Ethical Dilemmas Of El Salvador

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In El Salvador, in the late 1970’s, there was major political unrest. El Salvador had a military government, that oppressed the lower class, and tried to keep them poor. The military controlled everyone and everything in the country, and if someone opposed them, they would torture and murder the offender. The poor were fighting for their rights, but due to the militaries immense power, they labeled the poor as communists, causing others to think the country was in danger of communist influences. This caused a group known as Guerillas to rise up and fight the military. The Vatican appointed Oscar Romero, a bishop in El Salvador, to the position of Archbishop, as they believed his calm nature would prevent him from getting involved in the crisis. …show more content…

This is when a drastic situation arises, and ones’ response is focusing their attention on the situation at hand. This experience normally occurs when an individual is in a certain state of mind, and a change in the external environment causes them to shift into another state of mind. This could be caused by something such as a scream. The change causes one to think about what is going on, such as, who the person screaming is, what caused them to scream, how can they be helped, and many other emotions. This pushes one to act, not think. This experience is general, and not necessarily directed at a certain individual. This is a uniquely human experience (Grecco, 7-8). In the movie, there is a scene where Romero goes to rescue a guard that is being held hostages by the Guerillas, on the conditions the Guerillas walk free when he comes out. The military goes back on the deal after Romero comes out with the rescued guard and got the Guerillas to lay down their weapons, and is arrested along with the Guerillas. While in his cell, Romero hears a priest and member of the Guerillas, Father Osuna, being tortured. Father Osuna screams out, which alerts Romero who was previously just sitting in his cell. The scream causes him to run to the bars of his cell and try to stop the militants from torturing his friend. One of the things Romero says is “We are human beings” meaning that humans should not be treating other …show more content…

This experience comes from feeling required to obey a rule or law. Something inside an individual drives them to do what is the right thing. An authority can try and convince an individual to follow their reason. The individual can no longer be neutral towards this authority. Either one disagrees, as their desires go against the right thing to do, or one agrees, as the authority desires the right choice as well (9). In the movie, Romero returns to a church, that has been seized by the government, to retrieve the Eucharist. One of the soldiers responds by shooting the Eucharist, and making Romero leave. This person could be considered to have authority over Romero. Romero first obeys, leaving the town, but shortly comes back and walks towards the church, gathering a crowd as he does. He enters the church, and holds a sermon with the people he lead in. In doing this, Romero goes against the authority, by doing the right thing and holding a Mass for the people who were forced out of the

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