Letter From A Burmingham Jail

Growing up I never knew that Martin Luther King Jr. was a devout Christian. I knew he was a pastor but I never knew that his writing was woven with Christian values and quotes. The letter is an explanation of what Martin Luther is going through and how he views the situation at hand. It divulges into the thought process that went into planning the peacefull protest and highlights the amount of concern they had for not disturbing a political election, even if that meant postponing their march over and over. The letter is dripping with the pain and oppression that his followers were feeling in burmingham. I was also very impressed by the level of artistic language used in the letter, it really is a beautiful piece of literature. After I read the letter I watched the 37 minute speech that Barack Obama gave on the issues of race that still exist in the world today. After experiencing both of these things I have a deep appreciation for the pain and suffering that racism brings to a community. One thing that will forever be in my heart is the quote from St. Augistine saying that an unjust law is no law at all. And his writing about using time constructively or destructively is the only option and that time is not neutral. I think so much more of MLK after reading this essay, no longer do I see him as a human rights activist but as a dedicated servant of God who has a unrelenting passion for his people and justice.

The Lion King

The lion king is one of my favorite childhood movies, so based solely on that fact I have a bias against anyone who would write a bad review about the movie. In the first paragraph or so the author takes one of my favorite scenes in the movie and draws a radical conclusion that the circle of life is some sick symbolism. Then she compares inner city America to a hyena, which is ridiculous, the movie is merely portraying the animal as it really is, a scavenger that lives in a pack. There is no ghetto and Whoppie Goldberg is the farthest thing from an inner city black person you can get. If it were a true representation of the ghetto it would include some sort of animal drug abuse and I didn’t see any hyena blowing lines or shooting up. They were just the villains of the movie who live in a scary place. The author then claims that her boys were deeply affected by the story and implied that the movie scared them for life. How ridiculous, it is merely a suspenseful Disney drama. This is an essay written by a bored and bitter housewife. I love the lion king and even if it has all these elements in it, a gay villain, a ghetto cast, and an oppressed population, what is wrong with exposing kids to the real world where there are good, evil and gay people.

In Defense Of Talk Shows Response

I think calling talk shows a moralistic forum is a bit too much because I doubt that the reason for the show is to teach its participants the correct way to live and treat their friends. It seems to be more of a contest for who has the most deranged view of life and the craziest ideas of reality. They gave the example of a perverted relationship between a girl and her boyfriend, and just because the audience was not applauding this situation the author tries to draw a conclusion that the hosts strong words against the guests on the show are really some sort of exhortation not to sin but really he is just calling them crazy. I think talk shows are the lowest of human form and any one who watches them is wasting their time. There is no moral betterment that derives from these talk shows. The bible says that you should guard your eves and abstain from evil. These talk shows are definitely evil. They are true stories of sinful people with no form of repentance being publicly humiliated. One does not gain any practical knowledge about morality from these shows, just a picture of a fallen world and the victims of a life of sin. Overall if one idealized the whole situation and looked at the big picture I could understand the viewpoint of the author. But even so the church is the place for reproof and repentance not a talk show.