Post by katieel116 on Dec 8, 2012 17:07:33 GMT -5
America, as a nation, has always been caught between core traditions and philosophical beliefs. The Puritans were torn between protecting their traditional ways that included religion and protecting justice Traditions are created through the idea of holding on and being continuous through time. However time does not stop progression nor prevent change. On the contrary philosophical beliefs are more tolerant to the inevitable nature of the world to constantly change. With that in mind it is essential that this nation value ideals over traditions for the sake of protecting itself. Still to this day America is struggling with finding a middle ground between protecting the beliefs of the nation from the immovable ideals of religious tradition.
This country was founded on the beliefs of individual rights and freedoms that cannot be taken away. This explains why topics such as homosexuality are so controversial. The debate over homosexuality exposes a contradiction in American society because some people regard it as an abomination yet they expect governmental values such as the freedom of expression to be up held. These people are so lost in their ideology that they refuse to partake in progressive thinking, similar to Hale who was blinded by his ideology to consider an alternative. However unlike Hale the people who are holding on to their beliefs are not willing to lose their religion and it would be wrong to expect them to let go of their beliefs. This is why tradition can never govern, it prevents alteration of ideas in addition progression can only be made at the expense of losing some aspect of their religion.
The unwillingness to change tradition is a direct result of fear. There is a hesitation to alter the way they think for fear that it will destroy old beliefs or the religion itself. There is a stubbornness that comes with tradition out of fear of losing the beliefs that made the tradition. Religion survives off the faith in the ideology and so when that is challenged there is a fear that people will lose everything they know. So many reject homosexual marriages because it is taught in their faith that marriage can only be between a man and a woman. People are fearing the unknown or change because it is not what they are used to and are acting in protest to protect their narrowed beliefs. Acts of desperation justified by fear are undergone in order to preserve all they know.
The fear of losing the traditional beliefs creates a repressive society that risks every ideal to protect their core tradition. Tyler Clementi, a student at Rutgers took his own life because he was taunted about being homosexual. The lack of understanding and refusal to be abandon tradition inflicted unimaginable pain upon Tyler. The old world beliefs imprisoned him and made him conceal himself in order to fit into the rhetoric of census. People became so desperate to continue their tradition that they took on a tyrannical nature at the expense of others and in Tyler’s case at the expense of his life.
With Tyler’s death came the reflection that society deeply needed. Tyler caused a change within society that produced a positive outcome which included several bullying laws. This enforces the idea ingrained in Millers’ play “The Crucible” that society has to lose greatly in order for a message to be received. Similar to how in order to end the tyranny of consensus Proctor had to die in order to convey the message that religion is not always right. Both Tyler and Proctors’ deaths forced a societal change and impacted the way society viewed itself and had a profound enough impact to create the impossible. A change of the way tradition and religion was seen in order to uphold to the philosophical values they believed in which included the rights of every individual.
This country was founded on the beliefs of individual rights and freedoms that cannot be taken away. This explains why topics such as homosexuality are so controversial. The debate over homosexuality exposes a contradiction in American society because some people regard it as an abomination yet they expect governmental values such as the freedom of expression to be up held. These people are so lost in their ideology that they refuse to partake in progressive thinking, similar to Hale who was blinded by his ideology to consider an alternative. However unlike Hale the people who are holding on to their beliefs are not willing to lose their religion and it would be wrong to expect them to let go of their beliefs. This is why tradition can never govern, it prevents alteration of ideas in addition progression can only be made at the expense of losing some aspect of their religion.
The unwillingness to change tradition is a direct result of fear. There is a hesitation to alter the way they think for fear that it will destroy old beliefs or the religion itself. There is a stubbornness that comes with tradition out of fear of losing the beliefs that made the tradition. Religion survives off the faith in the ideology and so when that is challenged there is a fear that people will lose everything they know. So many reject homosexual marriages because it is taught in their faith that marriage can only be between a man and a woman. People are fearing the unknown or change because it is not what they are used to and are acting in protest to protect their narrowed beliefs. Acts of desperation justified by fear are undergone in order to preserve all they know.
The fear of losing the traditional beliefs creates a repressive society that risks every ideal to protect their core tradition. Tyler Clementi, a student at Rutgers took his own life because he was taunted about being homosexual. The lack of understanding and refusal to be abandon tradition inflicted unimaginable pain upon Tyler. The old world beliefs imprisoned him and made him conceal himself in order to fit into the rhetoric of census. People became so desperate to continue their tradition that they took on a tyrannical nature at the expense of others and in Tyler’s case at the expense of his life.
With Tyler’s death came the reflection that society deeply needed. Tyler caused a change within society that produced a positive outcome which included several bullying laws. This enforces the idea ingrained in Millers’ play “The Crucible” that society has to lose greatly in order for a message to be received. Similar to how in order to end the tyranny of consensus Proctor had to die in order to convey the message that religion is not always right. Both Tyler and Proctors’ deaths forced a societal change and impacted the way society viewed itself and had a profound enough impact to create the impossible. A change of the way tradition and religion was seen in order to uphold to the philosophical values they believed in which included the rights of every individual.