Monday, March 29, 2010
"The Clan of One Breasted Women" Inquiry #5
In “The Clan of One Breasted Women” Terry Tempest Williams informs us of the plight the women in her family have faced. Several members of her family have died from breast cancer and she believes that it was caused by the nuclear testing done in Nevada during the Cold War. Williams also informs us what it was like to grow up in a Mormon household. They were taught never to question authority and that they were to keep their feelings to themselves. Williams feels this blind following of authority lead to no one questioning the Federal Government on the testing nuclear weapons on our own soil and that this practice contributed to the deaths of many civilians. In 1988 Williams trespassed on a government testing facility Nevada and was arrested while making a stand for what she believed in. The lesson learned is that more people should stand up for what is right when they see an injustice in the world. How can we incorporate this in our everyday lives? And are we willing to stand up against something we know is wrong, even if there are consequences for doing so? If we all could answer yes to both of those questions, I believe the world would be a better place.
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3 comments:
I agree with your post that it is important for all citizens to stand up for what they know is right. There are many ways to stand up for what is right in our everyday lives. When consequences are involved it becomes much harder to do this. This theme of standing up for things you believe in reminds me of the section in President Obama's speech about Reverend Wright. In one of Wright's sermons he says,
“The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No, no, no, God damn America, that’s in the Bible for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human." He also says,“Black men turning on black men – that is fighting the wrong enemy."
I could not and would not attend a church or any other organization with rhetoric like this. In this case the easiest way to petition is simply to not attend this church. There are no consequences. In President Obama's speech he says,"But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now." Ignoring the countless racist remarks from Rev. Wright over the past 20 years is not a good way to start.
I agree with your post. Everyone needs to stand up for what is right, even if that choice isn't the most likable in a certain situation. That's the problem with the world today, no one wants to stand up for what is right. Most people just seem to go with the flow so to speak. How will we ever have leaders in this country when majority of people have little or no courage? This reminds me of Barack Obama's speech. The most important thing I got from his speech is that America must be unified, before we can solve our problems. I do agree with him.It's not all about race. We're not on the same page. Although race does play a big role in the world, our problems are much bigger then race alone. "We need unity; racially charged at a time we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems: two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis, and potentially devastating climate change, problems that are neither black or white or latino or asian, but rather problems that confront us all". Its always this simple underlining problem that must be solved before we improvement is made. Only if everyone would stand up for what is right, then we will experience the joy of living in unity. But, the truth is that unity in this world won't be happening in a while. No one person can achieve such a goal on his or her own.
I agree with your post. Everyone needs to stand up for what is right, even if that choice isn't the most likable in a certain situation. That's the problem with the world today, no one wants to stand up for what is right. Most people just seem to go with the flow so to speak. How will we ever have leaders in this country when majority of people have little or no courage? This reminds me of Barack Obama's speech. The most important thing I got from his speech is that America must be unified, before we can solve our problems. I do agree with him.It's not all about race. We're not on the same page. Although race does play a big role in the world, our problems are much bigger then race alone. "We need unity; racially charged at a time we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems: two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis, and potentially devastating climate change, problems that are neither black or white or latino or asian, but rather problems that confront us all". Its always this simple underlining problem that must be solved before we improvement is made. Only if everyone would stand up for what is right, then we will experience the joy of living in unity. But, the truth is that unity in this world won't be happening in a while. No one person can achieve such a goal on his or her own.
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