...Religion and Its Persuasion on U.S. Politics Rob Farmer Hodges University, Fort Myers, Florida HUM2030-OL-SU15 Dr. William Cooney August 22, 2015 Religion and Its Persuasion on U.S. Politics Religion in the United States is significant not only due to the high percentage of Americans who identify themselves with a specific religion, but the population’s large number of widely diverse beliefs. Ultimately, the United States is a nation bound on a people of immigrants, many of whom originally fled their home countries for the sake of religious freedom, and as such, laws are carefully engineered to safeguard those freedoms. Consider the formative era of our nation and to America’s culture and thinking at the time the US and the Constitution were formed. The leaders of the various colonies, states and ultimately the Founding Fathers themselves were steeped in biblical thinking. They drew examples from the Bible, and looked for confirmation of their ideas for government in scripture. Biblical absolutes enshrined into law offered a consensus that meant freedom without chaos. As stated in the Declaration of Independence, there exists “unalienable rights” of men. Rights were unalienable because they were provided by God. This was important because in most societies up until that time, and even in some countries today, rights are only conferred by whomever is in power at the time. An important aspect of our system of government is that it is based on the Rule of Law. This concept...
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...assignments in writing posted to Blackboard; also I will post all reading material on Blackboard or we’ll retrieve materials through online sources; thus there are no texts to buy for this course. Requirements You will complete approximately four graded assignments over the course of this semester – comprised of the following: 1. Politics, government policy, and/or social and cultural issues. Some of you may be interested and engaged in these matters already – such matters as economic theory and policy, immigration, gun rights vs. sensible gun regulation, health care policy, veteran affairs and funding, equal pay for women, women’s access to abortion and contraception, the right wing’s current attempt to defund Planned Parenthood; the Tea Party vs. . . . ALL government at large; race issues (the Black Lives Matter movement and all that it entails, especially policing in minority communities and minority profiling); voter rights vs. draconian voter ID laws and eliminating early voting; drug policies; foreign policy (involvement/intervention vs. isolationism; military involvement vs. diplomatic/economic solutions to conflict, e.g., the current debate...
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...Life after Reconstruction, written by Edward Ayers does not deal predominantly with one overall thesis. Instead Ayers writes in a narrative tone and depicts the story of how the south began to grow after the Civil War through Reconstruction. He uses a very optimistic tone when discussing the growth and movement of the south, never really taking a side when it comes to topics such as segregation or the movement towards a more industrialized nation. He uses personal stories and quotes from people of the time period to show the hard times and events that people had to endure during the end of the 19th century going into the 20th. Ayers touches on subjects such as the rise in industrialization, segregation and the political turmoil that in turn shape the new south. Ayers focuses on the time period from about 1877 to 1910. He begins by talking about the railroads and how they are the driving force behind the growing south. Along with rough working conditions they brought glamour and new technology to fuel the south. Stores and towns began to sprout up and the south began to become more mechanized and farms were beginning to be abandoned. After the war, railroads gave blacks an opportunity to leave plantations and find work all over the southwest. Political turmoil and corruption also affected the south early on. Segregation set in and the Democratic Party had a hold on the south. Black men were persuaded with money or violence in many cases to make them vote a certain way. They believed...
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...Gore Vidal’s “Lincoln” Gore Vidal’s “Lincoln” was an excellent narrative of the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Through Vidal’s portrayal of the personality of Lincoln and the people surrounding him it was easy to get an idea of the leadership role that Lincoln played during presidency. After reading many accounts of Lincoln during my research for my paper, I found that Vidals account was extremely accurate. Most interesting was the commanding yet passive relationship that Lincoln had with the members of his cabinet and his generals. Vidal also gave a portrayal of the capitol during the 1860’s that is seldom mentioned in any of the Literature that I have read. These accounts really help to get a feel for the environment in which Lincoln made his decisions. Lincoln’s family life was also revealed in some detail in the novel which helps us to see the personal dilemmas and tragedies that Lincoln had to overcome while he was president. Overall Vidal’s portrait of Lincoln was interesting and accurate to my knowledge. It gives an extraordinary view of the leadership of President Abraham Lincoln. In the book Vidal shows us a picture of the capitol at the time. It seemed as it the entire town was unfinished. The capitol building was without the dome and the streets had just been paved. From the accounts of Mary Lincoln in the book, it seemed if the White House was hardly a luxurious mansion and was barley fit for a president. Also in the atmosphere in Washington D.C. at the time...
