Are your beliefs worth dying for?
Without strong beliefs in this world, nothing would push most of us to do the thing we love. In the book “the crucible”, Reverend Hale says to Elizabeth Proctor: “No principle, however glorious, is worth dying for.” He argues that it is better to give a false confession than to die for a principle of belief. This statement is wrong for many reasons. Many people have sacrificed themselves for their beliefs, and it has changed the way man people live and think in our everyday society. This has been seen with Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks, Policemen And Fire Fighters, and the founding fathers. I will explain in my next paragraph how Martin Luther king Jr and Rosa Parks movement changed our lives.
My first reason is
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with the example from history involving the protest with the African Americans speaking up against racism and segregation in the 1960’s. Without the bravery from Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks who ultimately led the movement, we would see a different society today. They did what many were afraid to, they put their lives out in the open and in danger for the things they believed in. This is a great example on how it’s better to die for what you believe in then to just sit in silence. If Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks never stood up during these horrible times nobody would have had the courage to be able to. My second example is from the brave men and woman who risk their lives to protect all of us, our Firefighters and Police men and women. These people are willing to go in the line of duty to be able to fight for what this country has. They have the beliefs for this country that they are willing to protect. When the horrible tragedy of 9/11 happened, many men and woman were willing to go into the building to save others’ lives while risking theirs. If they didn’t have the principles they did to go into the building many lives living today would have been lost on that day. My last reason is that the founding fathers fought for the freedom of this country. Which is a reason why your principles and beliefs and worth dying for. They were under a British monarchy that was in total control of America at the time. Many Americans were too afraid to stand up to what the British were doing in the country. But George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson all decided to stand up to the tyranny in the country and make America. Without our Founding Fathers having the beliefs they did we wouldn’t even be living in the country we live in. Without them and the courage they had, they were willing to die for what they believed in and when they actually took the sacrifice to die for their principles, they succeeded and made America into the country we have today. A counter argument would be that lives would matter, and they would be sacrificed and lives matter, but if you were to sit in silence for the rest of your lives, nobody would ever follow your message, so if you never said your principle or beliefs you would die in your grave with the message you never got to get across to people.
So instead people should speak their voice and let others know what their message is. Because without integrity, Courage, and beliefs we wouldn’t have equal right between blacks and whites in this country, we wouldn’t have lives be protected and saved by Woman and Men in uniform, and we wouldn’t even have a country without our Founding fathers speaking up.
To conclude my argument, I disagree with Reverend Hale. I belief it is better to die for your beliefs and principles than to give a false confession and sit in silence. It has been shown throughout history with many historic figures such as: Martin Luther king Jr and Rosa Parks starting the movement for equal rights, the men and woman in uniform protecting our country day in and day out, and our Founding Fathers, without them there would be no America to live
in.
Martin Luther King Jr. and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were two pivotal figures who fought for what they believed in. Stanton’s speech “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” and King’s “I Have a Dream” speech shook the grounds at which they spoke on. Both alike, MLK and Elizabeth Stanton were activists who were hard-working, passionate for what they believed in and were never going to give up.
History has encountered many different individuals whom have each impacted the 21 in one way or another; two important men whom have revolted against the government in order to achieve justice are Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. Both men impacted numerous individuals with their powerful words, their words carried the ability to inspire both men and women to do right by their morality and not follow unjust laws. “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” by David Henry Thoreau along with King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, allow the audience to understand what it means to protest for what is moral.
A lot of women from history have a great influence on our lives today. Two of these women were Emmeline Pankhurst and Rosa Parks. They both stood up for themselves and their cause no matter how hard it got for them. They faced numerous struggles along the way but that didn’t stop them, in fact, it made them even stronger. They both accomplished magnificent things during their lifetime and they are still remembered for those things. Although they are both similar in that they fought for what they believed in, they differ in terms of what they fought for and how they fought it.
