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Political violence
Terrorism and its effects on the world
Terrorism and its effects on the world
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While many may be outraged by Robespierre’s actions, he believed they were justified because the killed enemies of the Revolution by terror with the Republic in mind. In his mind the mass executions were justified, since he had the right reason for doing so and was trying to protect the republic. In this second source, we can see that Robespierre and others, will use any means necessary to protect their beliefs and eliminate any threats to those beliefs. Robespierre put the fear into people that they would be killed if they opposed the Revolution in anyway. One last act of terrorism that I looked at occurred in New York City, on September 11, 2011. In the time before George W. Bush gives his speech to Congress, the Berlin wall falls and the …show more content…
In Johannes Julius’ letter we get a firsthand account of the brutal torture in the witch hunts. The witch hunts were conducted by people who were afraid of the idea that people could intentionally acquire abilities. They believed that the only way to suppress their fear was to round up as many witches as possible and execute them. In Robespierre’s Report of the Principles of Public Morality he justifies the terror and execution of thousands as necessary for the protection of the Republic in France. Finally, in George W. Bush’s speech to Congress he condemns al-Qaeda for their attacks on the United States in order to “disrupt and end a way of life” and condemns terrorist everywhere. In each source, there is force of people that seeks to achieve their goals through acts of terror. I think what’s important to learn from reading these sources is that terrorism is never acceptable or a means to achieve our desires. Each of these sources describe a disastrous scene as a result of the actions some people took. While Robespierre was trying to protect the republic of France, people were afraid of witches, and al-Qaeda saw the United Sates as an enemy, killing thousands of people was not the right solution in any of these cases. You cannot simply kill people for a belief or fear that you have, it’s never justified. As Bush points out in his speech, “No one should be singled out for unfair treatment or unkind words because of their ethnic background or religious faith.” I think these sources show us that acts of terrorism during these different times never achieved the goals of those carrying out the executions. There are more peaceful methods that can be employed to reach our goals, instead of destructive acts of
...agree with. The hardest aspect of determining whether or not terrorism is morally right or wrong is the various definitions that it can have. As mentioned earlier I relate to Walzer’s definition of terrorism and understand it as he does. As discussed I feel that terrorism is wrong because it is akin to murder, it is random in who it targets and when, and no one has immunity. There are objections to this argument which is that conventional war is worse than terrorism therefore if war is justifiable then terrorism can be as well. As argued the difference between war and terrorist is the way of choosing your victims, which in my mind refutes this objection. Terrorism exists and whether it is right or wrong can be argued respectfully.
In the article “Modern-Day Witch Hunts”, Jamie Dailey focuses the attention on problems that Muslim Americans commonly face on a day-to-day basis. He first paints a picture by comparing the violent acts performed on Muslims to the Salem Witch trial in 1692. The Salem Witch trials resulted in 19 deaths of innocent individuals, because they were accused of witchcraft. Dailey goes on to explain in America, the type of persecution Muslims endure has many forms. A more recent controversy towards this religion involves the building of the Ground Zero Mosque in central New York. The name of this building is very misleading, especially to the eyes of an American. Even though this structure is actually built a few blocks away from where the former World Trade Center stood, problems have still risen from the public. Americans often mistake Muslims as the group of people who had performed acts of terrorism on American soil, when it was actually an Islamic group known as Al Qaeda. Mosques all across the United States started being vandalized by people protesting against their religion. This article shows how irrational fear can corrupt the thoughts of people.
...he government we support. Law enforcers in Salem used preemptive technique by condemning and executing those who came under suspicion of witchcraft without real evidence. Our former president’s policy, the “Bush Doctrine,” condemned people without concrete evidence or giving them fair trials. Iraq was invaded and searched, but no weapons of mass destruction ever found. With adequate amount of fear and suspicion, the government will launch potentially devastating “preemptive war” on suspected aggressors. In The Crucible, every time one witch confesses many more appear, just as international aggression by U.S. forces breeds more international aggressors. What does our fetish for the aggressive repression of our enemies say about society and of what we learn from history? Are we incapable learning from our mistakes, or are we just addicted to hatred and violence?
Aside from giving the guillotine a purpose, the Reign of Terror stands as a necessity in the story of French independence. It might not have been the proudest of times, but the Reign began on a strong premise: holding together a new government by purging the bad apples for the betterment of the whole cart. While the Reign of Terror developed into an overly excessive bloodshed, it was justified by the war stricken circumstances and necessity for the support of the ongoing revolution. Despite the extreme heights the Reign of Terror reached, it was necessary to maintain the fragile presence of the government and preserve the new liberty a majority of the population had been denied before. In a 1793 letter from Vendée —a major counterrevolutionary hub— local government was fending off on-going riots and rebellion while being invaded from the north by Prussia.