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...The Economist also shows bias by playing to their liberal based audience in paragraph 27 by calling out House Republicans in Congress. The Economist talks about the proposals that Republicans want to as they state, “sought to cut food stamps” and “[leave] anti-poverty programmes to bear the blunt of deep cuts of federal spending” (par 27). The Economist doesn’t present why they would be against an increase in spending. This piece of writing explains the problems, but it is up to the readers to figure out the solutions. Due to the bias present in this article. By showing political bias, it effectively hurts the Economist to be credible and honest by only targeting one of the major political parties. It does not take into account the factors that drive the political parties, or the money that it takes to have welfare based programs. The Economist’s article wants to start the dialogue how the American poor can be helped by giving the reader the statistics and information to begin a road to recovery the poor. “In Need of Help” is an excellent article in influencing readers that even though the individuals are poor; they need help...
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...invited along party lines with few compromises being reach on key issues over the past decade or longer. Many view this gridlock as dysfunctional however this is how the two-party system works. The Congress and Senate must be able to provide bipartisan legislation to ensure that the laws proposed and passed represent the largest segment of the population and will not face repeal under administration changes for example Democrat versus Republican. We have all seen the maps on election night news coverage boldly displaying red or blue states. With the vast majority of the United States population living in states that tend to vote one way. Governors in those states have historically had easier paths to passing legislation because of strong partisan backing and a weak opposition. This may seem to function as a well-organized political power but more often than not typifies "machine" politics. Governors in red or blue states rarely face strong opposition in their respective legislatures and most will adopt the agenda that their party has as a platform. This can give the impression that those in power have the backing of the people they represent but often are a result of one-party dominance. Governors in general have reached the pinnacle of their political careers however some have ambitions far exceeding power at a state level and eye a run at the White House. Those men and women understand they will need to be viewed as a politician who has been able to reach across party lines to...
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...Is America Returning to the Wild, Wild West? I envision a time and a place that allows people to walk around with gun holsters containing polished semi automatic weapons and a right to use them at their own discretion. Gentlemen who disagree at a bar can take their argument to the street, where they engage in a legal duel. A shopkeeper who pulls out a gun and shoots a young teenager to death because he caught her trying to steal more than five hundred dollars in goods. Or how about a good old fashioned shoot out? If you were thinking that I was referring to a small western town back in the late eighteen hundreds, you'd be wrong. The wild, wild west has made a comeback to modern America. That era, synonymous with lawlessness and vigilante justice is being revived in essence by the introduction of legislation called "Stand Your Ground". Currently, there is a debate raging in our country over the rights of gun owners in regards to gun control and startling increases in justifiable homicides all over the United States. Recently, there was an incident that sparked a huge backlash against the National Rifle Association (NRA) and their support of a law called "Stand Your Ground". The law states that "... a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat if: (1) He or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible...
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...Mississippi ratifies 13th amendment abolishing slavery ... 147 years late Academics prompt ratification after noticing that 1995 move to accept amendment detailed in Lincoln had not been completed * Share77 * * * 1 * inShare0 * ------------------------------------------------- Email Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln. Photograph: David James/AP Mississippi has officially ratified the 13th amendment to the US constitution, which abolishes slavery and which was officially noted in the constitution on 6 December 1865. All 50 states have now ratified the amendment. 1. ------------------------------------------------- Lincoln 2. Production year: 2012 3. Countries: India, Rest of the world, USA 4. Cert (UK): 12A 5. Runtime: 150 mins 6. Directors: Steven Spielberg 7. Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, David Strathairn, Hal Holbrook, James Spader, John Hawkes, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lee Pace, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones 8. More on this film Mississippi's tardiness has been put down to an oversight that was only corrected after two academics embarked on research prompted by watching Lincoln, Steven Spielberg's Oscar-nominated film about president Abraham Lincoln's efforts to secure the amendment. Dr Ranjan Batra, a professor in the department of neurobiology and anatomical sciences at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, saw Spielberg's film and wondered about the implementation of the 13th amendment after the Civil War. He discussed...
