Law and Justice

According to the article, "Law and Justice," laws create order and stability, but that is not all that we want in life. There is also a strong desire for justice. Obedience to every law may bring temporary stability, but it won't necessarily bring justice. For example, Hitler's followers obeyed his laws and orders, but these laws were very unjust and evil. They were eventually in a situation of complete chaos.
The article poses the question, "Where is our greater obligation: to law or to justice?" The author feels that in some cases, civil disobedience is a better choice than following an unjust law. I agree with the author because many rights in our country were gained through civil disobedience. For example, women won the right to vote through civil disobedience. Another example, of civil disobedience is the Civil Rights Movement. In both cases, the protesters willingly accepted their punishments and were peaceful about the whole thing. In order to have a peaceful and fair society, we need both law and justice, and sometimes that involves breaking the law.

Inherit the Wind

"He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind, and the fool shall be servant to the wise in heart." -Proverbs 11:29
Inherit the Wind is the title of this play because it is part of a quote from the Bible that is quoted twice in the book, and it describes a major theme of the play. The quote basically means that if a person brings trouble to his family, then he will gain nothing and be a fool. It means the person will be left with nothing but "hot air." The title is a good one because it ties in with the religious issues in the play, and it describes some of the major characters in the play. The first time the verse is quoted, it is said by Brady to Reverend Brown. Reverend Brown represents a religious fanatic who doesn't really follow the teachings of forgiveness from the Bible. He even condemns his own daughter. When Brady quotes the verse, he is basically calling Brown a fool. The second time, the verse is quoted by Drummond after the trial is over and Brady has unexpectedly died. Drummond thinks that the reporter, Hornbeck, is a fool for stirring up trouble in the country. Inherit the Wind is a good title because it sums up a major theme of the play: that bringing trouble on one's own family or people will accomplish nothing and only make the person into a fool.

Political Survey Results

The results of the surveys I took were pretty consistent. All of the surveys except for one indicated that I was a democrat or agreed with Barack Obama. The other survey said I was a centrist. The surveys also pretty consistently showed that when it comes to economics, I lean more to the Republican side, but on all other issues I lean more to the Democratic side. My results didn't really surprise me because I already knew I was more conservative when it come to money and more liberal when it comes to social issues. I'm kind of in the middle of the political spectrum. I don't really know if the survey were biased or not, but some of them were really technical and confusing.

Intelligent Design

Intelligent Design and Darwinism should both be taught in schools. Teachers do not have to advocate one or the other, but kids should be exposed to both theories. While parts of Darwinism are strongly supported by data, other areas are not, such as how did life first begin. These answers could possibly be filled in by Intelligent Design. Teachers can inform students about Intelligent Design without advocating a religion or revealing who they think the "Designer" is. Teachers would only be making the information available so that students could draw their own conclusions. Whether or not an individual personally agrees with the theory, it should at least be brought up so that students are aware of it.

Should Promoting Democracy Abroad Be a Top U.S. Priority?

Yes, promoting democracy abroad should be a top U.S. priority. Democracies have not only been historically less likely to fight wars with other democracies, but they also tend to have faster economic growth than non-democracies. According to Joseph Siegle in "Developing Democracy: Democratizers' Surprisingly Bright Development Record," low income democracies have better living standards than autocracies. He says that the democracies that do the best are the ones that have checks and balances on the executive and other branches of government. Countries that have democracy also tend to have stronger systems of accountability than autocratic states. Becoming a democracy can be very difficult for third-world nations, but if done successfully, it is a benefit to the country and the world. Promoting democracy promotes peace and economic growth in the world.