosexual is wrong. I will treat them just like I treat everyone else. The reason why I do not care if someone is gay or not, because it does not concern me. My religion is a sin and no sin is greater than the other one. Plus, it is not me that is your life, as long as that person
America in the 1950s is often characterized with many important social, political, cultural, and economic events. Many aspects of life changed in the 1950s with the ending of World War Two causing veterans to return home, but also the country continued some of its long time traditions. As veterans returned home, men returned to their job, the economy began to boom, and large families began to move to the suburbs. Socially, culturally, economically and politically America in the 1950s challenged, more than embraced the status quo.