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...accounting and the utilization of Special Purpose Entities (SPE’s) to hide financial debt. In other instances, people point toward Enron’s mismanagement of risk and overextension of capital resources, coupled with the stark philosophical differences in management that existed between company leaders, as the primary reasons why the company went bankrupt. Yet, despite these various analyses of why things went wrong, the story of Enron’s rise and fall continues to mystify the general public as well as generate continued interest in what actually happened. The broad purpose of this paper is to investigate the Enron scandal from variety perspectives. The paper begins with a narrative of the rise and fall of Enron as the seventh largest company in the United States and the sixth largest energy company in the world. The narrative examines the historical, economic, and political conditions that helped Enron to grow into one of the world’s dominant corporation’s in the natural gas, electricity, paper and pulp, and communications markets. Upon providing the substantive...
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...‘she’ said, ‘he’ said and ‘stenography’ in modern day media practice can be trace to Walter Lippmann. Lippmann’s opinion of the government and society is that, substantial questions are best in the hands of professionals with exposure to scientific understanding, which guard them against stereotypes as well as emotional symbols governing public discuss. (Carson). The question on the existence of an ideal journalistic objective has opened the ground for debate over the years. To some scholars, a standard of objectivity exist, while others have argued that the term is a complete myth. However, there are scholars, who believe that instead of objectivity, journalist should strive for fairness and accuracy in reporting, (neutrality). From a personal perspective, and in agreement with the second school above, objectivity as journalistic ethic is a mere fiction. In fact, it is a plot to disengage and cripple the traditional obligation of journalist to educate its readers, and set the forum for public discussion, a precondition for making informed opinion about issues. According to Christopher Lasch, objectivity ignores the nature of truth. More so, freedom requires vigorous debate instead of information. If it must involve information, it should evolve through controversies. Facts must first be subject to verification, which is only achieved through debate. We only...
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...When American schoolchildren are educated about Europe between the years 1936 through 1975, they are taught about the aftereffects of World War I and about World War II. Europe, in high school history classes, ceases to exist after 1945 and the close of World War II unless, of course, one is learning about the Cold War and the Berlin Wall may be mentioned. They do not learn, however, that World War II era Spain—because Spain was neither an ally or a foe during the war—went through enormous conflict of its own. The three-year Spanish Civil War and the fascist dictatorship that followed are largely kept out of the American history books. Yet, the world is privy to much of its legacy through literature, art, film, and personal memory. Spain certainly remembers three hellish years of war and thirty six years of repression under Generalisimo Fransisco Franco, but how is General Franco remembered by the rest of the world? What legacy did he leave internationally? 2 It is a confused and varied one: to those closest to him he was a husband, father, and statesman; to Hitler, he was an obstacle on the road to world domination; to the Jews who fled from Hitler he was a hero; but to the many Spanish minorities and to his opponents in the Spanish Civil War he was a monster. 3 The answers to the questions posed are addressed in a variety of sources. One of these sources is the book Hitler Stopped by Franco, by Jane and Burt Boyar, who write a relatively straightforward book that explores many...
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...SECRET LANGUAGE of • HOW LEADERS INSPIRE ACTION THROUGH NARRATIVE The LEADERSHIP STEPHEN DENNING John Wiley & Sons, Inc. More Praise for The Secret Language of Leadership “Out of the morass of strategies leaders are given to transform organizations, Denning plucks a powerful one—storytelling— and shows how and why it works.” —Dorothy Leonard, William J. Abernathy Professor of Business, Emerita, Harvard Business School, and author, Deep Smarts: How to Cultivate and Transfer Enduring Business Wisdom “The Secret Language of Leadership shows why narrative intelligence is central to transformational leadership and how to harness its power.” —Carol Pearson, director, James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership, University of Maryland, and coauthor, The Hero and the Outlaw “The Secret Language of Leadership is not only the best analysis I have seen of how and why leaders succeed or fail, it’s highly readable, as well as downright practical. It should be mandatory reading for anyone interested in engaging a company with big ideas who understands that leaders live and die by the quality of what they say.” —Richard Stone, story analytics master, i.d.e.a.s “A primary role of leaders is to create and maintain meaning for their organizations. Denning clearly demonstrates that meaningmaking comes from stories well told.” —Thomas Davenport, President’s Distinguished Professor of I.T. and Management, Babson College, and author, The Attention Economy “Steve...
