By Ethan Bradshaw
(watch 3:19-5:58)
This
nation is too full of people who are overly sensitive. Simple greetings and well wishes cause
offense to people who don’t believe what the speaker believes.
For
example, a person may cause offense to someone who isn’t Christian if they say
“Merry Christmas.” I don’t understand why that should be offensive. They don’t mean it to be offensive, but
simply want to be kind and say hello.
The
founding fathers weren’t afraid to say how they felt. It’s thanks to them and people like them that we have such a
great country. They plainly wrote
on the front of the dollar, “In God We Trust.” In our pledge of allegiance we
say, “…One nation, under God…” I
don’t think that we should be ashamed of that. This country was formed to have the right to express
ourselves the way we choose. The
founding fathers believed that it was thanks to God that they won their
independence, and who are we to tell them otherwise and attempt to remove that
detail from history just to make it so people aren’t offended.
I
believe that we as a people should respect others’ beliefs and not find offense
where none is intended. This
nation would be much stronger and more united if stopped trying to attack each
other and just accept one another and their views. We shouldn’t shun the very thing that brought us our
freedom. We must be able to speak what
we feel to be true in our own ways without worry of causing offense to
others. We must thank people for
their kind words and for expressing their views. It’s ok to disagree, but it’s wrong to attack, belittle, or
humiliate others for their beliefs.
The concluding paragraph is very strong. I definitely agree with your belief that people should not be offended by religious talk or even "political correctness," but I'm afraid that the people who don't agree with you may be offended. Since we were very limited in space on these posts, it is understandable that you had to be very up front, and I thought you made excellent points. Just keep in mind that if you're trying to get those who disagree with you to agree with you, you may have to take a slightly softer approach in your final Issues paper.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments. I realize it is kind of strong, and I'll be taking that into account for the paper.
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ReplyDeleteAs I was reading your post, I was thinking about how your audience may react. I also agree with what Abby commented; I feel like your arguments are leaning strongly towards a Christian point of view. And that's okay; you are expressing your voice. But you also need to take into consideration all the members of your audience and their beliefs: how do their religions and their courage to speak contribute to our country in a positive and unifying way?
ReplyDeleteYa, I kind of forgot that I wasn't necessarily speaking to a religious audience. I'll revise it and do better on the paper. Thanks.
DeleteI think this is a powerful article. Who wants to be told they're offensive when all they say is out of goodwill and kindness? I think raising the example of someone being offended at this is quite powerful, and the way it is followed up supports this tremendously. You mention how people simply want to be kind and say hello when they say Merry Christmas. Who doesn't want to be kind and say hello? As Merry Christmas is an almost religious term, your defense of speaking religion in a public sphere, including examples such as "In God We Trust," increases the strength of your point.
ReplyDeleteAs for your ending, it is also very effective. In particular is the ending: "It’s ok to disagree, but it’s wrong to attack, belittle, or humiliate others for their beliefs." Who wants to be attacked, belittled, or humiliated for their beliefs? No one of course! You make a very effectively empathetic argument to your audience, and I feel there is little to be criticized. Perhaps opposing views could be addressed better through direct words; otherwise, I feel this paper is quite effective.
However, I do think there could be adjustment. Some changes to make in the future, to make this argument more effective: More examples, including those who are not Christian; more on the Founding Fathers; more information from outside sources; and finally, more examples of insensitivity toward others' beliefs. Simply put, I feel the argument is only really diminished because of its lack of scale in addressing more similar and differing viewpoints. I see nothing to little wrong with the tone of your paper.
Thanks for the praise. For the blog I was a little hesitant to use more example because I can get passionate about the topic and I didn't want to go over the word limit. I will definitely use more examples in the paper. Thank you.
DeleteNot a problem. I hope the full paper goes well. Have a good night.
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