Thursday, September 29, 2011

John Proctor... Hero or Stooge?

               First of all, I can see why John Proctor could be considered both a hero and a stooge. However, my opinion lies right in between the two. He can be considered as a hero because he confessed to what he did and that is a heroic act, but at the same time he was confessing so that Abigail would get in trouble. Although he came forth with his information, and what Abigail told him, he did it in a manner that can make him a stooge-like person.
             To be honest, I really like John Proctor because he is so straight-forward. When reading a book in which, everyone is believing in non-existing things, John Proctor is that character that kind of brings you back to reality. You understand him better and could relate to him more because he is thinking along the same lines as we would.
               The reason I believe John Proctor is more a hero over a stooge because it really takes some balls to not follow what everyone else is doing. He could just as easily follow everyone and pretend he believes in the witchcraft nonsense. He is true to himself in that way, however he also isn't true to himself because he had and affair with Abigail and that again makes me think he can also be a stooge.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

              Jonathan Edwards was a well known preacher, in the year 1741, and his main goal was to scare the Puritans from God. He preached that God would punish you if you sinned. In the story, Jonathan Edwards tells us that God is pretty much ready at any moment to destroy you if you do something wrong. Edward was very known so all the smaller preachers would listen to him, and then they would go back to their town or wherever they came from, and preach the same thing. This fear spread throughout the the Puritans, and I think the reason for the fear was that if the Puritans lived their lives being scared they would not sin.
               The way I interpreted this story was that God is this evil monster who defines the word 'power'.  The Puritans are these tiny ants that cannot do anything because God will punish them. These ant live in constant fear of being stepped on, or in this case drowning or burning in hell.  God is just waiting with his arrow, ready to strike at any moment at whoever sins.
               In reality I find it extremely hard to believe how a theocracy could have been going on for quite some time. When I look at it, I can't even imagine in the slightest bit how the Puritans could have believed this. It's not like if I do one thing wrong all of the sudden God will come out of the sky and punish me. Speaking in reality, that isn't possible and I'm pretty sure God didn't do that in 1741 either. I could see that at the beginning when you could be scared that you will be punished if you sin, but because nobody is perfect, someone would sin and nothing would happen to them. Didn't the Puritans have common sense, or was Jonathan Edwards blinding them?

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Arrivals… There goes the Neighborhood

          In our modern day society, when people hear that someone is moving into a new area, or house, they automatically think it is harder for the person who is moving in. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure it is extremely difficult leaving your life behind and in a way starting a new one. However, in my opinion, I feel that some people don’t realize that it is also very hard for the people who are welcoming the newcomers, they have to make important choices that will not only influence their life, but also the life of the newcomer.
          When Columbus encounters the Native Americans, I think it was a harder and more complicated situation for the Natives. If we look at it from the perspective of the Natives, here come men in big ships with fancy clothes and more advanced weapons, they were faced with two very crucial choices. Should we treat this person with respect as if he were a messenger of God? Or should we have a defensive mindset and be cautious of him because he has better weapons? Due to their religion, they chose the first choice and praised Christopher Columbus. This critical choice the Native Americans faced affected their future greatly.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Introduction

Hello, my name is Filip and I go to Whitney Young High School. This fall I am playing center midfield for my school JV soccer team. I am very interested in the English Barclays Premier League, specifically a team called Manchester United(Man U). I have a great passion for Man U and soccer.
During the winter nothing exists for me except skiing. Couple years ago I finished 7th in Nastar Championship in Park City, Utah, for my age group. Nastar is a race where you go down the slope by going through gates. Last spring I played volleyball, but this year I think I will join the tennis team. Aside from that, other things I like to do include ping-pong, cross-country and cliff diving.
Every summer I visit my grandparents in Poland for the whole summer. I own a house near the mountains and I spend a lot of my time running, jumping on our trampoline and having campfires. I also hike a lot if the weather allows me too.
My favorite movies are all of the James Bond movies as well as the Harry Potter movies. My favorite books include the Percy Jackson series and the Eragon series. The car I like the most is a Lamborghini and I really like Porsches.

http://amber2014m.blogspot.com/