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...Contents Title Page Dedication Prologue CHAPTER ONE: Republicans and Democrats CHAPTER TWO: Values CHAPTER THREE: Our Constitution CHAPTER FOUR: Politics CHAPTER FIVE: Opportunity CHAPTER SIX: Faith CHAPTER SEVEN: Race CHAPTER EIGHT: The World Beyond Our Borders CHAPTER NINE: Family Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author Also by Barack Obama Copyright Prologue IT’S BEEN ALMOST ten years since I first ran for political office. I was thirty-five at the time, four years out of law school, recently married, and generally impatient with life. A seat in the Illinois legislature had opened up, and several friends suggested that I run, thinking that my work as a civil rights lawyer, and contacts from my days as a community organizer, would make me a viable candidate. After discussing it with my wife, I entered the race and proceeded to do what every first-time candidate does: I talked to anyone who would listen. I went to block club meetings and church socials, beauty shops and barbershops. If two guys were standing on a corner, I would cross the street to hand them campaign literature. And everywhere I went, I’d get some version of the same two questions. “Where’d you get that funny name?” And then: “You seem like a nice enough guy. Why do you want to go into something dirty and nasty like politics?” I was familiar with the question, a variant on the questions asked of me years earlier, when I’d first arrived in Chicago to work in low-income neighborhoods. It signaled a cynicism...
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...CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA An Interpretive History TENTH EDITION James J. Rawls Instructor of History Diablo Valley College Walton Bean Late Professor of History University of California, Berkeley TM TM CALIFORNIA: AN INTERPRETIVE HISTORY, TENTH EDITION Published by McGraw-Hill, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Previous editions © 2008, 2003, and 1998. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning. Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States. This book is printed on acid-free paper. 1234567890 QFR/QFR 10987654321 ISBN: 978-0-07-340696-1 MHID: 0-07-340696-1 Vice President & Editor-in-Chief: Michael Ryan Vice President EDP/Central Publishing Services: Kimberly Meriwether David Publisher: Christopher Freitag Sponsoring Editor: Matthew Busbridge Executive Marketing Manager: Pamela S. Cooper Editorial Coordinator: Nikki Weissman Project Manager: Erin Melloy Design Coordinator: Margarite Reynolds Cover Designer: Carole Lawson Cover Image: Albert Bierstadt, American (born...
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...GAME CHANGE OBAMA AND THE CLINTONS, MCCAIN AND PALIN, AND THE RACE OF A LIFETIME JOHN HEILEMANN AND MARK HALPERIN FOR DIANA AND KAREN Contents Cover Title Page Prologue Part I Chapter One – Her Time Chapter Two – The Alternative Chapter Three – The Ground Beneath Her Feet Chapter Four – Getting to Yes Chapter Five – The Inevitables Chapter Six – Barack in a Box Chapter Seven – “They Looooove Me!” Chapter Eight – The Turning Point Chapter Nine – The Fun Part Chapter Ten – Two For the Price of One Chapter Eleven – Fear and Loathing in the Lizard’s Thicket Chapter Twelve – Pulling Away and Falling Apart Chapter Thirteen – Obama Agonistes Chapter Fourteen – The Bitter End Game Part II Chapter Fifteen – The Maverick and His Meltdown Chapter Sixteen – Running Unopposed Chapter Seventeen – Slipping Nooses, Slaying Demons Part III Chapter Eighteen – Paris and Berlin Chapter Nineteen – The Mile-High Club Chapter Twenty – Sarahcuda Chapter Twenty-One – September Surprise Chapter Twenty-Two – Seconds in Command Chapter Twenty-Three – The Finish Line Epilogue – Together at Last Index Author’s Notes About the Authors Copyright About the Publisher Prologue BARACK OBAMA JERKED BOLT upright in bed at three o’clock in the morning. Darkness enveloped his low-rent room at the Des Moines Hampton Inn; the airport across the street was quiet in the hours before dawn. It was very late December 2007, a few days ahead of the Iowa caucuses. Obama had been sprinting flat out...
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