However, the essay he wrote about his method inspired many other people and still inspires people today. Equally important, King’s essay wanted to help people “...find you strong in the faith,” King and Thoreau had somewhat similar outcomes, with their essays or speeches, but Martin Luther King ended up having a greater impact and eventually end segregation. Not only King, but Smith and Carlos made a stand a showed a point of what they believed in. All of the protesters mentioned ended up making an impact, which was the point of their
Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.’s essay “Love, Law, and Civil Disobedience” has two main features. The first feature of King’s essay is a call for action; action to bring about change. The second feature, the more easily viewed feature of this essay is a call for a specific type of action to bring about a specific type of change. The change King wishes to bring about is a peace and equality brought about through non-violent actions.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. discussed the hope that the movement needed when he said that “With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope” (King). Although the Civil Rights activists were despairing at the time over the many issues, they needed to find hope in order to triumph over the misfortune. Lewis used the power of the speech to develop the message of hope, saying that “in those moments, Dr. King made plain all of our hopes, our aspirations… everything we dared to imagine about a new America, a better America” (March Book Two 173). Dr. King’s speech conveyed what had already permeated the minds of each and every Civil Rights activist, that the future could be bright if they kept working at
One of the world’s best known advocates of non-violent social change strategies, Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), synthesized ideals drawn from many different cultural traditions. Recent studies of him emphasize the extent to which his ideals were rooted in African-American religious traditions which were then shaped by his education. The image of a social activist and leader was the result of extensive formal education, strong personal values and licit ethics. This excellence in leadership can be traced to his character which is shaped by his moral values and personality. We look at MLK and these traits to reveal the rationalization of his rise to transracial leadership in our society. Through studying the life and example of Martin Luther King, Jr., we learn that his moral values of integrity, love, truth, fairness, caring, non-violence, achievement and peace were what motivated him. King is not great because he is well known, he is great because he served as the cause of peace and justice for all humans. King is remembered for his humanity, leadership and his love of his fellow man regardless of skin color. This presence of strong moral values developed King’s character which enabled him to become one of the most influential leaders of our time. Integrity is a central value in a leader’s character and it is through integrity that King had vision of the truth. The truth that one day this nation would live up to the creed, "all men are created equal". No man contributed more to the great progress of blacks during the 1950’s and 1960’s than Martin Luther King, Jr. He was brought up believing "one man can make a difference", and this is just what he did. Integrity has a large effect on what we think, say and do, it is through King’s thoughts and actions that enabled so many people to have trust and faith in him. Through King’s integrity he believed that America, the most powerful and richest nation in the world will lead the way to a revolution of values. This revolution will change the way society views itself, shifting from a "thing-orientated" society to a "person-orientated" society. When this occurs, King believed that racism will be capable of being conquered and this nation will be "Free at last." King’s unconditional love for all humans was another value that strongly influenced his character and allowed him to have such excellent leadership ability.
“Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.” (Martin Luther King Jr.) Martin Luther King Jr. had a huge impact in America. He is the hero for many people around the country. Most definitely, Martin Luther King Jr. was a person that was determined, unstoppable, and a leader.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Martin Luther King Jr. was not afraid to take a stand. He knew how awful the world was
In 2016, I am often encouraged to be different; however, in the 1960s, Shirley Mayhew experienced a world where she was told to ignore the Civil Rights movement as a whole, and devote her time to prayer instead. When she was younger, she became aware of what was happening in the world by viewing it through the media. She knew in her heart as she saw African Americans being oppressed that she wanted to help the Civil Rights cause. When Shirley told her parents and friends her thoughts, they all rolled their eyes. They claimed that helping the African Americans was against God's will. Though it confused her, she reluctantly agreed, not wanting to create a fuss. Everyone she knew began to tell her to attend church and pray more often,
They claim "Martin Luther King, Jr., is a hero we consider to have greatly influenced society rather than society having influenced him. Through his leadership in the civil rights movement and through his political protests, he forever altered American society" (Husain, 8). He did not change us on his own. He was first a victim of cruel injustices and this effect from society motivated him to try and change it." Dr. King was not immune to the influences of society around him, as he, and the civil rights movement he led, were affected by the racism and prejudice that was endemic in America at the time…His ability to motivate people to embrace the ideals he preached, and to transform society, was dictated and provided by the specific conditions of the society around him"(Husain, 8). This illustrates that Martin Luther King was first inspired by the animosity and racism ever-so-present in current times to protest and fight against it. King acted upon this influence, changing the culture in turn, and becoming one of our most pivotal heroes. He was created by this society, like many others, and only altered the culture after this
Were it not for the leadership of Rosa Parks and Jo Ann Robinson, and the support of the black community through church congregations, these events may not have happened for many years to come. Course Material Used For this Paper Marcus, Robert. The. America Firsthand. Bedford Books, Boston MA, 1997.
Why do always assume what someone is from when we first hear about them? A lot of us end up assuming what someone looks like as well as what they might be like. We always do this and it just isn't right to do that. We do the exact same with Death. Though not everyone will do this, there are some who will. Death is not all that his name says, but were blind to see past that.
Martin Luther King Jr. was not a person to hold in his thoughts and beliefs. He stood up for what he knew what was right and made a difference in the world. King luckily ended up making a change in the world from his actions, but not everybody will do that. John Ruskin was a famous english critic and social theorist making his views and thoughts very applicable. One of John Ruskin’s famous ideas was that “What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do.” A consequence is a result or effect of an action or condition, which shows that thoughts or beliefs will have no consequences, like Ruskin said. Ruskin’s quote is very accurate in our world today, and many can take the advice from his quote and apply it to their lives. Actions are a more trenchant way of getting a point across, where-as thoughts and or beliefs will do nothing.
So if Rosa Parks or Luther King can make a difference without violence other people can. So what I am saying is if you have something you