Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

In the 1770's Thomas Jefferson took the initiative to document a revolution provoking declaration: the Declaration of Independence. He based this testimony off of philosopher John Locke's principles and ideas. The purpose of this lengthy historical document was to branch away from England's authority and overwhelming tax acts. He demanded from King George III to show the long overdue respect to the colonists and diligently read all the following reasons that forced the soon to be Americans to formulate such a conception and conclusion. On July 4, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was published in multiple newspapers which acted as a form of encouragement and inspiration to the colonists, to rebel against England's government for their right to be a free country. This assigned him as a representative for all the patriots during the Revolutionary War. After listing each justification for the revolution, Thomas Jefferson concludes the Declaration of Independence by stating, "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortune, and our sacred Honor." ( "The Declaration of Independence")  All those three points were taken away from the colonists by the English. England taxed them on numerous raw materials and made them kill their own people. The Revolutionary War showed England that the colonists were ready to receive what they always deserved: respect and freedom.

To Kill or Not to Kill

"Norway Mass Killer Gets the Maximum: 21 Years" by Mark Lewis in The New York Times canvasses Norway's infamous Anders Behrins Breivik. who was sentenced to twenty-one years in prison, earlier this week. He is known for killing over seventy helpless victims, during a shooting attack, in July, 2011. Sentencing a murderer twenty-one years in prison is considered to be a tremendously unusual and counterproductive punishment in America; however, Norway looks upon America's justice system as overbearingly castigating. Norway is a country that emphasizes on morals encompassing nonviolence and benign authorization. In fact, they abolished the death penalty and believe prison is a place where one is afforded the chance to rehabilitate. Distinctly, Mr. Breivik will have the fabulous luxury of living in a three cell-suite of rooms furnished with numerous gadgets and exercise equipment. Also, surprisingly a bizarre amount of parents , whose children fell victim to the Norway Massacre, are very please with the verdict. Nevertheless, Mr Breivik's statement about killing more persons if bestowed the opportunity, supposedly persuaded the judges to make Mr. Breivik's releasing, most unlikely. According to the judges, he will be detained there by perpetually extending his sentence by five years.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/25/world/europe/anders-behring-breivik-murder-trial.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2

"Madonna Sued: Russian Anti-Gay Groups Sue Pop Star For Over $10 Million"

During August 9, 2012 at her concert in Russia, Madonna had the audacity to confront the parliament of St. Petersburg about the recent law they had just passed, blackballing "propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexualism and transgenderism, and pedophilia to minors" (The Huffington Post). As a result anti-gray groups  in Russia, decided to sue Madonna for more than $10 million dollars; they allegedly state that the reasoning behind their decision is that because of her, the people in St. Petersburg suffered from moral damage. For example a lawyer, named Alexander Pochuyev, who is representing the plaintiffs, complains about how Madonna's encouragement towards homosexuality has given many people "psychological stress and emotional shock" (The Huffington Post). According to The Huffington Post, in March, Madonna declared the law a "ridiculous atrocity." Madonna has clearly showed the people whose side she is on and whose rights she will protect. One of the many Russians who sued Madonna, justifies his reasoning by explaining how because of Madonna, many males and females will turn gay; and that will lead to Russia's decrease in population and will not allow the capacious country to protect itself. In the video below, Madonna includes a biblical quote, " Love thy neighbor as thyself." This hopefully helps many religious communities understand and grasp the idea of equality, regardless of their sex, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Having Madonna as a gay rights advocate, truly helps the gay community to be one step closer to their goal. Many music lovers who respect Madonna, will take her words and thoughts into consideration, which may or may not change their mentality and opinion. Nevertheless, she has no problem showing the world how she changed from being "Like a Virgin" to being "Like an Activist."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/18/madonna-sued-russia-st-petersburg-concert_n_1803061.html?ir=Entertainment


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnEUMA-nPd4&feature=player_embedded#!

"Salvation"

"Salvation" is written and told by Langston Hughes. This piece of literature takes place in church, where Langston attempts to feel the special and expected moment of connecting with Jesus for the first time. Nevertheless, he was certainly not conjecturing to lie about this once in a lifetime bond with the divinity of God.  He starts reflecting on this episode by mentioning how the days were fairly close to his thirteenth birthday. He, then prepared himself to visit his church. Here children gathered together all for the same detectable objective: to be brought to Jesus. The preacher succeeded to preach a sermon that dealt with the biblical story of the lamb of God. However, Langston felt out of the loop when he began to realize that this was the time where the kids needed to evidently prove their first and life changing acquaintance with Jesus. He was not able to comprehend the internal conflict he faced, when he did not experience the long overdue connection with Christ. That is when the feeling of confusion took over him. As he failed to adapt with his fellow lambs, Langston began to be affected by the feeling of sadness. His last calling came when a boy named Westley confessed his lack of connection with Jesus; Wesley decided to lie about this emotional and spiritual juxtaposition and tried to convince Langston to do the same. This created a short period of hopelessness for Langston, which led him to lie about experiencing the uttermost important connection with Christ. With doing so, he had lied not only to his aunt, but to the whole church. That night, Langston could not stop crying as he laid in his bed, because of his ongoing conflict with his guilty conscious. The aunt justified his action, by explaining to the family that it was because of experiencing the very vigorous bond with the Lord. Langston, informed to his readers all the drawbacks one will face if they deceive the ones they love and truly care about. Also, there is an even deeper message that informs the readers of all the disadvantages of expecting and assuming a certain outcome.

Revenge Tastes Oh So Sweet!

Books have the power to make readers lose their perception of reality and enter into a world of novelty. Since the seventh grade, I have been recommending the book The Count of Monte Cristo  by Alexandre Dumas to all my family members. The book starts off with an innocent man being convicted of a crime by anonymous figures, who are revealed to be his resentful allies. He eventually stormed up a plan of retaliation that took years to implement. The process leaves you in suspense, wondering if he calculated his revenge correctly. He took the role of God and placed his enemies' fate into his own hands. He did not only see himself as God, but also many different identities: Dantes disguised himself as an Italian priest, who traveled back to a town very familiar to him. This gave the now Italian priest leverage to collect valuable information to frame Caderousse, one of the Count’s former cunning friends. This may have been looked upon as vengeful, but one cannot stop but feel impressed. Dantes, who through acquired riches worked his way into a Count, took every aspect of life into consideration and planned accordingly. The Count succeeded in utilizing his assets of patience and practicability. When I read this book, I found myself contemplating the idea of good versus evil. As a reader, one always roots for good to prevail and punish the bad. However, the author leaves you in a grey area, where you see Dantes developing into what one might consider evil. This strangely lures me towards him even more. Unconsciously, I no longer saw Dantes as a fictional character that the author created to publish a book; I saw Dantes as a representative for whomever has been taken advantage of. Strangely enough, I put myself into the Count's shoes, and thought of myself as the real Dantes, who was capable and intelligent enough to prevail in such an ingenious and somewhat dark project. 

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