Burlington High School
Burlington, Kansas

Teacher: Devra Parker

A Choice We All Must Make
By Trent Ditto
12^th grade

 

 

Mass chaos is streaming from every inch of your body.  You are not knowing what is going to happen or if you will be here on Earth for another day.  These are the feelings that people in other societies are feeling.  Many people in other nations believe in certain religions yet they are hiding their spirituality [because] if they do not, there is a very large chance that they will be persecuted and maybe even…killed.…We, as residents of the United States, need to capitalize on our freedoms.... The freedom of religion is one of the greatest examples of these freedoms, and I believe we should be aware of this and use it to our advantage.

                                                              

Our county was founded on…religion.  [One of] the reasons people started colonizing America [was to escape religious persecution].…In the United States…we have the right to do nearly anything we could imagine as long as it is not [infringe in on] someone else’s rights.  We the people of this great nation have the right to freedom of speech; yes, I can tell everyone that the president of the United States of America is an ignorant fool who doesn’t know what he is doing and still not get into trouble.  In many other countries this would be considered treason and the person who said something like this would probably be killed or [imprisoned]. We also can print nearly anything in a newspaper without getting in trouble.  In places like Russia all of their communication devices are controlled by the government, not the people.  This means that only what the government wants people to see and believe is what is going to get published on television, news papers and in magazines. ...

 

Many countries…have [state] religions and [citizens] are not allowed to practice [any other religion] unless it is in secret. This is just wrong. There are many different religions [so]…why force [people] to practice something in which [they] do not [believe]? I have always been told that a forced religion is a dead religion. Yes, I do believe that Christianity is the only [true] religion, yet I do not feel that someone should have to believe or act like he or she believes in…God.… I do believe that you should try to tell others about your religion, but, at some point, people must [understand] that [they] may…be harassing [others] even though it may not seem [like it].…By bugging someone about religion, or lack thereof, people maybe turned away from that religion rather than [accept it].  For instance, if you were Islam and a Christian came up to you and told you that nothing about what you were doing was right and that you are stupid for believing in such things, how would you feel?  The freedom of religion is really an amazing right for all of us to have as well as all of the other freedoms that we have.

 

[It is almost criminal to] not take advantage of [our].individual rights. The privileges are sitting at our fingertips yet people are not able to choose whether or not to do anything about it.  Go against the norm for once and be your own person; don’t conform to the world just because you do not want to be an outcast. Some say that the nail that sticks out gets hammered down; however, I feel that that nail can change the world.  Do what you want to do and take complete control of your life by using the rights you have to make a difference in our society and maybe even the world.

 

 

Answers to Questions Regarding the Required Reading

 

 

Q1-What do you think Justin Reiter meant by including the following in his essay?

 “…if the people are not accustomed to the freedom they will be angered by the inequality.”  Were you angered by some of the things Justin said in his essay? Did you agree or disagree?

 

No, I was not angered by what Justin said in his essay, and I agree with his views on the topic.  People are going to enjoy what they are accustomed in different situations.  If a person was born in a communistic nation what better would they know than being equal to everyone else?  Yet there is still another side of the spectrum, in the United States everyone wants to better themselves moving from lower class to middle class then striving to be your best and wanting to be in the upper class.

 

Q2- Explain: “He felt that the common good could be served by each individual pursuing self-interest.”  To whom did Chris Carney attribute these feelings?

 

Chris Carney was attributing these feelings to James Madison; whom had a very influential part in the constitution.

 

Q3- In the next to the last paragraph in her essay, Faith Doyle discuses Emperor Diocletian and his Edict of 301. Relate that to the essay topic.

 

Edict of 301 made it so there were price and wage controls on everything therefore the government took away the free market of Rome making everyone miserable due to the fact that they were all in the some social class.  This would be the same thing that would happen in America if the president had the ability to control our economy.

 

Q4- Kelly Lanier says in her essay: “Even though everyone is born with the same rights here in America; sometimes a person can step on or take away the rights of another person.” Relate the example she gives and give us another one of your own.

 

Kelly’s example was the right to bear arms.  Yes anyone can bear arms, but once that person chooses to shoot someone with that gun they have now infringed on someone else’s rights.  This would be the same concept as if I were 21 and I decided to go out and drink, after having this drink I get into a hysteric rage on a friend of mine.

 

Q5- Explain what Joshua Spencer means when he says that “individual liberty is a fragile, yet powerful, asset.” How does he relate individual liberty to dictators?   Do you agree with his assessment? Why or why not? Be specific.

           

I believe he was trying to say that some ones liberty is one of those things in which you can not explain, and something that is more powerful than anyone can imagine due to the fact that no one can take those individual liberties away from you unless you infringe the rights of others.

 

Q6-Luck Hall asked “Will we maintain our freedom or destroy it to be safe?” How would you answer that question?

 

I would tell him that we will maintain our freedom to a certain point like we already have.  Some of our freedoms are already being destroyed or are being looked at being abolished seeming how censorship is a major issue in our country today.

 

Q7- Some people, according to which student essayist in 1999, suggested that “the Constitution's framers might have 'put greater emphasis on the protection of the community over individual liberty', had they seen the world today.”? She doesn’t agree.  Do You?

 

I do not agree with Molly McGlone, our country is so self centered today that all anyone looks out for are themselves.  I believe that people need to be willing to give up some of their own rights to help others.

 

Q8- “Just because a law may achieve desirable results, it should not take precedence over the Constitution.” Do you agree or disagree?  Aaron Traffas, discusses the Ban on Smoking in Public Places and the Gun Free School Zones Act.  How do you personally feel about these two issues?

 

I believe that the Gun Free School Zones Act is very good.  It protects students like me and my fellow classmates from many things; not just school shootings but what if one of these guns accidentally gets fired and shoots someone.  I do not believe that the Ban on Smoking in Public Places was a good thing since you could dedicate certain areas of these places to smokers so they can smoke and people don’t have to be around it if need be.
 

Q9- Annie St. Romain referred to a book in her essay where “the government regulated every possible aspect of human life from profession to family to emotions.” What was the name of that book?  Have you read it?

 

The name of the book is The Giver, and yes I have read the book.

 

Q10- “As nations grow in size and social complexity, governments claim greater powers to restrain individuals and groups.  Those who criticize this development believe that it has gone so far as to threaten the existence of individual liberty.  Others believe that only if government is granted such powers, can complex problems be solved.” This quote can be found in Jessie Veit’s essay.  Which side of the issue do you support and why?

 

I support the idea that the government should be able to have some power over our rights, because our world is a very selfish and demented place with out some regulations our country would be a mess.

 

Q11- Give three examples where personal responsibility would replace the need for laws. Do not duplicate those found in Patrick Karcher’s essay.

 

Speeding would not be a big deal at all if everyone would follow the speed limit, as well as this a drinking age would not be needed if parents were more responsible for there children, and DUI laws would not need to exist if people would make better decisions or have a designated driver.

 

Q12- It is obvious that Benji Lehman is idealistic.  In his essay he claims when the founding fathers “wrote the constitution they put a great emphasis on each person having personal rights as well as individual liberties. The true strength of each and every community falls on the individual. Believing each man, woman, and child will, and can recognize the importance of good responsibility. … These were laws that gave each and everyone of us the opportunity and self-respect to do the right thing.”  Benji believed that people would make choices that would serve and benefit their communities. Do you believe that? Please explain.

 

I do not believe with Benji, I think that people are going to make decisions in which they believe will benefit themselves before others.