Alan Dershowitz challenges the legitimization of non-lethal torture in his essay, “Should the Ticking Bomb Terrorist be tortured?” He claims that torture should indeed be legitimized for specific scenarios that require such action. The ticking bomb terrorist gives the example of a terrorist withholding time-sensitive information that could result in the death of innocent citizens, if not shared. Not only does Dershowitz challenge the idea of torture, but he also gives a probable solution that favors the legitimization the torture. He mentions three values that would have to be complied with by all three branches of government if it were to be legitimated, which Dershowitz does endorse. The arguments of the two perspectives discussed in the
The first reason the Reign of Terror was not justified was because the inside/outside threats against the revolution didn’t warrant it. The Prussians and Australians were fighting against the revolution to keep their king and to not have the ideas of the revolutions (Doc C) so in turn Robespierre declared a military draft where all adult males would be forced by the Levee en Masse where the vendee region in france were totally against (Doc B). Rightfully so as well considering the fact that when Robespierre declared for the draft the threat had practically been stopped and so there was no real need for the draft and in turn no need for the Reign of Terror. It also proves the
The French revolution was a significantly dangerous time period because of the chaos and conflict that took place in the streets France, resulting in the mass slaughter of thousands of innocent people. Within the revolution, there were many characters who took part in resolving the conflicts that had arisen. One thing that sparked the revolution was the shortage of food caused by a drought which lead to the bread prices going up since most were too poor to afford food at the new price people started revolting against their government in hopes to be heard and treated fairly while many were still dying of hunger. Within the revolution, there were figures such as George Danton, Jean Bailly and Reine Audu who contributed in the development and
I think this goes to show how deeply Puritans analyzed and practiced their faith. The fact that they were able to accuse people of witchcraft and convince people that they were possessed by the devil also shows how powerful the church was at the time in order for these trials to occur. In his work, Wonders of the Invisible World, the Puritan minister Cotton Mather goes in to detail what the proceedings and times of the Salem Witch Trials were like. Mather believes that these works of the devil were planning attacks on the people of the time. I think that some of these beliefs are similar to what we see around the world today. I think that this ideology is similar to what we think of terrorism at the time. With the recent terror attacks in Paris, many people are living with great fear. I think that the Salem Witch Trials are similar to what the world is doing to chase down terrorists. I think that this is similar because our country and the rest of the world is spending countless time and resources to hunt down terrorists in order to make our world better and free of
As the Reign of Terror in France grew and invoked fear the internal threats became more radical and deadly. The French Revolution began in 1789 as an attempt to create a new and fair government. (Doc A) As year four of freedom lurched the thirst for power in Maximilien Robespierre stirred and the hunger for more blood provoked him urging him to create the Reign of Terror. 1793, the first year of the Reign of Terror, Robespierre grasped on to his new power and as the revolution spun out of control the Jacobins Club established a new way to “fight enemies” by constructing a Committee of Public Safety and a Tribunal Court. (Doc A) This new government was working swell it contained counterrevolutionaries in the Vendée Region, and it smothered and ferreted the internal threats. (Docs A, C, G) The counterrevolutionaries adopted a name that meant trouble – the rabble. (Doc D) In a letter written by a city official of the Town of Niort a...
Freedom is a critical part of any society - without freedom citizens tend to become unhappy and no longer want to associate with their government. However the same goes for order; no order means anarchy and anarchy means that the people will want to disassociate with the community. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of boys crash land on an uninhabited island in the Pacific in the midst of war and must establish a functioning society based on what little they know about government from civilized life. A new society as had to be formed during the French Revolution, also by people with limited political experience. They based their new government off of Enlightenment ideas that would ensure them their natural rights: life, liberty,
Concerning why the witch hunts occurred when they did the agreed upon opinion by all three author’s is the social unrest and uncertainty felt due to the Protestant Reformation and the schism it created amongst the populace, the effects of recovering from plague and war, and the enforced patriarchal structure of a society that was changing. It was during the Reformation that Christian...
Another reason why some utilitarian thinkers will support torturing these suspect terrorist because law enforcement is saving American lives. On the other hand, other utilitarian thinks will condemn torturing terrorist because affects a personal moral standards to conduct themselves as a productive citizen (“The ‘ticking time bomb’ problem,” 2014). An additional reason why some utilitarian thinks condemn torturing terrorist because it provokes intense psychological pressure to reveal answers that law enforcement may want to hear that’s incorrect. Furthermore, depending on which utilitarian thinker discussing the use of torturing a terrorist, the action could be justified because it prevents further or future injury. Additionally, other utilitarian thinkers would rebuke this action because hurting another doesn’t help people that have already been injured by a terrorist
Though times were tough for many years for some Germans, things are improving slowly. While the wall was erect, many Germans had high hopes of change and continue to strive towards equality nationwide. In June of 1963 when John F. Kennedy visited Berlin, he gave a very impacting speech to the people of Berlin, "There are some who say that Communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin" (Sidey). Although the wall no longer physically stands, it still today divides Germany and Berlin into two separate states today.
As the chapter goes on, Girard continues by explaining collective persecution and the types of individuals who are targeted. Girard emphasizes “by collective resonances of persecutions I mean acts of violence, such as witch hunts, that are legal in form but stimulated by the extremes of public opinion” (Girard, 1986, p. 12). In other words, Girard argues the acts of violence against an individual are led by the opinions formulated by the public rather than the victim’s crimes. People are likely to accuse someone of false accusations in this type of
The use of torture has become a prominent matter of dispute as we enter an age of the global war on terror. The debate on whether it has become morally permissible to torture terrorists is argued by many as the legitimacy of such actions are brought into question in a world where global terror is outstanding. With the use of the ticking time bomb scenario, some make a desirable case that in special circumstances, there is a right to torture individuals implicated is acts of mass violence. Yet many would still argue that there are an array of inconsistencies hidden within the ticking bomb scenario and there are no circumstances where torture can be morally permissible, no matter what the consequences may hold.